Lan Xiaoni turned to look at An Lin through the Blood Soul Jade Coffin with a beseeching expression. “Big Boss An Lin, I’ve just saved your life, so can you return the storage ring to me?”
An Lin chuckled in response. “Underling Lan, isn’t it your duty to save your Big Boss?”
Lan Xiaoni’s lip twitched, but she seemed to be accustomed to An Lin’s shamelessness and did not push the issue. She was only feeling a little sorry for herself.
Even she didn’t know why she had made that decision.
She simply didn’t want to see An Lin die, so she did what she did without considering any of the consequences, including the very real possibility of death.
As for the conversation they just had, she selectively put it out of her mind.
The two of them fell into silence again as they recovered from their injuries.
After what felt like an eternity.
“Underling Lan,” An Lin suddenly spoke.
“Hmm? What is it?” Lan Xiaoni opened her blue eyes to look at An Lin, only to discover that An Lin was still keeping his promise not to look at her.
“Thank you,” An Lin spoke in a heartfelt voice.
Lan Xiaoni faltered slightly as a sense of accomplishment from being acknowledged welled up in her heart. “So, even you are capable of speaking those words. How are you going to thank me?”
An Lin looked at the trail of fish scales and blood near the sacrificial altar as if he were looking at the bridge between hell and heaven.
He replied in a faint voice, “As your big boss, I’ve got your back from now on.”
An Lin spoke in a firm voice, as if he had just made an extremely important decision.
Lan Xiaoni sniveled and repressed her sobs. “Thank you, Big Boss.”
She was now an official underling with a big boss to protect her.
This was something An Lin had to do for Lan Xiaoni. She had risked her own life to save his, so he couldn’t just stand by and watch if she ever needed his help.
Two hours later, An Lin’s injuries had pretty much fully recovered.
He stood up and looked around at his surroundings to find that aside from the bubbling river of lava, everything was extremely peaceful, just as it had always been.
An Lin turned to look at Lan Xiaoni, who was lying inside the coffin.
Scabs had already appeared over Lan Xiaoni’s wounds due to the dual effect of the immortal pill and the Blood Soul Jade Coffin, and those scabs fell off to reveal new, fair, smooth skin underneath. New scales had also appeared on her tail, which was no longer the rotten mess it had been a few hours ago. The ugly fish had transformed back into a beautiful mermaid.
She had basically recovered from her burns, but the poison that had seeped into her body would require more time before being cleared out of her system.
Lan Xiaoni detected An Lin’s gaze, and she turned to meet his eyes as a vibrant smile appeared on her face. “Big Boss An Lin, are we moving on from here? My injuries are pretty much fully recovered, and I can come out now.”
An Lin immediately shook his head. “No. The toxins within your body still haven’t been cleared out yet. You rest here, and I’ll go do some scouting around the area.”
“No! I’m coming with you!” Lan Xiaoni struggled out of the coffin. “If Xi Haizi decides to attack you again, I’ll be around to keep you safe.”
An Lin fell silent at the sight of the stubborn Lan Xiaoni, who was volunteering to become his meat shield.
At this moment, Lan Xiaoni had already jumped out of the coffin and twirled gracefully on the spot with a smile on her face. “See, Big Boss An Lin? I told you I’m fin… Eurgh!”
She spat out a large mouthful of black blood.
An Lin: “…”
Lan Xiaoni: “…”
“Would you believe me if I told you that this is my body’s natural way of expelling its toxins?” Lan Xiaoni pouted with a pitiable expression as she turned toward An Lin.
An Lin’s lips twitched as he pointed to the coffin. “Get back into that coffin right now!”
Lan Xiaoni’s body trembled slightly. She could only lie back down into the coffin with an aggrieved expression to continue her recovery.
However, at the sight of An Lin’s enraged expression, a hint of sweetness welled up in her heart for some reason.
An Lin summoned his Gundam Three and Yao Ji from his storage ring and commanded them to protect Lan Xiaoni before leaving to explore this world.
After Lan Xiaoni risked her life to save An Lin, Xi Haizi didn’t appear again.
Even so, An Lin did not dare to get complacent. He unleashed his divine sense to its fullest extent and constantly kept his Vermilion Bird Mirror and black brick in his hands.
That’s right, in the face of such an overwhelming power, only hack-like objects could protect him. As such, the Vermilion Bird Mirror and the brick were the perfect choices.
An Lin made his way over to the blue stone slab before gently stroking the cracks on its surface. The object had had a large hole punched into it by Xi Haizi’s spear, but it still exuded extremely powerful energy fluctuations.
Divine Inspection Technique!
A string of information surfaced in his mind.
[Sea Heart Stone: A manifestation of the power of the earth and ocean found at the bottom of the West Sea. This is a superb container for nurturing weapons and a divine-rank material.]
An Lin’s eyes lit up. This was another divine-rank material! And it was a rare treasure that could be used to nurture weapons!
He had pretty much gathered all of the materials required to create a divine tool.
A peculiar feeling welled up in An Lin’s heart. He felt like all of the treasures he had obtained from these ruins are culminating toward the creation of a divine tool.
He shook his head to dispel this strange train of thought.
Perhaps the owner of the tomb was a collector of treasures like these, and as such, it was just a coincidence that he was able to obtain all of them here…
An Lin immediately put the Sea Heart Stone away into his storage ring.
He thought for a moment before pulling out that blue spear from his storage ring extremely carefully.
This was a spear that was materialized from Xi Haizi’s power of the divine dao, and it could easily pierce through even his divine body and the Sea Heart Stone with ease. As such, it was much better to be safe than sorry.
There was no way a spear could maintain its shape for so long if it was materialized from only the power of the divine dao. Even after putting it away into his storage ring, the spear remained completely unchanged. This was way too bizarre.
An Lin was worried that the emergence of the spear would alert Xi Haizi.
His entire body was tightly wound up, and he looked around at his surroundings to ensure that nothing out of the ordinary was taking place before unleashing his Divine Inspection Technique on the spear.
Soon, information began to flood into his mind.
[Armor-Piercing Divine Spear: A spear materialized from Xi Haizi’s power of the divine dao as well as the true intent of the divine dao. It contains Xi Haizi’s paramount observation of the dao of water and can be absorbed for one to observe the power within.]
An Lin faltered slightly upon seeing this information.
This spear was indeed not just a simple body of energy. Instead, it contained even Xi Haizi’s observation of dao! This was like Xi Haizi throwing an inheritance at him!
Even though his methods were a little brutal and rough, the result was a good one…
An Lin joined his hands in a salute to thin air. “Thanks!”
An Lin was quite elated that Xi Haizi had tried to kill him, only to award him with an inheritance instead.
A content expression appeared on his face, and he was just about to put the spear back into his storage ring when he looked at the coffin nearby. A thoughtful expression appeared on his face.
He still remembered what he had once said. What better time than now to fulfill his promise?
