Lily Bai gave a dry laugh. "Hehe! Well... I saw the sunshine was perfect, so I thought I'd sun-dry my net. But Azure Flame suddenly slowed down, and I lost my balance, so..."
Sun-drying your net?
Yep! I just used it this morning to catch that Violet Spirit Shark Fiend, remember? My Demon-Binding Net's still damp, so I'm just airing it out!
Not planning to put it away?
Oh! Of course I'm putting it away!" Lily Bai said, fumbling with the Demon-Binding Net, trying to retract it from every angle.
If she had her spiritual power, this would've been done with a flick of her wrist.
But right now, she was totally powerless.
The Demon-Binding Net had a mechanical catch, but apparently it was behind Damian Black. She reached around, but just couldn't get to it...
Damian Black's eyes went cold. "Where exactly are you reaching?"
You sealed my spiritual power—I can't cast any spells!" Lily Bai said, looking all innocent. "The Demon-Binding Net has a mechanical catch, but it's behind you..."
Damian Black reached behind himself, and the Demon-Binding Net turned into a golden point of light, dropping into his hand.
Then it vanished—he'd confiscated it!
My net... Lily Bai's heart was bleeding.
That was her absolute favorite magical artifact...
"Behave." Damian Black said with a blank face, then turned to stare straight ahead.
Lily Bai quietly retreated.
My net... my net... it hurt so bad.
But Lily Bai was not the type to give up so easily.
After a while, she spotted a mountain in the distance, and a new idea popped into her head.
That was Thousand-Caverns Mountain.
Thousand-Caverns Mountain had a special kind of stone called rune stone.
Rune stone was naturally charged with energy—totally essential for carving sigils and setting up arrays.
Back when she first joined the Sigil Sect, all the newbies had to come here and dig for rune stone. She knew this place inside out.
The mountain was packed with thousands of winding caves, all twisting and connected—a mega-maze if there ever was one.
If an ordinary mortal got lost in there, odds were they'd never make it out again.
If she hid out in Thousand-Caverns Mountain, the Demon Emperor would never find her...
"Um, Your Majesty Demon Emperor, that big mountain up ahead is Thousand-Caverns Mountain. It's full of rune stone. If we stop, could you let me go down and collect a few pieces? They're super useful for arrays and curse removal." Lily Bai said, totally serious.
Damian Black didn't object.
Azure Flame flew fast—ten miles in a flash, and they were there.
"Wait here, I'll come right out once I dig up some rune stone." Lily Bai said, picking a cave and heading straight in.
Damian Black wasn't stupid—he followed her down.
Lily Bai led the way, glancing around until she finally found a good spot.
"There's rune stone here!" Lily Bai pointed at a tunnel barely wide enough for one person.
About half the caves in Thousand-Caverns Mountain were natural, but the rest were dug out for rune stone.
This little passage was man-made—super narrow, only one person could squeeze through.
Damian Black didn't say a word.
Which basically meant he agreed.
Lily Bai flashed him a grin, pulled a short sword from her storage pouch, and started pretending to dig for rune stone.
She found some pretty quickly.
Four pieces in total, each about the size of a fist.
Lily Bai stuffed all four pieces of rune stone into her pocket.
While she had the chance, she snuck a look at Damian Black.
He was standing outside with his hands behind his back, waiting for her, apparently not watching too closely...
Lily Bai bit her finger and drew a Teleport Talisman right onto the rune stone.
And just like that, she was teleported away!
That's the magic of being a Rune Master—her blood could do wonders.
No spiritual power needed. Her blood alone could activate talismans and rune artifacts.
Ha!
Using those four pieces of rune stone, Lily Bai chained four teleports in a row.