Chapter 489: Big Big Big (7/10, Autumn Subscription)

In reality, inside a high-end room of a shadow studio.

A woman suddenly sat bolt upright on the bed, gasping for breath, her rapid panting, pupils contracting and expanding, her trembling hands instinctively reaching for her cheeks.

When her slender fingers lightly touched the delicate, fragile skin, the woman finally exhaled deeply.

"Xia Xiyu, Xia Xiyu—you really did it, capsizing in a sewer!"

She rubbed her cheeks, giving herself a pep talk.

Wearing her pajamas, she walked to the window, gazing at the countless, ant-like masses beneath Jianghai City's glittering surface, still rising before dawn to scramble for their three daily meals, and a faint sneer crossed her lips.

"Are kings and generals born to rule? Those old bastards in the United Alliance have sat on their thrones too long—it's time for new faces to take a look at the view."

She turned back and entered the bathroom, washed up, and cleared her head a little; she knew that character was already ruined.

In one day, she would re-enter the game and restart her layout!

Fortunately, she had long anticipated this scenario—or rather… death was only the beginning!

The backdoors she'd planted within the Phoenix Organization were finally ready to activate.

"After all this setup, it's time to create a new character and boost my strength."

As long as the new character entered the game within Qing Guo, within the Phoenix Organization's influence zone.

With the backdoors she'd left behind, she could achieve a shortcut to power!

Though this path would be far more perilous.

Yet as Weirdness Levels keep climbing, what isn't dangerous anymore?

As the leader of the Thirteen Daoists of the Shadow Alliance, Xia Daoist, some responsibilities must be borne on her shoulders.

Xia Xiyu was just pondering her future plans when she suddenly felt her face growing hot—increasingly hot, hotter still—as if being scorched by searing flames!

Her pupils shrank violently; Xia Xiyu hurriedly turned to the large mirror in the bathroom.

In the mirror, large patches of severe thermal burn scars were spreading across her cheeks, still expanding!

Hot hot hot hot hot hot!

Pain pain pain pain pain pain!

Xia Xiyu frantically turned on the icy shower, drenching her face.

But it was useless—the force synchronizing with the game was traveling through the channel and acting upon her body!

"No… no!!"

As Xia Xiyu staggered wildly toward her bedroom, gritting her teeth against the searing pain, her trembling hands opened the five-layer nesting doll safe and pulled out the ring hidden inside, slipping it on immediately.

Almost the instant the ring was on, her body began to petrify from her right hand—and rapidly spread across her entire frame.

Just as her entire face neared the same state as in the game, her skull beginning to sink inward, petrification fully engulfed her body!

One day, two days, three days!

On the evening of the third day, Xia Xiyu, now like a stone statue, cracked with a series of crack-crack sounds; the fissures widened, until with a sudden BOOM, the stone skin covering her body shattered and fell away entirely.

And the once-dead Xia Xiyu, her face nearly disfigured and her skull slightly sunken, survived.

"Night! Color! Dawn!!"

The surviving Xia Xiyu spat those four words through gritted teeth.

From the moment she put on the Stone Skin Ring, her life entered a countdown. The stone's corrosion would slowly shift from outside to inside; her body would gradually petrify over the course of one year, culminating in the petrification of her heart and brain, turning her fully into a statue.

Only by finding a countermeasure to the Stone Skin Ring's side effects within this year could she survive.

This wasn't her intention—this item… was meant for a far more critical moment, yet now she was forced to waste it.

Just as Xia Xiyu thought this…

From her right-hand ring, lines of petrified stone spread upward along her arm, slowly converging on her cheeks and sunken skull.

Like a mask, the petrified skin slowly covered her human face, reconstructing her former appearance.

But the color and texture had changed—from delicate, fragile human skin to hard, stony flesh.

"I'll settle this account with you—sooner or later!"

Lying back on the bed, Xia Xiyu re-entered the game!

…

Ningguang Mountain, Ning Mansion, Underground Secret Chamber.

Fang Yue realized this so-called Underground Secret Chamber was far larger than he'd imagined—it was an entire underground palace.

Its corridors branched everywhere, stretching endlessly, with all basic infrastructure built with exceptional completeness.

At first glance, it was clearly an underground fortress.

Fang Yue wondered if the people of Ning Mansion had hollowed out the entire interior of Ningguang Mountain and then remodeled it into this.

Yet… although Ning Mansion had many hands, hollowing out an entire mountain's interior and remodeling it would require manpower and resources far beyond what Ning Mansion could afford.

Ning Laotou, after all, was merely a Weird Object Forger—he could make Fluorescent Bracelets, certainly, but he could never have possessed the wealth or manpower to hollow out and remodel the interior of Ningguang Mountain.

Behind him, there must be ties to some major organization!

Fang Yue recalled Ning Laotou's deferential attitude toward Liao Guanjia.

Probably Liao Guanjia was the true master of Ning Mansion, and this Underground Secret Chamber was also connected to him.

"I remember Ning Mansion has a First Butler and a Second Butler besides Liao Guanjia—does that mean those two are also behind-the-scenes masterminds?"

Liao Guanjia was a Xiantian Realm cultivator, ranked third among Ning Mansion's butlers.

Does that mean the First Butler and Second Butler were stronger than Liao Guanjia?

Three Xiantian Realm cultivators…

Fang Yue felt a chill run down his spine at the power behind Ning Mansion.

Remember, Qingsi County had only Tian Erjun as a single Xiantian Realm cultivator.

Including You Sisi, the prodigy on the verge of breaking into the Xiantian Realm, there were only two Xiantian Realm cultivators total.

If we also count the vacant Green Robe position as a Xiantian Realm cultivator,

then Ning Mansion's configuration, in terms of top-tier combat power, is already capable of clashing head-on with Qingsi County.

So Ning Mansion can be considered a small Qingsi County, or Qingsi County can be considered a small Ning Mansion — in any case, if both are fully maxed out, their strength should be evenly matched.

It's just that today's Qingsi County is missing a Green Robe, and also has a useless You Sisi, so Qingsi County's tier, in front of Ning Mansion, is immediately outclassed.

It can be said that no matter what Ning Mansion wants to do, as long as the three great stewards are present, they can do whatever they please — even if the Green Division investigates, they don't have the strength to resist!

What is this? This is a local emperor!

Fang Yue suddenly became even more interested in Ning Mansion's purpose.

Having strength greater than the Green Division, yet living so low-key!

If Lin Ling hadn't gone missing, Lord Han hadn't gone missing, they wouldn't have tried to use the Fluorescent Bracelet to fish me out, only to capsize in a ditch.

I'm afraid no one would have known about Ning Mansion's tricks until now.

Thinking about these things, Fang Yue walked forward along the road.

Because it was in an enclosed environment similar to a mine, Human Soul lamps were hung all around, providing illumination.

If the guess is correct, the entire Underground Secret Chamber actually uses Human Soul lamps for all its lighting!

How many years of lifespan is this? How extravagant — Qingsi County doesn't even have the financial resources to play around like this!

The more Fang Yue learned about Ning Mansion's secrets, the more shocked he became.

What a grand scheme, what enormous wealth! What massive material resources! What massive manpower!

(End of this chapter)