Published at 20th of September 2026 7:19 am

Chapter 3209: Mutation

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

The time goes back to half a minute ago.

Angel confidently began making his specialty dish: Magic Bread.

Laplace also watched with interest as the Secret Ceremony Box was activated, waiting for the final result.

At first, everything went smoothly.

As the "Sweet Wind Honey Fire Candy Vine" ceremony took shape inside the box, the porcelain box, covered with rose branches, began to spread various floral illusions, and a sweet fragrance wafted through the air.

It seemed as if, in the next second, a shallow yet incredibly sweet dream stream would spring forth from the box.

Angel’s expression was also full of confidence, everything perfect and flawless.

But just when Laplace thought the product would undoubtedly be excellent, the sweet scent in the air suddenly changed, becoming cloying, and the sweetness started to deconstruct, turning sour, becoming foul-smelling...

Laplace hadn’t even reacted when she noticed that the rose-patterned illusions around her began to blacken, wither, and turn to ink. It was only then that she sharply turned her gaze to the lid of the Secret Ceremony Box.

Unbeknownst to her, the lid had already slightly parted, and black smoke was continuously pouring out through the cracks.

It was as if black ash, compressed for centuries, was being dumped out from an opening, turning into a waterfall of sludge-made black ash.

Moreover, this black-grey smokey waterfall emitted a nauseating odor.

Laplace couldn’t even find an adjective to describe this smell.

Just one whiff made her feel dizzy.

"What’s going on?" Laplace looked at Angel, forcibly enduring her discomfort, and asked with spiritual power. —She dared not speak aloud, fearing that the black ash might accidentally enter her body.

Angel showed a bewildered expression, turned his head with an innocent look at Laplace, and then shrugged his shoulders lightly with open hands.

Angel didn’t speak, but his meaning was apparent: I don’t know what happened either?

Laplace initially wanted to hold on, hoping that maybe the process was just off, and the result would still be good. But seeing the inexhaustible black smoke inside the Secret Ceremony Box, she ultimately made a decision to retract her three Elemental Avatars, leaving only the wind element avatar representing the gentle breeze.

"Lift the lid," Laplace said in her mind.

The wind element avatar hesitated for a moment but still reached out its white hand into the black smoke.

In an instant, the pristine hand was stained with dark green powder, and the stench seemed to transform from scent to a spiritual sense, seeping through the skin, drilling straight into the skull.

The wind element avatar, in that moment, was frozen in place by the merciless impact.

Fortunately, before freezing, it managed to lift the lid.

Once the lid of the Secret Ceremony Box was lifted, even more terrifying black smoke spilled out. Previously, it was just a single-sided "waterfall," but now it cascaded down from all sides as "black waterfalls."

Even though the "Sweet Wind Honey Fire Candy Vine" ceremony had ended, the black smoke inside the Secret Ceremony Box continued to generate endlessly.

Laplace didn’t know how much black smoke would continue to be produced, but she was certain that, at the current rate, the entire barrier would be shrouded in black smoke in at most three seconds.

"Go!" Laplace decisively turned around.

She opened a gap in the barrier and also collected the wind element avatar back, not into her body, but into a small scale-made pouch.

Angel, still bewildered, came to his senses at this time. Seeing the gap, he directly opened a Gate of Void, targeting outside the Rock Palace.

Laplace and Angel rushed towards the gap simultaneously, escaping into the Gate of Void.

In an instant, their figures disappeared.

And all of this was witnessed by Khuntela. It had originally been puzzled by why the barrier suddenly had a gap, why Laplace and Angel impatiently vanished... but when it saw the foul smoke billowing through the gap, it understood.

Due to a moment of carelessness, it took a deep breath and ended up with aching lungs. But fortunately, it still had its wits about it, and immediately turned around, slicing open a black rift and diving into the space rift.

As a Cave Dragon, it was naturally adept at spatial abilities and could escape faster than Angel and Laplace.

The only one left on the scene was Aor Shanzhuo.

He was still leisurely sipping fine wine, tipsy and unaware of the rolling black smoke behind him, nor of the already fleeing Khuntela.

When the black smoke turned into a tide, slammed him at the seafloor, Aor Shanzhuo suddenly woke up.

But it was too late.

The intense stench rushed into his nasal cavity. This stench was like a pair of socks not washed for decades, stifled within boots full of bacteria to birth a "new" smell. This "new" smell was not a quantitative change but a qualitative change, molded through time and countless bacteria piled up, able to split open land as it passed.

The stench pierced like an arrow, killing the sense of smell, stabbing into the brain, piercing the soul!

A triple stab!

In an instant, Aor Shanzhuo was caught in a whirlpool of stench. His hands couldn’t hold steady, and the wine bottle in his hand crashed to the ground, with numerous black fumes fiercely invading the bottle, dyeing the liquid inside pitch-black like ink.

At this point, Aor Shanzhuo couldn’t care about his cherished love being defiled.

He only had one thought on his mind: get out immediately.

However, unlike Khuntela, he couldn’t manipulate space, and now the black fumes filled the great hall and poured into the surrounding rooms, making it difficult to escape even if he wanted to.

But fortunately...he was the Spirit of the Book.

He could still escape into the book.

Moreover, he had always been within the range of the Crystal Book. By allowing his legs to give way, Aor Shanzhuo slipped entirely into the Crystal Book.

After he disappeared, he didn’t forget to close the Crystal Book pages to prevent more stench from contaminating the inner pages.

As for the foulness clinging to the cover, he didn’t bother with it...

...

In just three minutes, the raging stench smoke conquered the surface level of the Rock Palace.

Fortunately, the second surface layer of the Rock Palace, as well as the first underground level, had partition mechanisms, unlike the first layer where each room was interconnected.

So, other levels were spared.

Additionally, fortunately, there were no other dragons on the first surface level either.

However, at this point, all the rooms on the first surface level were completely overrun, and from the density of the smoke, it seemed unlikely to dissipate anytime soon.

Even if it could be dispersed... in this sealed Hundred-Dragon Divine Kingdom outpost, where could it possibly go?

Angel and Laplace were now a hundred meters above the Rock Palace.

They silently stood in the void, looking down at the Rock Palace where each entrance was shrouded in rolling black mist, their expressions somewhat subtle... especially Angel, whose expression, as well as his inner thoughts, were quite complex.

The immense confidence he had built upon cross-disciplinary culinary tricks suddenly showed a crack.

Could it be... that he wasn’t truly suited for culinary magic?

Even with the use of tools as assistance, and even using Magic Marrow Meat as casting material, was it still impossible to reverse fate?

Angel’s face turned sullen, and his eyes dimmed with this abrupt loss of confidence.

Perhaps seeing Angel’s gloomy expression, Laplace thought for a moment and opened her mouth: "It was actually pretty good at the start, but how did it change later on? Did it trigger the ’mutation’ effect?"

Angel had almost fallen into the dark pit of self-doubt, but hearing Laplace’s words, he realized: Yes, everything was fine at the beginning, accompanied by the sweet fragrance and the blooming phantom rose branches, everything was on the right track, and it should’ve succeeded.

After all, he was only casting the most basic culinary spell. How could it possibly fail?

So, the current abnormal situation must be because... he triggered the one-in-a-million ’mutation’ effect of the Secret Ceremony Box.

Just like the parrot seller had said when he was making apple cider vinegar for his daughter, it was also a low-level trick, and inexplicably triggered the ’mutation’ effect, resulting in a foul black mist.

Evidently, the same thing happened this time.

Angel’s crumbling self-confidence was instantly rebuilt. — This disaster was not my fault; it was the Secret Ceremony Box that had issues. My culinary tricks remain robust and strong.

Laplace didn’t understand why Angel’s emotions changed so much, but she did truly believe that the problem with food this time was due to the Secret Ceremony Box, not Angel.

She didn’t know culinary tricks herself but had seen the Wise Sovereign use them. So, she knew clearly that Angel’s process when using culinary tricks was correct, especially since it was just the most basic Magic Bread—how could there be an anomaly?

Besides, to show solemnity, Angel even used materials during casting, which was a high-standard practice. The failure certainly wasn’t Angel’s fault; it was just bad luck in triggering the mutation effect of the Secret Ceremony Box.

"What should we do now?" Angel asked softly, looking at the rolling black mist below.

Though his confidence was rebuilt, facing the surging foul mist and the Rock Palace enveloped by the stench, he still felt quite helpless.

After all, this was the territory of the Mirror Dragon. Having caused such a foul calamity, how should he resolve it?

Laplace pondered for a moment: "When we toured the Rock Palace earlier, we confirmed that besides us, there are only Aor Shanzhuo and Khuntela on the first floor."

Angel silently added, "And that ice cloud."

"Don’t count the ice cloud; as for Aor Shanzhuo and Khuntela, one can hide in the Crystal Book, and the other can open space at any time, so they should be fine," said Laplace. "Therefore, you shouldn’t worry too much. Just find a way to deal with this black smoke, and everything will be fine."

As Laplace spoke, she took out the scaly pouch that housed the wind elemental avatar from before.

With a tilt of the pouch, the wind elemental avatar immediately appeared before them... twenty meters away.

The previous wind elemental avatar had clear eyes, surrounded by gentle winds and clouds, with a poofy skirt like cotton candy, looking pure and elegant.

But at this moment, the wind elemental’s hands were blue-black, shrouded in gray mist, and the pure white cotton of the poofy skirt was stained with a layer of dust. The whole figure looked as if it came out of a coal room, with eyes as lifeless as a puppet.

That was just its appearance.

The smell, needless to say.

Even from twenty meters away, there was still a faint smell of sour stench.

However, fortunately, it was much lighter than the smell inside the Rock Palace before. It seemed not as deeply entrenched as imagined.

Laplace carefully checked the wind elemental avatar, confirmed everything was fine, and then put the wind elemental back into the scale pouch.

"I just checked carefully; this mutation isn’t as intense as the parrot described with the apple cider vinegar," Laplace added. "Although it’s still quite stinky, it’s only superficial and hasn’t penetrated the soul."

"Moreover, in my judgment, this stench, even if smelled by a normal person, would at most make them faint, but timely assistance would ensure they’re fine. To extraordinary lives, besides being a bit smelly, it won’t have much impact."

Laplace said this because the parrot seller, when making apple cider vinegar, caused a mutation not only capable of suffocating ordinary creatures but also stunning extraordinary beings if they weren’t cautious. The most crucial part was that after being tainted with the black mist, one’s body would be enveloped in that unceasing stench for the next year and a half, a stench that not only lingered in the nose but also eroded the soul.

But this time was different; Laplace checked the wind elemental avatar, and it didn’t have the power of the apple cider vinegar mutation.

The stench, though foul, wouldn’t linger for a year and a half. Just serious cleaning, and it would be thoroughly gone in no time.

Overall, this counted as good news.

Now they only needed to consider how to get rid of the black mist inside the Rock Palace...

While Angel and Laplace were discussing in low voices, a rift suddenly appeared nearby, and then, slowly opening, a familiar figure walked out from the rift.

The newcomer was none other than Khuntela.

Just as Khuntela appeared, a faint smell of stinky socks came with him.

But the smell was very mild, likely been dealt with, still within a tolerable range. So, even if Angel smelled it, he pretended like he hadn’t noticed it.

Moreover, the smell on the other was his doing, and right now he dared not show any abnormal behavior.

Khuntela appeared quite furiously, especially seeing the Rock Palace below shrouded in black mist, even more furious. But when his gaze met Laplace’s, his fiery anger seemed to be doused with a splash of cold water, calming a bit.

"Can you two tell me what exactly happened? Why did this occur?" Khuntela asked, staring straight at Angel, not because he’d figured Angel was the culprit, but because he dared not look at Laplace, resulting in him staring at Angel.

Khuntela: "Is this a protest against our hospitality?"

Angel slightly lowered his eyebrows and spoke softly: "Not so, the truth is actually like this..."

When Khuntela appeared, Angel had communicated with Laplace, so he explained very quickly, and within a few sentences, he had everything explained.

He laid out all the facts, without concealing anything... as there was no need to hide anything.

The only divergence was the reason for using the Secret Ceremony Box.

Angel’s explanation was: "We overheard your conversation with Aor Shanzhuo, indeed, it’s quite unsatisfactory to have wine without food, and I happened to have recently purchased a culinary tool, so I thought, why not make food to go with your wine... but unexpectedly, I triggered a rare mutation effect."

As Angel spoke nothing but the truth except a slight switch in the cause, and having Laplace affirm at his side, Khuntela also saw that Angel wasn’t lying.

Furthermore, Angel asserted: "The Secret Ceremony Box is still in the Rock Palace; once this black smoke is cleared, you can see for yourself then."

Knowing that Angel hadn’t even taken the Secret Ceremony Box out, Khuntela also believed what Angel said was true.

A well-intended gesture marred by unfortunate luck resulted in a distorted outcome.

Khuntela’s expression eased slightly, and he asked, "Have you found a method to disperse this fog now? Lady Jasmine will return soon, and if she smells the scent here, that wouldn’t be good."

Angel nodded: "I’ve already thought of a method..."

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