Chapter 42

The Coiled-Dragon Demon-Suppressing Pillar danced through the air like a mischievous child, landing beside Sun Youwei, who reached out to stroke it as golden light began to shimmer across its surface.

"It turns out to be a giant python; no wonder it felt somewhat familiar," Han Bing remarked. Below them, the purple mist churned ceaselessly, revealing the indistinct silhouette of a colossal entity moving within the fog, occasionally producing a deep, rumbling sound as its massive body scraped against the earth.

Since the antique merchant of Binjiang was so magnanimous as to offer his cherished possession to my father, my reaction was not only one of deep gratitude, but also a contemplation of how best to repay this kindness.

They possessed no profound cultivation; even if they had any, it was merely at the first or second stage of Body Tempering. Untouched by worldly disturbances, they simply lived out their peaceful lives in their own tranquil way.

"That's not it at all! I am here under the master's strict orders, having traveled for two full days specifically to reach the Huai County Yamen to pay my respects to the Magistrate!" Shizikui chuckled sheepishly, his deadpan expression highly amusing.

Lu Ranran instantly realized this as well. Having blurted it out unintentionally just moments before, she snapped her mouth shut the moment Zhu Kai offered his reminder.

He Yue never expected that Chen Meihong would also resort to acting coquettishly. Coquetry from his own wife was his absolute weakness; helpless against it, and driven by his deep love for her, he could only wait patiently on the side while they chatted away.

During the daytime, the geisha houses in Ginza catered primarily to foreign tourists, as only they possessed the curiosity for this indigenous lifestyle and the luxury of daytime hours to visit.

Seeing Shangguan Yunfei actually begin inquiring about Zhao Zilong's identity, Zhou Dasheng could not help but feel a flicker of surprise.

Shangguan Xue remained sullen and puffed up with anger. Striding back to her room, she emerged carrying a bedding set, her meaning glaringly obvious: Xia Fan was banished to sleep on the sofa.

An Nianchu was thoroughly startled by the lazy, languid voice. Reaching out, she pulled away the man's hands covering her eyes, revealing a striking, celebrity-like face right before her.

Turning a corner into another street, he sprinted wildly until he finally burst out onto a highway. Shrouded in thick fog, even with the enhanced vision of a martial artist, he could only discern objects within fifty meters; anything beyond that distance became an absolute blind spot.

Ever since the agonizing power was gradually transmuted by him, that intense pain had vanished. Even the addiction to the poison previously injected into him by old Bi had quietly disappeared under Qiu Ling's treatment. Now, the only task left was figuring out how to maximize the destructive potential of this extreme heat and bitter cold.

Gao Jue stepped out of the conference room and slowly walked downstairs, his mind already turning over an entirely different matter.

She could stroll across the campus clutching her textbooks, run laps around the athletic field, and occasionally play badminton with her classmates, but the vast majority of her time was dedicated to accompanying her students.

"Right, is there any food? I'm practically starving to death," Qiu Xuan muttered, rubbing his empty stomach as it let out a loud rumble. He offered an embarrassed, sheepish smile. The three of them exchanged knowing glances and burst into hearty laughter.

Was her physical condition truly this abysmal? Could it be traced back to that severe hemorrhage and miscarriage? Was it... caused by him?

This trip to the detention center yielded one expected outcome and one unexpected one. The expected development was Pigu's cowardly submission; Gu Le had anticipated this all along, knowing that a craven individual clinging to life possessed neither the integrity for martyrdom nor the courage to go down with his enemies. The unexpected surprise, however, was that miracle of officialdom.

Gu Le paused in brief contemplation before instantly grasping the crux of the matter. Hesitating for a moment, he cast a glance at Shuxin standing beside him.

Climbed up to the surface, he found the moonlight hazy and the shadows of the surrounding trees swaying. They were still within that same forest; no centipedes or wild rats scurried here, and an utter silence blanketed the entire area.

Since the void was capable of creating the existence of "being," could the present emptiness create a cyclical, stable space capable of maintaining equilibrium?

Sotu, an eight-leaf Grand Wizard, was the first to step into the stone coffin, plunging straight into the aura of death. True to expectation, armed with the "Purple Crystal Grass" he carried, the deadly aura immediately parted around him, leaving him completely unharmed by its assault.

Yet, whether these were genuine tears or tears brought on by laughter, how could Bai Yi possibly fail to distinguish the two? Bai Yi offered a bitter, self-deprecating smile, a wave of melancholy washing over him. He felt as though a sudden, hollow void had opened up in his chest, aching with emptiness. Even so, he continued to smile, his expression devoid of the slightest trace of sorrow.

Meanwhile, the "Ink Qilin" served as the avatar of the god of death; wherever it passed, all living souls were annihilated, resembling the arrival of the apocalypse.

"Does a descendant of the former dynasty truly exist?" It seemed that when Shen Hao threatened Gu Erya, he had also made mention of this remnant lineage of the previous dynasty.

Wasn't this a blatant implication to everyone that he had driven the Marquis of Wu out purely because he was terrified the latter would expose his flaws and cause him to lose face?

Though helpless, having already weathered the harrowing process of searching, breaking down, and absolute despair, Magistrate Yang's psychological resilience had reached a new height, allowing him to barely stomach this outcome.

"Just how much do you know? Speak the unvarnished truth, and I shall spare your life." Once the King of Confucianism uttered his decree, who would dare utter a word of dissent?

Projecting his spiritual will outward, Jiang Yi instantly sensed the surrounding anomaly. Unawares, he had fallen victim to the stealthy machinations of this fiend—truly an insidious strike impossible to guard against.

Dugu Hong had already departed by this point. He was in desperate need of rest. Although he had been unconscious for an unknown duration earlier, he now felt an overwhelming physical exhaustion, acutely aware of how utterly tired he was.

Alan assumed Ling Feng was testing his competence, having no inkling whatsoever that the grandmaster in his eyes was actually completely ignorant of the profound arts of alchemy. He answered with the utmost reverence, leaving no detail out for fear that his responses might displease Ling Feng.

"I presume it was you who wiped out the Mo family? Quite ruthless of you!" A sharp flash cut through Pang Yichen's eyes. Remarkably, he found himself unable to pierce through the cultivation levels of the two figures before him—likely masking their realms via some technique—though he chose not to dwell on it.

The two exchanged blows for several rounds in an instant, their residual energy sweeping outward and causing the massive city walls to violently tremble. Fractures split across the masonry in spiderweb patterns. Finally, trading a heavy palm strike head-on, the two instantly separated, leaping backward to stand at a distance and glare at one another in a standoff.