Before Second Elder Meng could even get the words out, Third Elder Meng beat him to it, crying out in shock, “Meng Wanyue stole the Founding Ancestor’s magic artifact!”

According to legend within the Meng Clan, the Founding Ancestor once possessed a dagger, a magic artifact. Using this dagger to seal a barrier could raise its power by several levels!

Not long after Meng Wanyue’s disappearance, the Meng Clan Leader discovered the dagger had gone missing. Because the matter touched on the clan’s dignity, hardly anyone knew of it even now.

Could it be that Meng Wanyue’s flight from her marriage all those years ago had merely been an excuse — that she had stolen the dagger for the sake of this deadly barrier, this Qiankun Poison Pouch?

It was precisely because of Meng Wanyue’s interference that even after Baili Weisheng broke the seal on the Poison Beast World, he had been unable to push through the stone lock!

Just then, the Flowing Light Dagger, suspended in midair, suddenly rang out with a clanging sound!

It seemed as though some force were about to erupt from within it!

Seeing this, Fifth Elder Meng was overjoyed and cried out, “Prince Yao, the Imprint on your chest still hasn’t broken through — keep pushing! Only you and your mother consort working together can destroy this stone lock, and only then can we leave!”

“Wait!” Ziqing moved to stop him. “If the Imprint is destroyed, his injuries—!”

“Don’t worry! The harder he pushes to break through, the more power he’ll draw from the Imprint. Once he fully breaks through, his vital energy and strength are bound to leap forward by a huge margin!” Fifth Elder Meng was certain of it.

Third Elder Meng’s guess had been right — it was indeed the Fourth Sister who had stolen the dagger. Everything the Fourth Sister had done was for the sake of this deadly barrier, this Qiankun Poison Pouch!

Amid his shock, Fifth Elder Meng felt more than anything a surge of pride. He had always known that the Fourth Sister, the prodigy of the Meng Clan, would never simply fade away!

Aside from the Founding Ancestor, who had once worked together with the Great Gu Master of the Lone Island, she was the only person in the entire Meng Clan who had ever dared to lay a hand on the deadly barrier!

She had sealed herself inside the dagger, staying by her son’s side the entire time. All along she had remained within the dagger, absorbing its power, waiting for the sixty-year cycle to come to an end, waiting for the seal on the Poison Beast World to be drawn to the safest place in the entire world — Jun Beiyue’s chest.

She must have been cultivating inside the Flowing Light Dagger the whole time, waiting for the day she would emerge and become the master of the Qiankun Poison Pouch!

Only, she hadn’t expected that the dagger would end up falling into the Poison Beast World along with Han Ziqing.

Just as the power within the Flowing Light Dagger resonated with the Imprint on Jun Beiyue’s chest, the seal on the Poison Beast World was broken open by Baili Weisheng — sparing her, one could say, a great deal of effort.

Now, all that was needed was to push through the stone lock, and the Poison Beast World would return to its original form, becoming the Qiankun Poison Pouch once more.

Fifth Elder Meng, his chest swelling with excitement, watched Jun Beiyue intently.

Just as he had while unconscious, Jun Beiyue gathered his strength, attempting to break through. But the moment he did, the Flowing Light Dagger trembled even more violently than before!

Moreover, Jun Beiyue could clearly feel, just as he had before, that his own strength seemed to be replenished after each effort!

Fifth Elder Meng hadn’t lied!

Gritting his teeth, Jun Beiyue resolved to pour out every last bit of his strength in one final push. Sure enough, moments later, the Flowing Light Dagger burst forth with a blade-light several times more dazzling than before, and shot straight toward the stone lock!

Clang!

A huge chunk of rock was chiseled away in an instant!

Everyone present was stunned. Second Elder Meng and Third Elder Meng exchanged a glance, quickly realizing the gravity of the situation!

If Jun Beiyue and the dagger managed to destroy the stone lock together, wouldn’t the Qiankun Poison Pouch belong to Jun Beiyue?

Jun Beiyue was already formidable enough — if he obtained the Qiankun Poison Pouch on top of that, it would be like giving a tiger wings. Once he left the Poison Beast World, even Prince Nanzhao probably wouldn’t be able to do anything about him!

This could not be allowed!

He had to be stopped!

Third Elder Meng leaned in close to Xuanyuan Lige’s ear and whispered, “Young man, if you don’t act now, you’ll lose your chance!”

But Xuanyuan Lige only gave a disdainful snort and didn’t even bother to reply.

Xuanyuan Lige was not a man who could be so easily provoked. Even though he intended to fight Jun Beiyue to the very end, he was no petty scoundrel who would take advantage of another’s misfortune!

Seeing that Xuanyuan Lige showed no response, Second Elder Meng and Third Elder Meng exchanged a look. Third Elder Meng moved with practiced ease to stand beside Fifth Elder Meng, holding him in check, while Second Elder Meng silently turned his gaze toward Jun Beiyue.

At that moment, Jun Beiyue was pouring every ounce of his strength into the effort, with no attention to spare for anything else. Ziqing and Baili Weisheng, too, had their full attention fixed on the stone lock — under such a fierce onslaught, its destruction seemed only moments away.

But just as Second Elder Meng quietly tightened his grip on the dagger hidden in his sleeve, he suddenly felt something wrap around his feet!

Startled, he glanced down in alarm — and found, of all things, a small toddler who had somehow crawled up to him and wrapped both little arms around his leg!

Where had this brat come from?!

“Get off! Shoo… get off!” Second Elder Meng hissed under his breath, moving to kick the child away. But somehow, the tiny toddler had unexpected strength, and with a sharp tug backward sent Second Elder Meng sprawling flat on his face!

At that moment, everyone’s attention was fixed on the stone lock, too far away to notice what was happening here. A flicker of malice crossed the depths of Second Elder Meng’s eyes as he silently resolved to finish off this little brat with one strike of his blade.

But just as he turned his head, he froze in shock — for standing right behind that tiny toddler, without a sound, was an enormous white bear!

Second Elder Meng’s mouth fell open in terror. This time, he truly wanted to scream for help — but he found he couldn’t make a sound at all, struck utterly mute with fright!

Watching Second Elder Meng’s reaction, the toddler sprawled on the ground shook his head helplessly, sighing like a weary old man, “Ah… oh dear… where’s the challenge in that?”

Sighing like an old man one moment, the next he was crawling forward on his hands and knees like an infant who hadn’t yet learned to walk, wobbling his way toward Third Elder Meng — enough to make anyone want to ask: kid, turning the whole world upside down like this, does your father know?

The toddler’s answer: that was exactly the point — to make Father find out!

He figured he must have been keeping much too low a profile — so low that his father and the others had been busy discussing matters all this while, without ever noticing this marvelous being right under their noses.

He simply had to pull off something impressively dramatic. Of course, before going for something dramatic, one still had to be discreet about the preparations.

He crawled silently up to Third Elder Meng’s feet, still puzzling over how to act without alerting Fifth Elder Meng — when, to his surprise, the big dumb bear followed just as silently behind him, wrapping a thick, powerful arm around Third Elder Meng and clamping a paw over his mouth before dragging him backward.

The toddler blinked in surprise, then nearly burst out laughing. Turning his head, he saw Second Elder Meng, his face frozen in terror, restrained by a nine-tailed white fox, one furry tail wrapped across his mouth to keep him silent.

The big dumb bear, dragging Third Elder Meng along, stood shoulder to shoulder with the nine-tailed white fox, grinning smugly at the toddler.

The toddler gave a decisive thumbs-up — teammates like this truly deserved praise!

He climbed onto the back of the giant beast, arms crossed over his chest, with five great poison beasts standing behind him like loyal underlings, and two humans held hostage besides — the very picture of a crime boss basking in his glory!

But just as the toddler was reveling in his triumph, he happened to glance over at Xuanyuan Lige — and suddenly realized the man had been watching him, suspicion written all over his face, for quite some time now.

…

A Note to Readers:

Cat: Baby, please follow me — I’m your number one fan!

Baby: What the— what happened to promising me a name! What happened to my nickname? What happened to my proper name? My poor little heart is shattered into pieces…

Cat: crawls away weakly.

Baby: Wait a minute, what happened to my red packet!!!