Chapter 99

Chapter 1: Concealing Clouds and Blocking the Sun

　When she first came out, Yuan Xiaoling didn’t cry; instead, she even snickered quietly.

　”Hehe.”

　Because she realized that after going through so many “trials,” she had become quite skilled at it.

　As long as Bai Ling didn’t go berserk, Xiaoling could stroll leisurely, lying down while playing on her mobile phone with no worries!

　Bai Ling heard her little movement but said nothing, only helping to keep count.

　”1/6.”

　The second time she came out, Yuan Xiaoling had just finished using all her stamina in a Relic Book… Yes, she really lay there playing on her phone, feeling pretty good about it, so she laughed once.

　”Ha.”

　Compared to Bai Ling, whose moves never changed—only knowing how to charge forward and retreat occasionally with slight bends here and there—Xiaoling wasn’t afraid of this at all.

　If you were spinning all the time, it would be fine, but doing it every few minutes? This was like taking a break for health preservation.

　”2/6.” Bai Ling remained expressionless, calmly counting.

　By the third time, Yuan Xiaoling felt something was off. The stamina she used up clearly belonged to her gaming account, so why did her physical stamina pool also feel drained…

　”Eh?”

　Thus, she expressed her confusion with a tone of surprise. Bai Ling hadn’t done anything fancy, just traditional operations—so why did she feel like this?

　”3/6.”

　The heartless counting voice sounded like a cold-blooded killer—cold-hearted yet fiery-handed… No, hand-hot.

　Plop!

　By the fourth time, Yuan Xiaoling could no longer hold onto her phone. Accompanied by the sound of the phone dropping onto the bed, her tender white hands fell limply. She started to panic.

　”Whimper.”

　A soft whimper indicated that she might have realized her mistake, subtly hinting to Bai Ling upstairs to be a bit more lenient towards Xiaoling downstairs.

　Why not say it outright? Because Xiaoling is an ultra-cute blonde busty girl, and cute girls need their pride.

　But Bai Ling paid no attention, her hands not stopping for a moment, only continuing to count cold-heartedly:

　”4/6.”

　By the fifth time, Yuan Xiaoling’s entire body went limp, utterly drained of energy.

　”Nope, nope, I can’t do it anymore, not a drop left.”

　”Sustainable development… Please, sustainable.”

　”Wrong, wrong, truly wrong, next time I’ll definitely be more tactful.”

　Hearing these words made Bai Ling laugh inwardly. Goodness, when others admit fault, they usually say they won’t dare again. But Xiaoling? She merely suggested being more tactful next time?

　There’s a saying: When people admit mistakes, take what they say with a grain of salt. For example, if someone cries and says they won’t dare again next time, you should only believe half of it because the “next time” has limitations and they will likely just restrain themselves a bit.

　So Xiaoling saying “more tactful” means basically no change. No, judging from her behavior since last time she said this, it should be called escalation.

　Let’s escalate together then!

　Bai Ling’s palm pressed fully against her, her wrist exerting force, lifting directly—

　”Waaah—!”

　Her little head tilted to the side as Xiaoling peacefully passed out.

　Zzzz

　”6/6.”

　After finishing the final count, Bai Ling pulled back satisfactorily. Hmm, it wasn’t entirely satisfying though. Although she had thoroughly taught the young brat a lesson, it didn’t benefit herself much either.

　Looking at Yuan Xiaoling lying on the bed, the blonde busty girl was sound asleep, her collar completely open, exposing her glowing Dabeitu under the moonlight.

　Use her as a side dish, then.

　Since Xiaoling had already fainted, Bai Ling had no choice but to rely on herself now.

　…………

　It had been nearly a month since the Tianhai Tower burning incident.

　In this month, many things happened, but all across various corners of Tianhai City. As for the ruins of Tianhai Tower, it stood there crookedly, quiet and lifeless, like a massive tombstone.

　The area around the tower, which should have been the most bustling part of the city center, had now become a no-man’s land. Anyway, with the tower interior burned into a hollow shell and the surrounding areas cordoned off, no one cared anymore.

　Late at night, a retro-style car stopped by the cordon line. A man around forty got out, removing a gray hat, and walked into the building through the cordoned-off area.

　”Mr. Yun He, you’ve arrived.”

　On the first floor of the building, where there should have been no one, sat a circle of people. They surrounded the center, sitting somewhat unevenly due to the scorched and uneven floor.

　They were the vanguard forces of the Yun Family in Tianhai City, while Yun He was an influential figure in the family responsible for laying the groundwork in Tianhai.

　”I thought I’d be welcomed with fireworks when I arrived,” Yun He placed the gray hat on a chair, speaking leisurely.

　Several people in the room looked awkward.

　Yes, according to the original plan, before the Hai Tian Yi Se Chamber of Commerce completely collapsed, they could take over at least half of its businesses. But…

　”The Gray One was supposed to monitor and infiltrate the chamber; he had plenty of leverage,” one person explained, “but he died two months ago.”

　He nodded to someone nearby, who operated a device, projecting an image onto the wall—several bodies were dug up from a flooded cemetery, one of them dressed in gray looking quite ghastly, his body broken into several pieces as if crushed to death.

　These were the people who died in the cemetery two months ago.

　Gray One wasn’t wrong when he said his main job in Tianhai City was related to the chamber, handling Bai Ling was just something he did on the side—something so minor it wasn’t even reported.

　Yun He looked at the projection on the wall, finding another chair to sit on: “How did he die?”

　”Crushed by immense pressure, but based on our recent intelligence collection,” the woman adjusting the projection wiped sweat off her forehead, “it was water pressure.”

　Yun He was known for his ruthless methods; working under him was extremely stressful.

　”Water pressure, huh?”

　He didn’t get angry, only calmly watching these people.

　”Yes, Mr. Yun He, a powerful water elemental force.”

　The projection on the wall changed a few times, showing some intelligent-looking water creatures, with the last picture capturing a large, elongated thing resembling a dragon’s body.

　Finally, the image settled on a picture of a blonde busty beauty.

　”Yuan Xiaoling, a member of the Yuan family, studying at Tianhai University. Her ability is the water attribute of the elemental foundation stone, highly pure, and…”

　The woman hesitated for a moment before continuing, “We examined Gray One’s corpse, and his body showed signs of extensive metalization, indicating fierce combat before his death, but he ultimately perished at Yuan Xiaoling’s hands. Thus, we speculate that Yuan Xiaoling is at least in the late third-tier stage, possibly early fourth-tier.”

　They didn’t know that Bai Ling had mainly controlled the Gray One, allowing Yuan Xiaoling to unleash her full power, but they somehow reached the correct conclusion.

　Yuan family, fourth-tier.

　Upon hearing these two words, Yun He finally showed a look of seriousness.

　”Why did she conflict with Gray?”

　At this question, everyone’s expressions became peculiar.

　”What, you couldn’t find out?”

　Fearing Yun He’s anger, someone in the group quickly said, “We found out—it was because of Yuan Xiaoling’s girlfriend.”

　No one present cared about her sexual orientation, focusing instead on the identity of the girlfriend.

　”Her girlfriend is the orphan of a local merchant in Tianhai, whom Gray One conspired with the chamber to assassinate her entire family. To avoid further investigation, Gray One wanted to eliminate this orphan, but unexpectedly, she… became lovers with Yuan Xiaoling.”

　Even Yun He couldn’t help but twitch his face upon hearing this: “You mean Gray One tried cleaning up loose ends but didn’t expect the other party to have hooked up with someone rich?”

　Most of their intelligence came from Gray One, with a smaller portion from the chamber. Gray One had died two months ago, and the chamber collapsed suddenly within the past month, faster than an avalanche. Moreover, Bai Ling’s abilities generally couldn’t be detected, whether through mental intrusion or telekinesis; cameras rarely revealed anything.

　Instead, Yuan Xiaoling’s skills produced flashy visual effects, and photos of various animal companions were abundant, leading to this conclusion.

　”It seems so far.”

　After saying this, the charred hall fell silent.

　After a while, Yun He slowly stood up:

　”First, determine Yuan Xiaoling’s intentions. If she gets in our way, eliminate her.”

　Getting in the way includes opposing the Yun family and competing with them for control of Tianhai City. As for revenge against the Yun family, such laughable thoughts never crossed Yun He’s mind.

　All these people present, including the deceased Gray One and all the vanguard forces currently in Tianhai City, were barely even a fraction of the Yun family’s true strength. In fact, according to a phrase from a certain book, they were merely a drop of water splashed from the ocean.

　The reason the Yun family hadn’t sent a large force to swallow up Tianhai City at once was twofold: First, the mysterious fragments of the Inner Stone of the Mind required careful operation. Second, they had grown too sharp in recent years, fearing a coalition attack from other families.

　Ever since the head of the Yun family merged with the first fragment—the rock attribute stone plate—the Yun family had been searching for traces of other fragments worldwide. A few years ago, they failed to secure one in Chunhai City against Yuan Lao Ye, causing the latter to forcibly elementarize.

　”For now, control the eyes and ears in Tianhai City. I don’t want the Young Master to arrive later and find himself in the same situation as me today,” Yun He tapped the gray hat beside him, “Understood?”

　The Young Master is coming too?

　Everyone was greatly shocked and hurriedly bowed their heads: “Understood.”

　Yun He picked up the hat, took a few steps toward the door: “After the chamber collapses, which organization in Tianhai City has the most reliable information?”

　”A Nameless Bar.” The woman in charge of intelligence answered.

　”Contact them tomorrow.”

　Leaving that statement behind, Yun He put on the hat and stepped into the darkness outside.

　…………

　The morning sunlight emerged, warmly shining on people, as if capable of healing all wounds and fatigue.

　But Yuan Xiaoling knew that what healed her wasn’t the sunlight, but the Water Dragon LORD’s power.

　”Curing is great,” sighed the golden-haired maiden, “but it’s too great.”

　Each time, even the petal coatings are cured—wasn’t that purely a side effect?

　Turning her head, she saw the white-haired maiden who made her come out six times last night still sleeping, and Yuan Xiaoling couldn’t help but feel annoyed.

　”Get up, get up! Anyone who doesn’t wake up at this hour is a perverted idiot who only thinks about weird stuff!”

　Bai Ling lifted an eyelid, turned over, and continued sleeping.

　Yuan Xiaoling grew even angrier, thinking that Bai Ling knew how to rest now but didn’t know last night, ending with a dragon-head rise for burst damage, leaving Xiaoling confused about her own surname.

　”Sleep sleep sleep, all you think about is perversion and sleep. If you had done it fewer times last night, you wouldn’t be unable to get up now!”

　Xiaoling was furious inside. Through last night’s battle records, she had realized that her comfort zone was the first two times. Starting from the third, things got a bit dicey, with a limit of five times, and the sixth time was straight-up ascension.

　How could Bai Ling not make an exception!

　”Stop messing around, go eat something first,” Bai Ling said with her eyes closed, “and contact the bar owner while you’re at it. I’ll get up soon.”

　Actually, she was so exhausted not because of the dragon-head rise but because after Xiaoling fell asleep, she handled things herself…

　If Xiaoling found out about this, she would surely lose control of her instincts and mock her mercilessly. Then Bai Ling, losing credibility due to being mocked by Xiaoling, would retaliate fiercely. After knocking Xiaoling unconscious, the credibility status wouldn’t end, so she would handle things herself again…

　It became a perpetual motion machine.

　”Tch, lazy minnow.”

　Yuan Xiaoling humphed, got up, dressed, and went out to eat breakfast. Luckily, she only said one sentence, but Bai Ling remembered it.

　After finishing breakfast, she picked up her phone and opened a QQ group she hadn’t chatted in for a while.

　”Lan Jie, Ting Ting Jie, we’re back. Are you both okay? How’s it going recently in Tianhai City? We have something to discuss with you.”

　After about a few minutes—

　[Ting Ting: You’re back? That’s wonderful!]

　[Lan Jie: Welcome back. You also have something to discuss with us? I mean, with Luo Boss.]

　[Yuan Xiaoling: Yeah, you said “also”…]

　[Lan Jie: To be honest, a group claiming to be from the Yun Family just contacted us, wanting to talk to Luo Boss. It feels… unfriendly.]

　Yun Family?!

　Yuan Xiaoling’s eyes sharpened: [When are they going?]

　[Lan Jie: They scheduled it for tonight.]

　[Ning Ning: Then we’ll come in the afternoon! Same place, right?]

　[Lan Jie: Yes, but the boss isn’t there right now. I’ll let him know and try to get him back as soon as possible, hopefully after six in the evening. Also, a lot has happened in Tianhai City recently…]

　[Ning Ning: We’ll wait until we meet to hear about those things. Talk later!]

　Yuan Xiaoling hastily drank the yogurt from her breakfast and ran out, rushing into the house and jumping onto Bai Ling.

　”Get up, get up! Don’t live like a missy; I’ve got news about the Yun Family!”

　Bai Ling originally didn’t want to pay attention to her but perked up upon hearing the latter part: “Yun Family?”

　”Yes, they also contacted the Nameless Bar and are going to see Luo Boss tonight,” Yuan Xiaoling said, “We’ll go at six in the afternoon, earlier.”

　Six o’clock, alright, alright.

　After another half-hour, Bai Ling finally sat up but still didn’t get out of bed, lying at the head of the bed analyzing calmly.

　”They want to recruit the people in the bar to serve them, providing intelligence and a local foothold,” the white-haired girl pondered deeply, “but it’s strange, they didn’t do this last time.”

　In her previous life, the Yun Family didn’t even care about the Nameless Bar, letting it disappear in the chaos of Tianhai City.