Thirty

"His Majesty summoned me to the palace yesterday to discuss the upcoming autumn hunt. I truly do not know what His Majesty is thinking, as he has seen fit to place me in charge of the security detail for the event." Chu Yu frowned at the mere thought of it.

Chesterton sensed that something was wrong. He had seen the sea before, but ocean water was never this pitch-black—a color of such extreme, pure evil—nor was it ever so unnervingly still, lacking even the slightest ripple. Even on the calmest days, the surface of the sea would bear faint, subtle waves.

Although Yuan Lingwei’s face was bruised and darkened, he showed no signs of wavering, even increasing his force.

It was time for the child to sleep. The lights in the third-floor apartment were dimmed as Song Liuxing patted the boy’s back while telling him a story.

Consequently, the auction for the Seven-Colored Stone was not nearly as heated as the one for the Mountain-Cleaving Axe. After only three rounds of bidding, interest vanished, and it was eventually purchased by a cultivator who wielded a celestial sword as his artifact.

Li An’na nodded. Not long after, Chen Rui’an brought the sandwich he had prepared and set it before her.

Giving Xiao Ran a sweet, playful flick of her tongue, Chu Yan vanished in a flash, stepping onto her sword and departing from the main peak.

Take the demonic energy of beasts or the demon race, for instance, or the power of rare treasures and strange creatures, or even the energy of the cultivators themselves—as long as they entered the formation, their power would be siphoned away and then controlled by the array.

Indeed, things were fine at first. It was only after Bai Suzhen asked him if his name was Fahai, and he gave an affirmative answer, that the situation took this turn.

"Today marks your investiture as a marquis. Please accept this humble gift from me as a token of my congratulations." Li Su motioned for his attendant to present the prepared gift.

"Ha... ha... it’s near that withered tree on your southwest side." Realizing how foolish he had just sounded, the man laughed sheepishly.

"Are these prices for real? What kind of hotel is this? Is it five-star?" Clearly, Xu Yun was stunned by the figures on the list.

A scream pierced the air. Jiang Tu was struck twice in the chest by Yang Bang, vomiting a mouthful of blood as he was sent flying backward.

For the low-ranking disciples of the Frost and Snow Sect, this joint operation by the three sects against the Thousand Absolutes Sect was the perfect opportunity to earn merit. The higher-ups had only specified that merit would be calculated by the number of ears collected; they had not stipulated that children were excluded, which was tacit permission to spare no one.

Ye Feng shook his head and smiled, his dark eyes growing profound. As if speaking to himself, he murmured, "Ling Yuan, you see this too, so you must be at ease now." With that, he sighed once more.

***

Gazing at the Seven-Colored Ice Lotus before him, Lin Yunfei suddenly recalled something. With a flicker of thought, a broken sword appeared in his palm.

Whether it was in the world where Zhou Ran had lived for sixteen years, or in this realm, it was common knowledge that everyone had only one chance to breakthrough into the Xiantian Realm.

Everyone knew that while Lin Yunfei spoke lightly, the process he had endured was excruciatingly painful.

"I am willing to take responsibility, but if I do, would it not make it seem as though the Emperor is poor at judging character? Or is the Emperor perhaps a foolish ruler?"

The black metal refined from the bodies of the Black Mist Predators, which had been hovering around him, had already been stowed away in his storage ring, where it now lay silent.

Now it was Qin Buyi’s turn to feel awkward; that thought, which had not surfaced for a long time, surged up once again.

With his right hand—the one holding his blade—injured, Ichiro Hoshino could not withstand the storm of strikes from Chen Tianxiu, no matter how skilled he was.

Yet, Zhou Xuantong now stood before them without a trace of aura; he seemed completely ordinary.

"Old man, calling me so early—do you want me to join you for your morning exercises?" As soon as Li Hongjing appeared, he approached with a smile, affectionately wrapping his arm around Li Xianqian.

At that moment, Liu Yiyou recalled that during the marriage tournament, Li Hongjing of the Longxi Li clan had mentioned that Li Qingshan was also a member of the old Li family.

"Once you reach the Underworld, you will naturally find out!" Black Impermanence replied, his face grim and a sickly, iron-grey hue, his expression devoid of emotion.

"Let’s end the lesson here for today. I need to rest early to prepare for tomorrow’s battle. Zhang Hongfan will surely do everything in his power to inflict casualties on me just to save his own reputation."

Wang Yiliang dared not speak to Su Manyan directly; instead, he pulled Yang Shifei aside while Su Manyan was eating and whispered to him.

Under the meticulous care of the Lin Yun Temple, those with light injuries had fully recovered after half a month. Though Mu Shulin and Chang Shu were conscious, their conditions remained grave, and Du Qinglian ordered them to be moved to a cleaner, more spacious, and better-ventilated room that had just been prepared.

I do not know how Coach Chen arranged it, but looking at it now, it seems the two teams have simply swapped places from the previous game.

***

Crossing through the forest, the Dragon Eagle was already close. Shen Tong had long since ordered all communication devices to be shut down.

"Azure Dragon! I am going to activate the Demon Dragon form!" This was the last resort I had, and the final trump card I had agreed upon with Azure Dragon. Azure Dragon did not know what would happen if I unleashed the Demon Dragon form, so we had vowed not to use this move unless absolutely necessary.

That night, many couples took the stage to share the stories of how they met. Shen Tong and Bai Yu drank heavily, and in the end, a still-sober Shen Tong carried an unconscious Bai Yu back to the dormitory.

"It’s that simple?" Su Junyi had not expected the competition rules to be so straightforward.

I once dueled a master gambler from a casino; the stakes were Guan Ying and my own hands! Later, I saw through his tricks and successfully won Guan Ying back from the casino. I also happened to tame Li Zhide, which was when I unified Pingcheng.

This memory was precious to him because after his teacher left, music had been his only constant companion. He had no family, but he told himself that music was his kin.

Shi Xiaofeng’s heart began to pound, and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He could not see where the danger lay, but his sense of foreboding grew ever stronger.

"I..." Liu Yi did not know how to answer. If he told the truth, no one would believe him, and it would only make things more complicated. He could only try to find a way to bluff his way through.

"Of course it’s for the stove, what else would we eat tonight?" the old woman replied.

The days passed quite pleasantly. When he wasn't staying at the fortune-telling parlor, he was sleeping. Da Dezi and Chen Yiran had been getting very close lately; Da Dezi had even stayed out overnight a few times. He had likely won her over, and if so, one truly ought to congratulate him.

Li Qianyue struggled with all her might, but her body was extremely weak. At the slightest movement, her vision blurred and her wounds flared with agony. After a few futile struggles, she had no strength left, so she simply spat in Wei Changfeng’s face.