Fang Ming did not want to give up this opportunity. If he left now, he didn't know when the next clue to enter the White Mist World would appear.
"But this is too dangerous," Zheng Zhu Liu advised.
"Wasn't every journey dangerous up to this point?" Fang Ming retorted.
Zheng Zhu Liu was instantly speechless. Indeed, there had been too many dangers along the way, and this one was not much different.
"Qing Mian, what are your thoughts?" Fang Ming turned to ask Qing Mian.
After a moment of hesitation, Qing Mian said, "I want to see the Blood King's strength. I once thought my power was at its peak, but after experiencing so much, I realize I am still too weak in this world."
Hearing Qing Mian's words, Zheng Zhu Liu sighed helplessly and decided to take a gamble with Fang Ming.
"Alright, then let's give it a try!" Zheng Zhu Liu shook his head. He was actually very scared, but he had no ability to leave on his own. Since Fang Ming wouldn't be persuaded, this was the only way.
Fang Ming took out his diary and checked the prediction for the next half hour.
"While searching for relevant clues, we triggered a mechanism and released the Blood King. However, he did not directly harm us. Instead, he began to communicate with me. He denied the existence of the 'Yuan Sha' race and intended to attack Qing Mian and Nannan, but we intervened. Nannan began to fight him."
Seeing the prediction in his diary, Fang Ming understood why the Blood King would be hostile towards Qing Mian. As a pure 'Sha' seed, he was undoubtedly an archenemy of the Blood King.
"As we continue to search for clues, we will release the Blood King. He won't harm us after he comes out, but he will be very hostile towards Qing Mian and Nannan. You two should hide for now." Fang Ming arranged.
"Hostile towards us? Why?" Qing Mian didn't understand.
"Do you remember the war we saw before? I think that's why," Fang Ming said helplessly.
Qing Mian suddenly understood and quickly retreated into the passage. Fang Ming asked Nannan to hide with Qing Mian as well. Nannan was a little reluctant but obediently complied.
Fang Ming and the other two began to search for clues to enter the White Mist World.
With the naked eye, except for the visible chains, many other places were hard to see. Therefore, Fang Ming had to fly onto the chains and carefully search for clues.
Zheng Zhu Liu was too weak and could only watch nervously from the entrance of the passage.
Below the iron chains was a bottomless abyss. If Fang Ming fell, his bones would be ground to dust.
At this moment, a behemoth nearly ten meters long was carefully crawling above the iron chains. The chain Fang Ming was stepping on swayed slightly, but it was still firm.
"Clang!" Suddenly, Fang Ming's foot slipped, and his entire body slammed onto the chain. Fortunately, he reacted in time, and his tail firmly wrapped around the chain, leaving his body suspended above the abyss.
"Thump, thump..." His heart rate quickened.
Fang Ming carefully grabbed the chain again, took a few deep breaths to calm himself, and then investigated the reason for his slip – he had stepped on a luminous pearl!
The surface of the luminous pearl was smooth, and with the suddenness of the event, Fang Ming had not anticipated such a thing.
"I can't believe my lifelong reputation almost ended because of this tiny pearl," Fang Ming muttered speechlessly.
Understanding the reason for his slip, Fang Ming used his tail as a safety rope and began to move along the chains. After a full half hour, he finally reached the stone platform.
Standing on the platform, Fang Ming glanced at the abyss below and then at Zheng Zhu Liu, who was far away at the entrance of the passage. Even he, who wasn't afraid of heights, felt a tremor in his heart.
A silent sense of loneliness enveloped him.
"Sigh..." Fang Ming didn't know why he sighed. For a moment, his body seemed filled with endless sorrow.
Shaking his head and casting away the melancholy in his mind, Fang Ming cautiously approached the jade coffin. He looked inside. The coffin was likely made of fine, warm jade, and he could vaguely see something within at close range.
He suspected that the entrance to the White Mist World was here, or at the bottom of the abyss below.
He saw a blurry figure, and at the same time, waves of dense resentment emanated from within.
This made Fang Ming's heart sink.
"Could the entrance to the White Mist World really be inside the jade coffin?" This level of concentrated resentment was very close to the white mist in the White Mist World, but Fang Ming couldn't be sure.
If the entrance to the White Mist World was indeed inside, he would have to open the coffin...
The danger of opening the coffin was self-evident.
"Boom!" A loud roar suddenly sounded.
Immediately, the entire eighteenth level began to shake. The luminous pearls on the iron chains suddenly brightened, and the largest luminous pearl overhead shone like a small sun!
The entire world turned a blinding white, and Fang Ming and the others involuntarily closed their eyes.
The stone platform began to shake violently. Fang Ming, worried that the platform might collapse, fumbled for a chain and wrapped his tail around it.
The intense light lasted for nearly three minutes before gradually dimming. Fang Ming's vision slowly returned.
Everything around them disappeared. The chains, the stone platform, and the walls were nowhere to be seen. Instead, a vast starry sky replaced them. Zheng Zhu Liu, Qing Mian, and Nannan's figures appeared in this starry sky, all suspended in mid-air. It seemed there was no gravity here.
"I think we've caused trouble," Qing Mian said with a calm expression, his hand still in the motion of pressing something.
"You caused trouble," Nannan quickly distanced herself, subtly moving away from him.
They had no idea that simply touching the wall in the passage had triggered the mechanism.
Fang Ming dejectedly covered his forehead. He still couldn't avoid it. Where was the Blood King?
Fang Ming looked at the jade coffin. The lid had been opened, and there was nothing inside.
A tall man had appeared behind Fang Ming at some point, and he hadn't noticed at all.
"I didn't expect to see a human who has transformed into a 'Sha' seed," a deep, resonant voice said from behind Fang Ming.
Fang Ming was startled and quickly turned around.
It was a man, a man of extraordinary elegance and nobility.
He wore a bright yellow python robe, a jade crown on his head, and a long sword at his waist. His gaze held an arrogance that looked down on the world. If not for his two hands being claws, Fang Ming would have thought he was an ancient emperor.
According to the diary, the Blood King would not harm them at this moment. Fang Ming calmed his slightly nervous heart and began to try and communicate with him.
"Are you the Blood King?" Fang Ming asked tentatively.
"Indeed," the Blood King nodded.
"Was your body also modified by Yu Fu Ming?" the Blood King asked. Yu Fu Ming was the Professor.
The Professor had mentioned his name on the eighteenth floor, so Fang Ming knew who the Blood King was referring to.
"I was severely injured and had no choice but to use the potion he concocted," Fang Ming replied respectfully. He felt deep admiration for the Blood King before him and did not want to become his enemy unless absolutely necessary.
"Alas... after a thousand years, he is still researching these things," the Blood King sighed. A thousand years had erased many memories from his heart, but his memory of the 'Yuan Sha' remained vivid.
"Is 'Yuan Sha' still rampant?" the Blood King asked.
"No, after your battle with Chang Sheng, he led the 'Yuan Sha' away from the human world," Fang Ming replied.
The Blood King sensed the power within his body, which was countless times stronger than when he was alive. Upon hearing Fang Ming's words, he felt a sense of regret.
"Hmm?" The Blood King's gaze suddenly fixed on Fang Ming. "How do you know the leader of the 'Yuan Sha' is called Chang Sheng?"
Fang Ming's heart skipped a beat. He had made a slip of the tongue. He quickly tried to come up with an excuse.
"It was... it was written on the murals on the first level of this tomb. It not only introduced your life but also recounted that epic battle."
"Murals?" The Blood King recalled the imperial burial traditions, which did include a section to depict the deceased's life. He then believed Fang Ming's words.
"Since you have also become a 'Sha' seed as a human, I will not make things difficult for you today. You may leave." The Blood King waved his hand, deciding to forgive Fang Ming for trespassing in the tomb.
After all, he felt a sense of kinship upon waking and encountering his "compatriot," which made him happy and unwilling to trouble Fang Ming further.
How could Fang Ming just leave? He still needed to find the entrance to the White Mist World. Seeing the Blood King's action, he quickly asked, "Your Highness, do you know if there is an entrance to the White Mist World here?"
"White Mist World?" The Blood King looked confused. He had slept for a thousand years and had never heard of such a place.
"It's... it's a world full of white mist, but the mist within is composed of resentment," Fang Ming said vaguely, unsure how to explain it to the Blood King.
"I do not know," the Blood King shook his head, indicating he had never heard of it. Fang Ming's heart sank upon hearing this. It was true, if he knew the entrance to the White Mist World, he would have likely entered and fought Chang Sheng long ago, instead of lying here in slumber.
But the Professor definitely knew! Fang Ming was certain of it. Otherwise, how could Zheng Zhu Liu have seen the White Mist World when he was in the mysterious space on the ninth level?
He had to find the Professor!
But where to find the Professor now? This cunning old man was always in hiding and could not be easily caught, let alone forced to reveal the entrance to the White Mist World.
"You should leave quickly. I need to clean up some remnants," the Blood King waved his right hand, and a powerful gust of wind pushed Fang Ming back. His gaze then fell on Nannan and Qing Mian in the distance.
"Your Highness, please don't!" Fang Ming tried to stop him, but the Blood King was too fast. In the blink of an eye, he appeared before Nannan and Qing Mian.
"Nannan, be careful!" Fang Ming anxiously warned Nannan.
Fortunately, Nannan and the others had been watching the situation. Seeing the Blood King disappear, they immediately prepared for battle.
Zheng Zhu Liu struggled to move away from the battlefield. Qing Mian knew he would only be a burden if he stayed, so he merged into the mirror realm to temporarily hide. Only Nannan remained to fight the Blood King.
"Boom!"
The Blood King and Nannan clashed instantly. The collision between fists and hair produced a powerful shockwave that sent Zheng Zhu Liu, who was not far away, flying hundreds of meters. He spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Damn it!" The Blood King retreated several steps and looked at his fist. Several deep, bone-revealing wounds appeared – inflicted by Nannan's hair.
"I didn't expect you, a monster, to be so strong! Then I can't let you live today! Roar—!" The Blood King roared, and his body began to change rapidly. His clothes were torn, and his jade crown shattered.
In just a few seconds, he transformed from an ordinary adult man into a colossal monster a hundred meters tall, resembling his appearance on the battlefield in his prime.