The post-apocalyptic highways had been ravaged by all sorts of Aberrant Beasts and Mutant Plants, and without regular maintenance, they had long since fallen into disrepair, no longer suitable for high-speed driving. The temporary lodging was over a hundred and fifty li from the Tancheng Base. The team set out a little past six in the morning and wasn't expected to arrive until noon.
Qibao secretly complained to the Snake Demon in the tower: "This kind of ride isn't comfortable at all."
The space was cramped, forcing them to sit, the seats were hard as a board, and every now and then there was a violent jolt.
This disdain had nothing to do with Lu Feng and the others—it was Qibao's overall contempt for the modes of transportation invented by the humans of this world.
Yin Mo: "It's this car that's no good. When I was exploring nearby before, I collected several different models—there's a luxury sedan that's comfortable whether you're sitting or leaning back, a motorhome with a bed, and a two-wheeled bike that gives you no sense of restraint at all but is especially bumpy."
Yin Mo, who had first left the mountains five years ago, was just as ignorant as Qibao was now, but he was meticulous and cautious. Before he even got close to the base, he ran into two teams of Ability Users slaughtering each other, dressed in clothes completely different from the people of the Cultivation Continent. Yin Mo lurked in the shadows, and after the victors left, he stripped the clothes off a male Ability User, then queued up with some survivors heading to Tancheng Base and blended right in, obtaining an Identity Bracelet and the human identity of Yin Mo, an A-rank Ability User.
Not long after entering the base, Yin Mo ran into the Ox Demon Cheng Qingfeng. This fellow had been judged by the detection device as an A-rank Ox Spiritual Entity with A-rank Earth-type Ability. In truth, A-rank already counted as a high-level Ability User within the base, and Cheng Qingfeng was also the most even-tempered of the seven Great Demons. Fearing that he might one day be suppressed by the Qibao Tower again, he decided to stay at Tancheng Base, enjoying his long-lost freedom while waiting for the Qibao Tower to reappear.
To make a living, Cheng Qingfeng formed his own mercenary squad, earning points by hunting Aberrant Beasts outside.
Cheng Qingfeng was very hospitable, so Yin Mo stayed with him for a while. When Cheng Qingfeng was busy, Yin Mo went out on his own to observe and learn about the base.
Before long, Yin Mo witnessed the wealth disparity within the base. A-rank Ability Users lived quite well, but above A-rank there was still S-rank.
Before the apocalypse, Tancheng had been the capital of a major province, bordered by mountainous regions on its east, west, and south sides—mountains teeming with wildlife. When the apocalypse descended, the mutated beasts in those mountains all surged toward the densely populated Tancheng area at once, plunging it into a grave crisis of potential extinction. One after another, over thirty S-rank powerhouses awakened across Tancheng and its surrounding counties. These powerhouses quickly banded together to establish Tancheng Base, taking in survivors who came seeking refuge while joining forces to fend off the Aberrant Beasts outside.
In just three years, after repelling dozens of Beast Tides of varying scale, killing over thirty S-rank Aberrant Beasts, and sacrificing half of their S-rank powerhouses, Tancheng Base finally secured a firm foothold in this land. The high-level Aberrant Beasts in the surrounding mountains no longer dared to descend recklessly to attack humans, and the people in the base began to return to a relatively stable life.
Situated in a Tancheng Base like this, Yin Mo found it hard to adapt.
Because before he had been sealed inside the Qibao Tower, he had ruled as a king over his domain for centuries. Everyone who had heard of him—whether demon beasts or common folk—held him in deep awe. In those days, Yin Mo occupied the mountain range with the densest Spiritual Qi for thousands of li around, dwelled in the deepest pool where the Spiritual Qi was richest, and had plundered countless treasures to adorn his cave.
So Yin Mo was, in truth, a Millennial Great Demon who placed great importance on status and comfort. And yet, Tancheng Base had seventeen human Ability Users who could easily kill or control him, plus hundreds upon hundreds of A-rank Ability Users who could stand on equal footing with him. Yin Mo found everything about it uncomfortable.
Since there was no solving the problem of strength, Yin Mo decided to create for himself a standard of living that rivaled or even surpassed that of S-rank Ability Users.
Yin Mo first partnered with Cheng Qingfeng, hunting large numbers of B-rank and A-rank Aberrant Beasts to exchange for several hundred thousand points. With those points, he built himself a three-story villa in the mid-ring district, where C-rank and D-rank residents were the majority. Building the villa was only the first step—Yin Mo still had to work for the furniture. But around that time, Cheng Qingfeng left because he disliked the base's scheming and dog-eat-dog nature. Losing his partner, Yin Mo didn't want to risk venturing into the mountains, so he went alone as a snake to other abandoned cities north of the base to scavenge high-end appliances, furniture, and vehicles. After months of hiding and picking through his options, he finally gathered everything he needed and brought it back, hiring workers to make minor repairs so it could be used.
When Yin Mo stood in a black silk pajama set, holding a glass of red wine before the floor-to-ceiling window of the villa's master bedroom, looking at the black Phantom, black Bugatti, and black Cullinan parked side by side in the courtyard, and then glancing at the ordinary human Ability Users scurrying like ants on the distant streets, Yin Mo finally felt at ease.
Unfortunately, he only got to show off the Cullinan a few times in the central district before the son of an S-rank Ability User in the inner city got wind of it. The man came looking for him with a gang of A-rank enforcers, smiling as he asked to "borrow" the Cullinan.
Yin Mo lent it to him.
It was because of this borrowed car that Yin Mo no longer liked staying in the base. He packed his carefully selected furniture into the Internal Space that all Great Demons possessed, sold his villa, and spent his days wandering the mountains. When he needed to return to the base, he would change into ordinary clothes, drive an ordinary off-road vehicle, and pick some random mercenary hotel to stay at for a few nights.
Recalling this old grievance, Yin Mo's vertical pupils narrowed.
Qibao, who didn't constantly monitor what he was doing inside the tower, didn't see this. She only heard the fellow suddenly let out a sigh.
Only then did Qibao sweep the first floor of the tower with her Spiritual Sense, and saw Yin Mo's serpentine head lowered over a book, its open pages displaying a black car that looked like it had the luster of a Magic Treasure.
Qibao: "So this is the luxury car you were talking about?"
Yin Mo kept his head lowered and said, "Mm. It's called a Cullinan—equivalent to a top-tier transportation Magic Treasure on the Cultivation Continent. I worked hard to find an ownerless one, but four years ago some rich brat borrowed it and still hasn't returned it to me."
Qibao: "…It really was ownerless? And some rich brat actually dared to bully you?"
Yin Mo raised his head, his dark-gold vertical pupils slowly rounding out so the Tower Spirit could see his resentment clearly: "Of course it was ownerless. The whole villa had collapsed, and this car was parked in the underground garage, so no one had ever discovered it. Don't worry—I was imprisoned by you humans for three thousand years for nearly harming people. Now that I've finally regained my freedom, I'd rather swallow some humiliation from humans than dare take the slightest advantage of them again, lest some immortal's treasure tower pops out of nowhere to back up humanity."
"As for bullying—you saw with your own eyes how I almost got beaten to death by a pair of A-rank Ability Users. The man who borrowed my car is A-rank himself, brought a bunch of A-rank enforcers, and has an S-rank father. How could I dare not lend it?"
Qibao: "…Do you believe in karma? Throw your weight around in a past life, swallow your pride in this one."
The moment Yin Mo heard that, his round pupils instantly narrowed into slits, and his entire serpentine body tensed up, as if he were about to lose control and go berserk at any second.
Even if he went berserk, it wouldn't affect Qibao, but she still soothed him: "Alright, you're clearly the victim here. Since I know about it now, I'll definitely get justice for you. Give me a few more days to get familiar with the base, and then I'll go find that man and get your car back."
Yin Mo relaxed, his serpentine head drifting back over the luxury car brochure as he murmured, "If you really get it back for me, I'll be your driver from now on."
As for how long that would last—that would depend on her performance.
Around ten in the morning, still an hour's drive from the base, Gao Jincheng awkwardly asked Lu Feng to stop the car. He needed to step out and relieve himself.
That was just the state of the apocalypse—either you let go of your reservations, or you held it in.
Fang Linqing glanced at Qibao.
Qibao didn't need to go, but she pretended she did, heading into a small patch of woods by the roadside with Fang Linqing, in the opposite direction from Gao Jincheng.
Fang Linqing picked a tree. Qibao walked a few steps away and ducked behind another tree that was thick enough for two people to wrap their arms around.
Yin Mo: "Let me out. I'll take a roundabout route back to the base, then pretend to be one of the relatives you're looking for, and run into you outside the base."
Qibao instinctively refused: "If I let you out, what's to stop you from running off?"
Yin Mo: "If I really wanted to escape, would I have wasted five years around Tan City? Besides, I still need to get my car back. Until I do, even if you tried to chase me away, I wouldn't leave."
Qibao: "It's just a car. Search a few more ruined cities and you're bound to find another."
Yin Mo: "It's not that simple. The farther you get from the base, the more Aberrant Beasts there are. I nearly got caught by an S-rank eagle on my way to find this one. And don't overestimate my generosity—if someone takes something of mine, unless I manage to take it back, I'll hold a grudge against them for the rest of my life. I'd even delay my Ascension just to settle that score first."
Qibao: "Words are cheap. There's no way I'm letting you out of my sight."
Yin Mo paced restlessly around the tower in agitation.
Qibao ignored him. She walked back to the road with Fang Linqing, who had finished her business. But instead of getting back in the car, Qibao spoke through the window to Captain Lu Feng: "I just remembered there's something I haven't taken care of. You all go on ahead. I'll come to the base later—we'll meet again if fate allows."
None of the five in the team wanted to leave her behind, but Qibao was adamant that she didn't need their help. Lu Feng had no choice but to find a piece of paper and write down his contact number, telling Qibao to be sure to add him as a friend once she got her wristband.
Qibao tucked the note away, stepped back to the roadside, and smiled as she waved at them.
After the off-road vehicle drove off into the distance, Qibao released Yin Mo and had him carry her on his back for a spin through the nearby hills. She deliberately dawdled for two or three hours before finally having Yin Mo transform back into human form as they were about to leave the mountains.
In the blink of an eye, the thick snake as wide as a water bucket that had just been serving as her mount vanished, and on the dirt road overgrown with wild grass appeared a tall, straight figure. He wore a black combat uniform similar to Lu Feng's squad, with the pant legs tucked into black combat boots and a black leather belt cinched around his waist, outlining a narrow yet powerful slender waist.
The black fabric made Yin Mo's exposed neck and face appear even whiter—a cold, bloodless pallor. His narrow, elongated eyes were the common black of the human race, but his gaze was cold and sinister, giving him the look of an evil cultivator who found fault with everyone and might strike out at any moment.
Qibao: "…You wear that expression even in the base?"
Yin Mo looked down at the Tower Spirit, who was a head shorter than him: "I was born with this expression."
Qibao: "That rich brat really has some nerve, daring to borrow a car from you with a face like that."
Yin Mo sneered: "He got lucky. If my strength hadn't been reduced, he'd have died… of fright long ago."
Qibao wasn't fooled by his slip. She fixed him with a sharp, warning gaze: "The human race has its own laws. Even in times of chaos, you can't hurt or kill people over a minor conflict. If you dare to kill indiscriminately, don't blame me for teaching you a lesson."
She could imagine that if Yin Mo still had his full strength, the moment that rich brat opened his mouth to "borrow" his car, Yin Mo would have killed the whole group out of rage.
The brat was bullying others with his connections, and Yin Mo certainly had the right to teach him a lesson—but he couldn't only have "killing the other party" as his sole form of punishment and method.
Yin Mo said nothing and produced a grayish off-road vehicle.
The vehicles of Lu Feng's squad were also grayish in appearance, so Qibao didn't mind. She pulled open the door to inspect the inside and was surprised to find that the two rows of seats looked fairly new, with the floor clean and spotless—not a single footprint. Either Yin Mo rarely used it, or he was very clean and often maintained it.
Yin Mo went to sit in the driver's seat, buckled his seatbelt, and put on a pair of sunglasses.
No sooner had he put them on than a hand reached over from the side and snatched the sunglasses away.
Qibao tried them on and asked: "Why are they so dark?"
Yin Mo leaned over and snatched them back: "They block the light. Get in the car now."
Qibao huffed and sat down in the passenger seat, leaning back comfortably.
Yin Mo had already gripped the steering wheel, but after waiting a moment and seeing she made no move, he reminded her impatiently: "Seatbelt."
Aberrant Beasts appeared and disappeared unpredictably, and Yin Mo had suffered before from not wearing a seatbelt. He did want to get back at the Tower Spirit, but he was afraid she'd catch on and hit him with her tower.
Qibao turned her head to look at the strap beside her, resistant because she wasn't used to it. Closing her eyes, she said: "You do it for me."
Yin Mo was so annoyed he laughed. Suit yourself, he thought, and floored the gas pedal.
They were still on a mountain road, and the off-road vehicle bumped and jolted along. Qibao glared at him: "You're doing that on purpose?"
Yin Mo pointed at the road ahead for her to see for herself.
Qibao was displeased and released her treasure tower, hiding inside it. No matter how the tower shook, the Stupa Space she occupied remained perfectly stable.
Yin Mo glanced a few times at the golden tower lying alone on the passenger seat, and in the end couldn't resist. He reached out his right hand and touched this Innate Magic Treasure Tower that every cultivator on the cultivation continent dreamed of. The tower's body seemed like metal yet wasn't, hard to the touch yet smooth and lustrous like jade.
As he stroked it, the corners of Yin Mo's mouth curled upward.
Cultivation masters had to go through the trouble of seizing the tower and then undergoing a complex binding ritual before they could command it to protect their bodies. But now, as long as he listened to the Tower Spirit's words a little, he could share in the tower's absolute defense with her.
Compared to that, her bad temper seemed tolerable after all.