Chapter 908: Mysterious Little Exotic Tribe (Wugeng)

So many black crystals exploding together would put even him in mortal peril. What's more, an explosion of this magnitude would surely blast open the passage between the ninth and tenth levels! The tenth level harbored beings that even he greatly feared. If they were rashly disturbed...

At this thought, his face paled slightly.

Jiang Fan scoffed, "Didn't you give me two choices? Death or acknowledging you as master? I choose a third option! Let's all die together!"

The Seven-Star Sword in his hand slashed down fiercely. The thousand-zhang sword shadow descended mercilessly, striking a pile of black crystals.

"No!" Kui Xing shrieked in terror. His figure shot back, his face filled with dread. He prayed that the black crystals would explode slowly, giving him time to escape.

However, the next instant, hundreds of black crystals simultaneously exploded. Each one was equivalent to a mushroom cloud. What a scene it was, with so many exploding simultaneously!

With a single hum, the world lost all sound; even Kui Xing, a Nascent Soul of three apertures, had his eardrums instantly shattered, losing his hearing. A boundless explosion of light, infused with spatial power, surged forth like a sky-obscuring tsunami. It swallowed him in an instant.

After unleashing his sword strike, Jiang Fan had decisively retrieved the jade-carved phoenix chair. He promptly sat down on it. Then, he pulled Xia Chaoge by the waist, cradling her on his lap. He barely managed to infuse spiritual energy into the jade-carved phoenix chair, activating it, before the sky-darkening tsunami of black fire engulfed them. It then swept outwards, destroying everything in its path.

The massive earthquake it triggered spread throughout the entire ninth-level world.

***

Before the teleportation array leading to the tenth level, Gu Huaxi and Xu Youran were preparing to go to the tenth level. Suddenly, a great earthquake struck. Countless cracks spread to their very feet. Gu Huaxi's expression changed, and she quickly grabbed Xu Youran, which prevented Xu Youran from being thrown to the ground.

The two looked towards the epicenter of the earthquake. A boundless mushroom cloud rose into the sky. The sky of the underground world was too low to contain the mushroom cloud; it surged to the very top of the sky dome and then rolled outwards in all directions along it. When it reached above their heads, a scorching heatwave washed over them. They couldn't imagine what the scene at the very center of the explosion must be like!

"Let's go, let's see what happened." Gu Huaxi, her eyes filled with shock, quickly led Xu Youran to the earthquake's origin. The surrounding earth had all turned into rolling lava, emitting vast amounts of black smoke. At the center, a black abyss, ten li in diameter, had been blasted open! An endless surge of yin energy, accompanied by whistling cold winds, blew into the ninth level.

Gu Huaxi gasped, "The ninth level has been blasted through! Quick, let's go. The creatures from the tenth level might come out." She had planned to take Xu Youran to an already explored area of the tenth level. That area had fewer dangers and still offered some opportunities. But this abyss—who knew where in the tenth level it led? And who knew if any peerless fierce creatures had been awakened?

Xu Youran's face turned slightly pale. She slowly retreated.

Squish. She unintentionally seemed to have stepped on something soft. She looked down and found she had stepped on a strange, fist-sized creature, completely charred. It resembled a human infant and was somewhat cute, but it had a pair of silver pointed horns on its head, indicating its non-human origin.

She jumped in surprise and quickly moved her foot. "Master, what is this?"

Gu Huaxi looked at it; it was her first time seeing such a creature as well. "It must be a creature from the tenth level, caught by chance in the explosion. It looks like it's close to death. Let's go, leave it be. We need to get out of here quickly."

Xu Youran nodded and turned to leave. But her feet paused slightly. Looking down, the dying small creature had its two tiny hands clinging to the heel of her shoe. It seemed to be pleading for help. Seeing this small creature, which resembled a human infant, her heart was filled with pity.

She crouched down and took out a Rejuvenation Pill.

Gu Huaxi said, her heart aching, "Why are you bothering with it? Rejuvenation Pills are so precious; wouldn't it be better to keep it for yourself?"

Xu Youran replied, "Didn't Xiao Fan often use Rejuvenation Pills to save strangers? This little thing seems to be an infant. Let's just give it one." She immediately fed the Rejuvenation Pill to it.

The small silver-horned creature seemed to sense that the Rejuvenation Pill was beneficial; it opened its tiny mouth and sucked it in. It made a soft, milky sound, as if thanking Xu Youran.

Originally a little afraid of this creature she had never seen before, but seeing it had no intention of harming her, Xu Youran bravely wiped the blood from its head and said, "Don't be scared, it will be alright soon."

As soon as she said this, the small silver-horned creature started wailing, like a child who had been wronged.

"Don't cry," Xu Youran didn't know what to do for a moment and quickly tried to comfort it, but she couldn't console it no matter what. "Are you missing your parents? Should I take you back to the tenth level? However, I can't go too deep. I can only take you in; you'll need to find them yourself, okay?"

The small silver-horned creature seemed to understand. It slowly stopped crying and stretched out its two tiny hands, wanting a hug. Xu Youran, her heart aching, picked it up and gently comforted it in her arms.

Gu Huaxi had been secretly on guard. No matter how small this creature was, it was still from the tenth level. It couldn't be underestimated. Fortunately, it was genuinely severely injured and had no intention of harming anyone. Only then did Gu Huaxi relax, saying, "Youran, don't be too kind; you'll suffer for it."

Xu Youran, teasing the small silver-horned creature, said, "It's just a baby. If it were an adult exotic creature, I naturally wouldn't dare to be so benevolent."

Gu Huaxi nodded in satisfaction. She led her back to the array and entered the tenth level.

***

Meanwhile, at the very bottom of this ten-li-wide abyss, amidst a pile of ruins, a jade-carved phoenix chair was half-buried in the earth. Several phoenix shadows swirled around it.

On the jade chair, green light dots flickered on Xia Chaoge's brow, causing her to slowly awaken. "I... where am I?" She groggily looked around. She found this place even darker than the ninth level, with a more concentrated yin energy. Looking up, the sky seemed to have collapsed, revealing a huge opening.

"I... I've fallen into the tenth level?" She instantly understood her predicament. Terrified, she immediately tried to get up. The tenth level was a place where even late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators could perish!

However, she then noticed her waist was tightly held. She looked down. It was Jiang Fan, his hands clasped tightly, holding her in a firm embrace. She turned her head to look. There was a long streak of blood on Jiang Fan's face, apparently from hitting his head on the jade-carved phoenix chair due to the violent shockwave from the explosion.

Xia Chaoge's gaze softened. "You were knocked unconscious, yet you still held me so tightly?" That terrifying explosion was truly immense! Although the jade-carved phoenix chair had deployed its spatial power in time, averting most of the damage, the intense shock, however, was extremely severe. Xia Chaoge had thought she would surely be flung from the jade-carved phoenix chair. She hadn't expected Jiang Fan to cling to her so tightly, even after losing consciousness.

Gazing at Jiang Fan's face, Xia Chaoge, rarely having such an opportunity to examine him closely, murmured, "If Uncle-Master treats me this well, I can only imagine how good he is to his own women. No wonder they are all so devoted to Uncle-Master. Liu Qingxian and Yue Mingzhu even fight with Xu Youran out of jealousy. Oh, and Concubine Yunxia too."

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but extend a delicate finger and gently poke his forehead, her cheeks slightly puffed out. "You even conquered the Demon Emperor's concubine. What a true womanizer."

This poke startled the unconscious Jiang Fan awake. Xia Chaoge was startled. She quickly pretended to be unconscious, leaning against his chest and closing her eyes.