Wan Lei's expression soured as he glared at Qi Manyao.
Qi Manyao snorted, "Hmph, this is my thing, and I naturally have the right to take it back. I want to tear it up, sever ties with you, and go our separate ways on the broad highway."
"You know quite a few idioms, don't you? Don't even think about it. This is the only thing my precious Manyaoyao gave me. How could I let you tear it apart? You'll never get it back."
"Who's your precious? You're disgusting, give it to me!"
Qi Manyao's face flushed, and she lunged forward to snatch it. However, Wan Lei sidestepped, causing the girl to fall directly into his arms. He then casually put the dress into his storage bag and wrapped his arms around her slender waist.
Being so close to Wan Lei face-to-face made Qi Manyao's face even redder, burning hot.
The scoundrel in front of her suddenly kissed her.
"Mmmph~ Nn..."
A moment later, ManyaoYao was finally released. Her face was flushed, a mixture of annoyance and joy. She then felt a wicked hand pat her pert backside.
"Don't you dare be disobedient."
"You just bully me! Hmph!"
Qi Manyao pushed Wan Lei away and turned her head, sulking to herself.
This guy, he wants to take advantage without taking responsibility.
Pah, a scumbag.
He kissed her for the first time and even attacked her by surprise, not giving her any time to react.
Seeing this, Wan Lei scratched his head, trying to find a topic to ease the awkward atmosphere. After looking around, his gaze landed on Qian Niao.
Suddenly, Wan Lei's expression changed drastically. He immediately raised his hand and threw a punch, sending a violent bolt of lightning towards Qian Niao.
Qian Niao, seeing this, was about to dodge but suddenly found his body as heavy as a thousand pounds, unable to move.
An enemy attack?
BOOM!!
The lightning didn't strike Qian Niao but rather the stone pillar he was leaning against.
Qian Niao looked up and saw the pillar shatter.
This wasn't a stone pillar at all. It was clearly a tall statue of a demon. It was now crumbling under the impact of the lightning.
The debris hit Qian Niao, but unfortunately, his body was like a rock, completely immobile.
Wan Lei rushed over and pulled Qian Niao out of the debris.
Qian Niao remained in his seated posture.
"What's going on? Why can't I move?"
Qian Niao said, trying to move his arms and legs. His limbs could still move, but his back and waist were as stiff as a board.
"You have cervical spondylosis and lumbar disc herniation. It's nothing serious; some medicine will fix it," Wan Lei chuckled.
"Don't kid me, big brother. What's really going on?"
Qian Niao felt like crying. His back was stiff, and he couldn't even stand up.
"Huh? Qian Niao, why has your back turned to stone?"
Qi Manyao also walked over, looking at him curiously.
"What? Turned to stone? No wonder it feels so stiff! What should I do?"
Qian Niao was at a loss for words.
"How about you try taking some pills?"
Qi Manyao said, reaching for her storage bag.
"Forget it. Pills from the true dimension are poison to demons. The spiritual energy and vitality within them will react with the demonic energy in your body and explode."
Wan Lei smiled casually. He tried to pat Qian Niao's shoulder but couldn't reach. So, he patted his thigh.
"It's okay, Qian Niao. You've probably been infected by a memetic agent. That statue was the memetic agent. If you stay away from it for a long time, you'll also be infected and turn into a stone statue.
Now that the source of infection is gone, you should slowly return to your original state. Try to use your demonic energy to stimulate the petrified parts and force the infection out. It might speed things up."
"Alright, I guess that's all I can do."
Wan Lei looked at the other statues in the distance and said solemnly,
"I suspect this is a gathering place for demons. These stone statues were once genuine demons. They were standing guard here. When this plane degenerated into a chaotic plane, they were all invaded by memetic agents and turned into stone carvings.
In fact, I suspect this entire world is a giant memetic entity. Otherwise, why wouldn't the bitter sea water outside have seeped in? Because memetic agents repel each other."
"We need to be careful on our journey ahead. This is at least an extinction-level memetic agent. If we want to get out, we must find the original source of this memetic agent and destroy it to escape."
"Wan Lei, you know so much."
Qian Niao looked at Wan Lei with great admiration.
Wan Lei smiled indifferently,
"Just guessing."
"You bastard..."
"Qian Niao, let's talk about you. What happened after you left the Thunder Wind Realm? I remember you were part of the esteemed Demon Emperor Jingxian's army. How did you end up in this underground world?"
Since he couldn't move anyway, he might as well chat. Meeting an old acquaintance in a foreign land like this was a pleasant surprise.
"I took the teleportation channel that was recalled from the Thunder Wind Realm and traveled all the way to the frontline base of the direct army.
The demons around were all stunned. They had seen people sent there before, but this was the first time they saw someone return.
Usually, when invading a universe, either the entire army is wiped out, or the Heart of the Universe is successfully transformed, and then the Demon God is notified to collect it. Someone like me, who could return alone after a defeat, was unprecedented.
They immediately detained me and began interrogating me.
I told them that we had been defeated, that I hid among the corpses and played dead, waited for more than half a year, and only when the Demon Lord descended did I seize the opportunity when Wan Lei wasn't paying attention to escape through the spatial channel."
"That's unbelievable! They believed you?"
Wan Lei was very surprised.
"Of course, they didn't believe me, but they had no evidence, as all the witnesses were dead. However, my return was indeed strange. So, they locked me back up in the Abyss Nether Prison.
In prison, I absorbed the Abyss Nether Lightning and combined it with the Five Elements Divine Lightning you gave me. It took me a full half a year to break through to the Demon Lord level.
This matter was reported by the prison. After all, I was a Demon Lord, a high-level combatant, and I hadn't committed any major crimes. They decided to release me and have me return to the army.
I, of course, didn't want to. There was Abyss Nether Lightning in the prison that could help me cultivate, and everyone in there was talented and spoke nicely. I really liked it here.
So, I stayed in prison for another half a year and cultivated to the peak of the lower Demon Lord level. The prison could no longer tolerate it and kicked me out.
After being kicked out, I naturally reported back to the military. But because I never killed enemies, the Legion Commander of the direct army absolutely refused to accept me. He gave me a letter of recommendation and told me to report to the Howling Army."
Wan Lei was dumbfounded after hearing Qian Niao's experience. After a long while, he said,
"Qian Niao, is it possible that you've got the template of a protagonist from a negative dimension?"
This experience was too much like a protagonist: from humble beginnings, living in peace, his entire family captured, forced to cultivate into a strong person.
He broke through in prison with every visit, was sent to the true dimension to die but didn't, managed to escape back, and then broke through again in prison. It was as if cultivation was as easy as eating and drinking.
Could there be anyone more like a protagonist than him?