Nine Astra Skies

Ye Chen let out a long sigh. When he looked at Little Wingsy and noticed that Little Wingsy was kicking Little Squido around like a ball, he nearly blew his top. Little Wingsy was too naughty!

"Little Wingsy, what are you doing?" Ye Chen yelled.

"Big Brother, I'm playing kickball with Little Squido. Do you want to play too?" Little Wingsy looked over and asked cheerfully.

Ye Chen walked over and saw that Little Squido had come to a stop beside Little Wingsy. It was safe and sound and did not seem the slightest bit angry about being kicked around like a ball. It was bouncing gleefully.

"Little Squido, is Little Wingsy bullying you?" Ye Chen looked toward Little Squido and asked. Ye Chen was just about to foster a relationship with Little Squido so that Little Squido would help him. Surely this tyke Little Wingsy was not bullying Little Squido wretchedly.

Bully? Little Squido went blank for a long time.

"I didn't bully Little Squido. Little Squido was playing happily," Little Wingsy mumbled at one side.

Little Squido's eyes curved like moon crescents as it smiled and nodded hurriedly.

Ye Chen smacked his forehead. Alright, the thinking of mystical beasts was not something humans could comprehend.

"Put Little Squido back into the water. You've made a mess out of the garden," Ye Chen said. After all, Little Squido was a sea creature. Would it die if it left the water for too long? However, on second thought, mystical beasts were completely different from ordinary beasts. Was he overthinking this?

Ye Chen turned around and walked back toward the pavilion.

"Little Squido, Big Brother Ye Chen said that we're not to play kickball anymore," Little Wingsy said helplessly.

Little Squido wore a disappointed look.

"Then, shall we play some other game?" Little Wingsy bit his finger and frowned. "What shall we play?"

Little Squido stared at Little Wingsy with wide eyes.

"Why don't we play cross over the candles?" Little Wingsy suddenly had an idea and spoke excitedly.

Cross over the candles? Little Squido blinked.

"I'll lit many, many candles on the ground, and you must use your tentacles to walk over the candles to win." Little Wingsy leaped up, endlessly energized by his own idea.

Little Squido's eyes curved up and it nodded enthusiastically.

Upon hearing Little Wingsy's words, Ye Chen nearly stumbled and fell. This game was not crossing over the candles. It was more like roasting the squid, no, roasting the octopus! Little Squido agreed enthusiastically. What was going on?

Ye Chen turned back hurriedly to put a stop to Little Wingsy's ideas. If they continued playing like this, Little Squido would be played to death by Little Wingsy!

The sky gradually darkened. It was already after midnight.

Little Squido flipped over in the water, appearing bored to death.

When Ye Chen, Little Tanuki, and Little Wingsy walked over, it became enlivened once more.

"Little Squido, I have a question for you." Ye Chen squatted by the pond.

Little Squido blinked and stared at Ye Chen.

"Little Squido, having lived in Lake Nekros for so long, have you ever noticed anything strange at the bottom of the lake?" Ye Chen asked. Great Emperor Mingwu had said before that there were precious treasures left behind from ancient times at the bottom of Lake Nekros!

Anything strange? Little Squido placed one tentacle under its chin, imitating Little Wingsy's expression of contemplation. After a long while, it nodded quickly.

"So, there's good stuff in Lake Nekros!" Ye Chen's heart leaped and he said to Little Squido, "Little Squido, if you bring up those things in Lake Nekros, I'll give you something good to eat. How's that sound?" In truth, if Ye Chen used his Astral Body to command Little Squido, it would probably still obey. Nonetheless, Lake Nekros was a rather special place. Ye Chen's Astral Body could not penetrate the surface of the lake. If Little Squido ignored his orders once it was in Lake Nekros, all his efforts would be in vain. Thus, Ye Chen thought of using something to entice Little Squido.

A Dusk Octopus' lifespan was extensive. With Little Squido's current age, it was likely still a child, so its thinking was simpler.

Upon hearing the word "eat", Little Squido gave a flurry of nods, appearing overjoyed.

"Little Wingsy, carry Little Squido. Little Tanuki, let's all go to Lake Nekros," Ye Chen said in high spirits. If there were good stuff in Lake Nekros, being able to last for a thousand years in the highly corrosive waters, it must be some super treasure!

Little Tanuki jumped onto Ye Chen's shoulder. Together, they quietly exited the imperial lodgings and raced toward Lake Nekros.

The opening of Lake Nekros' canyon was heavily guarded, but the imperial lodgings did not have many guards. Little Tanuki wielded her Illusion fully, and those guards did not know that Ye Chen and the rest had come out at all.

Ye Chen knew that he had too many secrets. No matter how close he was to Master Apothecary Xuanyi and Great Emperor Mingwu, some secrets were best not shared.

By the side of Lake Nekros, the full moon hung high in the sky, gleaming pure and white.

The silhouettes of Ye Chen's group appeared on the rocky shore of the lake.

Ye Chen and Little Wingsy were carrying a bucket filled with Heavenly Pure Water. No matter what they fished out from the lake, it had to be washed in the bucket first.

They stopped by the lake. Ye Chen released Little Squido into the water.

"Little Squido, we'll wait by the shore for you. Go down and search then," Ye Chen said and waited with Little Tanuki and Little Wingsy by the shore.

Little Squido quickly nodded then dived down into the water.

It would probably take a long time for Little Squido to come back up. Ye Chen sat cross-legged on a rock and began cultivating while Little Tanuki closed her eyes and did the same by Ye Chen's side. Little Wingsy started to play with rocks at one side.

After around more than ten minutes, there was a splash in the water and Little Squido bobbed up to the surface.

"How was it, Little Squido? Did you find anything?" Ye Chen dashed to the lakeside and looked toward Little Squido.

Little Squido grinned with its eyes and nodded swiftly. It stretched out a tentacle, which Ye Chen saw was gripping a living, wriggling Red-tailed Snakehead. This fish usually lived at the bottom of the lake, but Ye Chen had caught a few before. Its value was around the same as a Red-winged Tadpole Fish.

Ye Chen smacked his forehead. Little Squido must have misunderstood. He hurriedly explained, "Little Squido, I'm not talking about fish but anything that might be strange, for instance, pearls, gems, cases, weapons, armors, and so on."

Little Squido looked at Ye Chen and thought for a long time, then grinned and nodded. It dived down once more.

After a while, Little Squido came back up again.

Ye Chen was nearly speechless. This time, Little Squido had brought up a large, slippery stone. This stone was unusual indeed. It was not corroded by the lake. Still, it was just a relatively special stone without much of a function.

Ye Chen could only let Little Squido continue dredging up things. Little Squido came up with a piece of tortoiseshell, a fishbone, and a shell.

All of these were useless to Ye Chen. Perhaps they were considered strange things to Little Squido. Ye Chen tried his best to explain words like boxes and gemstones to Little Squido, but it could not seem to understand.

After some thought, Ye Chen took out one thing after another from the armguard's space, including the Black Pearl, the Hell Rupture Sword, and so on. He let Little Squido have a look at each item. It looked like he first had to teach Little Squido to recognize what treasures were before sending it on a treasure hunt.

This time, they waited for a longer time. Little Squido had gone down for over thirty minutes before bubbles appeared with a "blub blub" sound. Little Squido had come up again. Indeed, for this round, Little Squido did not pick up another piece of junk. Rather, it was a dagger covered in dirt.

"Little Squido, put it into the bucket!" When Ye Chen saw that dagger, he cried out excitedly.

Little Squido's tentacle lifted the dagger and dropped it into the bucket. Thereafter, under Ye Chen's direction, it cleaned the dagger in the water.

After a long while, they had finally managed to clean the dagger of dirt and filth. There was a cold glint in the darkness and the gleaming dagger was presented before Ye Chen's eyes.

Little Wingsy and Little Tanuki also turned to gaze at this dagger.

"Big Brother Ye Chen, is this thing valuable?" Little Wingsy blinked and asked.

Each time they obtained a good item, Little Wingsy's first response was to ask if it was valuable. Ye Chen could only nod and pick up the dagger. Instantly, he felt the dagger humming and vibrating as if it wanted to struggle out of his grasp.

What a powerful artifact spirit! The artifact spirit of this dagger must have a strong, autonomous consciousness!

The design of this dagger was extremely peculiar as well. The hilt was studded with gems that shimmered with a subtle, green shine. The tip of the dagger was not straight but curved, forming the shape of a hook. The blade was incomparably sharp, exuding icy energy, causing one to shiver uncontrollably from the chill.

What formidable Ice-type Celestial Chi!

This dagger was definitely something valuable. Its rank was likely higher than the Hell Rupture Sword!

After a closer look, Ye Chen noticed two words - "Blue Dragon" - carved in old writing at the side of the blade.

This dagger was called the Blue Dragon Dagger?

"Little Squido, well done!" Ye Chen took out a few Soul-consolidating Pills from the armguard's space and handed them to Little Squido. Little Squido quickly devoured them and smacked its lips with a satisfied look.

Ye Chen noticed that when it came to Soul-consolidating Pills, even though just two pills would be too much for ordinary humans. Super mystical beasts like Little Wingsy and Little Squido could gulp down ten or so in one go. One or two hours after eating the pills, they could continue eating, unlike Ye Chen who had to wait a long time to finish digesting one pill.

Little Squido ate the Soul-consolidating Pills and leaped happily out of the water. Following that, it dived to the bottom once more. After the sweet taste of the reward, it was even more obsessed with treasure hunting.

Another hour had passed by. Little Squido had found a silk shirt in the lake. After cleaning the shirt, Ye Chen realized in shock that this shirt was completely undamaged despite being in the lake for so long. There was not even a small hole. It looked as if it was just made. Ye Chen did not know what type of silk it was, but the material was very soft. After some consideration, Ye Chen took out the Hell Rupture Sword from the armguard and swiped it across a corner of the shirt. He discovered that the Hell Rupture Sword was unable to cut the cloth in the slightest!

As expected, this silk shirt could withstand sword attacks. Even a high-rank spirit artifact like the Hell Rupture Sword could not cut through it! This shirt was not necessarily a spirit artifact itself for it was just its material that was unique. Nonetheless, its value would not be lower than a Tier Six or Seven spirit artifact. It might even be higher.

The silk shirt looked very small but it was like an elastic outfit that could stretch to a large size. Even if Ye Chen was one size bigger, he could still wear it.

Little Wingsy's body was incomparably tough. Naturally, he did not need a shirt like this. As for Little Tanuki, she had no way to wear this while this shirt was just what Ye Chen needed. Ye Chen took off his shirt and put on this silk shirt. The material was so soft that it was comfortable to wear. Plus, it was fitting too!

The shirt's defensive ability might be slightly inferior to the armguard, but the important thing was it could cover his entire body!

It was a pretty good item. The addition of such a shirt might turn out to be lifesaving at times!