Chapter 226

Three months later.

In the stone cavern, beside the teleportation array, Lord Sa impatiently flicked his snake tongue, his gloomy, vicious gaze constantly sweeping over Great Snake Yi's body.

But as soon as Great Snake Yi turned his head and glanced at him, Lord Sa trembled slightly, stiffened his whole body, lowered his head, and dared not meet Great Snake Yi's eyes.

Whether in bloodline, inheritance, or actual cultivation, Great Snake Yi utterly overwhelms Lord Sa.

What right does a mere snake-person have to act arrogantly before a pure-blooded Ba snake?

Because of Great Snake Yi's presence, Lord Sa had originally wanted to urge Wu Tie a few words, but he could never bring himself to speak, so he could only stand resentfully to the side, allowing the resplendent teleportation array to waste energy pointlessly.

"Honored seniors, thank you for your trouble." Wu Tie bowed solemnly to the Eighteen Guardian Heavenly Kings: "Wa Yue is treacherous; please send her to Wa Valley and hand her over to my mother to be dealt with according to Wa clan law."

The Great Heavenly King gave a few "heh" laughs, nodded firmly: "Rest assured, she won't escape our grasp… heh, if we still let her slip away, we'd have no face to show ourselves again."

Two Guardian Heavenly Kings, one on the left and one on the right, grabbed Wa Yue's arms; their five fingers flashed with golden light, they clamped down tightly on her body, sealing the flow of her qi and blood.

Wa Yue could not move an inch; her tongue and lips were sealed, she could not utter a word, and her eyeballs could not even roll.

What's more, Wu Tie had already crippled all of her cultivation with a secret art.

She could only stare wide-eyed, fixing Wu Tie with the most venomous gaze; alas, glances cannot kill, and Wu Tie merely smiled at her.

"After all, you're my relative and a woman, so I won't kill you." Wu Tie looked at Wa Yue and said coldly: "But my mother's methods are far harsher than mine; I'm actually quite curious—if my mother learned that you colluded with Taotie Ji and schemed against my little sister…"

Old Tie let out a strange, grating laugh from the side: "This little girl, losing a layer of skin would be light. But why don't you consider just killing her outright?"

Old Tie tilted his head at Wu Tie: "You're soft-hearted and tender, a woman's kindness… You should understand that sometimes when a woman turns ruthless, she can be far more vicious than a man. You're embarrassed to strike—shall I do it for you?"

Wu Tie smiled, shook his head, and again solemnly bowed to the disciples of the Sixfold Dao Palace.

The disciples of the Sixfold Dao Palace hastily returned the salute, bade Wu Tie farewell with utmost reverence, wishing him a safe and smooth journey; only then did they back away, bowing with each step, slowly retreating into the teleportation array.

Lord Sa had long been impatient; he bellowed, waved his right hand, strong light flickered on the teleportation array, and the Sixfold Dao Palace disciples were instantly sent to a dark guild's teleportation outpost nearest the Great Dragon Domain.

For this expedition into the Black Snake Domain's Serpent Lair, the Sixfold Dao Palace disciples had come from afar to reinforce, and Wu Tie deeply appreciated their favor.

Three months was the time Shi Fei and the others spent absorbing the Great Witch's essence blood and striving to break through their realms.

The Great Witch's essence blood almost overwhelmed even Wu Tie; for Shi Fei and the others, it was nothing short of a lethal poison. Even with Old Tie's help suppressing it, they still spent three months before barely digesting a tiny fraction of that blood.

For the full three months, Wu Tie was simply waiting for Shi Fei and the others to finish their work.

Originally, three months ago, the Eighteen Guardian Heavenly Kings were preparing to return to the Sixfold Dao Palace, but Wu Tie felt somewhat embarrassed, so he kept the Sixfold Dao Palace disciples and continuously taught them scriptures and doctrines for three months.

Wu Tie imparted bit by bit all the Buddhist-related scriptures, techniques, divine abilities, and secret arts he could dredge from his memory to those Sixfold Dao Palace disciples.

Then Wu Tie asked Old Tie to teach those Sixfold Dao Palace disciples some even more profound matters.

Thus, these Sixfold Dao Palace disciples now treat Wu Tie with utmost reverence, regarding him entirely as a senior elder of their school.

Wu Tie watched smilingly as the light on the teleportation array gradually faded; a crowd of gnomes and dwarves in Lord Sa's employ hurried over, reconfiguring the array's various arrangements and adjusting its teleportation coordinates.

Strange, multicolored rays continually welled up from the teleportation array; these dark guild affiliates, following Wu Tie's instructions, were shifting the array's destination to a dark guild outpost on the periphery of the Tri-Link Domain.

The Tri-Link Domain is quite far from here, and adjusting the teleportation array's markers also takes some time, so Wu Tie and the others waited patiently at the side.

Shi Fei and Old Bai chatted and laughed off to the side.

Shi Fei had gone from a bloated, water-like fat man to a bloated one whose entire body was layers of hard muscle; his stature had grown much more burly, and every gesture exuded a mountain-like pressure.

Having absorbed a portion of the Great Witch's essence blood, Shi Fei's cultivation surged; within three months he broke through more than ten heavenly layers, and now he is at the twenty-first heaven of the Chonglou Realm.

If Old Tie hadn't deliberately suppressed him, this guy would likely have risked his life and long ago forcefully broken through to the half-step Life Pool Realm using the Great Witch's essence blood.

Even after repeated suppression, under the stimulation of the Great Witch's essence blood, Shi Fei's Giant Bloodline became far richer and purer; when he broke through realms, he gained several giant-clan innate divine abilities from his bloodline inheritance—his strength has increased a hundredfold compared to three months ago?

Old Bai underwent an even more extraordinary change.

Originally showing seven or eight signs of age, Old Bai now glistens with silver fur all over, and his bodily functions have returned to the peak of youthful vigor.

Old Bai is a rat-person.

Rat-people have shallow foundations, making breakthroughs easier.

Even with Old Tie's suppression, Old Bai inexplicably kept flipping head over heels, and his cultivation forcibly broke through to the thirty-second heaven of the Chonglou Realm within three months.

Although each heavenly layer's breakthrough involves few worldly shackles and yields little benefit, for a rat-person…

Now Old Bai is very satisfied with his cultivation!

Not merely content, but 'satisfied'.

Of course, Old Tie also warned Old Bai that he still has more than half a granule of undigested Great Witch's essence blood in his body. If Old Bai follows the method recorded in the Formless Bone Demon Classic, slowly absorbing and tempering it while suppressing his realm from breaking through, he can further solidify his foundation.

Not only Shi Fei and Old Bai.

Yan Hanlu, Lu Ji, Mo Zhangwang, Shan Dun, and others have all undergone earth-shaking changes compared to three months ago.

And the most dramatic change of all is Iron Greatsword.

He has completely broken through the Life Pool Realm; now Iron Greatsword's entire skin is dark gold, devoid of any luster, dull and dim like a golden statue smoked by incense for thousands of years, exuding an unyielding aura.

Even more miraculously, beneath Iron Greatsword's skin, faint dark-red lotus patterns can be seen.

This is the manifestation of a powerful divine ability that Iron Greatsword himself comprehended and realized upon breaking through the Life Pool Realm. These days he hasn't had a chance to test it in combat, so no one knows what effect the dark-red lotus markings beneath his skin possess.

The teleportation array's light flared.

The party preparing to journey to the Tri-Link Domain, besides Wu Tie and company, also includes Taotie Ji and his four subordinates, Great Snake Yi, and Wu Tie's enemy, the Black Ring Lord Sun Zuo.

Sun Zuo's limbs, severed by Wu Tie, have been reattached.

He stands like a walking corpse beside Great Snake Yi, dazed and devoid of any vitality.

Wu Tie has clearly told him that he is certainly going to die.

The only difference is whether Sun Zuo will die a clean, swift death or be tortured to death.

If Sun Zuo can, in Tri-Link City, find the caravan boss who bought Grey Master from him and locate Grey Master's whereabouts, then Wu Tie can let him die a satisfying death.

If Sun Zuo cannot help Wu Tie find the person…

Wu Tie will hand him over to Old Tie.

And Old Tie has explicitly told Sun Zuo that his mind holds countless cruel punishments, and he will certainly not let Sun Zuo die too comfortably.

What kind of complexion could you expect from someone who knows he's destined to be killed before long?

Da She Yi let out a cold snort, arrogantly gazing at Sun Zuo standing beside him.

"Useless trash, back then if you had killed this kid, we wouldn't have fallen to this state today."

Da She Yi snorted coldly: "If I weren't immobilized now, I'd definitely gnaw off your head... useless trash, back then how did you not kill him?"

Sun Zuo's face drained of color, yet he remained motionless.

Wu Tie stood to the side, gave Da She a sideways glance, and said: "Da She, your mood isn't bad?"

Da She Yi gave a "hehe" laugh, his eye twitching violently, his voice dropping several tones: "I'm still useful to you, Sir Wu Tie; you won't do anything to me over such a trivial matter, will you?"

Da She Yi smiled obsequiously at Wu Tie.

Wu Tie gave Da She Yi a deep look, suddenly recalling that a few months earlier in the Big Snake Cave he had blasted off one of Da She Yi's arms with the Divine Thunder to Exorcise Evil, and this guy actually burst into tears crying 'Mom'!

After these three months of association, Wu Tie came to understand that this guy's blood and bones were nothing but a treacherous, deceitful ancient feral beast.

Yet this fellow had also cultivated a decadent, luxurious, cowardly nature that clung to life and feared death...

So he is a complete oddball.

Wu Tie snorted a few times, too lazy to bother with Da She Yi. This guy, he had in mind keeping him as a guide, but there's no doubt that upon reaching the Three Linked Realm he would surely try every means to cause trouble for Wu Tie.

Wu Tie hesitated, wondering whether to eliminate him beforehand to save himself some trouble.

Beside him, Sir Sa furtively glanced at Da She Yi, intending to suggest that Wu Tie eliminate him right now.

But Da She Yi shot him an extremely sharp glare, a serpentine supreme aura sweeping over Sir Sa, making his body shudder; he sighed and shook his head helplessly.

"Killing him would be useless; those seeking to invade the Black Snake Realm aren't him, but the great clans behind him in the Three Linked City..." Sir Sa could only console himself thus: "I hope Sir Wu Tie can successfully quell the ambitions of the Three Linked City... otherwise..."

He let out a heavy sigh, Sir Sa squeezed out a smile, and bowed to Wu Tie.

"Sir Wu Tie, I hope you can successfully complete my commission on this trip."

Sir Sa earnestly told Wu Tie: "May chaos envelop all things; only chaos is the root of all things..."

Wu Tie glanced at Sir Sa: "I also hope I can dispel the Bodhi Clan's designs on the Black Snake Realm... but, Sir Sa, your commission funds only suffice for me to deal with the Bodhi Clan; if the other families of the Three Linked City set their sights on the Black Snake Realm..."

Sir Sa frowned at Wu Tie: "If that happens, naturally it can't be blamed on you. If that happens... then only higher‑level big figures can resolve this trouble."

He let out a heavy sigh, Sir Sa's face darkened: "But the fee for those big figures to act... is very costly... I hope you'll manage everything smoothly; otherwise, I might end up poorer than gold coins in the future."

Wu Tie chuckled a few times.

The Dark Guild is likewise a peculiar organization. If it weren't for certain tasks requiring their aid, Wu Tie would genuinely rather not deal with them.

The teleportation array had been adjusted; a dwarf in a black robe stood in it chanting a few spells, rays of light on the array lit up one after another, and then a thumb‑sized rune appeared out of thin air at the array's center.

The dwarf shouted: "Sir Sa, the other side is ready; we've locked onto their beacon... over there is exactly where you all are headed."

Sir Sa drew a deep breath, then bowed deeply to Wu Tie: "Everything, I entrust to you."

Wu Tie patted Sir Sa's shoulder: "I've taken your commission fee, so I'll naturally repay your effort. It's merely a detour, since I'm headed to the Three Linked Realm myself—no need for such solemnity."

Wu Tie's party stood on the teleportation array, the priestess perched on his shoulder lightly swaying her Wind and Cloud Banner.

The priestess, grown about an inch taller, smiled brightly as she looked left and right; her skin had a faint translucence, making her whole self as lovely as a glass‑carved doll, evoking pity.

Sir Sa waved his hand.

A strong beam shot from the teleportation array, light and shadow flickering and swaying, after which Wu Tie and company vanished.

After a while, the light on the teleportation array dimmed; a group of dwarves and dwarves swiftly dismantled the array, quickly carrying its components away along a secluded passageway.

Sir Sa gazed toward where the teleportation array had been, muttering lowly: "May chaos envelop all things... only chaos can bring glittering gold coins, only chaos can bring its power... I hope you can stop their ambitions."

"A complete, unified Black Snake Realm? Damn, that would truly be a nightmare."

Sir Sa let out a sigh, turned as if to leave, and a dark‑blue sword silently pierced his heart from behind.

Sir Sa stared blankly at the sword tip protruding from his chest, then with difficulty turned his head to see the familiar face behind him.

"Why?" Sir Sa murmured.

"Who knows? Anyway, the orders from above are... to wipe out everything related to this lot."

"Don't blame me; even though we've been old partners for many years... this is the true meaning of chaos, Ah Sa!"