At those words, the disappointment Belle had just felt vanished in an instant. So she still had a chance?
Afterward, the two tacitly avoided mentioning it again along the way.
"There seem to be more and more Ethereals here." Ju Fufu and Pan Yinhu were starting to struggle.
"All right, senior sister, senior brother. Leave the rest to me."
Xu An summoned his flying sword and directed it to clear away the Ethereals blocking their path. With his help, the group moved much faster.
Sigh, I thought I'd get to slack off a little longer~ Xu An thought, but his hands never stopped moving.
Soon, they reached a place where supplies were piled up.
"Are those... the Order's supplies?" Ju Fufu asked in confusion, looking at the heap of cardboard boxes below.
Fufu was just about to go down for a look when Xu An held her back.
A flying sword then pierced a large cardboard box. An Ethereal's roar came from inside, then abruptly cut off.
Xu An glanced at a relatively concealed spot nearby. His figure vanished from where he stood, then reappeared with a man dressed in white in his hand.
"Lord Overseer!"
"Hey! Want to live? Then cough up some information."
Xu An questioned him.
"I won't talk!" said the sinister-looking man.
"Oh, you've got some backbone." Xu An raised an eyebrow and called the others over to give him a little hospitality.
Before long, a big-headed boy with a face covered in bruises appeared in the same spot.
"Going to talk?" Xu An patted his face.
"Y-you... you gotta ask first." The man could no longer speak clearly.
O_o "Didn't I ask?" Xu An said.
Behind him, everyone who had just taken part shook their heads.
Looking embarrassed, Xu An patted the man's shoulder and asked, "Where's the mastermind?"
"O_o You mean the Lord Overseer? I don't know."
So after all that, he was just a small fry sent here to stall us.
Xu An felt helpless.
Forget it. Better leave it to the Proxy.
I'll just keep slacking off.
He then knocked the fellow unconscious with a punch and tossed him aside. "Being young sure is nice. Out like a light the moment you lie down."
"Let's go."
The group set off one after another. Before leaving, Belle even kicked the fellow and made a face at him, only then departing in satisfaction.
The Corruption inside the Hollow kept expanding. A figure gradually retreated to its edge and began calling over a walkie-talkie with near-fanatical fervor.
"Lord Overseer, please watch me!
"Lor failed to properly carry out the task you assigned before, but I've already exceeded your requirements! I'll make the scale of this ritual surpass your expectations!"
A voice came from the other end of the communicator. "The Lord Overseer said that now is the best moment to prove your resolve."
At those words, the figure froze. "I hear you! I understand... now, it's time!
"Lord Overseer Meral! Please bear witness to my tempering alongside the First Lord!"
Just as the fellow was about to throw himself into the Corruption, an orange-yellow figure arrived in time.
"What are you trying to do?!" Ju Fufu shouted, then kicked one person who was making a move to the ground.
But she failed to stop the person throwing himself into the Corruption.
Then the Corruption suddenly began dancing like flames. His figure gradually dissolved within it as he let out broken cries... "May the First Lord... temper me."
Xu An watched the fellow twisting incessantly in the Corruption. Tsk, that looks like it hurts a bit.
Meanwhile, somewhere inside the Hollow.
A group of the Order's followers watched the figure on the raised platform.
One follower stepped forward and said with some trepidation, "Lord Overseer, one of our gathering sites was destroyed by those people from Mount Yunkui.
"But! Please don't worry. The other preparations for the ritual have been completed without a hitch. The plan hasn't been disrupted.
"With you presiding over it, Lord Overseer, this ritual is sure to succeed!" As he spoke, the fellow did not forget to slip in some flattery.
"Mm... begin the preparations.
"Only through the First Lord's tempering can everyone attain inner peace," said the figure on the platform. It sounded like a woman's voice, but it was rich and resonant.
"True..." She paused here, as though recalling something, before her voice sank lower. "Peace!"
Xu An looked at the affair that had already ended, a little bewildered. This...
"I thought this guy would turn into some powerful Ethereal, then we'd fight it to a standstill, and then I'd whip out my ultimate move and slay it, and then we'd all return in triumph."
Xu An indulged in his fantasy.
"Stop, stop, stop, junior brother. Please remember this isn't a storybook. If you keep going, I'm going to suspect the Corruption has gotten into your brain," Ju Fufu interrupted mercilessly.
Belle snickered to herself at the side.
"From the looks of things, the Order's base must be somewhere else. And there's definitely more than one location. Even rabbits know to dig three burrows. These guys must be the same," Xu An surmised.
"Our top priority is still to enter the Hollow and evacuate the gathering crowds, so no one gets caught up in the Order's sacrificial ritual.
"In the worst case, we may have to find a way to wipe out every member of the Order participating in the ritual in one fell swoop," Belle said seriously.
"Mm... that's true, but Master isn't here right now. Can the few of us really manage something like that?" Ju Fufu glanced at the lackadaisical Xu An and sighed even harder.
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean, senior sister? Don't judge me by how I usually act. Can't you see I cut down Ethereals like slicing melons and chopping vegetables? I'm telling you, I'm the strongest person in Yunkui Summit below Master Yixuan!" Seeing Ju Fufu looking at him, Xu An hurried to speak, then even struck a pose, several differently colored swords hovering behind him.
(O_o Weird, why does this remind me of Little Dragon Boy?)
Each represented a different attribute.
Watching Xu An still posing there, Ju Fufu felt helpless.
She pointed at Xu An and shot Belle a look. See? This guy. Does he look reliable?
Belle looked at him, then turned back and answered with a look. He doesn't look reliable at all to me.
The two reached a consensus.
Xu An noticed their eyebrows twitching.
"What's with you two? Why do your eyes keep twitching? Got a cramp? That's a new one. It's even contagious." Xu An looked at Belle, then at Ju Fufu, unable to hold back his comment.
Pan Yinhu, who had been looking rather serious at the side, now covered his mouth, wanting to laugh but not daring to.
I can't afford to offend either senior sister or junior sister. I'd better hold it in, Pan Yinhu thought.
The group chatted like this and returned to the temple not long afterward.
"Belle! Everyone, Master's awake!" Seeing everyone return, Wise stood up from the steps at the entrance. It looked as though he had been waiting there for quite a while.
Senior Sister Fufu was delighted to hear this. "Ah! How's Master doing? Is she all right now?"
"Master said her condition has stabilized quite a bit. She wants to know what the situation outside is like now..."
"Then I'll go tell Master and check how well she's recovering while I'm at it. You guys carry on~" Xu An waved, then went to find Yixuan.
"Junior Brother Xu! Master's only just gotten better. Be sure to word things gently!" Fufu instructed worriedly.