Moments before.

Within Qin Yu’s soul space, the Lord of the Black Skull retrieved his bone claws. There was a soul fragment in his hands. Although the scent was still enticing, the harvest was much smaller than expected.

“Hum! You cunning little thing, you dare to try and escape from this great Lord of the Black Skull? You will forever endure the burning of extinguishable black fire, never to be freed from it!”

A loud roar reverberated through the air.

Qin Yu’s soul revealed a pale face. Its eyes were dim with pain. He said, “Lord of the Black Skull, the transaction between us has been completed. You may leave now.”

“Leave?” The Lord of the Black Skull coldly sneered. “Jejeje…my contract trading partner, you seem to have forgotten that the Lord of the Black Skull never loses out on a transaction. This time, for me to cross space and time to help you, I have yet to obtain enough repayment. Then, I shall take your soul and body as my compensation!”

With an eerie smile, the Lord of the Black Skull opened its mouth and started sucking Qin Yu in.

At the same time, next to Qin Yu’s soul, another black skull appeared. Red light flickered in its empty eye sockets and it laughed at him.

Pa –

The black skull broke apart. It broke into Qin Yu’s soul, thoroughly imprisoning him.

In the next moment, without any ability to resist, Qin Yu’s soul was swallowed up.

Crunch –

Crunch –

The black skull loudly chewed and Qin Yu’s soul was torn to shreds. At the same time his body began to rot, revealing white bones. As if time was rapidly passing, his bones quickly dried up and finally turned to dust.

“Jejeje…you and I are not truly close. Everything you have will become a part of me. This will become your greatest home!”

After the first summoning, the Lord of the Black Skull had been a bit frightened by Qin Yu. Although it didn’t know the specific reason, some great problem had clearly befallen its contract partner.

While it was feeling regret, Qin Yu summoned it once again. So, from the very start, the Lord of the Black Skull had planned on swallowing him.

Although it wasn’t able to swallow that other soul, it was still incomparably satisfied that it could eat Qin Yu. The Lord of the Black Skull looked up at the sky and laughed out loud. On the surface of its black skull, bloody cracks started to appear. This was the backlash from the contract.

But now, Qin Yu had been slain. The strength of the contract’s backlash had lost its direction. As long as it used some strength, it would be able to resist it.

The Lord of the Black Skull was naturally deceitful and cruel. From the moment it formed the contract it had left behind a back door for itself.

This was an important reason why it was able to grow to such heights in a short several tens of thousands of years. Over a dozen formidable foreign life forms had been swallowed by it, becoming a part of its power!

Today, another one had been added to the Lord of the Black Skull’s hunting record.

“Mm? Something’s wrong…I have already swallowed his soul and body, so why haven’t I received a boost of strength?” The Lord of the Black Skull suddenly stopped laughing, a restless look appearing in its flickering red eyes.

In the next moment, it pitifully cried out. The blood-colored cracks on the black skull’s head split open like little baby mouths.

Then, countless screams came out. They revealed burning heat, greed, and endless hunger. It was like a monster that had been imprisoned for countless years and finally found food. It couldn’t wait to tear it to pieces and swallow it whole.

“Oh great Lord of the Black Skull, it seems that you have underestimated the contract partner you chose…for something like this to happen, I am gravely disappointed.” A cold and mocking voice rang out from underground. A phantom appeared, rapidly condensing into reality before finally turning into a brand-new Qin Yu. He looked up, his gaze landing on the black skull that was wracked with pain.

The Lord of the Black Skull screamed, “This is impossible! With your level of strength, how could you possibly have the ability of rebirth!?”

Qin Yu’s face was expressionless. “But this is the truth.” He raised a hand and the blood-colored cracks on the surface of the black skull screeched with excitement. They seemed to be waiting for Qin Yu’s will to arrive before swallowing the black skull whole.

“No! No! Please don’t do this! I am willing to pay you enough compensation in exchange for your forgiveness!”

Qin Yu smiled. “Of course. Everything in this world has a price. But my life is very, very precious, so it seems we need to have a long discussion.”

As he spoke he looked up, his eyes pausing for a moment.

An hour later, the black altar and the Lord of the Black Skull’s will retreated. Qin Yu let out a breath. With a crack, the Ring of Rebirth around his finger broke apart and turned into powder.

There was a flash of unwillingness in his eyes but he didn’t regret his actions. Although he used up this extremely precious treasure, his harvests were equally incredible.

Moreover, if it wasn’t like this, how could he break through the trap…he had already expected this to happen at Great King City.

He drew in a deep breath and steadied his mind. With a thought, brown light wrapped around him and he appeared in the room above.

Doctor Ye had a gratified expression. He sat on a chair to the side, his eyes closed in rest. At this moment his eyes cracked open, and after carefully examining Qin Yu, surprise shined on his face.

To the side, the Stronghold Master from before had vanished. She had turned into a tall and enchanting woman. Her long pink dress contrasted with her prideful manner.

But currently, Qin Yu didn’t even think about her beauty. He looked at her and said, “Stronghold Master, I have completed the mission.”

His expression was calm but his heart was shaken. Right now, in Qin Yu’s senses, this woman in front of him was like a burning great sun. Just by standing there he could feel a terrifying burning feeling.

As if with just a thought from her he would be burnt to ashes…Qin Yu was sure that this wasn’t an illusion. She really did have the strength to decide his life and death with nothing but a thought.

Where had this woman come from and for what reason did she come here?

Everything was a riddle!

“Qin Yu, you are outstanding, far stronger than I imagined. If you want, I will allow you to be my follower.” East Zhou Duly slowly said as she looked straight at Qin Yu.

Qin Yu was silent for several breaths of time, “And if I refuse…”

“That is your right; I will not force you.” East Zhou Duly stood up, as if she had been waiting here for all this time to say these words. “The vow I made before hasn’t changed. If you change your mind later you can look for me at any time. The jade card will guide you.”

As her voice fell, East Zhou Duly raised a finger and pressed down. A golden seed appeared. Then, she looked deeply at Qin Yu one more time before taking a step forward and vanishing.

Doctor Ye smiled. “You brat Qin Yu, being a follower of my miss is an incomparably precious position. You shouldn’t miss out on it.”

With a half-earnest reminder, he followed close behind her and stepped through space.

In Qin Yu’s senses, their auras had thoroughly vanished from this world. No trace of them remained.

Qin Yu’s heart relaxed as he began to realize some things. East Zhou Duly, Old Ye, as well as that City Lord Sophia who had been ruined by the Lord of the Black Skull, weren’t beings of this world. They only came here in avatars for certain reasons.

The background of these three people was likely greater than he imagined.

Qin Yu suddenly thought that Sophia hadn’t truly died. She must hate him to the bone. To be targeted by a woman with such terrifying strength and even more terrifying origins, Qin Yu suddenly felt he was in great danger.

But what was done was done. Being scared was useless, so he would continue on as he did.

Qin Yu lifted a hand and grabbed the golden seed East Zhou Duly left behind before she vanished. A warm and close feeling spread out from it, fusing into his flesh and blood. It was like a true seed, rapidly taking root and growing.

Moments later, Qin Yu looked down at a partially visible mark on his palm. Was this the Origin God mark?

He closed his eyes and looked closely within himself. After a few breaths of time, he stepped forward. Space seemed to fold in on itself. Then, as if passing through a layer of water, he appeared at the base of the mountain.

Snowside occasionally looked towards the summit as she stood guard beside Xue Zheng. Her aura suddenly erupted, but after she saw that it was Qin Yu she restrained herself.

This woman…she was indeed very, very strong…

After being restored to her human appearance, Snowside was unexpectedly beautiful. With every action and movement, she revealed a mature style.

She rolled her eyes at Qin Yu and said, “What, have you never seen a beautiful woman before?” As she spoke she brushed back her long hair. A gust of wind blew through, bringing with it a light fragrance.

Qin Yu lightly coughed, ignoring her intentional provocations. He walked forward to inspect Xue Zheng’s condition. Although his complexion was pale, his aura had steadied.

After examining him, Qin Yu took back his finger. He finally relaxed. It seemed that before Old Ye left, he had stabilized Xue Zheng’s condition.

Thinking for a moment, Qin Yu opened his hand. The Origin God mark on his palm flashed for a moment, releasing a halo of light. Xue Zheng’s body floated up and rapidly shrank. Finally, he turned into a mote of light that submerged into the Origin God mark, vanishing from sight.

Qin Yu turned and looked at Snowside. “From now on you will follow by my side until I wake him up. Is that fine with you?”

Snowside lightly coughed. “Old Ye already told me. For this period of time I will listen to your instructions.” Her eyes swept across Qin Yu, “But, don’t have any improper thoughts towards me. I will work for you but I won’t sell my body.”

Qin Yu’s lips twitched. “You are overthinking things…”

“Thank you.” Snowside suddenly said.

Qin Yu was taken aback. “What?”

Snowside’s lips twitched. “If you didn’t hear it then forget it. Now tell me, what do you plan on doing next?”

Qin Yu glanced at her belly and very sensibly didn’t ask where the growing fetus had gone. Knowing that she didn’t want to talk about the past, he thought for a moment and said, “The matter at the Little Sweet Mountains no longer has anything to do with us. We should leave now, but a personal enemy of mine is currently here. If he doesn’t die, I will never be able to calm my heart.”