"That..." The Nine Infants paused, then suddenly said, "The Purple Mist Evil Lotus is a close kin of the same kind as the Sleeping Lotus you subdued. It knows far more about the Purple Mist Evil Lotus than I do—you can let it speak."

Wei Zhao was amused. "Heh. If you want me to let it out, just say so. Why beat around the bush, dragging in this Purple Mist Evil Lotus nonsense? Isn't that a lot of trouble for you?"

"Hey, look—even I can't do anything to you, so what's the point of you still holding one Sleeping Lotus hostage? It's completely meaningless," the Nine Infants said with a grin.

"Fine. Since you value it so much, I'll do you a favor. It's not like this thing can be eaten anyway—out it comes." Wei Zhao smiled faintly. The Sleeping Lotus no longer posed any threat to him, so releasing it hardly mattered.

With a thought, the Sleeping Lotus was promptly tossed out of Wei Zhao's jade pendant space. The creature had no idea what was happening and was dazed for a moment at first. Only when it took in its surroundings and spotted the Nine Infants not far off did it finally come back to its senses, startled and overjoyed.

"Wonderful! My lord, you've finally come to save me! I knew you would never abandon me!" the Sleeping Lotus cried in ecstasy.

It was not that it trusted the Nine Infants' character—rather, the Nine Infants needed its help to coordinate the plant spirit beasts and jointly monitor the entire Ancient Trial Grounds. The crux was that this kind of technical work could only be done by it; the brain-devouring worms and the like simply could not replace it. That was why it had always been the Nine Infants' most valued right hand—and the only one.

"Good that you're out." The Nine Infants' smile was somewhat awkward. It had genuinely wanted to rescue the Sleeping Lotus, but the key point was that this was not its rescue at all—Wei Zhao simply did not care and had let it out offhandedly. What did that have to do with the Nine Infants?

The Sleeping Lotus, ignorant of the truth, assumed the Nine Infants really had used some heaven-reaching method to free it. Then it turned and saw Wei Zhao, and immediately sneered, "Heh heh, human, your day has come too. Now you know what 'there's always a heaven beyond heaven' means, don't you? You dared treat me, the Sleeping Lotus Guardian, like a slave and order me about—well, now you're on my lord's territory. Come, come, let's settle accounts properly!"

Never mind how docile it had acted along the way. That was purely because Wei Zhao had it by the throat—it had never truly submitted. After all, it was a spirit beast of extraordinary natural gifts, proud and haughty to the core.

In the end, before Wei Zhao could even speak, the Nine Infants had already whipped it head over heels with its tail, saying impatiently, "Settle what accounts! Hurry up and tell him about the Azure Sky Vale and the Purple Mist Evil Lotus!"

"Huh?" The Sleeping Lotus was dumbfounded again. It studied the expressions of the Nine Infants and Wei Zhao, and only then realized that things were not at all as it had imagined. This human actually maintained an equal, neither-servile-nor-insolent stance before the Nine Infants—just who was he?

"Huh, my foot! Hurry up!" the Nine Infants urged. It was afraid this creature might ask some foolish question and embarrass it—it could hardly bring itself to admit it was helpless against Wei Zhao, for that would be too great a loss of face. Better to get down to business at once.

"Oh, oh." The Sleeping Lotus lost all its temper now and hastily reverted to the meek demeanor it had worn on the road. It said cautiously, "From the perspective of racial lineage, the Purple Mist Evil Lotus is a close kin of our Sleeping Lotus clan, but their properties are completely different from ours. The Azure Sky Vale where they grow is a poison vale through and through—perpetually wreathed in poisonous miasma year-round, and moreover crawling with all manner of highly toxic creatures. It forms a little world of its own; under normal circumstances, outsiders find it very hard to enter."

"And what else?" Wei Zhao asked with a frown.

"Also, the Purple Mist Evil Lotus has a very slow growth cycle. A thousand years to sprout, a thousand years to grow, a thousand years to mature—meaning that for a single Purple Mist Evil Lotus to truly reach full growth takes at least three thousand long years. And if one wants better quality, it takes even longer..." The Sleeping Lotus racked its brains.

"And what else?" Wei Zhao pressed on.

"That's all. The Purple Mist Evil Lotus is extremely mysterious, and the Azure Sky Vale where they grow is hard to enter. That's as much as I know," the Sleeping Lotus said cautiously.

"That's it?" Wei Zhao raised an eyebrow and turned to the Nine Infants. "You're not about to tell me that this little bit is all you know too?"

"Uh... that really is all..." The Nine Infants could not help but feel ashamed. This matter was in truth somewhat humiliating for it as well. Though it was the absolute sovereign of the entire Ancient Trial Grounds, the Azure Sky Vale was an exception—that place, as the Sleeping Lotus had said, was a little world unto itself, a preserve for all manner of venomous creatures. Even its feelers could not reach inside.

"Then what you two have told me is of no use at all. I merely know of a Purple Mist Evil Lotus and know of an Azure Sky Vale—and the key point is that this Azure Sky Vale is very hard to enter. What practical significance does any of this have?" Wei Zhao retorted.

"How is it without significance? At least you now know the place, and you know what materials are needed to reshape a physical body. These two pieces of information alone are of infinite value," the Nine Infants snorted.

"Infinite value, my foot. Information without practical application is nothing but idle talk. Why don't you tell me about some other conditions?" Wei Zhao wore the air of one demanding an exorbitant price and then haggling it down on the spot.

"This..." The Nine Infants rummaged through its guts for a long while, and finally blurted out, "How about I make you my First Guardian, with rank above the Sleeping Lotus and the brain-devouring worms—so you'd be second to one and above ten thousand!"

"..." Wei Zhao was speechless for a long moment, then replied darkly, "How about you come be my underling instead—then you'd be second to one and above ten thousand?"

"You dare toy with me?!" The Nine Infants flew into a rage born of shame. It had gone to great lengths proposing so many conditions, its patience already near its limit—and now it erupted completely. "You refuse the toast only to drink a forfeit! I'll let you taste what it's like to have your primordial spirit devoured!"

Before the words faded, all nine pairs of the Nine Infants' eyes turned dark red at once, and an invisible wave of divine-consciousness energy surged out from its body, bearing down on Wei Zhao with earth-covering, sky-blotting force.

This display was far mightier than when it had dealt with Duanmu Yu moments ago. Then it had used only one head; this time it was using all nine—it was risking its life!

Earlier it had used only one-ninth of its power, so it had to choose a target two tiers below itself to be absolutely certain. Now, with all nine heads at full effort, it could utterly dominate a target one tier below itself—and even against an existence of its own tier, it could hold a ninety percent chance of victory, though in the end it would inevitably suffer some backlash damage. (To be continued.)