Desolate Mountains

Seeing that they were about to make a move.

"To tell the truth, I actually know of Thunder Lord Manor." Li Tianming's words made Jiang Tao narrow his eyes again, temporarily holding back.

"You know Thunder Lord Manor, yet you still dare act so recklessly. Is there something wrong with your head, or did you already want to die?" Jiang Tao asked.

"Neither. I merely wanted to say, what does Thunder Lord Manor amount to?" Li Tianming said with an airy smile.

"Impudent!" Even Jiang Tao would not dare say such a thing. It seemed to him that this youth had definitely gone mad.

"You're mistaken. My courage is very small." As Li Tianming spoke, he displayed the jade pendant Princess Qing had given him. If he did not reveal it now, they were about to start killing people.

"A royal jade pendant! A green vermilion bird—it belongs to Princess Qing!" Jiang Tao immediately froze.

Li Tianming had not examined it closely before. Hearing Jiang Tao's description, he took a look and found that there was indeed a green vermilion bird on the pendant. It was said that vermilion bird lifebound beasts were at least sixth-rank.

This was truly noble blood!

"I'm one of Princess Qing's people. Is there a problem with me taking this divine source?" Li Tianming asked.

None of these people knew Li Tianming's true identity. His deliberately mysterious claim was quite effective. Those who could become "Princess Qing's people" came from either wealth or nobility; they could never possibly be wild mountain villagers from a place like this.

"No wonder you possess such combat power." Jiang Tao gritted his teeth, uncertainty flickering across his eyes.

"I remember your face. You dared compete with me for this divine source today. Once we return to Flame Capital, let's see what happens?" Li Tianming asked blandly.

"You must be joking, sir. Since you obtained the divine source from the Bladeback Giant Crocodile, Thunder Lord Manor naturally would not dare seize it by force. However, may I boldly ask what status your honored father holds?" Jiang Tao asked.

"My father? He's a great figure. You definitely know him."

"Which expert is he?"

"Guess for yourself!" Li Tianming shook the jade pendant in his hand, pushed Jiang Yilin aside, and said, "A girl shouldn't be so savage. Fighting and killing all the time—what sort of decorum is that?"

Jiang Yilin's face turned pale with rage, but she too dared not speak her anger. Even her father feared that jade pendant, much less her.

"Farewell!" Li Tianming swaggered away with the divine source.

"Father, we can't let him go! What if he picked up that jade pendant?" Jiang Yilin hurriedly said.

"It couldn't have been picked up. Princess Qing could never lose something like that. She would only grant a royal jade pendant to someone she valued greatly! That boy was never afraid of us from beginning to end. If he did not have something to rely on, how could that be possible?" Jiang Tao said.

"Then are we just letting him take the divine source for nothing?" Jiang Yilin asked resentfully.

"What else could we do? He was the one who seized it from the Bladeback Giant Crocodile."

Though they were bursting with anger, they had nowhere to vent it. It was enough to make them want to cry without tears.

Just then, three more people came racing over and landed beside the lake. Both sides spotted each other at once.

"Jiang Yilin, did you obtain the divine source?" The speaker was a refined-looking youth. Riding a Lightning Leopard, he shot over with a whoosh, arriving before Jiang Tao and the others in an instant.

"Greetings, Uncle Jiang." The newcomer was Liu Qianyang. He blocked Jiang Yilin's path, but still greeted Jiang Tao first.

Behind Liu Qianyang, Lihuo City's City Lord, Li Yanfeng, arrived hand in hand with his new wife, Liu Qing.

"Why has Uncle Jiang openly shown himself?" Liu Qing asked, somewhat displeased. Ordinarily, when juniors competed for a divine source, elders were best off not appearing. Secret protection was enough.

Since the divine source had already been lost, Jiang Tao was in no mood either. "Something changed. An outsider took the divine source."

"How could that be?" Liu Qing was somewhat doubtful.

"An outsider? In these desolate mountains, and within Lihuo City's territory, no outsider should have come here," Li Yanfeng said.

They too had come upon hearing the Bladeback Giant Crocodile's cries. Li Yanfeng knew the location of this lake; it had originally been his next destination. He had not expected such a huge disturbance just as they neared it.

"It was a youth who claimed to be one of Princess Qing's people. He took the divine source from the lake. My daughter could not defeat him, so I intended to recover the divine source before deciding what to do. Unfortunately, he displayed a jade pendant given by Princess Qing." Jiang Tao sighed. The other party's background was formidable. Thunder Lord Manor's test for its juniors had effectively made a wedding dress for someone else.

This divine source had been discovered by an elder of Thunder Lord Manor, but he had not taken it, instead allowing the juniors to compete for it themselves. In the end, someone claiming to be Princess Qing's person had appeared out of nowhere midway.

"Was he very strong? What was his lifebound beast?" Liu Qianyang's expression darkened. He had been determined to obtain that divine source and had feared none of his competitors. This outcome was like having a bucket of cold water splashed across his face.

"He didn't use a lifebound beast. His realm was probably about the same as mine," Jiang Yilin said with lowered head.

"If you don't believe me, chase in that direction. He only just left," Jiang Tao suddenly said.

"Is that so?" Liu Qing and Li Yanfeng exchanged a glance. Seeing was believing, so without another word, the three of them chased after Li Tianming.

"Father, why let them chase him? If Liu Qianyang takes the divine source, he'll crush me even more in the future," Jiang Yilin said unhappily.

"There's no choice. We must let others meet this youth, or how will I explain things after returning? If it's only me, they may not believe my words. They may even decide that I hid the divine source for myself," Jiang Tao said.

"Besides, if we truly tried to seize this divine source, we would be offending Princess Qing," Jiang Yilin's uncle said.

"I understand." Jiang Yilin nodded.

"How does that youth compare to Liu Qianyang in strength?"

"Though he didn't use a lifebound beast, he surely can't compare to Liu Qianyang. After all, Liu Qianyang is about to break through to the Spirit Source Realm. That man only defeated me with the strange armor on his left arm. The nature of his Beast Essence was terrifying, but it wasn't particularly abundant."

Forced to leave the lake, Li Tianming took a roundabout route so the others would not catch up to him.

Through that unseen connection with his lifebound beast, Li Tianming sensed that Little Yellow Chick was approaching. Their lives were linked, so each knew that the other was safe and sound.

Sure enough, Little Yellow Chick emerged from the forest, laughing loudly. "Brother, did you get the divine source? Let me tell you, I took that Bladeback Giant Crocodile for a walk this time and teased it until blood streamed from its seven apertures. It couldn't catch me at all!"

"Keep your voice down." Unsure whether anyone was still tracking them, Li Tianming quickly grabbed it and asked, "How far did you lure the Bladeback Giant Crocodile?"

"It didn't catch up to me, but it'll probably return to the lake before long. What happened?"

"After obtaining the divine source, I encountered people from Thunder Lord Manor. I temporarily escaped danger using Princess Qing's jade pendant." Li Tianming fell into thought.

"Then what are we waiting for? Hurry and leave. Let's return to Lihuo City and hide." Little Yellow Chick had already seen the divine source in Li Tianming's arms, and it had long been salivating over it.

Li Tianming frowned. "If we leave now and you refine the divine source, we won't have another chance to look at that well. Wealth is sought amid danger. Let's go back and take another look."

The situation had changed, but Li Tianming was still unwilling to give up on that well. He had now reunited with Little Yellow Chick, the Bladeback Giant Crocodile had yet to return, and Jiang Yilin's group by the lake had likely left. For the moment, there was still a chance to take the risk.

"It's fine. My third eye has an advantage in the lake. As long as I hide in there, they may not be able to find me."

"Then hurry up. This is exciting." This fellow was also one who feared no death. It too wanted to see whether the divine source could open that well.

"Let's take the long way back."

Afraid of being tracked in a straight line, Li Tianming and Little Yellow Chick made a wide circle. When they returned to the lake, they found, as expected, that the Bladeback Giant Crocodile had not returned and that no one remained nearby.

"Go in."

They moved swiftly and dove straight into the lake. The lake was enormous, and their entry barely stirred anything.

But just as they entered the water, Li Tianming suddenly saw a youth riding a Lightning Leopard appear at the edge of the lake.

"Liu Qianyang." Li Tianming saw him from beneath the water, but Liu Qianyang definitely had not seen Li Tianming.

After that, two more people appeared. They were indeed Li Yanfeng and his new wife, Liu Qing. This seductive beauty wore tight-fitting clothes that fully revealed her captivating curves. Fire Silk Mountain was already scorching hot, yet her presence made the air seem to boil even more.

"We didn't find Princess Qing's person. Did Jiang Yilin's group deliberately point us in the wrong direction?" Liu Qianyang was irritable. With the divine source taken by an outsider, he naturally felt anxious and restless.

"Possibly."

Unable to find Li Tianming, they had clearly returned to question Jiang Yilin's group further, only to find that Jiang Yilin and the others had already left.

Li Tianming secretly counted himself lucky. Fortunately, he had started taking a roundabout route the moment he left. Otherwise, the three of them might truly have caught him. He was not afraid of Liu Qianyang now; what he feared was Li Yanfeng not even fearing Princess Qing and directly taking the divine source.

They had not discovered him yet. However, if they came into the lake, there would still be some risk. At this moment, Li Tianming had no choice but to try and see whether he could open that well.

But something even more interesting happened.

Just as Liu Qianyang appeared at the lake's edge, a violent and savage giant beast charged back from the opposite side of the lake. It was the Bladeback Giant Crocodile, and it had clearly realized that the divine source might be gone.

The instant it burst forth, it locked onto Liu Qianyang across the lake.

Liu Qianyang rode the Lightning Leopard. The Lightning Leopard was a top-tier lifebound beast and was enormous in size, immediately drawing the Bladeback Giant Crocodile's savage hostility.

At that moment, the Bladeback Giant Crocodile let out a roar and charged into the lake, sending water spraying into the sky as it rushed toward the Lightning Leopard!