Huo Wuling had actually escaped from the illusion?
Ji Ning’s heart thundered in his ears as he watched the dark haired man walk out of the phantom array. Huo Wuling flicked his gaze toward him and gave him a wide grin.
His crimson lips looked like a vicious bloodstain against his pale skin and ink black hair. Against a backdrop of countless ferocious ghosts, his otherworldly appearance and inhuman aura were even more obvious.
Ji Ning was shocked to discover that his once translucent body had become solid, the illusion behind him showing a bloodied battlefield. Corpses were piled high and the ghosts that remained continued to gnaw the flesh and blood of the fallen bodies. Once they were satisfied with their meal, they flew out of the illusion formation and toward Fu Qinghan.
Could it be that Huo Wuling manipulated the ghosts to devour people inside the illusion in order to regain his strength…
Ji Ning’s expression was somewhat indescribable. The phantom array was created from qi which could be used to nourish the soul. Although he didn’t know how Huo Wuling realised he was inside an illusion, it was apparent that he’d used the phantom array as an opportunity to recover his power.
The swarm of ghosts overwhelmed Fu Qinghan, but he had a righteous spiritual body to protect him. Before they could even touch him, the ghosts screamed and melted away, unable to damage him at all.
Fu Qinghan watched Huo Wuling escape from the phantom array, there was a hint of surprise in his eyes, but his expression remained as calm as water. He didn’t attack to kill, but simply stretched his hand out toward the illusion. The floating mirage spread forward, a white mist wrapping tight around Huo Wuling’s body.
The corners of Huo Wuling’s hooked up into a smile. The next moment, his body shattered like a broken mirror and when he reappeared he’d moved far away from Fu Qinghan.
A bible appeared in his hand, its pages turning quickly by themselves as the dark power that manipulated the ghosts transformed into a pure, holy energy. Two angels, a man and a woman appeared, bathed in a holy light. Countless snow white feathers sprung from their wings, swirling into a powerful storm.
These feathers carried no lethal power, but there was a lot of them, and they quickly piled up high in front of Fu Qinghan and Ji Ning’s feet.
There was no such thing as heaven or earth inside the cave realm and beneath their feet was an empty void. There was not a single shaft of light, yet under the holy light of the angels, Ji Ning’s dark shadow appeared on the carpet of white feathers.
The next moment, Ji Ning felt a chill wash over him as his body was embraced by a firm pair of arms. The ice seemed to penetrate deep inside his body as his soul was gently wrenched from his chest.
“Your soul belongs to me.”
Huo Wuling emerged from Ji Ning’s shadow, tenderly holding his soul as he whispered into his ear. Just as he’d said before, he wanted to take Ji Ning’s soul to another world.
But at that moment, a murderous shaft of energy pierced through Huo Wuling’s chest.
Huo Wuling stumbled backwards, half turning around, but before he could even turn his head, his figure crumbled into dust.
Ji Ning had experienced an overwhelming chill when his soul was taken. As soon as it returned to his body, all his limbs felt weak and he collapsed. Fortunately, Fu Qinghan caught him before he hit the ground.
“Qinghan.”
A handsome man with long, dark hair and pure white robes appeared out of the darkness. His expression was fierce as he shouted his disciple’s name, “You are too soft hearted.”
“I’m sorry Shizun, this disciple is too ignorant.” Fu Qinghan lowered his head and admitted his mistake to Yun Yuan in a low voice.
Yun Yuan spoke coldly, “If you’d acted decisively, you could have destroyed his soul as soon as he appeared. Your foolish mistake nearly gave him an opportunity to kill you.”
Fu Qinghan pursed his lips slightly, then slowly replied, “This disciple just…didn’t want to make Ji Ning sad.”
“I’ve already given him a chance to peacefully break the strings of fate.” Yun Yuan glanced at Ji Ning, the frost in his expression not easing in the slightest, “If he makes another move, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”
Ji Ning felt a chill in his heart and asked with a hoarse voice, “Huo Wuling…”
When he’d seen Huo Wuling’s figure disappear, he felt so terrified his heart almost stopped. Although he believed Huo Wuling’s cockroach like personality wouldn’t die that easily, Yun Yuan’s strength was equally unfathomable. He was scared to know what had happened.
“Don’t worry, he didn’t die.”
Fu Qinghan looked out across the mirages in the cave realm, “He’s just hidden somewhere.”
Yun Yuan summoned the thread of fate which connected Ji Ning to Huo Wuling, but instead of a single string, thousands of red threads appeared, separating into every corner of the cave realm. It wasn’t clear what power Huo Wuling had used but Yun Yuan was unable to distinguish true from fake by relying on his divine sense.
Yun Yuan frowned and grabbed one of the trailing threads. It disintegrated easily in his hands, clearly a fake.
Even if this method revealed which threads were fake, it would still take a long time to carry out.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
He’d only used his qi for a moment, but Fu Qinghan immediately noticed something was wrong. Startled, the youth in green robes asked him, “Shizun, why is your qi damaged?”
“Qfgf sbe jkjgf atja cba fnfgsbcf klat j ojafv mbccfmalbc klat Al Rlcu lr tfgf?”
Tec Tejc rqbxf ribkis, wjxlcu Al Rlcu’r tfjga rxlq j yfja, revvfcis j ilaaif cfgnber. Tec Tejc tjv jmaejiis cbalmfv atja rbwfbcf kjr wlrrlcu, yea tf vlvc’a xcbk lo Tec Tejc kjr gfofgglcu ab Xe Jtfc bg Ojl.
The next moment, Yun Yuan stretched out his hand, qi swirling through the air to form a figure. The man’s handsome features were familiar to Ji Ning. It was Lai.
Yet he looked different from the young Lai who had pulled Ji Ning into the game world. The figure Yun Yuan had conjured showed Lai’s adult appearance. His shining blonde hair and blue eyes had turned pure black. Wearing a dark Necromancer’s robe and an indifferent expression, he looked otherworldly, as if everyone else were simply ants in his eyes.
At the end of the novel, Lai became a demigod who wielded power over time. Was this what he looked like? Ji Ning was deeply curious in his heart. At the same time, he wondered how Yun Yuan knew what Lai looked like.
Thinking how Fu Qinghan mentioned Yun Yuan’s qi was damaged, Ji Ning had a guess. Could it be that Yun Yuan had already met with Lai?
Sure enough, Yun Yuan said, “This person was not contained within the cave realm. I sensed the missing thread of fate so went to find him, but my spiritual consciousness is currently limited and I was unable to bring him here.”
“Is this person so powerful?” Fu Qinghan asked in surprise.
Yun Yuan shook his head slightly. His real body was in the void, so he was projecting his consciousness here, making him slightly less powerful than Fu Qinghan. But even though he couldn’t use all his power, he didn’t want to let that person escape.
He continued, “Qinghan, go and bring this person to me. I will remain in the cave realm to help Ji Ning cut the threads of fate.”
No way, he didn’t want to be alone with Yun Yuan!
Ji Ning’s heart shuddered at the cultivator’s words, but he didn’t dare to complain. He knew Yun Yuan wouldn’t pay attention to his words.
Fu Qinghan bowed to Yun Yuan and said, “Yes Shizun.”
Watching Fu Qinghan’s figure disappear into the fog, Ji Ning wanted to cry. Yun Yuan’s cold eyes swept across him before he asked, “Where do you want to go first?”
“This, this way…”
Ji Ning didn’t dare look at Yun Yuan, so he turned his head and pointed toward the phantom array that showed Ark. At the same time, he glanced at the mirage of Herinos. The mirage that formed the phantom array had not fully closed. He didn’t know if it was his own delusion but it seemed that the Herinos inside the mirage was looking at him.
Ji Ning was taken aback, but when he tried to take a closer look, Herinos had withdrawn his gaze and returned to sitting leisurely on the top of the tower, admiring the moon. Ji Ning hesitated for a moment, but Yun Yuan had already sent him into Ark’s phantom array and his vision soon darkened.
“Ark, Ark? Hey, why are you in a daze again?”
Fu Ji slapped Ark on the shoulder, pulling him back to his senses.
There was a hint of confusion in his silver eyes as he looked up at his friend, not knowing what to say.
“Don’t lose focus, you have to be vigilant at all times.”
Fu Ji glanced around, speaking to him in a low voice.
“We’re on Titan, but don’t forget that the original Titan Kingdom was destroyed and taken over by Noah star. Unlike most peaceful countries, people from Noah are cruel and vicious!”
“You’ve heard the name ‘Archangel’ before, right? They all come from Noah star. I’ve heard rumours that when an Archangel is sent to a battlefield, anyone that looks into its eyes gets slaughtered. The first Titan was destroyed by the first generation of Archangel. His name was Ark too, you must have heard of him?”
“…”
The snowy haired angel lowered his eyes and did not answer him.
Of course he had heard of the ‘Archangels’ and Noah star Kingdom, because only a few days ago, he’s recovered his lost memories. He was the first generation Archangel of Noah.
After committing a serious crime, he’d been hunted by a group of second generation Archangels. During his escape, he’d destroyed most of his body, lost his memory and fallen onto a desolate asteroid, before being picked up by Fu Ji, a mercenary.
As his body slowly recovered, he began to take on various mercenary work with Fu Ji. It was because of this that they had travelled to Titan today, to complete their newest mission.
Titan was a very rich planet. Although it had been conquered, most of the battle occurred in the sky above. Ark had destroyed the royal palace, but not even the surrounding capital had been touched by the fight and the city remained largely intact. Walking through the bustling streets, Ark was surprised by how unaffected the buildings around him looked.
Titan’s rulers were now high level officials from the Noah star nation. A luxurious airship rumbled through the air, pulling a large banner that had the faces of the second generation Archangels printed on it.
After the ‘failure’ of Ark, Noah’s officials didn’t give up on their original plan. They still wanted to make ‘Archangel’ the image of the country. Sacred, powerful, pure, and untouchable, just like Noah country.
Ark had also been loyal to Noah once, but after his mermaid was executed, a rift appeared in his heart.
He constantly questioned the missions he was sent on and felt less certain in every order he was given. When he was sentenced to death, he finally fled Noah, no longer able to accept that it was only right he should be executed.
Standing in the busy street, Ark’s heart felt like it was falling inside an ice cave and he unconsciously clenched his hands.
This was the land of his nightmares, and the homeland of the mermaid species.
His mermaid was originally the prince of the Titan royal family, but he’d shouldered a heavy mission for his people and became a spy, infiltrating Noah. He ended up being given to Ark, who was still an ‘Archangel’ at the time, as a pet. He successfully bewitched Ark, but in the end, he was unable to prevent his planet’s destruction.
Now, Ark, the planet’s destroyer, set foot on this land once again, not as an ‘Archangel’ but as an ordinary, unknown mercenary.
He and Fu Ji had accepted a mission to look for treasure inside the ruins of Titan palace. Ark hadn’t wanted to return here, but changed his mind because of a thought which wouldn’t leave his head.
He thought he might be able to find remnants of the mermaid.
Although the palace had been bombed, there was a chance that the items inside had been preserved. It was tradition for the Titan royal family to marry mermaids, so for the convenience of the mermaid consorts, the palace was built just above the sea. When Ark attacked the royal palace, instead of simply being destroyed, it sank to the bottom of the ocean.
With these thoughts in his head, Ark followed Fu Ji to the beach. Before they entered the sea, the red haired man handed him a pill and said, “Take this.”
Ark nodded and took the medicine. Within half an hour, his wings disappeared and his legs transformed into a silver fish tail. He and Fu Ji had taken the form of mermaids.
This was a rare medicine that Fu Ji had paid a lot of money for. It had the power to temporarily turn them into mermaids.
Many mermaids still lived inside this sea. After the palace was destroyed, there was no protection for the mermaids, and many people were eager to sell them as commodities, but the fighting mermaids remained powerful and vigilant. With their guardianship, humans were no longer able to even approach the ocean.
In order to continue catching mermaids, bounty hunters from Noah developed this secret medicine. After taking it, they would take on a mermaid form and could deceive the fighting mermaids for long enough to catch the weaker, pet mermaids.
The mermaids had yet to realise that the recent decrease in their numbers was because of this illegal drug, but Fu Ji had no intentions of causing trouble. All he wanted was to sneak into the palace ruins and find the treasures his employer asked for.
After taking on mermaid appearances, Ark and Fu Ji dived deeper and deeper into the water. Their surroundings should have been pitch black, but because of their adapted forms, the seabed looked as bright as day, and their vision was unaffected by the water’s depths. Before long, they could see a large group of abandoned buildings in front of them.
Plants under the sea always grow very quickly. Only a short period of time had passed, but the palace ruins were already covered in all kinds of deep sea algae, as groups of silvery fish swam past the towers.
Before they’d come, Fu Ji had memorised the layout of the palace by heart. After observing the ruins for a few minutes, he swam towards a broken window and wriggled in. Ark followed closely behind him.
‘The prince’s palace you’re looking for should be this one.’
After swimming through several halls, Fu Ji silently mouthed to Ark. As soon as they’d taken the mission, Ark had begged him to show him to the palace of the prince named ‘Ji Ning’.
Although he didn’t know why Ark was so interested in that prince, Fu Ji agreed easily. After showing Ark the right palace, he flicked his fishtail and left to find the treasure his employer wanted.
Ji Ning’s palace was huge. After it had fallen to ruins, it looked like a large labyrinth. Ark slowly swam through one of the twisting hallways. The ground was littered with broken stone and various debris, and algae had grown all the way up the walls. From time to time, he would come across a lone fish, but they all swam away in fright, scared they would become his prey.
Ark’s eyes were suddenly caught by something glittering in the algae. He swam over and picked up the shining object, discovering it was a necklace. Behind the pretty gemstone, there was a small clasp on the side of the necklace. After carefully opening it, he found a portrait of Ji Ning inside.
“…”
Looking at the beautiful mermaid in the picture, his eyes reddened and a string of bubbles left his mouth. But, any sounds he made were lost and his tears melted seamlessly into the sea water, leaving no traces.
He hung the necklace around his neck and continued searching, but there was nothing else to be found.
After a while, Fu Ji returned. He’d successfully found the treasures his employer had asked for and had also taken some other things for himself. He was grinning in self satisfaction, but the moment he saw the necklace on Ark’s, his eyes widened and he frantically pointed towards it, bubbles streaming from his mouth.
‘What’s the matter?’
Ark asked, concerned.
‘Let’s go up and talk about it.’ Fu Ji was still so excited he almost couldn’t speak, ‘You’ve found something incredible!!”
Ark subconsciously covered up the necklace, pressing it into his chest. It didn’t matter how valuable it was, he would never sell it. This was something that belonged to his mermaid.
After returning to the surface, the medicine soon wore off. The two of them put their clothes back on and returned to their safe base. The red haired man was ecstatic, “Do you know what you’ve found? That’s a mermaid’s egg!”
He pointed to the gem on the necklace, his face flushed red as he panted. He was trembling slightly as he spoke.
“I’ve heard that in extremely rare cases, mermaids are born with an extra egg. The genetic makeup of the egg is identical to the original mermaid. If the egg is hatched, it will become a clone of the mermaid.”
“And this egg is still alive, it’s alive Ark. Do you understand? This is a mermaid that could be completely cultivated by humans!!” He laughed slightly, then added, “And it’s also the egg of a royal mermaid. The price would be doubled tenfold.”
The red haired man screeched with excitement, but Ark’s pupils shrank at his words, and he tightly grasped the ‘jewel’ in his hand.
“…Fu Ji.”
After a long time, the snowy haired angel spoke in a low voice.
“Huh? What?” The man finally stopped laughing and looked at his partner.
“I won’t sell this egg.” The angel said, “I want to hatch it.”
“…Ah? What did you say?”
A look of astonishment appeared on the man’s face. He pulled at his ears, wondering if water had soaked into them.
Ark’s expression remained firm.
“I mean, I’m going to hatch this egg. I want to raise this mermaid.”
“Fuck!!” Fu Ji swore, looking at him in shock, “Are you crazy? Are you really crazy? Not only do you refuse to sell it, but you want to keep a mermaid? Do you know how much it costs to keep a mermaid?!”
“…”
Ark looked at him silently.
In the end, Fu Ji gave in.
There was no way he couldn’t. Ark had ten times his strength, with Ark he could take on more dangerous missions with higher payouts. In order for him to have enough money to peacefully retire in the future, he had no choice but to agree through tears and gritted teeth. There was no other way. He just had to consider this as a necessary initial investment.
After careful research, Fu Ji spent a lot of money to buy an egg hatching incubator along with gallons of clean water to keep the egg submerged in. The planet they lived on had no ocean but mermaids were happy to live in both seawater and freshwater. The money he spent to keep the water fresh alone was enough to give him heartache, but since he’s already started this path, it was too late to turn back.
The egg gradually grew bigger in the water, the transparent gemstone shell becoming more solid, until it finally formed a snow white egg. Ark spent as much of his time as he could with the egg, watching over it attentively.
One day, the mermaid egg started to tremble inside the incubator. Ark didn’t know what was going on and panicked, picking the egg out of the water and cradling it carefully in his hand as he carefully observed the eggs every movement.
Crack.
The snowy eggshell slowly cracked open, a small hand stretching out of the shell. A few seconds later, a little wet head appeared, blinking milky eyes as he looked curiously up at Ark.
The author has something to say: Ark’s started raising a mermaid again, this time starting from an egg! (Note – this is not a stand-in! There are no stand-ins, only Ji Ning!)
Okay, one of the reasons I love this novel is it goes from gentle fluff to the weirdest storylines I’ve ever seen. Is it normal to hatch the identical clone of your murdered first love and treat them as the same person?? Are we supposed to think about the age difference?? Or is this some father/son play??….so strange~
This arc is the cutest thing ever, just ignore the hatching from an egg part…
I screeched when I read Ji Ning’s little head popping out of his shell! 😭😭
It’s just so sweet (╥﹏╥)!!
I can already tell that this is going to be the most precious story arc. I can’t wait for the cuteness!!!!
It’s a really sweet one, but Ark definitely deserves it <3