Chapter 230:
After the two had agreed, they walked toward the passage.
Just as they approached, the Lord by the passage glanced at them.
From afar, it was clear that the passage had already been mostly cleared, the subordinates of each Lord working tirelessly within.
This was also why, in the Evil Spirit Realm, even the Dark Forest was hard to clear.
Everyone’s clearing speed was actually fast, but the Dark Forest’s regrowth was just as fast.
It was like a swimming pool with the drain open but water still pouring in—it all depended on which side was quicker.
"So, are you coming to help us clear?" A hoarse voice called from behind, the muffled, grating sound barely uttered before everyone knew exactly who was speaking.
Ding Ning turned to look at the speaker, the No.5 Dungeon Lord, who at this moment was inside a giant vase, rocking his body back and forth.
The vase beneath him was carefully chosen, shaped like a tumbler toy, and he kept swaying, tilting himself all around.
Ding Ning observed him closely. Jiang Che had already told her about Ren Fengxiang; the root of his bodily constraints must lie with the No.5 Dungeon Lord, Copper Vase.
No matter what Ren Fengxiang thought, no matter how he viewed her.
Jiang Che’s friends were her friends too.
If there was a single enemy in the Evil Spirit Realm that absolutely needed to be dealt with, it was Copper Vase—not Dark Star.
Killing Dark Star was just to prevent him from collecting all the seeds and ruling over everyone, killing him was purely for self-preservation.
After all, if Dark Star really became stronger than all the Lords, he’d never want to keep anyone around.
He was different from Rabbit-man; he wasn’t the type to show off in front of people.
Killing Dark Star was for survival, but killing Copper Vase—that was truly for revenge.
"Of course not. I have arrangements outside, my husband is outside." Ding Ning raised her brow, speaking bluntly.
She wasn’t like Rabbit-man; even if she didn’t say it, everyone could guess Jiang Che had already created his own dungeon outside.
Though dungeons came in various levels, none of them believed Jiang Che’s creation was anything impressive, but he was at least one step ahead of all the Lords.
"Heh, don’t you want to reunite with your so-called husband sooner?" Copper Vase’s half-smiling voice echoed, his rough voice reverberating, as if the moment he spoke it was already echoing thousands of times inside that vase.
"If I don’t help out, doesn’t that just give him more time to grow?" Ding Ning raised her brow, ignoring his words.
Rabbit-man was watching intently from the side, and when she heard Ding Ning’s words she was momentarily lost in thought; Ding Ning reminded herself not to let other Lords know about her arrangements outside, yet she’d just exposed that she wouldn’t help with clearing, deliberately giving her outside plans more time.
She silently observed the other Lords, realizing none of them showed even a hint of surprise, nor were they angry at what she said.
Clearly, having prior arrangements was enough to make everyone attack as one, but none of them showed any intent of aggression.
Looks like Ding Ning was right—their target wasn’t her, but herself.
Because she thought so too—no matter how well Ding Ning’s husband prepared, he was still just a human.
If she wanted to give her husband a throne, she’d have to deal with a Lord first.
Whoever got dealt with, it was advantageous to all other Lords.
Everyone just wanted to watch, see them fight, but wouldn’t get involved.
After all, whoever died, in their eyes, was still many times stronger than Ding Ning’s human husband.
With that, she calmed herself.
"Heh, a human, how far could he possibly grow?" Another Lord scoffed; these Lords were highly attuned to emotion, perfectly able to tell false from true.
There was a real pride and happiness in Ding Ning’s eyes now, nothing forced.
Which made the other Lords snark.
They could tolerate a bit of open conflict and scheming, but such foolish behavior was just unbearable.
"Hmph." Ding Ning didn’t bother responding—that’s exactly the effect she wanted.
"Reminds me, Copper Vase, didn’t you mention you controlled some humans?" Ding Ning spoke, turning to Copper Vase.
"Quite a coincidence—my husband happens to know one of those you control."
"He’s reached a pretty high rank now, and he’s made his own dungeon." Ding Ning utterly exposed Copper Vase’s secret.
"But here’s the key point—I heard that man has zero control over his own dungeon, only able to sense his own existence."
"Isn’t this one of your outside arrangements?"
"Everyone’s busy clearing, but you’re here slacking? And you have the nerve to question me?" Ding Ning’s voice grew louder.
As soon as she finished, several other Lords frowned.
They had long suspected others would have secret plans too, but not who, not how many.
"Is what she says true?" A Lord looked to Copper Vase.
"How do you know about this?" someone asked Ding Ning.
"Knowing is one thing, why say it out loud?"
...
Hearing all their questions, Ding Ning snorted coldly, "Easy. That dungeon got created right next to my husband’s."
"All these years, no one’s ever built their territory so close—so what are you up to?" Ding Ning stared Copper Vase down.
Copper Vase’s rocking gradually stopped; he frowned at Ding Ning, annoyance flashing in his eyes.
Not long ago, he’d indeed sensed a human realm creating a new dungeon.
He immediately took over that body and began making a dungeon, setting up challenges.
Because the human had already set their anchor point, he couldn’t change the address—and only then realized another dungeon was right next door.
The two dungeons were extremely close, almost no buffer zone between.
"It’s not because of me. But rest assured, I won’t lay a hand on you." He looked seriously at Ding Ning; for now, he didn’t want to draw the attention of this love-struck woman.
For a human man, this girl would do anything.
He just wanted to develop quietly now.
"You say you won’t, so that’s it?" Ding Ning pressed, "Undo the human Lord’s control. I’ll find you a new location."
"Move your arrangements." Ding Ning stared him down.
This was her first attempt at getting him to lift the control over Ren Fengxiang. She could only hope he didn’t know about Jiang Che and Ren Fengxiang’s connection.
"That won’t happen." Copper Vase refused without hesitation.
"Because I know some things—I won’t say what. But the answer is no." He looked at Ding Ning, half-smiling, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking.