Chen Xiao took a deep breath and nodded.

He didn't know what he was about to face, but whatever happened, he would face it.

Then, the Tin Man began to chant incantations, while placing both hands above the Earth Mother Dragon Vein Diagram, beginning the ritual to解除封印 (jiechufengyin - break the seal).

As the ritual progressed, various distant Lesser Thousand Worlds and Middle Thousand Worlds began to collapse.

Ancient Martial Arts Sects, Immortal Hidden Realms, Qingqiu Secret Realms, all suffered the same fate...

The collapsing small worlds transformed into streaks of light, flying into the ancient temple in the deep mountains and drilling into the Earth Mother Dragon Vein Diagram.

"Ah—"

A woman's voice rang out, shrill and painful, heart-rending, and chilling.

Chen Xiao roused all his attention, constantly guarding against the Earth Mother, friend or foe unknown, who might suddenly appear after the seal was broken.

A white figure slowly gathered in the Earth Mother Dragon Vein Diagram.

The figure was very small, only the size of an ant. One could vaguely make out the image of a woman with disheveled hair.

The ravines in the Earth Mother Dragon Vein Diagram were like real lofty mountains to her.

"Alright."

The Tin Man suddenly said.

"Alright?"

Chen Xiao was slightly stunned, "But she's still in the Earth Mother Dragon Vein Diagram. Does that count as breaking the seal?"

"The Earth Mother Dragon Vein Diagram is her best home."

The Tin Man said quietly.

Chen Xiao didn't know if he had misheard, but he felt that the Tin Man's voice suddenly became sinister.

The facts proved that he had not misheard.

Because the next moment, the Tin Man's sinister voice sounded again.

"It's also your best home!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Xiao felt a light shining on him. Then, he felt a huge, irresistible pulling force, pulling him forward.

Chen Xiao was pulled by this invisible force towards the Earth Mother Dragon Vein Diagram. During this process, his body became smaller and smaller...

Finally, he slammed heavily into a deep abyss, which was precisely a ravine in the Earth Mother Dragon Vein Diagram.

Chen Xiao also became only the size of an ant.

The Tin Man's head came closer, like a huge dharma image hanging in the sky, directly obscuring half the sky.

"Tin Man, what do you mean by this?"

Chen Xiao asked coldly.

He knew that he had been schemed against by the Tin Man, but he wasn't too surprised.

"It doesn't mean anything. I said that only when the three of us work together can we have the strength to fight the Canglan God Emperor. But how can the three of us work together?"

The Tin Man answered himself, "I thought of a way. As long as the three of us become one, Heaven, Earth, and Man united as one, then we will be working together!"

"So, I've decided to refine the two of you. I hope you don't blame me. I'm also doing this for the Nine Provinces, for all the living beings in the world!"

The Tin Man spoke righteously, as if he had no choice but to do so.

"Heh, you've really played a good game, scheming deeply enough!"

Chen Xiao shook his head and sneered, "But, wanting to refine me won't be that simple!"

"Indeed, it won't be that simple. At least it will take twenty-four hours to refine you. I hope that people from the Heavenly Dao won't come here during this time."

The Tin Man said calmly, "So, I'm going to start now... Hmm?"

Halfway through his words, the Tin Man suddenly froze.

Chen Xiao smiled slightly: "Did you discover that you can't use术法 (shufa - magic arts) anymore?"

"You did something to me?"

Behind the tin mask, the Tin Man's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Just a small禁灵咒 (jinlingzhou - Spirit Restriction Curse). I cast it on you when we first met."

Chen Xiao said calmly.

"I poured my heart out to you and told you everything I knew, and you actually plotted against me?"

The Tin Man's angry voice came.

"Weren't you also planning to scheme against me from the start? Now you're turning around and biting me? I've never seen such a shameless person!"

Chen Xiao sneered.

"Hmph! A mere Spirit Restriction Curse, give me an incense stick's worth of time, and I can break it. When that time comes, it will be the time when you are refined by me!"

The Tin Man said in a sinister voice.

"Heh, just a piece of broken magic treasure, let's see how I use half an incense stick's worth of time to rush out of here, and then blow up your dog head!"

Chen Xiao retorted tit-for-tat.

"Heh, is that so? Well, then let's see who can do it first. But I have to remind you, I didn't lie about that Earth Mother, and you two are together now. Good luck to you!"

After speaking, the Tin Man sat cross-legged on the ground and began to break the Spirit Restriction Curse.

Chen Xiao also began to think of ways to escape from this Earth Mother Dragon Vein Diagram.

However, the good times didn't last long. Before Chen Xiao could find a way to escape, the Earth Mother came looking for him first.

She was a woman who was white all over.

White hair, white skin, white clothes, white pupils, even her lips were white... and a white horn protruded from her forehead. The scene was very strange.

The Earth Mother stared at Chen Xiao with her white pupils, like a tiger staring at a stranger who had trespassed into its territory.

Chen Xiao didn't act rashly, not even daring to greet her.

Of course, he wasn't afraid of fighting the Earth Mother; he just didn't want to waste his time and energy on her.

Moreover, in Chen Xiao's subconscious, he felt that she was someone he could win over.

"So, it's you..."

Finally, the Earth Mother spoke first.

And she seemed to recognize Chen Xiao's identity immediately.

"That's right, it's me."

Chen Xiao looked at the Earth Mother with a calm gaze, trying to show his friendliness as much as possible.

"Hmm, you've grown up quite a bit."

The Earth Mother nodded in approval, "Fortunately, I held back back then and didn't eat you directly."

As she spoke, she licked her lips.

Chen Xiao was shocked to find that her tongue was actually white.

However, these words were a bit...

"Ahem, I think we should talk about this again. I understand your desire to eat me, but I'm a very hard bone to gnaw on. You might not be able to enjoy it."

In fact, Chen Xiao really wanted to say, who eats who is not certain.

However, since this was someone the Tin Man called a 'big lunatic', Chen Xiao didn't dare to provoke her rashly.

"Hmm, you have become harder to gnaw on indeed, but I have a reason why I must eat you, for the Nine Provinces, for the living beings in the world, for all things."

The Earth Mother said calmly.

Chen Xiao was speechless. Are you two from the same family? You want to eat others, refine others, and yet you have to put on a righteous appearance.

"Let's not discuss this issue first. Don't you think there's a more important problem in front of us?"

Chen Xiao asked.

The Earth Mother frowned her white eyebrows and said, "You're right, we should eat that despicable Heavenly Father first!"

"That's right!"

Chen Xiao slapped his thigh and thought, this 'big lunatic' is quite reasonable, not completely unnegotiable.

"We still have to find a way to leave here first!"

Hearing Chen Xiao's words, the Earth Mother shook her head: "It's useless. The Earth Mother Dragon Vein Diagram is a magic treasure refined from the teeth of the Pangu Great God. Trying to break it from the inside is harder than ascending to heaven."

"But if I eat you, my strength can be greatly improved, and maybe I can rush out. So I think I should eat you first!"

After careful consideration, the Earth Mother said very seriously.

"..."

Chen Xiao got angry and said through gritted teeth, "Are you going to keep this up? Do you think I'm really afraid of you? Big lunatic!"