Volume One, Chapter 21: Leaving, Only to Fall into a Trap

A violent sound erupted from the passage, growing steadily louder. Faint roars could be heard; at first, I thought it was an illusion, but the roaring became so distinct that it was impossible to ignore.

Honglian watched silently, curled her lip, found a nearby rockery, and leaped up to sit upon it.

Its teeth sank directly into the Skeleton Priest's skull, leaving a row of indentations in the sharp bone. The Skeleton Priest went berserk, slamming a soul-fireball hard against its body.

As he passed the Prada counter, a familiar, beautiful figure caught Zhang Ning's attention. When she turned around, both of them froze.

Meeting again after a year, having endured countless twists and turns, both felt mentally exhausted and deeply cherished the moment.

"Thump." The sound came again, clearer this time, emanating from the pagoda. Was it made by that corpse? If so, this reanimation was no simple matter.

I had expected to be agitated, to weep, or to lose my mind, but upon seeing my master lying there, my heart was strangely calm. It was as if he had only just fallen asleep.

Zhang Song seized the opportunity. He lunged at the dragon-worm, gripping it tightly, his fists whistling through the air as he hammered them against its head.

He must have had someone else for a long time, and he had clearly wanted a divorce for ages. Now, slapping her and demanding a divorce in front of so many people at the company—was he trying to trample her dignity completely into the dust?

In the main hall of the Beiling Sect, Liu Jianjie sat among them. His mother, the Song sisters, Nan Xiang, Lian Nishang, and even Nan Lulu were present. They sat around a round table, discussing something, though the atmosphere was stiflingly heavy.

Bao Mingyuan and the others turned pale. If Liu Rulan died here, they would likely fail the mission assigned by the Palace Master and face severe, agonizing punishments.

If the owners of these bones were all lured in by the black mist, how did they die? Could it be that they simply couldn't find the way out?

"No, no, I go to sleep quite early. Yesterday was an accident, I swear!" Yan Zhong denied it hurriedly. After he went to sleep, it was Yan Baiwu and the others who logged in; he really hadn't stayed up late playing games, so it wasn't really a lie to Ji Yu.

***

At these words, the Supreme Demon Ancestor manifested his true form. A golden giant ape, tens of thousands of feet tall, roared into the starry sky, shattering stars and obliterating the void. The chaos of its aura surged, its peerless might shaking the entire universe.

Jinxiu’s heart sank. Could it be that even now, with things as they were, Zhang Zhaodi still refused to give up? If that were true, she would have to seriously consider how to arrange for Zhang Zhaodi’s future. She was reluctant to part with her, but she didn’t want to be entangled with the Zhang family forever.

It was clearly Sect Master Yun Qing of the Soul-Guiding Sect who was being unreasonable. If Di Tingfeng and his companions were more forceful, outsiders would surely claim they were bullying Yun Qing.

"What on earth is that?" Robin looked at the thick threads encircling Dressrosa, utterly shocked.

"There are," Qin Miao said with a smile as she walked outside. If there were no such things as ghosts and gods in the world, how could she have appeared here? She believed in them, just as she believed in immortals, and believed that both she and Qin Changning were blessed by the heavens.

Factory Manager Bao was slightly stunned. His ideal price was thirty thousand; he had expected Jinxiu to offer at most forty thousand.

After the ceremony concluded, the "divine water" was distributed to everyone. The water did contain a faint trace of spiritual energy; it seemed it wasn't entirely a ruse, which explained why the incense smoke was so thick.

He had considered that Lin Yu might have none left, or perhaps just a few, but he had never imagined Lin Yu possessed over seven hundred of them.

Yet this sharp-mouthed middle-aged man possessed not only a Ground-level Breath-Concealing Technique but also this Mysterious-level breathing method.

Lin Yu remained expressionless. With a flick of his palm, the Blade of Storm blossomed instantly, completely swallowing the mutated star beast.

Lin Hao watched the direction in which Jian Xiaoyao had departed, unable to let go for a long time. When would he ever possess such formidable strength?

Mu Qingcheng frowned slightly. Since Zi Song had sought her out voluntarily, he must have come to a decision and wished to discuss Wantang with her. If she missed this chance, what if he changed his mind?

As they were speaking, the entrance to the tent suddenly darkened. Sui Yuan glanced over and saw the Scholar walking in.

***

According to palace rules, Sun Simiao was not allowed to take the Empress’s pulse directly; he had to do so with a layer of silk gauze between them.

So-called "romantic lies" are fine to say, but in reality, the chasm between classes is not easily crossed.

Li Shimin walked forward, and seeing that the booklet was basically complete, he picked it up and began to read.

The mansion, abandoned for many years, was overgrown with waist-high grass. Rats, cats, and dogs had made it their home; the barking and meowing, sharp and discordant, stirred an inexplicable chill in one's heart.

"I’ll see when you finally tell me the truth!" Shangguan Jiannan grunted, somewhat annoyed.

"When harvests are missed despite the opportunity, storms will brew, the grain will wither, the people will scatter—this is the harm of missing the harvest," Dongnan Fei continued.

Those faces—some excited, some agitated, some weary, some impatient—all shared a single name: Greed. They laughed, they cursed, they shoved one another, but their purpose here was identical: they were all mercenaries who had come for the treasure.

"Peng Hongbao" immediately said "understandingly," "It's fine, it's fine. I can pull up yesterday's medical records and arrange a ward for him first."

When Bengesi, who had entered the disc-shaped aircraft with Hao Shen and the others, saw this scene, he burst into tears.

"Got it, thank you, Master! After the competition, I’ll go back to the Sanhe Hall and hang out with you all!" Wu Sha said.