"Still, you count as one of us. This is a core secret, but there is no harm in telling you." The mysterious woman's tone remained unhurried and calm. "This is a serum Doctor Li gave me through a special channel. Once the trial succeeds, we can mass-produce Nascent Soul experts and help us accomplish our great cause!"

If a single word of this ever leaked out, it would stir up a storm that could shake the heavens. Across the entire Northern Island of the Heaven Tier, a Nascent Soul expert was a first-rate existence, second only to the very few at the top. Yet in this mysterious woman's mouth, such beings were puppets to be made at will. This was an event that could reshape the balance of the world.

"Oh? Doctor Li?" The man in black was clearly surprised by something else entirely. He could barely contain his excitement. "Not only has he opened the four-dimensional spatial passage between Cloud Tier Island and the mundane world, he has even opened one between Cloud Tier Island and the Yanhuang Star transit station?"

"Not exactly opened, I would say." The mysterious woman shook her head, still speaking calmly. "The serum was delivered through his special channel. We can only send objects to the mundane world for now; people still cannot pass through. But we owe the discovery of this loophole to Zhang Liju. If not for him, we never would have found the flaw in this four-dimensional space formation."

"The four-dimensional space formation? That is what Sun Sikong set up back then?" The man in black raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Correct. That fellow Sun fancied himself clever, never realizing that to Doctor Li this is no difficulty at all. Doctor Li has already given the method of breaking it to his disciple, Doctor Benjamin II, and my clone in the mundane world has begun researching it with him." At this, the corners of the mysterious woman's lips curved upward. "One day we will be able to travel freely between Cloud Tier Island and the mundane world. I doubt we will have to wait long."

Just as the two were speaking, a tremor suddenly rose from beneath their feet, and threads of true qi seeped out.

"It seems to be taking effect. Go and take a look," the mysterious woman ordered at once.

The man in black accepted the order and left, secretly shaken. This was their secret base on the Northern Island, protected by the most advanced defensive formations—even the Northern Island Lord's pavilion could not compare with it.

Yet after the man below was injected with the serum, the true qi seeping from his body could pierce the top-tier defensive formation and even make the entire base tremble. It was simply inconceivable.

Entering the underground chamber, the man in black had taken only one step before the raging true qi nearly blasted him back out. With his strength, that was utterly absurd.

The man in the bamboo hat was now in a state like a demon. His whole body was shrouded in an unprecedented and powerful true qi, giving the impression that the surrounding space itself was warping.

Amid unending agonized howls, his cultivation soared at a heart-stopping pace—from mid Golden Core, in the blink of an eye, all the way up to the great perfection of the Golden Core. And after that, the immense barrier between Golden Core and Nascent Soul was pierced as easily as a sheet of window paper.

In less than the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, the man in the bamboo hat had been forced from mid Golden Core into a Nascent Soul expert!

"This serum really is formidable!" Even the man in black could not help clicking his tongue in admiration. He knew that the more heaven-defying a serum was, the more terrifying its side effects must be—but even so, for the mere fact that it could mass-produce Nascent Soul experts, Doctor Li's achievement could be called earth-shaking.

Yet before his admiration could end, the man in the bamboo hat, who should have been gradually stabilizing, suddenly began to scream even more piteously. The already raging true qi surged again and soared to an even more astonishing level.

The man in black's expression changed. Before he could make a single move, a muffled bang rang out, and the entire underground chamber was instantly splattered with blood and flesh, a horrifying sight—the man in the bamboo hat had exploded and died!

Shocked, the man in black turned at once and went upstairs to report to the mysterious woman.

"So this trial failed." The mysterious woman shook her head with some regret. This was an experiment that could overturn the power balance of Cloud Tier Island. She had long expected that the odds of failure were not low, but facing the reality now, she could not help feeling disappointed.

"In this subordinate's view, it cannot be called a complete failure. At least the serum truly can raise one's cultivation to the Nascent Soul realm; it is only that it cannot yet be kept stable," the man in black reported.

"Mm. I need to report this to headquarters. Go and dispose of the body." The mysterious woman gave the order and turned into the inner chamber, where she used her special channel to report to headquarters, while the man in black acknowledged and departed.

……………………

In the inner street of the market, at the Hong clan's trading house, Wei Zhao, Shangguan Lan'er, Huang Xiaotao, and Hong Zhong sat together at one table, raising their cups in celebration, joyous and harmonious.

The reason they had all come here was actually Shangguan Lan'er's idea in the first place—to hold a victory banquet for Wei Zhao. Since Wei Zhao happened to want to see his old friend Hong Zhong, the group had naturally followed along to the Hong clan's trading house. As for why Huang Xiaotao was here, there was a different reason entirely.

"Hee hee, all right, now that we have celebrated our little junior brother, it is time to get down to business!" Shangguan Lan'er suddenly cleared her throat and said.

"Oh? What business?" Wei Zhao and Hong Zhong exchanged a glance, both utterly baffled. Only Huang Xiaotao beside them suddenly blushed and lowered her head slightly.

"If I am going to be all formal like this, then of course it is important business—and a lifelong matter, no less! Little junior brother, this is a wonderful thing for you, so you had better thank your senior sister properly!" Shangguan Lan'er said with a mysterious air.

"A lifelong matter? What is going on exactly?" Wei Zhao was even more puzzled.

"Hee hee, since you are so curious, I won't keep you in suspense. Listen carefully, little junior brother: Senior Sister Xiaotao likes you a lot, so you had better treat her well from now on!" Shangguan Lan'er announced with a teasing grin.

Yet for some reason, as she said this, a faint inexplicable sense of loss suddenly rose in her heart. Even someone as thick-skinned as Shangguan Lan'er could not help finding it odd—what was wrong with her?

At that moment, hearing these words, Huang Xiaotao's already flushed face turned red all the way to the tips of her ears. She buried her head even deeper, not daring to look up at anyone.

Shangguan Lan'er had dragged her here today especially for this very matter! (The official Q.Q Interest Tribe for this book is about to hold an event, with lots of prizes! Readers of this book can log into mobile Q.Q—Moments—Interest Tribe and search for "The School Beauty's Personal Bodyguard," or enter through the public WeChat account yuren22.) R1152

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