Cao Yuan and An Qingyu

"True. Since you're here, Jiang Er should be here too." Thinking of that, Cao Yuan relaxed. "She doesn't have any life signs herself, so even if she uses her Forbidden Ruins, she won't be detected. In a place like this, it's practically her domain..."

An Qingyu's gaze swept over Cao Yuan and lingered for a moment on the faintly glowing chains, his brows knitting slightly.

"These chains..."

The chains pierced through Cao Yuan's body and caught on his bones, completely locking down his movements. Worse still, the dim light on their surfaces corroded the area around his bones like sulfuric acid wherever it touched.

In An Qingyu's eyes, those dim lights were slowly eating away at Cao Yuan's body. Yet at the same time, tiny black flames rose from within Cao Yuan, standing their ground against the light and preventing it from spreading.

"They're eating away at my bones, but the Black King malevolent qi flowing through my body can hold them back. I won't die." Cao Yuan gave a pale smile.

"Doesn't it hurt?" An Qingyu frowned as he looked into Cao Yuan's eyes.

The process sounded simple, but the pain it contained was far beyond what an ordinary person could bear. It was like someone using a chisel to chip away at your bones bit by bit, never leaving the same area. Most importantly, the pain never stopped...

Cao Yuan had gritted his teeth and endured it for nearly two years.

"It hurts." Cao Yuan bared his teeth. "But I don't have any other strengths. I'm just good at enduring... Besides, other than enduring it, I have no other choice."

An Qingyu's brows were tightly furrowed. His gaze passed over the chains as he pulled several black scalpels from his pocket and said,

"I'll cut these chains off