Volume 1, Chapter 53: None of Your Business!

The lead guard took a step back, bowed respectfully, and then withdrew from the room.

After finishing her meal and taking a bath, Xu Zhiyi felt so drowsy that she yawned repeatedly.

"Fusheng, I'm going to sleep for a bit. You don't need to busy yourself with random chores either."

Fusheng obediently murmured an assent, pulled up a stool, and kept watch beside her bed.

"You should go rest on the daybed for a while too. There's no need to stand guard over me like this."

A surge of unyielding fighting spirit ignited within his heart, and a piercing light erupted in his gaze, burning like leaping, raging flames.

At this thought, Simon found it somewhat hard to believe, but the moment he recalled the poppy he had encountered earlier, that fragile trace of disbelief was instantly shattered.

Without even glancing at it, the Dragon Smasher skill struck directly against the bone shield. Instantly, a shattering sound rang out as countless bone fragments flew through the air, accompanied by a chorus of wails from behind the shield.

Moreover, Murong Chen would be coming out before long. Grand as Murong Chen's display of grandiosity might seem, he was actually just doing it to avoid being disturbed. After all, this cultivation process was not merely an experiment, but also the key to whether the Zhongzhou Team could successfully and easily survive this mission.

Having swept Zoro away with a single sword slash, Simon showed not a trace of hesitation. His figure vanished once more, reappearing in an instant before Urge, who wore a look of faint astonishment, and swung his sword at him again.

Countless points of light began to leap from the soul fire, flying upward along that pillar of light.

Ever since Vegapunk arrived at Fulgo and entered the tower, he had been completely silent. Simon had no desire to excessively interfere or inquire into this, so he simply stated his request to leave to Kizaru.

Yet, despite employing every conceivable divine ability and shouting at the top of his lungs, he could not pierce through the laws of the long river of time. Pushing his lifelong learning to the absolute limit and unleashing his ultimate technique in a supreme strike, he still remained powerless to shake the river of time, forced to watch helplessly as everything unfolded before his eyes.

I was dumbfounded. To the best of my recollection, this was the first time Murong Shanshan had ever complimented me, and it was a fatal praise that left me unable to accept it for a moment.

"Because of this, I didn't understand it at the very beginning either. That's why I conducted an investigation in secret." Simon sighed, and began to recount his own experiences over the years.

Upon closer inspection, this fellow looked identical to the Shinigami behind Sarutobi Hiruzen, yet it possessed a tangible physical form rather than a transparent, illusory appearance.

He thought that she probably hadn't fallen asleep yet at this hour, and that the light in her room should still be burning. Perhaps one of those distant rays of light down below belonged to her.

"It's nothing..." Murong shook her head in his embrace, forcing herself to stop letting her thoughts run wild.

"If you want your son to stay alive, crawl back to your felt tent and stop spouting nonsense here," Tuoba Tao sternly declared.

And just like that, the conversation came to a muddled end. From beginning to end, Murong had no idea what the old master had wanted to tell her when he summoned her.

When Xu Chen returned to Bliss Manor, it was already three o'clock in the morning. The moment he pushed open the front door, he saw a solitary figure slumped over the sofa, fast asleep.

Compared to the driver's sigh of relief, Qin's first instinctive reaction upon catching sight of that figure was the urge to escape.

Although he had been drunk that night, and though he could remember nothing of what followed afterwards—not even what she looked like—the memory of that night had lingered persistently in his mind. It was the most profound night of his life, the first time he ever truly experienced the union of body and soul.

"I know, I'll be more careful." Reluctant though she was, she still chose to reply this way, knowing that openly defying her mother would bring her no benefits.

The physician shouldered his medicine chest, bowed respectfully to the young master, and nodded toward Qin Jiu before taking a few steps back with a slight bow, turning to pull the door shut as he walked out.

His first life had been claimed by the barrier of the Asura Ling Wang; his second life had been lost to Xuanmo, the true Holy Monarch of the Demon Realm; and his third life had perished beneath the demonic crossbow of Zhan Ying, the Demon King of the Monster Realm.