Chapter 74: The Dungeon NPCs Are Working Overtime Tonight, Right?

At the same time, on the second golden bridge.

“AAAAAAHHHH—”

Bai Yue crossed her arms and watched with great relish the annual blockbuster “Decontamination” playing out in Su Qingyan’s sea of consciousness.

Watching that once-arrogant spectral figure now being electrocuted into writhing and frantically crawling in the shadows, Bai Yue’s mood was absolutely fantastic.

She hummed a little tune, preparing to secretly add some extra spice to the anti-cheating program and give that old hag a taste of what it truly meant to receive “both thunder and dew as imperial grace.”

Just then—

BOOM!

The golden bridge beneath her feet suddenly lurched downward, then began bucking violently.

The ethereal, misty clouds around them instantly transformed into thick, unyielding grey-black fog.

Then, the void ahead was torn apart like a piece of cloth ripped by brute force, and the scenery underwent a complete transformation.

Rrrrrip—

Accompanied by the grating sound of spatial tearing, a bizarre solitary island rose abruptly from the horizon.

Thick grey-black mist swirled above the island, exuding a heavy aura of ominous foreboding.

Not only that, but as the golden bridge forcibly docked, the surrounding air became extremely viscous, and faint, nearly imperceptible formation ripples spread through the atmosphere—barrier formations specifically designed to block perception.

The internal situation was completely sealed off—the outside couldn’t see in, and those inside couldn’t detect anything beyond.

“What’s going on?!”

Xiao Yueluo exclaimed, instinctively drawing her longsword and warily eyeing the unknown island ahead.

“The trial location changed?

Weren’t we supposed to go to Illusory Moon Island?

This fog is strange!”

She instinctively took a half-step back, bracing herself as if facing a formidable enemy.

In contrast, Su Qingyan’s movements were far more decisive.

She covertly tucked three glowing defensive talismans into her sleeve, her gaze cool and sharp.

Compared to the two of them on high alert, Bai Yue simply stood in place, inwardly marveling.

Now this was the correct way for our Su Qingyan to present herself!

Then, with her hands clasped behind her back, she narrowed her eyes slightly and studied the approaching island with keen interest.

Panic?

What did she have to panic about?

This scene was practically second nature to her!

The dark red mist, the pitch-black reefs, and that nauseating stench of blood that hit her square in the face.

“The Blood Demon Sect’s ancient battlefield ruins, huh…”

Bai Yue muttered inwardly, rolling her eyes so hard they nearly got stuck.

This Biqiu Island was actually a crucial stronghold of the demonic cult.

Back when the Blood Demon Sect was besieged by the orthodox factions, countless demonic powerhouses had fallen here.

The sheer resentment accumulated had transformed the place into a forbidden zone that repelled all living things.

And those demonic cult lunatics, who thrived on chaos, were attempting to use the countless vengeful spirits in this ancient battlefield to free some terrifying sealed entity buried deep beneath the island.

This was an extremely important main storyline!

It was also a “life-and-death trial” that Xiao Yueluo, as the destined heroine, absolutely had to experience!

It was just that…

Bai Yue glanced at Xiao Yueluo, who was nervously swallowing beside her, and couldn’t help but grumble internally.

“Technically speaking, the Biqiu Island dungeon shouldn’t trigger until after the next Ascension Assembly, right?

What’s going on now?

She’s a whole assembly early, and yet it still triggered.”

But then again, upon second thought, this was perfectly normal.

This was the destined heroine, after all!

What was the destined heroine’s passive skill?

It was “Wherever she goes, the local dungeon must forcibly open for business”!

Even if the dungeon NPCs were on holiday, or the boss was still asleep—the moment the heroine’s noble feet stepped in, they’d have to work overtime, forcibly alter formation codes, and get the stage set up!

“This is perfectly reasonable.

Very reasonable.”

Since she knew this was Xiao Yueluo’s exclusive level-up dungeon, Bai Yue was naturally as steady as a rock.

Just as she was about to speak up and calm the two overly tense girls ahead—

A highly abrupt, severely trembling voice transmission suddenly rang out in her mind.

“Do… do you feel like something’s off?”

The source was the black iron ring hanging around Su Qingyan’s neck.

The residual soul, who had just been wailing and crying for mercy, was now completely ignoring the agony of her spirit, screaming frantically in her sea of consciousness.

“Are you deaf?!

I’m telling you to stop!

That place ahead is off-limits!”

The specter’s voice carried a deep, primal terror.

Bai Yue raised an eyebrow, let out a cold laugh in her mind, and replied unhurriedly: “Oh, isn’t this the love guru who was masterminding everything just a moment ago?

What, feeling energetic enough for cross-channel chats now?”

“Stop joking around with me!”

Ling Ji’s voice trembled violently, as if the specter itself was shivering inside the ring.

“That island… the aura on that island is wrong!

Utterly evil!

Utterly dangerous!

My soul may be incomplete, but my perception of danger is never wrong!

Are you insane?!

You’re just walking straight toward it?

Run!”

“Run?”

Bai Yue scoffed, her pace not only not slowing but actually becoming lighter as she took another step forward.

“An ancient residual soul, and all you ever do is shout ‘run’—where’s your backbone?”

Bai Yue’s tone was dripping with mockery.

“I think we should stop calling you Ling Ji and start calling you Runaway Ji instead.

All you ever do when you run into trouble is curl up in your shell.

Besides teaching people to ‘meow meow meow,’ do you actually do anything useful?”

“What do you know!”

Ling Ji, stung by the remark, grew flustered.

“I’m just a residual soul now!

A residual soul, get it?!

This is called a strategic retreat!

Not running away!”

“Oh, a ‘strategic retreat,’ is it?”

Bai Yue drew out the words.

“So it’s still just wanting to play deserter, Private Ling Ji?”

“And as a ‘strategic advisor,’ why don’t you tell me—since the Golden Bridge Formation’s been tampered with, and we’re surrounded by void turbulence on all sides—where exactly are we supposed to retreat to?”

“Well…”

The specter was momentarily speechless.

She’d been so consumed by fear that she hadn’t even noticed their escape routes had been completely sealed off.

“See?”

Bai Yue sighed, her tone suddenly turning earnest.

“Since we can’t avoid it, we might as well face it bravely.

If you really have any skill, when the fighting starts, you can possess someone and go on a rampage—I promise I’ll have a whole new level of respect for you.”

“I… suddenly feel really dizzy…”

Inside the ring, the specter suddenly clutched her head, beginning a terribly unconvincing act.

“Ooh, that formation just now scattered my divine sense…

Who am I?

Why am I here?

What Ling Ji?

I’m just an innocent wandering spirit passing through—I have no idea what you’re talking about… I need to go into hibernation now, do not disturb…”

With that, the faint divine sense fluctuation zipped back into the deepest recesses of the black iron ring, not daring to leak even a wisp of presence.

“Heh, coward.”

Bai Yue rolled her eyes without any pretense.

And this was supposed to be an ancient great power?

More like an ancient ostrich!

Done with this playing-dead old fossil, Bai Yue unilaterally cut off the connection to her sea of consciousness and refocused her attention on reality.

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