Chapter 167: The Treasure in the Dignitary’s Mouth (Three Updates for Monthly Ticket)
Translator: 549690339
“You should know that this exchange competition is about contra-plot challenges; the focus and difficulty do not lie in destroying the Vampire Kingdom and the Demigod, but in how to destroy their faith and breach the Demigod’s Sanctuary faster than the opponents, which requires uniting everyone.”
Thirteen people formed a circle, with Wu Zhonglin assuming the role of leader unchallenged, he continued:
From the information I have now, we need to divide our forces to deal with the multiple Vampire Lords of the Vampire Kingdom. When the time comes, each of you will lead a squad to deal with the Vampire Lords within a certain range. The specifics will be discussed upon arrival at the plane.”
He did not elaborate on how to divide the forces or who would command whom, clearly leaving it to them to resolve; he only concerned himself with issuing tasks.
In fact, it was impossible to come up with any detailed plans at the moment. All that was known was the existence of a Vampire Kingdom, but the specifics of the enemy faced were unclear; only upon arrival at the Shattered plane and carrying out reconnaissance would they know.
Fortunately, the Void Ship was extremely fast in the Void; streaks of beautiful light glided past the hull windows, utterly enchanting.
Throughout the Exotic Crystal Wall’s Void Sea, there were substantial concentrations of Void Energy, this Void Energy came in various colors, like auroras, incredibly beautiful, reminding Lin Xiao of a game called Demanimal World he played in his past life where the Outland map featured a shattered Vault of Heaven with similar dazzling colorful light streams crossing the sky, beautiful yet deadly.
Contrary to the silence of space, the Void harbored numerous Void Creatures, from small Void floating fish to large Void Whales and beyond. Only Legendary Level entities could survive in the Void, where the potent corrosive energy of Void Energy could instantly corrupt a Transcendent Level powerhouse.
The colossal Void Ship, silent as an ancient Void Whale, slipped through the Void, occasionally startling some of the hidden Void Creatures like the spiny Void snakes or the colossal Void Behemoths that resembled devilfish.
These creatures were fiercely aggressive, but they all made way for the even larger Void Ship.
While returning to her squad with Shen Yuexin, as the Void Ship suddenly passed through a large, multicolored, and patchworked Void Aurora Zone, they happened to see a swarm of Void floating fish, about a meter in length, attacking a hundred-meter-long Void Behemoth similar to a devilfish.’
These Void floating fish closely resembled yellow croakers but lacked various fins, bearing numerous sharp bone spurs instead. With a large head that comprised a third of their body and filled with sharp teeth, they resembled Void versions of Man-eating Tiger Fish, incredibly fearsome in groups.
However, the besieged Void Behemoth was no easy prey; although it had neither scales nor keratin armor, a layer of Void Energy protected its entirety. With a massive maw, it inhaled forcefully, sucking in a vast tract of colorful Void Aurora and Void floating fish into its belly, its flat body puffing up like a pufferfish.
At the same time, several meaty pores on its back became visible, jetting streams of colorful Void Energy like kaleidoscopic fountains which instantly caught Shen Yuexin’s attention. She ‘ah’d softly and stopped in her tracks.
Seeing her fondness for the sight, Lin Xiao also stopped, his gaze gliding over her exquisite, charming face before looking up to see the bloated belly of the Void Behemoth shrink back down as it expelled the Void Energy, with the swallowed Void floating fish nowhere in sight, he remarked, somewhat surprised:
“I didn’t expect this big fella to have that trick up its sleeve; I thought it would be devoured by these Void floating fish.”
Shen Yuexin, her delicate face upturned and eyes transfixed on the scene outside, responded:
“Creatures that survive in the dangerous Void Sea must have some tricks. If the number of these Void floating fish was ten times greater it might be different, but watch, these Void floating fish will retreat soon.”
Lin Xiao did not reply to her because, during this brief exchange, the Void Ship had already traveled hundreds of kilometers away, leaving the earlier spot far behind, yet still not clear of the vast Void Aurora Zone, likely millions of kilometers in extent. The resplendent auroras outside captured her attention, while his was drawn to her beauty.
Initially, he sneaked glimpses of her, but soon he brazenly gazed at her perfect profile.
She seemed not to notice, but after a while, she began to blink more frequently, her long, delicate lashes trembling slightly, yet she did not turn around.
After quietly watching for a while, he noticed her earlobes flush a bit redder, her neat white teeth lightly biting her red lips as she suddenly turned her head, her eyes bright as stars meeting his unprepared gaze. She rebuked:
“Don’t you know it’s impolite to stare at a girl like that?”
“Too enchanting!”
Normally Lin Xiao, who would have felt ashamed, was struck by an impulse at her charming appearance and declared:
“Before you accuse me of lacking manners, perhaps you should consider yourself?”
“Hm?”
Her face showed confusion.
Lin Xiao took a deep breath to calm his racing heart, which had spiked two or threefold, and mustered the courage to say shamelessly:
“You should reflect on why you are born so beautiful and enchanting, making me unable to help but be drawn to you!”
Her lips parted slightly, and after a few seconds, she curved her eyes into crescent moons, turning her head away and huffed:
“You’re not allowed to look at me like that anymore.”
“Okay, but next time I’ll look openly and straightforwardly.”
“You dare!”
Her reaction brought a secret joy to Lin Xiao’s heart. Did it mean there was a chance?
Well, it couldn’t be said there was a chance just yet, only that she didn’t seem to reject him as she did the other suitors.
It was like that before, and since the start of the Summer Camp, there were many boys who tried to pursue her, but she clearly showed a stance of rejection from the start, just as she had clearly refused when his second great-uncle tried to create opportunities for his son.
Under normal circumstances, she would have firmly rejected such behavior if she were unwilling, but at this moment….
Strictly speaking, this didn’t mean much, but it was clear that she had a good impression of him and did not reject his pursuit, which was enough.
They continued to stand by the porthole of the Void Ship, watching the beautiful sight of the Void Aurora without conversation. He could feel that she just wanted to quietly look at the view outside the window.
Lin Xiao thought that once he got back, he should download a “Pick-Up Artist’s Guide” from the internet to see how the masters went about wooing women.
About half an hour later, the Void Ship sailed away from the Aurora Zone. The remaining view was the pitch-black Void Sea, with only the occasional glimpses of Void Aurora, nothing interesting, that’s when Shen Yuexin turned around and said,
“It’s not impressive anymore, let’s go.”
Back with the team, as they were chatting, the Ancient City took the initiative to ask what had been discussed earlier. Shen Yuexin seemed not wanting to speak, so Lin Xiao shrugged his shoulders and said,
“We haven’t arrived at our destination yet and don’t have a good understanding of the plane, so we’ve only divided work simply for now. We will decide what to do when we get to the mission plane based on the situation.”
“I see….”
The Ancient City pinched his chin and did not pursue the matter further.
However, after a while, as Lin Xiao sat by the ship’s railing, about to enter his own Divine Realm, he suddenly received a communication from Lin Xu, who said,
“The Ancient City seems to want to separate the team when you were not here.”
1Q11
Lin Xiao responded with a question mark.
Lin Xu continued,
“He didn’t say it explicitly, but I noticed he has been contacting some others privately.”
“Hmm…”
After pondering for a moment, Lin Xiao suddenly asked,
“He didn’t contact you?”
“No.”
Alright then.
It seems the young family member was also excluded.
But on second thought, that made sense. Just like a person who has always been class president and suddenly someone else jumps above them, commanding them, they would certainly feel disgruntled.
Lin Xiao wasn’t bothered, as this was a natural human reaction. If people were unwilling to follow, you couldn’t expect them to cooperate.
The seven-person squad suddenly became a group of three, with the young family member excluded because of his involvement.
Although Lin Xu had a decent relationship with the Ancient City, even a strong relationship couldn’t compete with the fact that they were relatives. Exclusion was inevitable.
It was unclear how far away their destination was. The Void Ship traveled through the Void for an entire day, warping four times and crossing an unimaginable number of billions of kilometers. Lin Xiao, who had been bored watching the Void Sea outside the window for a day, finally heard the announcer’s voice in his ear,
“We have arrived at our destination for this journey. Please prepare yourselves, students.”
Then, the Void Ship gave a slight shake and began to slow down. Looking through the porthole, one could see a dense cluster of lights somewhere in the distance.
As they drew closer, it became apparent that the rapidly expanding lights were a collection of shattered planes.
A complete plane viewed from the Void Sea resembled variously sized and colored spheres of light, floating and sinking in the Void Sea. The broken planes looked like irregular fragments of a shattered biscuit, and as the Void Ship drew closer, the light emitted by the planes faded, displaying the shattered planes in their true form in front of everyone.
The Void Ship slowly moved into the Broken Plane Group, and many students came to the edge of the porthole to observe. It was evident that the Crystal Walls at the edges of most shattered planes had disappeared.
Just like a planet that has lost its atmosphere, without the protection of Crystal Walls, the ferocious Void Energy tore apart the Earthen landscapes, exposed reddish rocks through decaying vegetation, and chunks of immense lands, ripped apart by the energy of the Void, drifted at the edges due to the weak gravitational pull of the plane’s fragments, like floating islands at the edges of continents or satellites at the edges of planets.
Most of the plane fragments were completely destroyed, with no life inside, and even Transcendent Level creatures couldn’t survive there.
Their destiny was one — to slowly decompose under the erosion of the Void Storm, gradually shrink, and eventually dissolve entirely into the Void.
Within this group made up of thousands of plane fragments, Lin Xiao could now see about a dozen larger planes that still retained some Crystal Walls floating among the shattered group. These planes, which still maintained complete ecosystems, seemed to be bound within this region by an unknown force