I’ve Led the Villain Astray, How Do I Fix It?
Chapter 406
“Ah hahaha…” On the side, watching Xu Zirong’s expressionless face, Tianle rolled on the ground as he was unable to control himself and started bursting out in laughter.
While laughing, he pounded Xu Ziyan’s shoulder with force, “I have to say, your little brother is too pitiful. As his big brother, are you just going to stand by and watch like this?”
Xu Ziyan curved up his lips, but did not say a word.
In Zirong’s world, there was only his figure. He did not necessarily think it was a bad thing, but he hoped Zirong could have more interaction with others.
He did not force Zirong to be friends with others, but at the very least, more communication would be beneficial for him too.
After a friendly(violent) negotiation(deterrence), Xu Zirong finally exchanged a large amount of formation knowledge recorded on a jade slip for a substantial amount of time to spend with his brother.
A brief month passed in the blink of an eye. When Xu Zirong completely mastered the method to pull the central city out of that world, it was also time for them to leave.
They still needed to open the portal to leave, and it was the same crack leading to Ghost Jiangnan. However, Xu Ziyan had obtained several connection points between Ghost Jiangnan Town and the real world from City Master Qi.
As long as they struck those connection points with a large amount of devilish energy during the transition between day and night, they could open a portal to the real world.
As one of the exchange conditions, Xu Ziyan also obtained a considerable amount of artifacts from City Master Qi that could transform devilish energy into spiritual energy. Those artifacts had a single function, but they were rare magic artifacts for cultivators in Xuanyu Realm, because their sole purpose was to absorb devilish energy and convert it into spiritual energy to nourish cultivators.
Such items were essential for every cultivator there, and over thousands of years, the materials needed for their refinement had been minimized.
Each finished product was no larger than a baby’s fist, and they could easily be worn as accessories.
When Xu Ziyan received those items, he was on the verge of laughing foolishly. City Master Qi and the others had closed themselves off for thousands of years and had no idea about the situation outside, yet they were well aware of how much impact such a small thing could have on the devils!
The more concentrated the devilish energy in a place, the more advantageous it was for the devils in battle. Currently, the batch of devils stationed in Xuanyu Realm was continuously cultivating devil grass, attempting to erode the territory of Xuanyu Realm through those special plants.
The cultivators’ alliance would naturally not allow them to develop like that. Therefore, numerous battles between the two sides were focused on those devil grass. However, the devils were currently unable to activate the teleportation array, so the cultivation of the devil grass became their top priority, with heavy guard in every location.
By now, most of the battles between humans and devils in Xuanyu Realm revolved around the devil grass. Yet, ironically, wherever there was devil grass, the absorption of spiritual power by cultivators would become extremely poor.
In this give-and-take situation, before Xu Ziyan came to the East Sea to hunt for treasures, the cultivators’ alliance had already given up nearly a tenth of its territory. If the situation were to continue, even without further support from the devils, Xuanyu Realm would likely be unable to hold on.
The reason why Xu Ziyan attached so much importance to the spirit-transforming pendant was because the small accessory could very well be the key magical artifact capable of turning the tides in a war. Just the thought of the places overflowing with devilish energy would become the main battlegrounds for human cultivators in the future made him want to burst into laughter—— Being an ordinary person with no ambitions, completely resolving the war between humans and devils would be so wonderful!
With an ample supply of spirit-transforming pendants and the method to refine them, Xu Ziyan, along with his precious little brother and the slightly weird Tianle, stepped into the crack under the expectant gazes of City Master Qi and the other residents.
Upon entering Ghost Jiangnan Town once again, Xu Ziyan had completely lost the panic he felt the last time he was there. He calmly looked around, and the town was still bustling. The crowds coming and going did not even notice the sudden appearance of the three individuals.
Xu Ziyan did not linger there. Instead, he directly found one of the connection points that City Master Qi had told him about. He released the devilish energy stored in Thousand Miles of Fated Marriage, and soon, like looking at the surface of water, a ripple appeared before him.
Xu Ziyan took the first step, and he felt a momentary blur before landing in a very spacious street.
Unfortunately, before he could even feel relieved about finally leaving that eerie little town, he saw the Four Treasures of the Study (brush, ink, paper and ink stone) in large numbers, pouring out like a tide from the shops on both sides of the street… Ahem, they were still monsters.
They lunged at Xu Ziyan one by one, showing off their fangs and claws. Xu Ziyan did not even have time to catch his breath and was forced to grab his brother’s and Tianle’s hands to escape…
Damn it! Seeing a group of the Four Treasures of the Study at mid-nascent soul stage charging over, anyone would have started running!
The three of them ran madly again. After barely escaping from the street, they finally heaved a sigh of relief.
“Whew… Whew… Why are these… monsters… so desperate to chase us?” Tianle lay on the ground, his entire back covered in black ink from not being able to dodge in time. Fortunately, it seemed that the ink did not have any corrosive properties, though it did have a rather bad smell…
With an expression of disgust, Xu Zirong pulled his brother away to a safer distance. Due to protecting his big brother earlier, he had been hit by a piece of fine writing paper, leaving a slight mark on his arm. Luckily, the injury was not severe, and could be easily treated with some pills.
After resting for a while on a quiet street, the three of them recovered from their ordeal. Xu Ziyan took out the map and realized they were standing on the very street that led to the affiliated secret room.
The entrance to the Ghost Jiangnan Town was on one side of the street, while they had entered from the opposite side this time.
They had already reached the entrance of the secret room, so there was naturally no reason to give up. The three of them cautiously inspected the area, and after confirming that there were no enemies nearby, they emptied out the affiliated secret room.
As the affiliated secret room in the central city, the items stored inside were naturally not as valuable as those in the central secret room. However, for Xu Ziyan, those things were like icing on the cake. Being able to get their hands on them was already quite good.
Over the next half month, Xu Zirong and the others combed through the entire central city, above and below ground. The three of them completely emptied out the affiliated secret room, as well as hidden chambers that could only be accessed after opening the affiliated secret room.
Those affiliated secret rooms were mostly filled with mid to high-tier materials, including alchemical, crafting, as well as formation and talisman materials.
Although there were not a large quantity of high-tier materials, if those materials were used for crafting, they would be sufficient to turn a cultivator who knew nothing about crafting into a crafting master. That clearly indicated how rich the resources in the secret rooms were.
As for the contents of the hidden chamber, it even tempted Xu Ziyan to entertain thoughts of killing for treasures. The entire room was filled with top-grade spiritual stones, truly a test of human moral boundaries!
Fortunately, while Xu Ziyan also had greedy thoughts, he did not let them override his sense of ethics. He endured the heartache and gave Tianle a pile of spiritual stones, promptly sending him away—— Well, he was afraid he might regret it if he did not send him off soon… _(:3」∠)_
After seeing off Tianle, the two brothers wandered around the central city again. Occasionally, they would encounter other cultivators, some of whom they had met on the island of the stele, while others were completely unfamiliar, likely from different realms.
Each encounter with these practitioners meant a battle. With the central city about to close, these people, to a greater or lesser extent, would all have gained something. Therefore, the competition between them grew fiercer.
Xu Zirong and his brother had experienced two ambushes. In one of them, there were four nascent soul cultivators.
However, both ambushes ended with the death of the attackers. After all, no one could have expected that Xu Zirong and Xu Ziyan, who looked so young, not only had astonishing strength but also possessed a super cheat——
——”Meh?” (⊙_⊙)? Snowball stared at Xu Ziyan in confusion, then lowered its head and crushed a cultivator’s skull with its hoof.
It shook its leg in disgust, shaking off the red and white goo that stuck to it. Then, it bounced over to Xu Ziyan, wanting to cling to his leg and seek praise.
Unfortunately, before it could get close, it was kicked away by a slender thigh…
Xu Zirong frowned and said coldly, “You’re too dirty!”
Snowball: Meh… QAQ.
Pink Hair silently snapped another cultivator’s neck, casting a pitying glance at Snowball. After so many times, it still had not learned its lesson. That brother of his was beyond help in terms of intelligence!
Snowball cried out in a wail and pounced towards Pink Hair, but it calmly turned its body, causing Snowball to fall to the ground.
Snowy Lump: Meh! QAQ (Can’t we happily seek advantage together? How are we still brothers? Where’s our brotherly love? Look at the blow I’ve suffered. As my brother, you’re not even consoling me!!)
Pink Hair glanced at it: Pff, pff! (You suffered because you’re foolish! Why should I console an idiot?)
Pink Hair silently returned to Little Square, too lazy to bother with the idiot. After so long, if it still had not realized that their master did not like it being a nuisance in front of his brother, it deserved to be struck.
Snowball: …
Dealt a heavy blow to its spirit, Snowball crawled back into Little Square listlessly.
Seeing its pitiful state, Xu Ziyan instructed Little Divine Tree to give it a few fruits. Sure enough, after a short while, when Xu Ziyan invested his divine consciousness into Little Square again, he found Snowball lying contentedly beside a pool of water, fast asleep…
“Brother, this place is about to close,” Xu Zirong said, taking out a handkerchief and gently wiping the sweat from his brother’s forehead.
The recent battle had been a test for them. They had faced a total of five late stage nascent soul cultivators, and it was quite challenging for him and his brother to deal with them together.
Fortunately, Snowball and Pink Hair were quite reliable, managing to hold back the attacks of two of them. That allowed him and his brother to work together to defeat the remaining three.
Now that there were only five corpses left on the ground, their storage treasures had all fallen into their hands.
Calculating the time, it seemed that the world of fragmented continents was also about to close. The later it got, the more frantic those cultivators became. Now that he and his brother had obtained quite a few items. For safety’s sake, it would be best to find a concealed place and wait for the world to send them out.
