Chapter 2752 - Demonpiece Custodian
"Big Sister?" The twelve wonderians almost vomited blood at hearing that. The old crone was almost as old as Dongshen Yue, thousands of years Tianming's senior.
Tianming ignored their odd stares and hurriedly explained, "Don't get agitated, everyone! I really am one of you! I know there’s been rumors that I'm someone from the Infinitum Mundus, but that isn’t true! Our rex mundi released those rumors as a cover story. In fact, I'm someone who's been personally nurtured in Wondrium!" He ignored all logic and spun whatever story he could. He wasn't counting on convincing them, only confusing them to buy more time.
"What?" The wonderians weren't weak, but it didn't seem like they were part of the inner core of the Skydome Mundus.
There were tens of versions of Tianming's story there, each more fantastical than the other. Rumors were everywhere, and all of them were far from the truth. One would have a hard time figuring out what was real if they weren’t among the powerful that were actually involved. Not to mention, even if they did somehow know the truth, they would still doubt parts of it.
"Custodian...." The wonderians turned to look at the old couple.
Based on the way they addressed them, Tianming figured out the old couple's identity! The title for rulers of worlds went from suzerain, custodian, etherean to rex mundi. Custodians were rulers of fourth-level nova source worlds, which were much larger than third-level ones. They were no doubt much more powerful than the Wonderhaze Suzerain. They must not be a core member of the divine wondersky race then! They're just some local hegemon! Tianming was even more certain that he could confuse them.
"You claim to be secretly nurtured by the rex mundi in Wondrium," the old man said with a raised brow.
"That's right!" Tianming's confidence flowed throughout his body.
"If it's so secret, why would you reveal it so casually?" the old crone questioned.
"What can I do but reveal it? None of you know who I really am, nor did I expect to run into you here. If you want to earn merit by killing me, who can I complain to? Not to mention, there really isn't a point in the secrecy anymore, since it's been hidden long enough. I'm about to make my public debut at Wondrium soon anyway," Tianming said. He tried to sound calm while paying attention to the changes in the looks of the divine wonderians with his Sky Plundering Eye. It appeared to be working, for they hadn’t raised their hands against him yet.
"How about this? I know someone from Wondrium in the capital. I'll just have to ask them," he said as he took out a transmission stone.
"It’d be pointless. My affairs are known to the rex mundi alone," Tianming said, almost losing it.
"I'll still ask just in case. This isn't something that we would dare to make a decision on ourselves. If we let you go and mess up, it’d get us and our families exterminated," the old man calmly said.
"Please understand where we're coming from," the old woman added. They kept Tianming locked in place with their divine wonders as they reached out to someone from Wondrium.
The person on the other side of the call pondered in silence before saying, "I'll ask the rex mundi about this. Don't let that person go no matter what."
"Understood!" The old couple felt relieved. If what Tianming said was true, they would actually have a reason to feel afraid.
Tianming didn't think that they would have indirect access to the Meng Ying. It was only a matter of time before things got out of hand! There's no tricking my way out of this. I can only count on her! He focused his attention on absorbing the vortices while the wonderians talked among themselves.
Zi Zhen kept her head low and didn't say a single word. The odd feeling from her back was a rather confusing sensation. Feeling the vortices fade away was almost ecstatic; she had never felt something so pleasant. After being sick for so long, she had forgotten how it felt to be normal!
Tianming eventually learned that the old couple was called Custodian Demonpiece. They were the ruler of Demonpiece Star, a sanctuary-class world. Fortunately for him, it actually took quite a while for the person they contacted to leave the capital and head to Wondrium to get confirmation from Meng Ying. That person probably didn't have a rank that high, so it would take some time for him to reach anyone with the rank to report directly to Meng Ying. Thus, Tianming managed to remove two other vortices, bringing the number down from ten to six remaining. When he let go, Zi Zhen's thighs felt a bit numb. She even let out a sigh of relief.
"Do you feel sentimental from losing them after so long?" Tianming asked.
"Nonsense. Still, thank you." Almost half of her xeno fatigue had been resolved. Having lived almost her entire life in darkness, she finally saw a hopeful ray of light. The feelings of elation and relief were overwhelming, far more intense than Tianming had imagined. However, she was one to keep them to herself. Not to mention, they were still being held prisoner.
"Shake your hair to the front," Tianming whispered by her ear.
"Okay." Her purple hair was a good cover. She still had a vortex near her waist. Tianming took the chance to place his hand there as she adjusted her hair without drawing the notice of the twelve wonderians.
"That's a good waist."
"I know," she softly said.
Tianming chatted with the wonderians with a smile on his face all the while removing the fifth curse vortex from Zi Zhen. She was half healed! Thank goodness for my quick wit. If I hadn’t used Meng Ying as an excuse, I wouldn't be able to buy so much time. Tianming felt that Zi Zhen was far more vigorous than before as xeno source flooded into her body, restoring her cosmoforce.
"You removed another vortex for me even though you haven't broken through.... I owe you now," she said, her eyes red from emotion.
"Don't be so touched. It’s a debt that you'll still have to repay."
"Got it."
Tianming had no choice but to trust her. With the vortex at her waist gone, the rest were in front of her. He tried getting in front of her in a natural manner, but the transmission stone of Custodian Demonpiece lit up again with the projection of a figure. "Demonpiece Custodian, Li Tianming made things up! The rex mundi decreed that he’s to be captured! If you do so, you’ll be awarded with an ether-class cosmic artifact and divine wonder embryo!"