In the end, Yu Xian and the others did not kill Adulam and the Emerald Dragon.
After a brief discussion, Yu Xian summoned the Zhen Realm, stripped away the laws residing within Adulam and the Emerald Dragon, and confiscated their triangular ruler.
When the Aska resumed its journey, Adulam and the Emerald Dragon were left behind where they stood.
With his hair in disarray, Adulam stared blankly at the receding warship, then cast a final glance at the Emerald Dragon, which had already devolved back into a lizard.
Though they had survived, both had been reduced to blank-slate Mighty Ones. If they ever wished to wield strength at that level again, their only option was to cultivate their way up from scratch, step by step.
Yet both Adulam and the emerald lizard felt thoroughly at a loss.
Rebuilding one's laws was agonizingly difficult. Neither of them knew if they would ever reach the pinnacle again.
***
Aboard the Aska.
Little Nora said with a touch of pity, "They were already so poor, yet we still took away their most precious possessions. Isn't that a bit too cruel?"
"Cruel? How is that cruel? Do you have any idea how many people that dead rat killed? Well, not necessarily people, but when he fought me just now, he destroyed thousands of worlds in a single breath! He was never anything good to begin with," Zhang Shou said bluntly.
Puzzled, Little Nora asked, "Then why didn't we kill them?"
"Why kill them? Once he finishes cultivating, I can capture him again and rob his laws a second time. Wouldn't that be great? That will definitely make him suffer far more than simply putting him to death," Yu Xian said with a chuckle.
Zhang Shou gasped in shock. "Holy crap, Salty Fish, that's vile! But... I like it!"
"Right now we have two new rules. Anyone interested?" Yu Xian brought out the laws stripped from Adulam and the Emerald Dragon, asking with a smile.
Laws were inherently intangible, near-conceptual things. Yet under the power of the Zhen Realm, they were now condensed into two crystals.
Of the crystals in Yu Xian's hands, one was green and the other red.
The green crystal represented the Emerald Dragon's law. It had cultivated the Dragon Law, which was how it had evolved from a lizard into a dragon in the first place. Now that its law had been drawn out, it had naturally regressed back into a lizard.
Of course, even after devolving, this emerald lizard remained a formidable existence possessing Emptiness Realm strength—hardly an ordinary lizard.
The other red crystal was naturally Adulam's Theft Law. It was also an extraordinarily potent law; with further cultivation, one could reach the point of stealing virtually anything and everything.
"Not interested. Vermin abilities remain vermin abilities, no matter how strong they get," Zhang Shou said in disdain, turning it down immediately.
In the end, Gong Qian chose the Dragon Law, primarily because she had not managed to defeat the Emerald Dragon earlier and wanted to give herself another boost in power.
As for the Theft Law, nobody was particularly fond of it. In the end, Yu Xian simply fused the thing into a backscratcher. Once imbued with the Theft Law, the backscratcher instantly took on a slightly lecherous air, its carved wooden fingers flexing and grasping unconsciously, looking very much like a wandering groper's hand.
Little Nora, who had been in the middle of eating an ice pop, was just about to take another lick when the treat vanished into thin air. It blinked in astonishment. "Where's my ice pop?"
"Over here. It stole your ice pop," Yu Xian said, caught between laughter and tears.
He pried the treat from the backscratcher's wooden grip and handed it back to Little Nora. But in the next instant, the backscratcher clutched at empty air again, and an enormous brassiere materialized out of nowhere.
"..."
Everyone present fell completely silent at the sight.
Yu Xian scratched the back of his head and asked, "Uh... whose is this? Well, we can rule out Gong Qian first."
"Stop messing around and put that thing away." Niman took the bra from the backscratcher's hand and gave Yu Xian a playful smack upside the head, speaking with a laugh.
Yu Xian actually found it rather amusing, but he stowed the backscratcher into his spatial backpack anyway.
Afterward, Niman returned to her quarters to change, while the others went back to their own business. Zhang Shou took the triangular ruler and began drawing triangular patterns across his saber, intending to give his blade a major upgrade.
Gong Qian headed to the training room to test out her newly acquired law.
Because they were all so familiar with one another, simply being together kept them from ever feeling bored or awkward. Gatherings formed naturally, and departures were just as effortless.
Yu Xian cradled Mengmeng Fortune Cat as he sat on the Aska's deck. Rubbing the cat's chubby cheeks, he watched everyone work and play. From time to time, he used telekinesis to stealthily swipe a snack from Little Nora, nibbling away at his leisure.
Over the days that followed, the Aska encountered no further trouble. They passed several worlds along the way; those who felt like exploring went inside, while those who preferred to stay kept watch over the ship.
Amid the casual banter and play, ten years slipped quietly by.
To Mighty Ones, time was truly of little consequence.
A decade for ordinary mortals could bring earth-shattering changes.
The wealthy might go bankrupt; high officials might land in prison; boys grew into young men, young men into middle age, and the middle-aged stepped into their twilight years. The poor might strike it rich within ten years, plunge into crippling debt, or start families of their own...
Yet to Mighty Ones, ten years was merely time spent idling about.
It was hardly any different from ten days. Nothing about Yu Xian and his companions had changed. Time left no marks upon them; they looked just as they always had, spending each day teasing and bantering.
Still, as the number of worlds they visited grew, so did the Mighty Ones they came to know.
Not every Mighty One was like Adulam or the Emerald Dragon. Most were fairly cordial—and when faced with a ship overflowing with Mighty Ones, even the unfriendly ones found it wise to turn courteous.
One day.
Yu Xian and the others were on the deck playing cards as usual.
Well, strictly speaking, Niman and the other women were playing cards, while Yu Xian and Little Nora sat side by side as spectators, chiming in with unhelpful advice every now and then.
Yu Xian cracked melon seeds and threw out casual suggestions, while Little Nora nodded along in earnest agreement.
Of course, neither Nora nor Niman paid them any mind. Whenever Yu Xian and Little Nora played cards, they were always the first two scrubs eliminated; listening to them was a surefire way to lose even faster.
"Master!!"
"Master!!!"
"Master!!!!"
Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed from outside the Aska.
Yu Xian tucked his melon seeds back into his backpack and asked, "I think I heard Chi Feihong's voice. Did you guys hear that?"
"With lungs that loud, it'd be weird if we didn't," Zhang Shou could not resist chiming in.
Sure enough, in the next breath, Chi Feihong caught up to the Aska and landed squarely on the deck. Looking toward Yu Xian, he shouted, "Master, long time no see!"
"Weren't you off fishing? How did you track us down here?" Yu Xian asked curiously.
Then again, their whereabouts were hardly a secret. Little Nora had a regular livestreaming schedule every day, broadcasting sometimes from the sunroom and sometimes right from the deck.
"I made a huge discovery! But I didn't dare go alone, so I wanted to bring you along, Master," Chi Feihong said immediately.
He hurried forward, pulled out a chair, and sat down. Under everyone's curious gazes, he began recounting the remarkable adventure he had stumbled upon.
Chapter 638