X
Yao Yanyi prepared to ambush Ding Ren and Xi Yu, but he hadn’t devised a particularly meticulous plan.
He simply did one thing: he summoned the Lamp-Skull Tree.
The tree hadn’t actually moved very far from Xincheng City.
Following his call, it lurked beneath the ground not far from him.
If Guan Zhang and his men had continued their search at that moment, they might have actually found a trace of it.
However, having only just finished their initial inspection, they hadn’t started a second round yet, which allowed Yao Yanyi to successfully summon the entity to his side.
The safe arrival of the Lamp-Skull Tree allowed Yao Yanyi to relax completely.
Possessing absolute confidence in his own strength, he felt that nothing could possibly go wrong from here.
First, he would ambush Ding Ren, then seize the opportunity to capture Xi Yu.
With Xi Yu as leverage, he could force Ding Ren to head toward the core of the Ghost Domain.
Once there, he was certain he could capture Ding Ren and use him as a hostage to lure a Middle Continent B-class expert into a fight to the death with the Ghost Domain.
In the end, he would swoop in to claim the spoils of victory and emerge as the ultimate winner.
Thinking of this, Yao Yanyi even felt a sense of admiration for his own ability to turn a crisis into an opportunity.
Everything was still under his control.
It wasn’t until the sudden upheaval occurred that he realized how laughable his confidence had been.
He had spent the entire time believing everyone else was dancing to his tune, only to realize he had fallen into a trap himself without knowing it.
****
To the observers, Yao Yanyi looked like a cornered beast fighting for its life, but inwardly he was remarkably calm.
Until the very last second, he would never admit defeat.
Furthermore, his greatest trump card had not yet been revealed.
When he was called the “Ghost Crying House,” he had been momentarily stunned, but mostly he wanted to laugh.
He couldn’t fathom how Xi Yu and the others had reached that conclusion, but it had provided him with an opening—a chance to turn the tables.
Thus, he had to remain as calm as possible.
However, Yao Yanyi was still deeply anxious.
Ding Ren’s strength was formidable; while they currently appeared to be an even match, it was only because Ding Ren was restricted by the need to protect Xi Yu behind him, forcing him into a passive defense.
Once Guan Zhang joined the fray, the pressure on Yao Yanyi increased significantly.
After a moment, Yao Yanyi reached his limit; if he were killed outright by Ding Ren and the others, even his strongest trump card would be meaningless.
But just then, he was filled with ecstatic joy.
Xi Yu, standing behind Ding Ren, appeared worried about being caught in the crossfire or perhaps simply panicked, for he suddenly bolted away from the center of the battle toward a spot outside the city gates.
And that spot happened to be exactly where he had hidden the Lamp-Skull Tree.
Originally, he had only intended to use the tree to ambush Ding Ren and had kept it hidden.
Now, it was a literal godsend; his ultimate target had delivered himself right to his doorstep.
This surprise came so suddenly.
Decisively and without further hesitation, Yao Yanyi summoned the Lamp-Skull Tree.
Xi Yu’s reaction delighted Yao Yanyi, but it left everyone else utterly aghast.
At a time like this, moving away from Ding Ren’s side was incredibly unwise.
While it seemed dangerous near Ding Ren, the captain could protect him; once he left that protection, anything could happen.
Only Ding Ren’s eyes nearly split with rage.
In that split second, he had already realized what Xi Yu intended to do.
Vroom!
A bizarre sound suddenly exploded within the hearts of everyone present.
Simultaneously, the ground began to shudder.
Crr-ack.
The earth split open, and a massive tentacle lunged out from beneath the ground, coiling around Xi Yu—who had just run over—with incredible speed.
The sudden transformation stunned everyone.
They watched in horror.
The tentacle holding Xi Yu was covered in rows upon rows of glowing heads.
These heads were arranged like the suckers of an octopus, densely carpeting the tentacle.
Most belonged to various ghosts, but the rest were unmistakably human.
At that moment, all the heads let out a chorus of agonizing wails.
In an instant, everyone felt their hearts throb and skip a beat, as if they were about to leap out of their chests.
“Everyone stop, or I’ll kill him!” Yao Yanyi laughed manically.
He controlled the Lamp-Skull Tree to hoist Xi Yu high into the air.
This was the definition of a sudden reversal.
He had thought he was finished for the day, but he had actually managed to catch the chance to seize Xi Yu.
At this moment, despite his usual composure, he couldn’t help but feel ecstatic.
BOOM.
The earth erupted further.
The true form of the tentacled head-beast fully emerged from the underground; in that moment, everyone felt their souls tremble with fear.
It was a horrific, giant ghost with ten head-covered tentacles.
Its upper body resembled the Lamp-Skull Tree ghost they had seen before.
Beneath the canopy, the glowing heads swayed as if in a breeze.
The shrieks caused everyone immense pain.
And Xi Yu dangled from its grip like a doll.
Ding Ren clenched his fists, his gaze terrifying.
He knew Xi Yu would be fine no matter what, but under Yao Yanyi’s threat, he still halted his attack.
On the other side, Guan Zhang was also stunned by the sudden change and instinctively stopped his assault.
Seizing the opportunity, Yao Yanyi instantly broke through their encirclement and ran toward the Lamp-Skull Tree.
“Let Xi Yu go!” Zhang Qingyuan and the others arrived, nearly going mad at the sight of Xi Yu caught by the tree.
“If you take another step, I’ll have the tree drill a hole through him!”
Yao Yanyi ignored them completely, his mind now at ease.
He had indeed caught the right person; at this moment, no one, including Ding Ren, dared to move.
Even Guan Zhang and his men, influenced by Ding Ren’s hesitation, didn’t dare to strike.
Zhang Qingyuan and the others indeed didn’t dare to advance further, but their eyes blazed with fury as they glared at Yao Yanyi.
“So it was you! You were the one controlling the Lamp-Skull Tree?!”
Guan Zhang finally processed the reality. He glared at Yao Yanyi, a staggering killing intent erupting from his body.
“The ghost sieges… it was your doing all along!” Guan Zhang roared. “What exactly are you trying to do? What benefit does this bring you?!”
At this moment, Guan Zhang was filled with an indescribable sense of regret, self-blame, and rage; he truly wished he could grind Yao Yanyi’s bones to dust.
“What am I doing? I’m going to become the first A-class in the Middle Continent!”
“I’ll be the first S-class on Kun Star! I will be the uncrowned king of this world!”
Reaching the side of the Lamp-Skull Tree, Yao Yanyi finally felt safe, experiencing the relief of having survived a disaster.
“Madman!” Guan Zhang bellowed.
However, Yao Yanyi looked at Guan Zhang with pure disdain.
“My ambitions and my grand plan are things you could never understand.”
“I lurked in Xincheng for so many days, playing all of you like fools. If not for this boy named Xi Yu, you’d still be in the dark.”
At the mention of Xi Yu, he couldn’t help but grit his teeth, wishing he could kill him on the spot.
But fearing a frantic retaliation from Ding Ren, he restrained himself.
However, his once handsome face twisted with malice.
“It’s all because of you, kid! If not for you, I wouldn’t be in this predicament!” Yao Yanyi’s eyes blazed with fury as he looked at Xi Yu.
Xi Yu looked back at him with an innocent expression.
Yao Yanyi was dazed for a moment by Xi Yu’s reaction, then he suddenly snapped back to his senses.
He knew he had lost control just now; it wasn’t yet time to lose himself in triumph.
At the same time, he took a deep breath, completely unable to understand why Xi Yu’s face showed not a hint of panic.
“Quite the brave little brat. To remain calm even in the face of death—no wonder I fell for your trap,” Yao Yanyi sneered. “But I’d like to see what trump cards you actually have now that you’re in my hands.”
Xi Yu gave him a faint smile, then winked at Ding Ren.
It was almost an explicit signal to Ding Ren: ‘Don’t interfere for now. I’ll handle Yao Yanyi myself.’
His act of running out was, of course, intentional.
The truth was, he had never underestimated Yao Yanyi, nor the power of the Lamp-Skull Tree.
He believed the combined strength of Ding Ren and Xincheng could certainly kill them both, but against a frenzied Lamp-Skull Tree, the city would inevitably suffer casualties.
And no one could guarantee how high those casualties would be.
Especially if Yao Yanyi focused solely on escaping, the price paid would be even more staggering.
Furthermore, he suspected Yao Yanyi had other hidden means.
Therefore, it was safest and most reliable for him to handle it personally.
Since that was the case, he had to create an opportunity for Yao Yanyi to successfully take him hostage—this had been his goal from the very beginning.
And now, the opportunity had succeeded.
Simultaneously, he had forced Yao Yanyi to tear off his mask.
Now, he just had to wait for Yao Yanyi to take him away.
He didn’t know that Ding Ren was currently on the verge of losing his mind.
He understood Xi Yu’s meaning and knew that he shouldn’t make any meaningless moves at this moment.
But he had never hated himself so much; he had actually let Yao Yanyi capture Xi Yu.
Even as he finally realized that Xi Yu had been hiding many things from him from the start, and even though he knew Xi Yu was doing this on purpose—that this was his goal—he still hated himself.
He hated that he hadn’t detected Xi Yu’s plan.
He hated that he wasn’t strong enough to protect him.
He hated even more that he hadn’t just captured Yao Yanyi from the start, preventing all of this from happening.
This caused him an unprecedented degree of self-loathing.
He had always thought himself quite powerful among C-classes—even the “King of Twin Cannons,” Acrylic, was wary of him.
Yet first there was the Head-Swapping Ghost, and now this unknown Yao Yanyi whom he couldn’t even overcome immediately.
He was still too weak.
For the first time, he felt such a desperate craving for power; he wanted to become strong at any cost.
In that moment, a sky-piercing killing intent rose in his heart.
This was the first time in his life he had ever wanted to kill someone so badly.
Yao Yanyi was both shocked and enraged by Xi Yu’s reaction, driven to a state of frantic irritation.
However, he held back; there was no need to argue with a dead man.
He even began to wonder if there was something wrong with Xi Yu’s head—who could laugh at a time like this?
Or did the boy really think he was some powerful ghost in disguise?
‘Well, he didn’t even see the Lamp-Skull Tree coming and thought I was the Ghost Crying House, so clearly his special talent isn’t that strong after all.’
Conversely, Ding Ren’s reaction made his heart skip a beat.
Although Ding Ren hadn’t spoken, the aura around him was terrifying.
While Yao Yanyi didn’t think he was afraid of him, he was outnumbered here. Since his original plan was to lure him to the Ghost Domain anyway, there was no point in continuing the fight here.
“Captain Ding, don’t get excited. There’s only one of this exquisite little fellow. If you move forward even slightly, I’ll snap his arm first, then wring his neck.”
A smile played on Yao Yanyi’s lips, but his eyes were ice-cold; he had recovered his composure.
“Yao Yanyi, what exactly do you want?!” Guan Zhang glared at him.
“City Seat Guan, can’t you tell? I’m taking a hostage,” Yao Yanyi mocked.
He didn’t dare linger any longer.
Since Guan Zhang and the others had seen everything they needed to see, everyone now knew Xi Yu was in his hands.
As long as he captured Ding Ren as well, his mission would be accomplished.
“Ding Ren, if you want this kid’s life, come find me in the Star-Dream Jellyfish. If I don’t see you before dawn, then prepare to collect his corpse.”
Yao Yanyi laughed and leaned backward; he was caught by the Lamp-Skull Tree and, along with Xi Yu, vanished into the hole they had emerged from.
“Tell the First Realm Guard.”
Ding Ren left behind a single sentence and vanished into a blur before everyone’s eyes.
“Ding Ren, don’t go! It’s definitely a trap!” Guan Zhang roared anxiously.
But Ding Ren’s silhouette was already about to disappear.
“None of you follow me! Everyone return to the city and stay on high alert!” Guan Zhang barked.
Without hesitation, he chased after them as well.
Despite his lingering doubts about Ding Ren, he could not, under any circumstances, allow anything to happen to him.
More importantly, he had completely misjudged Yao Yanyi.
To think that he was the one controlling the Lamp-Skull Tree and was the mastermind behind the ghost siege—the realization made Guan Zhang feel as if he were about to explode with rage.
****
“Captain Zhang, what do we do?!” Fang Jianbo was near tears, wanting to chase after them as well.
“Return to the city.” Zhang Qingyuan took a deep breath.
He wasn’t a fool; he knew Xi Yu had intentionally used himself as bait.
Zhang Qingyuan knew Yao Yanyi was finished.
Xi Yu might have had reservations in Xincheng City, but in a place with no witnesses, Yao Yanyi would likely regret making the worst decision of his life.
He could never truly harm a divine dragon.
Yet, Zhang Qingyuan was still furious.
It was because they were too weak that Xi Yu had to resort to such a risky method.
“Back to the city to train!” Zhang Qingyuan snarled.
“Yes!” Fang Jianbo and the other five responded with equal ferocity.
Ding Ren had only one thought in his mind.
‘Kill.’
This was the strongest urge he had ever felt in his life.
The intense killing intent condensed into physical form within his soul, manifesting as a faint, illusory soul blade.
The Mutation Particles in the atmosphere seemed influenced by this killing intent, surging frantically into his body.
As the particles gathered, the soul blade became increasingly distinct.
He knew Xi Yu wanted to help them resolve Xincheng’s crisis; he knew Xi Yu had good intentions.
But that was exactly why he was so furious and so guilt-ridden.
The better Xi Yu was to the Middle Continent, the less Ding Ren could bear the sacrifices Xi Yu was making for the nation.
The more he felt himself to be useless.
He knew that by the time he arrived, everything might already be over, but he just wanted to do something—anything—even if it was only a small help.
With every step Ding Ren took, the killing intent in his heart grew stronger.
With every meter he advanced, the Blade of Slaughter became more solid.
Every existence in his path fled in terror, but Ding Ren didn’t even notice them.
His eyes were fixed only on the increasingly massive Star-Dream Jellyfish ahead.
Previously, it had taken him over three hours to reach the jellyfish; this time, it took him only one, though Ding Ren himself was completely unaware of the time.
Finally, Ding Ren arrived at the edge of the Star-Dream Jellyfish.
Without hesitation, he stepped inside.
Sizzle.
Like cold water falling into boiling oil, the body of the Star-Dream Jellyfish instantly seethed.
The horrific mountain-sized body began to shake, causing the surface to erupt as if a massive tsunami were occurring, with flashes of light pulsing violently across its surface.
In this moment, the Star-Dream Jellyfish seemed to come alive, its body emitting immense fluctuations.
The sky-piercing killing intent from Ding Ren made the entity sense a powerful threat; it wanted to eradicate the intruder within its body at any cost.
Stepping into the body of the jellyfish, Ding Ren felt as if he had entered another world.
He looked up; the sky was filled with a crystalline luster.
The entire world brightened instantly.
The shimmering starlight within the jellyfish’s body seemed to possess a life of its own, wandering everywhere.
But now, they suddenly went into a frenzy, diving toward Ding Ren to burrow into his head.
They were the culprits responsible for putting invaders to sleep.
Now, they wanted to do the same to this human, turning him into nourishment for the jellyfish.
But the soul blade in Ding Ren’s soul emitted discharges like electrical currents.
Every bit of starlight that touched them was reduced to crystalline dust that scattered on the ground.
Ding Ren felt not a single abnormality; his mind had never been as clear as it was at this moment.
Then, he looked into the depths of the crystalline world.
There, one black silhouette after another began to speed toward him.
On the other side, Yao Yanyi and Xi Yu had also successfully arrived at the edge of the Star-Dream Jellyfish.
But the violent reaction of the jellyfish caused his expression to change drastically.
“He actually arrived before me?! How did he do it?!”
Yao Yanyi was incredulous.
Although they had just clashed and Ding Ren was powerful, he hadn’t thought much of it, having enough confidence in the Lamp-Skull Tree’s horrific power.
But now, he was truly shocked.
“According to his previous speed, it’s impossible for Ding Ren to be this fast. Did he hide his strength? No, that’s impossible. Or did he improve this much in such a short time? That’s truly terrifying. He couldn’t be… about to break through to B-class, could he?”
Yao Yanyi didn’t dwell on it for long. Though surprised, the stronger Ding Ren was, the better it was for him right now.
Ideally, Ding Ren would immediately ascend to B-class and fight the Ghost Domain to a mutual destruction; that would be even better, as it might mean the nation’s B-class experts wouldn’t even need to come.
Furthermore, Ding Ren carried a nuclear warhead; perhaps he could actually destroy the domain.
“Give it your all.”
Yao Yanyi looked at the state of the jellyfish with anticipation.
“Releasing killing intent inside a Ghost Domain will inevitably trigger a full-scale retaliation. If they can truly take each other out, I can pick up the pieces without lifting a finger.”
He never intended to truly fight Ding Ren to the death; as long as Ding Ren was lost within the Ghost Domain, the result for him would be the same.
Thus, the current situation was an unexpected bonus.
Ideally, Ding Ren wouldn’t be able to hold out and would detonate the nuke directly.
He needed to stay far away now; he couldn’t let Ding Ren discover that he hadn’t actually entered the jellyfish yet.
Next, he just had to wait for the battle between Ding Ren and the Ghost Domain to conclude.
Suppressing the urge to continue observing, Yao Yanyi controlled the Lamp-Skull Tree to dive back underground.
He had long ago dug a passage beneath the earth, so he didn’t need to worry about being affected by the domain.
While the Ghost Domain was powerful, it hadn’t yet grown strong enough to radiate into the ground.
Soon, the world before Xi Yu’s eyes turned dark once more.
Yao Yanyi glanced at Xi Yu and suppressed the urge to torture him, continuing their journey.
He planned to let Xi Yu live a bit longer.
After all, the boy was a divine tool for dealing with Ding Ren.
If he let Ding Ren witness him torturing the boy, the captain would surely go mad.
It was a coincidence.
What he didn’t know was that Xi Yu was thinking the exact same thing.
Right now, the further they were from Xincheng City, the better.
Furthermore, he hoped Yao Yanyi would take him directly to the core of the Ghost Domain, saving him the trouble of searching for it after his transformation.
A Ghost Domain was massive, and the core would surely be hidden cleverly.
Left to himself, he would have to spend a significant amount of time searching, and time was exactly what he would lack most after becoming the white dragon.
As for the core’s location, he was certain Yao Yanyi would know; given the man’s personality, he wouldn’t have started his move without ensuring everything was foolproof.
Xi Yu watched as Yao Yanyi led him through the underground for another half an hour before finally stopping in a subterranean space.
He couldn’t help but look around.
The place was neither too large nor too small.
It was about three hundred square meters with a height of six or seven meters.
It was packed with various supplies.
Besides meat products, there were grains, various drinks, and pure water in abundance.
Even resources that had become luxuries after the catastrophe—like cigarettes and candy—were all present.
These resources were enough for anyone to live here comfortably for several years.
He didn’t know how Yao Yanyi had managed to collect so much.
Seeing this, Xi Yu was completely certain that in his previous life, Yao Yanyi’s plan must have succeeded.
The most dangerous place was the safest place.
Likely, after seizing the Ghost Domain core in his past life, Yao Yanyi had hidden here for the first two years to successfully survive his period of weakness. Then, he soared to power, leaving the Middle Continent helpless against him.
Yao Yanyi tossed Xi Yu aside carelessly and collapsed onto a stone chair in the center.
He casually took a bottle of red wine from the stone table nearby, opened it, poured himself a glass, and began to enjoy it.
The flavor of the wine was very pure, and its fragrance drifted through the air.
After the catastrophe, such wines were among the most precious resources—one bottle less for every one drunk—yet he had plenty here.
The Lamp-Skull Tree stood in the center of the chamber; the dense heads on its body were now silent, having ceased their wailing.
At that moment, two of its tentacles extended upward out of the space, though they made no sound, appearing to be observing something.
The chamber was very bright; the light radiating from the hundreds of heads on the Lamp-Skull Tree lit the space like daylight.
Around the space were six dark tunnels; it was unclear where they ultimately led.
Xi Yu crawled up from the ground, unable to help but feel a sense of admiration.
Yao Yanyi was not only cautious, but he truly was like a “cunning rabbit with three burrows.”
No wonder he became such a threat to the Middle Continent in his previous life.
Trying to catch him would be incredibly difficult.
In this life, if he hadn’t run into him early, once the man reached A-class again, catching him wouldn’t be easy at all.
If Yao Yanyi hadn’t brought him here personally, he really wouldn’t have known about this massive underground storehouse.
“Kid, how do you want to die in a bit?”
Yao Yanyi had rested enough and decided it was time to deal with Xi Yu.
He examined Xi Yu with a mocking gaze.
Now that Xi Yu was in his hands, he could dispose of him however he wished.
Admittedly, Xi Yu’s appearance was truly stunning, almost making him feel a bit soft-hearted.
If he didn’t need the boy to deal with Ding Ren, he would have been tempted to take his head now for his collection.
Though he couldn’t “break” him yet, he could still treat him as an appetizer.
It would be a good way to vent his earlier frustration.
While Ding Ren was the main course, a well-prepared appetizer would definitely be more flavorful.
The Lamp-Skull Tree extended a tentacle, coiling around Xi Yu and hoisting him before Yao Yanyi.
However, Xi Yu’s expression remained very calm, even carrying a faint smile.
This infuriated Yao Yanyi as never before—did this brat not know the situation?
He felt like he was being viewed as a mere clown in the boy’s eyes.
“Kid, I’ve changed my mind. I’m definitely going to let you live a while longer.”
“I want you to watch as I kill your Captain Ding with my own hands. I want you to see Xincheng City destroyed by my hand.”
Yao Yanyi spoke each word with emphasis.
Xi Yu sighed inwardly; looks like he couldn’t keep up the act any longer.
But since they had reached this point, there was no need to pretend anymore.
Yao Yanyi had indeed correctly guessed his importance to Ding Ren and had successfully abducted him.
Only, the man would likely never want to know what his true form actually was.
Xi Yu had originally wanted to stall for a bit longer to see if Yao Yanyi would take him to the Ghost Domain’s core, saving him the time of finding it himself, but it looked like he couldn’t wait.
THUMP.
Just then, a massive rumble echoed from above the earth.
The powerful fluctuations were felt even by Xi Yu and Yao Yanyi in the underground chamber.
Yao Yanyi’s face filled with horror. “He’s actually… really about to break through.”
In that moment, even the consistently overconfident Yao Yanyi couldn’t help but feel a surge of jealousy.
To achieve a B-class breakthrough, he had spent years of effort to find such a perfect location, and even then he had to meticulously plan before feeling he had a chance of success.
But now, it felt as if Ding Ren’s breakthrough was as simple as eating or drinking.
At that moment, above the underground chamber.
One of the Lamp-Skull Tree’s tentacles extended directly to the earth above.
This was precisely the core location of the Ghost Domain—within an unknown valley.
The valley appeared as if it were adorned with diamonds, crystal clear and translucent.
It completely lacked the sinister, eerie aura possessed by most ghosts; every blade of grass and every tree in the valley radiated light.
The entire valley was exquisitely beautiful, resembling a legendary celestial realm rather than a haunt of ghosts.
In the center of the valley sat a small fountain.
Deep blue spring water gushed from its opening.
This spring water was high-concentration Mutation Particles; every drop that flowed out was equivalent to a Mutation Essence from an F-class beast or ghost.
The water didn’t flow away; after gushing out, it turned back into Mutation Particles and dissipated into the air, only to seemingly re-condense beneath the fountain again.
Around the edge of the fountain sat fifty or sixty white-jade, giant spider-like ghosts, each the size of a large square table, crouching on guard.
These were the Giant Stone Spiders Guan Zhang had spoken of.
But there wasn’t just one; there was an entire swarm.
As the massive commotion echoed from not far away, the spiders all grew restless.
Immediately, half of them crawled out of the valley and soon vanished.
After being devoured by Yao Yanyi, the Lamp-Skull Tree had actually become a completely dead object. As long as Yao Yanyi didn’t control it to seize the Ghost Domain core, it wouldn’t be attacked here.
Thus, Yao Yanyi had been able to observe every move of the core.
Seeing half of the spider ghosts vanish, he was overjoyed.
When he first discovered this core, there were only ten Giant Stone Spiders. He had tried to attack then, but had been forced to flee in a panic.
Though none of the spiders were B-class, each was a top-tier C-class; with ten working together, he could only barely preserve his life.
Not to mention the many other various ghosts further away who were completely controlled by the domain.
“Ding Ren, you’d better give it your all and successfully break through.”
Yao Yanyi anticipated with excitement.
Sure enough, after several more massive rumbles occurred.
All the remaining Giant Stone Spiders in the valley finally crawled out.
Yao Yanyi was elated.
However, not only did he not take the chance to infiltrate the core site, but he instead controlled the Lamp-Skull Tree to retreat from the valley.
The next moment, the tree coiled around him and Xi Yu and pushed aside the stone table next to him.
To think there was another tunnel entrance beneath it.
At that moment, Xi Yu paused his transformation process.
This tunnel was quite narrow; Yao Yanyi had no intention of sparing Xi Yu, so the boy’s body was covered in scrapes from the tunnel walls along the way.
Only, the blood flowing from him was no longer much; some wounds even healed the moment they appeared.
Unfortunately, Yao Yanyi was far too distracted to notice by now.
In just ten minutes, a sea of blood-red suddenly appeared before Xi Yu’s eyes.
Subsequently, a spectacular and eerie scene manifested.
This was also an underground space, but it was exceptionally vast.
Every corner of the space appeared completely crystallized, possessing a glazed luster.
In the center of the space sat a massive, blood-colored heart, with three long, flesh-colored structures resembling blood vessels connected to it.
The heart was pulsing violently like a living thing.
With every beat, a pulse of blue light radiated from it. This blue light then followed the vessels on the heart and extended to unknown locations.
Beneath the blood heart sat a giant, blood-red, jade-colored spider ghost.
Its size was more than double that of the white-jade spiders outside.
It radiated an extremely powerful aura, even infinitely approaching a true B-class. It looked as if this ghost could ascend to B-class at any moment.
Currently, this giant Blood-Jade Spider appeared very agitated, crawling incessantly beneath the heart.
Yao Yanyi could hardly suppress the ecstatic joy in his heart.
‘I actually succeeded.’
He knew that the core site in the valley earlier was a fake—a pseudo-core naturally formed by the Ghost Domain as a distraction.
The true core of the Ghost Domain was the red heart before him.
He had discovered the domain over a month ago and had long since mapped the area out. He had waited until the domain had grown enough to be completely unafraid of B-class experts before beginning his plan.
Now, as long as he used the Lamp-Skull Tree to lure away the Blood-Jade Spider and used Xi Yu to force it into a fight to the death with Ding Ren, he could leisurely devour this core.
Although he would be forced to abandon the Lamp-Skull Tree, some sacrifices were necessary for gains.
“Go, Lamp-Skull Tree! Lure it out!” Yao Yanyi barked.
BOOM!
The winds shifted and the clouds roiled; the very earth seemed to tremble.
Just then, an astounding change occurred once more as a colossal silhouette suddenly appeared in the space.
Yao Yanyi sensed something was wrong and snapped his head around, only to feel his soul nearly leave his body.
The massive silhouette was not his Lamp-Skull Tree.
It was—a dragon.
A divine dragon from the myths and legends of the Middle Continent.
At this moment, the dragon’s eyes, filled with divine majesty, were staring at him calmly.
In an instant, a sky-shattering chill completely submerged Yao Yanyi.
He had never considered himself arrogant, but he was inherently extremely confident, believing he had the ability to turn any crisis into safety.
For all these years, no one had ever seen his true face; everyone had been played like fools by him. Everything he did had gone off without a hitch; he had always been the victor, the final winner.
Even when he was in danger moments ago, he had remained calm.
He felt that no matter what, there was still hope.
But in this moment, all his pride, all his confidence, and all his reason were shattered by the white divine dragon before him.
He could clearly see the dragon’s scales, feeling as if he could reach out and touch it.
Xi Yu had vanished, and a divine dragon had appeared in his place.
It turned out he wasn’t crazy; he truly had the foundation for his confidence.
It was just a foundation that no one could have possibly imagined.
“This is impossible!” Yao Yanyi roared.
He simply couldn’t imagine, nor comprehend, how a legendary divine dragon could appear out of thin air before him.
He even felt it was utterly absurd; Guan Zhang had actually been right—there was indeed something wrong with Xi Yu.
Only he wasn’t some ghost; he was the totem from the legends of the Middle Continent. Naturally, he wouldn’t harm humans, and naturally, Ding Ren and the others would protect him.
“This can’t be real. It has to be fake!” Yao Yanyi didn’t want to believe it, nor did he dare to.
“Right, it’s an illusion. This is a mental attack from the Ghost Domain; everything before me is a hallucination.”
A realization rose in Yao Yanyi’s heart.
Immense hope erupted from the depths of his being; if it was only an illusion, what did he have to fear?
A smile reappeared on his face. “Dammit, I nearly crumbled from a mere hallucination.”
Just then, a massive dragon claw descended from the heavens.
Before Yao Yanyi could even react, he was crushed into the ground by the dragon claw. The world before his eyes turned completely dark.
In his final moment, a look of profound horror was frozen on his face.
Solving Yao Yanyi with a single strike happened without the slightest accident.
In this confined space, even if the “King of Twin Cannons,” Acrylic, had come, his only end would have been death—let alone a minor C-class expert.
Xi Yu didn’t give Yao Yanyi any chance to leave behind last words.
For a demon who had killed as many as he had in his previous life, letting him breathe for even a second more was an injustice.
And so, the A-class super-criminal [Taotie], who would have caused countless deaths and brought chaos to the Middle Continent, died right here in this unknown underground hole.
After annihilating Yao Yanyi’s soul along with him, the Lamp-Skull Tree nearby completely ceased its movements.
The light on the dense heads on its body began to dim, and then the heads turned into ash one by one.
Creak.
Seeing the white dragon appear, the Blood-Jade Spider lunged forward without a hint of fear.
Harnessing the white dragon’s spiritual power to sense Ding Ren’s position, Xi Yu gave a gentle flick of his tail, smashing a hole directly through the earth and tossing the Blood-Jade Spider right in front of Ding Ren.
Ding Ren was on the verge of his B-class breakthrough; a little pressure was exactly what he needed to help him cross the threshold.
****
Outside the fountain valley.
The sharp blade in Ding Ren’s soul finally successfully descended into reality, manifesting directly above his head.
This soul blade was powerful to the extreme.
With a gentle swing, no ghost could withstand a single blow.
However, Ding Ren’s state appeared very poor; blood was seeping from every pore of his body.
His eyes, in particular, radiated a terrifying blood-red light, looking as if they might explode at any second.
Only now did Xi Yu truly see Ding Ren’s condition clearly.
“He’s breaking through to B-class, but it’s not completely successful?”
Xi Yu realized instantly that Ding Ren’s current situation was very dangerous.
But at the same time, he was astonished by Ding Ren’s state.
Breaking through to B-class was no simple task.
For the lowest F-class, one needed to reach a Mutation Particle concentration of about thirty percent in their body or soul. For E-class, the particles had to cover the entire body or soul.
For D-class, at least one tissue of the body or soul had to be completely mutated or soul-transformed.
C-class took it a step further, requiring a complete part—such as a hand or an ear—to be fully transformed. The strength would vary depending on which part was transformed.
B-class, however, was completely different.
Previous transformations could be either body or soul. But to ascend to B-class, one had to complete a full transformation for one part of the body and one part of the soul respectively.
Every breakthrough increased strength and physical toughness.
Once reaching B-class, there would be a qualitative change; the body would experience a massive, multi-dimensional leap forward.
But the importance of B-class didn’t end there.
During the breakthrough process, there was a very low probability that the body’s mutation traits would undergo a qualitative change, forming a Food Sacrifice ability.
Generally, these were Extraordinary Food Sacrifices; Morbid Food Sacrifices were exceptionally rare, and one needn’t even think about the Divine Sequence at the top.
However, there was another possibility that was only slightly more common than a Divine Food Sacrifice, and similarly existed only in legends.
That was a Soul Skeletal Gear.
This was a natural skeletal gear born within the soul, possessing no side effects and capable of growth.
A Soul Skeletal Gear was inherently more bizarre and terrifying than an ordinary skeletal gear.
While not an absolute rule, most Soul Skeletal Gears were comparable to the strongest Morbid Food Sacrifices.
The soul blade above Ding Ren’s head right now was a Soul Skeletal Gear.
Not only that, but Ding Ren’s eyes were also undergoing a transformation, giving birth to a very powerful Food Sacrifice ability as well.
To the vast majority of lifeforms, manifesting even one of these two would be an incredible stroke of luck—let alone manifesting two powerful abilities simultaneously.
But because of this, it was actually not a good thing for Ding Ren right now.
Both the Soul Skeletal Gear and the Food Sacrifice ability required immense amounts of energy to sustain. Even if Ding Ren had been fully prepared, it would have been dangerous—let alone a rushed breakthrough like this.
Currently, everywhere Ding Ren went in the Ghost Domain, he was unstoppable.
He hadn’t fully ascended yet, but the power he unleashed was already terrifying. If he ran into the Head-Swapping Ghost again, the ghost likely wouldn’t even withstand a single stroke of his soul blade.
But he was overdrawing his potential; even if he succeeded in breaking through, he was destined to not live a long life.
****
Ding Ren appeared completely unaware of his own situation.
He walked neither fast nor slow, but nothing could make him stop.
Xi Yu had originally thrown the Blood-Jade Spider over to let Ding Ren use it to spark his potential for the breakthrough.
But he now realized that Ding Ren’s potential wasn’t lacking; rather, it was because he had sparked it too much—too much was as bad as too little—leading to an insufficient foundation.
What he needed now was a massive, pure, and side-effect-free source of energy.
Upon realizing this, Xi Yu didn’t hesitate.
With one claw, he shattered the Ghost Domain core, which had instinctively sensed danger and tried to flee.
In an instant, the blood heart burst into fragments amidst a brilliant red light, subsequently condensing into five glowing spheres.
After a moment, the spheres gradually revealed their true forms.
“Oh?”
Even Xi Yu couldn’t help but be surprised. He knew the Ghost Domain born here wouldn’t be ordinary, but he hadn’t expected such a massive harvest.
No wonder [Taotie] had risen so quickly in his past life.
There were actually five essences that dropped from the core: aside from the Mutation Essence and Soul Essence, there were two Divine Transformation Essences and one Food Sequence Essence.
Ghost Domain cores generally dropped Mutation and Soul essences, so Xi Yu wasn’t surprised by those. But to drop Divine Transformation and Food Sequence essences simultaneously—that truly surprised him.
A Divine Transformation Essence could directly increase the level of a Food Sacrifice ability, while a Food Sequence Essence could enhance a lifeform’s potential within the sequence. Both were priceless; even terrifying entities at Sequence 2 or 3 would go mad for them.
At this moment, even the white dragon’s body within him sent out a powerful surge of desire.
Xi Yu resisted the immense temptation. Aside from keeping the smaller of the two Divine Transformation Essences, he struck all the others into Ding Ren’s body.
Although he was also incredibly enticed by these essences, Xi Yu ultimately gave them up without hesitation.
His current human form hadn’t even reached F-class; using them now would be a waste. It was better to give them all to Ding Ren.
He certainly wouldn’t lack for resources in the future; hoarding them now was a case of being penny-wise and pound-foolish.
This might allow Ding Ren to break through to A-class as quickly as possible. At that point, the Middle Continent would have a “stabilizing needle,” potentially securing more survival chances for the nation in the future.
Ding Ren watched as the spider ghost flew toward him. Even this powerful ghost, infinitely close to B-class, couldn’t make him flinch.
With a gentle quiver of the soul blade, the spider ghost was instantly split in two, as dead as could be.
Even an ordinary B-class expert might not have been able to achieve that, but Ding Ren felt nothing right now. He looked ahead.
The white dragon was there.
Ding Ren realized immediately that he was too late.
Xi Yu was already safe; in the end, he hadn’t been able to help at all.
Seeing that Xi Yu had ultimately resolved the trouble on his own, he felt an indescribable sense of dejection and loss.
Influenced by this, the soul blade and Food Sacrifice ability—which he had been controlling with his powerful will—instantly became unstable, on the verge of collapsing.
Although even Ding Ren himself didn’t know what these two things born within him were, he was certain that if he forced it, he could successfully condense them.
But the result would be a fleeting brilliance.
If he only kept one, he should be able to make it through without incident.
In the past, Ding Ren would have chosen the former without hesitation.
The feeling of a brief but dazzling brilliance fascinated him. But now, he decided almost instantly to give up one of the abilities.
He just wanted to live well, and then, if the chance ever came, to give Xi Yu a good beating.
“Captain Ding, take this!”
But before he could give up the soul blade above his head, four sources of pure energy were instantly injected into his body.
In a heartbeat, Ding Ren felt a sense of comfort spread through his entire being. The sensation of his soul being torn apart vanished instantly.
Subsequently, the two abilities about to be born gradually stabilized.
Not only that, but he felt he had plenty of energy to spare, and the sense of crisis finally vanished.
Ding Ren let out a silent sigh but accepted Xi Yu’s kindness.
However, influenced by the Divine Transformation and Food Sequence essences, the transformation in his eyes underwent another mutation. It began to draw energy from his body at an even more ferocious rate; the energy Xi Yu had injected was starting to become insufficient again.
Fortunately, the next moment, Xi Yu injected something else into him—something unknown—and the energy in his body was replenished once more.
With this, all hidden dangers in Ding Ren’s body were finally gone, and the metamorphosis proceeded in an orderly fashion.
After an unknown amount of time, Ding Ren finally felt his state stabilize.
He felt more powerful than ever before.
Not only had he successfully stabilized as a B-class expert, but he had also manifested two extremely powerful abilities.
He instinctively knew how to use the soul blade condensed in his soul, as well as the special ability born in his eyes.
[Heart Eye: You can refer to everyone as a ‘flaw.’]
Before Ding Ren could even proactively explore it, the Heart Eye ability activated on its own, appearing to be a passive ability.
He had his eyes closed, but he “saw” Xi Yu sitting not far in front of him.
Furthermore, every inch of Xi Yu’s skin was revealed in his mind with absolute clarity.
But the difference was that Xi Yu’s current body appeared crystal clear and translucent to him, and he could even see the blood flowing within him radiating a mysterious light.
[Does such a weak creature even need to worry about flaws? But it must be said, you may not find a more perfect existence in this world than him.]
Ding Ren felt it was miraculous.
In the perception of [Heart Eye], Xi Yu was indeed very weak—full of flaws, yet perfectly flawless. It was highly contradictory.
He couldn’t help but marvel inwardly; as expected of a dragon, he couldn’t be viewed with common logic.
However, the next moment, Ding Ren was stunned by another function of [Heart Eye].
‘I wonder what Food Sacrifice ability Ding Ren manifested this time? After absorbing the Divine Transformation and Food Sequence essences, it must be even more powerful, right? Either way, his strength will definitely have a qualitative leap. Once the Divine Arena appears, the Middle Continent will have even more confidence in preserving its elite forces.’
‘I’ve already sent Guan Zhang back, so his problem is finally solved. We can enter Xincheng soon. Nice.’
‘The crisis from the dragon instincts is temporarily resolved too; at least for a few days, I won’t have to worry about it. The next step is to quickly reach F-class; that’ll keep me completely safe for a while.’
‘The key now is still resolving the dragon lust. It’s a hidden danger after all; if I have to suppress it by force every time through transformation, the risk of exposure is too high.’
‘It’s probably better to find someone who’s easy on the eyes for that kind of thing. If only they could look as good as Ding Ren…’
‘Sigh, maybe I’m being a bit greedy. There aren’t many like Ding Ren in the entire Middle Continent. I’d be happy with someone half as good as him. Or… fine, even a third as good and I’ll be satisfied.’
Ding Ren’s hand suddenly clenched. He must be having hallucinations.
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