Volume One, Chapter 80: Mr. Lu, Please Behave Yourself

"Your appearance is somewhat like a tree whose branches have been weighed down, and a bit like a mop dragging across the floor." Ayana raised a finger to point at Fide's head, which was stuck to his face by long black hair, then poked at his hair with her finger.

All he could hear was breathing, and suddenly Lei Li opened his eyes. To his astonishment, he found himself standing in the midst of the stars.

Just as Yang Chong was rejoicing, a strange prompt sounded in his ears. The Temporal Nexus informed him that while these items could indeed be taken out of this world, after leaving, he would need to pay a corresponding number of evolution points to keep them. If he lacked enough points, all of them would vanish.

As they drew nearer, they saw that ahead there was nowhere to go, only a broken cliff wall. Looking down, scorching flames rolled below. Chu Lingfeng tossed a stone in, and before it reached the bottom it was already turned to ash.

Jinfeng revealed a mocking, faint smile. Excellent, everything was unfolding as expected. At last, she could sweep away this obstacle herself—and perhaps even gain a capable ally in the process.

Everyone at the banquet was drenched in cold sweat, grateful they hadn't provoked that devilish figure. But who was he, really? Even the leader among the Four Young Masters of Suhang, Shangguan Maple Leaf, obeyed him.

"Xu Ruohé!" Xiao Rang's face was bulging with veins. He shouted, mouth spraying blood mist in succession, compressing his immortal force for a more frenzied burst, desperately struggling against the white light.

The damaged skeleton was incredibly strong. It crashed straight into Huntian's massive body. Huntian, unable to skillfully control the ancient demon body for the moment, was instantly knocked flying. Yet Huntian was tough—he climbed up from the ground without letting go of the skeleton.

After listening to Lin Yu, everyone present broke out in cold sweat. If they had a choice, not many would dare risk it for Lin Yu's peerless beauty. Lin Yan himself initially sought to use Lin Yu as a way to climb higher—otherwise, he wouldn't have dared.

He instinctively submerged himself in the water, turning his back so Qin Wan wouldn't see his ugliness at that moment.

If he possessed the power of the Open Meridian Realm, a young prodigy with limitless potential, how could he have become a discarded pawn sent for a political marriage?

"This time, the competition has incredibly generous rewards. The top five disciples can be directly promoted to personal disciples. That's why there are five thousand inner disciples participating!" Lin Skyvault announced.

To untie the bell, one must find the person who tied it. As long as Lord Ling Jiuxuan didn't pursue him, wouldn't he be safe?

He snorted coldly: "I just returned from the Sacred Land of Celestial Pivot, only to hear that someone would marry my sister, a peerless prodigy, and thought it must be someone of extraordinary talent. But it turns out to be just a useless Meridian-Opening cultivator?"

In an instant, Song Shiyu felt a tremendous blow; even his state of mind wavered, and darkness overcame him as he fainted.

"Hmph, I'll go find someone right now! The entire Tian family guard will be mobilized. It'll show outsiders the consequences of offending the Tian family, let them know that in the capital, the Tian family still exists, and its prestige cannot be defied!" Tian Guoquan declared with overwhelming dominance.

Village Chief Changgen appeared hesitant, thinking it best to get to the bottom of things—what if someone deliberately caused trouble here?

Gu Xue didn't even have time to utter a complete sentence; Qin Wan slapped her several times, swelling her face.

"Old Star, the boss has finally opened his meridians!" Fang Yan summoned the Star Dragon Sword Spirit, his voice tinged with emotion.

Wei Yan was sent flying by a single slash, lying unmoving on the ground for a long while. Xiao Zhan's blade force was exceptional, turning into thread-like energies that could move inside the body. Right now, they were dormant, but if he wished, those threads could transform into the most terrifying blade aura, shredding the human body to pieces.

"All right!" The fat man handed over a bulging pouch without another word. After all, this favor should have been given at the auction—better late than never.

On the surface, these zombies, aside from their pale skin and lack of any hair, looked nearly identical to ordinary humans. Their basic attack, defense, and speed stats were at least five times higher than those of rotten zombies, making their combat power equivalent to that of a regular soldier.

The most terrifying and hardest-to-defend aspect of the Heart Thought Sword lay in its ability to manifest at will, arising directly from the opponent's own external world energy, with no distance between it and the target's body.

'Taidong's work for the new year must be well-coordinated, and should surpass last year's achievements. Your abilities are quite satisfactory; with you in Taidong, I feel reassured,' Ma Yijiu nodded.

'Mmm, delicious, not bad at all.' Lin Dong quickly finished a piece in three bites, then his chopsticks flew across the table, grabbing one piece after another.

As that shadowy figure made his cold move, the "true self" nearby swiftly dissipated.

Elsewhere, Liu Qinglong continuously drilled his troops, while Jia Zheng recruited everywhere, focusing mainly on retired soldiers. In just three days, he'd gathered nearly a hundred men, and now their battle hall boasted almost five hundred subordinates.

Testing could only ever be speculation—she needed complete proof. At first, nothing could be found; the demon race who poisoned had wiped out all evidence. Yet for Xiao Zhan, as long as something ever existed, traces would remain. The difference lay in whether one had the skill to recover what had been erased.

Even the faint resistance of the air had become something he needed to carefully consider.

Under such circumstances, the Emperor of the Wa Kingdom finally decided to mobilize the entire navy, including over twenty light and heavy carriers, a host of warships, preparing to head to Huaxia for rescue, hoping to drive back the Vanguard Fleet of the East China Sea, and with air cover, execute a retreat.