Wearing a loose jacket over a fitted short dress, and a huge white sunhat, she didn’t exactly look local, but it suited her fine—a touch of desert style, yet nothing that would make anyone from the bay area think her odd. At most, her figure made her stand out a bit.
Xu Chuli stood in front of the mirror, inspecting herself from top to bottom, even spinning around.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think Da Lei’s the only good-looking one.”
Yaoli’s stomach and legs were also quite pretty.
Walking out the door, Yu Jing—who had long since packed up and was waiting—looked her over, hesitated for a few seconds, then couldn’t help but say, “You really shouldn’t dress like that at school.”
It would be a bad influence on the younger students.
“I’m not some campus queen. Of course I wouldn’t dress like this at school,” Xu Chuli said, tilting her head up. “Besides, my school image is strong and powerful.”
Strong, yes—but is it real? Even the comments on the School Flower forums called you the prettiest vase in the whole academy.
Yu Jing, being the homeroom teacher, had watched Xu Chuli grow up these past years. In all her years at Lingfu, and even back in the prep class, she’d never stood out.
Only in the last half year had she suddenly started rising—and flying higher every day. If it weren’t for Shen Biao being even more remarkable, Xu Chuli would be breaking school records right now.
That was why seeing her gave Yu Jing hope of realizing her own dreams.
“To be honest, I’m not driving today,” Xu Chuyao pulled her white sunhat tight with one hand. “Walking’s good exercise.”
But the moment she saw the bright, sunny weather outside, she changed her mind.
“Let’s take the car after all.”
Using her four-star Heroic Medal to easily pass through the barriers, Xu Chuyao parked behind the Patrol Team’s vehicles and stood on the wide sand, gazing toward the area near the sea.
“Where Wang Li’s stationed must be a spot with an excellent view of most of the coast.”
Let’s see for myself!
At this hour, the sea was bustling with tourists—people who’d been clueless just days ago, and even now didn’t sense anything amiss. They only felt the sparkling water was beautiful, a trip worth taking.
There were about a hundred Patrol Team Members, pacing up and down the long coastline.
They didn’t know where the thing might land, just that every spot was possible.
“Hey, are you guys ever getting in the water? You’re all wearing long sleeves and pants on the beach, pacing back and forth.”
“Stop hogging all the sunlight, will you?”
Clueless tourists grumbled.
The patrolling team members, too, were full of anxiety. A young man, after moving away a bit, couldn’t help but mutter, “I really don’t get it. Why don’t they send the tourists away? There are so many people on the beach, no one knows anything, just making sarcastic remarks and messing up our work.”
A hand landed on his chest—it was the calm and experienced Team Captain. In a low voice, he said, “Just let them talk. Don’t mind it.”
That was unusually tolerant. The young man was a little confused, as the Team Captain was usually stricter when there was trouble with civilians.
“You should know, we haven’t chased them away for a reason,” the Team Captain sighed, not explaining further, nor caring that the young man’s face had turned red.
Just then, the walkie-talkie suddenly broadcasted a message across all channels: “All Patrol Team members, please immediately converge on Team Three’s position!”
Soon, a hundred or so people gathered in a central section of the coast. So many people in such odd uniforms drew stares and pointing fingers from the crowd.
But they had no time to care about that now. The situation out at sea was dire, with all kinds of things surging toward the shore.
“I see it—I see a Multi-Armed Monster!”
From a slightly higher vantage point nearby, Wang Li, holding binoculars, exclaimed excitedly, “I see its huge brain floating under the water, and underneath that, countless tentacles… No, not tentacles—countless stinging filaments.”
If you wondered what happened to that thing, well—a giant octopus, mutated under spiritual energy invasion, had super-strengthened its head, then went on a feeding spree, gulping down many jellyfish.
It didn’t expect the jellyfish’s stinging adaptation to merge with its own, so countless filaments replaced its original tentacles, fusing into its new body.
Thus, the strongest parts of octopus and jellyfish combined—an octopus’s arms, a jellyfish’s stinging filaments—a new hybrid monster was born.
The shimmering surface of the water was the semi-transparent filaments catching the sunlight.
“There’s only one,” Wang Li judged, confirming her earlier suspicions.
With hundreds of meters of ocean, odd movements all over made it seem like there could be many, but now she knew the truth: there was just one. All of them were it!
Wang Li got even more excited.
With such long filaments, imagine how many toxic needles it must have. The kill efficiency must be terrifyingly high.
“Hurry, quick, quick!” she urged her team, raising her camera, determined not to miss a thing!
Inside the Crystal Stone World, Zonghe Hall.
Shen Ning finally saw those long-absent companions again, her mood soaring.
According to them, for years they’d been wandering endlessly here. After that incident, the world became divided, and as old friends and relatives of Wang Ji, those who opposed the rift treated them as enemies. Any misstep, and they’d be attacked.
With no other choice, they’d kept on the move, always on alert, shifting at the first sign of trouble. That’s why they were so elusive and hard to find.
This time, finally reunited with Shen Ning, everyone was excited. Zhang Quan even came over solemnly and asked, “Shen Ning, have you… been hurt by someone recently? You seemed really unsettled a few times—we all noticed it.”
The girl’s eyelid twitched slightly.
“No, Zhang Liu, I—”
“Come on, you single guy, what do you know,” Liu Ji pulled him aside. “Xiao Shenfeng’s in love, she has a beloved girlfriend.”
“Oh, that explains it! No wonder she’s sometimes mad as hell, then super happy the next moment—she’s just in love.”
The girl blushed faintly, turning to order the Royal Guard to bring the goods forward. “Enough of that, uncles—I brought you all some gifts. Try these out first.”
The Royal Guard quickly distributed the Exiled Soul Powder, making sure every one of the old companions got at least a handful.
Try it now—use it, and you’ll feel more human, and be able to speak like people do.
Sure enough, Exiled Soul Powder was even more effective here in the Crystal Stone World than in the real world. Wandering souls, once they smeared a bit on their faces, instantly felt a surge of emotions, recalling memories from life that were hard to forget—especially those who’d married. Tears streamed down their faces, impossible to stop.
Shen Ning stood quietly by, patiently waiting for them to finish. Only after helping many recover their humanity and reason did she step forward to ask,
“Liu Ji, do you still remember what I told you before, about that Wang Xu affair?”
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