"If I wanted to kill you, I'd have done it already," Wuyazi said with a faint smile, looking at
At their Mandate of Heaven level of strength, they were simply no match for Wuyazi at all.
"I suppose you're lucky that you ran into me," Wuyazi shrugged.
"Since we came to the Great World, we've already accepted that we might die once. Whether we're lucky or not doesn't really matter," Nie Li said calmly, studying the youth before him. He had no idea what background this demon race youth actually possessed.
"There's actually fluctuating space-time aura on you two!" Wuyazi's gaze swept over Nie Li and
Nie Li's heart tensed. He hadn't expected Wuyazi's perception to be so sharp, and he watched carefully for any changes in the youth's expression.
Xiao Yu stood beside Nie Li in silence. She understood that Wuyazi's strength far surpassed theirs — the more they said, the more they'd give away. Better to simply keep quiet.
"But don't worry, I have no grudge against you two, so I won't go out of my way to deal with you!" Wuyazi shrugged again, looking at Nie Li and Xiao Yu as he spoke. "You two are here for the Phantom Divine Palace too, aren't you?"
The Phantom Divine Palace?
Nie Li furrowed his brow slightly, lost in thought.
Seeing the blank looks on Nie Li and Xiao Yu's faces, Wuyazi paused for a moment, then said, "You're not here for the Phantom Divine Palace? If you're not here for the Phantom Divine Palace, then why did you come here? Don't you know how dangerous this area is?"
Nie Li recalled what the Phantom Divine Palace actually was — a mobile palace left behind by an ancient supreme powerhouse. The palace opened once every six years, and because it was filled with all manner of hidden treasures, countless strong cultivators flocked to it each time it appeared.
In his previous life, Nie Li had heard legends of the Phantom Divine Palace as well. It contained abundant treasures, but also harbored great danger.
In roughly sixty years, the
Wuyazi thought for a moment and said, "I asked an unnecessary question. With your Mandate of Heaven level strength, entering the Phantom Divine Palace would be a dead end anyway." He waved his hand dismissively. "You'd better leave this dangerous place quickly!"
For Nie Li and Xiao Yu to enter the Phantom Divine Palace would be extremely difficult. Running into other powerful demon race experts would mean death as well.
"Those two demon race powerhouses earlier — why were they chasing you?" Nie Li asked, feigning casualness.
"Tch. How could those two idiots possibly be my match? The Demon God Sect has six Spirit Halls — they're from the Fire Spirit Hall, while I'm from the Rain Spirit Hall. A while ago near the Phantom Divine Palace, I came across an unidentified object. They tried to steal it from me, so I killed a few of them, and then their people started hunting me down! As for just those two — I could've wiped them out easily. But killing them would've exposed me, so I couldn't be bothered to fight them!" Wuyazi said with a touch of pride.
"An unidentified object? What is it?" Nie Li asked after a moment's thought.
"Well, you two are only at the Mandate of Heaven level, so there's no harm in letting you see it!" Wuyazi clearly didn't take Nie Li seriously and harbored no real caution toward him. He produced a round, crimson stone and held it up with a smile. The stone was roughly the size of a fist, its body pure and translucent. Though no power fluctuation could be felt from it, there were streaks of red light churning within, as though boiling.
"This is it! I don't know what it is, but I'm absolutely certain it's something good!" Wuyazi looked very pleased with himself. There was nothing to do while hiding here anyway, so chatting a bit longer with Nie Li and Xiao Yu wouldn't hurt. He'd slip away after hiding a while longer, and as for these two, he'd probably forget all about this encounter before long.
Nie Li's gaze fell on the stone in Wuyazi's hand. He let out an involuntary laugh. "Red Smoke Stone?"
"You recognize this thing?" Wuyazi perked up with interest, looking at Nie Li.
"Of course. The Red Smoke Stone is indeed a rare find — very uncommon. But it's not really a treasure. At best, it could be used to forge a fifth-grade treasure artifact," Nie Li shrugged.
"You've got to be kidding. You're pulling my leg, aren't you?" Wuyazi immediately shot Nie Li a wary look. "I don't believe something this rare and obscure isn't a treasure!"
"Rare and obscure doesn't necessarily mean it's a treasure. If you don't believe me, go look it up in the Craftsman God Scripture from the Divine Artisan Hall — page seven hundred and sixty-one." Nie Li shrugged, completely nonchalant.
"The Craftsman God Scripture? I think I've got a copy!" Wuyazi immediately rummaged through his Space Ring. After a good while, he finally pulled out a tattered old tome. "I might have torn a few pages out for toilet paper last time, but it's still barely usable — though I'm not sure page seven hundred and sixty-one is still in there!"
Wuyazi flipped to page seven hundred and sixty-one, and sure enough, there was an entry on the Red Smoke Stone — an exact match for the thing in his hand.
Wuyazi felt as though he'd swallowed a fly!
"So all that time and effort, and this is what I ended up with? And I killed dozens of people over this thing?" Wuyazi said bitterly. The thought of being chased down just moments ago only deepened his gloom.
Nie Li burst out laughing. "That's why you should read a book before getting into a fight!"
"Shove off, shove off — I hate it when people tell me to read. That old man back home won't stop making me read those blasted books; I'm about ready to lose my mind!" Wuyazi waved his hand dismissively, then paused, eyes darting slyly. "Well, I've got the thing now. It's not exactly top-quality, but since it's so rare, I'll sell it to a few of my buddies. Should net me a nice pile of cash! They definitely won't know what it really is anyway!"
Hearing Wuyazi's words, Nie Li and Xiao Yu exchanged a speechless glance. Having Wuyazi as a friend truly was a stroke of spectacularly bad luck.
"Didn't expect that someone at only the Heavenly Fate Realm would have such broad knowledge," Wuyazi said, sizing Nie Li up once more.
Xiao Yu couldn't help stealing a glance at Nie Li as well. She truly had to admire his depth of knowledge.
Nie Li looked at Wuyazi and smiled. "If you just charge into the Phantom God Palace like that, you'll come away empty-handed."
"Don't tell me you know something about the Phantom God Palace too?" Wuyazi looked at Nie Li, genuinely surprised.
"A little." Nie Li fell into thought. Wuyazi didn't exactly look reliable. If they entered the Phantom God Palace together, even if they got their hands on something good, it might not end up with him and Xiao Yu!
Wuyazi raised an eyebrow and said, "Outside the Phantom God Palace is the Thousand Phantasm Soul-Labyrinth Formation. For centuries, countless Martial Grandmasters have failed to crack it, unable to enter the palace. But some people have stumbled inside by accident and snatched plenty of treasures." His eyes darted back and forth. "How about you two come in with me?"
"The Thousand Phantasm Soul-Labyrinth Formation isn't exactly impossible to unravel, but for the two of us at the Heavenly Fate Realm, going there would just be suicide. I'll pass." Nie Li shook his head, his tone firm.