: I'm a Male Consort?

Back in the mechanical ship's cabin, Ning Zhuo took out both his and Sun Lingtong's Cang Iron Han Armor for repairs.

Due to their extreme use, both sets of Cang Iron Han Armor had suffered varying degrees of damage.

Just repairing these damaged parts alone provided Ning Zhuo with immense benefits. It became clear at a glance which parts of the entire mechanical combat armor were relatively weak.

The weakest point was undoubtedly the golden wings.

The triple-fold design caused the overall strength of the golden wings to drop by a grade. Rapid flight in the air, with every change in direction, put pressure on the entire golden wing structure.

"The material for the golden wings needs to be improved further!"

Of course, the gains weren't limited to just that.

"My flying skills are far inferior to Boss's; I need to practice diligently."

"My spiritual sense also can't compare to Boss's, but if I use the Split Soul Mirror, it would surpass his. I should modify the Mechanical Golden Swallows to carry the small mirror artifacts, helping me enhance my spiritual sense."

Relying solely on visual observation was too limiting in the air.

Aerial combat required a much broader field of observation compared to ground combat.

In this situation, spiritual sense, capable of all-directional detection, was the top choice among top choices.

A characteristic of the Mirror Platform Spirit Connection Art that Ning Zhuo cultivated was that his own spiritual sense range wasn't high, but by borrowing external objects, he could leverage it for greatly increased power.

"Also, extreme speed flight places quite high standards and strict requirements on physical body strength."

"If I hadn't significantly improved my physical fitness through the Fetal Breath Spiritual Galley, I wouldn't be able to withstand such intense flying."

"And the Five Temples Spirit God Technique has caused mutations in my five viscera, reducing much of the burden."

Even so, after taking off the Cang Iron Han Armor, Ning Zhuo discovered many new bruises all over his skin and flesh. There was also quite a bit of internal bleeding.

Although his five viscera had been altered, the human body isn't just composed of these; among the commonly called 'five viscera and six bowels,' there are also the six bowels.

Ning Zhuo immersed himself in improving his mechanical creations.

Two days later, reminded by Sun Lingtong, he interrupted his cultivation and went to the dragon-head cabin.

The Yin Soul Black Marsh Wetlands had arrived!

The Thousand-Mile Wandering Dragon emerged from the void, shrank to its smallest size, and flew high in the sky.

Looking down from above, the Yin Soul Black Marsh resembled the shredded entrails of an ancient giant god, rotting into pieces haphazardly discarded across this pitch-black wetland.

The entire wetland was shrouded in a thin layer of green mist.

Hundreds, even thousands, of floating islands either rested on the water's surface or drifted slowly.

These floating islands were almost entirely formed from decaying plants and pale bones congealed together.

The island surfaces were often covered with thick corpse moss. The corpse moss emitted an eerie green phosphorescence. This phosphorescence wasn't chaotic; it linked together, forming a network resembling meridians made of ghostly light.

On the water between the floating islands drifted enormous Soul-Ferrying Lotuses.

Most of these Soul-Ferrying Lotuses had been modified, becoming Soul-Ferrying Lamps unique to the Yin Soul Black Marsh. The lamp light was a ghostly blue, illuminating the deep, dark water surface into a starry river of幽蓝.

Within these long-lasting lights, faint glimpses of soul light clusters could be seen.

The Thousand-Mile Wandering Dragon flew silently.

Sun and Ning had a broad field of view, easily seeing the wetland's main river channel—the Nether蛟 River.

This river channel resembled a rearing bluish-black centipede, running directly from southeast to northwest, piercing through the entire wetland.

The river was deep, but the water surface was calm. The riverbanks' soil was deathly pale, with some places even exposing white bones.

Legend had it that this river channel was formed from a Nether蛟 Dragon God.

On the calm river surface floated many bone spikes. These spikes were the protruding backs of Spine Crocodiles.

These crocodiles lived in groups within the Nether蛟 River, the undisputed dominant species. They would dig into the riverbanks, all the way to the bones deep within the soil, and bore holes into these bones to use as nests.

"Look there." Sun Lingtong gestured for Ning Zhuo to see.

Ning Zhuo followed his pointing and couldn't help but brighten his eyes—he had discovered a village stronghold.

This stronghold was hidden in the shadow of a corpse moss floating island. The village was built using ship planks, masts, and giant-like ribs assembled together.

The stronghold walls could absorb light. Upon closer look, one would see an oily film shimmering on the wall surface, clearly the result of a special forging technique.

Countless corpses were piled up at the base of the walls. On top of the ramparts were numerous skulls of various creatures.

The stronghold gate opened, and several boats made of redwood charged out.

The cultivators piloting the boats were about half human, the majority being Ghost Tribe.

The Ghost Tribe were intelligent beings, half-human, half-ghost. Males were often fierce and凶恶, while females were beautiful as flowers. Their skin tones varied, including red, green, blue, black, white, yellow, and so on.

Their eyes were rather special. The iris was black, the pupil white, allowing them to easily observe ghosts and spirits.

The redwood boats were inscribed with restrictive spells, shaped like warships, each with twenty long oars. The bow and stern curved high upwards, forming the shapes of a蛟 head and蛟 tail.

Most of the human cultivators remained silent, looking anxious. The Ghost Tribe members, however, exposed their limbs, with disheveled hair, horns on their heads, shouting and yelling.

The three warships sped swiftly across the river surface, all heading in the same direction.

This scene piqued the curiosity of both Sun and Ning: What were these local cultivators in such a hurry to do?

Their original plan wasn't to rush to White Paper City immediately, but to first enter a village or town, disguise their identities, and try to pose as local cultivators.

But discovering this situation, after a brief discussion, Sun and Ning immediately urged the Thousand-Mile Wandering Dragon to accelerate high in the sky, flying in the direction the warships were heading.

From their high vantage point with a wide field of view, and the Thousand-Mile Wandering Dragon's speed, they soon made a discovery upon reaching the area ahead.

This section of the river was littered with large amounts of ship wreckage and many Spine Crocodile corpses.

Quite a few of these Spine Crocodiles were as large as war elephants, emitting Foundation Establishment level auras.

Most eye-catching was a Spine Crocodile floating belly-up in the river water. More accurately, its corpse.

This crocodile corpse was covered in wounds, its blood long since flowed into the river. It was enormous, two to three times larger than the warships dispatched from the Ghost Tribe village.

Clearly, this was a fierce battle between humans and beasts.

The outcome of the battle seemed to be mutual destruction.

Ning Zhuo spotted some remaining cultivators catching their breath on the riverbank nearby, while also trying to rescue companions who had fallen into the river. Many Spine Crocodiles were gnawing on the corpses in the water, regardless of friend or foe.

"Little Zhuo, great opportunity!" Sun Lingtong suddenly said.

"Boss, you mean..." Ning Zhuo, with their perfect默契, immediately understood the latter's meaning.

They arrived ahead of the rescue forces, descended into the river.

The Thousand-Mile Wandering Dragon was very miniature. None of the cultivators present were even Golden Core level, unable to detect it.

Many corpses floated and sank in the river water. Sun and Ning selected two with less obvious injuries and relatively ordinary attire, storing their bodies inside the mechanical Wandering Dragon.

Sun Lingtong immediately set to work inside the cabin, using his Thieving Art based on the appearances of the two corpses, applying it to himself and Ning Zhuo.

A short while later, Ning Zhuo became a pockmarked, sallow-faced human youth, while Sun Lingtong transformed into a stocky, short-legged Ghost Tribesman.

The two emerged from the Thousand-Mile Wandering Dragon. Ning Zhuo pretended to be unconscious, while Sun Lingtong, holding his waist, acted like a struggling survivor. They were quickly discovered.

"There's a Ghost Tribesman over there."

"That youth is the Jiao family's third son, Jiao Ma!"

The survivors worked together to rescue Jiao Ma (Ning Zhuo) and the Ghost Tribesman (Sun Lingtong) onto the bank.

Ning Zhuo kept his eyes closed, feigning unconsciousness, while Sun Lingtong lay on the ground retching, spewing large mouthfuls of river water.

A helpful cultivator came forward, checked their injuries, then patted Sun Lingtong's back: "You two have very light injuries, lucky, fate is great!"

Someone tried to rouse Ning Zhuo: "Pockmarks, Pockmarks, wake up."

Ning Zhuo's face was slapped painfully, forcing him to pretend to open his eyes. He looked dazed, his gaze unfocused, his lips moved a few times, but no words came out.

"Great acting." Sun Lingtong watched from the corner of his eye, praising his little brother inwardly.

And no wonder.

Ning Zhuo had been trained by Sun Lingtong since childhood, putting immense effort into disguising himself. Even people like Meng Kui had been fooled by him; deceiving these rural cultivators was naturally a piece of cake.

Sun Lingtong's Thieving Art had also increased in power due to the Evil God Marrow. All these factors allowed Sun and Ning to smoothly pass undetected.

Many people recognized the identity Ning Zhuo assumed, Jiao Ma, and inquired after him with concern.

As for Sun Lingtong, playing the short-legged Ghost Tribesman, no one paid him any attention.

In short, the surrounding cultivators quickly accepted them without the slightest suspicion.

Before long, the three support warships arrived here and rescued them.

The leader had Golden Core level cultivation, a Ghost Tribesman, his expression grim: "This river section has always been safe, how could such a large group of Spine Crocodiles suddenly appear?"

He sent people to investigate but found nothing.

The Golden Core Ghost Tribe leader personally questioned the survivors, including Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong, but also failed to obtain any valuable clues.

However, when questioning Ning Zhuo, this leader personally cast a healing spell on him and offered a few words of comfort.

Ning Zhuo immediately敏锐ly realized that he seemed to have a not-so-simple relationship with this Golden Core Ghost Tribesman.

He first proactively asked a question, then suggested returning to the village stronghold to discuss further.

The Golden Core Ghost Tribesman glanced at him, noticing Ning Zhuo's tone was different from usual, but didn't suspect much, instead shaking his head with a grave expression.

He walked a few steps, stood on a rocky outcrop, looked around, and announced: "Your mission on this trip was to escort a bride to White Paper City, yet you were ambushed halfway."

"Although we haven't detected any clues, this situation has repeatedly occurred in various village strongholds over the past period."

"We cannot turn back; we must still proceed to White Paper City."

"This time, I will lead the team personally and take you all to continue the journey!"

His prestige was high, and he was the only Golden Core cultivator present. Once the order was given, no one objected.

Sun and Ning exchanged a subtle glance, both somewhat disappointed.

They had hoped to return to the village stronghold, blend in for a while, and strengthen their disguises. They didn't expect that obtaining these identities had backfired somewhat, forcing them to head to White Paper City immediately.

"Escort a bride? Escort what bride? Is this village stronghold forming an alliance through marriage with another force? So they were intercepted by a powerful enemy?" Ning Zhuo was puzzled.

Sun Lingtong was also strange: "And we haven't seen the bride-to-be either?"

"This has nothing to do with us. How about we find an opportunity later to sneak away from here?" Ning Zhuo suggested.

Sun Lingtong nodded slightly: "Alright."

Sun and Ning secretly discussed using their spiritual sense, while表面上顺从ly followed everyone onto the warship.

"Jiao Ma'er, come here for a moment." The Golden Core Ghost Tribe leader, however, beckoned Ning Zhuo over.

Ning Zhuo, curious, walked up to the Golden Core Ghost Tribesman.

The Golden Core leader took out a treasure material and handed it to Ning Zhuo: "You risked your life to pick a Ghost Face榕 fruit for my daughter. It's a pity you were selected to become a male consort for the White Paper City Lord."

"Alas, our village stronghold is too small; how could we possibly defy the White Paper City's orders?"

"You and my daughter are fated but not destined, let it be. This is a Spine Crocodile stomach sac, Golden Core level, I've already refined it for you."

"Afterwards, you just need to release your soul, enter it, endure the corrosion, then recover, and it can greatly increase your soul's resilience."

Ning Zhuo was astonished to find out that he himself was the one for the marriage alliance, momentarily speechless: "This..."

The Golden Core leader patted his shoulder: "Don't think about returning to the village stronghold, and don't think about escaping midway. From now on, you sit by my side. I will guide you, allowing you to cultivate using the Crocodile Sac."

Ning Zhuo was rather speechless, thus kept under the leader's watchful eye.

With his abilities, he couldn't sneak away secretly; he would need to rely on Sun Lingtong's Thieving Art.

However, Sun Lingtong, seeing the amusing situation, was already rolling with laughter inwardly: "Little Zhuo, your luck is really something. Let's just go like this. No need to go to other village strongholds to get fake identities."

If Sun Lingtong wasn't willing to cooperate, even if Ning Zhuo forced it, this Golden Core cultivator probably couldn't stop him.

But Sun Lingtong knew him extremely well and immediately persuaded him: "Although this identity was obtained by accident, it should be quite valuable."

"Look, you did nothing and got a Golden Core level Crocodile Sac."

"And the White Paper City Lord, that's an Nascent Soul level existence. She definitely won't treat her male consorts poorly, right?"

"Little Zhuo, your cultivation method doesn't forbid losing primordial Yang. Just dual cultivation alone would be a huge help to your cultivation."

"Think about it, an Nascent Soul level female cultivator dual cultivating with you."

This got Ning Zhuo thinking: "Although that's true..."

Sun Lingtong added: "Of course, dual cultivation also depends on the specific method. If it's harmful rather than beneficial to us, then we'll just leave. We have the Thousand-Mile Wandering Dragon, after all."

"Besides, even if we don't dual cultivate, just this identity alone should allow us to gain quite a few benefits."

Ning Zhuo gradually became convinced by Sun Lingtong.

Sun Lingtong transmitted his thoughts with a chuckle: "Don't you think this is very exciting?"

If it were the old Ning Zhuo, he might have been more likely to disagree.

But after experiencing the great battle in Liangzhu Kingdom, witnessing Long Ye's sacrifice, seeing countless people shed blood on the battlefield, his heart had gained much more courage and heroic spirit.

Ning Zhuo finally nodded暗地里: "This indeed has great potential to become an exciting adventure."

"According to what the Golden Core leader said earlier, many people were intercepted halfway. This indicates a force is targeting the White Paper City Lord."

"And it also shows the City Lord is gathering male consorts extensively; I'm just one of them. And this恰恰 makes it easier for me to hide in plain sight!"

Sun Lingtong said期待ly: "I wonder if we can use this convenience to sneak into the City Lord's Mansion treasury? Hehe."

(End of )