Chapter 491: Small Mysterious Ark
Yun Che traveled north all the way, heading straight for the location Mo Li had mentioned. Along the way, he passed through many small towns, naturally encountered quite a few people, and also many demons. He became increasingly certain that this was indeed a world shared by both humans and demons. In places where crowds moved, some people would suddenly transform into a beast or spirit form, and some beasts or spirits would suddenly transform into a human form, while the people around them were completely indifferent to this, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
Having seen many demons, Yun Che could quickly determine from their aura whether they were human or demon. Although the number of demons was no less than that of humans, most of what Yun Che saw were still in human form. After all, in the vast universe, the human body was the most perfect. Pure humans and humans transformed from demons communicated with each other perfectly normally. At least from what Yun Che had seen along the way, he could barely see any trace of division, and in fact, he saw many couples where one was human and the other was a demon.
"Truly, the vast universe is full of wonders. Or perhaps, every small world within it is a unique and different existence. Everything in this world would be enough to astonish the people of the Tian Xuan Continent, but conversely, a world like Tian Xuan, where demons are rarely seen and are completely rejected by humans, would be considered abnormal to the people of this world, right?" Yun Che stopped on an ancient tree, tired from flying, and sighed.
"The complexity of the vast universe is beyond your imagination. Whether it's the Tian Xuan Continent or this world, they are nothing more than a speck of dust in the vast universe, representing nothing." Mo Li said indifferently, then suddenly changed her tone: "You'd better come into the Heavenly Poison Pearl for a bit."
"Hmm?" Yun Che was startled, then closed his eyes, sank his consciousness, and entered the Heavenly Poison Pearl.
As soon as he entered, he heard the sound of "crunch crunch" eating.
Mo Li floated there without touching the ground, her arms crossed, expressionlessly looking ahead. And in front of her... Yun Che was shocked to see Hong'er.
"Hong'er?" Yun Che's eyes widened: "How did she get here?"
"The Heavenly Poison Pearl and the imprint space are both worlds within your body, so it's not surprising that they connected." Mo Li said calmly.
"But... when the Snow Phoenix Beast was around before, it could never enter here! Moreover, the inner world of the Heavenly Poison Pearl is extremely special. Even if they are spaces within my body, they shouldn't be able to merge with other spaces."
"Who knows." Mo Li curled her lips, looking too lazy to explain.
"And, the space of the Heavenly Poison Pearl clearly cannot accommodate living beings. How could she..." Yun Che was full of confusion.
"Because she is not a living being. I said before, she is very likely an extinct 'Heavenly Spirit'. Or, you can understand it this way... she is a sword!" Mo Li said lightly.
"A sword?"
"Yes! She is a sword! If you understand it that way, everything makes sense. And the truth... is more or less the same." Mo Li glanced sideways and said with amusement: "Instead of worrying about this now... haven't you noticed what she is eating?"
Hong'er sat on the ground in a very ungraceful posture, her cheeks puffed up high, her mouth chewing vigorously, making a crisp sound like she was eating candy beans. After swallowing, she threw another piece into her mouth... Yun Che clearly saw that the thing she was biting into emitted a deep purple light.
That purple light shocked Yun Che so much that he almost fell to his knees on the spot.
Pur... Purple Vein Heavenly Crystal!
"Hong'er... stop! You can't eat that!" Yun Che roared and pounced on her. Seeing him charge, Hong'er let out an "Ah!" and ran off, causing Yun Che to miss. Before he could chase again, Hong'er had already made several "crunch crunch" sounds, then "gulp" swallowed what was in her mouth. Then she spread her small hands and said with a grin: "All gone!"
Yun Che: "!#@￥%..."
Yun Che's hands trembled as he roared: "Hong'er! Do you know what you just ate?!"
"I don't know, but it's delicious!" Hong'er licked her lips happily: "Master, do you have more? I want to eat more!"
"Of course not!" Yun Che's heart twitched: "That was Purple Vein Heavenly Crystal! It's priceless! I've only ever obtained two pieces in my entire life. How could I possibly have more... Wait, Master?"
"That's right!" Hong'er tilted her head and said with a grin: "Sister Mo Li said that since Master is much younger than me, I can't call him big brother, so calling him Master works. And if I call him Master, he will give me all kinds of delicious things every day! Ah... I've already called Master so many times. What delicious things will Master give me?"
Yun Che's brow twitched violently... This was not an act, because what Hong'er ate was genuine Purple Vein Heavenly Crystal. One piece came from the Xiao Sect's branch sect, and another from Xia Qingyue. As he said, at his level, he had only obtained these two pieces in his entire life and had never been willing to use them...
And now they were all eaten by Hong'er! Eaten!
And she actually thought it was delicious!
Leaving aside the value of Purple Vein Heavenly Crystal, as the second rarest energy crystal on the Tian Xuan Continent after Purple Vein Divine Crystal, it had extremely high hardness. Even with his current strength, it would be nearly impossible to damage it with full force. At the same time, Purple Vein Heavenly Crystal contained a very high density of power. Absorbing its power for cultivation could yield rapid progress. Using its power to sustain lifespan or vitality could maintain immortality, and even regenerate body parts. Extravagantly, it could be used to power a mysterious ark. A small piece of Purple Vein Heavenly Crystal could drive a several-hundred-ton mysterious ark to fly thousands of miles! With such dense energy, no one could predict what would happen if it was eaten... because no one would ever actually swallow such a heavenly treasure.
Not only did Hong'er eat it, she even bit it to pieces!
Her teeth found ordinary flatbread hard to bite... yet she could eat Dragon Gate and Purple Vein Heavenly Crystal like tofu!
"The title 'Master' is much more harmonious, isn't it?" Mo Li said with half-closed eyes: "Also, she didn't just eat the Purple Vein Heavenly Crystal. All your Yellow Mysterious Crystals, Green Mysterious Crystals, Purple Mysterious Crystals, Yellow Mysterious Jade, Green Mysterious Jade, Purple Mysterious Jade, and the Purple Crystal Jade Marrow you bought in Shenhuang City, all of them were eaten by her."
"Hehehe..." Hong'er tilted her little face and smiled, her lips revealing two shiny little tiger teeth. Whether it was an embarrassed smile or a smug smile, it was hard to tell.
Yun Che became very unsettled. He quickly took inventory and found that except for the lowest-grade mysterious stones with very low energy density and purity, all the mysterious crystals, mysterious jade... and the precious Purple Crystal Jade Marrow were completely wiped out, not even a scrap left.
He had saved various energy crystals for years without ever using them, and they were stored in what was supposed to be the safest place in the world, even safer than the personal space opened by a powerful being... yet they were cleaned out overnight. Yun Che scratched his scalp, then covered his face and said with tears but no voice: "Mo Li, why didn't you stop her?"
"I am your master, not your servant." Mo Li said disdainfully.
Yun Che: "..."
Mo Li changed the subject and said: "But don't worry, Hong'er won't eat your things for nothing. She is now completely attached to you. She is both your person and your sword. Although the things she likes to eat are special, they bring you great benefits."
"Benefits to me?"
"Don't you feel a trace of Dragon Gate's aura from her?" Mo Li said.
"Dragon Gate's aura?" Yun Che stared at Hong'er, concentrated, and then showed surprise on his face... Although very faint, her body, which originally had no aura at all, was indeed emitting an aura belonging to Dragon Gate! If it were only Dragon Gate's aura, he could simply interpret it as her having eaten Dragon Gate and not yet "digested" it. But this aura was clearly the kind of aura Dragon Gate had when it had low-level spirituality and had not been broken. He asked in surprise: "What's going on?"
"Very simple. After she ate Dragon Gate, Dragon Gate's power was decomposed and absorbed by her strange body, becoming her own power! Not only does her body now have a faint trace of Dragon Gate's aura, but the sword she transforms into will also become stronger because of it!" Mo Li turned her eyes to Yun Che, who showed shock on his face, and said calmly: "In other words, every time she eats a sword, her own power increases by a portion, and the Heaven-Defying Demon-Slaying Sword she transforms into will also become stronger by a portion! She is not only Hong'er now, but also your sword! If you want your sword to become stronger, then find various powerful swords for her... and preferably heavy swords! For Hong'er, swords are her delicacies, and at the same time, they can turn into great support for you!"
"!!" Yun Che was truly inwardly shocked. Hong'er being able to eat Dragon Gate was already mind-boggling, but after eating a sword, she could actually absorb the power within the sword to let herself... and the sword she transformed into, grow!
Was there such an incredible existence in this world?
After the shock came a sudden surge of joy... That Heaven-Defying Demon-Slaying Sword was already extremely powerful, more than ten times stronger than Dragon Gate! If it could continue to grow through this method... then it would be an incomparably great help to him! Its power level would be no less than the legendary Mystic Heaven Supreme Treasure!
"All I have to do is search for various swords and feed them to her?" Yun Che looked at Hong'er, his resentment from her eating the Purple Vein Heavenly Crystal and Purple Crystal Jade Marrow swept away, his eyes shining brightly.
"It seems not." Mo Li pointed to her left: "Because she has no interest whatsoever in swords below the Tian Xuan level."
Following Mo Li's pointing, Yun Che saw the Overlord Sword, Tiger Soul Sword... and several hundred swords taken from the treasure vault of the Xiao Sect branch, all still lying intact in the Heavenly Poison Pearl. Given Hong'er's gluttonous nature, willing to abandon all principles for food... they were all still intact there.
This meant that Hong'er didn't eat just any sword. The swords she was willing to eat were at least at the Tian Xuan level... or even King Xuan!
Tian Xuan swords were extremely rare, and King Xuan swords... how many existed in the entire Tian Xuan Continent? As for weapons above King Xuan, Yun Che had only seen the Sun Moon Calamity in Ye Xinghan's hand. As for swords above King Xuan, he had never even seen one.
Where was he supposed to find swords above Tian Xuan for her?
"Alright, I understand." Yun Che nodded. Although swords above Tian Xuan were extremely hard to find, Hong'er's ability to increase her power by eating swords was still a very good piece of news. But then, he said somewhat dejectedly: "She is now my person and my sword, that's true. But it seems... she doesn't completely obey me. Not only can she run out of the contract space on her own, but she can also come back on her own... The worst part is that she can break free from my control."
Just now when he chased Hong'er, she ran incredibly fast... Although they were both bound by a contract, back then the Snow Phoenix Beast could not defy any of his mental commands at all.
"Oh?" Yun Che's words also made Mo Li show a momentary surprise, then she snorted lightly: "She is not a mystical beast. She is a Heavenly Spirit, an existence far above you in terms of existence level. It would be strange if she were completely controlled by you. However, although she seems simple-minded, she is much smarter than you think. If you treat her well enough, she will not only listen to you, but even if you voluntarily dissolve the contract and let her leave, she will cling to you and refuse to go."
"Oh..." Yun Che could only nod, sighing inwardly. Treat her well? Wasn't that just making me grovel to her? Damn! Who is the master here, and who is the master!
"What about her eating crystals? Does that also increase her power?" Yun Che asked.
"No." Mo Li shook her head decisively, then said to Hong'er: "Hong'er, show that mysterious ark to your master."
"Mysterious ark?" Hong'er blinked her hazy red eyes, then her gaze brightened: "Oh, right! That one!"
As she spoke, she stretched out her small hand. With a flash of red light in her palm, a miniature mysterious ark, completely dark red and only the size of her small palm, appeared in her hand.
[End of Chapter]