Chapter 45: A Trapped Beast Still Fights

Chu Huaizhou blinked, unsure he heard right, pointing at the ring.
“Ye Feng, you’re saying… the guy in the ring needs time to wake up?”
Ye Feng nodded meekly, adding softly, “From what I can tell, it might take a few days…”
Her eyes darted to him, watching his every move.
What?
He recalled Black Abyss—in the game, Emperor Xiaoyao absorbed soul fragments instantly.
Was it because the emperor was too weak to process it now?
Tch. Hoping for Emperor Xiaoyao to restore his cultivation was a bust.
He’d have to head to the Bone-Corrupting Nether River and see if he could help.
No way he’d sit safely in the rear—that wasn’t Chu Huaizhou’s style.
“Alright… I, this seat, understands.”
Nodding, he hid his frustration, turned with Bai Li in his arms, and left.

Bai Li tilted her head, sending a mental message.
“Human, is Calamity Plague Emperor easy to handle, meow?”
Chu Huaizhou: “No idea. It happened fast. Not sure if Qingqiu can manage. Let’s check it out.”
Bai Li nodded, her expression resolute.
She secretly vowed to stick close to him and bolt at the first sign of danger, meow.
If she had the strength, she’d drag Leng Qingqiu along—despite disliking her, there was some bond there.
Gazing at the blue sky, white clouds, and passing cranes, her clever mind whirred, sending another message.
“Human, it’s super far to that place. How do we get there, meow?”
Though proud of her escape speed, she couldn’t sustain it long-distance—her spiritual energy would drain halfway.
Crossing tens of thousands of miles to Hanyuan Dynasty, even non-stop, would take a day or two.
Chu Huaizhou: “No rush. Qingqiu promised to pick us up after she’s ready.”
Bai Li: “Got it. But…”
Paw to chin, pondering Leng Qingqiu’s nature, she replied, “I bet Qingqiu, to keep you safe, won’t take you and will handle it alone with Xia Baiqian.”
“That won’t do. I told her—”
Before he finished, he realized she might actually do that.
Trick him back to the sect, then solve it with Xia Baiqian? Totally plausible.
And he had no real way to force her to fetch him. Tch…
Standing on the peak, gazing at the vast horizon, Chu Huaizhou felt at a loss.

Meanwhile, at Hanyuan Dynasty’s border, near the Bone-Corrupting Nether River.
The once-lush forests and sparse villages were gone, replaced by an endless deep-green swamp.
Bubbles gurgled, thick poisonous mist swirling, contained by the Hanyuan Imperial Guard’s Nine-Revolving Mysterious Heaven Array.
Seventy-two golden talismans shimmered on the barrier, trapping the toxin in this death zone.
In the swamp’s center, two figures hovered.
An orange-yellow figure faced a dark-green one, neither striking first.

Calamity Plague Emperor stood atop a skeletal soldier mound, his form neither human nor beast.
Over three zhang tall, his ashen skin cracked with fissures.
Four arms: the upper pair sharp as halberds, wrapped in rusted chains; the lower pair skeletal, dripping corrosive venom that hissed into toxic pools.
His deer-like head bore seven twisted horns, his noseless face split by a toothy maw stretching ear to ear.
Xia Baiqian, now in her Qiongling Feather Robe crafted by a master array expert, kept her white boots.
She stood on a massive emerald gu, its horns absorbing the surrounding miasma to protect her.
A treasure gourd, her top-tier spiritual treasure Hundred Gu Immortal Refining Gourd, hung at her waist.
Countless gu, none below Void Refining, swarmed around her, including a platinum nine-winged, nine-horned gu radiating Great Vehicle aura.
Eyeing the demon, she inwardly grimaced. So gross! Her gu were far cuter.
But she couldn’t show weakness—any sign of fear, and he’d pounce.
Ugh, I just want to go back to Master!
While complaining inwardly, her hands didn’t falter.
Slender fingers subtly formed seals in her sleeves, her divine sense threading to her gu, forming a vast network.
She waited for him to break the stalemate, ready to unleash her “big baby” and make him pay.

Calamity Plague Emperor eyed the young Great Vehicle cultivator, a beast-tamer, with disdain.
After killing Youming Sect juniors, he’d “savored” their memories, learning over ten thousand years had passed.
Perfect. His old enemies were gone.
Thanks to a supreme being’s power and his unique dao, he’d survived.
Initially ecstatic, he then glimpsed a terrifying figure in those memories—a sword strike that could cleave space, chilling him.
Against such a being, hiding was futile.
Worse, several powerful auras lurked nearby.
Fleeing now would mean death by their hands.
His best shot? Fight, grow stronger through battle, and seize a chance to live.
His greedy gaze locked on Xia Baiqian.
An early Great Vehicle beast-tamer? A fine tonic.
After half a day of recovery, he wasn’t at his peak but could handle her.
“Hey, little girl, where’s your elder? You dare face me alone?”
He taunted, absorbing nearby life force into nourishment.
“Against trash like you, I’m enough.”
Xia Baiqian stayed composed, projecting confidence.
She should stall for Leng Qingqiu, but with those terrifying auras watching from above, she had to act tough.
Her peripheral vision caught their presence, observing the standoff.