Chapter 383: Oh No! (First Update)

"..."

After He Shou went inside, Ren Yidao did not immediately step forward, but instead stood where he was and narrowed his eyes.

Something is wrong.

At this moment, Ren Yidao's instincts issued a strong warning.

Something is not quite right!

"Your Highness, what is the matter? Is there something you forgot?"

He Shou turned his head in the corridor and smiled unhurriedly:

"Please."

It was this attitude of He Shou's, as if everything were under control, that made Ren Yidao feel very uneasy.

Suddenly, the aura around He Shou underwent a massive transformation.

Ren Yidao did not answer, but instead looked back at General Cang, who was sitting behind him in a slovenly manner, pointing here and there like a hooligan.

Cang Hai noticed his gaze, turned his head, and flashed him a smile that looked somewhat ferocious.

He patted his chest, laughed, and said loudly and confidently:

"Your Highness, feel free to go with the True Person. With this general guarding the outside, I certainly won't let any outsiders disturb you two!"

These words appeared to be a guarantee to Ren Yidao, but in reality, they were a warning to He Shou: with him here, don't try any tricks!

Although Cang Hai appeared reckless, he was actually quite shrewd and naturally understood the purpose for which Ren Yidao had brought him along.

If He Shou made any unusual moves, Cang Hai would absolutely show no mercy!

After all, in Cang Hai's eyes, Ren Yidao was not only the Demon Race Crown Prince but also his own son-in-law.

His own dear daughter had snuck off to the Eastern Palace to meet him in private late last night and hadn't returned for the entire night!

The raw rice had already been cooked into porridge!

Could it still be fake?

"Hehe, then I must thank General Cang for standing guard for this poor Daoist."

He Shou, who had been fiercely threatened by Cang Hai, was not angry; instead, he shook his head with a chuckle and looked at Ren Yidao with a smile.

"Your Highness? Is there still something amiss?"

Amiss, very much amiss.

If he could, Ren Yidao really did not want to go with He Shou.

But he had no way to retreat.

Under the suppression of He Shou's Qi, Ren Yidao currently had no chance to go back on his word.

Let alone speaking, even his ability to transmit sound was restricted!

When he turned his head just now, it was because he hoped Cang Hai would come with him...

But Cang Hai did not understand his intention.

Or perhaps he understood, but did not care.

In Cang Hai's view, it was only a wall away; he did not think he would be too late to intervene.

"... Sigh."

Cursing Cang Hai's arrogance fiercely in his heart, Ren Yidao gave up on the idea of sending him a message.

He could only move forward, not retreat.

Go!

Having made up his mind, Ren Yidao nodded at Cang Hai and then strode to catch up with He Shou.

"I can only take it one step at a time."

In the quiet secret passage, the two, each harboring their own thoughts, walked one after the other. He Shou did not speak again, and although Ren Yidao had regained the ability to speak, he had no desire to do so.

The secret passage was not long; they reached the end in less than a hundred steps, and the two passed through a wooden door once more.

But Ren Yidao's pupils contracted sharply after he followed He Shou through the door!

"Oh no!"

After the remedial guidance from Mei, he was no longer the novice who knew nothing about space; after advancing to the Void Refinement stage, he could keenly perceive spatial nodes.

"It's a teleportation array!"

After passing through that secret passage, although they appeared to still be inside He Shou's small building.

In truth, with that one step, they had already been transferred to another location!

They were no longer in Demon Emperor City!

I was careless!

In this way, his greatest trump card was rendered useless.

Where did Ren Yidao's confidence come from?

Was it that arrogant brute, Cang Hai?

No, Cang Hai could only be considered a backup measure just in case.

His true source of confidence was that convenient sister of his.

As long as Huang Huang was there, he could walk sideways through Demon Emperor City...

But now, they were not in Demon Emperor City.

Damn it, the ultimate move has been banned!

"Tsk..."

Ren Yidao realized he had miscalculated.

This He Shou was even more anxious than he had imagined!

He could no longer wait.

He Shou intended to take a desperate risk.

Although the act of bringing Cang Hai along had indeed pressured He Shou, it had simultaneously aroused his suspicion and stimulated him, preparing him to make a forced gamble.

If he succeeded, he would replace him and become the new Demon Nation Crown Prince.

If he failed...

He Shou likely had not considered the possibility that he might fail.

Ren Yidao's expression turned somewhat ugly, but he did not yet erupt into a desperate escape.

Because he discovered that after arriving at the "Alchemy Room," He Shou did not seem to think Ren Yidao could detect this faint fluctuation; he was not in a hurry to tear off the mask, but was truly beginning to refine pills in earnest.

"Then, please wait to the side, Your Highness; this Daoist will now begin refining the pills."

He Shou's expression carried a hint of excitement as he added rare, precious materials into the furnace one by one, and as he added them, he detailed the origins of these materials to Ren Yidao.

"Your Highness, please look: this Red Blood Refined Gold was refined by this Daoist personally from an entire gold mine; setting aside everything else, its value alone is extremely precious—just this small piece is not much different from a heavy treasure."

"And this Nether Flower was plucked by this Daoist from a dangerous location in the Southern Border; I even stood in a stalemate with a Human Race cultivator for a full half-month before finally taking it by force when he was careless."

"This powder was ground from an entire Top-grade Clam Pearl, which I snatched from a thousand-year-old giant clam."

"This ingredient is Star Meteor Fire Crystal; its origin is extremely mysterious, said to come from beyond the Heaven, and this Daoist only had the good fortune to find this one piece after searching the Eastern Wasteland for many years."

"This Earth-Splitting Rock was taken from a Spirit Mountain in the Western Desert; it was a prize I won after debating scriptures with an old monk for half a year."

These dozens of precious materials possessed all five elements, and the value of each one was extremely high—every single one was comparable to a heavy treasure!

Not only that, but every precious material represented an unforgettable memory, causing He Shou to sigh and lament incessantly as he refined them.

Judging solely from He Shou's performance, he seemed to be truly refining the pills with all his heart and effort, but Ren Yidao did not feel relaxed at all.

On the contrary, the pressure in Ren Yidao's heart grew even greater.

He Shou saying so much nonsense meant that he was not at all worried about the delay, having absolute certainty that he could prevent Cang Hai "outside the door" from discovering the problem.

Cang Hai could not be counted on.

Then what about Huang Huang?

She should be able to perceive that he was no longer in Demon Emperor City, right?

However, Ren Yidao was not very certain about this.

How far this place was from Demon Emperor City remained an unknown, and furthermore, in Ren Yidao's perception, this place was cut off from the outside world; his divine sense encountered resistance not long after probing out.

Since He Shou dared to take a desperate risk, he likely would not be so careless and must have some certainty.

Just as Ren Yidao was racking his brains on how to send a message to the outside world, He Shou had already finished refining the final precious material—the Soul Returning Grass that Ren Yidao had picked with his own hands—and tossed it into the massive Dragon Pattern Pill Furnace.

And at this very moment, He Shou finally turned his head slowly to look at the frowning Crown Prince to the side, seemingly very satisfied with Ren Yidao's current helpless performance.

Then, he stared into Ren Yidao's eyes and said earnestly: "Your Highness, there is only the final step left; please give me nine more drops of your essence blood."

Hearing this, even in such a grave situation, Ren Yidao almost laughed out loud.

For a cultivator, essence blood is not ordinary blood; it is a rare substance containing the life soul and cannot be easily handed over to outsiders.

"Hehe..."

Ren Yidao chuckled, not speaking, but instead flashed a mocking smile at He Shou.

What kind of evil pill are you refining?

Does the refining process require the essence blood of the person taking it?

He Shou did not care that Ren Yidao had discovered this; he pressed further, saying sinisterly: "Your Highness, opportunity knocks but once, and time waits for no one; you must not hesitate any longer!"

"This Daoist cannot let these precious materials go to waste; please hand it over voluntarily."

Under the reflection of the blazing furnace fire, He Shou's face appeared exceptionally eerie.

At the same time, in this instant, Ren Yidao had no time to resist at all; his vision began to shift.

He had fallen into an illusion!

In his eyes, hundreds of elongated shadows appeared behind He Shou; they began to dance at this moment, faintly emitting ear-piercing howls!

Hundreds of ferocious, eyeless faces emerged from the shadows, all roaring together:

"Hand it over!"

"Hand it over!!"

"Hand it over!!!"

!!!

The suddenly erupting fierce might made even Ren Yidao's soul feel an involuntary tremor.

Formless?

No, that's not right!

Asking Dao!

This old monster is an Asking Dao Great Demon!

Ren Yidao was very strong; the current him dared to wrestle slightly with a Formless, but he was still too weak in front of an Asking Dao.

If not for the fact that he had successfully cultivated his past-life body, allowing his mental power to achieve a massive breakthrough, he would not have been able to last until now at all!

But even so, Ren Yidao still felt immense pressure; the gap in levels was too great!

But just at the moment when that mental power was about to breach Ren Yidao's mental defenses, a faint fluctuation suddenly rippled from the deepest part of his Consciousness Sea.

【Ying—】

A faint fox cry rippled out from the center of the Consciousness Sea; it appeared calm, but it instantly cleared away all the intruders!

"This fluctuation..."

Ren Yidao could not care about anything else; having been pulled back from the brink of life and death, an uncontrollable rage surged in his heart, and he laughed out of extreme anger.

Ren Yidao opened his eyes, only to discover that he had unknowingly walked up to the pill furnace, with a large amount of fresh blood flowing from his seven orifices.

The fresh blood stained his eyes red; he looked at He Shou with scarlet eyes, his gaze devoid of the slightest fear, instead burning with tyrannical madness.

At the critical moment when his life was threatened, Ren Yidao completely stirred up the ferocity in his bones.

"You want it?"

"Fine!"

"I'll give it to you!!!"

Hiss!

Ren Yidao did not choose to fight for his life, but instead bit down on his own left arm, tearing off a large chunk of flesh and blood!

"Ptooey!"

He spat the still-twitching flesh from his mouth, his lips stained with crimson blood, and flung it directly into the furnace.

"Is this enough?"

Seeing Ren Yidao wake up after only a moment of trance, He Shou's heart sank abruptly; this Crown Prince's performance was far beyond his expectations.

He could withstand even this?

Could it be that he had a Supreme Treasure protecting his Consciousness Sea!?

Could it be that everything Huang Huang showed before was a facade, and she actually valued this Crown Prince highly?

But there was no time for He Shou to think too much now; his previous words were not entirely an excuse, as this furnace of pills had indeed reached a crucial moment.

"Enough!"

Regardless of whether this Crown Prince was acting out of despair, having such a large piece of flesh and blood was already enough for him to refine sufficient essence blood!

He Shou had laid so much groundwork before, naturally not just to put on airs, but because he truly wanted to refine this furnace of Mending Heaven Pill well.

For this, he had taken out all his worldly possessions, trading a lifetime of savings for these precious materials, all to be able to refine a true furnace of Mending Heaven Pill!

Once he swapped bodies with Ren Yidao and consumed this furnace of Mending Heaven Pill, his cultivation would surely advance another step!

The flesh and blood instantly turned into blood foam, merging into the half-formed medicinal liquid.

After a few breaths, a fragrant scent erupted from within the pill furnace, instantly filling the entire space.

"Good! This pill is complete... What!?"

Just as He Shou prepared to take action, a sudden change occurred.

A bolt of lightning appeared above the pill furnace and struck the lid directly!

Heaven and Earth do not tolerate it!

Thunder born from the void!

Pfft!

The moment the pill furnace shattered, He Shou's entire aura plummeted, and he spat out a large mouthful of blood.

"Heavenly Thunder!!?"

He Shou looked at the Heavenly Thunder gathering again before his eyes in disbelief, his entire being falling apart.

"How could it be Heavenly Thunder!!!"

"Why?"

"I calculated it; these materials shouldn't attract Heavenly Thunder! Wait! Could it be... that piece of his flesh!?"

He Shou turned his head abruptly to look at Ren Yidao beside him, meeting a pair of scarlet eyes filled with a smile.

"He is clearly only at the Earth Realm of cultivation; why would his flesh and blood attract Heavenly Thunder!!?"

And under the illumination of the Heavenly Thunder, Ren Yidao, his face covered in blood, grinned, his smile exceptionally ferocious.

"Surprise! MotherF**ker!"

"Who told you that my flesh and blood only contained my essence blood and Divine Soul?"

He chuckled, looking mockingly at the troubled True Person He, and whispered in his heart:

"I want to see if you can truly refine an old thing that refuses to stay dead!"