Jiang Qingyue closed her eyes, concentrating fully on the faint pulses coming from the curse mark on her wrist.
"It went that way."
She pointed outside the factory building. "It's slowing down. Its power is fading fast... its presence seems to be leading outside the factory grounds."
At her words, Xuan Chenzi immediately performed a divination with his fingers, frowning slightly.
"Outside the factory grounds? Could it have escaped into the hills behind the factory?"
His expression grew grave.
"This is bad! Those hills connect to an old forest full of abandoned graves. The yin energy is strong there, making it easier for it to hide and recover! If it catches its breath, finding it again will be next to impossible!"
"After it!" Qi Wu decided at once, shooting out of the building like a streak of light and heading straight for the hills.
Jiang Qingyue and Xuan Chenzi wasted no time following at full speed.
The hills were thick with trees and waist-high weeds, their tangled terrain making pursuit difficult.
But that posed little difficulty for ability users with perception far beyond that of ordinary people.
The deeper they went into the forest, the stronger the yin energy grew. They even spotted broken headstones and abandoned burial mounds, while the smell of decay and earth filled the air.
"We're close! It's just ahead! Its presence is very faint, and it's stopped!"
Jiang Qingyue called out urgently.
She could sense that the Yellow Weasel had almost exhausted its power.
But it was frantically absorbing a cold, sinister energy, attempting one final struggle.
The three burst through a patch of shrubs onto a relatively open slope dotted with old graves.
The Yellow Weasel lay before the largest ancient grave, whose headstone had already tilted sideways. Its body pressed against the earth, with half of it already inside the grave.
"Oh no! It's using the grave mound to escape through the earth!"
Xuan Chenzi went pale with alarm. Once it succeeded, dragging it back out would be all but impossible!
"Squeee!"
The Yellow Weasel looked back at its three pursuers. Madness and resolve flashed in its beady eyes, and it began merging with the earth even faster!
At that critical instant!
Qi Wu's gaze sharpened, and he stopped holding back.
He raised both hands in an unusual opening stance.
An aura of nothingness that devoured everything spread outward from him!
"Domain Expansion-Unlimited Void!"
The instant Qi Wu formed the hand sign.
Hummm!
It was as though someone had pressed the mute button on the entire world.
The air froze. Even the wind stopped blowing.
An invisible, warped domain abruptly descended over the graveyard, centered on Qi Wu.
The Yellow Weasel, most of its body already merged with the grave soil and a vicious grin of escape beginning to form on its face, suddenly froze!
It was dragged into the domain!
That space became an absolute prison of "nothingness"!
Its beady eyes widened sharply.
What its pupils reflected was no longer reality, but an endless flood of meaningless information pouring madly into it.
Unlimited Void dragged its opponent into an infinite torrent of information, stripping away its ability to act until its consciousness collapsed!
Its thoughts, the circulation of its spiritual power, the earth escape technique it was activating...
Everything was forcibly thrust into endless "emptiness" in an instant, grinding to a complete halt on the verge of collapse!
It could not think or move. It could not even feel fear.
It could only passively endure the "infinity" capable of destroying any living creature's consciousness!
"What... is this!?"
Standing outside the domain, Xuan Chenzi stared at its pitch-black interior, cold sweat streaming down his face.
He had not been drawn directly into the domain.
Yet merely sensing the terrifying aura radiating from its boundary made his scalp prickle, and cold sweat instantly soaked his Taoist robes!
He clutched his horsetail whisk, barely daring to breathe.
As he stared at that eerie space, seemingly severed from the world itself, his eyes filled with incredulous horror!
What level of power was this?!
"What... what terrifying technique did this boy just use?!"
"Could that newcomer from the 749 Bureau really be a monster!?"
Xuan Chenzi cried out in disbelief.
Jiang Qingyue was equally shaken.
Though she believed in Qi Wu's strength, witnessing such a terrifying, almost law-like ability for the first time still sent a shudder through her soul.
Even the curse mark on her wrist trembled faintly, both frightened and inexplicably excited.
Then the pitch-black domain abruptly dissolved.
Qi Wu and the Yellow Weasel appeared before them.
Qi Wu himself looked perfectly calm.
The Yellow Weasel, meanwhile, really had turned into a cute blonde girl with animal ears.
Her eyes had rolled back, and foam spilled from her mouth.
Clearly, the infinite torrent of information from Unlimited Void had utterly shattered her consciousness, knocking her out cold.
The sight was bizarre, yet somehow... pitifully cute?
Jiang Qingyue's lips parted as she stared at the unconscious animal-eared girl on the ground.
"Qingyue!"
Qi Wu's voice reached her ears.
It remained calm, yet carried an unquestionable authority.
"Her consciousness has collapsed, and her soul essence is completely defenseless! Use your curse mark to capture her!"
His memories of his previous life told Qi Wu that Jiang Qingyue's Demon God Curse Mark was essentially a prison.
A prison that used the demon god's power within it specifically to confine and suppress Demons.
Once a Demon was successfully confined, its jailer would inevitably gain some of its abilities.
And later, once she fully mastered this ability.
She could even merge with the demon god within the curse mark, who governed the law of death!
This was an ability built for the late game!
It was also what would allow Jiang Qingyue to become a top-tier powerhouse in the future.
"O-okay, Mr. Wu!"
Jiang Qingyue jolted, instantly snapping out of her shock!
Qi Wu's words acted like a command, directly triggering her body's instincts.
There was no need to hesitate-
She lunged forward, rushed up to the unconscious blonde animal-eared girl, and unhesitatingly sank her entire focus into the Demon God Curse Mark on her wrist!
Hummm!
The dark red light blazed more brightly than ever before.
The curse mark became a dark red vortex, radiating chilling powers of devouring and death!
Countless intricate, fine chains of dark red runes emerged from its center, winding precisely around the unconscious animal-eared girl on the ground.
The unconscious girl shivered involuntarily and let out a faint whimper.
But her resistance was insignificant before the power of the Demon God Curse Mark.
The chains tightened, and the light flared!
In an instant, the animal-eared girl transformed into a mass of golden energy and was drawn into the vortex.
The light on her wrist slowly subsided, returning to its original dark red pattern, though its color seemed deeper and darker.
"Mr. Wu, I successfully contained her!"
Delighted, Jiang Qingyue gave a casual wave of her hand.
Hummm!
The curse mark on her wrist flashed faintly, and the ground before her seemed to come alive!
A small patch of earth flowed like water, rapidly rising and taking shape.
In the blink of an eye, it became a tiny, lopsided... figurine of a blonde animal-eared girl?!
The clay figurine even retained the unconscious girl's rolled-back eyes and foaming mouth, rendered in lifelike detail.
Except it was made of dirt, which made it look both ridiculous and eerie.
"Ah!" Jiang Qingyue gasped, clearly not expecting this either, and hurriedly waved her hand.
Pfft.
The clay figurine instantly crumbled, turning back into an ordinary pile of earth.
Looking at the soil that had returned to normal, Qi Wu couldn't help chuckling.
"Not bad. You gained that Yellow Weasel's earth escape ability."
"Your control just needs work."
Though his words were critical, his tone carried unmistakable approval.
After all, managing rudimentary shaping on her first use of a new ability already proved Jiang Qingyue's potential.
Jiang Qingyue's cheeks flushed, and she lowered her head awkwardly.
"I-I'll practice hard, Mr. Wu!"
"Good. Practice more when we get back. Start by controlling the amount of soil and refining the details of small objects."
Qi Wu nodded, then rubbed his chin and added as though something had occurred to him.
"Still... making animal-eared girl figurines out of dirt is a pretty distinctive hobby."
[Annoyance points +1 (from Jiang Qingyue's embarrassment)]
"Mr. Wu!" Even Jiang Qingyue's ears turned red as she protested softly. "It just happened subconsciously..."
"All right, I was kidding." Qi Wu stopped while he was ahead and turned to Xuan Chenzi, who had gone completely numb.
"Master, sorry for the trouble, but I'll leave the follow-up here to you."
Xuan Chenzi looked utterly bewildered.
First Qi Wu's Domain Expansion had shocked him, then Jiang Qingyue's devouring ability had stunned him.
He was so thoroughly shaken that he was questioning everything he knew.
Coming back to his senses, he looked at the two with a complicated expression and opened his mouth. In the end, all the words he wanted to say became one long sigh.
"...Ah, never mind, never mind... Take care, you two... I... I need some peace and quiet..."
He needed some time to rebuild the worldview he had held for decades.
Qi Wu smiled without saying more and beckoned to Jiang Qingyue.
"Let's go. We're heading back. I want milk tea with double full sugar."
"You did well on your first mission."
At Qi Wu's praise, Jiang Qingyue's face flushed slightly.
She shyly lowered her head, but couldn't keep a happy smile from curving her lips.
Her first mission had been a complete success.
And it seemed she really had helped.
Though the process had been full of surprises, the outcome...
Seemed pretty good?
She stole a glance at Qi Wu as he strolled leisurely beside her, her heart filled with curiosity and gratitude.
Mr. Wu... what kind of person was he, exactly?
He was so powerful, yet seemed so indifferent to everything.
His methods were so terrifying, yet he made those jokes that left her unsure whether to laugh or cry...
And he seemed... particularly familiar with her ability?
Jiang Qingyue silently resolved to grow stronger as quickly as possible. She couldn't disappoint Mr. Wu's expectations, and she also wanted... to stand more confidently by his side.
[Popularity points +100] [Popularity points +200]
For no apparent reason, Qi Wu received notifications from his panel as Jiang Qingyue kept showering him with popularity points.
Qi Wu: What was going on???
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