Chapter 492: Thief! This is a thief!

"Master? Master!" Liu Er exclaimed.

He watched helplessly as the old demon cultivator transformed into complex, colorful smoke and dissipated on the spot.

Liu Er subconsciously reached out to grab him, but grasped only empty air.

Liu Er hurriedly activated various techniques to search everywhere, but had no success.

"Master couldn't have died, could he?" Liu Er felt a chill in his heart; for a moment, he stood rooted to the spot, at a complete loss.

Soon, he shook his head and muttered to himself, "No, that's impossible. Master's methods are profound and mysterious; how could he have easily perished just because of this one bit of guidance for me?"

"But it is certain that Master paid a great price this time."

"Sigh! He has sacrificed so much for me; I must fulfill my ambitions to repay him!"

After comforting himself, Liu Er finally left the forest with hesitation.

A moment later, wisps of smoke emerged from thin air and gathered in the same spot.

At first, these wisps were grayish-white, giving off a feeling of age and weakness. But as they gathered in greater numbers, specks of color gradually appeared within the pale smoke, as if they had gained vitality.

The colors quickly became rich and varied, then suddenly condensed and concentrated, once again transforming into the old demon cultivator.

The old man's face and exposed skin were a mixture of colors, a riot of hues.

After a few breaths, these brilliant colors rapidly dimmed and receded until his skin was no different from an ordinary person's.

The old demon cultivator's body shuddered, and he suddenly opened his eyes, like a drowning man pulled onto the shore, finally able to breathe again, or as if he had broken free from a terrifying nightmare and returned to the real world.

"Hoo, hoo, hoo..."

His expression also suddenly became vivid, his face filled with horror.

"How is this possible?!"

"I only offered a little guidance; how could I suffer such a terrifying backlash, triggering my life-saving divine ability—Smoke-Mist Escape?"

"This makes no sense!"

The look of horror froze on the old demon cultivator's face, lasting for a full cup of tea's time before slowly fading away.

The old demon cultivator frowned deeply, lost in thought: "This is bad."

"When facing those with extraordinary fate and destiny, divination carries an unbearable weight."

"I previously only considered Little Six and calculated the cost of guiding him."

"But clearly, this guidance involved a wider scope and interfered with other powerful individuals, hence this disaster."

Thinking of this, the old demon cultivator's expression became even more grave.

He first thought of Unlike Ning Zhuo.

"My guidance of Little Six is most disadvantageous to Unlike Ning Zhuo."

"Could it be that I suffered this backlash and injury because of him?"

"Hiss..."

"Could it be that Little Six's failure this time was not primarily due to the Liangzhu Kingdom or Mu Lan's luck, but because of Unlike Ning Zhuo?!"

Thinking of this, the old demon cultivator could no longer sit still.

He immediately stood up, swallowed a spirit pearl, and split his forehead to reveal a bloody eyeball, observing the luck of the Three Generals Camp.

He saw a three-eared ape sitting quietly, eyes closed, breathing steadily.

The old demon cultivator stared at the ape's manifestation, the bloody eyeball on his forehead radiating mysterious light, becoming increasingly dazzling.

The old man's own flesh and blood withered at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Under his unique vision, the three-eared ape gradually enlarged, becoming clearer and clearer.

He observed more secrets.

The three-eared ape's belly was slightly distended, implying that the Three Generals Camp itself was not short of military supplies.

With every breath the three-eared ape took, its belly would slightly sink, and its entire physique would slightly expand—this represented that the Three Generals Camp was growing stronger every moment.

These were all positive signs.

But the old man was not satisfied with this; he wanted to see more of the essence.

He let out a soft shout, took a deep breath, and his whole body expanded, turning into a small giant, sitting cross-legged on the ground, crushing the nearby mountains, grass, and trees.

The old man's eyes were tightly shut, his magic power, spiritual sense, and essence blood consumed crazily as he exerted all his strength to boost the blood-red spirit pearl on his forehead.

The spirit pearl eyeball twitched, sometimes staring straight, sometimes squinting, sometimes circling, sometimes its pupil expanding into countless black dots, the black dots turning into distorted smoke clouds, then suddenly condensing again.

And in the old man's vision, the three-eared ape enlarged again, its body becoming transparent to reveal a deeper essence.

The inside of the ape was very simple.

There was a heart, earthy yellow in color, shaped like a monkey's head with a pointed face and hairy cheeks, looking depressed. From time to time, the heart would beat, emitting the cry of an ape, the cry revealing a rich sense of anxiety.

The old demon cultivator immediately understood: "This is Little Six's fate."

The old demon cultivator then looked at the lungs beside it. The lungs were bright red, filled with blood vessels. These blood vessels were not curved; each one stood straight, with no soft curves at the bends.

And with every breath of the ape, the blood-red lungs rhythmically pulsed.

The rhythm was mostly stable, but there were also disordered parts.

Whenever there was disorder, the blood-red lungs would twitch, and eerie purple light would emerge on the straight blood vessels.

"This is Guan Hong's fate."

"Guan Hong practices blood-attribute demonic arts, is naturally arrogant and upright, and her right arm is injured and has not healed, which has become a hidden danger."

Inside the ape, there was also a kidney.

This kidney was plump and round, pitch black. The blackness surged, forming waves, the sound of them crashing against the shore again and again, as shocking as thunder.

"Zhang Hei practices water-attribute techniques, is fierce by nature, and has considerable family assets; it indeed matches the symbol of the kidney very well."

"Strange!"

"Where has Unlike Ning Zhuo's fate gone?"

Inside the ape, there were only the heart, lungs, and kidneys; apart from that, there was nothing else.

If one were to say there were no soldiers, the old demon cultivator could understand—the Three Generals Camp had been founded not long ago, and although it had experienced the victory of an ambush battle, it had recently been targeted, its morale had suffered severely, and many people had been poached by the Bai Yu Camp.

Furthermore, among these soldiers, the highest cultivation level was only at the Foundation Establishment stage; there were no Jin Dan cultivators at all.

And there were no special Foundation Establishment cultivators like Unlike Ning Zhuo; their strength was not enough to be seen.

Therefore, the symbols of these soldiers had always been the ape's body hair, growing outside the body, not a core part of the Three Generals Camp's fate, and were dispensable.

"But Unlike Ning Zhuo's combat power has reached the Jin Dan level, and he has become the son-in-law of the Upper General's Mansion, a son of the great Ning clan, and is the military advisor of the Three Generals Camp; why is his fate not visible?!"

"Where did it go?"

"Where is it?"

"Come out! Come out!!"

The more the old demon cultivator could not see, the more shocked he became, and his expression became even more ferocious.

His originally massive body, like a punctured balloon, rapidly shrank!

His lifespan was being constantly depleted!

The bloody eyeball on his forehead faintly swelled a few times, as if it were about to burst the eye socket, with blood and foul-smelling viscous yellow liquid mixing together and constantly seeping from the edges of the eye socket.

The intense pain of body and mind began to torture the old demon cultivator, adding much agony to his shocked and angry face.

Having paid such a heavy price, he finally had some gains.

He saw it!

Faintly, he saw a shadow in the shape of a left arm.

The arm shadow was not fixed, moving freely inside the ape.

It would sometimes sway to the blood-red lungs, gently scoop, taking countless blood vessels, then clench into a fist after taking them, and the next moment open its palm, but there was nothing in the hand.

It would sometimes come to the black kidney, gently hook, and stir up a large amount of tide water. The arm shadow was like a bottomless pit; the tide water disappeared into the arm without even a sound.

And when it came near the yellow heart, the monkey face on the heart would anxiously emit a sharp cry. And this did not prevent the arm shadow from grabbing.

The left hand's five fingers spread wide, grabbing a large handful of mysterious Qi from the earthy yellow heart. The mysterious Qi was rapidly absorbed by the arm, and the ape's screaming weakened significantly because of this.

Seeing this scene, the old demon cultivator was dumbfounded, his anger erupting, roaring in his heart: "Thief! This is a thief!!"

"So that's it, so that's it!!" "No wonder Little Six failed, and in the end, Unlike Ning Zhuo became Mu Lan's husband."

"Unlike Ning Zhuo, this thief, is stealing Little Six's fate!"

"This is outrageous, simply outrageous!"

"Eliminate him, he must be eliminated!!"

Never had there been a moment when the old demon cultivator's killing intent was so fierce and surging.

He had never hated a person so deeply!

"Unlike Ning Zhuo!"

"You are the culprit behind Little Six's failure; eliminate, I must eliminate you..."

The old demon cultivator's roar came to an abrupt end.

In reality, he had already shrunk from a small giant into a dwarf.

【Text missing/cut off】

Then, this dwarf was old and decrepit all over, pale as paper.

A wind blew.

The dwarf turned into a puff of light smoke and dissipated with the wind.

By the time the old demon cultivator condensed again, the day had turned into night.

"The Smoke-Mist Escape Life divine ability has been triggered again."

"But all of this is worth it."

"I have already seen the truth; I will set up an altar and perform the ritual, using the Great Curse of Stealing Fate and Returning Life!"

The old demon cultivator's face was filled with ferocity.

"Letting you, this thief, steal Little Six's fate!"

"In just seven days and seven nights, I will curse you to death, and let your fate and destiny be attached to Little Six, helping his fate become powerful for at least seven years!"

The old demon cultivator, full of anger and hatred, did as he said, immediately moving far away from the Canglin Xiancheng, flying to a deserted mountain peak in the distance. After setting up an illusion array, he began to set up the altar and then performed the ritual.

Meanwhile, Unlike Ning Zhuo had already driven the Ten Thousand Mile Dragon, traveled through a section of the void, and arrived in a certain valley to carry out repairs on this mechanical dragon.

The Ten Thousand Mile Dragon's exterior was severely damaged, especially its dragon scale armor, which had large areas of cracks and destruction.

Unlike Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong stood side by side.

The latter frowned as he looked at the extensive damage.

And the former had a look of heartache on his face.

Unlike Ning Zhuo's love for mechanical creations came from the depths of his heart.

His emotions were complex at this moment.

Both worried and excited.

Worried about whether he could repair the Ten Thousand Mile Dragon, but excited that he could personally lead this restoration; this was bound to be a quite wonderful experience.

Sun Lingtong used his spiritual sense to investigate, his frown deepening.

He sighed in his heart: "Difficult, difficult, difficult!"

"Undoubtedly, repairing the shell of the Ten Thousand Mile Dragon is a daunting task, requiring not only precise materials but also the application of extremely profound artifact refining methods. Especially to ensure that its armor can be restored to its original hardness and flexibility to cope with future adverse situations."

"Afterward, we will participate in the great war and are very likely to face the pursuit and bombardment of the Six Caves Sect's Nascent Soul experts again. We cannot afford to suffer losses like last time."

Thinking of this, Sun Lingtong turned his gaze to Unlike Ning Zhuo: "Little Zhuo, I will be your assistant; tell me what to do, and I will do it!"

Unlike Ning Zhuo nodded, his spiritual sense constantly scanning the mechanical dragon, meticulously checking every crack and damage.

The Ten Thousand Mile Dragon's outer armor was severely damaged, and in some places, the inner armor was also missing. This situation was more obvious in the latter half of the dragon's body.

"The Ten Thousand Mile Dragon was made by the Lava Xian Gong; even the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit only knows that it is so, but does not know why it is so."

"I also cannot discern how these dragon scale armor plates were made."

Although Unlike Ning Zhuo's Five Elements realm was profound and his artifact refining attainments were quite outstanding among his peers, the Ten Thousand Mile Dragon was at the Nascent Soul level and came from the Lava Xian Gong, which was too far beyond his level.

Therefore, discerning the original dragon scale armor plates was already beyond his ability limit in this regard.

"But this does not hinder me from repairing the inner and outer armor."

If one's own strength is not enough, then use external resources to make up for it.

Piling up high-grade treasures can also overcome obstacles with brute force!

"It's just..." Unlike Ning Zhuo fell into hesitation.

He had already made a move earlier, purchasing a large amount of treasures from Jin Li.

According to the material reserves he had on hand, there were two options.

One was to use Dragon Scale Iron, combined with Dragon Soul Grass, for combined refining.

The other was to use Spotted Star Tears, Thunder Dragon Horns, and Tengfei Cloud Talismans, using the talismans to connect the magic array and cover the damaged parts of the dragon's body. When the array was activated, the talismans would gradually melt and become one.

The reason for Unlike Ning Zhuo's hesitation was the cost.

Dragon Scale Iron itself matched the Ten Thousand Mile Dragon and was only a Jin Dan level material; Dragon Soul Grass reached the Nascent Soul level but was rare.

Therefore, the cost was relatively low.

Although there was only half a drop of Spotted Star Tears, it was a Soul Transformation level treasure! Thunder Dragon Horns and Tengfei Cloud were both at the Nascent Soul level.

If the second method was adopted, the Spotted Star Tears and Thunder Dragon Horns would be completely used up, and only three or four taels of Tengfei Cloud would remain.

The cost of the second repair plan was very high, more than a hundred times that of the first.

"The first plan is already enough; the second plan is too extravagant. The cost is a hundred times higher, but the extra defense is only twice as much."

"However, war is dangerous. If there is a great war in the Thousand Peaks Forest in the future, and because of this extra two-fold defensive power, an irreparable loss is caused, there will be much to regret."

According to Unlike Ning Zhuo's cautious nature, he would often choose the second one.

But the actual situation was complex.

Because after he adopted the first plan, the saved treasures could be fully used in other aspects to add other powers. It did not necessarily have to be used on the Ten Thousand Mile Dragon, and it could also increase Unlike Ning Zhuo's combat power.

Unlike Ning Zhuo was hesitant and did not act arbitrarily, informing Sun Lingtong of this situation.

Sun Lingtong shrugged, expressing his point of view: "Little Zhuo, we have only just begun to repair the Ten Thousand Mile Dragon, and there are still many steps to follow. The Ten Thousand Mile Dragon is good at escaping and hiding; increasing defense will not have much effect."

Unlike Ning Zhuo nodded: "Then let's choose the first one..."

Before he finished speaking, his expression changed drastically.

He looked down at the mechanical ring on his finger.

The ring was tightening, implying that he was about to face a crisis.

"What could it be?"

"Is it reminding me that choosing the first option is dangerous, and I should choose the second one?"

Unlike Ning Zhuo's thoughts flashed like lightning, and he immediately made a decision to use the second plan, even though the price was very high.

Three sticks of incense later.

On the peak of the mountain near Canglin Xiancheng, the old demon cultivator was setting up an altar and performing the ritual!

The chanting of the Great Curse of Breaking Fate and Returning Life had reached the first stage.

"Unlike Ning Zhuo, Unlike Ning Zhuo, little thief with evil plots."

"Fate, fate, hidden like a shadow in a ghost tower."

"You are strong, but I am stronger; just one line stronger, and that is heaven!"

The old demon cultivator held a magic sword in one hand on the high platform, shook a bell with the other, and danced.

First-line Breaking Fate Small Curse!

The old demon cultivator's posture suddenly froze, his eyes widened in anger, and he opened his mouth to roar: "Break!"

And at the very moment he made his move, Unlike Ning Zhuo's fate suddenly expanded by two points, pressing back against the old demon cultivator by a line.

Pfft.

The old demon cultivator spat out a large mouthful of fresh blood, the curse failed in an instant, and the pain pierced his heart!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 493 =====