"What exactly is a Ming Sha?" Qing Mian was confused. He had always thought that Xiong Sha was the peak of the Sha category, but now someone told him that Xiong Sha was not the strongest.
Fang Ming did not fully understand the realm of Ming Sha either, and shook his head, "I am not very clear either, but based on my guess, Longevity should be Ming Sha."
Qing Mian gasped and looked at Nannan in disbelief. Was this little girl in front of him this terrifying?
But he was even more shocked by Fang Ming. How did this human, infected by resentment, who was frankly a half-human, half-sha hybrid, manage to make a Ming Sha devoted to him?
Of course, this was because Qing Mian did not know the bond between Fang Ming and Nannan, nor did he know about Fang Ming's experiences in Bai Mu Village.
"Let's go, this place is no longer of any use," Fang Ming called out. Nannan followed and hugged his arm. She hadn't seen Fang Ming for a long time and was very clingy now.
"Let's go," Zheng Zhu Liui patted Qing Mian on the shoulder and was the first to follow Fang Ming.
Qing Mian also recovered and quickly followed the three of them, stepping forward to lead the way.
Ten minutes later, led by Qing Mian, the four arrived in front of a wall.
"The entrance to the tunnel is here, but we need to find the mechanism to open the door," Qing Mian spread his hands. He was incapable of such matters.
"Let me take a look," Zheng Zhu Liui stepped forward and took out a thumb-sized iron hammer from his pocket.
"Ding, ding, ding..."
Zheng Zhu Liui tapped here and there on the wall, his ear pressed against it to listen for subtle differences in sound.
"Ding." This sound was different.
Zheng Zhu Liui began to narrow the tapping range around the point of impact, sensing the direction of the mechanism. After a few minutes, Zheng Zhu Liui followed the sound and his gaze fell on a protruding stone on the ground.
"Smash this stone," Zheng Zhu Liui said.
Fang Ming walked up to him and stepped on the stone, crushing it. The physical strength of his human body was not to be underestimated now.
"Rumble..." The wall began to shake.
The group quickly pulled away from the wall.
In less than a moment, the wall in front of them collapsed, revealing a huge opening.
"Sixth Master, you're amazing!" Fang Ming gave Zheng Zhu Liui a thumbs up. He was truly a professional.
If it were him, he would probably have resorted to brute force demolition.
"Haha, it's alright. This kind of mechanism is not difficult," Zheng Zhu Liui said modestly. In fact, breaking such a mechanism was very difficult and required very keen hearing. With this skill alone, Zheng Zhu Liui could earn a lot of money in some casinos.
"Go."
The four entered the opening. The lights around them lit up one after another, and the entire tunnel was instantly illuminated.
"My goodness, this tunnel..." Fang Ming was speechless. Even a fool would know that someone had entered the tunnel. Weren't the guards already prepared to deal with them?
"Everyone be careful."
Fang Ming transformed into his Sha form and cleared the path ahead. Qing Mian hid in the mirror to scout, while Zheng Zhu Liui cautiously followed behind Fang Ming.
The four advanced quickly. After a few minutes, the entrance they had come through had disappeared behind them, and they had reached the first area where danger might lurk.
Password 563743675
Qing Mian appeared beside Fang Ming from the mirror.
"There's a situation," Qing Mian said.
"What's ahead?" Fang Ming asked.
"There is a square room ahead, containing a hundred soldier puppets. It's unclear if they are alive."
"Soldier puppets..." Fang Ming thought for a moment. The strongest of these soldier puppets were only at the Xiong Sha level. Even the personal guards of a Blood Kin King could not reach Ming Sha. Nannan should be able to handle them.
"Let's kill our way through directly," Fang Ming decided. "Nannan, you'll go first. While those soldier puppets are not yet awake, try to reduce their numbers as much as possible."
"Okay, I know," Nannan nodded obediently.
"Qing Mian, lead the way."
Qing Mian led the way, and the four soon saw the entrance to a square room. Through the entrance, they could see it was filled with soldier puppets, their appearance no different from those on the second level.
"Nannan, attack!"
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"Okay, Fang Ming," Nannan said, and her figure flashed away. Immediately, the sound of cracking and popping was heard from the room, accompanied by the screams of soldier puppets.
In less than a minute, Nannan returned to Fang Ming's side and hugged his arm.
"All dealt with," Nannan said with a smile, a look of seeking praise on her face.
"Nannan, you're amazing!" Fang Ming praised her sincerely.
"Heh heh," Nannan was very happy.
"All gone?" Qing Mian couldn't believe it. He stretched his neck to look into the room. There were no more soldier puppets, only piles of broken soil and residue.
Zheng Zhu Liui was numb. He didn't understand how powerful Nannan was, only that she was very powerful. Nothing Nannan did surprised him.
The four walked into the square room. All one hundred soldier puppets had been shattered. Fang Ming sensed the strength of these shattered puppet fragments. There were at least three Xiong Sha!
If Nannan hadn't awakened at this critical moment, with just him, Qing Mian, and Zheng Zhu Liui, they would have been certain to die upon entering!
But there was no help for it, who told Nannan to awaken?
Fang Ming couldn't help but smile, but it looked rather annoying.
The four passed through the square room without any danger and entered the next tunnel.
After a few minutes, they encountered another square room, which also contained a hundred soldier puppets. Nannan dealt with them with the same speed, and the four passed through another square room.
"Are there a hundred soldier puppets on each level?" Fang Ming guessed. If that was the case, wouldn't they have to fight through nine more rooms to reach the eighteenth level?
Qing Mian recalled the design drawings and denied Fang Ming's guess.
"According to the design drawings, there are no more soldier puppets behind. It seems to be something else."
"Something else?" Fang Ming frowned. The abilities of Sha were strange and varied. He couldn't be complacent just because Nannan was protecting him. No one could guarantee that there wouldn't be something like a strengthened version of Xiong Sha, similar to Qing Mian.
Or there might be someone who could bypass Nannan's senses and directly attack those with weaker abilities, like Sixth Master, who was now not much stronger than an ordinary person and would surely die if ambushed by a Sha.
"Then be careful, Nannan, turn on your senses to the surroundings as well. Be careful we don't walk into any traps," Fang Ming warned.
"Okay, Fang Ming."
Nannan extended her hair into the void around them, disappearing from sight. As long as there was any fluctuation around them, she would sense it immediately, even Qing Mian's strange ability wouldn't work.
"Go."
But after only a few steps, Nannan suddenly said, "Careful, something is approaching."
Then, several strands of hair shot out in one direction. A few spurts of blood appeared, accompanied by a scream. An invisible Yuan Sha was forcefully pulled out by Nannan, and it was already dead.
"There are still more?" Nannan was unhappy. All her hair moved, and blood splattered all around. Invisible monsters were dispelled and killed by Nannan.
A group of invisible half-Shas had silently crept up on Fang Ming and the others, yet they had no awareness of it!
Fang Ming and the others gasped. This tunnel was truly not for ordinary people to enter. Without the strength of several Xiong Sha level beings, they would be stuck here!
A few minutes later, Nannan had cleared out all the invisible monsters. Qing Mian squatted down to examine them.
"These are the professor's experimental subjects. They are similar to my abilities, but not as perfect as mine. They should be my previous failures."
There was one thing Qing Mian didn't say: the actual strength of each of these half-Shas was greater than his. This was a rather demoralizing fact. It seemed the professor had continued to cultivate these failures.
"Terrifying," Zheng Zhu Liui exclaimed, it was unclear if he was referring to the professor or Nannan.
"Let's continue."
On the rest of the journey, led by the "cheat" Nannan, the four cut through all obstacles and soon arrived at the end of the tunnel. Along the way, they had killed an unknown number of innocent Xiong Sha. They hadn't even seen their enemies before they were eliminated.
"If we push open this door, we should be able to see the Blood Kin King," Qing Mian reminded them.
Fang Ming took a deep breath. Was he finally going to face the final truth? Could the eighteenth level allow him to enter the White Mist World?
"Rumble..." Fang Ming pushed open the stone door. The light that greeted them made the few of them involuntarily squint their eyes. Then, they stared in shock at the eighteenth level.
The entire eighteenth level was an abyss with no bottom. Iron chains stretched out from the stone walls, securing a stone platform in the center.
On each iron chain, at intervals, were embedded fist-sized luminous pearls. Looking up, a massive luminous pearl nearly ten meters in diameter was suspended from the dome. The light from the large and small luminous pearls connected, illuminating the entire upper space of the eighteenth level.
On the stone platform was placed a jade coffin. At the four corners of the platform stood four three-meter-tall stone pillars. At the top of each pillar was a watermelon-sized jade ball that absorbed the light emitted by the luminous pearls and then converged it into the jade coffin.
This was why Fang Ming and the others' eyes were stung by the light as soon as they emerged from the tunnel.
The place was as bright as day!
"Sixth Master, do you... do you know what's going on?" Fang Ming's tongue was a little tied. He had not yet recovered from the shock.
"..." Zheng Zhu Liui was unusually silent for a long time before slowly saying, "Fang Ming, why don't we just run away quickly?"
"What's wrong?" Fang Ming didn't understand.
"Do you remember the two levels on the eighteenth floor where I was split in two?" Zheng Zhu Liui asked a question.
Fang Ming certainly remembered. Zheng Zhu Liui's dark side had grown exponentially, instantly transforming from an ordinary person into a being comparable to Xiong Sha. This had left an incredibly deep impression on Fang Ming.
"I remember. What's the connection?" Fang Ming nodded and replied.
Zheng Zhu Liui pointed at the iron chains and explained, "The arrangement of these luminous pearls, if I'm not mistaken, forms the formation that caused my dark side to become stronger. This means that if this Blood Kin King is still alive, his strength may have been amplified to a terrifying level!"
Blood Kin King...
Fang Ming recalled the illusion he saw on the ancient battlefield. The Blood Kin King's strength there was at least at the peak Xiong Sha level. If he were indeed strengthened like the dark Zheng Zhu Liui, Fang Ming couldn't even bear to think about it.
"How do you know about this formation?" Fang Ming frowned. He really didn't want to give up. They had reached the end, were they going to give up because of an unknown Blood Kin King?
How could he be reconciled?
"There is a formation at the end of the corridor on the tenth floor of the eighteenth level, and its layout is exactly the same as here," Zheng Zhu Liui explained.
Fang Ming suddenly recalled that formation. At that time, he had learned about it by looking at the diary, but he hadn't paid much attention to it. He hadn't expected it to be the key to the changes on the tenth floor.
Fang Ming took a deep breath, still reluctant to give up.
"No, I still want to see. At worst, we won't disturb him."