183: Uninvited guests from Spark City enter the Xiling ruins

In Starfire City, outside the city gates, in an open space.

Two figures, one fat and one thin, stood still, each searching for something.

This continued for quite a while.

The fatter figure frowned and asked, "Hawthorn, have you found anything on your side?"

The thin man, called Hawthorn, shook his head, "No, the information from headquarters said Boxi was last seen here, but there are no traces of a battle around."

The fat figure's expression grew more solemn, "Could he have betrayed us?"

Hawthorn shook his head again, "Impossible. Boxi is an old member of the organization, and he has a close relationship with one of the Shadow Warrior adults. The tasks the organization gives him are extremely easy, and the rewards are equally generous. He has no reason to betray us, let alone the terrible consequences of betraying the organization; he should know how bad it is."

The fat figure had only spoken casually, and after hearing Hawthorn's words, he said no more.

At this moment, Hawthorn's tone became more serious.

"News from outside says that the Forest of Curses, which Boxi was responsible for, was conquered by the Zhou Family of Liyue City. And shortly after the Forest of Curses was conquered, something happened to Boxi. This shouldn't be a coincidence."

The fat figure: "Since that's the case, we can only wait for news from the Shadow Spies."

Hawthorn nodded, then added, "Let's put Boxi's matter aside for now. When we came, White Tiger Adult specifically instructed us to go into the city."

The fat figure naturally had no objections, and the two walked into the city together.

Soon, the two passed through the city gate and stopped only when they arrived at the entrance of a slightly dilapidated blacksmith shop.

"We're here, let's go in."

Hawthorn said, and lifted his foot to walk in.

However, before his left foot could land in the courtyard, a violent flame shot out from inside without warning.

"Boom!"

The flame was swift and urgent. By the time Hawthorn realized something was wrong, it was too late to dodge, and he was blasted away by the flames.

The fat figure's expression changed dramatically, "Damn it!!"

After a furious roar, the fat figure was about to make a move.

At this moment, a rough and imposing figure walked out from inside the house. It was none other than Boxi, who had just formed a contract with Ye Xiao.

Boxi looked at the two, his gaze carrying a hint of disgust, "Didn't that sick tiger tell you that I don't welcome you rats who hide in the shadows here?"

"How dare you! You insult an adult?" Hawthorn staggered to his feet from the ground, glaring at Boxi, seething with anger.

Boxi raised the dark iron hammer in his hand, a sneer playing on his lips.

"So what if I insulted him? Even if that sick tiger stood in front of me, I, this old man, would still say the same thing. Do you think he'd dare to fart in front of me?"

Hawthorn and the fat figure's expressions both changed upon hearing this.

They had only been ordered by White Tiger Adult to find a blacksmith, but hearing Boxi's words and seeing Boxi's move just now, the two were not fools. How could they not know that this seemingly ordinary old man was not simple?

For a moment, their faces turned a little pale, unsure what to say.

Unfortunately, their silence did not mean Boxi would stop there.

"That sick tiger didn't dare to come himself, so he sent you two nobodies. He just wants to see if I can still swing this iron hammer."

As he spoke, Boxi swung his hammer and slowly walked forward.

"I'm in a good mood today, so I'll satisfy his curiosity."

Hawthorn's face changed dramatically, "Wait!"

But what responded to him was an incredibly explosive energy.

"Boom boom boom!"

Bursts of explosions roared.

The sound came quickly and left just as quickly.

A few breaths later, the blacksmith shop returned to silence.

Hawthorn and the fat figure were gone, only a puddle of crimson blood on the ground indicating what had happened there just moments ago.

Boxi glanced at the blood on the ground, shook his head, and turned around.

"My good mood was ruined by two nobodies. How disappointing."

--- ---

In the Eternal World, amidst the rubble outside Liyue City.

After dealing with the Nether Rock Serpent, with the help of Xiaojin's information transmission and Milad's guidance, Ye Xiao quickly arrived at a very secluded pond.

According to Milad, the entrance to the Xiling Ruins was beneath the pond.

Of course, simply jumping in would not allow direct entry into the ruins; a special item was required.

Previously, Milad had always used the Xiling curse on his body as a guide to deceive the Restriction Barrier at the entrance.

But now that he had Boxi's exploration compass, there was no need to use the Xiling curse.

Ye Xiao was also very surprised by this.

If it weren't for Milad's explanation, who would have thought that such a mysterious ruin was hidden in this beginner area?

He activated all his defensive abilities.

Then, Ye Xiao jumped into the pond without hesitation.

Instantly, an icy chill enveloped his entire body, making Ye Xiao involuntarily alert.

It should be known that when a Professional's strength reaches a certain level, external natural environments cannot affect them.

However, Ye Xiao was now shivering from the cold, and this feeling proved that this place was not simple. Although Milad had said there was no danger in this pond, Ye Xiao dared not completely trust him.

The Level 300 Nether Rock Serpent was a lesson learned; who knew if there were other unknown dangers hidden here?

However, although he currently had no experience to trigger the Nourishment of the Earth's effect, he still had a ring of resentful souls.

Its effect was somewhat similar to Nourishment of the Earth, both preventing death from fatal damage by incurring other costs.

Nourishment of the Earth cost level experience, while the ring of resentful souls required resentful souls.

Although after obtaining this ring, Ye Xiao had only killed three intelligent beings—the old village chief, Zhou Dafu, and Boxi, who died by his hand not long ago—it was enough to trigger the ring's second effect once.

As for the ring of resentful souls' first effect, besides the 0.1% ring bonus provided by the old village chief at the beginning, the subsequent increases from Zhou Dafu and Boxi were too minuscule to even show up in the data.

In fact, Ye Xiao was also a little worried when he first faced the Nether Rock Serpent.

He wasn't worried about an accident happening to himself, but rather that the Nourishment of the Earth's effect wouldn't trigger, and the ring of resentful souls' second effect would trigger first.

But now it seemed that the Nourishment of the Earth's trigger effect should take precedence over the ring of resentful souls' effect.

This was exactly what Ye Xiao wanted.

Enduring the bone-chilling cold, Ye Xiao slowly descended to the bottom of the water. Before long, he discovered an opening at the bottom.

Ye Xiao's eyes lit up slightly, and he slowly approached it.

Finally, after a while longer, as Ye Xiao cautiously passed through the opening, the cold aura on his body instantly evaporated, followed by a brightening of his surroundings.

But before Ye Xiao could clearly see his surroundings, several black energies instantly struck him.

--- ---

[Ding! You are immune to the Xiling curse.]

[Ding! You are immune to the Xiling curse.]

...--- ---

This sudden change caused Ye Xiao to jump out of the opening in a hurry, while vigilantly scanning his surroundings.

He couldn't help but feel lucky that he had taken the Cleansing Curse Potion Milad gave him before entering the water, otherwise he might have really been in trouble.

"Whoosh!"

A faint whooshing sound rang out. Ye Xiao, now alert, detected it immediately. After quickly dodging, he raised his hand towards where the sound came from.

A sky full of Fireballs shot out.

However, after the smoke cleared, nothing was found.

Ye Xiao stared ahead, his expression solemn.

At this moment, Xiaojin's voice came, a reminder from Milad.

"Kid, be careful from now on. This is where the Xiling Ruins begin. Invisible Xiling are watching you everywhere in the ruins. If possible, absolutely do not disturb them, otherwise you will fall into endless trouble."

Ye Xiao couldn't help but get angry after hearing this.

"Why didn't you say so earlier!"

"It's this Meiya People who spoke slowly, it's not my problem," Xiaojin said, sounding a little wronged.

Ye Xiao was about to say something, but the originally empty cave suddenly became filled with a chilling wind.

Immediately, visible black gusts of wind surged from all directions.

Facing these invisible winds, even Ye Xiao was helpless.

In an instant, he was enveloped by the gusts of chilling wind.

And the panel information began to flash wildly at this moment.

Fortunately, although Milad liked to put on airs, it had to be said that he had a knack for understanding curses.

All kinds of curses were immunized thanks to the Cleansing Curse Potion.

Seeing this, Ye Xiao also breathed a slight sigh of relief.

But before he could figure out how to deal with the chilling wind in front of him, another massive gust of wind surged from a distance.

However, this time, the wind did not directly attack Ye Xiao, but stopped just before reaching him. Immediately after, all the chilling winds, including those wrapped around Ye Xiao, instantly converged.

The next moment, a massive,paint black foot suddenly stepped out from within the wind.

As the foot landed on the ground, the entire cave began to shake.

And the surrounding black chilling winds also lit up with a glow at this moment. Immediately, a black ferocious beast, three times Ye Xiao's height, appeared before Ye Xiao.

At this moment, those eerie winds also attached to the surface of the fierce beast's skin, forming strange rune symbols.

Ye Xiao's gaze was solemn as he surveyed the fierce beast before him.

But surprisingly, the information-probing ability that Professionals naturally possessed had disappeared at this moment.

It wasn't like the Nether Rock Serpent from before, where he could only see its name due to its high level, with the rest being question marks; instead, no information could be displayed at all, as if the fierce beast in front of him didn't exist.

Yet, the fierce beast was clearly right in front of Ye Xiao, and after its appearance, the runes all over its body continuously flickered with a ghostly blue light.

Since he couldn't discern the fierce beast's strength, and coupled with the strangeness of the Xiling Ruins, Ye Xiao, having learned his lesson, naturally didn't dare to act rashly, so he called out to Milad again.

"Milad, what's going on?"

Fortunately, for Milad, who had dedicated years to studying the Xiling Ancient Clan, this was finally his moment to shine.

"This is a Xiling Rune Beast. It has no physical form and is a fierce beast composed entirely of unknown energy."

"No physical form?"

Ye Xiao was stunned, then continuously scrutinized the Xiling Rune Beast before him.

Milad then explained, "This type of Rune Beast usually exists in the form of wind. When it encounters intense energy fluctuations, it will gather and materialize."

"Furthermore, all the energy that makes up this Xiling Rune Beast contains various curses from Xiling. Once touched, the curse power will spread like a plague into the touch's body. If the curse is not dispelled in time, the touch will be assimilated in a very short period, becoming part of the Xiling Rune Beast. Last time, that old fellow Boxi also encountered this Xiling Rune Beast here, but he was no match for it and fled in disarray."

After hearing Milad's explanation, Ye Xiao had a sudden realization, but then he thought of something else and asked, "Then, is the curse on you from here as well?"

Soon, Milad relayed through Little Gold, "Essentially, the curse on me also comes from a Xiling Rune Beast, but I wouldn't have the ability to leave alive after encountering a Xiling Rune Beast."

"Then you are...?" Ye Xiao asked, puzzled.

"The curse on me was collected from my father's body."

"Your father?"

This time, it was Ye Xiao's turn to be surprised.

Milad, in the Red Moon Space, spoke of this with a touch of sadness on his face, but he still slowly said, "The reason I am so dedicated to the study of the Xiling Ancient Clan is also due to my father's influence. He accidentally got cursed when he discovered the Xiling Ruins back then. Although his strong will and power allowed him to escape, the Xiling curse was too overbearing. He ran out of vitality before he could fully research a way to break the curse."

"Fortunately, before his death, he had already discovered some weaknesses of this curse. I then, with my father's help, extracted and sealed this curse. The rest was simple. To fulfill my father's regret, I began to desperately research the Xiling Ancient Clan, hoping to find a way to break the curse. Finally, with my intelligence, it took me 50 years, and I finally made a breakthrough."

"Although I still cannot completely break the Xiling curse, I have successfully managed to control it and, based on its characteristics, formulate purification potions. At the same time, I can also use this sealed curse by planting it in my own body, thereby easily finding and entering the Xiling Ruins."

"Tell me, am I not amazing?"

It truly was an inspiring story, and if Ye Xiao ignored Milad's final question, he couldn't help but feel a sudden respect for him.

Ye Xiao ignored the now boastful Milad and turned to look at the large creature in front of him.

According to Milad, because he had planted a curse within his body, he had never directly fought a Xiling Rune Beast, so he didn't know much about it.

The only intelligence he had came from Boxi. Boxi had previously attempted to enter the Xiling Ruins to search for a black dragon scale, and it was the Xiling Rune Beast in front of them that had driven him away.

Don't underestimate Boxi's combat power just because he's a blacksmith; his strength ranks among the top ten in Starfire City.

Ye Xiao was quite surprised by Milad's words.

After all, he had almost clashed with Boxi before, and now it seemed that Boxi truly had no ill will towards him.

Otherwise, if a Meiya People who ranked among the top ten in Starfire City's combat power truly fought, the outcome would be hard to say.

In that case, the Xiling Rune Beast in front of them was truly a big problem.

Ye Xiao and Milad's conversation seemed long, but in reality, it only lasted a few breaths.

At this moment, the runic light on the Xiling Rune Beast's body gradually stabilized, and Ye Xiao saw the Xiling Rune Beast's blue, pupil-less eyes subtly rotate once.

Then, without a word, it charged towards Ye Xiao.

Seeing this, Ye Xiao didn't dare to be careless, casting Ice Spear and Whirlwind Slash consecutively.

He didn't care how much damage he could inflict on the opponent, only hoping to be able to control the Xiling Rune Beast.

However, what Ye Xiao didn't expect was that after the two elemental skills touched the Xiling Rune Beast, they passed directly through it.

The Xiling Rune Beast was like a transparent shadow, impossible to lock onto.

Ye Xiao didn't believe it and then cast all the skills he could use once more.

However, even his most frequently used Fireball couldn't cause the slightest damage to the Xiling Rune Beast.

Instead, as various energies surged, black winds continuously gushed from the depths of the cave, rapidly merging into the Xiling Rune Beast's body after appearing.

Ye Xiao could see with his naked eye that the runes on the Xiling Rune Beast's surface grew increasingly brighter.

At this moment, Little Gold relayed Milad's words again.

"Kid, it's useless. Boxi tried it back then. This guy is incredibly strange, formless and intangible, completely impossible to lock onto."

Upon hearing this, Ye Xiao gave up the idea of going forward to use his magic weapon.

At this point, the Xiling Rune Beast had already rushed in front of Ye Xiao.

In such a moment, the best choice was to flee.

But Ye Xiao was unwilling to leave just like that; not to mention his desire to obtain the black dragon scale, the mere possibility of hidden treasures within the Xiling Ruins prevented him from giving up easily.

After some thought, Ye Xiao finally used the Heaven Sealing Demon Banning Formation on the Xiling Rune Beast the moment it launched its attack.

However, the next moment...

A situation that made Ye Xiao's eyes widen occurred.

This was a Restriction Barrier that could even seal an eighth-rank Professional, yet in front of this Xiling Rune Beast, it seemed to not exist at all.

The Xiling Rune Beast simply passed through the location of the Heaven Sealing Demon Banning Formation with ease, then slammed a palm heavily towards Ye Xiao.

Ye Xiao was greatly alarmed and quickly retreated.

But the Xiling Rune Beast's speed was incredibly fast; not only did Ye Xiao fail to create distance, but he didn't even have time to cast Void Phantom.

The Xiling Rune Beast's foot had already appeared above Ye Xiao's head, then slammed down fiercely.

"Bang!"

A chaotic aura instantly enveloped Ye Xiao.

Various curse immunity messages popped up on the panel.

But even with Milad's potion immunity, seeing his health plummeting, Ye Xiao couldn't help but be shocked.

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One palm directly took out over 500,000 of his health?

What terrifying damage!

Even though Ye Xiao currently possessed over 15 million health, he couldn't withstand 30 attacks from this Xiling Rune Beast.

And most importantly, all of Ye Xiao's current attack methods were ineffective against the Xiling Rune Beast.

This was what troubled him the most.

At this moment, the Xiling Rune Beast, having landed a hit, charged forward again without any pause.

Although Ye Xiao was surprised, his reaction was extremely quick.

However, this time he didn't cast Void Phantom; instead, he activated the Restriction Barrier.

He used the barrier's most basic function: immunity to all damage for 30 minutes.

The next moment, the Xiling Rune Beast's foot slammed down again, and as expected, its attack was blocked by the barrier.

Seeing this, Ye Xiao breathed a slight sigh of relief.

He was truly afraid that the Xiling Rune Beast could even penetrate the barrier; then he would truly have no way to deal with it.

However, before Ye Xiao could fully exhale...

The Xiling Rune Beast in front of him seemed to understand what was happening, and its massive body suddenly erupted with dazzling blue light.

Ye Xiao, seeing this scene, couldn't help but swallow, "This guy isn't going to self-destruct, is he?"

Unfortunately, the Xiling Rune Beast ignored Ye Xiao.

As the light on its body grew more intense, the Xiling Rune Beast's energy-composed body exploded with a roar under Ye Xiao's astonished gaze.

That's right, it exploded again.

However, the next second, panel messages flashed wildly.

Ye Xiao subconsciously opened it.

--- ---

[Ding! The current area has been covered by Black Spirit. Affected by the Black Spirit, your attributes in this area have been reduced to 3%]

--- ---

?????

Ye Xiao looked at the information on the panel with a bewildered expression, not understanding what had happened.