📖 Chapter 940 - Many Thanks, Senior!
Wang Baole’s words were firm and decisive, with a sense of heroism to them, as if he would rather die standing than live kneeling. He would fulfill the paper human cutout’s request, not because of any threats, but because he himself wanted to.
Indeed, here was a person who knew to repay kindness, someone who courageously marched forward with a sincere heart.
The more he talked, the more Wang Baole felt that he really was such a person. He straightened his back as he spoke earnestly to the paper human cutout in front of him.
“Senior, please don’t resort to threats. Otherwise, won’t this junior’s intention of repaying your kindness turn into me giving in under fear of death?”
“Senior, please retract your words!” Wang Baole’s face revealed displeasure. When he spoke to this point, he flicked his sleeves, and a very natural expression of sullenness appeared on his face.
This scene caused the paper human cutout to freeze for a moment.
Although it had been observing Wang Baole for a while already and had some understanding of his true nature, these words still gave it a shock. A look of respect even appeared on its face for a moment, but it quickly realized that Wang Baole’s words just now seemed somewhat inconsistent with its own understanding of him.
But, after all, it hadn’t been with Wang Baole for a long time, so it couldn’t confidently make a judgment on this matter. After a moment of silence, it put away its thoughts and nodded toward Wang Baole.
“It was this Seat’s mistake. I’ll give you an explanation in the future. In any case… Many thanks for your help, Fellow Daoist!”
Hearing these words, Wang Baole’s expression softened a little. Looking at the paper human cutout, he shook his head and sighed softly.
“Ah, forget it, this junior can tell that Senior is someone concerned about the common people. I can already guess that Senior’s request is most likely related to the safety of the Starfall Empire. Senior can tell me what I need to do whenever you deem appropriate. Although my cultivation base is lacking, this junior still has a lot of hot blood to spill!”
“But it isn’t the time to talk about this. This junior also needs Senior’s help right now… How do I find an Illusion Crystal?” Wang Baole’s expression was solemn as he spoke seriously.
In his heart, he was very satisfied with his performance earlier. After all, the high officials’ autobiographies said that mutual respect was necessary for a satisfying deal between two parties!
For example, Wang Baole felt that if he had cooperated due to the threat of death just now, then he would be in a passive position. He wouldn’t be able to take the initiative to gain additional benefits. However, it was different now.
In fact, this was true. If Wang Baole didn’t agree to help, the paper human cutout could always use some heavy-handed methods to force him. But now that Wang Baole appeared extremely sincere and his desire to help seemed to come from the heart, the paper human cutout couldn’t just use force on him.
After all, wasn’t heartfelt cooperation precisely what it wanted? If it still used force, that would just be unreasonable.
However, the situation had suddenly changed from Wang Baole complying with the paper human cutout’s request to both of them helping each other, making the paper human cutout feel a little dazed in its heart.
“How did it turn out like this?” The paper human cutout frowned slightly. Before, it had known that Wang Baole had a lot of secrets, but in truth, it only cared about his mysterious background, not about Wang Baole himself.
But now… it was different. The paper human cutout finally realized that this Outer Domain cultivator in front of it not only had a profound background, but also extraordinary intelligence. In the future, this person would probably make a name for himself out in the starry sky.
With those thoughts in mind, the paper human cutout cast a deep look at Wang Baole. After pondering for a while, it finally decided to change its original plans. In fact, it had only planned to reveal a few clues that would just about let Wang Baole find an Illusion Crystal by the end of the trial. For the paper human cutout, doing so wouldn’t be troublesome at all.
But now, it felt that it should be more direct. After all… it didn’t want to let down Wang Baole’s sincerity. Thus, after glancing at Wang Baole again, the paper human cutout opened its mouth and spoke slowly.
“Little friend, this Seat has my own reasons that I can’t explain to you, but just know that it’s inconvenient for me to show up for too long. Thus, I won’t appear in front of you for the most part. However, I can use my own senses to find an Illusion Crystal and guide you to its location. You’ll have to go and get it yourself, though.”
A keen light appeared in Wang Baole’s eyes, and he immediately nodded.
After reaching an understanding with Wang Baole, the paper human cutout closed its eyes. Fluctuating distortions appeared outside its body, as if it was using some method that Wang Baole couldn’t comprehend to cast its sense over the entire Illusion Planet. It didn’t stay like this for too long; just over ten breaths of time later, the paper human cutout opened its eyes. With a wave of its right hand, a ball of light appeared, which it sent in front of Wang Baole.
“Take this. It will guide you to an Illusion Crystal!”
“Many thanks, Senior!” Wang Baole showed an excited expression. He quickly judged that it was unlikely for the paper human cutout to suddenly harm him at this moment, so he decisively sent his divine sense into the ball of light in front of him. With a boom, a guiding force suddenly condensed within his mind.
He could clearly sense resonating fluctuations coming from not too far away. After clasping his fists toward the paper human cutout, he didn’t waste any time and charged in the direction of the resonance at full speed.
After two hours, Wang Baole arrived at the spot where the resonance was coming from. It was a bare basin with nothing but a few dozen illusory phantoms roaming around.
These phantoms were all unfamiliar, so Wang Baole knew that they were people the other Chosen had killed, not him. After sweeping his divine sense around and confirming that there were no living beings other than himself in the vicinity, he stopped hesitating and flew straight into the basin.
His movements immediately attracted the attention of those illusory phantoms. One by one, they raised their heads and looked at Wang Baole, letting out roars as they charged toward him.
Unfortunately, most of the phantoms were at the Nascent Soul Realm, and the strongest was a mere Soul Conduit Realm cultivator. To the current Wang Baole, they were even weaker than mosquitoes, and he didn’t have to care about them at all. Just the storm of wind set off from his flight was enough to rip these phantoms apart instantly, allowing Wang Baole to swiftly enter the depths of the basin unhindered.
A moment later, he rushed out with an excited expression. There was a white crystal the size of a fist in his hand.
This crystal was pure and clear, and it seemed to have some sort of peculiar power to it. If a person looked at it for a long time, they would start seeing hallucinations.
It was… an Illusion Crystal!
“Little friend, hold on to that object and find a place to hide. Once the trial ends, you can use that crystal to enter the next trial and compete for a Planet Guiding Drumstick!” The paper human cutout’s figure appeared beside Wang Baole.
“Many thanks, Senior, for your help!” When Wang Baole heard those words, he immediately clasped his fists. This trial should originally have been extremely difficult, but now he had obtained an Illusion Crystal so easily. His heart couldn’t help but pound with the joy of being the chosen one. Wang Baole blinked, and he suddenly spoke with burning eyes.
“Senior, I wonder if you can help me find all the other Illusion Crystals?”
“Find all of them?” The paper human cutout was a little surprised.
“It’s not impossible, but there’s no point. The number of people who pass this trial must be 30, so each person can only have one Illusion Crystal. Even if you took them all, it would only be a matter of hours before 29 of them automatically disappear and re-appear in their original locations.”
“Is that so…” Wang Baole felt a little regretful when he heard this. If he could have a monopoly over the Illusion Crystals, he’d be like a king in this trial. If he met someone he liked, he would sell one to them for cheap. If he met someone he didn’t like… In any case, 30 Illusion Crystals would have been enough for him to make a fortune.
“I can still sell their locations… but then I won’t be able to raise the price.” Wang Baole sighed as he thought about how hard it was to make money. He was about to just give up on the idea altogether when he suddenly had a thought. Looking back at the paper human cutout, he opened his mouth to speak again.
“Senior, I wonder if you have a method to leave some sort of seal on the Illusion Crystals? One that makes it so that a person can’t enter the next trial unless they unlock the seal?”