The Yan Mo's voice ended, and the last portal of teleportation completely closed. Li Xi was stunned. How could you still smell me through the portal? Are you the ancestor of dogs?
Li Xi looked at the beheading sword in his hand, which had been cut by spatial rifts. Several huge cracks had almost split the beheading sword into several pieces, leaving only a small connection to prevent the legendary sword from becoming just a hilt in Li Xi's hand.
Li Xi was helpless. The beheading sword was already battered and bruised after only one use. If it couldn't recover on its own, it would have retired gloriously after this battle. Therefore, whether it's a person or an object, one must work hard and cannot rely on others.
As for being remembered by Yan Mo, the abyssal curse was still on him. He also learned from the memories of his shadow clones that the curse was growing. It was like the saying, "The more the lice, the less itchy; the more debts, the less worry." He would try to avoid abyssal demons in the future. If he couldn't, he would ask the great sword in his hand.
His exchange with Yan Mo was swift and sudden, lasting only ten seconds. The effects of the yellow curry pill would last for another five seconds, and Ais and the others hadn't even reached halfway. Li Xi felt the dwindling potency of the medicine in his body. He put away Yan Mo's two fingers from the ground and flapped his wings, preparing to fly back into the forest.
Ais and the others were still shouting from below, "Please wait, we have something to ask you."
"You saved us today, please give us a chance to repay you."
Li Xi had no time to pay attention to them. He only left one sentence, "Go find Li Xi. He helped me once, and I'm here this time to repay his kindness. If you want to thank me, thank him."
Li Xi gave himself a big pat on the back. He couldn't let his identity be discovered and could still accept the gifts of gratitude. Perfect.
Quickly, before the medicine wore off, Li Xi put away his dragon wings, dispelled the transformation, and then took out the only bottle of advanced holy water and drank it.
Speaking of this advanced holy water, he had to thank Meng, the Treasure Delivery Boy, Ke. This was his bottom-of-the-barrel good stuff. It wasn't that the item was expensive, but rather that advanced holy water was non-saleable. No matter how much money you had, they wouldn't sell it to you. They would only give it to those who had made outstanding contributions to the cult.
As soon as he drank the holy water, the effects of the yellow curry pill wore off.
The strength of being able to move mountains just now seemed to have opened an outlet, flowing away in an instant. He had no strength left, like after dozens of rounds in one night, completely drained. Moving a finger felt like moving a mountain, and the pain emanating from the depths of his bones made Li Xi want to knock himself unconscious. Unfortunately, he didn't even have the strength to do that now.
Before Li Xi could sink into sadness and despair, the gentle power of the holy water began to take effect. The warmth, like a mother's care, reduced the pain in his bones. Although it didn't disappear completely, it was within an acceptable range.
The feeling of powerlessness in his body was also being restored by the holy water. By the time Ais anxiously found him, Li Xi already looked like a normal person on the outside, showing no sign of his emptiness. As for the inner strength, that would require some time to nurture.
Li Xi pretended not to know anything and said, "Sister Ais, why are you here?"
"Someone is handling things over there, and Lord Mourinho has closed the abyssal portal. If I didn't come to find you, I'd be afraid you'd get lost in the forest. Why have you never told me you knew such a powerful person?"
"Haha, didn't I tell you?" Li Xi forced himself to remain calm, quickly thinking of a countermeasure.
Facing Ais's interrogative gaze, Li Xi remained unruffled. "Lord Mourinho told me not to say. This time, I just finished a mission and heard you were in danger, so I begged him to help. It seems I had great foresight. If not for Lord Mourinho, I would have been left here today."
Ais seemed to want to ask something else, but Li Xi quickly changed the subject. "Sister Ais, how did you encounter so many abyssal demons? And weren't they underground? How did they teleport here?"
A confused expression flickered across Ais's face. She said to Li Xi, "This is very strange. Two days ago, we suddenly received news that Bauer had appeared on the third floor underground of the manor. I was with other cult priests, and without thinking, we led some mercenaries and rushed over. To our surprise, as soon as we went down, we were teleported here. We didn't see Bauer's men, and were surrounded by countless demons. We didn't have time to teleport back and were caught off guard, losing more than half our men."
At this point, Ais's confusion deepened. "It's strange, with our strength, we couldn't resist such a large number of demons, but the horned demons didn't attack. They just let the lesser demons continuously wear us down. I don't know why. Otherwise, we would have died and returned to the divine kingdom long ago."
Li Xi questioned, "Who sent you the message?"
"It was a guard from the City Lord's mansion. They said it was because the City Lord had sent half of the guard team to find the young master, and they didn't have enough strength to pursue Bauer, so they hoped we would help."
"Heh," Li Xi let out a cold laugh. Judging by the strength he saw on the third floor underground, not to mention Yan Mo, even those twenty horned demons were no match. If Yan Mo had truly come out to fight, it would have been uncertain who would win or lose until the end. The old mage, who could be Li Xi's great-grandfather, was clearly not to be trifled with.
Now Ais told him that it was the City Lord's mansion that asked for their help because they lacked strength. Looking at it now, it was a lie. Li Xi couldn't help but wonder, what role did the City Lord's mansion play in this matter?
Ais looked at the thoughtful Li Xi and patted his shoulder. "Hurry up and go. You don't need to think about what's going on here. We'll investigate thoroughly when we get back. Whoever colludes with Bauer to be a traitor will be shown by the gods that traitors never have a good end."
Ais could see that Li Xi was suspecting something, but if Li Xi could think of it, they couldn't. People who could survive the chaotic years would think twice before acting. This time, they were just caught off guard due to lack of preparation. There wouldn't be a next time. They must make some people pay the price when they returned.
"What can I think? But next time there's danger, you must inform me promptly. I believe I still have the strength to protect you."
Li Xi and Ais walked back to the canyon, laughing and joking, just as the others were finishing off the crippled horned demons.
The moment Li Xi walked back, the last surviving horned demon was killed. However, just before it died, it felt Li Xi's presence. It was about to turn its head to roar at Li Xi, but before it could make a move, its neck was severed by someone else at the last moment, leaving only a head with angry, half-open eyes.
Seeing this, Li Xi touched his non-existent cold sweat on his forehead. If he had returned a step earlier, his identity would have been revealed. This abyssal curse was truly a curse. He had to be careful in the future.
These surviving mercenaries were like a swarm of locusts passing through, packing up everything they could carry, and picking the best things if they couldn't carry them all. Although the two days of battle were tough, the gold coins they could divide from this trip were enough for them to spend for several years. If they had a little more savings, they could even retire and live comfortably.
Li Xi didn't fight them for the corpses. Instead, he went to where Yan Mo had dropped his great hammer.
Li Xi looked at the hammer, which was taller than himself, and showed an envious expression. With a weight of tens of tons, if one could swing it, forget about dragons or mountain apes, even a mountain could be smashed down.
Unfortunately, it was too heavy, far beyond Li Xi's current ability to bear. Moreover, such a large item couldn't fit into a spatial ring.
Ais walked over, looked at the great hammer, and introduced it to Li Xi. "This should be made from Simo metal from the 166th layer of the abyss. It's ten times stronger than ordinary weapons and can also enhance Yan Mo's fire attribute attacks. The only drawback is that it's too large. Once it's shaped, it's very difficult to recast. On the continent, apart from a few veteran dwarf masters, no one else can handle it."
Li Xi's heart felt as if it had been chilled by an Arctic glacier upon hearing Ais's words. "So you're saying..."
"So it's a waste. Apart from a few giants of extremely rare races, I can't think of anyone else who could use this weapon."
Li Xi, who had a hobby of collecting weapons, had taken a liking to this great hammer after being sent flying by it. Now, after Ais's explanation, it was truly a useless item, the kind that even scrap metal dealers wouldn't pay for.
Apart from this great hammer, nothing else here held any interest for Li Xi. Seeing Ais by his side, Li Xi suddenly remembered his plan to buy a house and then timidly asked in a low voice, "Sister Ais, I've earned some money recently and want to buy a bigger house, but I don't know which place is good. Do you have any suggestions?"
"Ah? Change houses?" Ais looked at Li Xi with eyes that seemed about to melt her, and her heart couldn't help but pound. Asking her such a private question, wasn't that inappropriate?
"For example, the street you live on, or if there's an empty house next to yours, or perhaps you could even rent me a room in your house. I feel that a house where Sister Ais lives must meet my requirements." Seeing that Ais didn't react much, Li Xi accelerated his offensive.
"There are no empty houses near my place, not even one. You should look elsewhere." After saying that, Ais, her face blushing, scurried away to another place.
For the next period of time, Ais always avoided Li Xi. Even if she couldn't avoid him, she would pull others along, acting like someone who had never been in love and was full of apprehension.
When the canyon was completely cleared, Amber, who had gone to modify the teleportation gate, sent news that she had successfully modified the one-way teleportation gate into a two-way one. They could now return directly through the teleportation gate without having to walk hundreds of kilometers laboriously.
When everyone returned to the cave, Amber pulled Ais aside and whispered to her. While they were talking, Amber kept glancing at Li Xi, and Ais's face would occasionally turn red.
Seeing this, Li Xi couldn't help but wonder if Amber was discussing with Ais what gift she should give when he and Ais got married? Or perhaps she would be their child's godmother? Or maybe she too was conquered by his bravery and fearlessness today and wanted Ais to introduce her to be more than just friends?
Just as Li Xi was about to burst out laughing, Ais, who had regained her usual professionalism, picked up her staff, her face like iron. "Let's go. We sacrificed so many mercenaries and priests this time, they must give us an explanation."
Indeed, an explanation was due. When tidying up the battlefield, not even fragments of the fallen mercenaries and priests could be found. As for where the bodies went, did that even need to be asked? The stomach acid of the lesser demons could even dissolve low-quality metal.
Everyone entered the teleportation gate in turn. Ais was at the front, and Li Xi was arranged at the very end. Li Xi understood that this was because Ais was too shy to publicly acknowledge their relationship. It would be fine after they got married and had children.
When Li Xi teleported back to the third floor underground, the entire underground atmosphere was extremely oppressive. He saw Ais leading everyone to surround the three generals, led by Mark. Ais pressed her staff against Mark's chest. The gem on the head of the staff was emitting a magical glow. This was a state where the magic was about to be unleashed and could be fired at any moment. At such a close distance, even dragon scales could be blown off. Mark's face was dripping with cold sweat, as if he had a faucet without a valve installed on his head. In just a few breaths, his entire body was drenched.