Chapter 18: She Actually Dared to Hate Me

About five minutes remained before the forced teleportation back to the city. There wasn’t enough time to farm monsters, so Xu Cheng didn’t linger and instead took out a town return scroll to teleport back immediately.

Long Ya’s abrupt change of topic wasn’t lost on Xu Cheng—he wasn’t blind, after all. Yet, to spare her from embarrassment, he chose not to expose her.

Even in such a stark setting, she exuded an air of refined elegance and noble grace.

For Gu Yuanbei, equipped with interstellar advanced AI technology, no matter how sophisticated the camera, nothing could escape his scrutiny.

Xu Cheng had no intention of staying long at the Shunan Chamber of Commerce, since Paradise had just survived a monster siege, and many matters awaited his attention.

At this moment, the lower half of his body was stained black, and his pale cyan eyes brimmed with pain, clearly locked in a struggle with the Black Abyss.

No! He absolutely could not let Brother Yun find her first! With the restrictions inside Brother Yun preventing the use of arcane power, she had to arrive ahead.

Tengshan County had a population of over 700,000, and the total money deposited in banks by its people amounted to at least 700 to 800 million. The six factory owners, besides their own capital, had borrowed over 130 million from the public.

Pushing the Moon Concealment Vessel to its maximum speed, after a rapid journey, Gu Jianan disembarked and, to be cautious, flew the rest of the way using aerial techniques.

This was Qin Fan’s most peaceful sleep in days. In Yanjing, he had always been on edge; now that he was in Magic City, unfamiliar with the surroundings, he no longer feared his enemies.

That said, the Hongmeng simulation boasted 95% realism. Jumping from such a height was akin to leaping from the twentieth floor in reality—requiring significant courage. Though it wouldn’t cause real death, it was truly terrifying.

Tall and sturdy like a pillar, his rugged face was filled with a sly, sinister aura.

“...” Feeding him a bite or two made no difference; Yin Yin raised her cup again and fed him more than half of its contents before the man flashed a sly grin with his white teeth.

---

Wang Jing kept complaining silently. Whenever he thought of the long line of Lichfolk on the city walls, a sense of helplessness welled up inside him. At this pace, even if the Lichfolk allowed him to kill freely, it would be at least a month later.

Su Ha slowly opened his eyes, instinctively trying to sit up, but a sharp pain in his chest forced him to lie back down obediently.

However, she needed to thoroughly understand his background before using him. This was perfectly reasonable, and what was rare was Gu Yao’s straightforward and thorough nature.

Some spoke of levels, others of equipment or skills. Indeed, these were crucial, but levels could be raised with effort, equipment could be looted, and while skills were precious, they could not compare to special professions. None of these were the most valuable.

Naturally, Yin Yin and An Ming walked together, while Dark Night followed the manager and coach separately.

A hoarse voice gradually approached them. At the next intersection, Su Lu saw zombies surging through both streets.

Qing Ming held her hand tightly, clearly feeling her body tremble violently. It must have taken tremendous effort for her to feign such calm composure.

Upon seeing their team’s Bull Demon King, Qian Cheng instinctively mapped Wukong’s image onto the demonic giant ape, nearly slipping out in speech.

Li Qiang believed that his violent breakthroughs and backward lean three-point shots were the true secret weapons to unrivaled dominance in the NBA.

“What if assassin gear drops?” Everyone looked to Qian Cheng. When entering the dungeon, no one had discussed how to distribute equipment belonging to unrepresented classes.

Next, Li Qiang saw the skill “Bronze Tendons and Iron Bones”: a mid-level technique achieved after Bone Tempering, rendering one’s entire tendons impervious to weapons. Even more extreme was the ultimate Bone Refining technique: the Diamond Indestructible Divine Skill.

Truly, thoughts by day and night might have been too focused on Yang Xiaofeng, for before sleep he dreamed of her.

“Remember now? Your brother went missing, didn’t he?” Old Wei felt his previous words were unclear and repeated himself.

---

Mei Lu glanced at Ruth after hearing this, then her curious gaze settled on Xiang Long’s face.

Billowing black smoke converged and began spinning rapidly, drifting upward. Suddenly, a bright light appeared in the sky—initially as faint as an oil lamp but quickly bursting into dazzling brilliance like blinding sunlight.

Opening the beast pouch, Lu Yinjun immediately leaped out, his gaze toward Xu Bansheng filled with confusion.

All this seemed to indicate that this underground space was maintained only by mechanical beings, with no human presence for years.

The two pure silver gates they had just passed, along with the narrow corridor between them, formed the magical “gate” into this isolated space.

“Reporting to Director Su, my name is Nie Dahai, a trainee police officer with the mobile squad...” Someone thought that making an impression on the young and promising Party committee member Su Ning meant rapid advancement was just ahead.

Originally, the blind man had mentioned that when Buddhism first entered the Central Plains, two sects emerged: the Black Buddha and the Golden Buddha. Devadatta was the leader of the Black Buddha faction, on the same level as the Buddha of the Golden Buddha faction.

Connie could unequivocally say she ranked among the top two human summoners, and within the Magic Academy, in the top five. For her to speak so highly of Hall testified to how much Renie valued him.

Not only did Hebihao witness this scene, but his deputy who pushed him out of the tent also saw it during the flash of lightning.

Yet Anguo said this: “I cannot sense the ghostly breath of Zhuge Liang or the breath of a deity.” Hearing this, they were all stunned, unable to believe it. “No way, no way to sense? Could it be that the one who just spoke wasn’t Zhuge Liang’s ghost? Or was it his apparition?”

Indeed, when Jian Wushuang took out the Qian Kun Ring, the Ancient Wheel Lord immediately accepted it. Upon seeing that the seal left by Xue Bei was still intact, his heart leapt with joy. After breaking the seal and examining the contents, the Ancient Wheel Lord’s smile fully spread across his face.