Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The demonic bug was fast. Clearly, it could not wait anymore. They could not see it but they could feel its excitement.
It was lured to the arm and was ready to eat up.
The Fire Phoenix focused and turned the fire into a sharp knife. A red light flashed.
Slash!
Ao Yun’s arm was chopped off cleanly. It flew out.
They could see the long black bug in the delicious-smelling arm. It was like a giant leech.
It was engulfed in delicacy. It felt as if its bug life was worth it. Blood and powers were lousy compared to this meat. ‘This is what a bug life’s supposed to be!’
Daji calmly glanced at it. Then, she used her powers. White crystal-like ice attacked the arm, freezing it into an ice sculpture.
Splat! It fell to the ground.
The ice sculpture was very hard. It was not even damaged when it fell to the ground, it even glistened. However, the splat sound sounded cruel to everyone.
“Delicious food, my delicious food!” Nanan and Dragin stared at that arm and instantly burst into tears.
The others felt like their hearts were empty. It was as if someone had wasted a rare treasure.
“My arm, my delicious arm!”
Ao Yun was also out of it. He felt extremely emotional. He went over to hug his detached limb, examining it.
‘Too tragic. First, it was grilled over a fire. It smelled so delicious. Then, it was immediately turned into ice. My arm has been through too much.’
The air still smelled like delicious grilled meat. It was unreal.
Li Nianfan could not refrain from comforting Nanan and Dragin. He laughed and said, “Why are you crying? That’s Brother Ao Yun’s arm, you can’t eat it. Moreover, the arm has a demonic bug in it. You still want to eat that?”
Nanan sobbed and wiped her saliva away. “But…it smells too good.”
Ao Yun stood up and genuinely thanked him, “Mr. Li, thank you so much. My life is saved. Thank you for your generosity, if you need anything in the future, feel free to let me know!”
“It’s not a big deal.” Li Nianfan smiled then asked curiously, “Brother Ao Yun, aren’t you hurting?”
Ao Yun smiled and replied, “I was distracted by the smell just now so I didn’t realize it. It hurts a little now, but I was mentally prepared. I can handle it.”
He cast a spell on his wound as he spoke. Ripples formed on the tips of his fingers. Then, they attached themselves to the wound and formed a water shield.
Li Nianfan did not understand the purpose of the water shield, but he knew that it was the right thing for him to do.
He saluted and said, “Brother Ao Cheng, it’s getting late. We should go.”
“Mr. Li, why don’t you stay the night? Let me treat you well as the host.” Ao Cheng naturally tried his best to make him stay. He said with sincerity, “We have a lot of sea creatures, and there are a lot of performances and entertainment for you, Mr. Li. The beautiful views of the ocean are countless. Fish and prawns are everywhere. Why don’t you stay and stroll around?”
Li Nianfan groaned for a moment. He smiled and replied, “No thanks. Thank you for everything, Brother Ao Cheng.”
“Fine,” said Ao Cheng. “Mr. Li, I prepared some seafood for you, as well as the hairy crabs. Please, don’t reject it. If you want to eat seafood in the future, just inform Dragin. We have a lot of seafood here!”
“Haha, alright!” Li Nianfan accepted it.
They chatted for a while. Then, Li Nianfan and the others left the Carp Palace.
Ao Cheng and Ao Yun stood at the door to see them off.
“The expert…is truly an absolute expert!”
Ao Yun sounded sentimental. “That was the Dragon Killer Poison Bug. For millions of years, no one could cure a poison like that. He removed it in such a mysterious way. He simply made a miracle! I’m afraid no one would believe us if this gets out.”
Ao Cheng brushed his beard and laughed. “Ha, why the fuss? Did that scare you? The expert’s unimaginable. It’s the blessing of the Dragon kind to be able to befriend him!”
“My arm…was worth chopping!”
Ao Yun suddenly caressed his rock-solid arm. “This is the arm that was personally grilled by the expert. The Dragon Killer Poison Bug’s so lucky. It was frozen with my delicious arm, what a breakthrough! I have to frame this and display it at my place. Who would dare to disrespect me now? Haha…”
Ao Cheng looked at that arm and said with envy, “Your West Ocean Dragon Palace is gone. How can you laugh?”
Speaking of that topic, Ao Yun suddenly sounded like he was in pain. He said in a low voice, “The Dragon Door reappeared this time. I was thrilled at first. Who would’ve thought the South Ocean Dragon King would be a traitor to the Dragons? I was poisoned. However, I have even worse news.”
Ao Cheng arched his eyebrow. “What news?”
Ao Yun replied, “The South Ocean Old Dragon King didn’t die after the big tribulation! That old scum with a dark heart!”
Ao Cheng had a change in his facial expression. He kind of smirked as he said, “Brother Ao Yun, speaking of that, I have to tell you a huge secret.”
“Secret?”
Ao Cheng looked at Ao Yun mysteriously. Then, he said smugly, “Not to flex but the Old Dragon King of my East Ocean…is also alive! Haha, envious, right?”
…
Li Nianfan strolled around in the ocean. He suddenly felt like his worldview was expanded. His life was interesting and colorful.
‘Now, this is a proper journey. Such a leisurely life. This is the life of an Immortal.’
It was dark out when he got back to the four-part architecture. The sky was covered with flickering stars. There was a thin veil of mist beneath the starlight.
At the Above Immortal Realm.
The Ice Palace was no longer there. The ice had melted in a day and grass grew on the land. Everything smelled like flowers.
Ziye looked at the familiar yet unknown sight. She felt conflicted. She looked up at the sky with excitement and nervousness.
She sighed and said, “Now that the Underworld has reappeared, I wonder when the Heavenly Palace can return.”
Taoist Xinghe was standing behind her as he said respectfully, “Seventh Princess, the expert’s moves are starting to show. The realm’s changing. The Heavenly Palace will return sooner or later!”
“Hopefully,” said Ziye softly. She floated along the sky pillar and was back at the Southern Sky Gate again.
The two Daluo Golden Immortals were nowhere to be seen. No one stopped her either.
She stepped into the Southern Sky Gate. She was quick-paced because she was familiar with the place. She easily found her way to the Palace of the Seven Princesses.
Ziye took a deep breath and calmed down. She pushed the door open and walked in.
The room was very tidy.
So tidy that it surprised Ziye.
She stood outside for a long while. It was as if she was brought back to a time where nothing had changed.
She walked in and made a turn at the end of the living room, passing through a circular door carved out of wood. The five figures that suddenly appeared made her jolt.
The five figures were sitting at different places in the room. Some were playing the zither, some were drinking tea, and some were smiling. If they were not stone statues, it would have been a beautiful sight to behold.
“Big sister, Third Sister, Fourth Sister, Fifth Sister, Sixth Sister!” Ziye exclaimed. She hurriedly jogged over and hugged the stone statues. She burst into tears.
Taoist Xinghe sighed at the sight. He was also tearing up.
He did not interrupt Ziye. Instead, he silently backed away, walking alone in the Heavenly Palace.
In the Yue Lao Pavillion, an elder had red strings in one hand and clay in the other. He, too, was turned to stone. The Love and Fate Abacus were also turned into stone.
Two stone statues of children sat next to Dan Furnace at the Tossiya Temple. They were holding fans and seemed to be chatting with each other.
In the Lingxiao Palace, the Throne of the Jade Emperor was also turned to stone. No one was on it. Beneath it were some stone statues. They seemed to be attending a gathering.
The entire Heavenly Palace was deserted and creepy.
Taoist Xinghe passed by the Lingxiao Palace and went to the edge of the observatory. He looked upon the dark sky and searched for the star that he used to be in charge of. He could not hold it in anymore. Tears streamed down his face.
Time passed, days went by.
Li Nianfan was living a peaceful and leisurely life. Nothing much changed apart from his mindset.
He was unrestricted. He could fly, and he had the protection of his Deluxe Merit Flesh. His connections were wide and were still expanding. He felt like he could go anywhere in the Immortal Realm. His life was far more entertaining than before.
The Holy Emperor came on the fifth day after the City God Temple was built. He came along with an elder and a general. However, they came as souls so they could naturally be chummy.
The elder was quite famous around the area. The general was a fearless leader that died on the battlefield. They were the first civil servant and war general of the Fallen Town City Castle.
They were chosen. They came here instantly to report to Li Nianfan. They told Li Nianfan everything including their life achievements. They were clearly there for his approval.
The Underworld respected Li Nianfan, so naturally, he would not be picky. He would go along with it and give a nice speech as long as the candidates were decent.
At the same time, Li Nianfan got information about the outside world from the Holy Emperor.
Zhou Yunwu was busy ruling the humans. Meng Junliang was working hard at creating schools. Yuecha was successful in preaching Buddhism while Gu Xirou seemed to be scheming. Ao Cheng seemed to be busy, too. Li Nianfan guessed he was probably working hard on becoming a Dragon.
Oh yeah, Ziye and the others said they were going to rebuild the Heavenly Palace. He wondered how their progress was.
In conclusion, everyone seemed to be busy working hard on achieving their goals. He was a bit of a useless bum in comparison.
“What a bunch of hard-working people!” Li Nianfan laid in his rocking chair. He was lying on top of a silky green wolf king’s hide. He also had a grey bear fur blanket on top of him. He was enjoying the warmth even in the winter.
Daji was feeding him fruits at his side. His life was endlessly joyful.
Li Nianfan smirked and said, “Good. Wait until they become super bigshots, I won’t have to do the work anymore.”
On the same day in a familiar place at the Above Immortal Realm.
A masked fox slowly appeared. She leaped into the city and kept walking.
The little fox looked around, wagging its nine tails. She would look back from time to time. She seemed anxious.
Soon, she was at a store in the depths of the black market.
The store was still the same. It was dark inside. A black curtain draped over it creepily.
‘I can’t act like I’m too used to this. I have to act like I’m troubled and anxious.’ The little fox recalled the instructions her sister gave her. She stopped in her tracks when she reached the door. Then, she turned around and ran away. Then, she ran back again and stood at the door, seemingly hesitant.
She repeated that three times before leaping in.
The figure hidden in the dark grew impatient from that. He instantly said with a hoarse voice, “Are you here to trade?”
The little fox nodded.
“Been here before?”
The little fox shook her head.
“You’re the Nine-Tailed Fox, can’t you speak?” The hoarse voice paused for a moment. Then, it continued, “Who would’ve thought that I would be able to see a Nine-Tailed Fox? Alright, show me your items.”
A weak light started to shine in the room. The elder felt a déjà vu.
The little fox waved her paw and a small bucket immediately appeared in front of her. The bucket was filled with milk. There was also a bundle of chives.
“Milk and chives?”
The elder was stumped for a moment. Then, he exclaimed, “Milk from the Five-Colored Sacred Cow! Nice, it’s a wonderful item!”
Then, he picked up the bundle of chives out of curiosity. He observed it for a while and sniffed it. He instantly realized, “Spiritual Plant? The chives are Spiritual Plants?!”
He was beyond shocked. ‘The orange I received previously was a Spiritual Fruit, too. How do we have a Spiritual Plant version of chives now? The realm has changed, something’s off!’
All Spiritual Plants had extraordinary properties.
He could not help but nibble on the chives. He carefully nibbled it and closed his eyes to enjoy it.
Soon, the old man blushed. He suddenly opened his eyes and said in a pleasantly surprised tone, “This is good stuff. These chives are rare and precious!”
He looked at the little fox, “These two items are rare. What do you want in exchange?”
The little fox replied meekly, “I’m looking for a Spiritual Item from the eldritch eras.”
“Spiritual Items from the eldritch eras again?”
The elder felt his heart thumping. He was sensitive about that phrase. That was the third time he encountered a situation like that in such a short time. Most importantly, something would happen every time.
He clapped and a brocade box instantly appeared in front of the little fox. A decent yet uneven gold ball was in the box. It seemed ancient and mysterious.
“You can feel the aura in this. It’s an item from the eldritch eras and it’s extremely valuable.” The elder smiled and said, “Where did you get the chives from? Tell me and I’ll give you another Spiritual Item from the eldritch eras!”
“I won’t tell you!” The little fox panicked and ran away. She leaped away quickly.
The elder looked at the little fox and fell into deep thought.
“Clearly, the fox knows where the chives came from! The chives are far too extraordinary, I have to get some!”
The elder sounded determined but he felt like something was off. He thought about it and said, “I feel like something’s going against me. Could this be related to my previous two encounters? Third time’s the charm, I won’t let tragedy reoccur! I’ll do it myself this time just to be safe!”
