Severed Finger!

That was a severed finger!

It looked like it had just been cut off, the surface dripping with blood, and you could even see dense flesh buds, resembling snail tentacles.

The bearded man jiggled the seal bottle, about to offer an explanation, when the armored monster rasped, "Deal!"

The crisp voice startled the bearded man, making him wonder if he had undersold this all-purpose flesh.

"No, that thing will gradually replace your entire body's flesh, with extreme side effects. Give me three days, and I can definitely gather anything you desire."

The stall owner shrieked!

"Bastard!"

The bearded man, enraged, suddenly raised his hand, and the shadow beneath his feet transformed into a giant bear, lunging towards the stall owner.

Unexpectedly, the stall owner nimbly scooped up the scattered items on his stall, ducked down, and escaped the bear's embrace, making a swift exit.

His movements were so fluid that Ning Xiuyuan was reminded of a street vendor evading city officials.

"Give me three days, just three days!!!"

The stall owner, disappearing into the crowd, still managed to shout at Ning Xiuyuan.

"Money first, goods first!"

The bearded man was anxious. He gathered a pile of items and looked expectantly at Ning Xiuyuan.

Ning Xiuyuan turned and walked to the table, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a matchbox. He flicked open the drawer with his finger, revealing the azure water bead inside, to show he hadn't tampered with it.

"A trade?" the bearded man couldn't help but confirm again.

"A trade."

Ning Xiuyuan placed the matchbox on the table, pressing it down with just his right index finger.

The bearded man cupped his right hand protectively over his goods and nervously extended his left hand. Mimicking Ning Xiuyuan, he gently pressed his index finger onto the matchbox.

Ning Xiuyuan lifted his index finger.

The bearded man snatched the matchbox into his hand. Only after confirming that the Dreamland Lake water inside was unharmed did he let out a long sigh of relief.

At this moment, he was surprised to find that Ning Xiuyuan hadn't collected his goods, seemingly unafraid that he might go back on his word.

"You have great courage, sir. If you have good items in the future, feel free to find me. My dealings are absolutely honest." the bearded man said with a smile.

"Certainly!"

Ning Xiuyuan's voice was low as he turned to leave.

"Sir, East..."

The bearded man intended to remind Ning Xiuyuan that his goods were still on the table, but before he could finish, he was astonished to find that the items on the table had vanished at some point.

This sight turned his face ashen.

What terrifying skills!

He no longer dared to imagine how he would cope if the other party had malicious intent and decided to rob him by force.

However, now was not the time for lingering fear. He opened his mouth, stuffed the matchbox in, and swallowed it expressionlessly.

Then, the "quadruplets" stood up simultaneously and walked off in four different directions of the Black Market.

Meanwhile, Ning Xiuyuan, who had already left the Black Market, could clearly feel faint gazes lingering on him.

He suddenly recalled Angela's complaint, "Sometimes I just can't understand why the Church doesn't just level this place?"

Why not level it?

Because this was Francis's Zion!

Ning Xiuyuan dared to bet that this Black Market was under the Church's surveillance, and perhaps even the bearded man he had just traded with was a member of the Church.

Thinking this, Ning Xiuyuan quickened his pace.

He didn't follow the street. Instead, after leaving the Black Market, he plunged into the residential buildings opposite.

Not long after, a plump, spherical monster rolled out of the darkness. It opened its mouth, full of teeth, and croaked, "Little baby, go to sleep, little flower quilt, tuck it in tight..."

It mumbled a strange nursery rhyme and rolled towards Ning Xiuyuan.

As it got close, it suddenly opened its large mouth and lunged at Ning Xiuyuan.

Ning Xiuyuan seemed to be scared stiff.

He stood there blankly, allowing the monster to swallow him whole.

After swallowing Ning Xiuyuan, the round monster was satisfied and rumbled back into the darkness.

A moment later, three figures rushed over.

They stood at the spot where Ning Xiuyuan had disappeared, looking around with grim expressions and murmuring to each other. Suddenly, an angry roar echoed from the darkness.

"Sleep! Always sleeping! Get to work! Work! Work!"

The darkness churned, and a massive figure, adorned with countless arms and a bloated body that threatened to tear its tuxedo apart, rose from the gloom.

It brandished numerous teaching sticks and long whips, lashing out fiercely at the three figures pursuing it.

"Damn it, let's go!"

The three grunted in unison, their faces grim as they retreated.

Meanwhile, Ning Xiuyuan had already phased through walls and alleys, arriving at the stable and returning to his dorm.

He secured the doors and windows, placing the lantern on the bedside table. Like a weary traveler returning home, he collapsed onto the soft couch, muttering a few incantations before falling into a deep sleep.

In his dream, Ning Xiuyuan felt as though he had fallen into the sea. Rolling waves crashed over him, engulfing him and stealing his breath.

He desperately opened his mouth, trying to inhale.

"Ssss—"

At that very moment, Ning Xiuyuan took a long, deep breath and suddenly opened his eyes.

The simple, textured dorm room came into view.

"Hoo—"

Ning Xiuyuan exhaled the breath he had just taken, having successfully returned to the real world.

He pulled out his pocket watch.

The watch indicated an hour had passed in the Dreamland, but only a minute had elapsed here.

"If you don't consider the spiritual energy cost, the Dreamland is an excellent place for learning and training," Ning Xiuyuan mused, snapping his fingers.

A pile of supernatural items immediately materialized before him.

In addition to these, a corpse also abruptly fell to the ground.

These items had been stored and brought back using misplaced space. The brief storage time had nearly depleted his spiritual energy.

Ning Xiuyuan pondered, thinking that he should acquire a large quantity of supernatural items during this transaction and quickly create a permanent misplaced space. Otherwise, hiding so many things would be difficult.

As he thought this, tentacles began to emerge from the edge of his left eye socket.

The striped goat pupil, excited like a spider, waved its appendages, clinging to the edge of the eye socket. It squeezed its body out, its pitch-black horizontal pupil staring intently at the corpse, eager to feast. However, it seemed hesitant, unwilling to leave the eye socket entirely.

It could only frantically emit mental assaults, desperately crying out in hunger.

"I knew your hunger wasn't just instinct."

Seeing that the striped goat pupil refused to leave his left eye socket, Ning Xiuyuan's heart sank.

This meant that even though the striped goat pupil was under control, it still retained a degree of consciousness.

After a period of fluctuating emotions, Ning Xiuyuan still got up and walked to the corpse, reaching out to touch it.

The striped goat pupil happily waved its tentacles and burrowed back into Ning Xiuyuan's eye socket.

But this time, it went deeper!

It wriggled madly across the surface of the host's skin, crawling all the way to Ning Xiuyuan's hand before suddenly emerging. It then extended its tentacles, piercing the corpse and beginning to process its meal.

Under the striped goat pupil's decomposition, the corpse quickly began to emit a nauseating stench.

Ning Xiuyuan frowned and had to expend his remaining spiritual energy to pull the corpse into the misplaced space.

Three breaths later, the corpse gradually became transparent and finally vanished.

In its place, two supernatural characteristics, one red and one pulsing, remained, intertwined and churning.

In addition to these, there were a few other supernatural items.

At this point, the striped goat pupil, like a drunken man who had eaten his fill, retracted its tentacles, retreated beneath the skin, and leisurely returned to the eye socket. It shifted its position, transforming back into a black, round pupil.

"It didn't devour the supernatural characteristics? Was it a deliberate deception? Or do the Old Ones simply not need them?"

Ning Xiuyuan mused, suddenly recalling the scene after he killed Orlando's loss of control, when the Disease Deceiver supernatural characteristic from him had returned to his main body like a bird returning to its nest. He began to form a vague guess.

Lost in thought, he took out a seal bottle and contained these two supernatural characteristics.

The unexpected gain of two supernatural characteristics did not bring Ning Xiuyuan much joy, as he could clearly feel the striped goat pupil growing stronger.

The maximum duration of its forced activation had shortened from eight minutes to seven.

Of course, the radius of the misplaced space had also increased by a foot.

Feeling the subtle changes in the striped goat pupil, the weight on Ning Xiuyuan's heart grew heavier.

After a long while, he finally came back to his senses and looked at the supernatural items on the couch, his mood finally easing slightly.