Stronger with More Jobs

Chapter 626 - 277: Good and Evil, Two Sides Forced Apart! (Part 4)

Under the gentle light, the girl on the hospital bed was fast asleep.

The innocence of childhood had faded, leaving a face that bore eight or nine parts resemblance to the Drought Fiend, yet was much purer and gentler, appearing exceptionally serene and beautiful in its slumber.

Her long black hair spread across the white pillow, accentuating the porcelain whiteness of her skin.

Fang Qingyu pulled a chair over and sat by the bed, quietly watching her.

For a moment, the room was filled only by the sound of their soft breathing.

The old man hadn’t given a specific explanation for her growth.

But at least he confirmed that Jiang Wei herself posed no threat, and her stance was absolutely trustworthy.

This allowed Fang Qingyu to finally put his mind completely at ease.

"When you wake up, you must give the old man a good accounting... Raising a future goddess of war isn’t a low-cost endeavor."

An easy smile appeared on Fang Qingyu’s lips.

Since Jiang Wei was confirmed unharmed, all that remained was to wait for her to awaken naturally.

The bargaining... would come after she woke up.

...

Meanwhile, deep within the Arctic.

Past endless snowstorms and desolate ice fields, at the core of the Extreme Cold Forbidden Area.

A vast and suffocatingly large complex lay on the eternal permafrost.

Made up of countless massive and varied bone structures.

Here was one of the important strongholds of the Life Ghost deep within the Arctic.

The Eternal Frost Skull Throne.

At the center and also the tallest White Bone Hall inside.

The air was cold enough to be frozen.

At the end of the hall, on a throne built from numerous massive, smooth pale skulls.

The Drought Fiend lounged, her dress red like fire spread out like flowing blood over the ghastly white throne, forming a stark contrast.

Her elbow rested on the arm of the throne, her white palm supporting her perfectly lined jaw, her eyes red like molten gemstones, looking indifferently through the window panes made of giant ice crystals at the roaring, relentless polar snowstorms outside.

Her face was strikingly similar to Jiang Wei, yet filled with divine laziness and extreme coldness, without any expression, like a perfect lifeless sculpture.

The hall was deathly still, only the relentless wailing of the wind and snow outside could be heard.

Suddenly.

Beside the throne, on the surface of a pale bone column supported by a thick vertebra, a dense shadow squirmed oddly, like an undercurrent beneath a calm water surface.

The Drought Fiend didn’t even turn her head, casually raised her right hand that supported her cheek, and a strand of fire red as a hair shot out from her fingertips, striking accurately at the edge of the squirming shadow.

Sizzle!

A slight burning sound was heard, the edge of the shadow instantly turned charred black, as if a scalded skin.

"Did I not say..."

The Drought Fiend’s voice echoed coldly and unemotionally in the hall, like polar wind scraping on ice, laden with suppressed anger.

"If you want to find me, come in through the main door!"

"And knock!"

Her voice reverberated in the empty White Bone Hall, with undeniable Divine Power.

Silence fell once more in the hall.

After a good dozen breaths.

The White Bone Palace Gate made of bones creaked... creaked... teeth-grinding friction sounds, slowly pushed open a gap from outside.

A shadow, like a black paper cutout with no thickness, streamed in through the crack.

It had no physical form, no features, merely a pure human silhouette.

And it walked very slowly, with a consciously elegant manner.

Silently, it slid to a vacant spot on the ground beneath the throne, quietly standing.

"Still angry?" A gentle, neutral voice without specific emotion rang out, echoing in the hall.

This voice was exactly like that of the Black Marquis who previously stopped the attack on the ice plain.

The Drought Fiend finally slowly turned, her red eyes gazing down at the humanoid shadow below, filled with undisguised disgust and disdain: "Spit it out."

Faced with the hostile attitude, the shadow showed no signs of anger, still gently asking: "I’m just curious. You went through so much trouble, even exposing your presence to see her, why not just swallow her outright?"

Its voice bore a hint of sincere puzzlement, as though truly at a loss.

"Isn’t this the best opportunity you’ve waited countless ages for? Swallow her, and you immediately restore your Origin, regain your Peak, even surpass your past."

The Drought Fiend’s brow knitted ever so slightly, then relaxed again.

As if merely bothered by something pesky.

She returned her gaze to the wind and snow outside, leaving the shadow with a face of extreme coldness, crimson lips parted, uttering a few words:

"Mind your own business."

Silence fell again in the hall.

The shadow quietly stood there like a lifeless silhouette decoration.

But it showed no intention of leaving, its gentle yet persistent gaze locked onto the figure on the throne like bone-chilling worms.

Perhaps even more agitated by this silent insistence, the Drought Fiend finally couldn’t bear it, suddenly turned back, eyes red and flickering with suppressed fury, voice extremely impatiently growling:

"Her body still contains remnants of Power of Reincarnation, forcible devouring would only trigger its backlash, at best our Origins mutually harm each other, at worst might be dragged into its swirling vortex, completely lost! Would you have me gamble on that less than one in ten thousand chance of no backlash?!"

Her voice carried a barely perceptible urgency, revealing inner unrest contrary to her superficial demeanor of indifference.

"I need her to fully absorb the Power of Reincarnation herself! Only when that shell disappears and her Origin with my homogenous aura has no barrier... then can I devour her, satisfied?"

Finished speaking, the Drought Fiend seemed to exhaust her patience, suddenly waving her hand, pointing to the gate, harshly commanding: "Get out!"

The shadow quietly listened to Drought Fiend’s explanation, its gentle voice seemingly now carrying an understanding.

"Got it."

The shadow softly replied.

"Then rest assured. When that moment comes, I’ll help you. At all costs."

Its voice still gentle, but with an unsettling tenacity and resolve.

Listening to this near-professed promise, instead of feeling touched, the Drought Fiend rather seemed to have heard the world’s most disgusting words, visibly raised a goosebumps.

Distastefully waving repeatedly as if shooing away foul flies:

"Out, out, out! Get out! You irritate me just seeing you!"

The shadow seemed to let out a soft chuckle, its chuckle also utterly calm without a ripple.

Lingering no longer, moving like it entered, silently "flowing" towards the gate, finally melding into the broader shadow outside, disappearing from view.

The heavy White Bone Palace Gate slowly closed, isolating the inside and outside.

In the hall, the Drought Fiend was once again left alone, and the unending wailing of wind and snow outside.

Maintaining the gesture of shooing away the shadow, froze for a moment, then slowly retracted her hand, leaning back onto the cold skull throne.

The red eyes once again turned to the ice crystal window, the world outside ruled by snowstorms, white and desolate.

The fiery anger, disgust, disdain in her eyes rapidly ebbed away like a receding tide.

Finally, only a profound weariness and... perplexity remained.

She curled slightly, her red hair falling to cover half her face.

A nearly inaudible voice, laden with endless fatigue and barely perceptible vulnerability, floated like a sigh in the cold, deathly still White Bone Hall:

"This time..."

"Can we... still survive?"