An Extension of Oneself

"......" The flight of stairs leading to the underground secret chamber beneath the stone hall was long. Xu Yuan and Li Qingyan walked downward, one behind the other. Peering down between the cramped stone walls on either side, the bottom of the staircase was swallowed by an ink-like pitch-blackness, seemingly bottomless. Releasing his intent-soul from his sea of consciousness, Xu Yuan suddenly noticed something rather intriguing. He placed a hand against the stone wall. "The ordinary stone of these chamber walls seems capable of shielding perception from intent-souls to a certain degree." As he spoke, Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes, a glint of vigilance entering his gaze. Even though self-interest made it highly unlikely for the cavern city to act against the two "visitors from the upper realm," one could never be too careful. Given the disparity in strength, unless all four Grandmasters reached a consensus and struck together, they would merely be throwing their lives away against Li Qingyan. But if they had a formation array to assist them... Lost in thought, Xu Yuan paused in his tracks. "Could there actually be a formation array in this subterranean city?" "A formation array?" Li Qingyan did not stop. Her attractively husky voice carried a chuckle. "There is no array down here." Xu Yuan resumed walking forward. "Not an array... Then why can ordinary building materials shield my intent-soul's probe?" Li Qingyan glanced back, amusement dancing in her phoenix eyes. "Because your cultivation is too weak." "......" Xu Yuan was speechless. Li Qingyan tapped the stone wall casually. "It has a thousand-layered structure that shifts alongside internal mechanisms. If an intent-soul isn't strong enough, it will only wander along the surface, unable to penetrate deeper. If you're truly so curious, Changtian, you can investigate it with Source Qi." "......" Hearing this, Xu Yuan silently touched the chilly wall with his fingertips. Sensing it slightly, he remarked with interest, "These mechanisms interlock seamlessly. Quite ingenious." Li Qingyan replied dismissively, "Merely a mortal creation. Such delicate construction would shatter at the slightest touch." "......" Thanks to his fourth sister, Xu Yuan possessed some understanding of the history of formation arrays. He chuckled softly. "You can't judge this cavern city by Great Yan's standards. With a small population and limited territory, groping out cultivation methods with this level of population and cultivators in an underground cavern is already their limit. They simply cannot sustain a comprehensive system of auxiliary cultivation arts. "Harnessing mortal ingenuity to design these intricate mechanisms was already a very farsighted decision. Given sufficient time, they might even have developed a craft of mechanical formations entirely distinct from Great Yan's." As he spoke, Xu Yuan glanced back up the stairway corridor with a sigh, shaking his head with an unreadable expression. Sensing his mood, Li Qingyan gave him an odd look. "That expression of yours... What are you thinking about?" Thoughtfulness showed in Xu Yuan's eyes. "I was wondering what would have become of me if I had been born into this subterranean city surrounded by aberrant ghosts." "Huh?" Li Qingyan was taken aback. Then she shook her head and laughed. "I didn't expect you to dwell on such pointless thoughts." "Pointless?" Xu Yuan was not surprised by the princess's reaction. After all, she was never one for fanciful daydreams. Pointing upward, he smiled with genuine interest. "Don't you think saving the world in such a desperate plight would be quite a thrilling challenge? "Born into this sunless underground city, rising from ignorant obscurity, gradually uncovering the plight of your people as you grow stronger, ultimately becoming the supreme expert of the palace to learn the truth of the city, and then pushing forward against all odds after experiencing the despair of confronting countless powerful aberrant ghosts..." "You're overthinking it," Li Qingyan interrupted. "Hmm?" Xu Yuan sounded surprised. "With your temperament, you would probably have been driven out of the city in your teens. What future would there even be to speak of?" "......" Xu Yuan fell silent. "Indulge less in childish fantasies and think more about practical matters." With that, Li Qingyan turned and continued downward. "......" Having been lectured, Xu Yuan stared at her receding, aloof silhouette. Smacking his lips, he quickened his pace to catch up and grumbled, "Hey, don't you know that a girl who's too realistic isn't cute at all?" "Cute?" Li Qingyan stared down into the darkness, her calm voice echoing. "Someone just said earlier that 'cute' does not suit this palace. Enough nonsense. We've reached the chamber." As her words fell, a stone wall appeared before them, sealing the end of the corridor completely. The stairway passage had reached its end. Looking at the stone wall, Xu Yuan wore a slightly peculiar expression, sensing that the obstacle before them was not solid. It was a projected illusion—an illusion without a shred of Source Qi fluctuation. Yet another technique entirely different from Great Yan's. With that thought, the two walked through the illusory stone wall one after the other and entered the chamber below. The moment they stepped inside, both stopped at the entrance. This secret chamber—no, it should be called a tunnel. Vegetation that emitted a faint blue fluorescence in the dark grew in the corners of the tunnel. By this dim light, Xu Yuan took in the full view of the massive cavern. Suits of brownish-red armor lay discarded on the ground without any preservation or treatment. Likely because they had gone unattended for so long, several hundred suits of refined black death armor had taken root in the earth once more. The creep spreading from them almost completely blanketed the tunnel, stretching beyond the reach of sight. Seeing this, Xu Yuan chuckled softly. "To think this fungus armor can still grow on its own after being refined. What a pleasant surprise." He had previously been uncertain whether the stockpile in the city would suffice to upgrade Li Qingyan's armor to 'purple tier,' since according to the conversion rates in *Cangyuan*, a purple-tier fungus armor required a thousand white-tier armors as materials. Now, however, it seemed there would be more than enough. Li Qingyan circulated her cultivation method, blazing flames rising in her eyes as she asked softly, "Absorb them all?" Xu Yuan glanced at her and pondered briefly. "With your cultivation, you should have enough Source Qi to supply the black fungus armor... But it doesn't matter either way. If your cultivation falls short, I have plenty of Source Crystals." "Heh... Aren't you generous?" Li Qingyan let out a soft laugh and leapt into the center of the tunnel. After standing silently for several breaths, she shed her black robe, revealing the exquisite curves wrapped in black death armor beneath. Then, she gently pressed a slender, jade-like finger onto the creep covering the ground. In the next instant, fiery-red Source Qi erupted from her, its brilliance illuminating the entire tunnel like broad daylight. The tangled, brownish-red creep across the ground instantly began to boil. The turmoil of the creep lasted for about a dozen breaths. By the time it subsided, the flat layer of black death creep had bulged into countless conduit-like tubes resembling flesh-and-blood meridians. Spreading outward with Li Qingyan at the center, they linked to every suit of black death armor in the tunnel. Seven hundred and thirty-two suits of black death armor. Seven hundred and thirty-two conduits resembling flesh-and-blood meridians. "......" Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow at the sight. Before he could speak— *Gulp—* A rustling sound like swallowing echoed through the silent tunnel. Frowning, Xu Yuan looked over. Swellings appeared at the junctures where the creep conduits met the black death armors, then moved at an unhurried pace along the conduits toward Li Qingyan. *Gulp—* *Gulp—* "......" The vast underground tunnel was filled with nothing but continuous swallowing sounds. Under Xu Yuan's gaze, the form-fitting black death armor on Li Qingyan acted like a ravenous beast, incessantly draining the vitality of the other suits throughout the tunnel through the creep conduits. The drained suits of armor withered at a speed visible to the naked eye. As time passed, patterns gradually surfaced across the previously lackluster armor on Li Qingyan's body, radiating an eerie, profound crimson glow. *It's about to end...* No sooner had the thought crossed Xu Yuan's mind than he noticed something amiss. Although most of the armors had been drained into desiccated husks, more than twenty suits still held out firmly. *Are those green-tier black death armors?* Xu Yuan immediately realized that these remaining suits were most likely left behind by the cavern palace's third-rank Grandmasters. For a third-rank Grandmaster, ordinary fungus armor offered little boost to combat prowess. Anyone with normal intelligence would know to absorb the city's stockpiled armor to synthesize stronger gear for greater power. Two quarters of an hour later, the absorption neared its conclusion. The once-vibrant underground tunnel had turned utterly barren and dead. Only a single suit of armor still held out against Li Qingyan's devourment. Yet under the simultaneous draining of over a dozen creep conduits, the final armor soon shriveled away, collapsing into a husk of withered vine-like armor. Everything returned to silence. The tall, heroic woman stood quietly at the center of the tunnel, looking down at the utterly transformed armor she now wore. *Crack—* Stepping over the brittle, dead creep, Xu Yuan walked forward. Examining the deep crimson light radiating from the intricate patterns on her armor, he smiled softly. "How does it feel?" "Very powerful." Li Qingyan looked up, her eyes curving into a smile. "And completely an extension of myself." As she spoke, light flashed in her scarlet pupils, and the dark-red, form-fitting armor shifted across her body. Following a brief ripple, the bodysuit princess was gone. The chest-wrapped princess had returned. The black death armor transformed directly into the red robe and dress Li Qingyan usually wore, complete with its own chest wrap. Looking closely, however, one could see intricate, dark-red patterns adorning the red robe, swaying across the fabric as though alive. After a few moments of silence, Xu Yuan sighed and teased with a laugh, "This armor's shapeshifting ability is certainly convenient. Once you return to the army, you won't have to worry about your chest wrap bursting again." Li Qingyan walked up to him, gazing at him with amusement in her eyes. "Judging by your expression, Changtian, you seem reluctant to see it go? Do you want this palace to change it back?" "What is there to be reluctant about? Isn't looking without touching even more of a torment?" Xu Yuan rolled his eyes at her, turned around, and walked back up the passage. "Let's go. By my count, the four people up there should have reached a decision by now." Li Qingyan chuckled softly and followed, her red dress fluttering. "Do you think they'll agree?" "Bai Muxi herself probably won't be too keen, since that pendant allows her to temporarily exert Origin Realm power." Xu Yuan considered briefly, then smiled. "However, the price I offered is something they cannot refuse. Just the method to break through to the Origin Realm is probably enough to split them from within, to say nothing of cultivation techniques and the chance to escape this subterranean city." With that, Xu Yuan glanced at Li Qingyan. "Besides, don't we still have you, Your Highness? It's the perfect chance to test out your new armor." A glint of amusement flashed in Li Qingyan's beautiful eyes. "If they refuse, you intend to use force?" "Hey, don't make it sound so crude." Xu Yuan waved his hand, his eyes narrowing into a smile. "How could a win-win situation be called using force? We call this winning people over with virtue." *** "Once we hand over the Blood God Stone, our Seven Cities Alliance will have no Origin Realm combat strength in the short term." A sound-isolating barrier condensed from Source Qi by the four Grandmasters enveloped the altar, within which Li Xing's stern reprimand resonated. "That is equivalent to handing over the power of life and death to those two from the upper realm." "Listen to you. As if keeping it means we could match that Origin Realm expert from the upper realm." Yi Kui rested her chin in her hand, her fair fingers tapping rhythmically against her cheek as she retorted with total indifference, "That woman was able to bring a Soul Condensation cultivator right up to us undetected earlier. Doesn't that prove enough? Our subterranean cultivation methods cannot compare to the upper realm in the slightest." "That was only because the Chief Arbiter hadn't activated the Blood God Stone!" Li Xing barked softly, took a deep breath, and sneered, "Yi Kui, are you that eager to follow that Soul Condensation boy to the upper realm? Too bad his status is far too exalted to care for a body like yours." "Whew..." Yi Kui exhaled gently. Looking at the man before her, she did not grow angry, merely saying softly, "If that's the case, Li Xing, then tell this official: if we reject this trade, once the two from the upper realm leave or die in the Blood Demon Cave, where will we find a method to break through to the Origin Realm? Where will we obtain stronger cultivation techniques? Can you create them, can I, or can our Chief Arbiter?" "If we miss this opportunity, we can only wait for death when the next Blood Nest calamity arrives!" With that, Yi Kui clenched her fists, a fierce light flashing in her beautiful eyes. All four of them had grown up in this sunless subterranean city. Here lay the people and things they wished to protect together. Her indulgence in pleasure was born from the utter absence of hope in this desperate plight; it did not mean Yi Kui had forgotten the original resolve they had made when overthrowing the Priest's rule. "I'm sorry..." Li Xing fell silent for several breaths, his voice softening slightly. "What I mean is, at the very least, we cannot forfeit our basic ability to resist. We should try negotiating the terms with them further..." "Negotiate?" Yi Kui pointed outside, the seductive charm in her voice entirely gone, replaced by a trace of chilling edge. "Aside from the Blood God Stone, what else do we have to negotiate with those two from the upper realm? "Intelligence on the Blood Nest, or our city's meager supplies? "Li Xing, the Source Crystals he tossed out so casually are things we've never even seen in our lifetimes! As for intelligence... Heh, that Soul Condensation man from the upper realm even knows how to escape this subterranean palace! Would he lack our intelligence?!" At this point, Yi Kui took a deep breath and rubbed her brow, her voice softening somewhat. "Aside from the Blood God Stone, the only things that might interest those two are probably the four of us." Silence fell over the four. From the very beginning, they had never possessed any leverage to bargain. As long as they wished to save the people of the subterranean city, their only choice was unilateral submission to that young nobleman in brocade from the upper realm. "All right, stop arguing." Bai Muxi's crisp voice was gentle and soft, carrying a smile, though the expression beneath her veil was rather bitter. "This official already knows what must be done." With that, she slowly stood up and looked toward the dark chamber of the stone hall. There, two figures were slowly emerging from the passage. In the next instant, the brocade-clad young man's gentle, smiling voice drifted over: "Chief Arbiter, are you willing to accept the trade I proposed earlier?" Bai Muxi's beautiful eyes flickered for a moment. With a quiet sigh in her heart, she stepped forward. Her gossamer dress fluttering, she landed gently before the handsome young man and bowed. "Naturally, we are willing. However, Muxi wishes to add one condition, and hopes the young master will agree." Hearing the change in her form of address, Xu Yuan narrowed his slender eyes. "Let's hear it." "In addition to the Blood God Stone, the four of us are willing to serve at the young master's command." As she spoke, Bai Muxi yanked the blood-red crystal hanging from her chest, slowly sank to her knees, and pressed her fair forehead to the ground beside Xu Yuan's boots, presenting it with both hands. "Muxi "implores the young master to save the people of the subterranean city."