Chapter 7: Beauty (Part 2)

Ezek grinned foolishly and said, “No!” Then he kissed her. Everyone watched in sweat—this guy was truly fierce; in fact, both of them were extremely fierce. With that kiss, Beauty’s resistance weakened instantly. Ezek didn’t stop; as he kissed her, he cursed, “You stupid woman! I’m your man!”
Guo Shier looked at Halechi with sympathy. Halechi gritted his teeth so hard his cheeks swelled. Gnashing his teeth, he said, “You guys… stop gloating!” He was already on edge from everyone’s stares.
Yao Zebusong laughed heartily.
Guo Shier muttered, “I’m not gloating—I’m sympathetic, deeply sympathetic…” He couldn’t help but laugh. How could such extreme characters exist here? It was amusing.
Finally, the battle ended. Beauty surrendered, and Ezek won. The two stood up, holding hands. Ezek said, “Everyone, come down.” Only then did they descend from the air, their expressions strange.
Halechi muttered with a bitter smile, “Sigh, I’m doomed, so unlucky.”
Ezek politely invited everyone to sit around the fire pit. Li Ran sat next to Guo Shier, Qi Wuzhen sat on the other side, and Halechi deliberately sat across from her just to get another look at her and feel a bit better. Ezek took Beauty and sat far away from Halechi. Zhen Wuji, Goha, and Yao Zebusong sat casually, all indifferent.
Ezek said, “My Beauty… didn’t receive the inheritance. It’s my turn to pass it on, but the effect isn’t very good. Could you all pass it on once?” He was straightforward, saying whatever came to mind.
Li Ran hesitated for a moment. After all, the other party was a mutated talisman beast. Whether receiving the inheritance would threaten humans was a crucial issue, so he stayed silent. Qi Wuzhen ignored the question entirely. Goha and Yao Zebusong kept their heads down, and Guo Shier and Zhen Wuji certainly wouldn’t speak up either. Halechi curled his lips—if this woman received the inheritance, his life would likely become even harder.
The atmosphere grew cold for a while. Ezek looked at everyone expectantly. After a long pause, he said disappointedly, “You don’t want to pass it on?”
Li Ran raised his head and said calmly, “It’s not impossible to receive the inheritance, but… it can’t be given for free.”
Ezek became happy again and said, “What are the conditions? As long as I can meet them, I definitely won’t refuse.”

Meili also understood that this was related to her own growth. Her scarlet eyes stared intently at Li Ran. Everyone looked at Li Ran in surprise—what condition could make him pass on his inheritance? Almost everyone coughed, including Guo Shier, as everyone knew how important inheritance was.
Li Ran said, “If you want to obtain the inheritance, then… you must join our team.” As soon as he spoke, Guo Shier and Qi Wu Zhen understood what he meant—he wanted to take these two away from this world.
Ezek said, “Join your team?”
Li Ran nodded. “Both of you must join. Well, for thirty years, wherever we go, you must follow us. You cannot leave. Also, my inheritance… must not be passed on to anyone else… No, it cannot be passed on to other Abnormal Talisman Beasts.”
Ezek knew what Li Ran and the others planned, so he agreed without hesitation. “No problem. After thirty years, we can leave freely?”
Li Ran smiled and nodded. “Yes, that’s the requirement.”
Goha and Yao Zebusong looked displeased. They didn’t realize Li Ran intended to take these two away from this world. After hesitating for a while, Goha finally couldn’t hold back and asked, “Is this appropriate?”
Li Ran said, “I’ll be responsible for everything.”
Goha stopped insisting. Knowing he couldn’t stop them, he murmured, “I hope you understand what you’re doing.”
Qi Wu Zhen said calmly, “He knows what he’s doing. There’s no need for you to worry.”
Goha nodded. He still admired Li Ran and Qi Wu Zhen deeply. Both of them seemed confident, which reassured him.
Li Ran said, “Meili, come here.” Meili stood up and came to his side. Li Ran then said, “Sit down.” Meili sat cross-legged, her thick tail swaying continuously behind her. Li Ran reached out and gently touched her forehead. In an instant, a large amount of information flooded into her soul.
Meili let out a loud scream. Ezek shouted, “Don’t move around! Stupid woman!”
Soon, Li Ran realized that Meili couldn’t bear such intense soul inheritance. Fortunately, he was prepared. He only gave her a relatively simple inheritance and also placed a Soul Talisman in her soul to control her. This measure was necessary—after all, a powerful master at the peak level wouldn’t take someone along without a means of control.
After a while, the inheritance was complete. Li Ran smiled and said, “Ezek, let me pass on the inheritance to you too.”
Ezek was delighted. “Okay.” He also sat in front of Li Ran.

Guo Shier knew Li Ran’s tactics, so he felt relieved. With two experts joining, the entire squad’s strength soared once again. Even if they left this small world and went to the Star Sacrifice, their squad’s strength would still be astonishing.

An soul talisman was also given to Ezekiel. Li Ran took precautions—after leaving this small world, such talismans might lose their effect. By then, Li Ran wouldn’t need to control the two of them anymore, as leaving the small world meant they would lose their foundation, and there were no Abnormal Talisman Beasts in the outside world.

After receiving the inheritance, Ezekiel and his wife needed some time to digest and absorb it, to sort out their thoughts—something everyone understood, so no one disturbed them. Everyone dispersed to search for materials, agreeing to return in three days. Li Ran specifically instructed everyone not to go too far.

Guo Shier left alone. He didn’t activate the altar either but walked straight into the dense forest.

It was an ancient forest with crisscrossing branches and no paths. But this didn’t bother Guo Shier—he could fly. It had been a long time since he had walked through the dense forest. He leaped up, stepped on a branch, and effortlessly moved through a gap, flying swiftly through the trees and crossing the forest in moments.

A stream flowed through the valley, and Guo Shier landed on a huge rock. The place was extremely primitive, teeming with various creatures. Following the stream upstream, there was a massive mountain not far away. Guo Shier walked aimlessly when the handsome old man poked his head out and asked, “Shier, where are you going?”

Guo Shier replied, “I don’t know. I’m just walking around.”

The handsome old man said, “There are many plants here. Look for any we haven’t collected yet. Your altar sanctuary is still empty and needs plenty of plants to replenish it.”

Guo Shier said, “I haven’t seen anything special… most of them are common.”

The handsome old man said, “This place has been sealed for who knows how many years. There should be many unique plants. First, collect them with the Soul Stabilizing Cauldron, and then I’ll transplant them to the altar sanctuary.”

Guo Shier had high standards now. He ignored plants that weren’t rare, but he persisted in collecting various distinctive fruit trees. The altar sanctuary had all kinds of fruit trees—at least hundreds of varieties, most of which he had never seen in his past life. As for the fruits, most were used for brewing wine.

With careful searching, one can still find many good things. For example, Guo Shier discovered several trees that were quite special—with straight trunks, perfect for making talismans—so he put them straight into the Soul Calming Cauldron. He continued searching in this manner and soon became immersed in it. He had a collecting habit; Taobao was his favorite, and since everything here was unclaimed, he could take whatever he liked and put it into the Soul Calming Cauldron without spending a penny.

There were some plants Guo Shier had never seen before, and he didn’t have time to study them carefully, so he simply put them into the Soul Calming Cauldron as well. After all, they would be transplanted to the secret realm; if they were harmful rather than useful, he could remove them later.

Two days later, Guo Shier found the collapsed altar in a relatively open area. He said, “Elder Shuai, this must be the altar Ezekiel mentioned, right?”

Elder Shuai poked his head out, observed briefly, and said, “It should be that altar. It’s been heavily damaged. Look over there… there’s a big crack in the altar. Go take a look.”

Guo Shier walked over. The ground was covered with broken stones and some weeds, with a small tree growing crookedly on the shattered altar. Several snakes slithered out from the cracks in the altar. Guo Shier reached out and picked up a fragment that had fallen from the altar; it had several ancient runes on it, but they had lost all spiritual power, leaving only traces of the runes.

With a slight push, the fragment turned into dust, just like soil.

Elder Shuai said, “That person… probably also got lost here. Who knows how many years have passed— the altar has already become unstable.”

Guo Shier leaped to the top of the altar and saw a huge crack there. Then he noticed a jade talisman inside the crack. He reached out and caught it; the talisman jumped into his hand. He placed it on his forehead. In fact, with his current strength, he didn’t really need to do this, but it was a habit he’d developed since childhood.

After a moment, Guo Shier handed the talisman to Elder Shuai and said, “What a pitiful guy. An ancient professional from a four-tier altar, yet he didn’t even know how he ended up on this continent. His talismans were completely ineffective, leaving him trapped here alive. His luck was absolutely terrible.”

Elder Shuai also examined the talisman and said, “That’s quite normal. Many high-level professionals die for similar reasons. He had bad luck and insufficient strength, so he could only wait to die.”

Guo Shier sighed and said, “The higher the rank of a professional, the greater the dangers they face.”

Due to their superior skills, advanced professionals dare to go anywhere, which often leads to their deaths and is also the reason why many who go out to explore or collect materials disappear without a trace. Guo Shier also found himself in danger several times; a single misstep could mean he would never be able to escape.

The handsome old man sighed as well; he shared the same feelings. Advanced professionals may seem glorious on the surface, but they face risks many times greater than those of lower-level professionals. He himself had perished in a great battle. If it weren’t for Guo Shier coming to search for the altar, he would never have had a chance to succeed in life.

Guo Shier said, “It’s almost time. Let’s go back.”

The handsome old man nodded. “Mm, it’s been almost three days. I wonder if the Aizek couple have woken up. I never thought Senior Li Ran… would really pass on his legacy to them. If anything goes wrong in the future, that would be troublesome.”

Among them, Guo Shier knew Li Ran best. He said, “Don’t worry. Brother Li Ran is much more cautious than us. There won’t be any problems.”

The two stopped talking. Guo Shier activated the altar and quickly returned.

When they arrived at the gathering place, they saw Aizek with an excited expression, his beautiful crimson eyes filled with affection as he stared at Halechi, while Halechi’s peach-colored eyes were fixed intently on Qi Wu Zhen. After landing, Guo Shier asked, “Has the inheritance ended?”