Chapter 353: The Observer in the Shadows
On the beach beyond the East Sea.
Looking at the increasingly exaggerated ominous clouds swirling over the sea, the ladies sitting on the sand, enjoying their ice cream, were casually chatting.
“… Why haven’t they returned yet? What if they’ve run into some danger?” Zhang Xiaoying propped her head up and said, a bit worried.
“Probably not. He’s not the weakling he used to be,” Gu Yingmian replied, leaning over and stealing a bite of Zhang Xiaoying’s ice cream.
“That’s true. Once you hit the Great Ascension stage, there’s not much that can threaten him.”
Bai Ming licked his ice cream and whispered, “Honestly, I’m more worried about another scenario.”
“What scenario?”
“Like him diving into the East Sea looking for treasure and accidentally running into the mermaid queen and successfully bringing her into his harem.”
Yan Rouwan said, “… I don’t know why, but I feel like that scenario is even more likely than something bad happening to him.”
“But the abnormalities over there are getting more intense,” Hua Jianglian gently shook her delicate jade feet. “Do we really not need to check?”
“If you’re that worried, just go take a look,” Si Jingzhu asked curiously, “With your Great Ascension powers, it shouldn’t be a hassle.”
“It’s not that it’s a hassle… I just want to eat ice cream right now.”
After a brief hesitation of a few seconds, Hua Jianglian chose to continue blissfully licking her sweet ice cream, saying, “Forget it, he’s so strong; let him handle himself.”
The ladies nodded in agreement.
Sorry, Young Master Sang. It’s not that I don’t want to look for you.
It’s just that the ice cream is too delicious.
——
——
Under the East Sea.
The giant spiritual energy vortex nearly covered the entire barrier.
It felt like all the storms from the sea had been stuffed into this barrier.
Amidst the deafening howls of wind, Nian Nian leisurely sat in the center of the storm, holding a lollipop and curiously playing with the newly acquired Ksitigarbha Crystal.
Before her, a majestic spiritual vein had shrunk to the size of a building.
Finally, it was impossible to tell how much time had passed.
The spiritual energy vortex, like thousands of threads, all converged into Young Master Sang’s dantian.
As the last remnants of the spiritual vein vanished, Young Master Sang slowly opened his eyes.
“Whoa…” he lowered his head and glanced at his palm.
“Wait a minute.”
“Three hundred million spirit stones’ worth of energy was enough to boost me to the Great Ascension stage before.”
“Why, with this spiritual vein worth over three billion spirit stones, did my cultivation only reach the mid-sixth stage peak of the Great Ascension, and I didn’t even break into the late stage?”
“I told you, after reaching the Great Ascension, the capacity for storing spiritual energy undergoes a qualitative change.” Nian Nian lazily chimed in, “Do you know why every Great Ascension cultivator takes hundreds of years to advance?”
“You’ve completed in one hour what took them hundreds of years, and you’re not satisfied?”
“I get the idea…” Young Master Sang still felt a bit down.
He thought he had struck lucky this time and would get to the same level as Li Shanyan in one go.
But it seems, there’s still a long way to go.
“On the bright side, the Ksitigarbha Crystal has integrated with your mask mode.”
Nian Nian popped her lollipop out, giving it a gentle shake: “From now on, even if you’re sleeping, the Ksitigarbha Crystal will help you naturally gather and absorb the world’s spiritual energy, turning it into high-quality spirit stones.”
“As long as you have the Ksitigarbha Crystal, Host, just live a few more years and you’ll surely catch up to Li Shanyan.”
Young Master Sang pouted, his gaze drifting over Nian Nian’s cheerful expression, suddenly asking:
“Hey, little merchant, did you secretly cut in and take some when I was absorbing the energy?”
“Tch, dumb Host. Who would want your lousy spiritual energy? Pfft.” Nian Nian made a face at him.
Young Master Sang unceremoniously snatched the lollipop from her hand: “Then where did your lollipop come from? Did you secretly trade my points for it?”
“What, what!” Nian Nian’s face suddenly flushed, “A single lollipop is only three points; do you have to be so stingy?”
“Hmph. You know me, stingy or not?” Young Master Sang smirked as he popped the lollipop into his mouth, “If I bought it with my points, then it should be mine to enjoy.”
Nian Nian, embarrassed, glared at Young Master Sang as he savored the lollipop she had just had, and in the end, she could only angrily kick him in the butt.
“Go die! Stupid stingy Host! I won’t talk to you until tomorrow! Hmph!”
They bickered, as usual.
Young Master Sang felt that if one day this noisy little merchant wasn’t around to irritate him, he’d actually feel a bit uncomfortable.
Suddenly.
Young Master Sang, who had been playfully teasing, suddenly froze, his gaze becoming sharp as he looked toward the barrier.
“… Show yourself.”
Outside the barrier, it was pitch black, not even a hand in front of one’s face.
As if being stared at by an abyss.
Young Master Sang stared hard at the darkness, slowly asking, “Nian Nian, something’s been watching me since I started cultivating, hasn’t it?”
“Hmph. I said I won’t pay attention to you.”
Nian Nian huffed, turning her head away: “There’s still twenty-three hours, fifty-nine minutes, and twenty seconds.”
Young Master Sang: “…”
In the darkness, that unsettling shadow had disappeared, and Young Master Sang could only withdraw his gaze for now, helplessly ruffling Nian Nian’s hair.
“You little merchant. Can’t you pick a better time to throw a tantrum?”
“Tch, now you want to use me? Just now you were so stingy you wouldn’t even give me a lollipop.”
Although Nian Nian didn’t say anything.
But because she didn’t warn him, Young Master Sang knew that meant there wasn’t a significant threat outside.
But being watched like that still felt pretty bad.
“Let’s go.”
Young Master Sang stretched and said slowly, “Let’s head back. Little Ying and the others are probably worried.”
——
——
Meanwhile.
On the western side of the continent, outside a mountain range that stretched almost across the entire continent.
In a dim palace, a man as pale as paper and without a hint of color slowly opened his eyes, kneeling on one knee before the steps.
“… Confirmed.”
“The person who disrupted our plans in the Holy Kingdom really is like the Master, collecting Ksitigarbha treasures.”
From above the palace, a deep voice echoed like thunder from an unseen shadow:
“So that means… he’s the one who impersonated me in the Dream Court.”
“Then he must have more than one Ksitigarbha treasure on him.”
One Ksitigarbha treasure could allow them to secretly undermine and steal.
Two treasures would make it worth their while, no holds barred in the competition.
If that person has more than two…
The pale-faced man whispered, “Is the Master planning to inform that one?”
The figure in the shadows was silent for a long while, then slowly said, “… No rush.”
“Don’t trust those guys entirely either.”
“This matter shall not be disclosed to them for now. If I succeed, I’ll have more leverage for negotiations.”
“When that time comes, no matter how much the world changes, our Demon Clan will still stand tall, unyielding!”
