Chapter 47: Mist Within the Red Gold Treasure? Reaching from Earth to Heaven? [Six Thousand Words]-Começando como um bebê, cultivando o Dao e tornando-se um Lorde(Brisa que desperta da embriaguez)

"I almost forgot about you!"

"Using you to lure out the red-gold treasure should work, right?"

After a sudden flash of inspiration, a drop of divine origin materialized instantly in Xu Ran's hand. Although it was born from the Nightmare Mother of Grievances, divine origin itself transcends good and evil.

At this moment,

It hovered quietly in Xu Ran's palm, pure, holy, and dazzling, resembling a five-colored dewdrop. Strange ripples of energy spread outward in successive waves.

"One drop of divine origin! Any interest?"

Xu Ran asked into the empty air, immediately holding his breath.

He waited for the red-gold treasure to make its "choice."

He felt deeply nervous. Could the only divine-tier item in his possession catch the attention of the red-gold treasure? Could it entice the red-gold treasure to crawl out from the barrier of space and time?

He was entirely unsure.

Yet, this was already the finest treasure he owned—divine origin, which could only be condensed by deities, holy and radiant, shimmering with five brilliant colors!

If even a divine-level treasure of this caliber failed to lure the red-gold treasure out, he would truly be entirely out of options.

After waiting for a moment,

Xu Ran deflated. "Even divine origin leaves it completely unmoved? It seems I am powerless..."

"Shall I try a [Fear Cleansing]? Perhaps the Nightmare Mother of Grievances scared it just now?"

Clinging to the thought that trying would cost him nothing, Xu Ran muttered an incantation and cast a [Fear Cleansing] toward that exact spot...

Regrettably, there was not the slightest response.

"Heh. If you won't come out, you won't come out. I never cared for your precious red-gold treasure anyway. You ignore me today, but tomorrow you'll be entirely out of my league!"

Xu Ran put away the divine origin, turned invisible, and retreated.

Although his body was withdrawing, deep regret lingered in his heart. After all, a red-gold treasure was no ordinary street commodity.

An equivalent red-gold innate bone required accumulating a full three hundred points of fortune just for a probability of drawing it!

If red-gold innate bones were so precious, red-gold treasures certainly could not be weak either.

To someone with a severe hoarding obsession, failing to acquire the red-gold treasure was akin to reading the Four Great Classical Novels while skipping *Dream of the Red Chamber*. It meant... well, never mind the middle part, it meant his entire level of existence was stuck right here, condemning him to live a relatively failed life.

Was he resigned to this?

Certainly not.

Xu Ran sighed faintly. "I can only hope that one day, when I possess the power to shatter the space-time barrier, you are still hiding inside... I'll give you a taste of my power then. Hmph."

Naturally,

a few years from now,

the red-gold treasure certainly would not stay put in the exact same spot.

"What a pity, what a pity... A massive loss! A truly massive loss!"

Xu Ran accelerated his retreat.

However, just as he left the flesh and blood mother nest and was about to enter the sewer,

a red-gold radiance suddenly flared up behind him!

The intangible space-time barrier manifested.

With a sudden intuition, Xu Ran suppressed the surging excitement in his chest and slowly turned around, his gaze sweeping over the spot where the light had appeared.

There, a ball of red-gold light the size of a pigeon's egg was squeezing its way out through a rift.

The pigeon's egg radiated a brilliant red-gold glow, resembling the sunset at the edge of the sky wreathed in colorful rosy clouds, shrouded within a dense mist.

"It really was lured out?"

"It seems my level of existence is exceptionally high, and I am destined to lead an absolutely successful life."

With a pleased smile, Xu Ran reached out to grab the pigeon's egg. However, it darted away swiftly, fluttering around him like a butterfly dancing around a flower, before diving straight into his chest and vanishing.

"Huh? Come back out and let me study you properly."

As his voice trailed off, the pigeon's egg reappeared in Xu Ran's palm.

Xu Ran stared at it for a long time. "What is this ball of mist supposed to mean? Can't you introduce yourself?"

"Playing mute, are you? System, care to appraise this?"

The system offered no response either.

"Forget it. I've got the treasure in hand anyway; I can slowly figure it out later."

Thus, Xu Ran turned invisible and swiftly sped out of the pitch-black sewer...

This battle...

had drawn to a close...

The grand finale of the Nightmare Mother of Grievances...

Yet,

Xu Ran had a premonition that this was not the end...

It was only the beginning...

How did the Nightmare Mother of Grievances manage to enter the interior of Blue Star?

Logically speaking, before breaking through the extraterrestrial battlefield...

It was impossible for divine-level entities to enter another planet...

And yet the Nightmare Mother of Grievances had descended...

Along with the Talisman Grievance Deity...

At the height of her arrogance, the Nightmare Mother of Grievances had even uttered a prophecy—the heavens are shattered, and the deities shall descend...

"The dangers seem to multiply... I can't shake the feeling that behind the Nightmare Mother of Grievances and the Talisman Grievance Deity lies a massive conspiracy capable of destroying Blue Star..."

Xu Ran's heart hammered violently, an unsettling premonition refusing to fade.

"Forget it, I need to leave first."

A few gentle gusts of wind rustled through the sewer, but upon closer inspection, it was entirely empty...

Less than a minute after he left,

down another sewer tunnel,

three powerful reinforcements—Huang Liang, Zhao Ying, and Gao Yuan—arrived above the flesh and blood mother nest. The moment they reached the subterranean space, Gao Yuan tossed out a sphere of light that illuminated every single detail of the nest with absolute clarity.

Bathed in the pristine radiance, the three figures hovered mid-air, looking down at the completely empty nest with expressions of utter astonishment.

"Wiped out so cleanly? Not even a trace of pollution remains?"

"Wait, exactly which heavyweight expert is secretly pulling off god-tier feats behind the scenes? First, they clipped the nightmare threads, and then they completely obliterated a high-tier ghostly entity in the middle of its ascension ritual, leaving not even a speck of pollution behind?"

The three of them were deeply shocked.

Zhao Ying looked perplexed. "Even a mid-tier ghostly entity leaves behind a pool of pollution when slain. A ghostly entity in the process of becoming a deity was scrubbed away this thoroughly? Isn't something wrong here?"

Gao Yuan carefully examined the entire nest. "Everything is wrong. Could it be a heavyweight with a light-attribute innate bone?"

Zhao Ying shook her head in denial. "There are only five super heavyweights with light-attribute innate bones, and all of them are tied down on the interstellar battlefield."

Gao Yuan wondered, "Could it be that the Nightmare Mother of Grievances sensed we were coming for a hard kill and slipped away early?"

"No, no, no. Even if she fled, she should have left behind pollution. But the current situation is that there isn't a single shred of the Nightmare Mother of Grievances' pollution in the underground passage. It's as if she simply evaporated into thin air..."

While the two were deep in confusion, Huang Liang noticed a few scraps of torn paper on the ground. He picked up three or four fragments. "You guys come take a look at this. What is this?"

The three leaned in close to examine them. "No idea. There is a special energy fluctuation on these paper scraps, as if they are part of some spiritual item."

Huang Liang raised his gaze, sweeping it across the mother nest. "My deduction is that a batch of spiritual items fought the Nightmare Mother of Grievances here, and in the end, those spiritual items shattered while the Nightmare Mother of Grievances met an unknown fate..."

Zhao Ying: "Ah?"

Gao Yuan: "Ah?"

"A battle took place?"

"We didn't sense any of it at all."

"If a fight had broken out, there surely would have been energy fluctuations. The Nightmare Mother of Grievances is no ordinary character. Even if we had executed a full-force frontal kill, the resulting explosion would have echoed across thousands of meters, just like a missile detonation."

Zhao Ying and Gao Yuan remained dazed, their faces etched with utter incomprehension.

They simply could not imagine what on earth had transpired underground to make the dominating Nightmare Mother of Grievances vanish into thin air without leaving a single trace of pollution behind...

Huang Liang furrowed his brows slightly. "Let me ask Brother Ping. Brother Ping will definitely know something. He was acting all mysterious earlier; anyone could tell he was hiding something from us."

With that, Huang Liang pressed his communication device. "Brother Ping, we've arrived underground, at the hiding place of the Nightmare Mother of Grievances."

Ye Ping responded, "How is it? Have you slain the Nightmare Mother of Grievances? You have no worries left, so make it quick and finish her off. Killing the Nightmare Mother of Grievances should be a piece of cake for you three."

Huang Liang fell silent for a moment.

"No, no, no, Brother Ping. We came down to the underground nest and found it completely empty. The Nightmare Mother of Grievances is nowhere to be found, and not even a shred of pollution was left behind... What is going on?"

Ye Ping spread his hands. "...You're asking me? I've been locked in a stalemate with the Nightmare Mother of Grievances on the mountain the whole time; I have no idea what's happening underground."

Zhao Ying chimed in, "Brother Ping, did you secretly hire a deity-slaying squad? This is definitely the flesh and blood nest of the Nightmare Mother of Grievances, yet there isn't a speck of pollution?"

Ye Ping was taken aback. "Huh? A deity-slaying squad? I didn't hire any deity-slaying squad. The situation on the interstellar battlefield is deadlocked; they can't afford to spare anyone..."

"Wait... What did you say? Not a single shred of pollution was left? That's impossible, right?"

Hearing the genuine shock in Ye Ping's voice, the trio was left speechless. "Are you saying you have no idea what happened either?"

Ye Ping: "..."

He felt as though he knew something, yet simultaneously knew nothing at all.

This was most likely the handiwork of Little Ran, but how exactly he pulled it off, Ye Ping had not the faintest clue...

Ye Ping dared not be certain. "Wait, are you guys joking or serious? The Nightmare Mother of Grievances is dead? And without leaving a single trace of pollution?"

Huang Liang nodded. "Based on the analysis of the scene, the Nightmare Mother of Grievances is most likely dead—dead thoroughly and completely."

Upon hearing this, Ye Ping drew in a deep breath. "To tell you the truth, I have no idea either... If you're curious, come over to the kindergarten later and see if you can figure out the execution method... Right, I asked you to keep an eye on a stealthy little kid; did you run into him?"

The three shook their heads in bewilderment. "No, we didn't see any invisible child."

Huang Liang suddenly realized something was amiss. "Wait, he can turn invisible? What kind of heaven-defying innate bone is that?!"

Ye Ping had no time to reply; a sudden wave of anxiety washed over him. "You didn't see him? Could he be in danger? Hurry up and use your spiritual sense to search carefully!"

Ye Ping couldn't help his worry. Although the Nightmare Mother of Grievances had been dealt with, what if Xu Ran had run into danger or perished together with her...

The loss would simply be too catastrophic.

"Still, Little Ran's abilities are so extraordinary; he shouldn't run into trouble."

Ye Ping let out a deep sigh of relief and was about to speak when his phone rang frantically. Pulling it out to take a glance, Ye Ping relaxed entirely.

It was a call from Xu Ran.

On the other end of the line, Xu Ran stood alone atop a tall building, the crumbling red moon hanging directly above his head. The night wind ruffled his hair, sweeping it back into a windswept quiff, softening his sharp facial features and making him look remarkably youthful.

He had just retrieved his temporarily stored Genius Telephone Watch from the stairwell.

"Hello, Uncle Ye, mission accomplished. I'll be heading back to the kindergarten right away."

Ye Ping asked with deep concern, "You're not hurt, are you?!"

Xu Ran smiled faintly. "No. Thanks to the abilities of the Nightmare Mother of Grievances, which happen to be naturally countered by mine, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to resolve it. Heh."

Ye Ping let out a breath. "You soloed the Nightmare Mother of Grievances? And you cleared away all of its pollution as well?"

Xu Ran's tone was breezy. "Naturally, since I'm already helping, I might as well go all the way. A one-stop service to keep it from ever rising from the ashes."

Ye Ping: "..."

"Impressive! Hurry back! Your mother and the director are both terribly worried about you."

A warm feeling flooded Xu Ran's heart. "Alright, I'll be right back. You go break the good news to them."

Ye Ping: "Will do!"

...

On the other end of the communication device,

Huang Liang, Zhao Ying, and Gao Yuan were filled with question marks: "......????"

What had they just heard? The childish voice of a little kid?

"Wait, Brother Ping, what is going on here? The mysterious heavyweight who slaughtered the Nightmare Mother of Grievances is a child? A rejuvenation innate bone?"

Ye Ping chuckled softly. "No, no, no. He is a super genius with a unique comprehension-type innate bone and terrifyingly powerful abilities."

"I don't know how he managed to take care of the Nightmare Mother of Grievances, but earlier he told me he had a seventy percent certainty of killing her. So he set off alone. An hour later, all the nightmare threads were severed. Immediately after, you guys called to report that the Nightmare Mother of Grievances had not only vanished without a trace, but hadn't even left behind a speck of pollution."

"The Nightmare Mother of Grievances died cleanly and thoroughly, and there's a ninety-eight percent probability it was his doing."

Zhao Ying, Gao Yuan, and Huang Liang looked at one another in dismay. "Ah?"

"Comprehension innate bone? A super genius?"

"That can't be right, can it? The oldest child in the Demi-God Kindergarten is only seven and a half years old, right? They haven't even started formal cultivation yet..."

Ye Ping interrupted the three of them. "Don't judge super geniuses by ordinary common sense. He created his own invisibility technique from scratch; can any of you do that?"

Zhao Ying: "......Indeed we cannot. Invisibility is far too difficult. I've only ever heard of the Shadow Assassination innate bone."

Ye Ping: "His invisibility is far stronger than the Shadow Assassination innate bone. It's not even in the same dimension of mysticism."

Gao Yuan: "Brother Ping, I remember a time-attribute innate bone appeared in the Jing City Kindergarten, which is why you rushed back overnight to act as his guardian."

"How is there an even more monstrous comprehension innate bone popping up now? Could it be that Huaxia is truly about to rise to greatness?"

Ye Ping chuckled softly.

Huang Liang's curiosity swelled to the max. "Let's hurry up and finish wrapping things up here so we can go back and witness the heroic demeanor of this comprehension-attribute genius."

With that, the three of them scattered to busy themselves with the cleanup work underground.

Meanwhile,

Xu Ran, having sped along at breakneck speed for twenty minutes, had returned to the Demi-God Kindergarten.

Remaining invisible, he blinked to replace himself with his double. With a mental command, the double vanished, and he opened his eyes, sitting upright.

"You're awake!"

His mother immediately pulled Xu Ran into an embrace. "Are you alright? Are you hurt? Your Uncle Ye said you were fine just now, but Mom was still worried sick."

Xu Ran smiled gently, his tone soft as he comforted his mother. "I'm completely fine, perfectly safe, no need to worry~ Heroes always return in triumph!"

Tiger Girl's sparkling eyes were brimming with admiration. "Big Brother Ran, yay, yay!"

Not far away,

mothers holding their young children crowded around Xu Ran.

"Little Ran... Thank you!"

"You've saved our children once again."

The mothers' eyes were rimmed with red.

Xu Ran felt rather embarrassed. "Just a small matter, really."

The mothers insisted, "No, no, no, we know how dangerous it was! Thank you. You are a hero."

Little bean-sprouts struggled to throw themselves into Xu Ran's arms.

"Big Brother Ran~"

Xu Ran waved his hand dismissively. "It really was nothing; it was actually quite safe... Did the little ones get frightened? Let me clear away their fear."

Saying this,

he cast [Fear Cleansing] on them one by one.

With their fear cleared, the little ones looked up at Xu Ran with bright eyes and radiant smiles.

"Go back to sleep now, it's past your bedtime."

Xu Ran urged them to rest.

After expressing their gratitude one last time, the mothers departed with their children.

Feng Yan and the others walked over. "Little Ran, I am willing to call you the strongest!"

Xu Ran: "????l"

What was that supposed to mean? Were they not convinced before?

Zhuge Huang spoke with an excited tone. "We only just realized now that being the strongest isn't about bullying others or beating people until their faces are bruised; it's about being able to protect everyone—it's about standing tall as a true hero!"

The other geniuses nodded in agreement.

"In the past, we learned movement techniques from Little Ran, but tonight, we've learned a principle of a far higher realm."

Behind them,

looking at her young son who possessed the bearing of a pillar holding up the heavens, his mother turned away to wipe away her tears.

This was her baby! The child she had brought into the world!

Xu Ran fell silent. "..."

The bizarre train of thought exhibited by Feng Yan, Zhuge Huang, and the others had completely derailed him.

He looked at his mother, then at Uncle Ye, and finally at the Director.

The Director said, "Their realization is correct. The greatest strength is the power of protection. Little Ran, you are already a mentor of unflinching honor!"

At this moment, the Director was filled with deep emotion.

In truth, initially, a comprehension-type innate bone was not qualified to enter the Demi-God Kindergarten.

However, wanting to groom Xu Ran as his successor, the Director had made a special exception and admitted him.

Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that a comprehension innate bone could be this terrifying!

The Director smiled with gratification. "Still, are you really alright? Check your physical body and spiritual sense carefully to see if there is any lingering pollution."

Xu Ran shook his head. "I'm genuinely completely fine. By the way, where are Sister Qinghong, Aunt Lu, and the other two mentors?"

The Director reached out and patted Xu Ran all over, carefully sensing him several times. "Oh, them? They went off to execute an alternative plan. If you hadn't succeeded and the Nightmare Mother of Grievances had continued threatening us after another two hours, they would have initiated a forced kill."

"Of course, the casualties caused by a forced kill would have been devastating. It definitely would have triggered a fierce counterattack from the Nightmare Mother of Grievances, and the ones to suffer the heaviest blows first... would undoubtedly have been the geniuses of our kindergarten!"

"Fortunately, you came up with a flawless plan. Your strategy kept casualties to an absolute minimum—not a single genius in the kindergarten was lost!"

The Director laughed heartily. "Splendid, truly my finest student!"

"Right, now that the Nightmare Mother of Grievances has been slain, can you reveal your strategy? I'm terribly curious."

Hearing this, Tiger Girl blinked her large, sparkling eyes. "That's right, that's right, we want to know, we want to know!!!"

Beside them, Uncle Ye's gaze instantly locked onto him. "Can you tell us? I'm very curious too!"

Xu Ran thought for a moment. "Of course I can tell you. Actually, the plan wasn't very complicated..."

At that moment,

Ye Ping's communicator chimed. "Wait for us, we want to know too! Give us five minutes, we'll be right at the Demi-God Kindergarten in five minutes!"

Who could possibly resist such curiosity?

Solving the Nightmare Mother of Grievances at the age of six was nothing short of a miracle. And on top of that, clearing away the pollution so thoroughly!

The hearts of Huang Liang, Zhao Ying, and Gao Yuan were overflowing with curiosity.

The Director: "..."

Ye Ping: "..."

"Fine then, let's wait a moment for the three of them."

Thus, five minutes later, Huang Liang, Zhao Ying, and Gao Yuan descended from the sky, landing right in front of the group.

"Brother Ping, which genius is it that slaughtered the Nightmare Mother of Grievances? Hurry up and let us witness their heroic posture!"

The Director, his mother, Ye Ping, Tiger Girl's mother, Yuheng's mother... Tiger Girl, Zhu Yuheng, and everyone else shifted their gazes unanimously toward Xu Ran.

Following their line of sight, they all looked at Xu Ran.

Zhao Ying's eyes were full of a thirst for knowledge. "A comprehension innate bone? And you can turn invisible?"

Gao Yuan chimed in, "Can you tell us how you managed to kill the Nightmare Mother of Grievances? Human cultivators still have far too few effective means to counter ghostly entities. Perhaps we can learn from your experience."

Learn from his experience?

Xu Ran shook his head. "How should I put it? My method isn't something that can be easily replicated. First of all, I possess the ability to turn invisible, allowing me to sneak up on the Nightmare Mother of Grievances without making a sound."

As he spoke, Xu Ran's figure flickered and turned completely transparent.

Opposite him, Tiger Girl stared in blank astonishment, her sparkling eyes shimmering with a strange light as she wiped a corner of her mouth, completely mesmerized.

"I must learn this! I must learn this!"

She clenched her fists secretly in her heart.

Not far away, Huang Liang, Zhao Ying, and Gao Yuan gasped, "Goodness! Is this a heaven-bestowed divine ability?!"

Xu Ran replied, "Not a divine ability. It's my own spell."

Gao Yuan asked, "A spell you comprehended yourself?"

Xu Ran nodded, "Correct."

Huang Liang hesitated, "Uh... Can we learn it? Can other cultivators learn it?"

Xu Ran pondered this seriously. "Probably not. It requires an extremely high level of talent."

Huang Liang looked eager to try. "Please teach us in a few days. Even if we can't master it, we'd still like to give it a try."

Ye Ping warned, "Don't bother trying, I've already failed once."

Huang Liang, Zhao Ying, and Gao Yuan wore stubborn expressions. "We're going to try anyway. We won't give up until we hit a brick wall!"

Ye Ping sighed, "Have it your way."

Xu Ran smiled faintly. "Let me continue with my strategy. Because I have the ability to turn invisible, I was able to secretly approach the Nightmare Mother of Grievances and execute the next step."

"Of course, that next step also relies on my unique abilities."

With that,

Xu Ran produced a piece of origami paper, folded it rapidly, and then bit his finger to smear a drop of blood across it. Within moments, the paper figure expanded, puffing up until it transformed into a lifelike young child.

The child walked and crawled about on the ground, completely indistinguishable from a real human toddler.

Upon seeing this spectacle, every single cultivator present froze in blank astonishment.

"Ah?"

"Is this a heaven-bestowed divine ability?"

"No spell could possibly achieve this step, right?"

"I remember Jiang Han's innate bone ability is the creation of puppets."

Xu Ran thought for a moment and decided not to overexplain. "Perhaps it's a special ability of the comprehension innate bone? In short, my origami creations can easily defeat ghostly entities and absorb the energy within their bodies."

"Coincidentally, the Nightmare Mother of Grievances loves to refine toddlers into infant zombies. So, I figured, why not create three thousand fake toddlers?"

"Three thousand toddlers lying in wait near the Nightmare Mother of Grievances, launching a coordinated strike at the critical moment of her evolution to shatter her defenses and devour her energy."

"Three thousand toddlers, each consuming ten thousand points of vital blood energy, equals a full thirty million points of vital blood energy. That's why the Nightmare Mother of Grievances simply evaporated..."

Xu Ran explained it simply, omitting the crucial [Twilight of the Gods].

The crowd exchanged bewildered glances upon hearing this explanation.

"This... this... it truly is her natural nemesis! Creating fake children to exploit her obsession with toddlers, sneaking right up to her, and then triggering a devouring ambush at the crucial moment."

"A genius concept!"

"Truth be told, the Nightmare Mother of Grievances was simply fated to meet her doom here."

"If she had been in any other city, she probably would have succeeded."

"Yet she stubbornly chose the most terrifying city of all."

"Hahahaha."

Everyone couldn't help laughing, casting gazes of awe toward Xu Ran. "A true genius! Thanks to Jing City having you, otherwise a huge batch of geniuses might have been lost!"

"If a group of geniuses had really been lost, it would have been an unbearable, catastrophic blow to the Director!"

Zhao Ying added, "I shudder to think how broken the Director would have been if the geniuses had suffered heavy casualties..."

The Director maintained a solemn expression. "Don't make such pointless assumptions. Don't I have a little hero here who stepped up with a genius plan to save the entire city?!"

The Director looked at Xu Ran, his eyes brimming with gratification and pride.

Yet, as if recalling some unpleasant memory, his expression suddenly turned rather peculiar as he stared at Xu Ran.

…………

PS: Six thousand words~~