Mo Qi took it, nodding repeatedly, so nervous he couldn't speak.
Xue Nü slowly walked back to the stone wall, leaning against it, and began to meditate.
Mo Qi, with his rough hand, held the white, smooth silk in his palm, which looked particularly conspicuous. He quickly tucked it into his sleeve.
Then, Mo Qi looked at Xue Nü's side, wanting to sit there, but suddenly felt his feet rooted to the spot.
Mo Qi circled the stone wall again, re-examining the skulls to see if any could communicate telepathically. Regrettably, he hadn't missed anything last time.
Boredom set in. In just this short while, he felt he couldn't endure it any longer, but how would he endure the remaining hundreds, or even thousands, of years?
He decided to meditate again. Mo Qi found a spot opposite Xue Nü and sat down. However, gazing at her breathtaking beauty, he found himself unable to concentrate on meditation. He returned to sit beside Xue Nü.
Just then, a figure suddenly burst in from outside the cave. Mo Qi and Xue Nü both looked sharply at the person. The man was covered in dust, his face gaunt and filled with panic. It was Dai Guang! After a brief moment of surprise, both of them closed their eyes and entered a state of deep meditation.
Dai Guang was also extremely surprised to see Mo Qi and Xue Nü. However, when he saw that they seemed indifferent to him, he became confused. He had intended to flee immediately, but seeing their attitude, he abandoned the idea. He couldn't help but wonder if these two had come in specifically to chase him, and why they were suddenly uninterested upon seeing him.
There could only be one explanation: there was something here that interested them more.
At that moment, a rustling sound suddenly came from behind, causing Dai Guang's face to change drastically. Terrified, he scrambled deeper into the cave.
He had gone into another cave. He ran, seemingly without end, and after an unknown distance, a lizard-like monster lunged at him, simultaneously spitting out a long tongue to stab him. Dai Guang, using his peculiar movement technique, dodged it in a very strange manner.
Then, with an incredible contortion of his body, he suddenly flew backward in the direction he came. When he reached the fork in the path, he dared not return the way he came, fearing Mo Qi and the others were waiting for him at the sea barrier. So, he randomly chose a cave entrance to run into. Unexpectedly, this very choice led him to Mo Qi, and what was even more despairing was that he still hadn't managed to shake off the lizard.
It had followed him, "crossing mountains and rivers."
The lizard descended the stone steps, its flat, biscuit-sized eyes glaring at Dai Guang. It crouched down, as if ready to pounce at any moment.
Dai Guang was almost in tears, scrambling and rolling onto the platform.
Suddenly, the lizard seemed to see something that filled its eyes with a hint of fear. It abruptly turned and began to climb the stone steps. In its haste, it slipped after a couple of steps, but before it slid to the bottom, it frantically flailed its limbs and, with a combination of sliding and rolling, climbed back up. It reached the entrance, but because the opening was small and its belly was large, it got stuck. Without regard for anything else, it forcefully pushed, rolling out. Several scales and small pieces of flesh fell off, but it felt no pain. Instead, it ran off with great joy.
Dai Guang was bewildered. He glanced at Mo Qi and Xue Nü. They hadn't moved at all from beginning to end, not even raising an eyelid. It was impossible that they had scared it away. So, what could have been so terrifying?
He looked at the platform; there was nothing frightening there.
However, at this moment, the brilliance and dazzling radiance of the Dragon Pearl caught his attention, and he became instantly captivated.
"So that's why these two were guarding here, it's for this Dragon Pearl. Legend has it that the Ancestral Dragon's Dragon Pearl is hidden somewhere underground in the Annan Realm. I never thought the legend was true, nor that I would be the one to find it," Dai Guang muttered to himself, his eyes filled with endless greed.
"This Dragon Pearl possesses the power to overturn mountains and seas, and to invert the universe." Dai Guang's eyes gleamed with fanaticism as he stepped forward and lay down on the Dragon Pearl. "My heavens, I can already feel the Dragon Pearl's immense power, hahaha..." He suddenly looked back at Mo Qi and the other two, a hint of confusion in his eyes: "What are these two waiting for? They've been here for so long, why haven't they taken the Dragon Pearl?"
"They don't know it's a Dragon Pearl? Then what are they sitting there waiting for?" Dai Guang couldn't figure it out. He simply raised his head and asked Mo Qi directly, "What are you two doing there?"
Mo Qi slowly opened his eyes, feigning weakness: "The two of us were fighting over this Dragon Pearl earlier, and we both suffered grievous injuries. We are now healing ourselves. If you want the Dragon Pearl, take it. We are too weak to contend with you. Take it and leave quickly. Alas," he glanced at Xue Nü, "if only we had known, we wouldn't have argued here. Even if we had taken it back, we could have cut it in half and shared it."
Xue Nü opened her eyes, looked at his earnest gaze, and couldn't help but think to herself, *You liar, you can deceive people without batting an eye. If you treated any girl like this, who wouldn't fall for it?*
Dai Guang laughed heartily: "Haha, you don't need to blame yourself or feel ashamed. Faced with such a peerless treasure, who could resist the temptation?" Suddenly, his eyes flashed with ferocity, and he said sternly, "You deserve to die! How could such a treasure be cut in half? Wouldn't that be a terrible waste of nature's bounty?"
Mo Qi thought to himself, *He must have gone mad from cultivation.* He didn't bother arguing with him. What was the point of arguing with a dead man?
If the circumstances were different, Mo Qi might have considered capturing Dai Guang alive and interrogating him about his origins. However, at this moment, he felt he had almost no chance of getting out, and his spirit was somewhat broken. After a moment's thought, he decided to let him die.
"Yes, yes, my idea was vulgar. I know I was wrong, so I don't deserve it. Neither of us deserves it."
"I can't be bothered with you," Dai Guang said, hugging the Dragon Pearl. "Rise!" A series of rumbling noises erupted, like iron chains being torn apart, accompanied by bursts of dazzling light.
Dai Guang put the Dragon Pearl into his storage bag, his eyes fixed on Mo Qi. Although he now had the treasure, he was still worried that these two might suddenly attack him from behind.
"Do you know about a curse associated with this Dragon Pearl?" Mo Qi suddenly opened his eyes and said to Dai Guang.
"Hahaha... Only fools believe in curses. Smart people naturally don't, because I am a master of casting spells." With that, he moved his body, carelessly brushing past Mo Qi, and then left.
Mo Qi's question was precisely to make him lower his guard and leave with confidence. He had indeed fallen for the trick.
Mo Qi and Xue Nü closed their eyes again. After a moment, a piercing scream was heard from outside, as if someone was being subjected to a slow and painful execution. After a while longer, the air returned to silence, and the Dragon Pearl flew back, landing in its original position.
Inside the cave, it was silent, as if nothing had happened.
Since he had nothing else to do, Mo Qi began to further refine his Heavenly Eye divine ability. After all, it was inherited, not something he was "born with." It required constant integration and comprehension, even a process of "re-cognition," to cultivate the divine ability to the point of mastery and effortless execution. He tried moving the Earth Arrow to the center of his brow for refinement. He clearly felt the Earth Arrow emitting a buzzing sound, crisp and joyful, like parched wood in a drought receiving nourishing rain, greedily absorbing the energy.
The spiritual energy of the Earth Arrow also quietly overflowed, slowly merging into the Heavenly Eye. In the center of the Heavenly Eye, red mist flowed, gradually forming an eyeball with substance. In the very center of the eyeball was a small arrow, like a pupil of an unusual shape, emitting a dazzling light, like stars twinkling in the deep night sky.
After circulating for several cycles, both the Heavenly Eye and the Earth Arrow were strengthened. Suddenly, a soft white beam of light, like a river, flowed continuously from the Dragon Pearl and entered through the Heavenly Eye. Mo Qi was greatly alarmed, but the beam brought a warm current, gentle like small hands caressing his face, like sweet dew nourishing his heart. Then, the ocean of his soul gradually filled, and he felt a surging, stirring sensation. Mo Qi immediately understood that the old dragon was bestowing spiritual power upon him. To have such good fortune, Mo Qi naturally wouldn't refuse. He accepted as much as he could, without any politeness. However, he felt no gratitude in his heart. What he needed most now was not spiritual power, but freedom.
The old dragon bestowed the Dragon Pearl's spiritual power upon him, naturally hoping that his cultivation would gradually increase. How could he protect the Dragon Pearl in the future if he was so weak? His plan was to gradually improve his cultivation, and on the day he died, he would also place a curse on him, and then Mo Qi would have no choice. Perhaps his curse on the human race could change the curse placed upon the dragon race. Who knew? Even if it couldn't change it, it would just mean one more person to guard the Dragon Pearl. What was so bad about that?
Under the impact of the Dragon Pearl's continuous spiritual power, his cultivation rapidly increased, and he soon broke through to the middle Nascent Soul stage. The Dragon Pearl stopped supplying spiritual energy. Mo Qi then took out the pagoda-shaped magical artifact and used his Heavenly Eye divine ability to examine it. He discovered that the spiritual energy was strongest in the five-colored roof section of the pagoda-shaped artifact. With the activation of spiritual power, the pagoda began to rotate. As it rotated, five-colored mist swirled around its five slanted surfaces, accompanied by low popping sounds and roars, feeling like a caged beast, baring its fangs and eager to rush out and bite people.
Mo Qi hesitated for a moment, then did not release it. Instead, he put the pagoda away and continued to cultivate the Soul Suppressing Technique. At this time, the old dragon seemed to be bored as well. It emerged from the Dragon Pearl and slowly walked towards Mo Qi and the other two. Mo Qi suddenly opened his eyes, and a black light flashed and disappeared, like darkness suddenly descending and then suddenly welcoming dawn.
The old dragon felt a jolt in its mind, its gaze becoming vacant, staring blankly at Mo Qi. Mo Qi was delighted, thinking there was hope, and immediately intensified the activation of his technique, pressing wave after wave towards the opponent. Invisible tendrils extended towards the opponent without any blind spots, striking directly at the soul.
However, after searching for a long time, the tendrils found nothing. Mo Qi found it strange. The opponent had clearly submitted, so why couldn't he grasp it?
With a flash of thought, Mo Qi immediately realized that the opponent was playing a trick on him. He hurriedly retracted his divine sense and stopped the technique. Pretending nothing was wrong, he smiled and said, "Senior, I was meditating. Do you have any advice?"
The old white dragon's hazy gaze immediately became radiant. It smiled faintly: "You boy, you reacted quickly. If you had been a moment later, I would have directly taken over your body." Its face was full of smiles, but its eyes held endless killing intent.
Mo Qi felt a surge of fear and quickly put on a subservient smile.
The old white dragon snorted lightly: "The original owner of this technique didn't dare to show off in front of me back then. You actually dare to flaunt it. Truly, you don't know the meaning of death."
Xue Nü opened her eyes, not knowing what had happened. She looked at the old dragon, then at Mo Qi, her expression uncomprehending.
Mo Qi smiled: "It's not showing off, it's just that I've just acquired this divine ability and wanted to see if I've mastered it and to what extent. I also know that this kind of divine ability is merely a tickle to you and could not possibly cause you any harm. I never intended to do anything to you, senior. If I had such thoughts, wouldn't I be asking for trouble? Moreover, my admiration for you is like a continuously flowing river, and your radiance is like the sun and moon, always guiding my path forward. Your smile is enough to make me intoxicated for three days and three nights, and your cold gaze is enough to send me into an abyss ten thousand feet deep. I will follow your lead, and I take you as a model for my endeavors. You bear the safety of all people on your shoulders, carrying the heavy burden of the world. You save the common people from drowning and turn the tide of disaster. Your hard work and merits are immeasurable; you deserve the reverence of all people and to be remembered for generations. Your cultivation and achievements are something we can only look up to, gazing at your towering figure from afar and bowing in worship, not daring to hope to catch up to your departing footsteps..."
The old dragon was extremely pleased, smiling and nodding as it stroked its beard.
Xue Nü felt a churning in her chest, almost wanting to vomit.
Seeing that the old dragon was no longer angry, Mo Qi let down his guard. He took out a pill furnace and all the necessary spirit herbs from his storage bag, preparing to refine pills.