Jiang Chen noticed a hint of disappointment in Mang Qi's gaze and felt a slight stir of emotion within himself. If he simply packed up and left now, it really would be rather ungrateful.
"I can delay a bit longer — two days at most. During those two days, we can talk about your seal and this formation," Jiang Chen said.
Mang Qi smiled. "Good. Jiang Chen, I can finally confirm that you are a trustworthy human. As for the seal inside my body, I know nothing about it — I can't extract any information at all. But this formation… I only heard the lord of the fourth layer mention it vaguely. It seems to be called the 'Myriad Heavens Locking Spirit Formation' or something like that!"
"The Myriad Heavens Locking Spirit Formation?"
Jiang Chen's brow furrowed slightly. The memory library of his past life cracked open once more. He had studied formations in his previous existence, and he had definitely heard of and seen this Myriad Heavens Locking Spirit Formation. It was just that his current mental memories hadn't fully awakened yet, so he couldn't organize his thoughts on it right away.
But Mang Qi had no idea about Jiang Chen's secrets.
"Jiang Chen, don't waste your energy trying to figure it out right now. Even in the next hundred years, five hundred years, there's no need. Unless your cultivation can reach the pinnacle of this world," Mang Qi sighed softly.
Jiang Chen actually understood everything Mang Qi was saying.
"Jiang Chen, take this." Mang Qi produced a hard object that looked like jade but wasn't quite jade.
"What is this?"
"Something from my body — more specifically, one of my teeth."
He called it a tooth, but it gleamed like jade, only with an ancient, primordial quality to it — almost like a bone from some divine being, etched with strange, archaic patterns.
"Don't let your imagination run away with you. This isn't a weapon, and it can't protect you. Its only function is to serve as my mark — a representation of me."
Mang Qi chuckled. "If you ever need my help, inject your True Qi into it, and I'll receive the signal."
"But what good would your help do? You can't leave this Endless Abyss, can you?"
"I can't leave, true. But my subordinates — they can," Mang Qi said with a grin. "Just imagine: millions, tens of millions of Green-Winged Sword Birds, led by Golden-Winged Sword Birds — who in the mortal kingdoms could withstand them?"
A shudder ran through Jiang Chen's entire body.
Just thinking about that scene made his scalp tingle. Once those countless Green-Winged Sword Birds left the Endless Abyss, they would be an absolutely unstoppable catastrophe.
Forget the Eastern Kingdom — it would be entirely possible for them to sweep across all Sixteen Surrounding Kingdoms!
Mang Qi was quite a character! Sending over such an enormous gift was clearly meant to bind Jiang Chen's interests to his own.
It was a goodwill gesture, a show of loyalty, and an emotional play all rolled into one.
"Mang Qi, I accept this gift." Jiang Chen didn't put on airs. Right now, he genuinely needed what was being offered.
"Hehe, this thing has one more function. If I ever think of you and send a pulse of mental energy, it will generate a surge of energy inside you as a reminder."
"Which means I'll have to come see you then, right?" Jiang Chen said with a laugh.
"Hehe, I won't call on you without good reason. You can rest assured of that." Mang Qi's ancient face flushed slightly as he made his promise.
After reaching an understanding with Mang Qi, Jiang Chen took his leave. Though he still had five or six days, there was something weighing on his mind.
That assassin from the Life-Chasing Dark Gate had impersonated Fatty Xuan and Huqiu Yue, and Jiang Chen's thoughts kept turning to those two close friends. He wanted to go out and investigate.
He needed to see them alive, or find their bodies.
"Jiang Chen, outside the fourth layer, the one who was hunting you is still waiting there," Mang Qi reminded him.
"Is that so? Are they all still there? I was afraid they might have left," Jiang Chen said coldly.
"I'm afraid to disappoint you. Two of them have already left. But one is still holding his position — and by the look of it, he's in this for the long haul."
"So Long Yinye and Long Juxue are gone?" Jiang Chen thought it over and understood. With the one-month mission period, they couldn't very well keep lingering.
That meant the one who remained was the assassin boss from the Life-Chasing Dark Gate.
"How about this, Jiang Chen — I've decided to temporarily send one battalion of Sword Birds out under your command. One battalion has ten Golden-Winged Sword Birds, a hundred Silver-Winged Sword Birds, and a hundred thousand Green-Winged Sword Birds. If that's not enough, you can contact me anytime using that object."
Mang Qi now treated Jiang Chen like a prized treasure and certainly didn't want anything bad to happen to him. Besides, within his territory, it was only natural that he had a duty to ensure Jiang Chen's safety.
Mang Qi's aura flared as he issued commands in Beast Language. Immediately, ten Golden-Winged Sword Birds obediently flew over to Jiang Chen's side.
"Jiang Chen, rest assured — they will obey you absolutely," Mang Qi guaranteed. "I can't leave the fourth layer myself, so let my children go teach that fellow a lesson."
Jiang Chen didn't stand on ceremony. He led the battalion of Sword Birds and departed.
……
At the border between the third and fourth layers, the assassin boss Xue Sha had been waiting for six or seven days already.
"If this Jiang Chen still hasn't come out, he's probably dead, isn't he?" Xue Sha muttered to himself, still hesitating. "Should I go in and have a look? What if his injuries flared up and he died right at the outermost edge of the fourth layer? If it's just a few dozen li in and out, nothing should happen to me, right?"
Xue Sha tried to comfort himself, but when it came time to actually step into the fourth layer, he couldn't muster the courage.
After all, the legends were terrifying. No warrior who had entered the fourth layer had ever come back out.
Even if it was only a few dozen li without going deep, Xue Sha couldn't guarantee he'd make it out unscathed.
But the allure of that blade Jiang Chen possessed was gnawing at him relentlessly! He knew very well that if he could obtain it, then beneath Spirit Realm powerhouses, he — Xue Sha — would be invincible. He could dominate the mortal kingdoms!
That kind of temptation was impossible to resist.
Go in, or don't?