Chapter 284: Chapter 284: Reaching an Agreement

Translator: 549690339

After a while of conversation, Martial Sea Immortal Venerable left, and Ao Yan was again left alone in the gazebo.

She got lost in her thoughts, resting her cheeks in her palms, Jiang Xiaobai’s image dominating her mind.

“I wonder where you’ve gone after I sent you away, how are you doing?”

She didn’t have a clear concept of Jiang Xiaobai in her heart.

Originally, her plan was to casually pick a mortal and marry him, intending to disgust her ancient clan. If this mortal could behave appropriately, she wouldn’t mind letting him stay in the Dragon Valley.

Being husband and wife wasn’t something Ao Yan cared about. She only wanted to cultivate, improve her strength, and obliterate her ancient clan.

However, she was surprised to find that her memories of Jiang Xiaobai occupied her mind frequently.

The feeling was indescribable; she just inexplicably missed Jiang Xiaobai and yearned to know how he was doing.

She yearned to see him again.

After a moment’s thought, Ao Yan realized she had been too wilful today. She suppressed the agitation in her heart and prepared to resume her cultivation.

However, just as she was exiting the gazebo, she sent a message through her communication token then walked back into her cultivation chamber.

Elsewhere, the Dragon Valley was silent in the depths of the night.

Awakening from his meditation, Ao Wan took out a token and noticed a message relayed from Ao Yan. A wry smile spread on his face.

“This girl, she’s not even content yet.”

“I wonder how that boy is doing now, should I tell her or not?”

“Forget it, I shouldn’t disrupt Yan’er’s cultivation. All of this is Jiang Xiaobai’s fate to bear; no one else can help him.”

“After all, even if we help him once, there’s no solution to the fundamental problem. For now, our Dragon Valley can’t provide any help.”

“Hmm, Ao Cheng should be coming out of his closed-door cultivation soon…”

Ao Wan stood up, folding his arms behind him as he watched the moonlit sky.

He was silent for a long time.

The sun rose to signal a new day and another round of battles began.

It was Jiang Xiaobai’s third day in the Mad Demon Secret Land; the completion of his task was not far off.

The contest for the slots in the secret realms remained intense; each entrance to a realm was a battlefield where humans were like fighting dogs.

They were bleeding, wounds everywhere – the scenario was chaotically gruesome.

Jiang Xiaobai paid no attention to this; however, when having grilled meat together the previous night, he mentioned the danger posed by Xiao Wuwei to Xiao Yuwei.

This sly man was surely waiting for Xiao Yuwei to enter a secret realm so he could ambush Jiang. He wasn’t afraid, but he felt that in such a crowded place, it was better to avoid a large-scale battle if possible.

The priority was to complete the task. If a conflict with Xiao Wuwei caused him to flee and fail his task, that would be truly infuriating.

The opportunity to upgrade the Kunpeng Swallowing Sky Skill was rare and incredibly important for Jiang Xiaobai– he didn’t want to miss out on this chance.

So, he agreed with Xiao Yuwei: in the next few days, she wouldn’t enter the secret realm. In return, Jiang Xiaobai promised her something simple and crude.

“I promise you’ll be able to enter five secret realms!”

Xiao Yuwei didn’t believe him at first. She thought it unlikely not only because the number of Frenzy Demon Stones required would be insufficient but also doubted that Jiang Xiaobai could make it happen.

But when Jiang Xiaobai took out—and offered—sufficient Frenzy Demon Stones, Xiao Yuwei changed her mind.

The imperial task this time was based on the number of secret realms traversed; the more realms a person passed, the higher the score and ranking, and the more rewarding the prizes.

You can imagine how enticing this was for Xiao Yuwei, so in the end, they struck a deal.

At that moment, Jiang Xiaobai sat calm and collected on a large rock, wearing a faint smile as he watched the entrance to the fifth secret realm.

Xiao Wuwei stubbornly stayed, waiting by the entrance of the fifth realm, hoping for an opportunity to enter and trap Xiao Yuwei once she was inside, then make a move against Jiang Xiaobai.

Seeing this, a cold smirk surfaced on Jiang Xiaobai’s face. He didn’t do anything, just engaged in a staring contest with Xiao Wuwei.

“Hmph, when it comes to perseverance, you fall far short of me.”

“You can’t guess what I’ve got up my sleeve.”

Jiang Xiaobai sneered internally. At this point, he would gladly stay close to Xiao Yuwei and complete his mission more easily.

However, Xiao Wuwei didn’t have the luxury of time.

Aside from clearing the secret realms, he also wanted to explore the Mad Demon Secret Land for more resources.

Xiao Wuwei originally had just enough Frenzy Demon Stones to enter the third, fourth, and fifth secret realms. But since Jiang Xiaobai had stolen ten stones, he was left with only fourteen – enough for just one attempt or to enter the third and fourth secret realms instead.

But the ever-proud Xiao Wuwei, always striving to be first in everything, noted that Xiao Ruyu had entered the fourth and fifth secret realms the previous day and had only obtained a pass for the fourth realm.

So far, nobody had managed to clear the fifth secret realm.

Undeterred by his overconfidence, Xiao Wuwei was determined to gamble on the fifth secret realm, prepared to endure anything.

However, after waiting a considerable time without seeing Xiao Yuwei choose a realm to enter, his patience waned. Seeing his opponents’ unwavering stance, Xiao Wuwei realized that Jiang Xiaobai must have been up to something.

“Damn it, you guys have the time to stall, but I don’t!”

Enraged, Xiao Wuwei shifted his gaze from Jiang Xiaobai to the combatants by the entrance of the fifth secret realm, ready to seize any opportunity that arose.

Jiang Xiaobai, who had been keeping a close eye on Xiao Wuwei, noted these activities. He realized that Xiao Wuwei was growing impatient and chuckled softly to himself.

“Watch me mess with you!”

“Don’t worry, Xiao Wuwei; this time, I’ll strip you down to your underwear.”

“I may not kill you in the secret realm, but once we are out, you’ll be in for a rough time. Remember that you have yet to see the Earth Fiend 72 Changes!”

Then, pretending to have urgent business, Jiang Xiaobai left AnRan and Xiao Yuwei briefly and went to a secluded place.

He disguised AnRan as quickly as possible, all the while keeping a careful watch on Xiao Wuwei’s moves using his divine sense.

“Fatso, let’s see if we can catch the fish we’ve hooked previously. If we can net them successfully, it would be a great start – we’ll be rolling in money!”

Jiang Xiaobai emphasised the word ‘money’. He knows that AnRan is obsessed with wealth. Otherwise, he worries that AnRan might slack off on the job.

However, Jiang Xiaobai underestimated AnRan’s greed for wealth.

“Rest easy, boss; we’ll definitely net them successfully today!” AnRan responded, his eyes gleaming greedily.

Jiang Xiaobai was taken aback by AnRan’s frightening demeanor, feeling shivers run down his spine.

For a moment, Jiang Xiaobai felt pity for the “fish” that had been spotted by AnRan.

AnRan’s methods, they’re even more ruthless than his own!