Chapter 2166

Lin Moyu asked, "What happened after that?"

Little Three replied, "I was severely injured at the time. With no other choice, I had to fall into a deep sleep to recover. About fifty thousand years ago, I woke up, but no matter what I tried, I couldn't leave."

"So, I started studying this array. I studied it for many, many years, and finally, I made some progress."

"I discovered that by using this gem, I could control a portion of the array, and the array could summon Chaos Corrosive Worms."

"Although I don't like these Chaos Corrosive Worms—their power is too chaotic and they are too low-level—it's better than having nothing."

"So, I first summoned some Heavenly Venerable Realm Chaos Corrosive Worms and tried to devour their power."

"Later, after I had recovered a bit, I started summoning Dao Venerable Realm Chaos Corrosive Worms."

"Dao Venerable Realm Chaos Corrosive Worms are very difficult to devour. The process is extremely, extremely slow, and I didn't want to cause too much of a commotion, so I took it one step at a time and recovered very slowly."

Lin Moyu laughed, "You call this a small commotion? I've traveled millions of miles to get here and haven't encountered a single Dao Venerable Realm Chaos Corrosive Worm."

"You don't know anything!" Little Three instinctively shouted, but after Lin Moyu glared at it and it felt the threat of the World-Burning Fire, it quickly quieted down and behaved itself.

"I didn't want this either! I was only summoning them little by little before, but then I made a mistake in the operation. The array ran too fiercely and summoned all the Chaos Corrosive Worms within a five-million-kilometer radius." It looked completely innocent. "But as long as I devour them, I can fully recover. Not only will I be able to reshape my physical body, but I'll also have a chance to counter-devour this stone. Who would have thought I'd run into you? I'm so unlucky!"

Chapter 2634: Life or Death, You Decide for Yourself

Little Three poured out its grievances, recounting all its experiences over these years.

Its experience was simple, yet bitter.

To be trapped here for one hundred thousand years—anyone, even a Dao Venerable, would probably go insane.

Through its description, Lin Moyu finally learned who was hunting it down: it was the previous Saint Master of the Hanshui Holy Land, and also the mother of Saint Master Gu Hanyu.

Little Three had escaped the pursuit of Saint Master Gu Hanyu's mother, only to fall into his hands. If it knew the truth, he wondered how it would feel.

Saint Master Gu Hanyu's mother hadn't actually wanted to kill it; she had wanted to capture it and turn it into her spirit beast.

The Heaven-Swallowing Mouse has two special abilities. The first is the ability to locate origin spirit veins.

When a Heaven-Swallowing Mouse is first born, it survives by consuming origin spirit veins; they have an extremely strong sensitivity to them.

They can search for origin spirit veins within a certain range, using this ability to find even more. The second ability is that a Heaven-Swallowing Mouse can refine origin spirit veins. The origin spirit veins refined by a Heaven-Swallowing Mouse were originally used by their race to feed the next generation, but cultivators can also use them to feed other origin spirit veins, thereby raising the grade of those origin spirit veins. Because of this, a Heaven-Swallowing Mouse is considered a rare treasure in the eyes of many powerful Dao Venerables, especially sect masters, all of whom wish to possess one.

Little Three looked at Lin Moyu in despair, "I've said everything I should. Now, can you give me a quick death?"

Lin Moyu smiled, "Actually, I don't necessarily have to kill you."

The Heaven-Swallowing Mouse let out a soft huff, "Don't tell me you want to let me go?"

Lin Moyu laughed, "I want you to become my spirit beast."

Little Three fell silent, saying nothing.

Its head was stuck in the gem, and as its gaze passed through the transparent stone, Lin Moyu could feel that its inner thoughts were very complex.

In truth, Lin Moyu hadn't actually expected it to become his spirit beast.

Previously, it had preferred death over becoming someone else's spirit beast, and considering he was only a low-stage Heavenly Venerate, he assumed it would refuse outright.

Lin Moyu actually had another condition in mind; by first proposing something impossible to agree to, then proposing something more plausible, it would be much easier. However, Little Three's reaction surprised Lin Moyu.

It hadn't refused directly, which Lin Moyu found quite unexpected.

Since that was the case, Lin Moyu wasn't in a hurry and let it think it through.

After thinking for a while, Little Three finally spoke again, "I can agree to become your spirit beast, and I can help you search for and refine origin spirit veins."

"However, I have a few requirements that you must agree to, otherwise I would rather die than submit."

Little Three spoke passionately, appearing as if it were ready to face death.

But Lin Moyu could hear a hint of timidity in its words.

Lin Moyu could tell that it didn't want to die; it hadn't lived nearly enough.

As a Dao Venerable, it could still live for a million years and had a great mouse life ahead of it.

Lin Moyu didn't agree to everything immediately, "Tell me. As long as it doesn't violate my principles, I can agree."

Little Three said, "First, you must help me reshape my physical body. You need to consider this carefully; it won't be easy to restore my body."

Lin Moyu smiled, "If you become my spirit beast, I will naturally help you reshape your physical body."

Little Three continued, "Secondly, I will only serve you for ten thousand years. After ten thousand years, if your performance does not satisfy me, I have the right to leave, and you must not stop me."

Lin Moyu maintained his smile, "That's no problem either. Ten thousand years is enough."

He understood Little Three's meaning clearly. In reality, the ten thousand years was just to see if he had the potential for growth.

If he remained stagnant after ten thousand years, it, being proud, would naturally want to leave. After all, it was a Dao Venerable, and he was currently only a low-stage Heavenly Venerate.

Little Three said, "The last requirement: if we find an origin spirit vein, you must give me a portion."

Little Three had originally wanted to say one-third, but seeing the dangerous look in Lin Moyu's eyes, and then looking at the World-Burning Fire still flickering on his fingertip, it swallowed hard, "One-fifth."

Lin Moyu shook his head slightly, "Too much." At this moment, his smile seemed to become even more dangerous.

Little Three's soul trembled slightly, skipping a beat, "Then one-seventh?"

Lin Moyu said nothing and didn't speak; he simply made the World-Burning Fire burn a bit brighter.

Little Three immediately changed its tune, "One-tenth, no less than that."

Lin Moyu sighed deeply, "Forget it, you are too high-class. I can't afford to raise you."

The World-Burning Fire grew even stronger. Little Three jumped in fright, its soul nearly wetting itself in terror, and it shrieked urgently, "Then you tell me how much!"

Lin Moyu said, "There is no fixed share for you; it depends on your performance. If you perform well, I'll give you more. If you don't perform well, you get nothing."

"If you agree, you agree. If not, then forget it. It's not like I absolutely need you."

Little Three had originally planned to start with a high price so Lin Moyu could bargain.

It had assumed Lin Moyu would at least give it one percent, or if that didn't work, at least one-thousandth or one-ten-thousandth.

Some origin spirit veins were quite large; seventh or eighth-grade origin spirit veins were enough to support many sects.

If it were given one-ten-millionth, it would have already eaten its fill. But it never expected Lin Moyu to refuse outright and insist on basing it on performance. In other words, whether it got anything or not was entirely up to him.

Little Three looked at the approaching World-Burning Fire, its heart pounding. It really didn't want to die; it still had a long life ahead, and it hadn't found a female mouse yet, nor had it given birth to little mice. It couldn't die like this.

Through the World-Burning Fire, Lin Moyu on the other side of the flames was so terrifying.

That look—half-smiling—made its soul tremble.

Lin Moyu maintained his dangerous smile, "Don't waste time. I'll give you three seconds to consider. Life or death, you decide for yourself."

He held up three fingers and began to count. With a tick, it became two fingers.

Little Three shrieked, "Wait, stop… let's discuss this further."

The two fingers became one; there was one second left.

The World-Burning Fire grew stronger and moved closer.

Finally, as the last finger bent, Little Three shrieked frantically, "Stop, stop, stop! I agree! I agree!"

Lin Moyu retracted his fingers, maintaining a devilish smile, "See? Isn't this much better?"

Little Three sighed, "I am the fish and you are the butcher knife. You really are a terrifying fellow."

Lin Moyu didn't care about its words, "Hand over a wisp of your True Spirit. Don't try any tricks."

No matter how unwilling, Little Three had no choice but to split a wisp of its True Spirit from its soul and let it fall into Lin Moyu's hands.

A soul can be injured, but a True Spirit cannot; the True Spirit is the core part of the soul. If the True Spirit is damaged, the soul will be completely annihilated. As long as he held this wisp of True Spirit, he held the life and death of Little Three in his hands.

Chapter 2635: The Invincibility Lin Moyu Wants

Lin Moyu accepted the True Spirit and looked at Little Three with a smile, "Tell me, if I break my word in ten thousand years and don't let you go, what can you do?"

Little Three's soul trembled, and it said cautiously, "You… you wouldn't, right?"

Lin Moyu chuckled, "Whether I would or not depends on your performance. If you perform well, perhaps I will let you go before ten thousand years are up."

"Rest assured, I am a person who never breaks his word. If you don't perform well, I will kill you directly."

"Also, you should call me Master now, understand?"

Little Three hung its head in dejection and whispered, "Master."

It felt as if its heart were dead; its future mouse life would be dim and colorless from now on.

It never expected that being trapped here for so many years was merely the beginning of the tragedy. That saying, 'surviving a great disaster must bring future blessings,' was all fake—it was a lie to fool mice.

Lin Moyu ignored its emotions and looked toward the outside world. The great battle was still continuing; the Dragon Cavalry Legion was firmly holding back the Chaos Corrosive Worms, while Bone Hell was devouring the Chaos Corrosive Worms bit by bit.

The situation of the battle was already very clear; the scales of victory had completely tilted toward Lin Moyu. The Legion Commanders of the Dragon Cavalry Legion were like skilled artists, directing the battle.

Lin Moyu discovered another advantage of the Dragon Cavalry Legion: the combat experience of the Legion Commanders could be shared with each other.

The experiences of the Legion Commanders were as if they were shared; even a Legion Commander who had never experienced a great war could immediately become a powerful and skilled commander upon appearing on the battlefield.

Lin Moyu constantly rotated the Dragon Cavalry Legion. This was a great opportunity for training troops. He let all 3,000 Legion Commanders take turns on the field, which could be considered letting them out to get some fresh air.

Ever since he became a Heavenly Venerate, he hadn't had a decent battle where he could go all out in a long time. Especially battles between evenly matched opponents—there were almost none.

Every time he faced an enemy, they were either too weak or too strong. Too strong, to the point where his Undead Legion couldn't play any role at all, so this opportunity could not be missed.

Little Three watched, and it found its new master increasingly unfathomable. "Ma… Master, are these all your puppets?"

Lin Moyu didn't fully trust it yet and smiled slightly, "What do you think?"

Little Three said, "I can't really tell."

Lin Moyu said, "You will naturally understand in the future."

Little Three let out an 'oh,' "Then when does Master plan to rescue me?"

Lin Moyu was unhurried and said slowly, "Wait a while longer. You've been stuck for so many years; a little more time won't make a difference."

Little Three now had no right to object and could only wait honestly.

Lin Moyu's attention gradually shifted away from the battlefield and toward the gem that was trapping Little Three.

When he had first seen the gem, he knew that, like the soul gem and the elemental gem, it was one of the five gems on the scepter of calamity.

As for how to take the gem, Lin Moyu already had his own ideas, but now was not the time. He would only act after all the Chaos Corrosive Worms had been wiped out.

As for Little Three, the Heaven-Swallowing Mouse, he had ways to deal with it too. At worst, he could kill it, keep a bit of soul residue, and turn it into a Revenant. Lin Moyu was confident he could do this, so whether Little Three agreed or not didn't actually matter much.

The battle continued. Bone Hell devoured more and more Chaos Corrosive Worms, and its power was constantly increasing.

After advancing to the Heavenly Venerable Realm, Bone Hell's progress had been far too slow. Along the way, it had devoured who knew how many Heavenly Venerable Realm Chaos Corrosive Worms, and only after consuming some Dao Venerable Realm Chaos Corrosive Worms did it finally advance to a Mid-stage Heavenly Venerate.