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“Qin Nan, why are you here?” A curious voice could be heard as a person in a black robe appeared from a different direction, with a thick deathly aura.
Qin Nan was startled. Why was Jiang Bilan here too?
“The Death Cultivator?” Yu Qingtong seemed to be terrified, who took a few steps backward and blurted out panickedly, “What the h.e.l.l, I...I’m s.h.i.+ Qingfan’s Junior Sister. If you dare to harm me, s.h.i.+ Qingfan will never forgive you.”
Sage Chen Zilai’s eyes glistened as he placed his palms together, which emitted a faint Bodhi glow.
The atmosphere of the place instantly intensified.
“Welcome to the second stage.” At that instant, the voice of the Monarch Envoy came from above, “From now onward, you four will be each other’s allies for a while.”
“Allies?” Even Chen Zilai was shocked.
Qin Nan and Jiang Bilan exchanged glances with one another and could detect the flicker in each other’s eyes.
Anything was better than competing among themselves.
Meanwhile, Yu Qingtong wore a blank expression.
“Yes, you heard me right,” The Monarch Envoy said calmly, “In the second stage, you are required to complete a variety of quests. If you do them well, you will proceed to the next stage immediately. The outcome will be the same for you all. If you fail to advance to the next stage, you will continue to carry out the quests until you’ve completed enough of them.”
Qin Nan, Jiang Bilan, and Chen Zilai were excited hearing this. Yu Qingtong too had collected her thoughts, as she let out a relieved sigh in her heart. Even though she was still clueless about the details, she was satisfied enough that she was not going against the Death Cultivator and Sage Chen Zilia.
“In other words, we can’t advance to the next stage on our own?” Jiang Bilan asked.
“Not necessarily. If someone performs extremely well while doing the quests, it’s possible for the person to be promoted in advance, and someone else will fill the vacant spot.” The Monarch Envoy explained.
“I see.” Jiang Bilan pondered.
“I’ll now distribute the quests. You will have the period it takes an incense stick to burn to prepare yourselves.” The Monarch Envoy continued, “You will be relocated to the Dark Royal City in the half-G.o.d region. It is currently under attack from the other factions, which were planning for an a.s.sa.s.sination. Your job is to protect the City Lord and kill the enemies.
“While carrying out the quest, your cultivations will be suppressed to the first-layer Martial Progenitor Realm. Besides that, if you are killed while doing the quests, your existence will be erased too. The countdown begins now.”
Following this, the illusionary figure of a burning incense stick was projected from the light beam in the center.
Qin Nan instantly frowned.
He was concerned because the quest sounded too simple.
Even though his cultivation was suppressed to the first-layer Martial Progenitor Realm, if he were to unleash all nine Martial Trees, he could easily defeat third-layer Martial Progenitor Realm experts.
Not to mention that Chen Zilai and Jiang Bilan were his allies for now.
As for Yu Qingtong, she was pretty much a non-factor.
“Who would have thought that I would somehow become an ally of someone from the Bodhi Temple.” Jiang Bilan giggled, “Since we’re pretty much tied on the same boat, I will share some of my thoughts. Firstly, since the second stage consists of a series of quests, it’s possible that the a.s.sa.s.sins targeting the City Lord are the other geniuses partic.i.p.ating in the Monarch Horoscope Contest.”
Qin Nan and Chen Zilai were startled.
They had never thought about this.
“Secondly, we are required to carry out the task together, and that might actually be a letdown, since Yu Qingtong is definitely going to be a burden to us. I believe if anything wrong were to happen, it would be her fault.” Jiang Bilan glimpsed at Yu Qingtong.
Yu Qingtong’s expression changed as if her tail were being stepped on, causing her to snap, “Death Cultivator, what do you mean by that? Even though my cultivation is weaker than you and Chen Zilai’s, how about Qin Nan? Are you implying that I’m weaker than him too?”
She was currently ranked one hundred and twenty-first!
Meanwhile, Qin Nan was only someone who had lost his cultivation, whose ranking had dropped to beyond eight hundred!
Wouldn’t Qin Nan be their burden instead?
Sage Chen Zilai and Jiang Bilan’s gaze became strange all of a sudden.
Qin Nan’s face remained calm.
“What’s with your reaction?” Yu Qingtong was confused.
“I’m sorry to say, but even if you were given a hundred years more to train yourself, you wouldn’t even stand any chance against him.” Jiang Bilan blurted out without mercy.
“What?”
Yu Qingtong raised her voice as flames of anger rose inside her chest.
Before she could unleash her anger, Jiang Bilan’s eyes flickered coldly as she spoke, “Be quiet. Qin Nan, I’ll let you handle her when the quest begins. Are you alright with that?”
“I agree with that.” Chen Zilai nodded in agreement.
Qin Nan nodded expressing no objection. Although he was not fond of Yu Qingtong, their focus was to complete the quest.
“You...”
Yu Qingtong almost felt like her lungs were exploding.
Qin Nan would be looking after her?
Are you being serious!
“Shut your mouth up if you don’t want to die. The Monarch Envoy never mentioned that we are not allowed to murder our ally.” Jiang Bilan’s eyes flickered with the flames of death, causing the surrounding temperature to drop rapidly.
“Amitabha, Cultivator Yu, we shall focus on completing the quest. We need your cooperation.” Chen Zilai placed his palms together.
Yu Qingtong’s face became pale. She subconsciously wanted to voice out her opinion but ended up letting out a harrumph due to the feeling of terror in her heart and turned her head around.
Since when had she ever felt so wronged when she was protected by s.h.i.+ Qingfan at the Misty Immortal Sect?
“Qin Nan, I believe something is going to happen when we are protecting the City Lord. It won’t be as easy as the Monarch Envoy described. If anything were to happen to any of us, you should kill all the enemies and advance to the next stage.” Jiang Bilan’s voice echoed in Qin Nan’s mind.
Qin Nan let out a smile and responded, “Isn’t it better for us to advance together?”
Jiang Bilan was stunned, whose lips curled upward into a gorgeous smile.
Time gradually pa.s.sed. The incense stick was soon burned into ashes.
Whoos.h.!.+
A black glow was fired from the beam of light, devouring the figures of the quartet.
A moment later, they simultaneously descended from the sky and landed in a forest. Their cultivations were suppressed to the first-layer Martial Progenitor Realm.
“The Dark Royal City is right ahead!”
Qin Nan soon discovered an ancient black city standing firmly in front of them with an intimidating appearance.
Jiang Bilan suddenly reached out her hand and fired a stream of the Death Qi into Yu Qingtong’s body.
Yu Qingtong was taken by surprise, “Jiang Bilan, you...”