Chapter 142: Lu Xiao's Tactful Move

When Ou Xiaolu finally rushed to the location of the deep pit, he found that the subterranean vein space had undergone even more drastic changes. Although there had been a massive pit here earlier, the surrounding soil and terrain had remained relatively stable, without causing any major disruption to the entire vein space.

Right now, however, things were completely different. The underground space before his eyes seemed to have transformed entirely; all the earth was churning, and massive amounts of sand and gravel were being violently thrust upward from the depths of the ground, making it feel as if they were enduring a major earthquake.

Upon arriving near the deep pit, Ou Xiaolu saw that the various liquid containers previously placed here were scattered haphazardly in disarray. The former Archprelate’s Principality avatar was struggling desperately to suppress the chaos, while the physical bodies of the other two former Archprelates were nowhere to be seen.

Seeing Ou Xiaolu arrive carrying a severed head, the Principality avatar shouted loudly, "Quickly, throw his head into the deep pit!"

Without any hesitation, Ou Xiaolu directly tossed the head he had brought into the abyss. Moments later, a furious roar echoed from the depths of the pit, accompanied by the sound of something tearing and biting relentlessly below.

Ou Xiaolu wanted to go closer and take a look, but noticed the Principality avatar glaring at him. With a wave of his hand, Ou Xiaolu wisely retreated to a safe distance.

After about ten minutes, the noises from beneath the deep pit finally subsided. The Principality avatar performed a series of intricate gestures toward the pit, and Ou Xiaolu watched as the physical bodies of the other two former Archprelates rose from below. Neither of them looked particularly well, their bodies covered in injuries.

Even so, they appeared quite pleased. The theologian among them nodded gently at Ou Xiaolu and immediately began performing a ritual right by the edge of the pit.

The scientist among them walked over and said, "We truly owe this to all of you. If that fellow had actually managed to escape, New York would have been in serious trouble."

Ou Xiaolu didn't for a moment believe that New York would face any catastrophic danger if the suppressed entity escaped; it was certain, however, that the former Archprelates would have been in deep trouble.

Still, Ou Xiaolu wasn't the kind of oblivious, straightforward person to point that out. He smiled modestly and replied, "It's nothing at all. This was simply a matter of being at the right place at the right time."

"That may be so, but we cannot let you help in vain. Without you, we genuinely couldn't have held the line this time. To be honest, the majority of our energy was tied up in suppressing this space. That fellow colluded with the vengeful spirit of the earth vein itself, and their destructive impact on the space was immense. If we hadn't suppressed it, the space would have collapsed entirely. And once this space collapses, the Stony Brook campus outside would be finished as well."

*You make it sound so logical, but really, you're just finding an excuse to hand out quests and rewards to maintain the illusion that you're actual NPCs,* Ou Xiaolu thought to himself. *Destroy the Stony Brook campus outside? If you have the ability, go ahead and destroy it for me to see.*

While inwardly rolling his eyes and making sarcastic remarks, Ou Xiaolu continued to exchange polite pleasantries with the two former Archprelates.

Fortunately, these two knew how the world worked and understood that a tangible reward was worth a thousand empty words. After chatting for a while, they produced several items as tokens of their appreciation for Ou Xiaolu and his companions.

Naturally, they weren't actual video game NPCs, so they couldn't offer a choice of four different items per person. If they had actually presented four items for each person to pick from, Ou Xiaolu certainly wouldn't have minded resorting to a bit of physical combat to acquire some extra loot.

Before long, Ou Xiaolu, Arrow, and Emilia received the small gifts from the former Archprelates. Ou Xiaolu received the best item among them: a traditional Chinese longsword. Even just inspecting the blade, it was clear this was an antique sword dating back to the Song Dynasty.

When he drew the sword from its scabbard, a cold, shimmering light danced along the edge, and near the tip of the blade ran a thin, emerald-green line of blood that looked remarkably like a swimming fish.

After turning the sword over and admiring it for a long while, Ou Xiaolu couldn't help but praise, "This is truly a fine sword."

"We obtained this sword from an Eastern imperial palace. I saw that you are a swordsman, so I decided to gift it to you."

Ou Xiaolu nodded. Even though the sword hadn't been converted into a game card, its outward appearance made it obvious that its sharpness far exceeded the weapon he was currently using.

After spinning it around a couple of times, Ou Xiaolu slung the longsword across his back and turned his gaze toward Arrow and Emilia.

He wasn't surprised at all to receive a longsword. He had previously fought alongside the former Archprelate, who was well-acquainted with his combat style, so gifting a sword was a logical choice.

However, Arrow and Emilia had not interacted with the former Archprelates beforehand, making this the ultimate test of the Archprelates' generosity.

The item given to Arrow left both him and Ou Xiaolu deeply impressed: a piece of metal roughly the size of a fist.

Although the metal looked small, it was astonishingly heavy. Arrow licked it with the tip of his tongue and nodded affirmatively. While it appeared to be a single solid chunk, it was actually formed by countless microscopic metallic grains densely compressed together. Once he digested this material, it would undoubtedly enhance the power of his Pulmonary Metal-煞 Wind-Sand Technique significantly.

Seeing that Arrow had obtained exactly what he wanted, Ou Xiaolu turned his attention to Emilia with even greater anticipation.

Emilia had been given a helmet. It was crafted from bronze, and its distinct style immediately revealed it to be an artifact of ancient Greek design.

"This isn't actually from ancient Greek times, you know." Perhaps noticing the look in Ou Xiaolu's eyes, the former Archprelate took the trouble to explain, "This originally belonged to my church. Have you ever heard of the Crusaders? One of the Crusader warriors took this ancient Roman helmet from his home and modified it. You could say this item carries a very strong theological resonance."

"Back then, that particular Crusader warrior even managed to defeat the Grand Duke."

"That Grand Duke?" Ou Xiaolu paused for a moment before understanding dawned on him. "Is it really okay to give this to her?"

"It doesn't matter. Sitting here with me, it serves no purpose at all. If she likes it, she might as well take it."

Looking at Emilia's delighted expression, Ou Xiaolu couldn't bring himself to object, so he simply gritted his teeth and accepted it on her behalf.

At that moment, the former Archprelate added, "These are merely small tokens of compensation for you all. Once we head outside shortly, there will also be some conventional worldly gifts—please do not decline them."

Ou Xiaolu was someone who had already experienced the former Archprelate's "sugar-coated cannonballs"—after all, a valley that massive, backed by a budget of tens of millions, had been handed over without hesitation.

Hearing that there were still worldly gifts waiting for them, Ou Xiaolu tried his absolute best to maintain his composure, though a broad grin inevitably crept onto his face.

The former Archprelate then asked, "As for the matter here..."

"Rest assured, I know how to keep my mouth shut. I merely came by to take a look and deliver a message; you single-handedly defeated the enemy, and that is the story I will tell to anyone who asks."

"But why—" Emilia started to speak, but Ou Xiaolu quickly cut her off by covering her mouth.

"Look, I even managed to find a spontaneous romance while borrowing your esteemed grounds."

The former Archprelate looked at Ou Xiaolu with an expression that clearly said, *You certainly know how the world works,* before finally escorting them out of the subterranean space.