96: Calculation

Xu Yan, who had originally maintained a gentle demeanor, now spoke with a chilling tone.

"Indeed, I came from outside this secret realm—oh, what you call 'outside this world'—to train. My initial purpose was merely to seek an opportunity for my spirit beasts to break through and evolve. This secret realm is but one stop on my life's journey. I don't care what its future holds, nor do I have any intention of actively changing anything.

However, your actions displease me greatly.

I do not recognize the title of 'the one who will bring a turning point to this dying world' that your leader spoke of, nor will I shoulder or decide the fate of all life in this secret realm because of this inexplicable title.

For me, I don't care if this matter is fair to those beings; it's because this matter is unfair to me personally.

If you wish for this secret realm to perish, to be destroyed along with it, that is your own business. What does it have to do with me? Why drag me into it? If you want me not to take actions that might bring a turning point to this secret realm, you are not without other options, so why tell me all this?

You want me to shoulder the karma between myself and this secret realm based on a prophecy of unknown veracity, when I haven't even done anything? Do you think I'm easy to bully?"

After saying this, Xu Yan then called out, "Uncle Qing."

As his voice fell, a verdant flame appeared before Xu Yan. The blood pond ghost domain created by the Green-robed Ghost shattered instantly, and the man and ghost appeared directly amidst a scene of crumbling ruins.

Looking at the emerald green flame before Xu Yan, even though it was filled with rich life energy, it gave the Green-robed Ghost an extreme sense of danger—a feeling it had never experienced, not even when facing its leader.

Immediately after, Xu Yan's voice rang out again.

"What I choose to do or not to do is my own business, not something you force upon me.

Whether the decision made is good or evil, no matter what the final outcome, it will stem from my own will, not because I am coerced by external factors to do what is supposedly 'good for the world' or 'good for countless beings.'

Believe me, with my foundation and background, even within this dying secret realm, I still possess the capital for free choice and the right to be willful.

Tell the people behind you: I don't care what you want to do, but I hope this kind of incident doesn't happen a second time. Otherwise, the consequences are not something you, or even this secret realm, can bear."

The Green-robed Ghost was filled with doubt regarding Xu Yan's change in attitude.

Hadn't he just been friendly, with an attitude of 'let's talk nicely, we can discuss this'? How, in the blink of an eye, did he become so forceful, directly declaring that the conversation had broken down?

Looking at the cold-faced Xu Yan and the emerald green flame before him that made its entire body tremble, the Green-robed Ghost was about to say something when it seemed to receive a message, and the entire ghost suddenly froze.

Afterward, it gave Xu Yan a complicated look and let out a bitter laugh.

"Believe it or not, even now, I still don't know what happened.

The people behind me told me to inform you: your request, we have noted. We will not disturb you again, and we will compensate you for this action."

With that, it awakened the Ghost Infant it held in its arms, letting it break free from its grasp. After glaring at it resentfully, the Ghost Infant quickly hid behind Xu Yan.

After doing this, the Green-robed Ghost's form dissipated directly, leaving behind a golden crystal. This should be the so-called compensation it mentioned.

Watching its disappearing figure, Xu Yan returned to his original expression and let out a soft sigh.

As for the reason Xu Yan's demeanor suddenly changed in the middle of their conversation, it was naturally because the hidden malice of the other party had been discovered.

Originally, after Xu Yan said, "I cannot make a hasty decision," he wanted to end the conversation between them directly and make a decision after staying in this secret realm for a longer period and getting a good feel for it.

However, after speaking, he continuously received telepathic messages from the two Wind Flame Lion Kings and the Azure Sky Luan, all warning Xu Yan that there was something wrong with the other party's words.

As an outsider, Xu Yan had no deep connection with this secret realm. The only thing that could establish a connection was the Ghost Infant, which had actively presented itself.

Yet, the other party's previous words subtly linked Xu Yan with the survival of this secret realm.

If it were merely a verbal connection, it would be nothing; a mere word or two could not possibly link a person to an entire secret realm.

However, while speaking, the other party used a special power, leveraging the conversation between Xu Yan and the Green-robed Ghost, to try and establish a karmic relationship between Xu Yan and this secret realm.

Had it not been for the Wind Flame Lion Kings' reminder, under the influence of that special power, regardless of whether Xu Yan ultimately agreed or refused the other party's request, it would have created karma between Xu Yan and this secret realm.

What was even more outrageous was that the other party actually tried to attribute the karma of whether this secret realm perished directly to Xu Yan's actions, creating a karmic relationship between Xu Yan and all the beings in this secret realm.

Although this relationship was superficial, and the karma of a single being would not affect Xu Yan, once the number rose to all beings in the entire secret realm, it was not something Xu Yan's current small frame could bear.

If things went wrong, Xu Yan, a Breeder and Beast Tamer with limitless future prospects, might be trapped in this secret realm for the rest of his life, just to repay that baseless karma.

This realization made Xu Yan break out in a cold sweat. He had almost, almost stumbled in this secret realm.

Indeed, his previous life had been a bit too comfortable, leading him to lose his guard and vigilance upon entering such an unknown secret realm.

Thinking this, his attitude, which had originally been inclined towards friendly conversation, immediately turned cold, leading to the unfriendly words he had just spoken.

Returning to Xu Yan, after sighing, he turned his gaze to the crystal left behind after the Green-robed Ghost disappeared.

This should be the compensation the other party mentioned earlier.

However, given the previous experience, Xu Yan still maintained a certain degree of vigilance towards the item left behind by the other party. What if this so-called compensation was another trap?

Thinking this, after confirming several times with Azure Sky Luan, he finally stepped forward and picked up the golden crystal from the ground.