“If you want to keep her safe, then release me immediately!”
At the same time, Yun Miao felt the cramped space around her suddenly begin to writhe and contract, continuously squeezing the already limited room she had to move.
Within just two breaths, the soft flesh walls had completely enveloped her.
The small Biyu Pearl floating above her head immediately radiated an intense treasure light, casting more strands of pale green glow that descended like an invisible barrier protecting her entire body.
The flesh walls pressed tightly against this barrier, contracting and writhing, rubbing against it with the sound of immense pressure trying to crush glass.
Yet no matter how much force they exerted, the thin barrier did not move an inch.
However, Yun Miao’s situation didn’t improve much because of this.
As the surrounding space was compressed almost to nothing, she soon found herself gasping for breath, an indescribable suffocating sensation blocking her mouth, nose, and every pore.
She bit her teeth and sank her breath into her dantian, attempting to activate the Dengtianti to strike at the flesh wall before her, but after three seconds, nothing happened.
Yun Miao paused in silence for a moment, then decisively looked up and said, “Hey… buddy, fighting is one thing, but how about giving me some air?”
Mo Aotian, already furious after taking several lashes from Ning Yu, sneered coldly at her words: “Weren’t you just so tough-mouthed a moment ago? Now you’re begging? Too late!”
“I’ll give you only one choice. Demand that they agree to my terms and release me now, and I’ll spare you. Otherwise, get ready to be shoved into the depths of my stomach and dissolved in gastric juices!”
Yun Miao shouted angrily, “No way! I stake the dignity of the next Sect Master of Xuantian Sect—I won’t give you a single hair even if I die!”
Mo Aotian choked on her words. “Where did this stingy person come from? About to die and still won’t give anything. Fine, fine, then I won’t want it.”
“If you really are the Sect Master Chang’s direct disciple, just order me released. I won’t only let you go immediately—I’ll even catch some fish from Li Lake for you to taste.”
Yun Miao thought for a second and refused again:
“No. If you stay in Xuantian Sect, you’re private property of Xuantian Sect, which basically means you’re my future property. Releasing you would be a huge loss. And by the way, the fish in Li Lake are mine too.”
Because the fight was so fierce, only Mo Aotian and Ning Yu heard Yun Miao’s words.
Ning Yu’s heart sank. She immediately looked up at Heijiao’s expression, seeing his face pitch black, yellow vertical pupils burning with rage, his attacks becoming increasingly ferocious.
“I, Mo Aotian, am no one’s private property! Damn humans, disgusting humans, all of you, die, die, die!”
As soon as Mo Aotian finished speaking, Yun Miao distinctly felt the flesh walls around her contract even tighter, intentionally pushing her deeper into the darkness.
A snake’s stomach is long, so a dragon’s stomach must be long as well. Yun Miao hadn’t yet seen the corrosive gastric juice he mentioned.
Instead, the suffocating feeling worsened, and she feared she might suffocate to death before being corroded by gastric acid. Though she wasn’t afraid of dying, dying this way felt unbearably humiliating.
So she steeled herself and took down the small pouch slung over her shoulder.
“Alright, alright, you’re the one forcing my hand. Don’t regret this!”
***
On the other side, Ning Yu was amused despite herself by this fearless and reckless junior sister’s boldness.
But no matter how angry she was, she couldn’t just watch the new disciple turn into dragon dung. She summoned all her power to confront the enraged Heijiao once more.
At the same time, she gripped the Dizi Ling at her waist, ready to use it to send a message to their Sect Master for help.
However, just as Ning Yu was inputting the distress message into the Dizi Ling to send, she suddenly saw Heijiao’s body stiffen, taking one of her lashes without resistance.
Then, as if seriously injured, the massive dragon body dozens of yards long thrashed painfully in the lake, then smashed its head against the shore, mouth wide open, retching continuously: “Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!”
Bang!
Everyone watched as the suddenly sickened Heijiao vomited a pool of mucus mixed with blood and a young girl dressed in green.
Above her head floated a Biyu Pearl, her entire body protected by streams of pale green light, completely unharmed.
Her clothes weren’t even a bit dirty, and the small worn pouch on her shoulder remained intact without any sign of loss or damage.
Her calm and leisurely expression was as if she hadn’t just taken a journey through Heijiao’s belly but rather gone out for a pleasant spring outing and was now returning home in high spirits.
Huaxin and the others, who had been anxious and worried, looked at the pouch-carrying Yun Miao returning calmly, then glanced at the dragon vomiting violently on the shore, unsure what to say.
After all, the one who needed comfort now was clearly the dragon.
Huaxin silently stepped forward and pulled Yun Miao away from the dragon’s head back to the crowd.
Tan Xiaobai cupped his hands to Ning Yu in thanks, his little tiger teeth shining in the sunlight.
“Shijie is mighty! Thank you, Shijie, for saving our leader!”
Many others, seeing the crisis resolved, immediately voiced enthusiastic praise.
“It wasn’t me.”
Ning Yu canceled the outgoing message and looked at Yun Miao suspiciously. “What did you do to him?”
Yun Miao glanced at the status box hovering above Heijiao’s head: [Realm: ??? Health Bar: ???], then casually dusted off her shoulder.
“Nothing much, just some potent poison.”
No matter how tough the membrane of a vicious demon dragon, it was still fragile.
Since ancient times, poison has been the essential weapon for the weak to overcome the strong—and she happened to have a Ghostback Spider’s Venom Sac on hand.
Under these perfect conditions, the Qi Refining Stage Demon Spider’s deadly poison did even more terrifying damage than she had expected, successfully incapacitating this powerful Heijiao.
And that… was the wisdom of a player!
Ning Yu glanced at the foam-spitting dragon and nodded slightly. “Well done. Keep it up next time.”
Yun Miao beamed brightly. “Got it! I’ll remember Shijie’s advice!”
Tan Xiaobai clapped enthusiastically like a loyal little brother. “Leader’s awesome!”
Someone in the crowd exclaimed in surprise, “What? She actually handled it all by herself…”
“No wonder she was so calm inside Heijiao’s belly. Turns out she had a plan all along!”
“Poisoning, huh? I’ll remember that. Next time I’ll carry a bottle of poison with me—if anyone dares to eat me, I’ll poison them!”
“But we don’t have magical treasures to protect us. What if the poison backfires and we get poisoned instead?”
“It might be better to carry croton seed powder. Even the fiercest beasts get weak when their stomachs are upset.”
“What if croton seed powder doesn’t work on beasts?”
“Easy. I know of a spiritual herb called Wuye Bashu, a hundred times stronger than croton seed powder.”
“Its status in the cultivation world is exactly the same as croton seed powder’s in the mundane world. Highly toxic and fast-acting.”
“Brilliant! Wuye Bashu, got it!”
Mo Aotian groaned weakly in pain from his stomach, cursing, “Ugh… you humans… ugh… despicable… shameless…”
Yun Miao shrugged. “How is that despicable or shameless? I was just being kind, teaching you not to pick up random things to eat or you might get food poisoning.”
“Haha, even a player would dare to eat that, and now your stomach’s perforated, right? Painful enough yet, idiot!”
Huaxin shot her a glance and chose to remain silent.
Ning Yu pressed her hand against the Dizi Ling at her waist, the token flashing with a streak of light.
“Mo Aotian openly violated sect rules by attacking a newly admitted disciple and resisted when I tried to stop him. He deserves aggravated punishment and multiple charges.”
“I have already sent a summons to the Disciplinary Hall. Other disciples will come to take him there for punishment.”
Yun Miao looked at Ning Yu expectantly. “Shijie, since I defeated him, shouldn’t there be some kind of reward?”
Although the player didn’t kill the monster, they still wanted a reward.
Ning Yu asked, “What reward do you want?”
Yun Miao’s eyes lit up. “Ten Jipin Magical Treasures, one million Shangpin Spirit Stones, and five of Baiwei Hall’s top chefs.”
“…Baiwei Hall only has three chefs in total.”
Ning Yu:
This little junior sister isn’t big, but her tone is even bigger than that Heijiao’s.
She pointed speechlessly at the dragon still retching violently on the shore: “Jipin Magical Treasures, Shangpin Spirit Stones, and chefs are impossible. Look, if you’re capable…”