61. Cocoon Woman Village (18)

As if struck by a bolt from the blue, Jiang Shan felt his worldview completely distorting. Even someone foolish wouldn't be this absurd, would they?

With these words, Jiang Shan got up, walked over to the desk, nodded at his boss—whose expression was somewhat solemn—and then glanced around the office.

However, maintaining the Illusionary Heaven Nine Changes technique right now could not last too long; it needed to be recast approximately every two hours.

"It killed five of my companions in a single blow, how could it possibly be of ordinary quality? It must be a one-star beast! You're lying to me!" Wang Zhipeng roared, his face streaming with tears.

This was akin to an enemy swinging a blade, and while there were many ways to block it, the simplest method was neither to dodge nor parry, letting the blade strike home and considering the blow successfully blocked—though whether one would survive the process was, of course, another matter entirely.

Gross said indifferently, though he could no longer suppress the smile on his face. Sure enough, as soon as he uttered those words, the faces of these young people once again turned glum.

Faced with this situation, the Savage Bear Bandit Troupe was stunned for a moment, and then wildly spurred their horses forward, shouting various regional accents of mockery and abuse.

Suddenly, a streak of white light darted over from afar. Before the gate-guarding ghost attendants could react, the white light had already flown straight through the stone gate.

Aside from Qu Xue'er, there were two figures floating in the air: one stood upon a long sword, looking just like a sword immortal from the Mount Shu Sect. This was another of Bai Fan's very important ghost servants named Mo Liye, who in his lifetime had been a renowned sword god of the Spring and Autumn period.

High in the sky, dozens of helicopters and fighter jets circled and roared above Zhang Cheng's head, yet they all maintained an altitude of a thousand meters, not daring to draw close.

Nothing brings more joy to a master than seeing their disciple surpass them. Although Guo Lin had not yet reached that stage, the resources and opportunities he currently commanded were far superior to what he himself had possessed at the same age.

"Old Madam need not worry! Muxuan is setting out on an expedition soon and has come specifically to bid farewell," Situ Xiao said with utmost courtesy.

"Such a despicable person is truly a perpetual sinner of our Great Ming!" Zhao Wu said angrily to Yu Shilong.

"More than a decade ago, I was bullied by a wealthy young master at the Moon Blossom Pavilion. You did the exact same thing then—beat that fellow soundly, dragged me running through several streets, and hid us in a rundown alleyway." She laughed as she caught her breath, the spirited cleverness in her laughter even more radiant than in years past.

Why did the man before her look so inexplicably happy? Could it be that he truly had no idea why she had come to see him today regarding Li'er?

"Plop..." A pebble struck Xiao Yan's body. Xiao Yan instantly felt a stifling chest tightness; his speed inevitably plummeted, his footing turned unstable, and he crashed heavily to the ground. A mouthful of fresh blood surged from his chest up into his throat. "Blech..." Xiao Yan opened his mouth and spewed a mouthful of blood.

Liu Yunchang rubbed his hands, looking somewhat flattered as he smiled. In truth, he had countless words of gratitude for Gong Jiaxi, but now that they had truly met face-to-face, this bellyful of appreciation seemed impossible to express, and in the end, he could only keep it all bottled up inside.

Ye Chengzhi took out all the garments from within, turning back to look at Xia Hai-tong—whose face was flushed with utter embarrassment—with a hint of bewilderment in his eyes.

Besides, even if Wang Defang had already discovered Xia Hai-tong's identity and sought to put her to death, would Xia Hai-tong—no matter how foolish or dim-witted—fail to realize that Wang Defang wanted her life? Would she still exert herself so desperately to protect her?

When Situ Xiao awoke, he found a blanket draped over his shoulders. Sitting there, perhaps overcome by exhaustion, he had actually fallen asleep. A faint sliver of sunlight streamed in through the window, yet a wall lamp remained lit inside the room. Mengzhu still lay on the bed, her complexion under the soft glow appearing somewhat less deathly pale than before.

Just as Ling Xi had anticipated, the moment Liu Lianying caught sight of Lin Jun's car and person, she rushed forward frantically, blocking his vehicle directly.

"It's fine. Fortunately, he was just making verbal threats and didn't damage any of our property," the bartender remarked.

The two old folks laughed through their tears, embracing one another tightly, their aged eyes brimming with moisture.

Not far from me lay an object. I rubbed my eyes—it was precisely the insect coffin that the thousand-year-old corpse had been leaning against, and it was about to roll down into the crevice. The young man hastily shook off the iron-club-wielding brute's grip and sprinted over to retrieve it.

Then, breaking out in a cold sweat, I realized Gu Zongci was sitting right beside me. As I looked at him and then surveyed everything in the room, it dawned on me: it had all been a dream. All those terrifying things had now completely faded far away from me; they were merely dreams.

Ye Lingxi cast a gentle side-glance at them. Those who had been suppressing snickers instantly felt as though a basin of cold water had been dumped over their heads; they coughed lightly in unison and instantly wiped the smiles from their faces.

As a result, the endless stream of arriving guests kept all the staff members rushed off their feet, leaving them no time to rest.

"To think you are all young ladies of noble families, yet the words you speak are so utterly lacking in propriety!" Yan Duo'er clenched her fists, wanting to argue her case.

"Of course we should. They are members of the alliance, and furthermore, we need their strength," Han Feng said.

"That cannot be determined with certainty just yet, as it depends on the patient's own constitution," the physician replied.

"He simply hasn't arrived yet? Hmph, the duel was scheduled for today, yet he drags his feet and fails to show, and you still claim I am lowering myself?" Wu Chen narrowed his eyes and said.

Qi Er had also figured it out: this test required not only speed, but also intense concentration. One had to remain focused amidst all the shifting directions and must never be fooled by the visual halos before their eyes.

All along, Qi Er's aspiration for absolute concentration was that the skill's duration could last longer once activated, and that the restriction of only being able to use the absolute concentration skill once per day could be somewhat relaxed.

However, his expression was quite poor—presumably fleeced by the so-called sucker he had mentioned, though it remained a mystery how many out of the ten submachine guns he had actually managed to sell him.

Here, mountains towered one above another; the thousand-zhang peaks, which were rarely seen in the boundless sand-sea cultivation world, were truly ubiquitous.

Swaying purple glazed wind chimes, brilliant and translucent fiery dahlias, fragrances of every description filling the air, bright red and dripping-sweet candied hawthorn skewers carried from alley to alley, and fortune-tellers hoisting high banners to read people's fortunes—everything dazzled the eyes.

Gu Huayin watched him in such a state of panic from the side, convinced in her heart that the Demon Realm Princess must be the object of his affection. Viewed in this light, it explained why he had braved danger alone to rescue the Demon Lord despite not being a member of the demon race himself.