Chapter 77: Ding Hao's Revenge

Outside the Tang Family Business, beyond the mysterious base.

"Go!"

Several Tang Family employees rode on horned horses, escorting a beast-drawn cart to the end of the road. They dismounted, took out their badges, and scanned them over the green stones. Soon, the array opened a gap.

Inside the array, Tang Cai, seeing that everyone outside was from the business, opened the array. Then, the employees pulled the cart into the array.

The production of the Eye-Washing Spirit Liquid was limited, so every so often, a cart would come to transport a batch.

In this base, the second manager was responsible for receiving and dispatching goods, while Elder Zhu was in charge of tending to the spirit trees.

These two usually did not come out, spending their time cultivating in the small building.

Tang Cai and Tang Bao led this group into the small building and began loading the goods.

Taking advantage of this moment, a figure emerged again from the Star Absorption Stone.

This figure was none other than Ding Hao!

He had been cultivating inside the array for two whole days. During this time, he not only broke through to the Ninth Stage of the Innate Realm but also completely refined the Original Core, reaching the Great Perfection of the Innate Realm!

The Original Core was now completely refined, and it had become a vast, boundless sea of qi!

After reaching the Great Perfection of the Innate Realm, one had to wait for the qi sea to generate waves and could not continue cultivating.

At this point, Ding Hao was preparing to find a way to leave. However, his vengeful nature was hard to change, and he had to do something before he left.

"Either don't do it, or do it thoroughly!"

"The Tang Family Business set up numerous traps in Earth City, and the head manager even rushed to Wuzhou City to frame me. If I don't take revenge, wouldn't I be letting down your long-term 'care'?"

With this thought, Ding Hao put on the Star Absorption Stone ring, placed his hands on the tree, and a sinister smile flashed in his eyes. "Tang Family Business, Head Manager Tang, and Little Prince, blame yourselves!"

Star Absorption Spell, absorb!

Ding Hao's qi sea was already full, so now everything he absorbed went directly into the Star Absorption Stone space. He could feel the spiritual energy in his meridians surging into the Star Absorption Stone like a mad sea.

He clearly felt that the space inside the Star Absorption Stone was rapidly expanding!

Originally, the space inside the Star Absorption Stone was only as large as a small room, but now it was growing bigger, becoming a large room, a grand hall, and even a square!

On this square, snowflakes were floating. These were not real snowflakes but the medicinal power of the Eye-Washing Tree Spring. These powders, when dissolved in clear water, would become equally effective Eye-Washing Spirit Liquid!

Ding Hao's plan was to absorb the Eye-Washing Tree Spring to death. However, at this moment, something unexpected happened in the Star Absorption Stone space!

The Star Absorption Stone space slowly expanded, and snowflakes floated. Amidst these snowflakes, wisps of blood clouds began to emerge!

These blood clouds were originally divided into countless parts, hidden within the Star Absorption Stone space. But now that the space had opened, these blood clouds were released and gathered in the center of the Star Absorption Stone space, forming a dense cloud of blood.

The blood cloud grew thicker, and within it, a faint figure could be seen.

"Drinking wine and singing, how long is life? A calm mind, free from dust..."

Suddenly, a man's sigh came from the blood cloud.

Hearing this, Ding Hao was startled.

Every time he used the Star Absorption Stone to enter perfect tranquility, he would hear this voice. Ding Hao had always thought it was the Star Absorption Stone itself, but now he realized that there was someone inside the Star Absorption Stone, and this sigh was from that person!

The more spiritual energy Ding Hao absorbed, the more blood clouds seeped out, and the figure became clearer. Ding Hao was a bit afraid. If he released an old demon, wouldn't he be courting death?

"Fine, I'll leave the Eye-Washing Tree Spring with a breath of life." He looked down and saw that the second green vortex on the Star Absorption Stone was fully lit. He wanted to light the third vortex, but seeing the overwhelming blood cloud, he decided against it.

"This is enough. Even revenge shouldn't be blind; it's more important to figure out who this figure is."

Ding Hao then prepared to return to the Star Absorption Stone space to investigate the figure.

However, just as he was about to enter, he unexpectedly found a layer of emerald-green jade pieces on the ground.

"Jade Leaf Jade!" This jade was the best in the Nine Provinces, and the best product of the Nine Provinces. The statue of Fairy Wu was carved from a superlative piece of Jade Leaf Jade.

"This jade is incredibly valuable, and I didn't expect it to be the fertilizer for the Eye-Washing Tree Spring. No matter, I'll take all the valuable things!"

Ding Hao then scooped up all the Jade Leaf Jade on the ground and returned to the Star Absorption Stone space.

In the nearby small building, Tang Cai and Tang Bao had already loaded the small gourds onto the cart.

One of the employees who came to transport the goods said, "There's a bit less spirit liquid. The head manager instructed us to prepare more goods, as the provincial exams are coming up in a month."

Tang Cai replied, "I'll go ask the second manager."

Soon, the second manager appeared on the small building and said, "Then go and load more."

The small door on the light screen opened, and Tang Cai and Tang Bao took the small gourds and went back to load more spirit liquid.

Ding Hao was originally planning to find a way out, but this was perfect. Dahuang was very smart and ran in. After two days, Tang Cai and Tang Bao had become very familiar with Dahuang and did not drive him away.

However, at this moment, the second manager on the second floor noticed and shouted, "What's going on? Where did this stray dog come from? How could a stray dog appear in the array?"

Tang Cai and Tang Bao were terrified. Tang Bao quickly said, "Second manager, it's a pet I keep for fun!"

The second manager roared, "Can you just keep anything for fun? What if it's a beast raised by someone else to spy on us?"

Tang Cai and Tang Bao turned green with fear. "It won't happen..."

The second manager angrily said, "How can it not happen? Get rid of this dog quickly!"

Ding Hao heard this clearly inside the Star Absorption Stone and was secretly alarmed. He clenched his fists, ready to fight if Dahuang was in danger. After all, he was now at the Great Perfection of the Innate Realm and could take a stand.

Fortunately, at this moment, Elder Zhu came out from downstairs. Although Elder Zhu was a demon cultivator, he had the ability to communicate with spirit trees, and he was in charge of tending to the high-grade spirit trees here, so his words carried weight.

Elder Zhu said, "It's just a stray dog, no need to make a fuss. It's fine."

The second manager had to give him some face. He coldly hummed, "Tang Cai and Tang Bao, be more careful when you bring things in."

With that, Tang Cai and Tang Bao both breathed a sigh of relief, and so did Ding Hao.

The second manager no longer asked, and Dahuang walked into the light screen. Then, he came out with the Star Absorption Stone in his mouth. Who would have thought a dog could play such a trick right under their noses? Soon, Dahuang came to the side of the cart, and Ding Hao whispered in the Star Absorption Stone, "Put the stone on the cart and follow the cart out."

Dahuang circled around and climbed into the cart, throwing the Star Absorption Stone on the ground and using his paws to push it into a corner. Then, Dahuang's figure flashed and was also absorbed into the Star Absorption Stone.

"So big!" Dahuang was shocked when he entered the Star Absorption Stone space.

When he left, the space inside the Star Absorption Stone was only the size of a small room, but now it had become a large square. How could he not be shocked?

However, what shocked him even more was the blood cloud in the center of the square. The blood cloud was surging, and a figure in a long robe could be seen within.

Dahuang ran over, his dog eyes wide with surprise. "What is this?"

Ding Hao said, "Remember the four lines you hear every time you enter perfect tranquility?"

"Uh-huh." Dahuang nodded; he was very familiar with those four lines.

"It's him."

Ding Hao and Dahuang looked at the blood cloud with mixed feelings. In a way, the blood cloud had done them a favor. Dahuang had even started cultivating because of those four lines! But they were also afraid of the blood cloud, unsure what would happen if it grew stronger.

"Hey, senior, can you say something?" Ding Hao asked.

However, the figure in the blood cloud seemed not to hear, muttering to itself, "Drinking wine and singing, how long is life? A calm mind, free from dust."

"Fine, let him be." Ding Hao had to turn away.

But when he looked back, he saw the demon vine eating the Jade Leaf Jade!

Ding Hao had casually picked up the Jade Leaf Jade and thrown it in a corner, not knowing its use. The demon vine had pounced on it and was eating it, one piece at a time. Ding Hao hadn't noticed, and it had already eaten more than half.

"Damn, you dare to steal! You despicable thief!" Although Ding Hao had stolen it himself, he still harshly condemned the act of stealing without permission.

He put away the remaining Jade Leaf Jade, and the emerald-green demon vine unhappily slithered to a corner to digest it.

Outside, the Tang Family employees were busy, and the cart was loaded with a full load of yellow-green small gourds. These gourds were spatial items and could not be stored in storage pouches, so they had to be transported by cart.

"We'll be going now."

"That's all we can have before the provincial exams. Be careful on the road."

After loading, the employees mounted their horses and drove the cart away.

In the array, the first to sense something was wrong was Elder Zhu. His task was to tend to the high-grade spirit tree, and his immortal root could communicate with the spirit tree.

However, today he felt something was off, though it wasn't severe at first. After the cart left, his feeling became even more wrong, and he came to the light screen, only to find that he could no longer communicate with the spirit tree.

This terrified him, and he shouted, "Second manager, quickly open the light screen and let me in. The tree spring has closed its consciousness!"