Chapter 311: End of Quest, Return of Troublemakers
"I hate this place."
Ju Shoufen muttered to herself while she stood in front of the portal to Liu Bian's shadow plane. She hated this place as it reminded her about yesterday's incident.
Wang Yun, aka Mike, had cooperated with Liu Bian by abducting everyone to the underground pylon tower. Then, the former used the tournament spectators and all participants as meat shields to fight Liu Bian's undead soldiers. As for him, he backstabbed Liu Bian and attempted to cripple both princes.
Liu Bian pretended to be powerless at first and allowed Mike to use his blood to open the portal to the shadow realm. But when the portal was opened, Liu Bian summoned several death knights and attacked everybody, including Mike.
Then, the troublesome lich appeared, and the exits were sealed. Liu Bian began the massacre.
Fearing the lich, everyone was cornered and forced to enter the unknown portal. Little did they knew that it was a trap, they got stuck there in the realm while they were besieged by hundreds of death knights.
Ju Shoufen deeply exhaled. The crisis was now the past. Fortunately, Miaomiao turned the tide and saved everybody with his unbelievable power. Combining with Lu Fengxian and Ma Moxi's abnormal strength and skills, they finally defeated Liu Bian and captured both perpetrators.
Ma Ping gazed at the dimmed portal and sighed as well. Yesterday, the fight was dangerous even for him. They owed Miaomiao big time for coming to rescue them.
As for the unlikely hero, he was busy fiddling with the pylon tower's crystal, trying to get his hands on the shadow element core. However, he couldn't take it out.
"Oi, brat. How do I get this out?" Miaomiao pointed at the shadow element core, which was inside the pylon crystal in the center tower.
Liu Bian clicked his tongue in disgust, "If you take it out, the portal will close, and the tower will be destroyed."
"Meh. Oh, well. I'll just take it after we get whatever we need from the vault."
"Ha! There should be many items in there. I doubt you can get everything if I don't cooperate."
"We have your brother, no?"
"…"
Miaomiao ignored the crystal and flew to the portal, regrouping with everyone.
"What's next?" Miaomiao looked at Mike, who was the starter of all mess.
"Let's enter the portal first, and we'll need to disable the storm."
Ma Ping and Jia Shan were reluctant about the shadow plane. Thus, they tossed Mike and Liu Bian into the portal first before they entered.
Ju Shoufen hugged Ju Xie tight as she brought him to the portal.
As for Miaomiao, he kept looking at Mike and Liu Bian, paying attention to their Qi circulation and their residual energy. If they were to make any suspicious move, he would detonate the dragon fire Qi instantly.
Nothing fancy happened in the shadow realm. Though Mike and Liu Bian were carried by the tornado because they didn't have enough Qi to resist it. In the end, Ma Ping and Jia Shan piggybacked them and brought them to the eye of the tornado in the sky.
"Where is the entrance?" Ma Ping looked around. Other than ghouls, zombies, and frozen death knights in the sky, he didn't see anything noteworthy.
"Extract a drop of my blood essence and Liu Xie's blood essence first. When the blood is present, the tornado will stop, and we'll be able to see the entrance."
The royal vault was so mysterious and suspicious at the same time. Miaomiao wondered if Liu Hong was the founder of this pylon tower or Liu Bian had built it, "Brat. Did your dad build the tower and this shadow realm?"
"Hah! Who else if it wasn't him? He's the one who taught me how to cultivate shadow Qi!"
The revelation from Liu Bian's mouth was different from the rumor. Even Mike doubted if Liu Bian was telling the truth.
"That's interesting. What about you, Mike? How did you get your hands on the shadow element Qi techniques?"
Mike paused for a moment before he smirked, "If you die hard enough, you'll get it."
"… What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"
"You've never died, so you'll never know."
"…"
Miaomiao didn't understand what Mike implied. However, after evaluating this person's demeanor and his power, Miaomiao listed Mike as one of the potential protagonists as he seemed too mysterious and dangerous for a local cultivator. Moreover, he looked exactly like a westerner, which didn't belong in a wuxia story.
While Miaomiao was observing Mike, Ma Ping had already extracted blood essence from Liu Bian and Liu Xie.
As soon as the two drops of blood came out, the storm died down, and the portal to the underground pylon tower was closed.
The group glared at Liu Bian and Mike, preparing to kill them as the development didn't seem favorable.
RUMBLE
Before the gang could unsheathe their weapons, a giant double-door jewel gate manifested and floated in mid-air. With 50 meters in height and 20 meters wide, it looked majestic with all the colorful gemstones on the doors.
The floating gate had no interior or anything behind it. However, it emitted a suppressive aura of a dao god.
At the center, a gold sculpture of a Heavenly Eye with an eyelid had been embedded in the unknown metal gate. It slowly opened its eye and stared at the visitors while it sucked the two drops of blood essence into the gate.
"ONLY THE DESCENDANTS OF THE LIU CLAN MAY ENTER!"
The eye's archaic voice echoed in the realm. Miaomiao, Ju Shoufen, Ma Ping, Jia Shan, and Mike's eardrums almost shattered as the sound wave of this unknown gate guardian contained the power of Soul Qi, which was exclusive to immortals and dao gods.
Liu Bian grinned as he expected to enter the gate and find the right treasure to escape from this predicament. However, Miaomiao seized his neck and dragged him away from the gate.
"I'll be watching over this asshole. Shoufen, give the boy a spatial ring and teach him how to use it. Collect everything in there and bring them out."
Ju Shoufen nodded and passed an empty spatial ring to Ju Xie.
As she was about to teach Ju Xie how to use the item, the door spoke again.
"ONE PERSON MAY TAKE ONLY ONE ITEM! IF YOU TAKE MORE THAN ONE, YOU WILL BE TRAPPED INSIDE FOREVER!"
"…"
Their plan had been foiled on the spot. Now, they looked at each other in awkwardness.
Liu Bian laughed at them, "Fool! Do you think my clan is stupid enough to leave obvious exploits for thieves like you? Obviously, there are always restrictions! Now, let me go inside, so I can get another item for you idiots!"
Ma Ping, Jia Shan, and Ju Shoufen hesitated if letting Liu Bian in there would be a good idea. They believed that they might give wings to a tiger instead of using him.
But Miaomiao had an idea, "Brat, I have a proposal."
"Yeah?" Liu Bian was delighted. He thought that this group of thieves would allow him to enter the treasure vault, and he would get another chance to escape from here.
"Show us an exit to the tower, and we'll let you go in there. You see, we're pretty much trapped in this plane, and only you know how to activate the portal."
Liu Bian laughed, believing in Miaomiao's words. Because of his excitement, he neglected the possibility of a double-trap scheme that he could trick everybody here.
Had Liu Bian been a bit calmer, he could have tricked Miaomiao with a fake portal, which led to another shadow realm of another pylon tower in other provinces. Then, once everybody let him enter the gate, Liu Bian would have trapped closed the portals and trapped them in the shadow realm forever.
Unfortunately, his luck energy had been depleted. Miaomiao's luck power was immediately at work, suppressing Liu Bian's plot armor power. Without the protagonist's natural shield, Liu Bian became temporarily dull in front of a stronger protagonist.
Thus, Liu Bian taught them the way to activate the exit.
"If you can inject a shadow element Qi strand to the ground anywhere, you can establish a connection with the tower, and you can order it to open a portal."
"Can you open it for us, first?"
"Tsk! I don't have a strand of Qi left! How the fuck will I open a portal without Qi!?"
Miaomiao shrugged and circulated his Qi. He pulled a strand of shadow element Qi from his secondary dantian and returned it to Liu Bian.
Liu Bian was obedient. After Miaomiao put Liu Bian on the ground, he activated a portal for everybody.
Seeing the portal, Miaomiao stared at the ex-prince for a moment, unable to trust this boy.
"Senior Jia. Could you enter the portal to check if it leads to the underground tower?"
Jia Shan had the same thought as Miaomiao. He entered the portal to scout the other side.
A few seconds later, he returned, "It's legit."
"Good," Miaomiao smiled at Liu Bian. "You're a good man, your highness."
Liu Bian snorted, "Now, untie me and bring me to the gate. I'll bring an item for you idiots."
"Ah, that won't be necessary."
With a bright smile, Miaomiao unsheathed Killer Queen and lopped Liu Bian's neck.
Liu Bian widened his eyes in shock. He opened his mouth, wanting to curse at Miaomiao, but no voice could come out from his severed throat.
The ex-prince's eyelids trembled for several seconds, instinctively trying his best to stay alive. He managed to maintain his consciousness for a whopping 20 seconds before he stopped moving.
Yet, Miaomiao folded his hand and pressed the Killer Queen's switch, detonating the bomb inside Liu Bian's body and his brain.
The body exploded and disintegrated to nothingness! There was no way that he could survive this even if he had nine lives.
Ju Shoufen, Ma Ping, Mike, and Jia Shan were also shocked. They yelled at Miaomiao, "What the hell did you do!? Why did you have to kill him!?"
"He no longer has any use to us. Obviously, it's better to get rid him and teach the other prisoner not to try anything stupid," Miaomiao grinned and gave Mike a meaningful look. The latter also understood it since it was a direct message to him not to resist.
Ma Ping had a bitter smile on his face. He understood what Miaomiao had tried to do, but he had never expected that his grandson-in-law would have been this decisive.
"You're too evil, Miaomiao. Don't treat your prisoners like expendable tools."
"That depends on their nature and their cooperation. Liu Bian is too dangerous for his own good. Right? Mikey?"
"…"
Mike sighed as he gave up resisting this young man. For now, it might be better to live as Miaomiao's war slave to survive.
After the elders stopped talking to Miaomiao, Dion finally confirmed the kill.
Ding
[Great Job!]
[Congratulations, you've finally completed the goddamn campaign quest: Liu Bian Campaign Quest #3.]
[Foundation Establishment Stage has been unlocked!]
[Your dantian capacity has been increased by 100 billion liters!]
[You have received 100 liters of Life Essence! All energy will be added to your secondary dantian to be safe!]
[You have received a random supply box!]
Ding
[Error! Unable to fetch the first quest reward.]
[Will you try to re-establish a connection with your previous sponsor?]
"…"
Miaomiao was about to celebrate at first. But when Dion asked him if he wanted to reconnect to the devil, his mood was ruined.
'No.'
[Affirmative. Discarding the first reward. Is that okay with you?]
'I don't want him back. I don't need his reward either.'
[Roger that. Oh, do I have to remind you that you have 10 seconds remaining to absorb Liu Bian's soul before he enters Samsara. He might be able to reincarnate with his former memory since his soul is unique.]
'Shit!'
In a panic, Miaomiao rushed toward the place where the corpse had disintegrated. Then, he waved his arms around.
Vampiric Touch!
Miaomiao drew invisible energy into his hands, skin, and mouth, trying to pull the remnant of Liu Bian's soul into his body first. After that, he would consult with Xu Chu on how he could destroy souls later.
Ding
[You have absorbed Liu Bian's soul fragments.]
Miaomiao heaved a sigh of relief. With the soul fragments, Liu Bian would never be able to reincarnate and come back to avenge him like typical protagonists.
'What can I do with the soul? Can I destroy it?'
Ding
[Please wait for a moment…]
[...]
[SHIT!]
[Warning, Liu Bian's soul contains a harmful program!]
[Warning, an unknown being has forcefully established a connection to your soul!]
[Disconnecting the unknown connection!]
[Disconnecting failed!]
[Miaomiao, I need a bit of your luck. Can you share me 1,000 points, ASAP?]
'What the hell?'
Miaomiao didn't understand what had happened to Dion, but she seemed flustered. Since she was necessary for his life, Miaomiao agreed to her request.
'I don't know how to do it. Take as many as you want! Just… Don't take it all and leave me some! And don't die, you hear!?'
[Affirmative.]
[Browsing Daonet Shoping Sites [3]
"…"
Miaomiao wanted to yell at Dion, asking what she was doing with his luck points. Instead of clearing the crisis at hand, she browsed the internet online shopping site!? And what was that emoji!?
[Shopping completed.]
[Installing Macho Joshua Anti-Virus and Anti-Ransomware Programs.]
[Installation completed!]
Ding
[Virus found!]
[Quarantining the HANDSOME-DEVIL-HAS-BIG-COCK.EXE.]
[Quarantine completed!]
Miaomiao's brain froze for a moment when he discovered the virus name. Though it sounded funny, he couldn't laugh at it.
'The devil!? That idiot sponsor again!?'
Ding
[Your system is being attacked by DDOS Dao!]
[Your system is being infiltrated by Trojan Dao!]
[Your system's anti-virus program has been forcefully uninstalled!]
[Reporting to Macho Joshua Anti-Virus Company! Please stand by…]
Ding
[An unknown entity has established a connection to your system.]
Ding
[Your sponsor has said, "Hi there, you little shit. You think you can escape from my daotube!? I've invested a lot of soul stones in this project, you fuck! You think you can cut me off like that!?"]
[Your sponsor cries in happiness.]
[Kunwu is overjoyed that your live broadcasting is back.]
[Tilted Hongjun misses Ma Moxi and you.]
[Sun Crow is enraged. He wants to beat Lu Fengxian for ruining his only hobby!]
[OG-Buddha senses Light Element Energy from you. He nods in approval.]
"…"
Miaomiao facepalmed. These troublemakers returned.
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