138: Ancient ferocious beasts, nightmares

The wind and snow grew more intense, as if even heaven and earth were becoming solemn and killing for the impending battle.

Chen Yaofeng's hunched figure gradually straightened in the wind and snow, like an ancient sword that had been sealed for many years slowly unsheathing.

His withered fingers lightly stroked the wooden sword. Dense cracks suddenly appeared on the blade—not marks of decay, but Sword Qi that had been forcibly suppressed for too long!

"It's just an irrelevant marriage alliance..." The old man smiled at Li Yi, his tone self-deprecating. "Ever since young Li was hunted by four Nascent Soul Realm experts from the Three Great Sects fifty years ago and we couldn't intervene, I knew those people were just scouts. However, this also forced young Li to endure bitterly for over fifty years. Today, this old man will no longer endure. While I can still shine and burn, I'll be the first to stick my neck out!"

Hearing Chen Yaofeng's words, Li Yi almost burst out laughing, but fortunately, his decades of temperament cultivation were quite good.

Chen Yaofeng glanced at Li Yi and said in a low voice, "I heard that Disciple of yours is quite good. Why didn't he come with you?"

"To protect the Sect's Disciples, he forcibly broke through the Sea Race Stairs and is still unconscious," Li Yi replied with a cupped-fist salute.

"The Revered Master is a Genius, and the Disciple is a Prodigy..." Chen Yaofeng smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Sometimes, I really envy that brat Yu Tianlong for being able to take in a Disciple like you."

Li Yi rubbed his nose awkwardly. Regarding his Cheap Master, he could only offer four words: "Eating and waiting to die."

Although Yu Tianlong was of the peak Revered Master generation, his strength was the lowest among the rankings of the various peak Revered Masters.

Upon hearing this, Chen Yaofeng suddenly laughed out loud. His laughter shook the snow on the edge of the cliff, causing it to tumble down. "What an 'eating and waiting to die'!" He wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes. "When that boy took you as a Disciple back then, he knelt before the Ancestral Master Hall and swore a poison oath."

Li Yi's eyebrows shot up. "There was such a thing?"

"He said..." The old man suddenly imitated Yu Tianlong's casual and sloppy tone. "'If I can't teach this Disciple well, I'll never step into the Nascent Soul Realm in my life.' As it turns out... that poison oath actually came true."

The mountain wind suddenly became biting. The sound of rushing air echoed from afar as Yu Tianlong flew in crookedly atop a Spirit-Escaping Cat. It was obvious that this Spirit Beast had not been tamed well at all.

"You old fossil! You're exposing my shortcomings again!" Yu Tianlong's voice arrived before he did. He stumbled as he landed but quickly regained his footing. "If you guys hadn't tricked me back then..."

Before he could finish, his eyes suddenly widened.

He saw the Sword Core embedded in Chen Yaofeng's chest melting at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Junior Martial Uncle, you..."

"Shut up." Chen Yaofeng suddenly became serious, his cloudy eyes flashing with sharp light. "Listen, for that fight seven days from now, you stay put at your Spirit Beast Peak."

Hearing this, Yu Tianlong's hands trembled slightly. He understood Chen Yaofeng's meaning perfectly.

To be honest, he hadn't achieved much in his life. If it weren't for a Disciple like Li Yi, he probably wouldn't have even dreamed of becoming a peak Revered Master.

"Old man, do you really not plan to stay and look at those things in the back mountain?" Yu Tianlong asked.

"Why? Have you actually produced something?" Chen Yaofeng countered.

Yu Tianlong glanced at Li Yi, seemingly wanting Li Yi to inform Chen Yaofeng of the matter.

Seeing his Revered Master's look, Li Yi took the initiative and said with a smile, "I was fortunate enough to heal that Vicious Beast from three hundred years ago. It's currently suppressed under Spirit Beast Peak."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yaofeng, Murong Xue, and the others were all shocked.

None of them expected that Li Yi had actually saved that ancient Vicious Beast and even suppressed it under Spirit Beast Peak... "Was this all done over these fifty-plus years?" Chen Yaofeng asked.

"Yes. I was just bored and researched methods for treating Vicious Beasts when I had nothing else to do," Li Yi admitted.

A "holy crap" flashed through everyone's minds. They knew Li Yi was a Genius, but this was simply too much!

"Senior Brother, you didn't happen to train that thing into a pet beast, did you?" Lü Yang asked.

Li Yi said with a smile, "Not really. I can't tame it; after all, that Vicious Beast is bloodthirsty. However, I think Jiang Yan might be able to."

Hearing this, everyone fell silent. They felt their worldview had been overturned.

Only Yu Tianlong and Murong Xue nodded. They both knew about Li Yi sending Jiang Yan to the Blood Cloud Sect. Moreover, with the Blood Cloud Sect's methods, any Blood Son who could walk out alive was bound to be someone whose hands were stained with blood.

"Fine. Since you all have a plan, I won't ask further. Seven days from now, I'll accompany you," Chen Yaofeng said.

"We've troubled the Grand Elder / We've troubled you, Junior Martial Uncle." Yu Tianlong, Li Yi, and the others cupped their hands and left the Sword-Wielding Cliff of Spirit Sword Peak.

Li Yi brought Murong Xue to Spirit Beast Peak. After introducing Su Qingyan and the Several women into Murong Xue's tutelage, he went to the small courtyard where Jiang Yan was recuperating.

Seeing that Jiang Yan was still unconscious, he placed his right index finger on Jiang Yan's glabella.

As his spiritual power circulated once, he was shocked to discover that Jiang Yan's Golden Core, like his own, did not belong to any standard grade; it seemed to be related to ancient Golden Cores.

"Oh, my dear Disciple, you've gone and reshaped my worldview again."

Li Yi shook his head and laughed, but the next moment, the smile vanished. He discovered a secret realm core floating above Jiang Yan's Golden Core.

"Holy crap, can this thing even be put into the Dantian?"

He was more than familiar with the secret realm core. This item could not be placed in storage spaces; it was entirely an independent spatial core.

"No, once he wakes up, I must ask him clearly how he managed to put a secret realm core into his Dantian."

While Li Yi was thinking this, his peripheral vision was drawn to the strings of Storage Pouches at Jiang Yan's waist.

"Brat, not bad. You've actually managed to get so many good things."

"Don't say your Revered Master hasn't looked after you. I'll help you check what kind of treasures you've collected."

As Li Yi untied a string of Storage Pouches, he was startled by the resources Jiang Yan had acquired.

Thousand-year-old Spirit Medicines were merely the most basic materials. What was terrifying was that there were over a hundred ten-thousand-year-old Spirit Medicines... Looking at the tens of millions of Spirit Stones, Li Yi marveled, "This kid's net worth is comparable to the Three Great Sects!"

Li Yi stroked his chin, a mischievous grin appearing on his face as he pulled off eight Storage Pouches.

"They say we should split everything we find. As your Revered Master, I won't ask for much—I'll just take sixty percent. As for this Pill Furnace and these materials, I'll leave them for you."

Li Yi said he'd leave them because he didn't know Alchemy. If he knew how to refine pills, he wouldn't have left a single spiritual material for Jiang Yan.

As for Spiritual Artifacts, Spirit Treasures, and such, Li Yi didn't care for any of them. After all, none of these items had Artifact Spirits; they were completely dead objects.

What Li Yi didn't know was that any item with an Artifact Spirit would have been crushed by Jiang Yan. After all, Jiang Yan loved killing Artifact Spirits the most!

As Li Yi's casual pilfering concluded, he had only taken eight of Jiang Yan's Storage Pouches.

Just as Li Yi was about to leave, Su Qingyan walked in quietly.

"Greetings, Senior Li."

Li Yi nodded. He could only feel sympathy for this girl's plight. After all, who would want to become someone else's Cauldron, especially the kind that was a Soul-less provider?

"Alright, since you're here, you take care of him." Li Yi walked to the door and turned back to say, "When he wakes up, tell him to find me at the Animal Rearing Chamber."

"Understood. Farewell, Senior Li." Su Qingyan gave a slight bow and watched Li Yi depart.

After Li Yi left, Su Qingyan took out a handkerchief to wash Jiang Yan's face.

Looking at Jiang Yan's face, which wasn't particularly handsome, Su Qingyan smiled.

"Thank you," Su Qingyan whispered into Jiang Yan's ear. "Whether you are Jiang Yan or Su Chen, I will live only for you in this lifetime."

Since Su Qingyan woke up, she had integrated all her memories. She was shocked to find that, besides Lü Yue and the others, the person most deeply etched in her memory was the Su Chen that Jiang Yan had transformed into.

Whether it was their first meeting at Bright Moon Mountain, asking Jiang Yan for Talismans, or even making Jiang Yan dive into the Blood Pool to retrieve a sword, she could never forget how well Jiang Yan had treated her.

Jiang Yan was unaware of what was happening outside; he was currently fighting in a dream.

His dream this time was very eerie. Countless Evil Spirits and Yao Beasts were attacking human settlements, while he stood alone between heaven and earth, battling them.

Although he was heavily wounded, that bloodthirsty sensation made him excited. Even facing seventh-rank Evil Spirits and seventh-rank great Yao Beasts, he felt no trace of cowardice.