Volume One, Chapter 38: The Grand Temple of Azure Lake

“President Cheng, good afternoon.” When Tianya arrived at the western restaurant, Cheng Daofu was already waiting there.

Suddenly, a dazzling flash tore through the gloomy sky, illuminating the silent land below. In that blinding corona, a bloom of crimson fire appeared, and from a distance, it looked like a single drop of blood-red tear.

The whole village of Konoha had also returned to its former peace, everyone immersed in these calm and leisurely days.

Generally speaking, when someone asks to borrow money, whether to lend or not depends on what kind of person they are.

In that brief instant just now, he sensed it— the Ancient Pidgeot had reached its limit. At this point, it was either his life or mine! Even if Ling Xiao’s attack barely scratched the opponent, his assault left the Ancient Pidgeot in such pain that it couldn’t even retaliate, turning it into nothing more than a living target.

Mei’er sensed a subtle change in the atmosphere and quickly fell silent, glancing over at Qing’e, whose eyes seemed to redden once again.

This sword was not slow by any means; in the blink of an eye, it was upon its target. Although Xiahou had run, disaster struck where he’d stood. With a thunderous roar, the immense force of the blade struck the ground, carving out a massive crater several meters wide.

“So they were underground all along?” Naruto gazed at the ground he’d just smashed apart with a punch. Below, the family grounds of the Great Otsutsuki clan were revealed, with floating islands drifting through the air, lending the entire scene an air of sacred mystery.

Aside from the three of them, joining Mark Bain and his party was an old dog named John, who had accompanied Mark Bain for many years. They’d decided to depart right after Forte attended Pingel’s concert.

Listening to Mo Yuling’s laughter, Li Xiaoyi understood. Yes, after that team battle, their numbers had sharply decreased. That meant their fighting strength had plummeted. If the five remaining members could already reach fifth place, what would happen once everyone was revived...

It seemed the source of the dark energy came from the corpses of monsters buried beneath the Longevity Daoist Temple. What surprised Wukong was that the amount of dark energy emanating from those monster corpses was unexpectedly small.

Seeing the situation, Wukong found it hard to make a move. It was only after repeated persuasion from Sha Kuanglan and Zhu Ganglie that he finally swallowed his anger.

Since our seats were right next to each other, we both had to shoulder our rifles at an angle, and our necks grew sore from the posture.

That afternoon, the company commander ordered our platoon leaders to take us soon-to-be discharged veterans out for some shopping.

“Is there really no other way?” Han Yu rubbed his hands together as he spoke. He knew just how potent this elixir was—only to be used as a last resort, never otherwise.

Thanks to Camille’s warning back on Fishman Island about the possible troubles of Muriel’s transformation, Li Xu, Hu Yuqiao, Tu Meixiang, Luo Fengying, and Han Meiyan had made thorough preparations.

His clothing had been utterly destroyed. His battered body lay naked, wrapped in slick, viscera-like filth. Looking down, he could see his chest caved in and his limbs broken.

With a sharp crack, my leg snapped instantly—bone pierced through the flesh of my thigh. Raindrops pattered into the exposed marrow, while the man’s hand remained perfectly unscathed.

Only then did Shui Lian and Peng Ruijuan realize there were people nearby. With a swirl of wind, their clothes were back on.

Uncle Kong and I slowly approached the wardrobe, but the closer we got, the more violently its door trembled, as if whatever was inside could sense our approach.

“How do we get across? There’s no magic here during the day, so we can’t fly,” Chu Xunyu asked.

If not for the Ming army’s victory over Duoduo’s tens of thousands of troops last time, even with a million soldiers, the Ming would never have been taken seriously by the Manchus. But after that lesson, who would dare underestimate them now?

Song Baiyu was lost in the game of chasing points of light, while time outside raced by.

Han Luo, too, understood this back then. The world of philosophy was easy to enter and hard to leave. Yet once you did emerge, it was a world transformed.

Looking down at the roiling lava below, Siyin sighed softly but quickly pulled herself together and looked toward the opposite bank. She silently lamented the harshness of this place. The dried blue locust meat in her pack would last for only one meal. If she couldn’t find a way out or more food, this would be her end.

“How could I ever not want you? Don’t be ridiculous,” Song Baiyu said, gazing at the woman’s luminous eyes. Overcome with emotion, he leaned down and pressed his firm lips to Su Tingting’s alluring, dewy lips.

And now you want me to persuade her? Do you really think she’d listen? I’m your own sister—no matter what I say, she’ll just think I’m taking your side.

We’d almost finished our meal, so Uncle Kong and I left the restaurant. Since Uncle Kong had drunk a bit and couldn’t drive, we hailed a cab back to the villa district.

At last, we reached the southern part of the city. Uncle Kong drove me around the main streets several times, but there was no sign of Xu’s Pharmacy.

At that moment, footsteps rustled through the darkness, immediately drawing the attention of Qi Fan and the others.

With a faint smile, the two of them sheathed their swords, leaving each other in peace. Only then did they begin to take stock of their surroundings—the walls of smooth stone gleamed like jade, occasionally emitting a gentle glow.

After some time scrutinizing Jun Yan, someone finally spoke again, their tone uncertain.

It had been a long time since I’d seen Bing Xia and Yin Jiu spar, so I really couldn’t judge if either was taking it seriously.

As one of the battlefields left from the age of myth, the Spirit Peak, saturated with extraordinary magic, was undoubtedly the best place to gather resources.

After the first attempt to connect the spiritual circuit failed and night was falling, Miku invited Mayuri to stay the night.

In the thick of battle, the masked man and Lin Yuan’s group of four clashed once more, their bodies skidding hundreds of meters backward.