A Transaction Between Adults

"King, I understand what you're worried about."

Bai Ze looked at Lu Chen, who was still hesitating, and voiced the king's inner concerns.

"You're worried that if we're too strong, you won't be able to control us once we leave this Small World."

Hearing Bai Ze's words, and then thinking about Bai Ze's abilities.

Even though the Small World was suppressing Bai Ze now, Bai Ze could still see through his thoughts at a glance.

Lu Chen's heart wavered even more.

Just then, Bai Ze looked up and formed hand seals.

An Imprint appeared on his forehead, carrying Soul Power as it flew towards Lu Chen.

"King, this is my Soul Imprint. I am willing to give up my Blessing and only leave the Imprint. Now you can rest assured, right?"

"With this Imprint, my life and death will be in your control. Please, you must agree to us. This is the last chance for us Demonic Beasts."

Behind Bai Ze, everyone stared at Bai Ze's Soul Imprint, their eyes flickering.

A choice between freedom and life flickered in their gazes.

Lu Chen's decision was their last chance to turn things around.

Ten minutes later.

The Sky Devouring Rat made its decision, formed hand seals, and offered its Soul Imprint to Lu Chen.

"Forget it. We're all going to die anyway, so we might as well go all in with you. Let's aim for the merit of following a rising power."

The Sky Devouring Rat's words echoed in everyone's ears, serving as a warning.

No matter how they planned or chose, they were passive from the start. The choice had always been in Lu Chen's hands.

"Sigh..."

The Demonic Beasts, who were still deliberating, all sighed and formed hand seals, offering their Soul Imprints to Lu Chen.

Eighteen spiritual Imprints floated together, shimmering with various lights.

Through the reflection of the light.

Lu Chen thought of the villagers in his village.

Those villagers had been struggling to survive since birth, working hard every day.

But half a year ago, they were killed by Cultivators because he had opened a Secret Realm.

Looking at the crowd before him, Lu Chen felt a sense of empathy.

Perhaps when the villagers were killed, it was a similar scene.

A desire for survival emerged, hoping someone would save them.

If a stranger had come to save them then, those villagers would not have died.

Thinking of this, Lu Chen couldn't help but sigh, "Sigh... Forget it, forget it."

"Since we're all in the same boat now, I might as well help you."

Bai Ze quickly looked up, staring at Lu Chen in disbelief. "King, are you serious?"

"Yes, I am. Get up quickly. I promise you, if I have the ability to save you in the future, I will not abandon you."

Hearing Lu Chen's personal promise, Bai Ze led everyone in bowing deeply to Lu Chen.

The eighteen beams of Imprints in front of Lu Chen, along with the bows, entered Lu Chen's forehead.

The eighteen lights perfectly attached themselves to the Fire Phoenix's wings, emitting a colorful, flowing light, making the Fire Phoenix image on Lu Chen's forehead even more vivid.

"King, these are our Soul Imprints. You no longer have to worry about us harming you."

Bai Ze said slowly, watching the Imprints merge into Lu Chen's forehead.

"Sigh... Why did you have to do this?"

Lu Chen shook his head.

What Bai Ze had said earlier was indeed something he had been worried about.

At this moment, feeling the Soul Imprints in his heart, he finally felt a little relieved.

"This was all our voluntary act. Thank you, our King, thank you, Lord Wind Dragon."

Bai Ze glanced at the Wind Dragon, clasped his hands over his chest, and expressed his gratitude.

"Alas... Things are unpredictable."

In the Wind Dragon's eyes, everything that had just happened was a tacit transaction.

He did not expose the true intentions of Bai Ze and his group.

Right now, what Lu Chen needed most was the strength of these Demonic Beasts.

Everyone had their own agenda in this transaction.

Coincidentally, everyone got what they needed most.

It's just that the Wind Dragon accepted the truth of the matter in Lu Chen's stead.

The brief interlude concluded, and Lu Chen's gaze returned to the rift.

Wind Dragon: "Little Lu, what was the good news you mentioned just now? The Celestial Pool and the Small World have already begun to merge, and the rift is the connection point between the two spaces. Wasn't this already clear before?"

"Before, it was only a one-sided fusion. Now, the Spiritual Energy of both has begun to connect. The Primal Yang Twin Fish Plate, as the spiritual energy pillar of the present world, absorbs Spiritual Energy much faster than the smaller one."

Lu Chen conjured two types of Spiritual Energy, one green and one red, in his hands.

He looked up in the direction of the Tower of Time and spoke again.

"This means I now have an endless source of innate spiritual power, and I don't have to worry about running out of Spiritual Energy within my body."

Lu Chen waved the Spiritual Energy in his hands forward. The green and red Spiritual Energy continuously swirled and advanced.

"This means I can activate the Tower of Time by myself, and my goal of becoming the King of Time is about to be realized."

Hearing Lu Chen's words, the surrounding crowd felt how correct their previous act of sacrificing their souls was.

Under the current circumstances, Lu Chen's Celestial Pool was far larger than that of these old monsters.

What Lu Chen lacked was only cultivation experience, only a baptism of time.

As long as there was enough time, Lu Chen becoming a top-tier combatant in this world was just around the corner.

Watching the Spiritual Energy constantly surge from Lu Chen's body, the Wind Dragon slowly spoke, "Little Lu, do you mean you're going to activate the Tower of Time now?"

"I want to try it first. If I happen to activate the Tower of Time, won't I become the master of time?"

"Let's go. We'll go see what other conditions are needed to activate the Tower of Time."

"I believe my body's current tolerance is enough to support me living for several hundred years in one of the worlds."

With that said, Lu Chen gripped the Primal Chaos Greatsword firmly, waved his hand for the people around him to disperse, and headed towards the activated Tower of Time area with the Wind Dragon.

Seeing Lu Chen leave, the crowd quickly brought Bai Ze back to the Beast King's Mansion.

They continuously poured all their Spiritual Energy into Bai Ze's body, cleansing its meridians.

The Red Fox extended her hand and set up an illusion around them, creating the scene of them chatting.

An hour later.

Bai Ze spat out a small clay figurine from its mouth. The figurine was carved with the likenesses of eighteen Demonic Beast leaders.

Looking at the figurine, the eighteen Demonic Beast leaders each spat a mouthful of Essence Blood onto it.

Bai Ze quickly formed hand seals. The images on the figurine began to flash with eighteen different lights.

The lights flew out and connected to the center of each Demonic Beast leader's brow.

"It's done?"

"Yes, it's done."

"We are now tightly bound to the King's future. We live together, we die together."

The group of Demonic Beast leaders looked at the lights on their brows, and smiles began to appear on their faces.

"Hahaha, this scene I extracted from Bai Ze's mind, isn't it drawn realistically?"

An old man holding a huge paintbrush, sought praise from the crowd.

"Haha, it's so lifelike, so lifelike! I almost thought that was myself on there."

The Sky Devouring Rat recalled the scene just now and burst into laughter.

"Alas... you're celebrating a little too early. That scene has already come true."

Bai Ze looked at the crowd, a hint of worry on its face.

"Realistic? Wasn't everything just an act just now? We Demonic Beasts weren't in your drawing."

The Sky Devouring Rat was still immersed in the previous scene.

"Alas... that scene just now, it really happened."

"It's just that the scene just now was exactly the same as what the Brush Spirit drew. The Darkness Riot has truly arrived."

Bai Ze looked at the crowd, its expression growing more distressed.

"Holy crap, you damn Brush Spirit, how can your drawing ability be so jinxed?"

The Sky Devouring Rat's emotions were instantly extinguished by Bai Ze's words.

"Doesn't that mean that if the event doesn't take a turn, I, the Nine Revolutions Sky Devouring Rat, will really die like that?"

"Yes, based on the current developments, the King's final strength is insufficient, and the Small World has not yet formed."

Bai Ze looked at the somewhat miserable-looking Sky Devouring Rat. In the scene, it was the one who died the most horribly.

"If that's the case, we'll all die under the Darkness Riot."

The Sky Devouring Rat suddenly leaped up from the ground and shouted, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's quickly discuss countermeasures. I can't let anything happen to you all."

"Quick, quick, let's get moving."

The Sky Devouring Rat, originally the laziest of them all, became exceptionally nervous upon learning it would be the first to die. It continuously urged everyone to discuss their next move.

Tower of Time area.

Lu Chen stood amidst a pile of weeds.

His eyes were fixed on the Tower of Time, and the disappointment he felt was immense.

This area was only a few zhang across, just large enough to accommodate the Tower of Time.

From a distance, the Tower of Time had seemed imposing, but now, in Lu Chen's eyes, it looked like a dilapidated, run-down building.

"Why is it so small? Do you guys not value the Tower of Time at all?"

Lu Chen's voice held a hint of dissatisfaction as he raised the Primal Chaos Greatsword with both hands.

He swung the sword out...

All the weeds around the Tower of Time were cleared away.

"Huh? Is the Tower of Time just a fragment?"

As Lu Chen approached the Tower of Time, he discovered that this tower, nearly a hundred zhang tall, had a base that was incredibly broken. It didn't even have a foundation.

The Wind Dragon also looked at the Tower of Time with surprise. It was the first time he had been this close to the place.

"Ah... well, if it's like this, it's like this. Let me see how to operate the Tower of Time."

Lu Chen looked at the Tower of Time, its favorability having dropped significantly, and began searching for a way to enter.

The Wind Dragon pointed to a handprint carved on a stone tablet and said, "Little Lu, look, is that it?"

"Hmm? I'll try."

Lu Chen looked at the handprint on the stone tablet and was about to place his hand on it for comparison.

A powerful suction force emanated from the stone tablet, directly gripping Lu Chen's left hand.

The Spiritual Energy within Lu Chen's Celestial Pool was being continuously drawn into the stone tablet.

"Brother Lu, what's wrong? Why is your Spiritual Energy depleting so much?"

Sensing the change in the Spiritual Energy within his Celestial Pool, Nantian Wan'er's voice entered Lu Chen's mind.

"I'm fine. I'm experimenting with the Tower of Time, and the Spiritual Energy consumption is quite large."

Lu Chen continued to feel the power from the stone tablet, replying to Nantian Wan'er in his mind.