Immortals of the End Times

Chapters 148-159: Nourishing the Meridians in the Heavenly Pot, Sweeping Through the Secret Realm, Enemy Cultivators of the Dynasty (Two-in-one chapter, please subscribe)
The secret realm is indeed quite different from the Dharma-ending Age outside.

This place seems to be a treasure land that has avoided the depletion of spiritual energy, and may contain some special origin.

Zhao Wuji controlled three puppets as they walked among the dense spiritual energy, which was as thick as mist, and the spiritual soil beneath their feet was soft and moist.

Every so often he would find a few first-grade spiritual herbs, such as the Green Spirit Grass or the Crimson Blood Vine.

Occasionally, one can catch a glimpse of a second-level spiritual material, the "Purple Heart Orchid," hidden among the bushes, emitting a faint spiritual light.

"This place is practically a treasure trove. We've already harvested some spiritual plants even before reaching the important areas like the Medicine King's Garden."

Zhao Wuji observed the spiritual plants transplanted into the Pot Heaven Space and was very satisfied.

In the distance, the little jade fox, now released, excitedly flitted among the spiritual herbs, its fur glistening with dew.

Suddenly, the myna bird Xiong Ba flapped its wings and flew over, snatched a spiritual herb and stuffed it into the space between Zhao Wuji's sleeves, making a 'ga' sound, as if it were asking for credit.

"Go look again, it saved me a lot of trouble."

Zhao Wuji chuckled, letting his beastly friends run wild.

However, this secret realm, though rich in resources, also harbors hidden dangers.

He had vaguely sensed the presence of other demonic beasts beforehand, and even Xiaoyu and Xiongba had noticed it.

They traveled another hundred miles.

"Roar--"

From the shadows of the dense forest ahead, a crimson leopard suddenly pounced, its sharp claws carrying scorching heat waves, heading straight for the white tiger that Xiaoyu had brought with her.

"Roar!"

The white tiger was just an ordinary wild beast with only a slight intelligence; it was no match for such a demonic beast and was immediately frightened, retreating like a cowardly cat.

"go with!"

Zhao Wuji had already sensed it, and a thought flickered in his mind.

The two disciples of the White Bone Cave Heaven beside him immediately sprang into action.

One person unleashed a white bone flying sword, while the other threw out a chain artifact, instantly binding the Flame-Patterned Leopard's limbs.

The Blood Corpse Puppet roared, its rotting flesh churning as it punched the monster's head!
"Oh!"

The Flame Leopard let out a mournful howl as its head exploded, pierced through by a punch, splattering blood everywhere.

The Blood Corpse Puppet's close combat strength is comparable to that of a martial arts practitioner.

Its physical body is incredibly strong, capable of withstanding ordinary magical artifacts, and its claws are comparable in power to magical artifacts.

This corpse puppet is more like an upgraded version of the Yin puppet refined by the corpse driver of Yunfeng Cave. It is stronger and has a certain degree of intelligence from its previous life. It can move on its own and even think simply, and act according to commands.

"Chirp!"

Little Jade Fox looked at the corpse of the Flame-Patterned Leopard demon beast lying on the ground, her eyes filled with complex emotions, as if she felt a sense of 'the fox mourns the death of the leopard'.

After all, monsters are extremely rare outside. They usually stick together and rarely fight each other, treating each other as their own kind.

However, there are obviously quite a few monsters in this secret realm. Treating them as intruders, they fight to the death on sight, which is very cruel.

Zhao Wuji raised his hand and retrieved the corpse of the Flame Pattern Leopard. He then summoned the Frost Soul Flying Sword and used its Xuanbing Sword Qi to freeze and preserve the corpse before throwing it into the Pot Heaven Space.

This Flame-Patterned Leopard is just an ordinary demonic beast at the first level of Qi Refining, barely qualifying as a demonic beast essence resource.

If it were a stronger beast, such as one comparable to the old fox, he would be willing to control it and take it with him: "Let's continue."

The strange group continued on its way.

If there were any strange things along the way, Zhao Wuji would control two disciples of the White Bone Cave Heaven and the Blood Corpse Puppet to explore the way.

His mind was entangled with the three of them like silk threads, and his spiritual power was constantly flowing away.

As the duration increased, he felt as if his mind was being rubbed by fine sand, and the intense resistance from the two White Bone Cave cultivators was exhausting him.

Although the loss of spiritual energy was considerable, the spiritual energy within the secret realm was abundant and could be replenished in time.

"This direct control method is domineering, but it is too mentally and physically exhausting. It is better to use drugs and blood corpse puppets. No wonder the cave heavens choose the method of control that is subtle and gradual."

Zhao Wuji did not intend to continue feeding the two cultivators from the White Bone Cave with talisman pills, as that would consume too many resources.

After a period of use, if danger arises, these two cultivators can be discarded.

However, at this moment, not only were the puppets consuming his spiritual power, but the spiritual power consumption of the Pot Heaven space was also becoming more and more obvious as more spiritual soil and spiritual herbs accumulated inside.

He has already depleted more than thirty strands of his spiritual power.

"The spiritual energy drifting into the Pot Heaven Space from the outside seems to be being consumed. Could it be that the spiritual herbs inside are absorbing it? Or perhaps it's being absorbed by the Pot Heaven Space itself?"

With a thought, he summoned a cultivator from the White Bone Cave and ordered him to hand over all the Source Crystals.

This cultivator didn't have a storage bag, but he did carry a large, expandable bag with him, specifically for storing the resources he collected.

The other party took out more than twenty source crystals from the bag.

Zhao Wuji poured everything into the Pot Heaven space.

As soon as the crystal landed, it transformed into wisps of pure spiritual energy that spread out.

This time he observed very carefully and discovered that the barrier of the Pot Heaven space was absorbing things autonomously, just like a living thing.

The spiritual soil spread on the ground also absorbed the energy, thus stabilizing the space.

His continuously depleted spiritual energy was instantly blocked, almost ceasing to be consumed.

Sensing the gradually balancing flow of spiritual energy within the space, Zhao Wuji breathed a sigh of relief: "This is an unexpected delight. It seems that this is the correct way to use the Pot Heaven Technique, continuously investing resources into it and letting this small world develop on its own."

Perhaps in the future it will evolve into a highly stable, self-sustaining spiritual energy paradise, avoiding the depletion of spiritual energy in the outside world.”

Upon realizing this, Zhao Wuji was startled again and looked around.

Could the Tiannan Secret Realm be such a pot-shaped space?

"That's impossible; others don't know the Heavenly Pot Technique."

As he thought this, the image from Zhang Sanfeng's "Yin Yang Strategy" flashed through Zhao Wuji's mind again, and he frowned slightly.

Overthinking is pointless.

He suppressed his thoughts and continued to gather resources.

This time, he brought two storage bags and a Pot Heaven space, determined to fill all the storage spaces.

Once he gets out, he will use the vast resources he has collected to quickly break through his strength level, perhaps even achieving consecutive breakthroughs and striving to reach the Condensation Realm as soon as possible.

"Besides the Medicine King's Garden, that level-four spiritual vein area is also worth checking out. We could even extract some spiritual ore and put it into the Pot Heaven Space."

They continued on for no more than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

Ahead, the mist floated like a veil, and the vegetation was noticeably taller than in other areas. The iconic landmark of Yaowangpu, Yaowang Mountain, was already faintly visible.

Zhao Wuji's ears twitched slightly as he heard the sounds of magical artifacts colliding and bursts of spiritual energy coming from afar, and he suddenly stopped.

"spread!"

With a flick of his sleeve, the little jade fox's ears twitched, and it immediately leaped onto the white tiger's back, together jumping into the bushes.

Xiong Ba flapped his wings and flew away with a "whoosh," and soon after, through the shared vision of the Bird Taming Technique, he showed Zhao Wuji a scene.

On the mountain path, Lu Yongnian, dressed in the secret purple robe of the Linglang Cave Heaven, was wielding a medicinal hoe, creating a burst of blue light, and was fiercely fighting with two cultivators from the Xuanxiao Cave Heaven opposite him.

It appears that Lu Yongnian is already injured and his condition is critical.

"What a coincidence." Zhao Wuji made a hand seal and cast an invisibility spell, his figure fading away like ink in a painting.

Two disciples of the White Bone Cave and the Blood Corpse Puppet proceeded as usual under his instructions, the puppet's joints creaking loudly, as they surrounded the Medicine King's Garden.

Before long, two disciples of the White Bone Cave Heaven arrived at the battlefield together with the Blood Corpse Puppet.

Both sides, already aware of each other's presence, slowed their attacks.

They were all taken aback when they suddenly saw the strange combination of two cultivators from the White Bone Cave and a Blood Corpse Puppet.

"So it's Fellow Daoist He from the White Bone Cave Heaven!"

A cultivator at the sixth level of Qi Refining in the Xuanxiao Cave Heaven sneered, "When did your White Bone Cave Heaven get involved with these ancient cultivator puppets?"

This fellow Daoist from the Luminous Cave Heaven stole our things; let's just leave each other alone.

"roll!"

Before the other side could finish speaking, the cultivator from the White Bone Cave Heaven, controlled by Zhao Wuji, launched a fierce attack, unleashing a bone claw magic weapon.

"Bastard!"

Two cultivators from Xuanxiao Cave Heaven roared angrily.

The leader, who was at the sixth level of Qi Refining, immediately unleashed three Xuanxiao Spirit Needles.

At this moment, the Blood Corpse Puppet roared and charged out.

The rotten claw knocked away three Xuanxiao needles, and as the bloody wind passed, the protective aura of a Xuanxiao cultivator on the other side shattered like an eggshell.

Lu Yongnian's pupils constricted sharply, he cried out in distress, and quickly dodged away.

Unexpectedly, the two Xuanxiao Cave Heaven cultivators also changed their expressions and retreated at the same time. The leader looked ugly and snorted coldly.

"The White Bone Cave Heaven has actually joined forces with ancient cultivators! Excellent, very excellent! Let's go!"

He was clearly wary of the Blood Corpse Puppet and did not hesitate to take his junior brother and fly away.

Zhao Wuji, who was hiding in the shadows, considered for a moment and gave up the idea of ​​stopping the two.

With just three puppets, it was clear that they couldn't capture that cultivator at the sixth level of the Xuanxiao Cave Heaven's Qi Refining Realm unless he took action himself.

But he doesn't plan to take action immediately yet.

Chickens should be fattened up before being slaughtered.

These people have just arrived and haven't collected many resources yet, so it would be a shame to kill them.

It would be better to let these people gather enough resources and then plunder them the next time they encounter them.

With the two Xuanxiao Cave Heaven cultivators fleeing, only Lu Yongnian, who had not yet managed to escape, remained in the arena.

Lu Yongnian looked at the two White Bone Cave cultivators and the Blood Corpse Puppet, gave an awkward smile, gritted his teeth, took out a five-leaf Ganoderma lucidum with golden veins from his medicine pouch at his waist, and floated it toward the White Bone Cave cultivator opposite him.

"Thank you for your help, fellow Daoist from the White Bone Cave. This is a second-level spiritual medicine called 'Golden Cloud Pouch,' which can help spiritual power condense and improve rapidly."

They attacked me just now to steal this item, and I, Lu, would like to offer it as my gratitude for your help!

Zhao Wuji, who was observing from the shadows, chuckled: "This Junior Brother Lu does know his place."

As one of the White Bone Cave cultivators accepted the spiritual medicine, the other man and the blood corpse stared intently at him with stiff and strange expressions, as if they were about to pounce on him at any moment.

Lu Yongnian's heart was bleeding, but he forced a smile and handed another Golden Cloud Vine to another cultivator from the White Bone Cave.

When he faced the blood corpse puppet's cold and menacing gaze again, he slowly clenched his fist.

Suddenly, a shrill scream came from the mist not far away.

The Qi Refining Stage 6 Xuanxiao cultivator who had just retreated flew back again, with half a spirit arrow stuck in his chest, while the other Xuanxiao cultivator was nowhere to be seen.

"This is?"

Lu Yongnian's expression changed instantly.

Zhao Wuji, who was hiding in the shadows, frowned. His spiritual sense detected three unfamiliar cultivators with extremely strong auras and spiritual power suddenly appearing within a thousand feet.

This aura was completely unlike any of the cultivators he had sensed before, such as Xuanxiao, Qingming, and Yanling.

At that moment, the three auras approached each other in a triangular formation.

He completely ignored Lu Yongnian and the White Bone Cultivator present, displaying an arrogant attitude as if he intended to wipe them all out in one fell swoop.

Zhao Wuji felt a sense of unease. The next moment, he saw three masked cultivators break through the mist and surround him from three directions. The spiritual patterns on their armor emitted spiritual energy, and each of them was a powerful cultivator at the sixth level of Qi Refining.

"How could so many cultivators at the sixth level of Qi Refining suddenly appear? And their auras are so unfamiliar."

Zhao Wuji's expression changed slightly. "Could they be native cultivators from this secret realm?"

Lu Yongnian and the Xuanxiao Cave Heaven cultivators opposite were also filled with surprise and doubt. At this moment, the leader's figure floated in mid-air, his gaze suddenly falling on Lu Yongnian, and his voice under the beast mask was as muffled as thunder: "Linlang Cave Heaven cultivator, have you encountered a Zhao Wuji from your cave heaven?"

"Looking for me?" Zhao Wuji, who was observing from the shadows, looked puzzled.

“Junior Brother Zhao?” Lu Yongnian was taken aback, then shook his head warily, “I haven’t encountered him before.”

"Alright!" the leader said calmly. "You stand aside for now. After we deal with these small fry, you can come with us."

"Wait, you guys," Lu Yongnian was about to ask.

"Shut up! Step back!" one of the female cultivators in black armor suddenly shouted, abruptly making a hand seal.

Lu Yongnian's body trembled, and then, as if under some kind of spell, he actually obediently withdrew.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Wuji's eyebrows furrowed, and he suddenly gave an order.

The controlled blood corpse puppet suddenly launched an attack, with dozens of bone spikes emerging from its rotting flesh, heading straight for the nearest Xuanjia cultivator.

But then, with a few clanging sounds, the bone spurs were all deflected by the shimmering black armor.

"What powerful spirit armor! What kind of material is this spirit armor made of?"

Zhao Wuji was shocked. He felt that these spirit armors might be even stronger than the ones he was wearing, and that everyone had a set.
He immediately made a hand seal, and the two White Bone disciples simultaneously unleashed their magical artifacts.

Upon seeing this, the cultivators from Xuanxiao Cave Heaven did not immediately unite to attack, but instead fled.

However, it was quickly intercepted by a flying sword fired by one of the Xuanjia cultivators.

"laugh!"

At this moment, the flying sword in the sleeve of the female cultivator in black armor suddenly condensed into a line of cold light, like a silver thread cutting through the mist.

The bone shield artifact summoned by the cultivator from the White Bone Cave Heaven had just met the attack when it was spun around by the sword threads, causing the spiritual light on the shield surface to dim instantly, and it cracked in two with a "crack".

The sword's momentum didn't diminish; in an instant, it pierced the puppet's throat, drawing out a spray of blood.

The manipulated skeletal cultivator gurgled in his throat, fell backward, and the yin spirit within his body dissipated along with the talisman.

“Indeed troublesome…” Zhao Wuji’s pupils contracted slightly in the shadows, and his hand gestures changed abruptly.

A wisp of invisible energy, like a snake, instantly coiled around the body of the Xuanjia cultivator on the right.

The man's body suddenly froze, and the protective aura around him flickered erratically as his breathing became disordered.

At that very moment, the Frost Soul Flying Sword burst forth from the shadows of the trees, its sword rainbow piercing the sky and heading straight for his heart!
"clang!!"

At the critical moment, the spiritual runes on the chest of the Xuanjia cultivator suddenly lit up, and a layer of bluish-green protective shield appeared out of thin air.

The sword energy collided with the protective shield, causing the spiritual mist to surge.

Zhao Wuji snorted coldly, pressed down with his sword finger, and the Cold Soul Sword suddenly burst forth with three inches of Xuanbing evil energy. With a "crackling" sound, the protective shield cracked and collapsed.

"die!"

The second sword strike came out like lightning.

"who!?"

The female cultivator in black armor suddenly crushed the talisman in her sleeve, and her body exploded into a cloud of green smoke with a "bang".

The sword flashed, shattering a section of the substitute wooden stake into ice shards, with blood-red curse marks still remaining between the wood grain.

"A substitute talisman?!" Zhao Wuji was shocked, not expecting that the other party also possessed such a precious talisman.

"What a rat!"

The remaining two Xuanjia cultivators roared, and one of them intensified his attack, his flying sword severely injuring the Xuanxiao Cave Heaven cultivator.

The other man's gaze, hidden beneath his beastly mask, swept swiftly toward the source of the sword light.

The female cultivator who escaped then conjured an ancient mirror with a flick of her wrist. The mirror's surface flickered with spiritual flames, illuminating every detail within a hundred feet.

Zhao Wuji's invisibility technique had already been deactivated when he launched his flying sword. Now, under the cover of the phantom cloak, his figure moved like a series of phantoms as he dodged the attack.

But when the sword light shone upon him, the illusion was completely shattered, and his figure was immobilized.

"die!"

One of the Xuanjia cultivators roared and activated a circular magic artifact.

A burst of intense light suddenly appeared in the center of the magical artifact. Zhao Wuji's spiritual senses pounded wildly, and he crushed the Golden Cicada Shedding its Shell Talisman in his sleeve without hesitation.

"boom!"

The blinding light waves obliterated all vegetation within a ten-foot radius, leaving the ground scorched and cracked.

Zhao Wuji's true form had already flashed thirty feet away like a cicada shedding its shell, leaving only a torn talisman paper floating where he had been standing.

"He actually managed to dodge the 'Mystic Light Strike'?!"

The pupils of the three Xuanjia cultivators suddenly contracted.

However, before they could make another move, a strange sense of dizziness suddenly invaded their souls, as if a huge boulder was pressing on their eyelids.

The three figures swayed, and the protective spiritual light around them flickered like a candle in the wind.

Zhao Wuji used two fingers to form a hand seal to cast the Dream Marriage Technique. His mind was consumed along with his spiritual energy. At the same time, he pushed his Wind Control Technique to its limit, and his figure circled around the three of them like a swift blue wind.

"Whoosh whoosh—!"

He patted his storage bag, and twelve talisman pills and two sobering stones suddenly flew into the air, landing in an array that surrounded the three of them.

The wedding dream talisman threads on the surface of the talisman and the surface texture of the "wine-relieving bead" lit up at the same time.

Instantly, the aroma of alcohol intertwined with the power of dreams, conjuring up layers upon layers of illusory images.

Intoxicating dream formation, activate!

"not good!"

The leading Xuanjia cultivator was the first to break free from the drowsiness, only to find the surrounding scenery suddenly changing.

Medicine King Mountain seemed to have transformed into a pool of wine and a forest of flesh, with spiritual mist condensing into nectar and jade liquor. Even the faces of his companions were distorted into those of laughing songstresses, their consciousness becoming hazy.

He roared and bit his tongue. The pain forced him to wake up. He activated all the spiritual patterns on his Xuanjia armor and tried to dispel the illusion with his spiritual power.

But the sharp edge of the Frostfire Sword had already arrived!

"Zheng!!"

The sword rang out like a dragon, and the Xuanbing aura, carrying Zhao Wuji's full-force attack, fiercely slashed towards the cultivator's neck on the right.

The man hastily raised his armor shield, but an indestructible hangover-relieving bead struck with lightning speed, instantly piercing through the shield.

The sword's edge arrived immediately.

A flash of cold light, and a masked head shot into the air, its blood freezing into ice crystals before it could even splatter!

"Fifth Brother!" The remaining two suddenly regained their senses, and the jade pendants they carried as spiritual artifacts cracked open.

The female cultivator suddenly bit her tongue, produced a crimson jade slip, and was about to crush it.

Suddenly, a burst of energy spread out, followed by the sudden appearance of an ancient bell, which rang out with a loud 'clang'.

A visible ring of cyan sound waves rippled outwards, concealing a power to impact the mind and spirit.

The two Xuanjia cultivators' eyes, which had just regained their clarity, became unfocused again, and their protective spiritual light trembled violently as if struck by lightning.

"clang!!"

The second chime followed immediately, and the ancient bell in front of Zhao Wuji revealed densely packed inscriptions for calming the mind.

The crimson jade slip that the armored woman was about to crush cracked open with a "crack," but was knocked out of her hand and fell to the ground by the sound wave.

The other cultivator fared even worse, blood seeping from his seven orifices, his Xuanjia spirit patterns flickering like a candle in the wind.

At this moment, Lu Yongnian and the Xuanxiao Cave Heaven cultivator were also awakened by the aftershocks of the bell.

Lu Yongnian's face showed struggle and confusion. Sensing that things were not going well, he quickly fled.

The heavily injured Xuanxiao cultivator also glanced at Zhao Wuji in shock, then flicked three speed talismans from his sleeve and stuck them to his legs, turning into a blur as he fled into the depths of Medicine King Mountain.

"break!"

Outside the magic array, Zhao Wuji suddenly pressed down with his sword finger.

Taking advantage of the situation, the Frost Soul Flying Sword transformed into a white rainbow, piercing into the female cultivator's right shoulder, instantly freezing half of her meridians with its icy aura.

The remaining cultivator roared and swung his sword to block, but was suddenly attacked from behind by a blood-soaked corpse puppet. The putrid poison seeped into his broken armor and began to erode him.

At the same time, the twelve talisman pills suddenly exploded, and the powerful array's dream-binding power transformed into countless dreamlike strands of hair that entwined the two of them.

The two decanting stones spun wildly, emitting a rich aroma of alcohol.

The two Xuanjia cultivators immediately lost consciousness.

Zhao Wuji seized the opportunity, patted his storage bag, and flicked out two jet-black talisman pills from his fingertips, accurately shooting them into the mouths of the two men.

The elixir melted upon entering the mouth, transforming into wisps of yin energy that seeped into the meridians, intertwining with the residual dream power of the Dream Marriage Technique to form a net that temporarily imprisoned the two people's yin souls.

"Connect to the spirit world, control it!"

Zhao Wuji's eyes flashed with a ghostly light, and his divine soul traced three blood-red runes that disappeared into the brows and hearts of the two cultivators respectively.

The two men trembled violently, their eyes beneath the black armor gradually becoming clouded with a gray haze, and their struggling limbs stiffened.

A few breaths later, the two stood with their heads bowed like puppets. Although their spiritual pressure had not decreased, their yin spirits had been forcibly suppressed by the talisman pills and the Netherworld Communication Technique.

Zhao Wuji was slightly tired and glanced at the white bone cultivator at the fifth level of Qi Refining not far away.

Forcibly controlling two cultivators at the sixth level of Qi Refining and one at the fifth level of Qi Refining at the same time was already the limit he could withstand.

With his mind as sharp as a needle, he manipulated the two men into their dreams, probing into the dreams of these two controlled Xuanjia cultivators in an attempt to access their memories.

However, the dream of these two people was like a blinding white light.

It was as if an invisible barrier was completely obscuring the key information, and even in my dreams, everything was a blank, without any useful clues.

"strangeness!"

He frowned and looked at the corpse of another Xuanjia cultivator on the ground.

He quickly approached, and a yin wind flew out, swirling up the opponent's lingering yin spirit and forcibly browsing through the opponent's recent memories.

But when it comes to the crucial parts, all that remains is a white light, with only a few scattered fragments floating on the surface.

For example, deep within a mine of a level-four spiritual vein, thirteen Xuanjia cultivators suddenly appeared.

For example, in a fragmented scene, several people identify themselves as "dynasty cultivators" and have tokens engraved with the character "Xuan" hanging from their waists, but there are no further clues about their identities.

Deep within my memory, a dignified whisper faintly echoed: "The affairs of the dynasty... must not be revealed..."

"These people have been placed under a restriction!"

Zhao Wuji's face was gloomy.

According to fragmented memories, these people had taken a golden pill before entering the secret realm.

After that, memories of the forces behind it all vanished like snowflakes scorched by the blazing sun.

He withdrew his hand and pondered, "Dynasty cultivators? Why do these people know my name and still want to kill me?"
Yet they didn't harm Senior Brother Lu. It seems the waters of this secret realm are deeper than I imagined.

A murderous glint appeared in his eyes.

Someone set a trap to kill him.

Considering the fourth-level spiritual vein mine and the motive, the only person who seems to have orchestrated this scheme is the cave master, Zhong Kui.

But how did Zhong Kui establish contact with these mysterious dynastic monks?

"I must gather resources and improve my strength as soon as possible. If that old dog sees that I am not dead after I get out, he will definitely be more eager to kill me. I have to kill him in return."

"Since he's set this up, I might as well play along."

Zhao Wuji looked at the two dynasty cultivators in front of him who he had already controlled, his eyes cold, and stepped forward to remove the mask from one of the female cultivators.

The face beneath the mask caused a slight change in his expression of surprise, and he subconsciously took a step back.
(End of this chapter)