The waves surged, the middle finger that was diverted slipped straight into a yellow rod.

In that instant, the surrounding seawater evaporated, and the entire space began to collapse. The yellow rod vanished without a sound, as if it had been sucked into a whirlpool.

However, almost simultaneously, a light burst forth from that void-like vortex.

Next, a confused Zhang Ze, still covered in snow, was spat out from the vortex.

Then came an explosion.

The explosion obliterated everything around Zhang Ze, including Fuji, who had been secretly observing from beneath the seaweed and inside the shells.

The image abruptly stopped.

"Don't panic, it's just a few of me that went down, eating a few mushrooms will bring me back."

The small Fuji squeezed Li Yueqi's face in comfort.

"That rod is..." Li Yueqi frowned and asked.

"It's Li, but don't worry, it's not dead, temporarily still alive and kicking."

With his unaffected left hand, Zhang Ze tapped his head, seemingly pondering how to explain this matter.

"Do you remember Lin Feng?" Zhang Ze spoke of a person from a long time ago.

Li Yueqi was puzzled, "I remember, your somewhat grim junior brother, I recall he went on an adventure years ago and hasn't returned yet, what's up with him?"

"He did something big, though I'm not sure what, but like the Sect Leader, he found the main helm of the Hundred Demons Sect." Zhang Ze pointed to the sky.

"And then, he has been infiltrating right under Xiao Jing's nose, though one might also say he was trapped there."

"What happened later?" Li Yueqi asked.

"My Brother Feng was incredible." Zhang Ze unconsciously used a different term, "By some means, he managed to steal a precious item from Xiao Jing's collection."

"So, the hand with the middle finger raised..." Li Yueqi vaguely realized something.

"It's Xiao Jing's treasure. Even though he has plenty of such things, this one is particularly special." Zhang Ze scratched his head with his left hand.

"But just as Brother Feng was about to succeed in his mission and return with the secret victory, this middle finger suddenly went out of control, perhaps due to some trick from Xiao Jing.

"So the snake-like maneuver and the flickering disappearance were Brother Feng trying to control this thing."

"Did he succeed?" Li Yueqi asked.

"Failed." Zhang Ze shook his head, "That thing went completely out of control, and was hit, directly pulled into the Earth Sea."

"Li purely had bad luck, transforming into a dragon there, coincidentally got thrust along."

Zhang Ze extended his right hand, raising the middle finger.

"Logically speaking, in such a situation, Li and the dead wouldn't be much different. But fortunately, it's connected to my essence, so I grabbed him at the last moment."

"But I can't pull him back."

In the brief moment they were brought close, Zhang Ze had a fleeting contact with Li and Brother Feng's divine souls, hence he knew all that he had said.

Now, he can only sense the two 'submerged' somewhere in the Earth Sea, wanting to pull them back but unable to at the moment.

Thus, he can only maintain this middle finger-raising stance, stuck here.

If he lets go, Brother Feng and Li would truly be gone.

Not only Li Yueqi, but even Old Ascender listening nearby was equally stunned, not knowing what to say.

It was the broad-minded Cat Lady Emperor who commented.

"Your Sword Sect is truly amazing, full of talents, you... um."

Li Yueqi covered the emperor's mouth, directly dragged her down.

Old Tang, who had been eavesdropping, asked seriously, "Your Brother Feng..."

"It's Lin, Brother Feng's surname is Lin." Zhang Ze corrected.

"Yes, yes, did your Brother Lin say anything else to you?" Old Tang asked.

"Yes, he warned to be careful three years later, and..." Zhang Ze halted his speech here, glanced at Lily's contact on the small walnut, then said, "Taoist, accompany me to the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion, I need to verify some things before telling you." 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Old Tang, "Let's go, go quickly, time is tight..."

...

Thousand Mechanism Pavilion.

Black Tower.

Although fishing, it indeed was invaded once, so being idle is being idle, now more layers of barriers have been added.

The storage and research layers are also separated, only those with sufficient authority can move between them.

Both Zhang Ze and Old Tang belong to this category, of course, along with Lily.

In the transitional area in the middle, Zhang Ze saw Lily.

"What are you doing?" Zhang Ze, with middle finger raised, looked at Lily, who was wrapped in bedding and wearing a huge pearl around her neck.

The pearl given by Li, although shrunk, was still the size of a fist.

As for its weight, Zhang Ze lifted it and felt its heft.

Hmm, still around a thousand pounds.

Iron-necked King Lily stiffly raised her head and said, "I will live here from now on, it's safe here, so I won't end up like Li being smashed into the ground while walking."

"I got smashed in, and no one fished me out."

Zhang Ze, "And your pearl..."

Lily, "I'm praying for Li."

Alright.

Zhang Ze raised his hand, signaling Lily to lead the way.

The three of them crossed several curtains and suddenly the ground disappeared underfoot, stepping into a dream-like space.

In the starry space, golden mist gathered into clumps, where golden branches twined together, as if golden trees blooming, each cloud cluster topped with a golden sphere, flowing with radiance.

Celestial Sect's spell [Mirage Realm], cast personally by Lu Yuzhou.

Just a step wrong, the old woman on that side will immediately sense it, then strike instantly.

Zhang Ze sighed and praised, saying it's been ages since he's seen such a traditional spell.