"Huh? What's that commotion? It's you, Boss! Holy crap, that was fast. I just sent a message with the Token and you're already here. That speed is insane."
Feeling the Vibration in the surrounding void, Yang Lin's expression changed at first.
But when he saw Yang Xiao walk out of the void, he immediately cried out.
At this moment, in his hand, aside from the incredibly unsettling black sphere covered in tiny eyes that he held before, there was also a pale-gold token.
This Token was something Yang Xiao had acquired after obtaining the Space-Time Altar.
It was called a Sound Transmission Token. As long as one was in the Northern Wilderness Sword Mansion, no matter which corner—even in some dangerous Land of Inheritance—they could use this Sound Transmission Token to contact Yang Xiao.
It also allowed them to appear on the Altar.
Therefore, to ensure the safety of these guys, Yang Xiao had given one to each of them.
Besides, there was no shortage of them; the Altar would provide as many as he wanted.
And while the vast majority of Barbarian Beast Kings in the Northern Wilderness Sword Mansion no longer dared to attack Yang Lin and the others under Yang Xiao's orders, it was not an absolute guarantee.
Yang Xiao couldn't control their thoughts.
If a conflict were to break out between the two sides,
these Barbarian Beast Kings might well develop the intent to kill.
In that case, any investigation afterward would be meaningless.
"What on earth happened? And what is this damn thing?"
Yang Xiao, however, frowned.
'This guy isn't going to use the Sound Transmission Token to bother me over every little thing, is he?'
For a moment, Yang Xiao truly felt a pang of regret.
For giving this guy a Token.
After all, this guy's personality was... something else.
"Of course... it's something good."
Yang Lin, however, wore a mischievous grin.
Ever since this guy took on his human form, he had become increasingly flippant.
But this time, when Yang Xiao took a closer look at the strange black sphere in the other's hand, his heart jolted slightly.
Because he could actually discern a trace of destiny from the sphere.
"Pretty amazing, right? I knew you'd be able to tell with one look, Boss. This thing is really weird. It has countless tiny eyes, and each one seems to be able to see something. If you infuse True Qi into it, you can even see things related to yourself. It's really powerful."
Yang Lin said smugly.
"Where did you get this?"
Yang Xiao's expression grew solemn.
"Hehe, you'll never guess, Boss. I found it in that old bastard Red Blood King's lair. Didn't he lead his forces to surround and kill us before? So I decided to go wipe out all his remaining descendants and refine some Qilin True Blood to strengthen myself. But I never expected that after killing all those Red Blood Hounds, I'd actually find this in the Red Blood King's nest."
"What do you think, Boss? Pretty awesome of me, right?"
Yang Lin looked as if he was begging for praise.
At this, even Yang Xiao's tense face broke into a smile, and he pointed at him.
"You really found something good this time."
"Damn right. But Boss, this thing gives me the creeps, and I don't like seeing things related to my future. So, you take it."
As he spoke, he shoved the strange black sphere into Yang Xiao's hand without taking no for an answer.
Seeing the look of utter disdain on his face,
Yang Xiao sighed internally.
He knew that although this guy seemed over-the-top and acted like a complete slacker, deep down, he was actually very considerate.
Because Yang Xiao had helped him, he now considered him his boss.
He always thought of Yang Xiao first when anything came up.
Yang Xiao was quite moved.
"Alright, I'll hold onto it for now. If you ever want it back, just come and get it from me."
Without any protest, Yang Xiao accepted the strange sphere.
He had found it strange when he killed the Red Blood King. Why had that creature known of his existence so soon after he appeared?
It had even sent Red Blood Hounds to test the waters.
They had nearly harmed Yang Ziling.
Later, after he left the 1st Layer, the creature had acted as if it were all premeditated, waiting outside the valley. After the Thousand-Winged Serpent Eagle died, it had decisively appeared to surround and kill Yang Tian and the others.
This had forced Yang Xiao to agree to that old fellow, the Northern Wilderness Divine King, to become the Sword Mansion's successor, just so he could rush back to the 1st Layer and annihilate those Barbaric Beasts.
'Perhaps the Red Blood King was able to do all this because of this strange sphere.'
A thought flashed through Yang Xiao's mind.
He recalled the Red Blood King's hesitation before its death.
"Boss, why don't you give it a try? Maybe you'll see which future sister-in-law you'll have your first kid with, huh?"
Just as Yang Xiao was deep in thought, Yang Lin sidled up to him with a sleazy grin.
The sight of him made Yang Xiao want to slap him to death.
Any warmth that had just risen in his heart,
instantly vanished like smoke.
With a stern face, Yang Xiao said, "Didn't you say you were out here looking for opportunities? And this is all you found? Hurry up and get back to it. Or do you want me to kick you to the third layer?"
"Ah? No way! The third layer is so dangerous, Boss. I'm afraid of dying! I'll just stay here... No, wait! I'll go look right now! Please don't!"
With that, the guy turned tail and bolted.
Watching him go gave Yang Xiao a real headache.
'This shameless rogue.'
Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Yang Xiao's gaze finally settled on the strange sphere in his hand.
It was covered with countless tiny eyes. These eyes were small, but they blinked incessantly at a strange speed, making it very uncomfortable to look at.
But if one observed it carefully, they would discover inexplicable images flickering across each and every eye.
Furthermore, if one were to count them carefully, they would discover the number of eyes.
Exactly one thousand.
'A thousand eyes? What the hell is this?'
Yang Xiao's curiosity deepened, and he subconsciously channeled some of the True Greater Yang Fire from his body into the sphere.
In an instant,
a misty world appeared before his eyes.
It was as if a thousand channels were siphoning the power from his body.
Yang Xiao's mind stirred,
but he didn't resist.
At that moment, Yang Xiao gradually began to see scenes flashing through many of the channels. They were both familiar and strange, like things he had experienced and yet hadn't.
When he tried to look closer,
they vanished.
An unknown amount of time passed like this.
More and more images appeared, only to vanish again.
However, a few images remained constant.
Furthermore, the channels containing those images began to absorb the True Greater Yang Fire from his body at an ever-increasing rate.
Finally,
of the one thousand channels,
only three remained.
One seemed to be a very strange grotto. It was strange because it appeared to be built upon a sea of magma deep underground.
Crimson magma was everywhere.
Another showed a woman with her back to Yang Xiao.
Although he couldn't see her face, Yang Xiao felt a sense of deep, warm familiarity with just a single glance.
Unfortunately, no matter how much True Greater Yang Fire he poured in, he couldn't get a clear look at the woman's face.
She never turned around.
As for the last one,
it was also a person.
It was a man in a white robe.
This man was also blurry, and he gave Yang Xiao an extremely detestable feeling.
The feeling was somewhat similar to when he faced an Immortal Daoist, but it wasn't quite the same.
It was more of a deep-seated repulsion, a visceral hatred.
Strange.