"Thud, thud, boom."
Lin Tian held Nahida in one arm and, with a pickaxe in his other hand, broke open the obsidian.
The instant it opened, Lin Tian immediately pulled back the pickaxe and covered Nahida's eyes, protecting her pure mind from being tainted by the scene inside.
"Nahida, don't look just yet. I'll check the scene inside first," he said.
As he spoke, Lin Tian craned his neck to the right, peering into the dark room.
With this opening, light finally illuminated the scene inside.
The once-clean floor was now completely covered in white, yellow, and red liquids, though there was significantly more yellow and red than white.
The two large boars Lin Tian had put inside were lying on the ground, twitching uncontrollably. They were breathing out more than in; it was obvious they wouldn't survive.
The pool of pink liquid had now turned red!
The posters of beautiful women on the walls were unrecognizable, as if they had been coated in a layer of red paint.
The end rods, originally fixed in place, had even been torn from the sticky pistons by brute force and tossed aside.
Seeing this hellish scene, Lin Tian slowly averted his eyes, his gaze landing blankly on Nahida. Only after focusing on the adorable Nahida did he slowly regain his composure.
"Lumine, go take a look. It's really nice inside."
Lin Tian said this to the curious Lumine and then ignored her, focusing all his attention back on Nahida. Such an adorable creature was much easier on the eyes.
"Is it really that scary?"
Seeing Lin Tian's reaction, Lumine was somewhat speechless. 'He's supposedly worldly, but I guess he still hasn't seen much if he can't even handle a scene like this.'
"Silly Girl: Lumine, don't just stand there, go look! What's the scene inside? I'm so curious!"
"God's Tongue: I can probably guess the scene, but Lin Tian's reaction is what's really interesting. Just how intense is it?"
"Galactic Bat Hero: Go, Lumine! I want to see rivers of...!"
"Shinobu Who Loves Her Sister: Seriously, Lin Tian found a new favorite already, and one so young!"
"Silly Girl: Hey! Xing! Don't say it so explicitly! You'll get censored!"
"Her Highness Ai: Exactly, he clearly already has..."
"Hellish Blizzard: Nahida is supposedly 500 years old, does that count as an 'old-enough' loli?"
"Crash Specialist: I have a feeling it's not a pleasant scene. I'm gonna head out."
"I Am Just a Passerby: This is interesting. Seeing Azar suffer actually makes me quite happy."
"Platelet: I wonder if I can watch this time? I'm not a kid anymore!"
"Galactic Bat Hero: Look! Lumine, look!"
"Galactic Bat Hero: My great blade is thirsting!"
"Silly Girl: You're getting 'thirsty' over this, Xing? You're really something! (Thumbs up)"
"I Am Just a Passerby: Maybe Xing meant the boars?"
"Fallen Angel: Nice."
"Alright, alright, all of you, stop it! It's just a scene of Azar... 'drained to death,' isn't it? What's so scary!"
Lumine said, a nervous sweat breaking out on her face as she cautiously peered toward the only opening.
To be honest, it was her first time seeing anything like this. She'd never encountered such a bizarre spectacle before.
"What's wrong? Lumine, are you scared? Don't you travel across countless worlds? How can this frighten you?"
Seeing Lumine's cautious expression, Lin Tian teased her with amusement.
"Hmph! Who's scared? I'll look!"
Hearing Lin Tian's taunt, Lumine—though fully aware he was just provoking her—stiffened her neck and forced herself to look inside the opening.
...
"I thought you were tough? What happened to you?"
Watching Lumine dry-heaving off to the side, Lin Tian was speechless. 'Doesn't Lumine travel all over? How is she afraid of this?'
"Blegh... You didn't say the smell was this strong!"
Lumine complained about Lin Tian as she retched. She wasn't afraid of the sight, of course, but the stench—which had been fermenting for half a day—assaulted her senses, and she couldn't take it.
Who could possibly understand the smell of chestnut flowers, acrid urine, feces, and blood all mixed together!
"Galactic Bat Hero: No wonder. I thought it looked pretty tame, so I couldn't figure out why Lumine was so scared. It was the stench!"
"Platelet: I still didn't get to see! Sob..."
"I Am Just a Passerby: Still, Azar is really something. The whole floor is stained."
"Hellish Blizzard: I suspect most of that is blood. A person's 'energy' is finite; it's impossible to produce that much."
"Silly Girl: Who cares about the details? Seeing Azar in such a miserable state is a relief. Leaving it to Lin Tian was the right call."
"Silly Girl: It's just a pity Azar got off so lightly, getting to 'enjoy' himself one last time before dying."
"God's Tongue: What a disgusting scene. I'm going to have nightmares tonight."
...
After a while, Lumine finally recovered with the help of a golden apple from Lin Tian.
"So, what's next? Nahida said she wants to see what Azar looks like, but the scene in there is too disgusting, and the smell is unbearable. How are you going to let her see him?"
Now it was Lin Tian's turn to figure it out. He was, after all, the root cause of Azar's current state. If he didn't clean it, who would?
"Fine. I'll clean up the mess I made."
It couldn't be helped; he was the only one present who was suited for the cleanup.
Lin Tian summoned a gust of wind that blew through the opening, rolling up all the filth from the ground and forcing it into the half-dead Azar's mouth.
'These things should go back where they came from,' he thought. 'It's a good way for him to... replenish his strength.'
After a full five minutes of cleaning, Lin Tian had finally sent all the filth—from the floor, the walls, the boars' bodies, the water, and even from inside the boars—back into Azar's body.
Then, after clearing away all the obsidian blocks that had trapped Azar, Lin Tian finally removed his hand from Nahida's eyes, allowing her to see a "spotless" Azar.
As his hand moved, Nahida could finally see daylight again. She immediately saw the two boars lying on the ground and Azar, who wore a deathly expression.
Seeing the multi-colored fluids seeping from Azar's mouth and the two lifeless boars nearby, Nahida's eyes flickered. She roughly guessed what Lin Tian had done.
However, she didn't expose it. Even though Azar was the Grand Sage, after Lin Tian's guidance, Nahida now generally understood her own purpose. She was needed! She was not useless!
"Still sleeping? Wake up."
Lin Tian extended his hand, and a bolt of lightning struck down, hitting Azar squarely on the head.
"Ahhhhh!!!"
The lightning bolt was just right—enough to daze him but not fry his brain. Azar successfully regained consciousness.