Xu Qing's voice didn't have any fluctuations of emotions. When it landed in the head's ears, the head shivered even more.
It really didn't expect that the reunion it had mentioned would really happen.
This scene dumbfounded it.
The Diamond Sect's ancestor was extremely excited as he urged.
"Aren't you going in yet!"
This time around, the head was really about to cry. Just as it was about to say something, Xu Qing lifted his hand and waved it. Immediately, it was forcefully sent into D132 amidst its screams.
It was placed in the cell that it originally belonged to.
The instant it entered the cell, the head immediately sensed the existence of the god's finger. The wails and screams turned into horror.
"This, this, this…"
Before it could completely react, the stone lion was sent to D132 as well. It landed in the cell it used to be in and lay there. Its body then transformed into the appearance of a cloud beast.
After sensing its surroundings in a daze, it silently turned around and ate its tentacles. It was as though this was the only way it could feel at ease.
However, every time its tentacles were eaten, they would transform into the appearance of the head.
It could be seen how much it hated the head for talking about reunion.
After noticing this scene, the head really cried.
However, before many tears fell, D132 shone again. The old man from the Painting Race appeared.
In order to give the god's finger a sense of familiarity, Xu Qing didn't kill the old man. Instead, he sent him to D132.
The old man, whose body was covered in bite marks and riddled with holes, was also dumbfounded the instant he saw D132. This was especially so when he looked at the familiar cell, listened to the wails of the head, and looked at the sleeping finger of the god. His expression turned dazed.
"D132 will be complete soon." Xu Qing's voice entered the Tenth Heavenly Palace and echoed.
The head cried and the stone lion continued to bite its tentacles. The old man from the Painting Race shivered.
The god's finger clearly sensed the former familiarity and slept much more peacefully.
After doing this, Xu Qing didn't bother with the Tenth Heavenly Palace. He looked in the direction of Mount Morning Glow before speeding off.
Previously, he couldn't travel under the abyssal sea for a long time but his current body could do this.
Just like that, time slowly passed.
A day later, at a place under the abyssal sea, which was still two days away from Mount Morning Glow, Xu Qing, who was moving rapidly, suddenly stopped in his tracks. He seemed to have heard a cry for help from afar.
If it was his previous body, his five senses wouldn't be so sharp. After confirming again, Xu Qing listened attentively.
Under his concentration, the voice slowly became clearer.
"Help… Is anyone there? Help… Save me…"
The voice was very weak and when it landed in Xu Qing's ears, he felt that it was a little familiar.
After some thought, Xu Qing immediately recognized it.
"Ning Yan?"
Xu Qing was surprised. He looked at the pitch-black abyssal sea in his surroundings and recalled that the other party hadn't returned after being teleported away at the Ten Guts Tree.
"Solar wind is a frequent occurrence in this area, and there are numerous spatial cracks. Could it be that he landed here during the teleportation and encountered an unforeseen mishap, preventing him from returning?"
Xu Qing was curious and followed the voice. An hour later, he saw a huge bewitching flower blooming in the distance.
It was the joyflower.
The hundreds of feet-wide flower was covered in colorful petals. As it continued to squirm, hundreds of stamens drifted in the surroundings, transforming into the women of nonhuman races.
They didn't spread out of the abyssal sea but clustered around the flower disc. All of them had joyous expressions as they continued to absorb.
On the enormous flower disc, countless petals swirled around, revealing a figure lying there faintly.
It was Ning Yan.
His clothes were disheveled, and his body appeared emaciated, resembling a mere skeleton on the brink of death.
His eyes, once filled with vitality, now reflected confusion and dullness. He trembled as the women surrounding him drained his energy, leaving him weaker and weaker. In a feeble voice, he let out a desperate cry for help.
"Help… help…"
The joyflower was a unique plant in Morning Glow Province. Xu Qing had seen one on the way here and had heard from the head that ordinary muscular men would have their life essence sucked away by the joyflower in just three to five breaths of time, turning into dried corpses.
Even a Golden Core expert wouldn't be able to last long.
The characteristic of this flower was that when it bloomed, its stamens would transform into the opposite sex of various races. Moreover, every one of them met the mainstream aesthetic standards to attract travelers.
Xu Qing's expression was a little strange as he glanced at the huge joyflower in front of him.
It was smaller than the one he had seen on the way but it was even more flirtatious.
All of the women it created had rosy skin and plump figures. They were extremely charming. Clearly, Ning Yan had provided them with rich nourishment.
"This Ning Yan… If he was truly transported to this place, how long has he been here? And yet, he's still alive!" Xu Qing exclaimed, his surprise evident. Recalling the events at the Ten Guts Tree, he found himself increasingly convinced of the captain's judgment.
"There's something seriously wrong with him."
Xu Qing fell into deep thought. He swept his gaze across the skinny Ning Yan and prepared to save him.
After all, the other party was his and the captain's weapon, and was quite handy to use. It would be a pity if he left him in the lurch.
Xu Qing calmly walked over.
As soon as he got close, the joyflower immediately sensed danger. The transformed stamens surrounding Ning Yan turned in unison and stared at Xu Qing.
Different from when they encountered other travelers, these stamen nonhumans clearly sensed danger this time. They bared their teeth at Xu Qing and let out a threatening sound.
Xu Qing was expressionless as he approached step by step.
Seeing this, the joyflower shook and spat out a large amount of pink fog. While the fog spread, the flower actually started moving and trying to escape.
In the fog, the transformed stamens left Ning Yan's body and headed straight for Xu Qing, trying to stop him.
However, before they could get close, the few nonhumans at the front instantly let out sharp cries. Their bodies rotted at a speed visible to the naked eye and turned into black water that splashed on the ground.
Xu Qing fell into deep thought. He could sense that the Poison Restriction activated much faster with his current body.
As he pondered, Xu Qing continued walking.
Wherever he passed, all the stamens in the surroundings rotted and withered. The beautiful faces of the nonhumans revealed fear and retreated while screaming.
They looked like they were saying, 'don't come over.'
Xu Qing found this scene inexplicably familiar.
He thought of the scene of his Heavenly Palaces and the god's finger facing the purple crystal.
Xu Qing frowned. He didn't like this scene. Hence, he lifted his foot and stomped down. Immediately, the ground rumbled. The stamens of the joyflower shattered.
Only the joy flower without a stamen was left, shaking in horror.
Xu Qing was satisfied. He walked to the flower disc and pulled out the skinny and trembling Ning Yan from the large number of flower petals.
Ning Yan was naked. At that moment, he looked at Xu Qing weakly, his eyes revealing a pleading look.
"Senior Brother Xu Qing, why are you here… Help… Save me…"
When Xu Qing saw that the youth in front of him had been tortured to such an extent, he sighed inwardly. He now had a better understanding of how terrifying this world was.
He took out a medicinal pill and fed it to Ning Yan. He then took out a piece of clothing to cover him and supported him out of the joyflower.
As he left, the joyflower behind him was immediately filled with poison mist and rapidly rotted. In the end, amidst mournful cries, it collapsed and turned into a large pool of black water.
The moment the joyflower perished, Ning Yan, who was being supported by Xu Qing, paused for a moment. Some spirit returned to his eyes and he immediately turned to look at the joyflower with a complicated expression.
"Can't bear to part?" Seeing Ning Yan's expression, Xu Qing was surprised.
"No…" As Ning Yan trembled, he hurriedly looked at Xu Qing, his eyes revealing gratitude.
"Senior Brother Xu Qing, I won't forget your kindness in saving my life! How did you know I was here…"
"Why are you here?" Xu Qing asked calmly.
He wanted to know if the other party had recognized his identity in the Ten Guts Trees' ground.
However, regardless of whether he recognized or not, it wasn't important. After all, if word got out that the four of them were involved in that incident, none of them would have a good ending.
"Ah?" Ning Yan hesitated for a moment before speaking in a low voice.
"Senior Brother Xu Qing, I came to Morning Glow Province to carry out a mission and was caught by this damn joyflower. I was trapped for a long time…"
"So you don't know about the current situation in Fenghai County?" Xu Qing looked at Ning Yan.
Ning Yan was stunned. He didn't know what was happening outside. In reality, Xu Qing's guess earlier was right. He had indeed fallen here when he was teleported. He had planned to leave but he encountered the joyflower.
At the start, that joyflower was still a small flower with ordinary might. However, as time passed, the flower grew larger and larger and the suction force grew stronger… Hence, he couldn't break free and was sucked until now.
From Ning Yan's expression, Xu Qing could see the answer.
'Looks like he hasn't guessed that it's me…' Xu Qing didn't say anything else and walked forward.
Ning Yan felt uneasy. He was already afraid of Xu Qing in the past. Now that he saw him again, for some reason, he instinctively became even more afraid. He could vaguely sense that Xu Qing seemed to be much stronger and more terrifying than in his memories. Hence, he hurriedly followed behind Xu Qing carefully.
"Senior Brother Xu Qing… Where are we going?" Ning Yan asked nervously in a low voice.
"To Mount Morning Glow." Xu Qing spoke calmly.
Just like that, time slowly passed. As Xu Qing and Ning Yan moved forward, they got closer and closer to Mount Morning Glow.
At the same time, the crisis on Mount Morning Glow had reached a critical moment.
Sharp black spikes shot out from all directions and bombarded the array formation of Mount Morning Glow.
The intense impact caused the array formation to shake intensely, echoing with a series of rumbling sounds.
At this moment, there were thousands of sharp black spikes on the array formation of Mount Morning Glow.
The array formation looked close to shattering.
