Chapter 1282 - 648: Doubts
After this life-saving meal, everyone’s stomachs warmed up, and their tense nerves immediately relaxed, leading the sleep bugs to come knocking, so they all went back to the tent to rest.
Changtian and Ning Xiaoxian also split a tent, and after the two entered, they casually set up a barrier. She lazily lay down and said, "I’m so tired!" This ghostly place really wasn’t suitable for her. Anyone below the realm of True Immortal had weaker resistance to Evil Qi. Had she not stubbornly persisted, Changtian would have thrown her into the God Demon Prison long ago.
Changtian saw the weariness on her face and silently turned her over, his hand slowly massaging her acupuncture points on her back, applying the perfect amount of pressure, making her sigh softly in comfort. Although she had the Stone Axe for protection, as they got closer to the underground palace’s interior, the Evil Qi grew thicker to the point of becoming substantial, and she felt increasingly uncomfortable. Ning Xiaoxian didn’t say anything, but did he really not notice?
"What are they talking about?" In this situation, her five senses were weakened, she could only vaguely hear people talking but couldn’t make out the content, so she had no choice but to hope Changtian could help.
He closed his eyes, seemingly listening for a while, then said, "They are discussing matters about the underground palace. Boss Kun and Fourth both mentioned that after entering here, the spells they cast are strengthened, even the little ghosts’ power has increased significantly. However, these little ghosts have become more difficult to control, several times trying to escape and retaliate against their masters. They’re speaking in dialect, and although I can hear them, I can only barely decipher this much, the rest I can’t understand, hmm, it seems they also talked about us a bit."
Being talked about rarely means anything good; better not to listen. Ning Xiaoxian thought for a while before asking him, "What relation is there between the spells used by the Heavenly Masters and the Divine Skills of the Ancient Barbarian Tribe?" If it weren’t for this, why would Boss Kun and others find their spells strengthened upon entering the underground palace?
Changtian gently stroked her hair and praised, "You’re very observant. The Barbarian Tribe has disappeared, but some of their spells were stolen by humans who were once slaves at the time, thus passed down till now. Humans are truly strange creatures, they actually researched ways to use spells without Evil Qi, but the price was their own Life Force."
"There’s some untruth in Boss Kun’s words." Changtian changed the topic, "Let’s not talk about him, even the seemingly simple-minded Yuan Hou has something peculiar about him."
Yuan Hou, throughout the journey, closely protected Boss Kun, doing any dirty or tiring work without complaint, looking like a loyal and honest person.
"What is it?" She didn’t see any issues.
"His specialty should be what’s commonly referred to as ’inviting gods to possess one’s body’, also known as Divine Strike." Changtian held her hand, walking neither fast nor slow, his fingertips lightly tracing her soft palm, sending a tingling sensation throughout.
In such an extraordinary place, he wasn’t keeping his hands to himself, her face blushing slightly, she wanted to pull away, but he explained seriously, "This kind of low-level Divine Arts causes significant damage to the caster’s body. This person probably only learned the basics, and usually doesn’t pay attention to maintenance. Just now my Divine Thought swept over, and I noticed his Life Force is nearly exhausted."
Ning Xiaoxian softly said "ah", this was indeed unexpected for her. Looking at Yuan Hou, he seemed energetic, even his hair roots were filled with Qi-Blood, there was no sign of a dying man like he was worn out.
"His body is already suffering from serious chronic illnesses. Just now when resisting those lizards, I was observing nearby, and found that one bone in his body was fractured, and his muscles were torn in three or four places, his tendons very brittle, another one or two times might just snap them. Such a body, unless using secret techniques to forcibly drive it, he should have long been bedridden, unable to move."
She stuck her tongue out in surprise. No wonder this man’s strength and endurance exceeded her expectations, handling three lizards one after the other without much trouble, this was something a mortal couldn’t achieve. Like her, burdened with the power of "nine oxen and two tigers", yet unable to fully utilize it due to physical limitations, mortal beings even if possessed by gods, couldn’t surpass the mortal body’s limitations. Did Yuan Hou not feel pain? Bone fractures and muscle tears would cause anyone severe pain, how could he just act as if nothing happened, not even needing to sit down and rest?
I wonder if Boss Kun is aware of his valued subordinate’s physical condition?
She thought for a moment and said, "Hiring this team itself is quite strange. This underground palace almost repels all cultivators and mortals from entering, even if they are stronger Heavenly Masters than ordinary people, if it weren’t for encountering us, they would likely end up buried here. This mysterious employer, if having a map of the underground palace, must have some understanding, how could they send Heavenly Masters in to die? Going another step, the Stone Axe given to Boss Kun and others is certainly a precious Heavenly Device against Evil Qi, if lost in the underground palace along with the Heavenly Masters’ deaths, wouldn’t that be a case of ’gaining nothing’?"