“I’ll endure it so I can get out.”
“Fine, I’ll say it. There’s nobody else here anyway, so what have I got to lose?”
Xiaobai tried hard to suppress the urge to smash the teleportation array, thinking to himself.
“Wil...”
“Wait...”
Just as Xiaobai was about to speak, an urgent shout came from outside the room.
A figure darted into the room, swift as the wind.
“Huh? Old man, you’ve recovered.”
“What brings you here?”
Seeing someone else enter the room, Xiaobai grew a little wary.
Come on, it’d be mortifying if someone heard him shouting like that.
The figure was the shabby old man. The despair on his face from before had completely vanished.
The shabby old man stammered.
“Young friend... don’t panic... I... just wanted to... well... could you let me use this teleportation array too?”
“Sure.”
“Well, I’m willing to pay a price, as long as I can... Wait, what did you say, young friend?”
The old man could hardly believe what he’d heard.
“I said sure.”
Xiaobai agreed with unexpected decisiveness.
“Waaah!”
The old man suddenly burst into tears on the spot.
“I can finally get out! I’m so excited!”
“...”
“...”
“But, old man, there’s something I need you to do.”
“What is it? Just ask, young friend. If I can do it, I won’t back down.”
The old man quickly wiped his tears and answered.
“The teleportation array is only one step away from activating. It needs an incantation. Here, say this incantation for me. Simple enough, right?”
“That’s easy. Leave it to me.”
The old man thumped his chest and agreed.
An incantation? No problem.
But then he saw the incantation.
The old man’s face turned purple, then green, then red. The expressions on it were something to behold.
“Will, you bastard! You really don’t want me to get out!”
The old man roared at the ceiling.
“What, old man? You know this God of Alchemy?”
Hearing the old man’s roar, Xiaobai showed great interest.
“Know him? If it weren’t for him, how could I have spent tens of thousands of years trapped in this underground space?”
“I still don’t know how that Little Black Dragon got out. I should’ve gone with it when it left.”
“Sigh, I was just too lazy. I thought having a teleportation array meant I could get out whenever I wanted.”
“Who knew this stupid array would be such a trap? I never expected it to need so much magic power.”
The old man blushed and said,
“I just don’t have enough magic power... Otherwise, why would I have collected so much Star God Iron?”
“Old man, I’m not trying to put you down, but all your Star God Iron combined wouldn’t have enough magic power for even one symbol on this array.”
Xiaobai snarked.
“Anyway, old man, I’ve already filled the array with magic power. All you have to do is say the incantation.”
“Well... I...” The old man was still hesitating.
“Old man, it’s just calling Will ‘Daddy.’ It’s not like you’ll lose a piece of yourself. So, do you still want to get out or not?” Xiaobai said calmly.
“I do, I do...” The old man nodded repeatedly.
“Then hurry up and say it!” Xiaobai urged.
“Well... I don’t think I can do it.” the old man said.
“Just say it. We’ll talk after.”
“...”
◇
The old man cursed Xiaobai a thousand times in his heart. Of course Xiaobai could stay calm. He wasn’t the one who had to say it!
Meanwhile, in the old man’s heart...
The little boat of friendship he’d shared with Will, the God of Alchemy, for more than a hundred thousand years had capsized just like that.
No, it had capsized ages ago—when he first learned how much magic power the teleportation array needed...
His thoughts were even the same as Xiaobai’s had been earlier.
Once he got out, he’d dig up that bastard Will’s grave. Just watch him.
But now, if he wanted to get out, he had no choice but to brace himself and quietly recite the words.
“Will, Daddy, please carry me to victory...”
The incantation was short, and he recited it quickly.
His voice fell silent.
Nothing happened.
“???”
“...”
“...”
The room was dead silent.
“Young friend, what do you make of this?”
“Old man, you said it so quietly and so fast. Maybe the teleportation array didn’t hear you?”
“What? A teleportation array can do that?”
“Hurry up, old man. Do it again. Say it slowly and loudly. If it still doesn’t work, you can forget about getting out.”
“You... Fine, I’ll say it.”
He had no choice. The other guy was too powerful to argue with.
“WILL! DADDY! PLEASE! CARRY! ME! TO! VICTORY!”
The old man recited the incantation again, this time in a voice that was deafening.
But...
Nothing happened again.
The teleportation array continued to glow steadily with green light.
“...”
“...”
“...”
After a long while...
“Figures.”
“Well... young friend... you’ll have to say the incantation...”
“My hazy memory suddenly came back to me. It says that with a teleportation array, whoever supplies the magic power is the one who has to say the incantation...”
The old man turned to look at Xiaobai, his face bright red as he spoke slowly.
“I...”
“Oh, I’m afraid there’s nothing more this old man can do for you. I feel bad about it, but there’s no helping it—that’s how the array is set up. So go on, young friend. Say the words, and we can get out.”
The old man urged him on, doing his best to hold back a fit of laughter.
“By the way, young friend, make sure to say it slowly and loudly. Otherwise, the array won’t hear you... Those were your words, after all. You won’t forget, will you?”
“You...”
“Go on, young friend. Everything’s ready. We’re just waiting for you to say the words.”
“Fine... I’ll say it...”
Xiaobai seemed to have finally steeled himself. He had no choice. The situation left him no way out, and this ridiculous requirement was unavoidable.
“Fine, I’ll say it. But, old man, shouldn’t you have something to say first?”
Xiaobai fixed the shabby old man with a meaningful look, as if to say, Don’t you know how to handle a relationship?
“There’s something off about that look.”
The old man was sharp. How could he miss what Xiaobai’s gaze meant?
That was the look of someone about to rob him again.
If the old man hadn’t been clever just now and stayed unconscious, he would’ve escaped once already. Who knew how many good things Xiaobai would’ve taken from him? But now, there was no way out. He couldn’t just faint again...
“Ahem!”
The old man cleared his throat a few times.
“Well, young friend, if you can get me out of here, you’ll be my great benefactor. Once we’re out, you can pick anything you want from my belongings. Take whatever you like. How does that sound?”
The old man hurriedly added.
Xiaobai considered it. Once they got out, he could pin the old man down with his aura, so the old man wouldn’t be able to run anyway.
“All right. Since you’re so eager, I won’t stand on ceremony. If I turned you down, it’d be like looking down on you.”
The shabby old man cried out in his heart, Please, don’t think so highly of me!
......
“WILL! DADDY! PLEASE! CARRY! ME! TO! VICTORY!”
Gritting his teeth, Xiaobai shouted the incantation one word at a time.
It was completely different from the first two attempts.
This time...
“Bzzzz~”
One symbol after another on the green-glowing teleportation array began to shine white.
“Whoosh~”
At last, the light converged into a gigantic white pillar that shot into the sky.
◇
Outside.
Mountain of Heaven.
The Black Sacred Dragon Emperor had recently been thinking about moving.
A week had passed since the last white pillar of light appeared.
Ever since that pillar of light appeared, faint but powerful waves had kept rising from underground.
Each wave was incredibly powerful. Whenever one came, it had to pass out for a while.
Suddenly...
Another gigantic white pillar of light burst into the sky in front of the Black Sacred Dragon Emperor.
By instinct, it struck the proper pose for passing out.
Experience had taught it that if it stayed unconscious for too long in the wrong position, its blood wouldn’t circulate and it would feel awful.
“???”
“Why didn’t I pass out?”
The Black Sacred Dragon Emperor waited for a long time, but no wave came. It hadn’t passed out.
It flapped its wings and realized that not only was there no sign of fainting, its power had somehow increased quite a bit.
“Are you kidding me, pillar of light?”
“I’m so used to passing out that it feels weird when I don’t.”
“Come on, let me pass out!”
......
“Still not out cold. Now that’s strange...”
“No, I have to go take a look.”
A black shadow shot down from Mountain of Heaven, heading toward the white pillar of light.
