179: Chapter 179: The main quest is finally complete.

"Do you trust him just like that?"

Third Princess looked at Xie Feng, her tone devoid of doubt, filled only with curiosity.

Xie Feng's answering tone carried steady confidence; he had long since turned Aivage's background upside down.

"This Princess trusts you."

Third Princess nodded.

Of course, while Third Princess and Xie Feng trusted him, the Imperial Guards behind them and Tu Ziguan were already prepared.

If anything seemed amiss, you could just see whether Tu Ziguan's bullets were faster.

Aivage stood directly beneath the ice sculpture and told Xie Feng they could begin.

Xie Feng took a deep breath, spreading the five fingers of his right hand as silver-white threads of magic surged wildly from his fingertips, condensing above the ice shell into a fist-sized, completely pure, dense magic sphere.

Every single thread of magic was meticulously and precisely compressed into the interior of the sphere.

Third Princess felt the tentacle deep within her Dantian tremble slightly, gently awakened from its slumber by something.

"Maintain this concentration; do not increase it, nor decrease it. Let it slowly crawl out on its own. It is almost there; in a little while, it will be completely extracted."

Aivage squatted beside Third Princess, his fingers hovering lightly over her Dantian as he sensed the progress of the tentacle's movement.

Xie Feng maintained the density of the magic sphere with his right hand, a silver-white halo silently flowing across his fingertips.

The tentacle slowly extended most of its length, leaving only the very last bit unwilling to come out.

"Alright, maintain it. It will take a few hours. Once it completely comes out, use the Seal..."

Then Xie Feng made a move that Aivage was too late to stop.

He raised his left hand, fingers spread and palm facing upward, and directly grabbed at the end that had just poked out from the surface of Third Princess's Dantian.

He grabbed the end in one clutch, and just like that, yanked it out.

Xie Feng's judgment was grounded in reason; the substance bestowed by Rhan-Tegoth was mainly meant for absorption. If they waited any longer, The Chilling Ones might arrive.

To avoid protracted complications, they had to finish it quickly.

Aivage's fingers froze mid-air, his pupils contracting sharply as he revealed an expression that clearly said, "You really are a madman."

That tentacle had already been firmly grasped in the palm of Xie Feng's left hand.

The end of the tentacle jumped violently before quickly calming down, obediently curling between the five fingers of Xie Feng's left hand without releasing any Divine Rank erosive pollution.

Because strictly speaking, this hand belonged to Ygolonac, not Xie Feng himself.

At this moment, the moment Rhan-Tegoth's tentacle touched the skin of Xie Feng's left hand, it sensed another corrupt and degenerate indescribable will, looking down at it with great interest through layers upon layers of tightly stitched magic twine.

Third Princess pressed her empty Dantian, leaning against the base of the ice sculpture like a drained person, tilting her head up to look at Xie Feng: "You just grabbed it with your bare hand?"

"It's fine. Strictly speaking, this hand isn't my own. An Old God's pollution cannot corrupt another Old God's vessel."

Xie Feng spread open his left-hand palm to let her see. That grayish-white tentacle lay quietly in his palm, right beside the mouth sealed by stitches. The corners of the mouth twitched, letting out a satisfied and bored yawn.

Aivage squatted to the side in silence for a moment before slinging the leather backpack back over his shoulder. He looked at Xie Feng with an expression of complete and utter resignation: "Next time you do something like this, tell me in advance so I can stay far away from you."

Tu Ziguan poked half his body out from behind the rock wall cover, still holding the modified colt, and shouted toward this side: "How are we dealing with that thing?"

Xie Feng carefully and preciously tucked the tentacle into his bosom, casually replying, "I'll just send it away when I go back."

Tu Ziguan felt that this bastard would definitely treasure it, so he ran over and kicked Xie Feng's hand. The tentacle wriggled twice on the ground, trying to return to its main body.

Tu Ziguan called over a few Imperial Guards, finely mincing the thing into bits. Then he supplemented a few bullets himself and had Xu Luijing come over to set up an array, sealing the thing up.

Xie Feng wailed.

"No!!!"

At the edge of the ice shell, Third Princess leaned against the base of the ice sculpture and let out a soft laugh, then closed her eyes and finally fell into a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, Aivage had also learned the weakness of the White Worm as he wished.

"In other words, you mean that the Lord of Death, the Lord of Immortality, the White Worm becomes incomparably weak every month during the new moon?"

Aivage asked curiously, truly perplexed as to why Xie Feng would know such an unreliable-sounding weakness.

"That's right, once a month, but only The Chilling Ones can do it. Because there is a forbidden zone around it that cannot be approached; rushing in recklessly will turn you into a permanent ice sculpture just like the Northern Cities."

Xie Feng nodded. Everything he said was the truth from the original work, likely without any omissions.

"You need to deal with it as soon as possible. Although I don't know why it differs somewhat from the original work, logically speaking, the two people tied up over there should have helped you become one of The Chilling Ones. But clearly, you became one on your own, which makes this a bit different."

Xie Feng scratched his chin with his hand, pondering why there was a discrepancy with the original work.

"Also, after becoming one of The Chilling Ones, your body will gradually adapt to the cold environment. Once completely transformed, the White Worm will fuse your Soul with its own and completely dominate it. But you don't need to worry too much; when it sleeps and during the new moon, your Soul can be controlled by yourself again, so this fellow is quite pathetic."

Tu Ziguan listened to the whole process from the side and heartfeltly made a sarcastic remark.

"This is practically an incomplete Great Old One dominator."

The two members of The Chilling Ones on the ground didn't believe these words at all upon hearing them, but Xie Feng didn't care much either. Whatever wizard methods Aivage used to make these two reveal the White Worm's current location would no longer have anything to do with Xie Feng's group.

After Third Princess woke up, Xie Feng's group returned to New Capital to pick up Han Zheng and the others, sent them to Jiuzhou, and then it all boiled down to one word.

Retreat!

"By the way, I haven't asked yet, are you also surnamed Liu?"

Aivage looked at Xie Feng with curiosity.

"Ah... My surname isn't Liu, I am—"

Zhou Jinglan was currently by Third Princess's side checking her pulse.

A pale figure silently dropped down from above the ice rocks at the entrance of the mountain col.

That witch.

A senior member of the Magic Association who specialized in Contact Nophke, the pale woman who had exchanged a scroll with Xie Feng using the Vrees Sign.

She had been hiding on the outer periphery of the mountains, relying on a covert invisibility Spell to trail far behind The Chilling Ones and Xie Feng's group, patiently waiting for the exact moment when Third Princess's fragment was stripped away and the Imperial Guards' blade formation temporarily dispersed before making her move.

She spread the five fingers of her right hand, and a Spell of curse shot out from her fingertips.

A personal Spell bestowed by the Lord of Immortality.

This Spell itself was designed with the function of penetrating barriers. After witnessing with her own eyes on the outer periphery of the mountains how Xie Feng used a barrier to block Duni's magic shockwave, she had been waiting for this opportunity all along.

Two Spells unfolded simultaneously; the Spell of curse headed straight for Xie Feng, while a chaotic Spacetime Gate opened up beneath the feet of Xie Feng and Aivage.