Searching

In the Cloud-Marsh World of the Nether Pool, Xu Xian searched aimlessly.

The unrest in the Nether Capital persisted, and the Nether Pool remained surrounded by heavy troops.

Through the curtain of rain, a golden giant dragon could often be seen circling the shore, leaving behind a dragon roar that echoed through the heavens before it hurried away.

The Nether Capital was under martial law, and the people in the city were allowed in but not out.

In some corners of the outer city, members of the law enforcement squad could be seen staked out everywhere, resting neither day nor night.

The demonfolk were in a state of panic, and since no news was ever leaked, they constantly speculated that the humans from outside the Demon Abyss had launched an attack...

The Great Priest had grown much more haggard, and as time passed, the demon gods gradually lost their patience.

The troops below were also full of grievances, not understanding what the Great Priest was doing all this for.

Was she crazy,

or was she ill?

Or perhaps she was simply trying to torment them.

Even the Small Priest slowly lost her patience.

Beneath the Nether Pool, in that upside-down world, the usually calm Xu Xian also became somewhat irritable, calculating the time using his own special methods.

He and Little Book had been searching this small world of a thousand miles for ten full days, but they had yet to find any sign of the Nether Tortoise.

Since that day, the Nether Tortoise had not appeared again; during this time, Xu Xian had tried calling out to it, but he never received a response.

There was not even a hint of a clue.

However, he did clarify one thing: the so-called "taking a dump" was indeed a lie from the Nether Tortoise.

Shadow Soul Stones were indeed formed from the demon qi emanating from the Ruoshui, but they were definitely not something the Nether Tortoise had defecated.

Instead, they were condensed by certain laws within this world of colorful clouds.

The demon qi permeating the sky would condense into Shadow Soul Stones under certain specific conditions, which would then fall like hail and sink into the marsh beneath their feet.

Sometimes there were more, sometimes fewer; sometimes they fell on this side of the sky, sometimes on the other.

When Xu Xian was lucky and close by, he could pick them up.

When he was unlucky, by the time he ran over, the Shadow Soul Stone had already disappeared, sinking into the water and rising to the surface at an extremely fast speed.

Of course, most of the time, Xu Xian did not encounter them or see them at all.

It was just like the weather in the outside world—rain, wind, and the unpredictable seasons.

This was enough to prove it.

The birth of the Shadow Soul Stones had absolutely nothing to do with that old tortoise; if it really had not lied, there was only one explanation: this place was not a small world at all, but the body of the Nether Tortoise.

The sky above connected to its stomach, and the entire marsh beneath their feet was its backside.

While there was such a possibility, in the eyes of Xu Xian and Little Book, it was far too ridiculous and utterly disgusting.

After all that effort, they had ended up in someone's backside and spent half a day rummaging around; it would be humiliating if word got out.

However, Xu Xian still did not understand one thing: why would the Nether Tortoise lie to him?

They clearly did not know each other and had no grievances; was it just because it was crazy?

Surely a powerhouse above the Immortal King stage who had lived for so long would not be so bored and childish.

Little Book slowly lost its patience and felt that they could not find it, telling Xu Xian that if it could be found, they would have found it long ago.

It also stated that the other party had once been an Immortal King powerhouse, and might have even broken through to become an Immortal Emperor after it fell into its long sleep, so he must have extraordinary means to evade its Pupil of Insight.

Xu Xian was displeased and asked if it had not said that the Pupil of Insight could see through everything; why was it failing now?

Little Book was also annoyed; the Pupil of Insight could indeed see through all delusions, but what was its current state, and what was Xu Xian's state?

He was merely at the sixth stage, and even if his divine sense was stronger than an ordinary seventh stage, such divine sense was not enough to allow it to see through everything.

It even said that if the user was incompetent, they should not blame the spirit for being useless.

Setting aside the facts, Xu Xian felt there was a major problem with what it said and dismissed it.

He told Little Book to persevere, for perseverance was victory; he also comforted Little Book, saying they needed to be united, for unity was strength.

Since they were already here, it would be a huge loss if they got no Shadow Soul Stones, no Spirit-Sealing Seal, and could not even find the old tortoise, leaving with nothing and not even resolving the doubts in their hearts.

Would he be able to sleep after going back?

Little Book did not deny this, but it still made a practical suggestion: they could wait until his realm improved and then come back; since it was here, it could not run away anyway.

But Xu Xian remained persistent; giving up halfway was not his style.

They searched and searched, covering the entire water surface and the entire Cloud Sea World; ten days passed, then another ten, and then another ten—a whole month.

A full month.

Little Book gave up, compromised, and went on strike.

It refused to search any longer and even took the initiative to admit its misjudgment, saying the other party might not be in this space at all and that its analysis was wrong.

It also said the tortoise was likely hiding in the Ruoshui of the Nether Pool; to keep searching, they would have to look in that lake.

But the lake was so vast, and the Ruoshui could obstruct divine sense; searching in there would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Therefore, to cut their losses, its advice was still to stop searching, pause for now, and come back later.

Its nagging actually started to sway Xu Xian, especially when a month had passed and he himself felt there was little hope left.

Deciding to go all the way, he took a "try it and see" attitude and the resolve to expose his identity, pulling a large black chain out of the Divine Sword Pool and throwing it onto the ground.

He shouted, "Senior, do you recognize this? I really can save you, so show yourself."

This was not the first time he had called out to the giant tortoise across the void, but it was the first time he had actively exposed his own hidden assets.

He had the same black chains, and they were even broken; let the tortoise figure it out.

Xu Xian thought that the first time the giant tortoise appeared to see him, it must have been out of curiosity—how could someone come down here?

And the reason the giant tortoise had not appeared again or paid him any attention for a month was simply because it also felt Xu Xian could not possibly save it, making him worthless to it.

But now it was different; since he had produced this, even if the tortoise did not believe him, it would surely want to try.

For someone in its position, if it could grasp even a single life-saving straw, would it be willing to let go?

He waited!

It was still quiet.

Xu Xian pulled out an even larger one and whipped it onto the water's surface. "Do you still not believe me?"

He continued to wait...

There was still no response.

It had to be admitted that this fellow was very patient and had quite a bit of depth.

Little Book whispered, "It seems it doesn't want to talk to you. What now?"

Xu Xian glanced at it, quietly put away the chains, and pretended to be carefree. "What else can we do? We go back."

In a person's life, who hasn't taken a few detours?

In this world, there is nothing that cannot be accomplished as long as one is willing to give up halfway.

So, Xu Xian gave up.

He was done playing.

He was leaving.

And in his heart, he secretly grumbled: Today you ignore me, but when we meet again, you will find me far beyond your reach.

Little Book also breathed a secret sigh of relief.

"Good!"

It really did not want to stay in this wretched place any longer.

However, just as Xu Xian climbed into the mecha and prepared to leave, he discovered that something seemed to have gone wrong with the marsh beneath his feet.

Originally, as long as one used demon power, one could easily tear open a passage to return to the surface of the marsh in the nether water.

Now, however, it was as hard as profound iron.

Little Book's heart tightened, its eyes filled with vigilance, and Xu Xian also frowned with a worried expression.

"Back? Do you think you can still go back?"

When that familiar voice rang out again.

Little Book panicked.

Xu Xian, however, smiled.