The Nameless Well

The Blade-backed Giant Crocodile's return was a surprise to Li Tianming; the chaos it created was even more beneficial to him.

At this moment, the Blade-backed Giant Crocodile definitely saw Liu Qinyang as a thief, so it intended to kill Liu Qinyang and the Lightning Leopard. As for Li Tianming within the lake, no one had discovered him at all.

The Blade-backed Giant Crocodile was also part of the Thunder Venerable Mansion's trial, so Li Yanfeng and the others couldn't conveniently make a move. Therefore, Liu Qinyang was bound to get beaten.

"Serves you right!" The commotion from the fight outside was already immense, and Li Tianming seized the time, disregarding whatever was happening outside, and directly dove into the depths of the lake!

Submerging into the depths of the lake, he swam downwards.

Li Tianming remembered the location of this well. This time, diving deep, he directly found his target.

The battle outside was raging fiercely, but Li Tianming remained deafeningly deaf to it. He once again approached the well, and without a word, took out the long, strip-shaped stone Divine Source he held and directly inserted it into the groove.

Crack!

A crisp sound, the groove fit perfectly.

This meant that this Divine Source was indeed the key to this well!

The key and this well were in the same lake. It seemed this well was quite eager for outsiders to open it.

"What's going to happen next?" Little Yellow Chicken asked curiously.

Li Tianming was equally curious, but also a little awestruck. After all, the well was dark and deep, and no one knew if there were treasures inside or what kind of monsters might be lurking.

In the very next instant, the bronze stone slab split open from the middle, dividing into two halves and opening rapidly. Li Tianming clearly saw a vortex beneath the well. That black vortex possessed a surging suction force. Before he could react, he was directly swallowed into it.

Then, the two bronze stone slabs quickly rejoined, and the well mouth sealed up again, everything silent as if nothing had happened.

Only, Li Tianming had completely vanished into this lake. Even if they turned this lake upside down, they wouldn't be able to find him again.

As long as he didn't come out, he would have plenty of time to refine the Divine Source.

"Sister, save me!" Liu Qinyang was on the verge of tears. That Blade-backed Giant Crocodile was fixated on the Lightning Leopard as if they had a mortal enemy, beating both him and his beast to a pulp. Especially the Lightning Leopard, its body was covered in claw marks from the Blade-backed Giant Crocodile, it was almost bleeding profusely.

"There's no other way, we have to make a move," Liu Qing said, her heart aching as she looked at her disheveled brother.

Actually, according to the rules of the Thunder Venerable Mansion, the moment their affiliated disciples made a move, it meant those disciples were eliminated. They wouldn't act unless it was an absolute last resort. However, now that there was no one supervising, and the Divine Source wasn't on the Blade-backed Giant Crocodile, encountering such an extreme situation, if they didn't act, Liu Qinyang would lose his life.

"Alright," Li Yanfeng nodded.

He was stationed in Lihuo City and was a renowned expert in the southern border of the Vermilion Bird Country, a master-level figure with immense cultivation. This Blade-backed Giant Crocodile was no different from a chick in front of him.

He extended a finger, and at the tip of his index finger, a wisp of white flame suddenly appeared. The white flame shot out, piercing the head of the Blade-backed Giant Crocodile with terrifying speed.

The Blade-backed Giant Crocodile, which was ferociously chasing the Lightning Leopard, suddenly collapsed to the ground. Its massive body continued to surge forward due to inertia, but as it moved, white flames continuously erupted from its head, engulfing its entire body. After about ten breaths, the huge third-tier Fierce Beast was burned by the white flames, leaving no bones behind. Strangely, the surrounding flowers and trees remained completely undamaged, as if the white flames didn't burn them at all.

"Brother Feng, you're so powerful," Liu Qing said shyly.

"It's just a small matter. I'll go look for that 'person from Princess Qing' first. You tend to Qinyang's injuries," Li Yanfeng instructed, then turned and left. Before this, he dared not use his abilities to search for Li Tianming, fearing he would break the rules. But now that Li Tianming's whereabouts were completely lost, and he had already acted to kill the Blade-backed Giant Crocodile, he was considered to have broken the rules anyway, so he might as well break them completely.

"Brother Feng, you should make a move. It should be fine. The rules were set internally by our Thunder Venerable Mansion. Now that an outsider has taken the Divine Source, you should snatch it back first," Liu Qing urged.

"Okay." Up to this point, Li Yanfeng never imagined that the one who took the Divine Source would be Li Tianming.

"Sister, don't let this person escape, otherwise, I'll have no chance at all!" Liu Qinyang said, looking at his Companion Beast with heartache. If it weren't for that person who appeared out of nowhere, how could the Lightning Leopard have been injured like this by the Blade-backed Giant Crocodile? The Blade-backed Giant Crocodile would have surely vented its anger towards that person onto the Lightning Leopard.

"Don't worry, your brother-in-law is going to find him," Liu Qing said tenderly.

Li Yanfeng was gone for a full half-day before returning, his expression ashen.

"Brother Feng, where is he?" Liu Qing asked, confused.

"Gone," Li Yanfeng said grimly.

"How is that possible? Brother-in-law, you are so familiar with Huoling Mountain, how could you not find a young man? Aren't you intimately familiar with this place?" Liu Qinyang exclaimed excitedly. He was still waiting for the Divine Source! He was still waiting for revenge!

"Calm down!" Liu Qing glared at Liu Qinyang. For the sake of the Divine Source, Liu Qinyang had already lost some of his reason. If he knew who had taken the Divine Source, and that he was in the lake just now, he would probably be even more furious and spit blood.

"We've searched the surroundings thoroughly, and we really can't find him. This means this person does have some skill. Or, there's another possibility: this person was fabricated by Jiang Tao, and no such person exists. Jiang Tao tricked us," Li Yanfeng narrowed his eyes.

He truly couldn't understand it. If this young man really existed, with his familiarity with Huoling Mountain and his own strength, he wouldn't be unable to find this person.

"Impossible, Jiang Tao doesn't have the guts. He wouldn't play such a trick; that would be breaking the rules," Liu Qing shook her head.

While they were talking, Liu Qinyang was filled with grief and indignation, saying, "Then what are we still doing here? Keep searching!"

The Divine Source wasn't found, the person from Princess Qing wasn't found, and they were beaten for no reason. He even had a grievance against Li Yanfeng. Unfortunately, he couldn't say anything to Li Yanfeng, otherwise Liu Qing would definitely scold him. This was the most stifling thing in his heart.

This Divine Source could allow the Lightning Leopard to evolve. As long as he obtained this Divine Source, he would surely be admitted into Yanhuang Academy, and even have a chance to enter Heavenly Mansion!

Now, the Divine Source had slipped through his fingers. If others from the Thunder Venerable Mansion had obtained it, it would be fine, and he would still have a chance to compete. But now, it was all a complete mystery.

"Let's go find Jiang Tao and Jiang Yilin again and ask for clarification on what characteristics that young man has," Li Yanfeng finally decided.

"Okay."

Filled with frustration, they could only leave this place and go find Jiang Yilin and the others first.

If they knew that Li Tianming was in the lake right before their eyes, they would probably be even more furious.

Moreover, Li Yanfeng killing the Blade-backed Giant Crocodile had also coincidentally solved the problem of Li Tianming's safe escape...

Half a day later, Li Yanfeng encountered "Jiang Tao" and his group. After a period of debate, Li Yanfeng and the other two had to believe that such a "person from Princess Qing" did exist, that this person had taken the Divine Source, and had even evaded Li Yanfeng's search.

A day later, the six of them encountered another group of people. It was a family of three, consisting of "Mr. and Mrs. Zhang Chong" and Zhang Zixuan.

"Why the long faces? Who got the Divine Source?" Zhang Chong asked, confusion clouding his face. Logically, Liu Qinyang had the best chance of obtaining the Divine Source. His dejected state now must mean someone else got it.

"Jiang Tao?" No one responded, so Zhang Chong turned to Jiang Tao, as they had a decent relationship.

"The Divine Source is at 'Round Mirror Lake' on Huoling Mountain, guarded by a third-tier Fierce Beast, the Blade-backed Giant Crocodile. Before we arrived, an outsider youth had already obtained the Divine Source," Jiang Tao said helplessly.

"An outsider youth? If the younger generation couldn't defeat him, we could have gone ourselves to snatch it back! Who dares to touch our Thunder Venerable Mansion's treasure? Why didn't you act?" Zhang Chong was dumbfounded.

"That outsider youth had Princess Qing's jade pendant. He's one of Princess Qing's people. Do you dare to make a move?" Jiang Tao scoffed.

"Princess Qing!" Zhang Zixuan exclaimed.

"What, you encountered Princess Qing?" Hearing Zhang Zixuan's shocked voice, Liu Qinyang and the other six all stared at him.

"We did. What were you just saying? Someone from Princess Qing's retinue, holding Princess Qing's jade pendant?" Zhang Chong looked at them, extremely shocked.

"You know this person?" Li Yanfeng asked sternly.

"It's like this, a few days ago, we encountered a young man..." Zhang Chong recounted the dispute between Li Tianming and Zhang Zixuan.

"Princess Qing took this youth away in the end. I presume she gave him the jade pendant afterward? This youth is unremarkable, why is Princess Qing treating him so well?" Zhang Chong asked, deeply puzzled.

A mere villager from the mountains gaining Princess Qing's favor, not only saving his life but also giving him her own jade pendant? Princess Qing, who was so high and mighty, this sounded somewhat unbelievable.

"You've seen this youth? What are his features? Is he really a villager from the nearby mountains?" Li Yanfeng asked, frowning.

"His appearance... it's hard to describe," Jiang Tao and Jiang Yilin had also seen him.

"The person's Companion Beast is a little chicken, yellow, and it can take someone down with one slap," Zhang Zixuan said irritably from the side.

"What!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Li Yanfeng, Liu Qing, and Liu Qinyang were utterly stunned. A month ago, the performance of a Little Yellow Chicken had left a rather deep impression on them.

There couldn't possibly be such a unique Companion Beast in the world.

"Are you sure?" Liu Qinyang asked, enunciating each word.

"Tell me more about the youth's appearance and attire."

Jiang Tao and Zhang Chong described him separately. Combined with the uniqueness of the Companion Beast, everything now matched.

"Li Tianming, it's definitely him, Li Tianming!" Liu Qinyang never expected that someone he disdained, someone he had even forgotten existed, would ruin his major plans like this and make his trip to Huoling Mountain so disastrous!

"Wasn't his combat power only at the Seventh Level of Beast Vein Realm before? How did he defeat Zixuan and Yilin?" Liu Qing asked, her face full of suspicion. All the evidence pointed to that person being Li Tianming, but everything was hard to believe.

"He once reached the Spirit Origin Realm and has some combat experience. He probably used a trick to snatch the Divine Source," Li Yanfeng said with a detached gaze. To be honest, when he first confirmed Li Tianming's identity, his mind had gone blank for a moment. Even now, his voice had become much more somber because he hadn't expected it to be Li Tianming, his own son, causing trouble for him time and time again.

He had confidently promised to help Liu Qinyang obtain the Divine Source, but unexpectedly, it was Li Tianming who came to cause trouble and snatched Liu Qinyang's Divine Source. How could he, as their new brother-in-law, explain this to them?

The unexpected was even more infuriating.

Causing trouble once was enough, and now he was causing trouble a second time?

"Brother-in-law, what do we do?" Liu Qinyang was too angry, so he couldn't control the tone of his voice.

"He should be returning to Lihuo City. We can catch him on the way. Don't worry, anyone can get the Divine Source, but not him," Li Yanfeng said indifferently, looking in the direction of Lihuo City. When he said this, it was as if he had no connection to Li Tianming at all.

"He already got the Divine Source, why would he still go back to Lihuo City?" Liu Qinyang asked.

Li Yanfeng didn't respond. He couldn't tell Liu Qinyang that it was because Wei Jing was still in Lihuo City, and Wei Jing was gravely ill. Li Tianming would definitely return soon, wouldn't he?

"You just said that the Fierce Beast this person contracted using the Blood God Contract was only a first-tier?" Jiang Tao asked.

"Yes."

"Then I can rest easy. A first-tier Companion Beast can't refine the Divine Source even at its peak. This kid's efforts are in vain."

Hearing this, Liu Qinyang finally felt relieved.

"If we don't find him on the road, we'll wait for him in Lihuo City. He'll definitely be back within seven days."

After Li Yanfeng said this, everyone finally felt much more at ease.