95: Return to Black Sand City and repair the secret realm

"M-master! Xue Ling has failed your expectations. Please give Xue Ling a little more time; Xue Ling will definitely be able to regain the Black Sand City market."

Ye Xiao looked at Xue Ling, who was kneeling before him, trembling, with no emotion in his eyes.

The reason he kept Xue Ling was, firstly, because he valued the Golden Phoenix Legion's money-making ability here.

Secondly, Xue Ling had voluntarily signed a slave contract with him, meaning her life or death was entirely at his whim.

That's why he spared her life.

But now, it seemed Xue Ling's role hadn't met Ye Xiao's expectations.

This made Ye Xiao reconsider how to deal with Xue Ling.

He was also aware that a large part of the reason Xue Ling couldn't gain a foothold in Black Sand City was because he had killed all the elites of the Golden Phoenix Legion, including Snow Phoenix, that day.

But this couldn't be an excuse.

If he had to rebuild everything himself, then Xue Ling's existence would be meaningless.

Just then, Xue Ling, who had been keeping her head down, saw that Ye Xiao hadn't spoken.

She couldn't help but slowly raise her head, secretly glancing at Ye Xiao.

Seeing Ye Xiao's expression, devoid of any joy or anger, Xue Ling felt even more terrified.

Perhaps she was intimidated by Ye Xiao's attitude.

Xue Ling seemed to have made a great decision, then gritted her teeth and slowly said:

"You said that day that the boss of Miasma Hidden Forest, Plague Source Grub, had been killed by you. Your purpose in keeping me was to use the original Golden Phoenix Legion to earn enough money for you to resurrect Plague Source Grub."

"But the current situation is that Black Sand City is controlled by the Black Tiger and Silver Dragon Legions. The Shadow Legion needs some time to develop."

"However, I found a way that might not require so many eternal coins to resurrect Plague Source Grub."

At this point, Xue Ling's expression seemed a little hesitant, but after a moment, she continued:

"It's just... the method might be a bit cruel to master, and it might also affect master's reputation..."

Ye Xiao, who was contemplating how to deal with Xue Ling, was somewhat surprised to hear this.

He was very curious about what method Xue Ling was referring to.

As for whether it was cruel or not, or about reputation, he didn't care much.

Given his current situation,

while not everyone was against him, facing the pressure from the Eight Great Families wasn't much better.

Ever since the Eternal World appeared, the four words 'strength reigns supreme' had permeated the entire world.

Only if one's strength was strong enough to make everyone fear them,

then no one would dare to have any opinion on anything they did.

Ye Xiao had seen this clearly in the Eight Great Families' actions against him this time.

And being able to resurrect Plague Source Grub, and then refine exquisite gems through Plague Source Grub, would be of no small help to his strength.

So, he directly asked, "Tell me, but this is your last chance. I don't like useless people."

Xue Ling trembled slightly upon hearing this, then spoke.

"Master, this method requires killing people, killing many, many Professionals, using their lives to resurrect Plague Source Grub."

"Killing people?" Ye Xiao was slightly taken aback, looking at Xue Ling with some suspicion.

Xue Ling knew there was no turning back once the arrow was shot, so she took a deep breath, nodded, and said:

"Yes, as long as enough people are killed, I can not only help master resurrect Plague Source Grub, but also cultivate a large number of Mixed-bloods to refine godforged stones for master."

Upon hearing this, Ye Xiao's heart stirred, and his gaze suddenly sharpened, staring intently at Xue Ling's fair and delicate face, as if trying to see through her.

Ever since Remi's accidental death, he had been a bit troubled.

After all, Remi was the only NPC he currently knew who could refine exquisite gems.

Although before his death, Remi had told him that his organization also had other NPCs who knew how to refine exquisite gems.

But in a short time, Ye Xiao couldn't quickly find those people.

However, he hadn't given up on the idea of exquisite gems.

The reason he had collected those more than 2,000 corpses earlier was also to keep them for a rainy day.

Anyway, the time flow in the Red Moon Space was different.

In a short time, those corpses would remain very fresh and wouldn't rot.

Later, when he found a way to refine exquisite gems himself, they might come in handy.

However, what Ye Xiao didn't expect was that Xue Ling in front of him also knew.

As for the refining of godforged stones she mentioned later,

Ye Xiao wasn't very interested.

With his Infinite Skill Bar, that thing was useless to him.

Suppressing the surprise in his heart, Ye Xiao quickly asked, "Why didn't you mention this before?"

Facing Ye Xiao's sudden stern inquiry, Xue Ling was very flustered, but she knew that her next words might determine her life or death.

So she could only grit her teeth and continue, "This was also a few days ago, when I discovered a notebook among my sister's few relics. It recorded some secrets about the Miasma Hidden Forest, and that's how I found out."

Secretly glancing at Ye Xiao, Xue Ling continued:

"It turns out that Snow Phoenix has always been in contact with a certain entity in the Miasma Hidden Forest. Snow Phoenix's rapid increase in strength was also due to secretly making deals with that person. However, she wasn't refining godforged stones, but exquisite gems. This is a magical stone that only we Mixed-bloods and Meiya People can use, but the Zhao family was unaware of these matters."

Because she had read the notebook, Xue Ling now understood that the power behind Snow Phoenix and the Golden Phoenix Legion was the Zhao family.

Ye Xiao was not surprised by this.

However, Xue Ling had just said that exquisite gems only worked for Mixed-bloods and NPCs.

This point, however, made Ye Xiao feel a bit surprised.

If what Xue Ling said was true, then why could he use it too?

He was a genuine human.

There was no doubt about that.

He quickly thought for a while, but found no clues.

Finally, Ye Xiao could only attribute this to his Divinity Talent.

Only this could explain it.

Next, as Xue Ling recounted everything, word by word, without reservation,

Ye Xiao finally understood what Xue Ling's method was.

According to normal rules, resurrecting a secret realm boss of Plague Source Grub's level would require approximately 10 million eternal coins, plus 2 Abyssal Demonic Crystals, 1 Soul Fire, and 1 drop of Monster Blood Essence.

This was also the method most Professionals used to resurrect bosses after clearing a secret realm.

Before a secret realm was cleared, it wouldn't generate multiple mirror spaces for Professionals to enter and challenge.

Therefore, all challengers would appear in the original secret realm space after entering.

This was why Ye Xiao had encountered Zhao Xue and the others in the secret realm earlier.

Only when the secret realm was cleared, and the controller resurrected the boss to reactivate the secret realm,

then by investing corresponding energy materials, the secret realm could be successfully activated to generate multiple mirror spaces.

The mirror spaces would perfectly replicate the original state of the secret realm, allowing entering Professionals to challenge it.

As long as the challenge was successful, corresponding rewards would be obtained.

These rewards were naturally extracted and transformed from energy materials, plus the secret realm continuously absorbed energy from the Eternal World, evolving into them.

Therefore, countless forces wanted to own secret realms.

After all, the energy invested and the rewards obtained were directly proportional, so there was absolutely no situation of loss.

However, the materials for resurrecting bosses were inherently scarce, and with decades of consumption,

the prices were now increasingly high.

Ye Xiao had originally planned to sell the godforged stones after going to the beginner zone before considering the resurrection of Plague Source Grub.

But now with Xue Ling, he could save a lot of money and trouble.

Xue Ling's method could be described as very simple and brutal, and of course, extremely cruel and against heavenly principles.

That was, to continuously feed the dead Plague Source Grub with the corpses of Professionals through the special method recorded in Snow Phoenix's notebook.

This way, it could replace the original method and directly resurrect Plague Source Grub.

However, there was one point: this resurrection method didn't require just a few or dozens of Professionals.

But hundreds or thousands.

No wonder Xue Ling had been worried earlier that revealing the method would incur Ye Xiao's displeasure.

After all, such a cruel method would make any normal person's scalp tingle upon hearing it.

However, she didn't know that at this moment, more than 2,000 ready-made corpses were lying in Ye Xiao's Red Moon Space.

This time, even the process of killing was saved.

Thinking of this, a smile flashed across Ye Xiao's eyes.

He hadn't expected that his sudden whim would, by a strange twist of fate, find its use.

For a moment, Ye Xiao was in a great mood.

After collecting his thoughts, Ye Xiao said to Xue Ling, "Prepare yourself. I'll take you to the Miasma Hidden Forest when I return."

He paused, then Ye Xiao continued, "This is your last chance. If you disappoint me again, you should know the consequences."

Xue Ling's delicate body trembled, and she hurriedly said, "Please rest assured, master, this time Xue Ling will definitely not disappoint master."

Ye Xiao didn't reply, turning and leaving the Shadow Legion's hall.

Soon after, Ye Xiao arrived in Blackwater Canyon again.

Due to the opening of Path of Exile,

there weren't many new players coming to Black Sand City to complete their first advancement quest at the moment.

However, when he arrived at the outskirts of Blackwater Canyon, he once again witnessed a familiar scene.

A Professional, with a black tiger emblem embroidered on his chest, immediately stepped forward to block Ye Xiao's path upon seeing him.

"Entering Blackwater Canyon costs 1,000 eternal coins."

"Of course, if you choose our Black Tiger Legion to help you fight the boss, this 1,000 eternal coins can be waived."

Ye Xiao listened to these quite familiar words, his expression becoming strange.

He had once fantasized about Xue Ling's Shadow Legion regaining its former glory and once again preying on other new players.

Unfortunately, it was too ineffective.

In the end, it was still he who was being preyed upon.

However, last time he didn't want to cause more trouble, so he naturally paid.

But this time was different.

He had come here to cause trouble.

Naturally, he wouldn't pay again.

"Is your commander inside?"

The Black Tiger Legion member was stunned, then said somewhat uncertainly, "Do you know our commander?"

"Naturally, I have something to discuss with him," Ye Xiao nodded and said.

However, the Black Tiger Legion member was not very convinced, his tone carrying a hint of questioning.

"The commander is naturally here, but you're not trying to pretend to know our commander to avoid paying, are you?"

He paused, then the person's tone suddenly became fierce.

"You need to think carefully; the consequences of doing so are not something a newcomer like you can bear!"

Having gotten the answer he wanted, Ye Xiao didn't bother to waste words with the person in front of him.

Divinity Speed was directly activated.

His figure instantly turned into an afterimage, rushing towards the location of the Calamity Herald.

The Black Tiger Legion member responsible for guarding was first stunned.

But then his face changed, and he immediately shouted loudly, "Someone's evading the fee!!"

As the sound spread,

soon many figures rushed out along the way.

However, their speed was too slow, too slow in Ye Xiao's eyes.

After a few breaths, Ye Xiao had successfully reached the Secluded Pool.

And those people hadn't even noticed.

Arriving at the Secluded Pool, Ye Xiao quickly spotted Lei Laohu's shadow.

What surprised Ye Xiao was that Kuang Long, the commander of the Silver Dragon Legion, was also among them.

He didn't know why, but at this moment, the Black Tiger and Silver Dragon Legions had actually joined forces.

Lei Laohu and Kuang Long stood aside, mutually directing the members in the field, surrounding and attacking the Calamity Herald.

And on the periphery, there were hundreds of new players quietly waiting to change professions.

However, because the Calamity Herald was being besieged and was in a bad temper, it kept roaring.

Coupled with the fact that the battle was too noisy and not suitable for discussion,

Ye Xiao shook his head and directly unleashed a Fireball.

The next moment.

The towering figure of the Calamity Herald was already gone.

And this sudden change also made the entire Secluded Pool instantly become incredibly quiet.

However, the next moment.

Lei Laohu, who was in charge of commanding nearby, and Kuang Long both seemed to remember something, their faces suddenly changing drastically.

But before they could react,

Ye Xiao had already appeared in front of them, smiling at the two:

"Hello, we meet again."

Now, his identity had been grasped by the Eight Great Families.

Naturally, there was no need to hide anymore.

However, compared to Ye Xiao's smile, Lei Laohu and Kuang Long were both greatly shaken at this moment.

That sky full of Fireballs just now left an extremely deep impression on them.

After all, it hadn't been long since they last saw this scene.

Therefore, the moment Ye Xiao appeared,

the two already knew Ye Xiao's identity.

Lei Laohu was even more horrified at this moment, stammering and unable to speak.

"You... you..."

On the other hand, Kuang Long, after a brief moment of astonishment, quickly recovered.

"S-senior, we didn't know you still needed this Calamity Herald. If we have offended you, please forgive us. We will leave immediately now."

Saying that, he was about to pull Lei Laohu to leave together.

However, Ye Xiao's next words made him and Lei Laohu freeze.

"Don't be in such a hurry to leave. Your legion collected quite a bit of toll from me before. It seems your business has been good these days. How about we settle the accounts first?"

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(It's a big chapter, two chapters combined)