160: Unintelligible monsters

"Fresh air, solid ground, vast sky, green mountains and clear waters, black and white clearly defined—in my lifetime, I have finally returned!"

Zhao Chong's eyes teared up with excitement as he prostrated himself on the ground and kissed the soil.

"Wait, this smell isn't quite right."

"Let me cast a hexagram to see."

"Damn, this actually is the Xiaoyao Realm."

"Isn't it said that the Xiaoyao Realm is a virtual platform jointly built by the Imperial Family, Aristocratic Families, and universities? How could it allow an Immortal Master like me to enter?"

He took out his turtle shell again and began to calculate. Soon, his eyes lit up: "I see, so that's how it is!"

With a thought, he consumed the remaining xiaoyao coins he had earlier and teleported to the First District.

Looking at the familiar streets, he almost shed tears.

He found a snack shop and immediately ordered a huge pile of snacks.

Although they were all virtual and wouldn't fill him up, they satisfied his cravings!

Just as he was about to put a skewer of spicy konjac into his mouth, his heart suddenly twitched. Like a fish dying of thirst, he collapsed to the ground, unable to breathe, his mouth opening and closing in silent gasps.

Ten seconds later, the pain vanished, and he began to divine with a grim expression.

That was a telepathic warning—a sign of great misfortune!

The last time he had such a severe telepathic warning was when he was banished to the Void Realm; that time, it lasted nine seconds.

He shook the turtle shell, and the six copper coins inside clattered.

He poured the coins onto the table. The six coins displayed a "heads-tails-heads-tails-heads-tails" pattern.

His face instantly darkened like the bottom of a pot.

This hexagram is called the Water-Fire Unfinished hexagram. It indicates that the Year Star is in conflict with the current age, a sign of great misfortune.

It can be understood as offending the Grand Duke, meaning nothing he does will succeed.

Before casting the hexagram, he was thinking about self-preservation, but the result...

"This is telling me to die!"

"Who exactly is it?"

He put the copper coins back into the turtle shell and shook it again. Soon, he finally calculated the source of the danger.

"It's you!"

"Not only did you survive the siege, but you also snatched the qualification. I underestimated you!"

"Then let's see whose methods are tougher!"

...

Xu Le passed through the spatial node and arrived in the Xiaoyao Realm.

Looking at the familiar world, he excitedly pumped his fist.

However, he soon discovered that this place was different from Blue Star. The gravity here was lower; a casual jump would carry him much further.

"What kind of world is this?"

"Why does it give me the feeling of the Xiaoyao Realm?"

Xu Le took out his Xiaoyao Ring and found it had been sealed and was completely unusable. The xiaoyao coins he had earned earlier had also become meaningless numbers.

Without further investigation, he flew toward the call in his heart.

Unlike the Void Realm, he could clearly sense the location of the voice calling to him in this world.

The distance kept closing, but compared to the total distance, it was still far too much.

After flying continuously for three days, the scenery Xu Le saw became increasingly desolate.

Although there were no demons in the Xiaoyao Realm, the forest beneath him was pitch black and incredibly grotesque.

The further he flew, the stronger the unease in Xu Le's heart grew.

Flying over the pitch-Black Forest, the journey was surprisingly safe, and Xu Le finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Continuing forward, he finally saw a shantytown with people walking around inside.

Continuing forward, he finally saw the source of the call—Qin Siyuan.

"God, you have finally come to see me!"

"Is this a dream? I'm so excited!"

Qin Siyuan put down the bean pods in his hands and ran over quickly, small tears still hanging from the corners of his eyes.

Xu Le's mouth twitched.

The peerless contracted beast he had expected turned out to be Qin Siyuan. Seeing a grown man like this with tears in his eyes was truly hard for him to take.

"Why are you here?"

Theoretically, Qin Siyuan was just a historical figure, and the competitive match he had previously experienced was similar to an illusion. He never expected that the illusion would reflect into reality and that the servant he had recruited would actually become real.

Qin Siyuan: "God, ever since you left, I have been trapped here."

"An indistinct consciousness told me that if I want to leave here, I must obtain the Heart of Xiaoyao."

"The nights here are terrifying; many incomprehensible monsters appear."

"If you hadn't made me thoroughly understand my Skill, I might have died long ago."

"Even so, I can only hide in the shantytown; I am completely unable to contend with those monsters."

Xu Le frowned: "Incomprehensible monsters?"

Qin Siyuan nodded, still fearful: "That first night, I saw a rabbit and thought about catching it to satisfy my cravings."

"As soon as I got within three meters of it, it suddenly stared at me. Its body rapidly expanded, muscles knotted, and a pair of blood-red eyes were filled with bloodshot veins."

"I summoned a squad of Intermediate Yellow Turban Strongmen to fight it, but who knew it would open its mouth wide and bite off the head of the leading shield warrior in one bite."

"Facing the rest of the Yellow Turban Strongmen, it killed them one punch at a time, beating them directly into pulp."

In just a few sentences, Xu Le could already imagine that terrifying rabbit and considered whether he could defeat it.

Xu Le: "Are they all that strong?"

Qin Siyuan shook his head: "Not necessarily. There was another time when I encountered a legendary Dragon."

"A human head, a snake's body, and a body thousands of kilometers long. At the time, I was determined to die and summoned a bolt of divine lightning to strike it, but it was turned into ash instantly."

Xu Le: "..."

The ones that looked weak were hard to mess with, but the ones that looked strong were actually weaklings?

Qin Siyuan continued, saying that there was no pattern to the monsters here at all; it was impossible to tell whether they were strong or weak.

He spoke in great detail, eager to recount all his experiences, clearly hoping that Xu Le would help him leave this world.

Xu Le also had a vague feeling that he needed the Heart of Xiaoyao to leave this world, so he asked about it.

Qin Siyuan pointed toward the Black Forest: "I have a vague feeling that the Heart of Xiaoyao is inside the forest, but it is too dangerous inside; you can encounter those kinds of monsters even during the day."

Seeing that it was still early, Xu Le took out a pile of ingredients and began to cook.

Having suffered for so long in the Void Realm, he decided to enjoy himself first.

Qin Siyuan brought over a pile of firewood, and the Tanuki helped start the fire. Soon, a bonfire was burning.

Xu Le took out chicken wings and barbecue seasoning and began to grill them. The Tanuki and Qin Siyuan were drooling profusely.

"Want to eat? If you want to eat, grill it yourself!"

Xu Le took out another pile of ingredients, and Qin Siyuan took them and began to grill for himself and the Tanuki.

Time passed slowly.

Xu Le ate and drank his fill, then went to the shantytown to take a nap.

When he woke up, it was already dark.

Qin Siyuan reminded him: "God, as long as we don't go out after dark, those monsters won't come in."

Xu Le nodded and decided to go out and take a look.

Under the bright moonlight, the outside world was as bright as day.

Somewhere, insects were chirping incessantly, giving him the illusion of returning to a summer night in the countryside from his past life.

"Croak!"

An ordinary frog hopped through the forest and entered the vicinity of the shantytown.

The Tanuki, which had been lazing around, decided to show off its Skills. It jumped in front of the frog and pressed down with a paw, preparing to capture it alive for Xu Le to study.