Song Shuhang did not even notice that the roots of the lotus projection had quietly taken root in the Scholarly Sage’s urn.

As he returned to the main world, he had a lot of things that he needed to deal with.

The return service provided by the great master was very good. Song Shuhang’s consciousness accurately returned to Earth, in the main world. At the same time, the Inner World re-established a connection with him.

Song Shuhang’s consciousness returned to the Inner World.

I, surnamed Song, am back!

I wonder if the fat ball’s blood sacrifice formation inside the Inner World is still operating…

Song Shuhang’s consciousness teleported to where his head and the Pseudo Illusory Reality were.

The Pseudo Illusory Reality had yet to dissipate.

Sixteen was floating outside the illusion while Sister White Dragon was wrapped around her. The Inner World Assistant floated beside them, and Senior Turtle and Lady Onion were also present.

From the looks of it, the time he had spent inside the Scholarly Sage’s urn should not have been long, probably less than a day had passed in the main world. After all, with his current strength, he could not maintain the Pseudo Illusory Reality for too long.

Beside Sixteen and Senior Turtle was the frowning Almighty Merchant.

Song Shuhang’s consciousness “looked” at Sixteen’s hand.

It seemed she had activated the insurance ticket that Song Shuhang had given her.

No wonder the Almighty Merchant is here. The Inner World Assistant must have opened a passage to allow him to enter the Inner World.

The Almighty Merchant said with a stifled heart, “I’ll give you two insurance tickets as compensation.”

Sixteen shook her head slightly.

Almighty Merchant looked up at the sky and sighed.

“Four! Get at least four!” said Song Shuhang’s consciousness.

Unfortunately, his current state was so strange that even the Inner World Assistant could not detect him. Nobody could hear him.

Song Shuhang’s consciousness felt stifled.

He adjusted his state and crashed into the Pseudo Illusory Reality.

In a while, I’ll look for the Almighty Merchant and ask him for compensation!

❄️❄️❄️

Inside the illusory reality.

The formation of the Netherworld’s Fat Ball had been consumed, and the resultingpassage had been reduced to the size of a hair.

This was good news.

Song Shuhang’s consciousness “looked” at his body, and his heart surged with great sadness. “My head!”

His head had withered. It was as if it had been left to dry in the sun for ages.

There was also his wooden body, also withered and beyond recognition.

Song Shuhang’s consciousness re-entered his body, and an overwhelming feeling of thirst surged inside him. He wanted to drink whatever he could.

Little White said, “Oh, you’ve recovered?”

Song Shuhang said tremblingly, “Water…”

Little White said slowly, “This is a desert.”

The voice of the Netherworld’s Fat Ball sounded. [You managed to stay alive despite the blood sacrifice. You’re a lot more tenacious than I thought.]

The fat ball hadn’t left yet.

[But it is only a matter of time before you die.] The voice of the fat ball gradually grew softer. [The formation might have been consumed, but the aftereffects of the blood sacrifice won’t stop just there.]

There was neither sorrow nor joy in the voice of the fat ball.

Its attention had been diverted from Song Shuhang to a more important matter.

The result of the blood sacrifice was out, and the fat ball had gotten the information it wanted.

The passage that was as thick as a strand of hair disappeared.

The bloody ropes that were wrapped around Song Shuhang started burning shortly after.

“Aaahhh~” The wooden body’s navel-mouth screamed. The wooden body was very afraid of flames.

With the help of the last bit of the blood sacrifice’s power, as well as the information it had received, the fat ball’s consciousness forced its way into a mysterious space.

No matter where the Sage’s ashes had gone, there was nowhere they could hide with all the preparations the fat ball had made!

Even if they were not in the main world or the Netherworld Realm, that would still not stop it from locating them.

❄️❄️❄️

Inside the Ascension Space, the great master was still holding the Sage’s urn, getting dragged alongside it.

“Am I seeing things?” the golden great murmured. “Why do I feel that this bone has grown hair?”

While he was talking, a mysterious consciousness broke into the ascension space, forced its way into the Sage’s urn, and locked onto the bone of eternity.

“[Sneer] You can’t escape, Scholarly Sage. No matter how perfect your calculations were before you died, they cannot adapt to all changes. Your plan will ultimately fail.” This mysterious consciousness could speak, a sign that it was of a much higher level than Song Shuhang’s.

“Fuck, you nearly scared me to death!” The great master waved his hand violently and slapped the mysterious consciousness.

It was a conditioned reflex. No matter who it was, if something appeared beside them all of a sudden and began talking, they would react.

At the same time, inside the Sage’s urn, the “hair” on the bone of eternity stretched out and stabbed into bits of the scattered consciousness, dragging them into the urn.

Several formations lit up on the Sage’s urn, which caused it to close.

At the same time, there were several large seals that activated, completely sealing the urn.

On top of the seals, there were also aura-concealing formations and mechanisms that began operating. These formations spewed out a layer of faint mist, shrouding the urn.

After everything was ready, the Sage’s urn changed its orbit. It began orbiting according to a new path, and moved to other areas of the Ascension Space. This way, nobody could lock onto it anymore.

“Heavens, that thing is really high-tech.” The great master was dumbfounded.

The Sage had put in a lot of effort to protect the bone of eternity.

After watching the urn go away, the great master touched his bald head and said, “It seems that in the near future, I won’t be seeing the Sage’s urn again.”

He then lowered his head and looked at his golden hands. “Heh, I’m back.”

❄️❄️❄️

Inside the Inner World, Song Shuhang’s Pseudo Illusory Reality disappeared, and the dried Song Shuhang appeared in front of everyone.

“Shuhang!” Sixteen hurried forward and helped him up.

Song Shuhang opened his mouth, but his mouth was too dry to utter a sound.

He stretched out his hand tremblingly, raising four fingers at the Almighty Merchant.

The Almighty Merchant was puzzled.

Oh, right. Tyrannical Song likely wants back that fragment of the Ancient Heavenly City. Good thing I got back the Eastern Spring Pavilion Fragment from the Heavenly Emperor.

“Four,” the Inner World Assistant said. “Mr. Tyrannical Song means that he wants at least four insurance tickets as compensation.”

Almighty Merchant: “…”

“Here, drink some water.” Sixteen took out the water bottle and fed Song Shuhang a few sips of spring water.

Song Shuhang let out a breath of relief and immediately poured some water on his wooden body.

The dry body slowly began to recover.

In his head, a type of “vitality” that was completely different from that of cultivators at the Eighth Stage and below began pouring out, moisturizing his head, and along the way, moisturizing his wooden body.

It was the vitality of a Tribulation Transcender.

Song Shuhang’s real body had survived the first and second tribulation of the Ninth Stage Heavenly Tribulation, thus allowing the vitality of a Tribulation Transcender to be born in his body.

At present, he was still far from the Tribulation Transcender Realm, so the vitality of a Tribulation Transcender could not just make him have a lifespan of millions of years. However, it could allow Song Shuhang to have a stronger recovery ability.

After a few breaths of time, Song Shuhang’s head and body returned to normal, and there were even a few leaves that grew on his wooden body.

“I survived.” Song Shuhang sighed in relief.

“Want some more water?” Sixteen took out another water bottle.

“No, I feel like I’m in great shape now.” Song Shuhang laughed. For the first time in his life, he discovered that drinking water could be such a blessing.

As he was laughing, his body suddenly dried up as if it had been drained of water.

He could feel his skin start to wrap around his bones, his lips becoming chapped, and his saliva drying up.

It was even worse for the wooden body. The body cracked up, and the leaves that had just grown out turned yellow and fell off.

Song Shuhang: “???”

Fairy Creation reminded him weakly, “Song~ Stupid~ Curse~ Aftereffects~”

It was the aftereffect of the blood sacrifice of the fat ball.

Song Shuhang said hoarsely, “Damn.”

Sister White Dragon stretched out her small claws and pressed them on top of him. She cast several healing techniques, curse purification techniques, and cleansing techniques.

For a time, the light of magical techniques enveloped Song Shuhang.

Song Shuhang recovered just as he had after drinking the spring water.

But similar to before, after a few breaths of time, his body and head withered again.

“This curse is so overbearing.” Sister White Dragon retracted her small claws.

Song Shuhang said, “Can I still be saved?”

Sister White Dragon said, “If it was me in my heyday, I would probably be able to help you deal with it.”

Senior Turtle said, “Fellow Daoist Daoist Almighty Merchant should have some useful items.”

“Of course.” The Almighty Merchant smiled slightly. “I have a lot of good things on me. Also, I promise that I won’t inflate the price of the goods.”

Senior, you’ve changed. You used to give me discounts!

“It’s impossible for me to give you a discount as you should be on my blacklist if not for my change of heart,” said the Almighty Merchant. Then, he handed over the Eastern Spring Pavilion Fragment he had snatched back from the Heavenly Emperor.

With that, Song Shuhang now had the complete or incomplete palaces of each of the Great Emperors of the Four Cardinal Directions.

The complete Palace of Winter of the Great Northern Emperor.

The complete Southern Autumn Temple of the Great Southern Emperor.

The fragmented Palace of Summer of the Great Western Emperor.

And the fragmented Eastern Spring Pavilion of the Great Eastern Emperor.

It gave him a sense of satisfaction similar to those who collected cards.

The Almighty Merchant asked with a smile, “So, are you willing to buy from me?”

Song Shuhang waved his hand tremblingly. He had no money.

At the same time, he tried to contact Senior White Two. [Senior White, Senior White!]

Since it was a curse that came from a Netherworld Ruler, it was appropriate to approach another Netherworld Ruler to ask for solutions.

[Shuhang, open your Inner World.] Senior White’s familiar voice rang in Song Shuhang’s ears.

Song Shuhang willed it, and the Inner World opened.

“Whoosh~”

A disposable flying sword plunged into the ground right in front of him. Senior White stood on the sword’s hilt with the tip of his toes and made a handsome entrance.