21: Yunqing

[You realize that you cannot go on like this.]

[In the days that follow, your "cultivation" remains stuck at the Peak of Qi Refining.]

[Time flies by, and in the blink of an eye, the eighth year arrives.]

[You know that in a little over a year, the neighboring Great Abyss Dynasty will launch an attack on the Great Wu Dynasty. Furthermore, due to a traitor within, this war will ultimately end in a crushing defeat for the Great Wu Dynasty.]

[So, you decide to travel elsewhere to Cultivate.]

[You find a Spiritual Vein within the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range, located between the Great Wu Dynasty and the Great Abyss Dynasty, to Cultivate.]

[This time, you do not choose to bring your parents and family with you.]

[Because you know that although the Great Wu Dynasty will ultimately fall, they will still arrange personnel to assist others in evacuating the southern region.]

[This is much safer than following you to the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range.]

[You begin your secluded cultivation in the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range. Although your Realm increases slowly, you still persist in cultivating constantly.]

[Heaven Rewards Diligence triggers, and your cultivation receives an additional boost.]

[You have reached the second layer of the Purple Mansion!]

[As the days pass, the tenth year arrives in the blink of an eye.]

[During this time, although you have been in secluded cultivation, you can still sense the situation in the outside world.]

[By now, the Great Wu Dynasty has already been defeated, and the entire southern region has fallen into the hands of the Great Abyss Dynasty.]

[After casting a glance in the direction of Xuanhe Village, you resume your cultivation.]

[However, just at this moment, someone you did not expect appears.]

[Chu Han!]

[At this moment, he is leading a woman toward the depths of the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range.]

[Although you cannot clearly see the woman's face, you feel that something is not quite right.]

[You do not know where they are heading.]

[But after hesitating for a moment, you still choose to follow them.]

[In order to avoid being noticed by the Soul inside Chu Han's body, you have no choice but to trail far behind him.]

[Half an hour later, Chu Han stops in his tracks.]

[In front of him, a great battle is taking place. A beautiful woman in a white dress is fighting a Purple-Bearded Lion King.]

[The human and the beast are locked in a fierce, inseparable battle; even the aftershocks of their clash are enough to split mountains and shatter rocks.]

[This scene feels somewhat familiar to you.]

[You immediately realize that this might be Chu Han's Opportunity.]

[As expected, when the battle between the human and the beast reaches a fever pitch, the Purple-Bearded Lion King suddenly unleashes a roar.]

[Following that, its aura surges repeatedly, actually breaking through directly to the fifth rank!]

[This greatly increases the pressure on the beautiful woman, who is only at the Peak of the Golden Core Realm. She wants to retreat, but having been forced to use its trump card, how could the Lion King easily let her leave?]

["Human! This King has long said that you are no match for me. Why do you press so aggressively?!"]

["Lion King, I only want the Old Lion King's remains. If you are willing to hand them over, my Falling Cloud Sect is willing to reward you handsomely!"]

["Fine! Since you seek death, this King shall grant your wish!"]

[Upon hearing the beautiful woman's words, the Lion King roars repeatedly. Purple flames soar into the sky as it charges directly at her.]

[The beautiful woman is simply no match for the Lion King. In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, she is already backed into a corner by the Lion King.]

[However, right at this moment, Chu Han moves.]

[He merges with that mysterious Soul, and a terrifying aura erupts, actually forcing the Lion King back directly!]

[Your heart is filled with utter shock.]

[You never expected this mysterious Soul to be so powerful. In its Peak period, it was probably a powerhouse at least no weaker than Tang Chui.]

[On the other side, under the empowerment of the mysterious Soul, Chu Han's eyes roll back, and wisps of white flame emerge from his body.]

["Lion King, it is merely a set of remains. Why be so furious?"]

["This Venerable One is willing to refine a Beast King Pill for you as compensation."]

["Bah! Why don't you contribute your own father's remains instead? You sneaky coward, do you really think you are a match for this King?"]

[The Lion King unleashes continuous attacks, but in essence, it is only a Peak fourth-rank Yao Beast. Being able to erupt with power comparable to the fifth rank is solely reliant on its innate Divine Ability.]

[Once its innate Divine Ability ends, it won't even have the strength of a Peak fourth-rank.]

[The Lion King's strength begins to weaken.]

[The same goes for the mysterious Soul; at this moment, Chu Han only has a Purple Mansion cultivation, and his body cannot withstand the Soul's power for long.]

["Humans, let us both take a step back. I am willing to take out the Purple Extreme Demon Flame from my Immortal Cave to exchange for your Medicinal Pill, how about it?"]

["You covet my father's remains, isn't it precisely for the Purple Extreme Demon Flame within them?"]

["Absolutely not!"]

[As soon as she speaks, the mysterious Soul and the Lion King both look toward the beautiful woman.]

[Especially the mysterious Soul; to be honest, he absolutely did not want to wade into these muddy waters. After all, he is currently just a Soul body, his cultivation like duckweed without roots—once expended, it is very difficult to recover.]

[But he couldn't stop his Disciple, who insisted on "acting heroically," claiming there was a great Opportunity here and forcing him to come and help the beautiful woman.]

[On the other side, upon hearing the beautiful woman's reply, the purple flames that the Lion King had extinguished flared up once more.]

["Good! Good! Good!"]

["Since you refuse to accept my goodwill, then even if I, the Lion King, must die, I will make you pay the price!"]

[The two humans and the lion clash once more, locked in an inseparable battle.]

[In the end, however, the beautiful woman and the mysterious Soul emerge victorious.]

[Before dying, the Lion King self-detonates, severely wounding them both.]

[The mysterious Soul ends its possession.]

[The moment the possession is lifted, the beautiful woman recognizes Chu Han.]

[It turns out that back when Chu Han was suppressed in the Ji Family, he had joined the Falling Cloud Sect where this beautiful woman resided.]

[The Falling Cloud Sect is only a small Sect, but the people here did not look down on Chu Han; instead, they helped him greatly.]

[The Sect Master, Yun Qing, even guided his cultivation frequently.]

[For Chu Han, this was also the first time he felt the warmth of a home.]

[That was why, when Yun Qing was fighting the Lion King just now, Chu Han did not hesitate to step in and help.]

["Chu Han? No, who on earth are you?!"]

[Chu Han does not answer Yun Qing's question directly. Instead, he enters the Lion King's Immortal Cave on his own to dig up the Old Lion King's remains.]

["Sect Master, I am indeed Chu Han. As for what just happened, please do not worry about it. In any case, I will always be a Disciple of the Falling Cloud Sect!"]

["These are the Old Lion King's remains. I hope they can be of help to the Grand Elder."]

[Yun Qing originally wanted to step forward and press further, but upon hearing the mention of the Grand Elder, she couldn't help but stop in her tracks.]

[Although Chu Han's identity is suspicious, the situation of the Grand Elder, Yun Huzi, is clearly far more critical.]

[He is the strongest expert of the Falling Cloud Sect, a fifth-rank Body Cultivator. Now that his Physical Body has been severely damaged and his Origin energy is completely exhausted, he can only recover quickly by refining the Physical Body of a Cultivator of the same rank.]