Chapter 27: The

"Help!"

Zhang Ning felt as if he were trapped inside a rubber ball, bouncing endlessly—unable to hurt him, yet leaving him dizzy and nauseated. He estimated that within the time it took to steep a cup of tea, he’d be sick. At his cry for help, his emotions spiraled out of control, activating his armor. With two resounding crashes, he smashed through the cabin ceiling, setting off flashes of array light! Zhang Ning had broken out of his room, charging straight toward the deck! Behind him echoed the panicked screams of those struck by the collateral damage of the defense arrays.

By a string of coincidences, Zhang Ning—the transmigrator from Aquamarine Star, and none other than the Fifth Prince of the Grand Celestial Demon Sect—was flung straight onto the deck!

Just as everyone rushed to reach him, Zhang Ning came to a halt, finally regaining his composure. Admittedly, half the reason was that he was nearly knocked unconscious; his mind emptied, his emotions settled.

People on deck arrived late, the experts tearing through space to appear at his side in an instant, yet none dared move recklessly. The disciples arriving in their wake glanced at one another in trepidation, not daring even to whisper. All harbored a chilling suspicion in their hearts.

Zhuge Yi finally caught up, as though he’d just seized hold of a pet’s leash. Seeing that Zhang Ning was safe, albeit in a sorry state, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief and even allowed himself a schadenfreude-laced smile, his anger dissipating.

He teased, "Sorry about that, junior brother—I overdid it a bit."

Zhuge Yi was referring, of course, to his earlier mishandling of the situation.

Zhang Ning slowly sat up, recalling the entire instruction manual for the armor and silently berating himself for his stupidity. Feeling no real injuries, he bared his teeth in a grimace and replied, "It's all right, senior brother. Everyone slips up sometimes."

The main fault, in truth, was Zhang Ning’s. Had he not used that armor, a simple bump on the head would have stopped him—no need for all this suffering.

Neither noticed that everyone around them was doing their utmost to shrink their presence, heads tucked like quails, not daring to make a sound for fear of drawing the two’s attention.

To them, this was a major incident! The Fifth Prince had been blasted clear to the deck, the Third Prince arrived unhurriedly, then went on to mock his junior brother, and their subsequent exchange… In their eyes, it looked as if Zhuge Yi, the senior, had ruthlessly struck his junior during a bout of sparring! Were the two princes already competing? Just how deep did their conflict run?

Was Third Prince truly that sort of person? Then again, the Fifth Prince was so brilliant—one really couldn’t view him as a mere child. Yet the two still maintained a veneer of harmony, leaving everyone else at a loss as to what posture they ought to adopt.

Zhuge Yi stepped forward, intent on helping Zhang Ning up. The others tensed, anxiously awaiting the next scene to unfold.

Suddenly, with a loud "duang," the unlucky deck suffered yet another blow! A massive fissure split the center, the impact point crushed to powder, while the surrounding spiritual materials cracked in sympathy, dust billowing between where Zhuge Yi stood and where Zhang Ning lay. This unexpected development caused Zhuge Yi to narrow his eyes, shifting to a battle-ready stance. The others followed suit.

Zhang Ning, still dizzy, blinked and shook his head—his vision filling with the sight of a youth whose appearance perfectly matched his original image of a demonic cultivator since entering the Azure Realm.

The youth’s robes, embroidered with silver threads, were elegant rather than gaudy—the aura of the boy himself entirely commanding. Yet Zhang Ning barely registered the clothing.

The boy emerged from the drifting dust, a mane of silver hair streaming behind him, a red headband unable to restrain it. A wide, mocking smile curled his lips, and the savage gleam in his crimson eyes left Zhang Ning’s heart pounding in fear.

He looked about twelve, yet he was the first person Zhang Ning had ever truly sensed murderous intent from. Every hair on Zhang Ning’s body stood on end.

"Where are the famed arrays of your Grand Celestial Demon Sect? Why haven’t they attacked me?" There was even a note of disappointment in the boy’s voice.

Zhuge Yi glanced at the youth and replied with a broad smile, "This must be Han Zun of Xuanming Palace! No wonder you’re Demon Lord Mingyu’s prized disciple—truly a prodigy! You’re the top-ranked figure on the current Hero List. I hear your name many times each day!"

Han Zun, however, wore a look of clear displeasure. He held up a finger at Zhuge Yi and declared, "No, I don’t want to talk to you. You’re no good yourself—being so ruthless to your own junior brother? But now that I’m here, don’t think you can keep up these little tricks!"

Zhuge Yi’s smile froze. "I think you’re misunderstanding something, brother from Xuanming Palace…"

Han Zun wagged his finger at Zhuge Yi, clicking his tongue. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, don’t try to get chummy with me. I told you, I don’t want to hear you speak!"

With that, the boy turned away. Zhang Ning was still thinking how unrestrained this youth was—couldn’t he see that Senior Brother Zhuge’s eyes had narrowed dangerously?

To Zhang Ning’s surprise, the youth treated him rather well, grabbing his hand and hauling him to his feet.

Then he handed Zhang Ning two sheets of paper. "I heard you wrote the questions? Zhang Ning? So what’s my test result?" A flicker of interest flashed in those feral red eyes.

Zhang Ning stared hard at the boy. Had his test been spread so quickly? That couldn’t be. Or did the youth have some special means? Unconsciously, Zhang Ning began tallying up the boy’s score in his head. The youth seemed unconcerned by his silence and continued, "From today on, I’ll be your protector. Only I can bully you! Besides, I even saved you today—how are you going to thank me?" The language he spoke, of course, was not Mandarin.

Zhang Ning, bewildered by his attitude, replied in halting Daqianese, "Then I’ll let you be my…"

He’d meant to say ‘good friend’, but suddenly his eyes widened! This test—his score was abysmally low! Could this youth be the long-awaited ‘chaotic evil’ figure among the demonic cultivators?

Zhang Ning turned to look at the boy as if beholding an immortal.

Heavens! Such a person really existed? Was this what they were like? He’d thought it impossible to communicate with someone like this! Yet the youth was amused by the look and laughed, "Go on! If you can’t, just say it in your own tongue—I can understand!"

The language switch left Zhang Ning befuddled, unable to recall what he’d just said. All he remembered was that people in this camp were truly impressive. In fact, this result indicated a future as a true overlord, but as Zhang Ning began to say ‘great’, he remembered that as long as his master survived, the master would always be the true overlord. Someone like this youth… perhaps could only be called a ‘little overlord’?

But as soon as he uttered ‘little overlord’, something felt off. Little overlord? That sounded strange! Had he forgotten how to speak his native tongue since learning a foreign language? Wait, he remembered the full phrase was… Zhang Ning blurted out: "Little wife?"