Chapter Seven: Countdown Seven
Zhang Hainan ultimately accepted Lu Xianbei’s proposal.
Although the thought of meeting Qing Ji again after a hundred years sent chills down his spine, upon careful consideration, Lu Xianbei’s suggestion was indeed reasonable.
After all, causing destruction to help the Calamity feign d*ath and escape the pursuit of major Spirit Energy Organizations contradicted his power’s tenet of “rescuing the living and protecting order, ensuring eternal peace for all…”
While acting to satiate his own desires to this extent was not enough to corrupt his power, he still felt something was off.
It felt akin to allowing soldiers like the Longxiang, who protect the nation, to destroy the vegetable gardens of Yumen Pass residents and roast the chickens raised beside them.
Moreover, he also wanted to take a look at Lu Xianbei’s God Realm Prototype…
It wasn’t that he wanted to see Qing Ji!
What was there to see about a brat who bullied you since childhood?
His main interest was in how much the God Realm Prototype, constructed by Mrs. Wang Meili and over which he had personally exercised suppression for nearly twenty years, had changed after experiencing a catastrophic disaster and being handed over to Lu Xianbei.
Tonight was the time to verify the results!
“……,” he thought, it would definitely be better, right?
That kid, though seemingly disordered and constantly coming up with some unconventional ideas, was essentially kind-hearted… Zhang Hainan pondered.
In truth, he did have some concerns about handing over the God Realm Prototype to Lu Xianbei.
A God Realm is an existence capable of causing catastrophic disasters, isn’t it?
A slight misstep could lead to tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of beings perishing!
The difference between the God Realm Prototype and a complete God Realm was merely the difference in the yield of nuclear bombs.
Thus, even if the God Realm Prototype was originally left to Lu Xianbei by Mrs. Wang Meili, Zhang Hainan still felt it was more appropriate to wait until she matured and became more stable before taking over.
Unfortunately, the world is unpredictable, and heaven doesn’t grant wishes…
With a heavy heart, Zhang Hainan followed Lu Xianbei through the passage of the God Realm Prototype. After a few moments, when his feet finally touched the ground, he opened his eyes to see the empty street illuminated by streetlights, frowning as he turned to look into the distance.
“What’s over there? Why is there a chaotic, complex, and filthy Spirit Energy fluctuation coming from that direction?”
“Oh, that?” Lu Xianbei glanced in the direction Zhang Hainan was staring at, expressionless, and replied, “I’ve locked up some Spirit Ability Users; they are members of the Solar Eclipse Society I casually captured last time we went to Shancheng.”
After a pause, she added with a casual tone, “It’s been so long, I guess Ji Yunpei has mostly tamed them by now?”
Hearing this, Zhang Hainan’s bl**d pressure, which had been well-maintained for decades, suddenly spiked.
Tamed? Did she just use the word tamed?
Zhang Hainan didn’t think punishing the members of the Solar Eclipse Society was wrong. From a normal person’s perspective, over eighty to ninety percent of the Solar Eclipse Society members had bl**d on their hands, and their sins warranted execution.
If he had encountered a group of them, he would have dispatched them one by one to be reborn.
As the illustrious Black Emperor, even executing evildoers was done openly, with one strike to end their lives!
However, the situation was different when those Solar Eclipse Society members were in Lu Xianbei’s hands and she used the term “tamed.”
Without needing to think much, he knew what kind of inhumane, psychological and physiological torment those guys would endure.
One couldn’t expect Lu Xianbei to reform them into model citizens, could they?
That felt a bit twisted…
And when one engages in too many twisted things, it inevitably affects one’s mind.
While Zhang Hainan was lost in thought, suddenly more hidden Spirit Energy fluctuations from every corner of the God Realm Prototype activated his spiritual perception, one of which even induced a slight unease within him.
This was not his first time entering this God Realm Prototype.
Aside from Qing Ji, who he had long known about through divination, Wang Ying, whom he had secretly assisted once when Lu Xianbei signed a contract with him, and the Xuan Ying Luo Fu he had entrusted to Lu Xianbei himself, he was more than clear about the Spirit Energy fluctuations that should or shouldn’t exist.
The ones he sensed earlier belonged to employees of the Sunrise Biotechnology Company, which should not be there.
And now…
“What else is hidden in your God Realm Prototype besides those Solar Eclipse Society members?” Zhang Hainan couldn’t help but inquire.
In the next moment, he received a shocking answer from Lu Xianbei, “Oh, it’s nothing really! Just some leftover souls from the God Realm Yumen.”
“Some?” Zhang Hainan narrowed his eyes, sizing her up.
“Uh…” Lu Xianbei turned her face away, avoiding his scrutinizing gaze, and said quietly, “Just a few tens of thousands.”
“That can’t be right?” Zhang Hainan concentrated, using his spiritual perception to carefully investigate his surroundings, “Just a few tens of thousands of common souls shouldn’t have this quality, right?”
“Um, just some Longxiang Army Armor Soldiers and one…” Lu Xianbei suddenly appeared a bit flustered.
“One what?” Zhang Hainan pressed.
“Do you really need to know?”
“Of course!” Zhang Hainan nodded.
His tone and expression seemed to say, “If you don’t honestly answer today, I won’t let it go.”
Fine, old man, you brought this upon yourself; I didn’t intend to upset you! Lu Xianbei rolled her eyes, maintaining a neutral expression, “It’s just one leftover soul of a disaster-class Spirit Ability user who lived for over a thousand years…”
“No need to worry about it, just my little follower! If you put in some effort, you might just barely catch up to him.”
Zhang Hainan, “？？？”
A Spirit Ability user who lived for over a thousand years… could such a person even exist? What does it mean to put in effort to barely catch up? Is this even human language?
At this point, he unhesitatingly marked Lu Xianbei’s answer with a zero.
Lu Xianbei had not made the God Realm Prototype better…
Inheritance Beasts, Solar Eclipse Society members, tens of thousands of leftover souls, and one disaster-class Spirit Ability user who lived for over a thousand years… stuffing all kinds of dangerous things into the God Realm Prototype made it virtually impossible for it to improve!
It was like buying some electronic learning device for a child at home, only to find it was not used for studying but filled with dozens of gigabytes of unhealthy videos and games instead.
Zhang Hainan suddenly felt that Bi Xuzi’s suggestion to keep some antihypertensives nearby seemed to have a point.
Seeing Zhang Hainan’s face darkened in accordance with his title as the Black Emperor, Nanling Yaohua covered her mouth and laughed heartily.
Without an ounce of restraint, after all, others couldn’t hear or see.
For a brief moment, she surprisingly felt that this state was a bit refreshing.
At least, in the past, she didn’t have the courage to mock the illustrious Black Emperor so overtly.
Zhang Hainan glanced towards Lu Xianbei’s back, sensing the ecstatic aura drifting from that direction, and let out a silent sigh.
————
[“Countdown to the d*ath of Calamity,” 105H0M41S]
After being twisted around by Lu Xianbei, Zhang Hainan finally crossed Mudan Street with her and arrived at the Lu Family Manor.
Stopping at the door, he looked at the small restaurant, which had reverted back to its “Lipstick Tavern” sign. He carefully observed the two pomegranate trees that had previously been out of reach for closer inspection. Memories floated to the surface, making him sigh.
Meanwhile, Nanling Yaohua, upon seeing the tree adorned with crimson pomegranate flowers, couldn’t wait to float over the wall, climb up to the branches, look around for a while, and then reach for the largest and reddest flower…
Holding that pomegranate flower with both hands, she struggled for a long while, pulling on the tree tip that made the “sasa” sound, but she couldn’t pluck it off, ultimately letting out a resigned sigh.
But then, as if an idea struck her, her eyes brightened, and she twirled in mid-air, creating an illusion that the largest, reddest pomegranate flower was adorning the side of her head like an accessory.
However, when she waved her small hand, excitedly looking towards Lu Xianbei, she realized that Lu Xianbei wasn’t using that special ability to give her a glance.
“……,”
Actually, that’s quite normal, right?
Her utilization of that ability required a significant burden and couldn’t be used at all times!
Forget it, let’s forgive her this time? Nanling Yaohua thought.
With a silent sigh, she floated up, resting her chin on her hands, sitting in a despondent manner at the top of the pomegranate tree.
However, before she could settle, she suddenly heard a sharp crying sound, seemingly from a human infant, coming from the loft’s small room, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps.
With the footsteps, a delicate girl burst out, “Waking up” the dormant sensing lamp, and, as if calculated, jumped right into Lu Xianbei’s arms, crying and mumbling.
“Wuwuwu, Master Xiaobei, there are ghosts! There are ghosts in the house!”
Nanling Yaohua’s fists suddenly clenched, and the pomegranate flowers she had struggled to pick before were crushed in her grip.
Why was this child so rude? Whose child is this… eh?
Upon closer inspection, she suddenly realized that the little girl resembled Lu Xianbei’s story-transformed appearance remarkably. No one would believe there wasn’t some bl**d relation.
Sister, it must be a sister or something, right?
There can’t be that the guy neglected a whole bunch of girls and secretly had a daughter, right? Nanling Yaohua consoled herself.
In contrast to the soaring “bl**d pressure” of Nanling Yaohua, Zhang Hainan, whose bl**d pressure had already decreased, surveyed Wang Ying and nodded in satisfaction.
The Inheritance Beast, once controlled by the Solar Eclipse Society, that had brought considerable trouble to the Siye Society and possessed the potential to destroy the world, had transformed into this innocuous appearance under Lu Xianbei’s guidance. He was quite pleased.
However, his satisfaction did not last long as sudden fear tore through it into pieces…
“Rascals, what are you making noise about in the middle of the night! Are your butts itchy or something?”
Shouting, Qing Ji, dressed in a nightgown and wielding a whip wrapped in surging Spirit Energy, burst out of the door.
Looking at that familiar figure, Zhang Hainan’s weary eyes were veiled in mist, and in that moment, he seemed to return to the summer of his thirteenth year, his palm aching from a phantom pain…
That summer, Qing Ji said to him, who had just begun to learn under her, “Don’t be afraid, go ahead and do it boldly. If you make a mistake, I’ll just hit you once, it’s not for the sake of punishment, but to make it memorable for you.”
Thus, he almost had his palm shattered by a whip as thick as a finger.
(Please expect updates early during the New Year’s holiday~ Wishing everyone a happy New Year in advance~)
