Chapter 20: The Kiss Part 3

Although he agreed to Ji Shuling’s request, the treasures within the inner palace were of grave importance. If they could use the Fire Scale Flood Dragon to repay the previous favor, they wouldn’t need to concede anything later.

Compared to the true treasures inside the underground palace, this guardian beast Fire Scale Flood Dragon wasn’t worth mentioning. The illusions created by the Flood Dragon could be avoided as long as one was prepared; it wasn’t some earth-shattering technique. Moreover, at the Flood Dragon’s cultivation level, whether Huo Zhi and Linlang could even absorb it was questionable.

“Brother, this…” Ji Shuling felt this wasn’t what she promised Huo Zhi and became anxious, wanting to say something to Ji Boxu, but he held her back.

“Then many thanks to the Young Sect Master!” Huo Zhi loudly responded, pulling Linlang along.

She more or less guessed Ji Boxu’s intentions. Everyone had selfish motives, let alone cultivators in a cultivation world. Being able to give the Fire Scale Flood Dragon to them was somewhat righteous.

With protectors around right now, getting one thing first was better. Who knew what might happen later on; no one could predict it.

“Linlang, you go absorb the Beast Rune Talisman. I’ll guard you.” Huo Zhi said to Linlang.

Linlang paused, her breath catching. The value of this Beast Rune Talisman, even without the inner palace treasures, was enough to cause these cultivators to fight over it. Huo Zhi didn’t choose to extract and preserve the talisman, nor exchange it for usable items with others. Instead, she directly told her to absorb it…

Need she say more? She just liked her this much, thinking of her in everything, wanting to give her the best first…

Hearing 006 report that Linlang’s Happiness Value rose another 500, Huo Zhi felt this Fire Scale Flood Dragon was a good deal. She was pulling Linlang towards the Flood Dragon to absorb the Beast Rune Talisman when suddenly a cultivator rushed out and threw himself onto the Fire Scale Flood Dragon corpse.

“This Beast Rune Talisman is mine! I traded my life for it; it should be given to me!” That cultivator shouted, using a dagger to dig open the wound at the seven-inch spot they’d breached earlier, carving out the Flood Dragon Gallbladder inside. The Beast Rune Talisman was on it.

But before he could do anything, red flames erupted from the Flood Dragon Gallbladder, instantly engulfing the cultivator entirely.

Ignited by the fire, the cultivator dropped the Flood Dragon Gallbladder from his unsteady hand, and it rolled onto the ground. He screamed, rolling on the ground trying to extinguish the flames.

“The Flood Dragon Gallbladder is fire-attributed. This kind of fire, do you have the life to absorb it?! Courting death!” Ji Boxu finished the cultivator with one sword strike, used an Object Retrieval Talisman to pick up the Flood Dragon Gallbladder from the ground, and looked at the surrounding cultivators coldly.

“…Linlang, it’s so dangerous. Better not absorb it. Let’s store it for now.” Huo Zhi watched, heart trembling with fear, and said to Linlang.

This Brother Ji was truly too cunning.

“No problem. I’m fire-attributed.” Linlang said. The more potent the Flood Dragon Gallbladder, the greater the strength increase after absorption.

“Really okay?” Huo Zhi worried.

“It’s fine. I know my limits.” Linlang said.

“Host, you don’t need to worry about Linlang. She has an Inherited Spirit Talisman on her. That talisman is from an ancient divine beast, the Fire Phoenix. This little fire from the Flood Dragon Gallbladder is nothing. If the Fire Scale Flood Dragon hadn’t sensed the phoenix bloodline within Linlang and been intimidated, it wouldn’t have been killed so quickly,” 006 said.

Hearing what 006 said, Huo Zhi breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you, Young Sect Master.” Huo Zhi had Linlang accept the Flood Dragon Gallbladder and thanked Ji Boxu.

“Don’t mention it. We should thank you two for waking us. This Flood Dragon Gallbladder is potent. If you two don’t want it, you can come to the Artifact Talisman Sect to exchange it for usable talisman artifacts. The Artifact Talisman Sect will definitely give you a favorable price. As for the gains from the inner palace after this, we still rely on our own abilities,” Ji Boxu said politely.

Ji Shuling looked at Huo Zhi with some apology. Huo Zhi shook her head at her, indicating it was okay.

“Naturally. Thank you very much. We’ll try absorption first.” Huo Zhi cupped her hands in salute, then focused her attention on Linlang.

Over here, Linlang took the Flood Dragon Gallbladder, sat cross-legged, and began absorbing the Beast Rune Talisman.

The moment Linlang touched the Flood Dragon Gallbladder, fire also invaded her, but unlike that cultivator just now, the fire slowly diminished in Linlang’s hand and was absorbed by her.

Linlang’s cultivation was several levels lower than the Fire Scale Flood Dragon’s. Although she had the Inherited Spirit Talisman within her, it was still in a sealed state. It could only deter the fire from running wild but couldn’t lessen the pain of absorbing a high-level fire attribute.

It was only Linlang’s extremely strong endurance that prevented much from showing on her face.

The fire-attribute Spiritual Qi on the Flood Dragon Gallbladder was slowly absorbed clean by Linlang. The originally dark red runic pattern flickered and manifested. Linlang began absorbing the Beast Rune Talisman.

For Linlang, there was an unexpected delight. The Fire Scale Flood Dragon’s body contained some Yin Baleful Qi. While absorbing the Beast Rune Talisman, Linlang also absorbed this Yin Baleful Qi.

While Linlang was absorbing, the Artifact Talisman Sect members, without asking Huo Zhi’s opinion, directly cut up the Fire Scale Flood Dragon’s corpse and stored the pieces in their Storage Bags.

Huo Zhi didn’t mind, focusing only on Linlang’s absorption progress.

After the Artifact Talisman Sect members regrouped, they wanted to continue deeper into the underground palace. Other non-Sect cultivators who wanted to fish in troubled waters also followed.

The Artifact Talisman Sect members didn’t stop them. They planned to use these cultivators as shields. Even if they managed to snatch something, they wouldn’t be able to keep it with their strength.

The group of Artifact Talisman Sect cultivators was about to continue exploring the underground palace for treasures. The only door at the front of the palace became their breakthrough point. When Ji Boxu led people to break the door, the sound of commotion came from the other side too.

This door isolated Spiritual Sense probing. The surrounding cultivators didn’t know what was on the other side, each making their own preparations as they continued breaking the door.

With a thunderous boom, the golden door was broken open. A gray, wriggling mass surged out like a tide.

Huo Zhi, who had been concentrating on Linlang, turned her head upon hearing the sound. She almost suffocated.

That tide-like gray mass was a group of fist-sized rats!

These rats looked extremely small, but they were all demon beasts, named Gnawing Rats. Their incisors were protruding, their eyes were red, and they appeared utterly frenzied.

The first cultivator leading the charge was immediately swarmed by the Gnawing Rats. His scream only lasted half a sound before ceasing.

Wherever the Gnawing Rats passed, not even the cultivator’s clothes remained.

The surrounding cultivators were terrified. One by one, they activated their barriers and turned to flee.

But these Gnawing Rats could even gnaw on the spiritual power walls of barriers, seeming exceptionally fierce.

Huo Zhi was so frightened her technique almost broke down. She wanted to pick up Linlang and run, but when she touched Linlang, the fire on her body spread over.

So hot that Huo Zhi gasped sharply, she quickly put out the fire with ice-attribute Spiritual Qi.

“Linlang!” Huo Zhi called out to Linlang. She was absorbing the Beast Rune Talisman and had sunk into a deep meditative state, completely unresponsive.

“Teleportation Talisman, right, use a Teleportation Talisman…” Huo Zhi wanted to find a Teleportation Talisman.

“Host, this palace only has that one door. There’s spiritual energy interference; you can’t use a Teleportation Talisman! Quickly use Ice Barrier Talismans!” 006 reminded Huo Zhi.

Huo Zhi had made quite a few Ice Barrier Talismans earlier and still had some left. Hearing 006, she hurriedly took all those talismans out, releasing ice barriers around her and Linlang.

She layered several barriers overhead as well, not stopping until she and Linlang were enclosed in the smallest possible space.

The surrounding temperature was too high. The parts touching the ground melted at a visible speed.

The Gnawing Rats outside had already arrived. The crunching sound of gnawing ice made Huo Zhi’s heart pound with fear. The occasional half-scream was even more terrifying.

This thing was too dreadful.

She had no idea how the Artifact Talisman Sect people in the original story had withstood them.

“Host, don’t worry. Just block the first wave. Once Linlang wakes up, it’ll be fine. What she’s absorbing is the Fire Scale Flood Dragon’s Beast Rune Talisman! Both fire and illusions can counter these Gnawing Rats!” 006 said to Huo Zhi.

Hearing 006’s words, Huo Zhi somewhat understood. Snakes eat rats. The Fire Scale Flood Dragon suppressed the Gnawing Rats. In the original story, the Artifact Talisman Sect should have had someone absorb the Flood Dragon Gallbladder. This time, to prevent Huo Zhi from taking the good stuff later, they let Huo Zhi have it. With no one absorbing it, they just tried to force their way through, completely unable to withstand the Gnawing Rats’ attacks.

They were too clever for their own good.

She only hoped Linlang would wake up quickly and truly be able to drive back these terrifying Gnawing Rats.

The dozen or so layers of Ice Barrier Talismans Huo Zhi laid down only lasted a few minutes. Soon, a hole was gnawed through the top ice, and Gnawing Rats dropped down one by one.

Huo Zhi quickly used a Freezing Talisman to freeze a section of space, freezing those few Gnawing Rats as well.

The Gnawing Rats outside continued gnawing the ice. The ones frozen in ice went from motionless to struggling. As long as they could move their mouths, they began slowly gnawing their way out from within.

Life-threatening! Why was this so life-threatening!

The ice barriers Huo Zhi created around them were completely chewed apart. The surrounding Gnawing Rats gnawed their way towards Huo Zhi.

Huo Zhi used up all her remaining Freezing Talismans. The Gnawing Rats were trapped but quickly broke free and continued their siege.

Huo Zhi had already activated the protective barrier Ji Shuling gave her. It was said to withstand a strike from a Core Formation cultivator. She didn’t know how long it could hold against the Gnawing Rats.

No longer daring to look at the Gnawing Rats, Huo Zhi loosely embraced Linlang and shut her eyes tightly. The crunching sound echoed in her ears. She felt like her life was counting down.