When Lin Gui reached the southern part of Black Reef City, it was already deserted.
The doors of the houses lining the streets stood open, some of them swaying gently in the wind.
Debris was scattered across the ground.
A discarded coat, an overturned basket, several scraps of paper trodden into the mud.
Quiet. A deathly silence.
It gave Lin Gui the sensation of being back at the Wall of Sighs, back in those seventeen city-states that had been swallowed by the mist.
He looked around.
There was no one.
No one was paying any attention to this place.
He raised his hand.
In the void, a flying vessel slowly emerged.
Lin Gui mounted his staff, and Levitation lifted his body, setting him down on the front of the vessel.
He prepared to fly through the rioting demons toward Shield City.
Just then, the voice in his mind rang out again.
"Where do you plan on going?"
Shadow Blade Lynn's voice was as cold as ever, though it lacked some of its previous sharpness.
"Shield City," Lin Gui replied.
"What kind of place is that?"
Shadow Blade Lynn asked.
She had died ten years ago.
Shield City had been established around that same time.
Therefore, she was unfamiliar with this city-state.
Lin Gui pulled a map from his robes and spread it out.
"It's here."
He pointed to a spot on the northern edge of the Blackwater Corridor, near the Silent Sea.
Shadow Blade Lynn's soul body emerged from the soul bead.
Then, Lin Gui saw what she looked like.
Due to the dissipation of her soul force.
She could no longer maintain the state she had possessed back at the Wall of Sighs.
That powerful state where she could physically interfere with the world and even take down a pair of Transcendent slave hunters in an instant was gone.
As for her current form...
Lin Gui looked over with his Eyes of the Netherworld.
The tall, slender, stunningly beautiful, and proud Dark Elf had vanished.
In her place was a tiny thing.
Like a chibi-fied little elf.
She was only the size of a palm, though her features still belonged to that exquisite face.
However, her overall proportions had become... much rounder.
Sensing Lin Gui's gaze, Shadow Blade Lynn looked at him coldly.
"What are you looking at?"
Lin Gui chuckled.
"I'm looking at the Great Lady Shadow Blade Lynn."
He paused for a moment.
"Hmm... you're quite cute."
Shadow Blade Lynn's face instantly darkened.
Those shrunken but still sharp eyes were filled with killing intent as she glared at Lin Gui.
"Are you mocking me?!"
Lin Gui replied with a faint smile:
"Not at all, those are my sincere thoughts."
He reached out, holding Shadow Blade Lynn's soul bead near the map.
Shadow Blade Lynn suppressed her anger and glanced at the map.
Then, she asked:
"Where is the location of the Dark Tide's eruption?"
Lin Gui took out a pen.
On the obvious, long narrow line of the borderlands map, he drew a circle.
"Here."
Shadow Blade Lynn's eyes locked onto that position.
The Withered Rift.
She then looked at the city-states she had heard the humans in Black Reef City mention—the ones that had already been destroyed.
In her mind.
A circle was forming, with the Withered Rift as the core.
The distance from that core to Black Reef City served as the radius.
And Shield City, which Lin Gui had mentioned on the northern side of the Silent Sea.
It was located right within the radiation zone of this circle.
Shadow Blade Lynn said coldly:
"Why go there?"
Lin Gui replied:
"I have a reply letter I need to deliver..."
He paused, his eyes dimming slightly.
However, it might be impossible to deliver it now.
The Dark Tide had erupted so close by.
New Covenant City, Caran City, the Carter Royal Capital.
They might have all been reduced to ruins by now.
But even so, Lin Gui still had to return to Shield City once.
Because...
The flying vessel's magic gathering crystal was about to run dry.
And for something so precious it was considered a strategic resource.
In the Blackwater Corridor, only Shield City was capable of refilling it.
Shadow Blade Lynn arched an eyebrow.
"Is it a must?"
Lin Gui nodded.
"Yes, it's a must."
Shadow Blade Lynn stared at him.
"You're seeking your own death!"
Her voice rose.
"Even if your flying vessel can reach speeds comparable to my peak, there are plenty of demons who can catch up to you!"
She paused.
"Furthermore, to survive in the wilderness, the most important thing is not speed, but concealment!"
"Going like this is just offering yourself up as demon food!"
Lin Gui looked at her.
Did she know about the existence of the Shroud of the Gloomy Night?
No.
At the Wall of Sighs, the Shroud of the Gloomy Night was useless against spectral demons, so Lin Gui had never used it.
And after leaving the Wall of Sighs, while delivering letters in the small city-states.
He hadn't used the Shroud of the Gloomy Night either.
Instead, he had relied solely on the vessel's speed to force his way across the wilderness.
The reason was simple.
He could no longer recklessly spend mana as he used to.
His Holy Saintess power bank had left him not long ago.
At the same time, the white-haired elf who was supposed to protect him while he rested and recovered mana.
She had also stayed behind in Avalon.
He had no choice but to restart this mana-saving method of solo crossing.
Facing Shadow Blade Lynn's certainty, Lin Gui merely smiled.
"I know all of this."
Shadow Blade Lynn fell silent.
After a moment, she spoke up:
"If you're still determined to go seek your death, I will not be going with you."
Lin Gui looked at her.
"Does Lady Shadow Blade Lynn intend to stay here?"
Shadow Blade Lynn nodded.
"Fine then."
Having said that, he reached out for the soul bead.
The soul bead drifted slightly, dodging him.
Even though her strength had waned, Shadow Blade Lynn could still control the flight of the soul bead.
Lin Gui wasn't surprised.
Even an ordinary spirit in Blackwater City could do that; there was no reason Shadow Blade Lynn couldn't.
Seeing her dodge his grasp, Lin Gui did not persist.
He sat on the flying vessel and used Levitation to steer it upward.
Then, he spoke to the soul bead hovering in mid-air:
"Well then, goodbye, Lady Shadow Blade Lynn."
He paused.
"I'm going to seek my death."
The flying vessel rose slowly.
Just as he was about to drive the vessel away.
"Wait!"
Shadow Blade Lynn's voice suddenly rang in his mind.
Lin Gui stopped.
He turned his head to look at the soul bead hovering in the air.
Silence.
Shadow Blade Lynn's soul body drifted out of the soul bead.
That tiny face was filled with internal conflict.
She bit her lip and knit her brows, looking as if she had something to say but couldn't bring herself to speak.
Lin Gui watched her.
His expression was indifferent.
After waiting for a moment, he spoke:
"Lady Shadow Blade Lynn, if you have something to say, feel free to be direct."
Shadow Blade Lynn took a deep breath.
Then, she looked up at him.
"Help me."
Her voice was very soft.
"Use the wealth I left behind in life... help me with my resurrection."
Lin Gui looked at her.
Seeing that expression of one putting everything on the line.
Lin Gui knew he had achieved his goal.
He now held the initiative for her resurrection plan.
He nodded.
"Alright."
"But, it must be on my terms."
"If there is news about something you need, I will attempt to get it."
"As long as it's within my capabilities."
Shadow Blade Lynn stared intensely at his face.
In those tiny eyes, complex emotions flickered.
A long time passed.
She spoke:
"Agreed."
Then, the soul bead flew.
With a whoosh, it dove into Lin Gui's mage robes.
Lin Gui smiled.
He activated the flying vessel.
It flew toward the southwest.
Rate on N.U.
