What Ye Fan wanted to know most was the whereabouts of Shen Biancheng and Bai He. If they truly were swallowed by the Little Black Crystal, then Ye Fan wouldn't accept such a dangerous entity by his side.

Before, he kept the Little Black Crystal by his side as a matter of responsibility, fearing it would fall into the wrong hands and be used. Now that the Little Black Crystal had its own consciousness and was an intelligent being, he needed to get to the bottom of things first.

"Master," the Little Black Crystal said with some confusion, "I don't know what the master is talking about, I cannot answer you."

Ye Fan remembered that when the Little Black Crystal was swallowing others, it wouldn't ask for their names. He roughly explained the situation on Heavenly Peak Mountain that day, making the Little Black Crystal a bit scared: "Master, I don't have the ability to swallow living beings; I can only absorb death spirits. As for those two people you're talking about, I have no impression of them. At that time, I was bound in a giant net, and when I was hungry, people would feed me death spirits. Please believe me."

The Little Black Crystal spoke so sincerely, as if it had nothing to do with it, but Ye Fan could not be sure if it was lying.

"How can I be sure you're not lying to me?" Ye Fan replied.

The Little Purple Crystal, which had previously been hostile towards the Little Black Crystal, said, "Master, master, it's not lying to you. It is a Black Crystal and can only devour death spirits. Plus, when it first fell into your hands, it was so weak, as if it had been abused."

"Is that so?" Ye Fan was skeptical.

"Chirp chirp chirp chirp." The Little Blue Crystal and Little Red Crystal began to chirp as well, and without needing the Little Purple Crystal to convey their meaning, Ye Fan knew these two little ones were supporting the Little Black Crystal.

Looking again at the Little Black Crystal, Ye Fan asked, "So, how many death spirits are inside you?"

Still confused, the Little Black Crystal replied innocently, "Master, I don't know. From the time of my birth, I began devouring death spirits. Back then, I didn't have my own consciousness. There were just too many to keep track of, not something I meant to hide from you."

Ye Fan thought to himself—it's like how he doesn't remember how many meals he's eaten since he was born.

If every grain of rice were a living being, must one ask each if it agrees to be consumed?

Survival methods differ—those death spirits are the Little Black Crystal's sustenance. It needs them to grow stronger. If it hadn't devoured so many death spirits above the Dead Sea, it wouldn't have had a chance to become a spiritual entity and let Ye Fan feel its outline with the Tongling Mirror.

"Master, please believe me, I dare not betray you. If you think consuming death spirits is wrong, then I..."

Ye Fan waved his hand, saying, "You don't need to say anything. Devouring death spirits is your way of survival, and I will not interfere, but you mustn't devour conscious death spirits. Also, you must have no malicious intentions towards any living being."

"Understood." The Little Black Crystal humbly accepted Ye Fan's conditions.

Ye Fan asked, "Why have you awakened now? Have you absorbed enough death spirits to recover your strength?"

The Little Black Crystal hesitated a bit, "I consumed a lot of death spirits, allowing me to manifest as a spiritual entity and meet you, Master. I'm grateful for your previous rescue, and I will be loyal to you in the future."

"Hmph, stop speaking so nicely." The Little Purple Crystal retorted, "You clearly want Master to help you acquire a human body."

The Little Black Crystal curiously asked, "Why would I want to acquire a human body?"

It stumped the Little Purple Crystal immediately. Clearly, the Little Black Crystal and Little Purple Crystal had different values. The Little Purple Crystal wanted to become a human girl, to be like a human girl and fulfill the sacred mission of procreation and continuity, while the Little Black Crystal was much simpler. It just wanted to eat and sleep, sleep and eat, and best have a powerful master to watch over it, then life would be comfortable and fulfilling.

"Chirp chirp chirp chirp!" The Little Blue Crystal and Little Red Crystal also chirped, seemingly expressing their opinions, but this time the Little Purple Crystal didn't help them convey their meanings to Ye Fan.

The Little Purple Crystal was a petty, calculating girl.

Ye Fan said, "You've expressed your gratitude. You can transform back into crystal form. I'll keep you for now, but if you have any ill intentions, I will do everything possible to destroy you. I also need to confirm whether the deaths of those beings are related to you!"

"Okay." The Little Black Crystal seemed distinctly afraid, reforming itself into a small black crystal, flying onto Ye Fan's shoulder. The Little Blue Crystal and Little Red Crystal happily orbited around it, clearly forming an alliance with the Little Black Crystal against the selfish Little Purple Crystal until the end.

"Master, don't trust Little Black too much. It can lie well, and I feel it must be hiding something from you." The Little Purple Crystal took the opportunity to speak ill of the Little Black Crystal in front of Ye Fan.

This time, even the Little Blue Crystal and Little Red Crystal didn't support her.

Ye Fan picked up the Little Black Crystal, placed it back into his storage bracelet, with the Little Red Crystal and Little Blue Crystal following suit, leaving only the Little Purple Crystal to transform into a purple crystal, seeking warmth in Ye Fan's arms. Then Ye Fan opened the door and left the room.

Li Zhaojun and the others were waiting for him. Seeing Ye Fan, they all came to ask about the situation.

Ye Fan said, "I'm mostly fine, but the skies above the Dead Sea are probably unsettled. We should wait a few hours before going."

Sang Yuan said, "Young Master, I've already sent someone to investigate in the An Nam Domain. If there's any news, we'll get it immediately. You can rest assured, Young Master."

"Remind them to be careful. We still can't be certain what secrets lie beneath the Dead Sea—whether ancient sects still exist there, it could be a subterranean palace occupied by powerful death spirits, or an underground order of ordinary cultivators," Ye Fan analyzed.

Sang Yuan nodded, "I'll convey your instructions, Young Master."

As Sang Yuan left the hall to send the message, Li Zhaojun looked at Ye Fan with concern. Ye Fan smiled at Li Zhaojun, indicating he was alright, before turning to Wu Ding, "Is Senior Sister feeling better?"

Wu Ding gave Ye Fan a sidelong glance, as if saying, now that I'm also like that dead girl Han Qing'er, becoming your servant, you still ask if I'm okay?

"What does Young Master plan regarding the An Nam Domain?" Wu Ding asked.

Wu Ding used to call Ye Fan "Junior Brother," but now, as Ye Fan's servant, calling him "Junior Brother" messed up the hierarchy, but she also didn't want to call him "Master." So she addressed him as "Young Master," like Sang Yuan, to sound more equitable.

"As I said earlier, let's wait a few hours. For a secret realm, that's a day or two. By then, the death spirits above the Dead Sea will have mostly dispersed before diving into its depths. Without a powerful death spirit array, whatever lies underground is of no concern," Ye Fan confidently said.

Even such a powerful death spirit array he had broken, and the vast death spirits he had slain, whatever lies beneath—be it living beings, death spirits, or an empty subterranean palace—was trivial to Ye Fan.

Wu Ding asked, "Does Young Master have something to attend to outside?"

"Yes," Ye Fan nodded with a smile, "I'm going out with Zhao Jun for a while; we'll be back in an hour or two."

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