After arranging the three hundred people in the underground experimental base, Mu Qingtong led the two back to the surface.
At this time, the surface was no longer a sea of flowers, but a towering forest.
"This forest was once the experimental site for He Jianzhu's clone experiments,"
Mu Qingtong pointed towards the distance, "And beneath the tallest tree to the northwest, there should be buried the spiritual materials we need."
"Clone experiments?" Xia Feng wondered in shock, "What is this?"
Mu Qingtong paused for a moment and explained softly, "I don't know the specifics, but I do know that He Jianzhu has many clones of herself. She would release hundreds of these clones into this forest and hide various spiritual materials for the clones to fight over and kill each other, allowing them to quickly advance from apprentices to Second Order, Third Rank, or even Fourth Rank."
"Eventually, whoever is the first to reach Fifth Rank will have the chance to acquire an identity number and become one of the He Jianzhus."
Mu Qingtong narrated calmly, but Xia Feng and Cha Naixue listened with their hearts pounding, this He Jianzhu... sounded so terrifying.
So she can mass-produce Fifth Rank? Xia Feng couldn't help but recall the time he met his mother-in-law at the Yuanhe Orphanage, no wonder Mu Qingtong had asked the other party which He Jianzhu she was.
"So how many identity numbers does He Jianzhu have in total now?" Xia Feng asked curiously.
Mu Qingtong shook her head, "I've only ever seen one 'He Jianzhu' walk out of this forest, as for the number of the identity, I'm not sure."
Is that so... Xia Feng thoughtfully considered that mass-producing Fifth Rank was probably not achievable, but it was close enough.
In the meanwhile, the three of them reached the giant tree.
"When He Jianzhu left, she probably took all the spiritual materials with her, but there's a section of white jade wood at the base of this tree that couldn't be taken away. After ten years, it should have developed into white jade luminescent wood."
"The white jade luminescent wood is very fragile, it will shatter upon contact with a Spiritual Particle or any hard object, so to dig it out, you can only use your hands."
Hearing Mu Qingtong's explanation, Xia Feng nodded and turned to look at the Holy Daughter.
"Why are you looking at me?" Cha Naixue frowned.
Xia Feng smiled slightly, "Sister Nai Xue, as my female slave, you need to be aware of your duties."
Then he pointed at the base of the tree, "Hurry up and start digging."
Cha Naixue's eyelids twitched as she pursed her lips and turned to look at the woman in the black dress, speaking faintly, "Miss Mu, this is your spiritual material, do you think it's appropriate for me to dig it up?"
Mu Qingtong looked puzzledly at Xia Feng, a female slave? Wasn't Cha Naixue Mr. Xia's childhood sweetheart? How had she become a female slave?
However, since it meant Cha Naixue would help, Mu Qingtong naturally didn't want to dirty her own hands. Her eyes curved, and she spoke in a gentle voice:
"Indeed, it isn't quite appropriate, but if the Holy Daughter is willing to help, then I'll have to trouble you."
"?" Are you speaking human language? When did I say I was willing to help! Cha Naixue's face was expressionless and just as she was about to speak, when her gaze met that of the dog couple's unblinking eyes.
She immediately stopped herself, a gentle and mild smile forming on her lips, "Indeed, Miss Mu has been pampered all her life and probably dislikes getting dirty, which is fair. Let me do it then."
Saying so, without a word wasted, she walked to the tree, took off her thin silk gloves, and crouched down rather inelegantly to start digging by hand.
Xia Feng raised an eyebrow, surprised at how straightforward Cha Naixue was, which made him feel a pang of guilty discomfort as he began to wonder if it was wrong to bully her .
Thinking about this, Xia Feng smacked his forehead. He almost forgot; retreating to advance was Nai Xue's favorite strategy as a child.
"So, how did she become your female slave?"
Xia Feng turned his head upon hearing the question, only to see the lady in the black dress looking at him with a smile.
"Ahem, haven't I saved Cha Naixue's life several times before?" Xia Feng spread his hands, "She was very grateful to me and said that she could never repay the life-saving grace, other than spending her life in servitude. So…. I reluctantly signed a Guardian Slave Contract with her and became her master. Sigh, I couldn't even refuse if I wanted to. She is just too enthusiastic…."
"Alright, I get it. You can shut up now," Mu Qingtong had already realized that this guy was spouting nonsense again and couldn't be bothered to listen to him blabber.
As the two casually chatted, the woman in the snow-white dress, digging a hole by herself under the tree, seemed to be shrouded in a shadow, emanating a cartoonish black aura of resentment.
She heard Xia Feng's tall tales about her begging to be his female slave!
"Xia Feng, you wait for me!"
Channeling her rage and frustration, Cha Naixue sped up the pace of her digging.
Just then, from the dense forest behind them, an astonished shout came: "Holy Daughter, what are you doing?"
Cha Naixue's movements froze, and her focused expression faltered momentarily upon digging as she recognized the voice.
Yeli Xing's eyes blazed with anger. Having just found the Holy Daughter, he witnessed her in what appeared to be a humiliating posture in front of Xia Feng, her hands covered in mud, while Xia Feng stood behind her… He couldn't see Xia Feng's eyes, but they must have been wicked!
He dared not imagine what Xia Feng might have done to the Holy Daughter had he arrived a moment later in this forest!
Thankfully, he had arrived just in time to prevent the Holy Daughter from being violated, despite his leisurely pace along the way.
Cha Naixue snapped back to reality, stood up abruptly, and her mortified expression quickly returned to one of cold indifference. She turned around and frowned at the three people emerging from the forest. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ N0velFire.ɴet
Xia Feng and Mu Qingtong also turned around.
They saw a man dressed in golden armor, standing tall and glaring with a fierce gaze: "Xia Feng, you dare to insult the Holy Daughter! Are you seeking death?"
The mole by their side felt that something was amiss. Why had the Black Moon Knight suddenly become concerned about the Holy Daughter's safety?
"Brother, we came here to capture the Holy Daughter. You're not thinking of betraying us, are you?"
"Don't worry; I know what's of foremost importance," Yeli Xing responded calmly, "Let me handle Cha Naixue, and you two take care of the rest. Don't lose."
"Lose?" The two men in black robes sneered.
The three continued to discuss, as if no one else was present. Two wore blood-eyed masks, each eye decorated with two tadpole-shaped hook jades, resembling members of the Burning Heaven Temple.
Based on Xia Feng's observation, the designs of the Burning Heaven Temple's masks varied—those of higher status wore masks with more hook jades. This kind with two jades indicated a Spiritual Pressure rank of about Second to Third Order.
Together with Yeli Xing, at most there were three Third Rank Spirit Masters. They shouldn't be too difficult to handle.
Yeli Xing approached slowly, and spoke with a sincere smile: "Holy Daughter, you can't escape. Why not surrender peacefully and come back with me? With my protection, the Archbishop will give me face and won't harm you—"
Before he could finish, Cha Naixue spoke coldly, and a giant purple eye had already opened behind her. A thick beam of purple lightning shot straight towards Yeli Xing's face!