Wawa.. wawa..
"Big brother, please don't abandon me. I'll do anything, big brother wants, just don't leave me here alone."
Xue Hui looked at the begging giant with a tired expression. A headache was starting to creep up on him as he listened to the giant's wailing.
"Stop crying, you're making everything drenched!" Xue Hui scolded, annoyed that his entire body was now soaked by the giant's tears.
Xiao Ning'er was in a predicament. She honestly didn't know whether to feel bad or laugh at the situation they found themselves in.
She bit her lips to stop herself from laughing, seeing how Xue Hui was trying to peel himself off from the giant girl's hand, but with little to no success.
Earlier, as the fight became more and more chaotic and everything around them was getting wrecked, Xiao Ning'er was placed in even greater danger.
Seeing this, Xue Hui, who was being pushed to his limit, had no other choice but to bring out one of his trump cards in order to end the fight.
Summoning a Silver Sphere, Xue Hui used the ability of the Origin of Past to reverse the giant's time.
Combining it with the Origin of Devourer, Xue Hui used the Silver Sphere to devour the giant's progress, resulting in her being de-aged to her younger self.
A giant little girl who is devoid of the strength and memories of her former self.
As compensation for using such an ability, Xue Hui himself was de-aged to his seven-year-old self.
Fortunately, the giant's strength was only at the Black Gold rank Demon Spiritualist realm, allowing Xue Hui to use the Origin of Past on her without paying too heavy a price for it, such as being reduced to an infant or, worse, to nothingness.
Time-based techniques were among the most complex powers to master. Their profundity was shrouded beneath layer upon layer of other laws. Simply touching even a tiny fragment of the Law of Time would require an entire lifetime.
For Xue Hui to be able to use part of the Law of Time's power was a feat many experts who spent their lives studying its profundity could only dream of achieving.
But that didn't mean Xue Hui had great mastery over it, since he himself was still affected by its unpredictable power. Luckily for him, the backlash was not permanent, unlike the giant.
Despite that, Xue Hui understood that he needed to learn how to harness the power of time even better. As someone who had once been thrown into a temporal loop, being defenseless against the Law of Time was a massive vulnerability for him.
Eventually, Xue Hui managed to free himself from the giant little girl's grasp and changed into more fitting clothes.
While Xue Hui was busy changing, the giant little girl turned her attention to Xiao Ning'er and tried to appeal to her to bring her along with them.
"Big sister.. hic.. please don't leave me here. This place is scary.. hic.."
Looking at the sobbing little girl, Xiao Ning'er's heart tightened with pity. She was unable to ignore such a scene despite the fact that the giant little girl had almost squashed both her and Xue Hui to death a moment ago.
Making up her mind, Xiao Ning'er looked in Xue Hui's direction and tried to help the little girl.
"Xue Hui, I know she almost killed us earlier, but that was before she became small..." Xiao Ning'er tilted her head, realizing something. "Before she became kinda small?" she corrected awkwardly. "I feel bad leaving a little girl like her alone in this place. Can... Can you forgive her, Xue Hui? I.. she looks sorry enough." Xiao Ning'er pleaded.
While Xiao Ning'er tried to convince Xue Hui, the giant little girl behind her nodded fervently to Xiao Ning'er's words, as if her life depended on it, which was not far from the truth.
Xue Hui's eyes drifted toward the two, causing both Xiao Ning'er and the giant little girl to hold their breath as they waited for his decision.
Sighing, Xue Hui, in his seven-year-old body, folded his arms across his chest and made a pondering expression. Before making the decision.
"Fine! She can come with us, but she better behave from now on, or we're leaving her behind," Xue Hui declared.
Hearing his words, both Xiao Ning'er and the giant little girl let out shaky breaths of relief, glad that Xue Hui had allowed the giant little girl to come along with them.
Although Xue Hui had never intended to leave the giant little girl by herself in the first place, bringing her along posed some glaring issues.
First was her size. Even after being regressed to her younger self, the giant little girl still stood at fifteen feet tall, something that would attract countless stares. People were simple-minded creatures. They hated things they didn't fully understand, so it was inevitable that the giant little girl would cause problems.
Then there was her race, which was still unknown.
When Xue Hui defeated her, the first thing he did was probe her physique to determine what allowed her to live so long.
Giants were known for their longevity, but not to the extent that one could live for over two thousand years without breaking through to a realm beyond Legend rank.
And based on the giant little girl's physique, her cultivation had been crippled even before she was chained and locked away, yet she still lived for over thousands of years.
At first, Xue Hui thought the chains were what extended her lifespan.
But all the chains did was keep her restrained and weakened.
Meaning her longevity stemmed entirely from her physique, and Xue Hui knew only one race that fit such a description.
The God Race, more specifically, the Titans.
But that was what made Xue Hui so confused about the little girl's origin. God Races were beings one would never see in Middle Worlds, much less in a Lower World like the Tiny World.
If a God Race truly resided in the Middle Worlds like the Draconic Ruins Realm, the Sage Emperor would never have been able to rule over them.
God Races were extremely powerful existences whose strength looked down upon even the likes of the Sage Emperor.
Xue Hui gave the giant little girl a sidelong glance. She was currently busy thanking Xiao Ning'er while Xiao Ning'er took out a huge amount of food and handed it to her.
If the giant little girl was truly a member of the God Race, a Titan at that, then she might become the key to entering the Upper Realm.
But if that were true, the implications would bring trouble not only to him, but to the entire world.
'What a hassle. To think this labyrinth is full of surprises. I hope the great rewards at the end are worth all this trouble,' Xue Hui thought to himself.
Finding a solution to his first problem, Xue Hui took out an item from his interspatial ring and approached the two, his small feet rustling the dirt and rubble across the floor, creating sounds that grabbed the attention of Xiao Ning'er and the giant little girl.
"Do you remember your name?" Xue Hui asked.
Although he had devoured most of her memories, things like names were often rooted deep within a person's awareness.
Nervous, the giant little girl scooted behind Xiao Ning'er, hiding herself from Xue Hui's inquisitive gaze. But due to her massive size, her actions only made Xue Hui raise an eyebrow.
Unfortunately, the giant little girl only shook her head, indicating that she remembered nothing, which made Xue Hui sigh and nod in understanding.
Being chained in this place for such a long period of time had definitely ruined her psyche. So it was no surprise that she had forgotten everything from her childhood.
Erasing most of her memories had actually saved her mind to some extent. Regressed to her younger self, she could now have a fresh start in life without remembering the horror of being chained alone in a cage too small for her to even stand properly in for such a long time.
"Very well, what name do you want? I can't just call you 'big crying baby' every time I need to speak to you, right?" Xue Hui asked, causing the little girl to puff her cheeks in annoyance at being called a crying baby.
"Not a baby! And also, big sister can give me a name. She is nice, so I like her." the giant little girl retorted, passing the issue to Xiao Ning'er, who became flustered upon hearing her words.
"Uhm.. Xiao..." Xiao Ning'er's eyes widened in panic, and she quickly stopped herself before blurting out the name that first came to her mind.
Since Xiao Ning'er had been staring at a smaller version of Xue Hui, she almost blurted out the name Xiao Xue, which was admittedly a good name, but also far too obvious. Not to mention she had already named her automaton NiHue by combining her and Xue Hui's names together.
"Xiao Julin.. yeah, Xiao Julin sounds cute!" Xiao Ning'er said hurriedly, averting her gaze from Xue Hui's puzzled look.
"Yehey! Xiao Julin, that's my name! Thanks, big sis, you're the best!"
Hearing her new name, Xiao Julin rose to her feet and began dancing in joy, causing the ground to shake with every step.
While Xiao Julin was jumping around happily, Xue Hui held out a Mask Realm Bracelet and threw it toward her.
As it traveled through the air, the Mask Realm Bracelet enlarged itself before flying directly onto Xiao Julin's arm and attaching itself to her.
A soft glow radiated from the bracelet as it shrank back to its original size, causing Xiao Julin to shrink along with it.
Surprised, Xiao Julin stopped dancing and fell onto her butt. Confused, she glanced around at her surroundings, her expression full of shock as everything around her suddenly appeared much bigger than before.
"What!.. Woah.. Julin became smaller than big sis. Awesome!"
Xiao Julin, whose body had shrunk to the size of a normal human child, let out an amazed gasp.
She looked at her tiny hands before comparing them to Xiao Ning'er's.
"Big sis, your hands are bigger than Julin's," Julin exclaimed with a cute giggle.
Finding the smaller girl adorable, Xiao Ning'er reached out and wrapped her hand around Xiao Julin's.
"They are. Your hands are smaller than mine now, Julin," Xiao Ning'er said, finding the situation rather cute.
Watching the duo fuss over Xiao Julin's new appearance, Xue Hui let out a long breath of relief. At least that solved one of the issues.
Although it had cost him the last Mask Realm Bracelet.
Back in the Moon Peak Emperor's treasure chamber, Xue Hui had found three Mask Realm Bracelets. He gave one to Chen Zhenlong to hide his cultivation. Then, in the following years, Chen Linlin's cultivation rose so quickly that she needed the second bracelet to conceal it from everyone.
Now the last one had been given to Xiao Julin. It was quite the coincidence that he still had it with him, since the treasure was exactly what they needed to conceal Xiao Julin's identity as a giant.
Xue Hui walked toward an elevated part of the floor and grabbed the reward box resting within it.
Opening the box, Xue Hui looked at the items inside with a pondering expression.
The box contained a key for the next door and an ancient-looking jar intricately carved with dragons.
At first, Xue Hui wondered what it was used for, until he opened the lid and caught a whiff of the rich metallic aroma inside, causing his soul force to react and surge violently.
Xue Hui's eyes widened in shock the moment he realized what the jar contained.
It was actually a rare treasure known as Pure Dragon Lineage Fermentation Blood.
Extracted from the lineage of True Dragon Demon Beasts, this blood had been mixed with various rare treasures that could only be found in the Middle Worlds. The True Dragon blood was then left to ferment for ten to twenty thousand years until its color darkened and its scent grew powerful.
Cultivating by absorbing its essence would greatly increase one's cultivation while simultaneously strengthening one's Demon Spirit.
But that was not its true purpose.
The Pure Dragon Lineage Fermentation Blood was actually a treasure capable of strengthening Demon Spirits themselves.
By submerging a Demon Spirit crystal into the blood for several days, the crystal would undergo mutation and become a Demon Spirit possessing a dragon bloodline.
In Glory City, Demon Spiritualists often classified Demon Spirits according to ranks such as Bronze, Silver, Gold, Black Gold, and Legend rank Demon Spirits.
But unbeknownst to many, Demon Spirits could also be classified according to growth rate: Poor, Ordinary, Good, Excellent, Extraordinary, and God-level growth rates.
Every Demon Spiritualist expert in the Middle Worlds chose their Demon Spirits according to growth rate, since it gave them a clear idea of how far the spirit's strength could develop.
Naturally, the higher the growth rate, the harder it was to find.
Yet despite that, countless Demon Spiritualists still preferred Demon Spirits with God-level growth rates.
Now, what made dragon bloodlines special?
If finding a Demon Spirit with a God-level growth rate was already extremely difficult, then finding one with both a God-level growth rate and a dragon bloodline could be considered nearly impossible.
For every tens of billions of Demon Spirits, perhaps only one thousand possessed Extraordinary or God-level growth rates, and among those, perhaps only one would possess a dragon bloodline.
It was so rare that many experts would wage wars just to obtain one.
Because there was one undeniable truth universally acknowledged by all Demon Spiritualists.
Every Demon Spiritualist who integrated with a Demon Spirit possessing both a God-level growth rate and a dragon bloodline eventually became an absolute powerhouse in the Middle Worlds.
So one could only imagine how delighted Xue Hui felt after discovering a treasure capable of turning any Demon Spirit crystal into a dragon bloodline Demon Spirit simply by soaking it for a few days.
If he managed to obtain a Demon Spirit with a God-level growth rate, then he could create an extremely powerful Demon Spirit for his friends.
"Now I'm excited to see what rewards are waiting in the next room," Xue Hui said expectantly.
End of Chapter 54
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