"Disciple, move!" Beef Noodles slapped his hand down and dragged Purgatory along as they charged forward.
In less than a moment, Beef Noodles laid eyes on the treasure causing heaven and earth to riot.
What appeared before him was—
Five massive crystals, each a different color, towering dozens of meters high.
Gold, green, azure blue, crimson red, and deep brown.
"Another giant string of question marks? What kind of garbage appraisal system is this? No matter what I examine, it's just question marks. What's the point of you existing!?" Beef Noodles appraised them and—sure enough—only saw the familiar wall of "????".
"Forget it, I'll just take them first!"
He scanned the surroundings. No guardian.
So he leaped into the air and swept the five-colored crystals into his storage wristguard.
RUMBLE!!!!
The moment he collected them, the entire ground began shaking.
"Holy crap!"
The entire "landmass" beneath him slowly began to rise!
"What the…"
Beef Noodles looked down—and went dumb!
The ground stretching endlessly beneath his feet… rose into the sky with them?!
This wasn't land.
It was a colossal, boundless ancient beast!
A terrifying roar shattered the air, and Beef Noodles looked up—only to see a massive head slowly rotating toward him.
Just one eye was as large as a mountain!
He couldn't even see the full body of the creature. He didn't even know what kind of Ancient Beast this was.
But Beef Noodles could feel it—this thing's strength was likely not inferior to the Ancient Black Tortoise he had spent forever hiding from!
"Run for your life!!"
Beef Noodles didn't hesitate. He grabbed Purgatory and fled at full speed.
"Master, this thing is too strong! I—I don't think I stand a chance!" Purgatory said anxiously while sprinting with him.
"Don't panic! Big dumb idiots like this are actually easy to deal with!" Beef Noodles grinned wickedly.
"ROOOOOOOAR!!"
The gigantic monster let out an enraged bellow. Clearly, those five colorful crystals were treasures it had always guarded.
Now stolen by Beef Noodles?
It went berserk.
Its gigantic maw opened, unleashing an overwhelming suction force, trying to drag Beef Noodles and Purgatory back!
"Hehehehe… I knew this moment would come! Take my strongest move!!"
Beef Noodles smirked, raised his hand, and threw out a massive, hundred-meter-wide bundle of wooden vines.
The enormous vine-ball was instantly sucked toward the beast. Just as it was about to reach the creature's mouth—
It exploded.
In the next instant…
A rainstorm of foul, steaming filth blasted out, splattering the gigantic beast's entire face.
"???"
The ancient monster froze.
It literally didn't understand what had just happened.
Seizing the chance, Beef Noodles grabbed Purgatory and vanished.
"ROOOOOOOOAR!!!"
The giant beast went mad.
To stop their escape, it unleashed an unfathomably vast force and began blasting the surrounding land for millions of miles!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!
Everything within a million miles was crushed, shattered, obliterated.
Even the sky twisted and tore apart into countless spatial rifts!
After an entire hour of rampaging destruction, the gargantuan beast finally stopped.
In its mind—
Those two tiny thieves absolutely couldn't have escaped beyond a million miles.
They must have been pulverized.
Even though it lost the five-colored crystals…
at least those two ants were dead.
The ancient beast let out several more vicious roars, then slowly calmed, lowering itself and merging back into the ancientl land.
Three full hours passed.
Finally—
At the beast's tail region…
Two heads slowly poked out.
"Master, you're amazing! You predicted it would go crazy and destroy everything around it! So you hid us inside… that place! Truly worthy of being Master!"
Purgatory couldn't help admiring him.
He had originally thought about going all out, dragging Master and trying to escape.
But now he realized—
He had been far too naïve!
This colossal ancient beast had blasted everything within a million-li radius around its body!
If he and Master had tried to escape far away back then, they absolutely would've been pulverized into dust.
However…
"Hehehe… the most dangerous place is often the safest place! I refuse to believe that no matter how damn strong this ancient beast is, it would dare blow up its own… backside!"
Beef Noodles grinned wickedly.
"Master… I understand!!!"
Purgatory's eyes suddenly lit up, as if he had just comprehended an entirely new world.
The most dangerous place… is often the safest place!
"…Damn!!"
Feeling Purgatory's aura subtly change again, Beef Noodles almost spat blood.
Damn it!
Is this kid going to power up AGAIN!?
"Hm?"
At this moment, both Beef Noodles and Purgatory turned toward the same direction.
Dense mist rolled in.
And within the fog…
a strange, sinister bridge suddenly appeared before Beef Noodles.
"Wait a second… isn't that the same bridge I crossed before coming here?"
Beef Noodles froze.
"Damn it, I'm logging out to see what's going on!"
He closed his eyes—and flopped straight to the ground.
"Master?"
Purgatory tapped Beef Noodles' shoulder. No response.
So he could only sit obediently and wait.
A few minutes later, Beef Noodles suddenly jumped up.
"Brother Ming's side has the bridge too. So that's how it is—looks like the Ancient Era storyline is over! Time to enter the next arc!"
Beef Noodles nodded.
He had just checked the forums and saw that in the livestream, the bridge had appeared in front of Brother Ming as well. After reading the chat spam, he immediately understood.
This bridge…
was here to take players to the next storyline.
As for why it appeared in front of him alone first?
…Probably because he was too handsome.
"Disciple!"
"Master?"
"The time for us to part… has finally come!"
"Eh? What do you mean!? Master!!!"
Purgatory instantly panicked.
Even though his strength had grown at a ridiculous rate…
Mentally, he was still largely that same child.
All this time, he had believed one thing—
As long as Master was beside him, he could overcome anything.
Master had always been his spiritual pillar.
"Master, I don't want you to leave!"
Purgatory grabbed tightly onto Beef Noodles' clothes, tears falling.
"Disciple…"
Even Beef Noodles felt reluctant as he looked at Purgatory.
Yes, Purgatory was a walking cheat code that made him jealous enough to vomit blood…
But the kid was still genuinely good-hearted.
In terms of raw strength, Purgatory was probably already hundreds of times stronger than Beef Noodles. Honestly speaking, Beef Noodles was practically just baggage now.
But Beef Noodles understood:
It was exactly because he kept being "baggage"…
that Purgatory was forced to repeatedly break his limits, surpass himself again and again, and grow stronger each time.
Looking at the crying Purgatory before him, Beef Noodles thought for a moment and decided—
to tell one last harmless little lie.