In the shattered arcade, the battered Bai Xiaosheng lay on the ground, his eyes vacant, unmoving.
He had exhausted his mental energy dealing with those virtual characters. If Ye Ling hadn't left him life potions everywhere, he would have been kicked to death by the Great Serpent in Game Paradise long ago!
Only he knew the suffering he had endured during this time.
"It seems this is your limit..." Ye Ling put the pixelated holy sword into his spatial ring and walked up to Bai Xiaosheng, narrowing his eyes and smiling.
"You..."
Bai Xiaosheng struggled to look up, his eyes filled with terror as he looked at Ye Ling. "There can be no such powerful being as you in the mortal realm! Immortals from the Immortal Realm cannot descend to the mortal realm at will..."
"Who exactly are you?"
Bai Xiaosheng asked with a trembling voice. He never imagined that even with such a divine artifact, he was no match for Ye Ling, and instead, Ye Ling had taken his divine artifact!
The fact that he was still alive was entirely due to Ye Ling showing mercy!
The vast difference in strength between them filled him with deep despair!
"It's a pity... Although I saw some interesting things this time, you haven't even left the新手村 (novice village) of Game Paradise. I haven't had enough fun..."
Ye Ling casually grabbed a small stool and sat down, looking at Bai Xiaosheng and sighing, "If only you were a bit more capable."
Bai Xiaosheng: "..."
He no longer knew how to respond to Ye Ling's words.
Haven't even left the novice village?
Being attacked by a Great Serpent comparable to a Red Dust Immortal and a bunch of virtual characters with cultivation of the seventh or eighth grade right from the start, there probably weren't many people in the entire world who could break out with just a novice short sword!
This was probably a horror game, right?
However, although Bai Xiaosheng grumbled in his heart, he also knew that his life was in Ye Ling's hands. If he obediently played the subservient role now, he might still have a chance to survive.
Seeing Bai Xiaosheng's silence, Ye Ling couldn't help but yawn. "Boring, boring... It's late at night, and I'm not accompanying two beautiful women at the inn, but instead, I came to find you, an old man. I'm truly asking for trouble."
"Fine, I'll just soul-search."
With that, Ye Ling's palm emanated demonic energy and surged directly towards Bai Xiaosheng, invading his soul.
"Wait, wait!"
Bai Xiaosheng seemed to realize what Ye Ling was about to do, and his face immediately showed terror. He quickly shouted, trying to stop Ye Ling.
Unfortunately, it was too late for Bai Xiaosheng to react. He was instantly engulfed by the demonic energy.
Piercing screams echoed in the empty arcade.
The oil town under the moonlight appeared so peaceful.
No one could imagine what was happening in Game Paradise within this town!
"This is?"
The moment he extracted Bai Xiaosheng's memories, Ye Ling's entire body trembled, and his pupils contracted sharply!
He discovered that the eighth-grade sword immortal who had abducted Ye You from Tian Yin Pavilion back then was this Bai Xiaosheng!
"Truly, I found what I sought without searching... I didn't expect to meet you here!"
Ye Ling's eyes shone with brilliance as he frantically searched Bai Xiaosheng's memories. He found that not long after abducting Ye You, Bai Xiaosheng had sent her to Ye Feng.
As for where exactly Ye You was taken by Ye Feng... Bai Xiaosheng didn't know.
This Hong Chen Pavilion...
"Ye Feng, Su Xue'er, Xiao You... What is their relationship?"
Ye Ling suppressed his turbulent emotions and forced himself to calm down, muttering to himself, "This Bai Xiaosheng is just an eye planted by Ye Feng in China. Although he holds the status of a half-step Red Dust Immortal and has the background of Hong Chen Pavilion, he is not a high-ranking member of Hong Chen Pavilion, more like a guest elder..."
"However, Bai Xiaosheng contacts Ye Feng once every mid-month, informing him of his observations and receiving missions from Ye Feng..."
"This Bai Xiaosheng is the only one among all the Hong Chen Pavilion异士 (specialists) I've encountered so far who can directly contact Ye Feng. Moreover, the pixelated sword he uses also contains the power of the Heavenly Dao, all of which demonstrate his extraordinary nature."
"He might be able to help me find Xiao You. Killing him rashly... would be a waste."
"Besides Xiao You, how much else does he know about Fulong Town?"
Ye Ling murmured softly, temporarily setting aside the matter of Ye You from years ago, and continued to search Bai Xiaosheng's memories for information about Fulong Town.
After all, discovering that Bai Xiaosheng was the one who abducted Xiao You from Tian Yin Pavilion was an accident. His purpose in finding Bai Xiaosheng this time was also to investigate Ye Feng's true motive for wanting to eliminate the Kasi clan and Ji Xue.
"From this guy's memories, it seems that more than seventy years ago, Ye Feng did something near Fulong Mountain. He was afraid that the Kasi clan and Ji Xue would see him, so he made arrangements to eliminate them..."
"Unfortunately, this guy doesn't know what exactly Ye Feng did near Fulong Mountain..."
Ye Ling withdrew his demonic energy, looked at the unconscious Bai Xiaosheng, his eyes slightly narrowed, and his thoughts became active.
Keeping Bai Xiaosheng alive was more useful than killing him.
However, given Ye Feng's vigilance, if Bai Xiaosheng showed the slightest abnormality before contacting him, Ye Feng probably wouldn't show himself.
"Fortunately, Bai Xiaosheng hasn't reported the events in Fulong Town to Ye Feng yet. Ye Feng probably doesn't know that I've already rescued Ji Xue. I should be able to get some useful information from Ji Xue next."
Ye Ling muttered to himself. After hesitating for a moment, he took out the pixelated holy sword again.
Although he quite liked this collectible, Bai Xiaosheng had possessed this sword for quite some time. Even if he altered Bai Xiaosheng's memory to make him forget the pixelated holy sword, Ye Feng would still know that Bai Xiaosheng had it.
If Bai Xiaosheng lost the pixelated holy sword, Ye Feng would not be able to be kept in the dark.
"Fine, I'll return this thing to you for now..."
Ye Ling activated the pixelated holy sword, restoring the black-clothed men who had been assimilated into pixels. Then, he used his divine abilities to restore the entire arcade to its original state, erased the traces of Bai Xiaosheng and others from this period, and then disappeared from the spot.
The vast arcade became quiet again.
Bai Xiaosheng, sitting in front of the game console, sneezed and suddenly woke up, just in time to see his game character being defeated by the computer.
"Am I too tired? I can even fall asleep while playing games?"
Bai Xiaosheng shook his head, glanced at the black-clothed men still standing straight behind him, and a hint of confusion flashed in his eyes.
He felt a sense of emptiness in his heart, as if something was missing, but he couldn't pinpoint what was wrong.
"It must be because I'm too tired... Wu Shuyi actually swallowed the dragon gall after killing the black dragon. What a waste of good resources, he deserves to die!"
"I should have handled it myself..."
Bai Xiaosheng muttered to himself in the arcade, while Ye Ling, at this moment, had already returned to the inn where Feng Ke and Ji Xue were housed.