“Let go of me already!”
“I won’t let go until you talk.”
Lin Yuhe’s shameless demeanor left Shen Mu at a loss. “I’m done with you…”
With no other choice, he relented, thinking to himself, What kind of person is this?
“Fine, I’ll spill. I’ll tell you everything…”
“Hmph~”
She smiled brightly, quietly listening as Shen Mu shared his own unremarkable past.
For the first time, the two exchanged stories of their former lives.
Though one of them was less than thrilled about it.
“Ugh…”
Chi Ying’s eyelids twitched on a massive fiery red crystal, slowly opening her bleary eyes…
“Uh…”
Her vision was filled with searing red light, the crystal beneath her radiating intense heat, gradually clearing her consciousness.
Soon, she propped herself up on the crystal, shaking her head…
“Where am I…?”
Chi Ying scanned the underground environment bathed in fiery red light, her brows furrowing, confusion flickering in her golden dragon eyes.
Looking up, she saw a large array of pure white patterns rotating slowly not far above, identical to the black patterns that had pulled her in.
“Is this the area sealed off by that array…?” she muttered, shaking her head again.
Then, gazing at the fiery red crystal beneath her, glowing with red spiritual light, curiosity sparked in her eyes.
“What is this…?”
She extended her divine sense to investigate, sensing a scorching, unyielding fire spirit intent pulsing within the crystal.
She could even faintly hear soft phoenix cries.
There’s something sealed inside…
Chi Ying narrowed her eyes, a hint of hesitation in her gaze.
“…”
“Forget it. Better not touch it for now.”
Having learned her lesson, she didn’t want her recklessness to cause another mishap.
Whoosh!
Chi Ying leaped upward, attempting to pass through the array to return above.
But this time, as she neared the array, an invisible repelling force pushed her back, preventing passage.
“Damn it! Is this array one-way only?”
“Let’s try again…”
She flew toward the white patterns once more.
As expected, she was repelled again by the invisible force.
“Damn…” Chi Ying’s face darkened, her fists clenched, a trace of frustration in her eyes.
What bad luck… Looks like this array only allows passage downward.
With no other choice, she descended slowly, landing on the scorching red sand.
“Guess I’ll look for an exit or something in this blasted place…”
After scanning the surroundings, Chi Ying extended her divine sense, exploring the red sand terrain.
“It’s been almost three hours… Why hasn’t she come back?”
“Could something have happened to her?”
Shen Mu rubbed his chin, frowning, murmuring with concern.
“Hey.” He nudged Lin Yuhe, who was dozing on his shoulder. “Wake up.”
“Mmm…”
Lin Yuhe smacked her lips, stirring from her half-sleep, rubbing her sleepy eyes. “What’s up…?”
“Do you have any flying artifacts?”
“Haa~” She yawned, pulling away from his shoulder and stretching. “If I had something like that, I’d have used it already…”
“What, you want to go down and check too?”
Shen Mu nodded slightly. “It’s been almost two hours. I’m worried she might’ve run into trouble down there.”
“Oh, come on… She’s a dragon, way stronger than us in every way. What could possibly happen to her?”
“And even if something did happen… if she can’t handle it, what could we do?”
“…”
Lin Yuhe’s self-aware words left Shen Mu speechless.
“Why are you so worried about her anyway? If something did happen to her down there, wouldn’t that be the perfect chance to get rid of her clinging to you?” she asked, puzzled.
“Well…”
“She’s helped us a lot along the way. If something happened to her and I just gloated, that’d be pretty ungrateful.”
Shen Mu stood slowly, recalling Chi Ying’s actions by his side, realizing she was just a straightforward, pure-hearted girl.
Not some alien creature requiring excessive caution.
She was worth befriending properly.
“Didn’t expect you to be so loyal,” Lin Yuhe said, standing up. “I thought you were trying to charm her while she’s still naive…”
“After all, setting aside her temperament and strength, she’s actually pretty cute, with that dragon girl vibe.”
Shen Mu rolled his eyes. “Do I look like the kind of guy who falls for every pretty girl I see?”
“You’re not even a man yet.”
“Oh, get lost!”
Shen Mu grabbed her soft cheeks, half-annoyed, half-amused. “If you can’t talk properly, don’t talk at all.”
“Ow… I’m sowwy…”
Boom!
As the two playfully bickered, the surrounding walls and the entire underground space shook violently!
It was as if some powerful entity was awakening from eons of slumber.
“What’s happening?!”
Shen Mu let go of Lin Yuhe, rushing to peer into the abyss…
The once purple-red glowing abyss was now visibly turning a brilliant crimson-gold.
At the same time, an intensely scorching wave of flames surged upward from within!
“Run!”
Without hesitation, Shen Mu grabbed the bewildered Lin Yuhe, channeling all his spiritual energy into his movement technique, turning into a blur and fleeing the area!
Boom—!
The next moment, a crimson-gold fire pillar, accompanied by a phoenix cry, erupted from the abyss!
It slammed into the purple phoenix and crimson phoenix carvings on the dome, unleashing waves of flame that could incinerate all!
In an instant, the cold, yin-filled underground space was overwhelmed by the searing heat!
Simultaneously.
The phoenix carvings struck by the fire pillar seemed to come alive, their phantom forms—a phoenix and a phoenix—soaring downward into the abyss’s depths…
Gradually…
They reached a fledgling True Phoenix, its crimson-gold feathers wreathed in inextinguishable true fire, exuding regal splendor.
The phantoms merged into it, causing its dazzling crimson-gold phoenix eyes to slowly open.
“Ha… ha… ha…”
Shen Mu, clutching Lin Yuhe tightly as he fled the cave, panted heavily, his heart pounding.
He’d once again brushed shoulders with death’s thrilling sensation.