A Meeting

Yi Yun killed the Iron Fire Ant and then swung his knife to cut off its two Iron Fire Ant mandibles. Once the Iron Fire Ant died, its vital energy dissipated, making it easier to cut off its steel mandibles.

"Brother, may I ask your name?" A young voice came from behind Yi Yun.

Yi Yun turned around, and the boy being chased by the Iron Fire Ant clasped his hands and said, "My name is Chu Shan, and this is my sister Chu Luo. We are second-year trial participants from Tai'a Divine City."

The young man introduced himself first, "Thanks to you, brother, we might have wasted the Life-Preserving Array Talisman we prepared earlier. If that had happened, we would have had no choice but to leave Falling Star Abyss."

Many trial participants, when venturing out for training, will spend a large sum of Dragon Scale Rune to prepare a high-level Life-Preserving Array Disk as a last resort. Once this Life-Preserving Array Disk is used up, they will have to consider whether to return to the city; otherwise, the casualty rate of the trial participants will only be higher.

Before Yi Yun could speak, a whooshing sound came from not far away, and a sword-wielding girl and a burly man rushed over.

"Chu Shan, Chu Luo, are you alright?!"

The sword-wielding girl appeared like a streak of light in a few flashes, right in front of Chu Shan and Chu Luo. Yi Yun was taken aback when he saw her.

The man and woman were none other than Chu Xiaoran and Qiu Niu.

He knew that Chu Xiaoran and Qiu Niu had been out training these days, but he didn't expect that they would also be in Falling Star Abyss.

Looking at Chu Xiaoran, Yi Yun noticed that after not seeing her for several months, Chu Xiaoran's internal energy had become increasingly refined. She was probably accumulating power in preparation for breaking through to the Origin Foundation Realm.

"Her cultivation level has already reached the Purple Blood Peak..."

Yi Yun thought to himself, even though he had condensed the Heavenly Eye Bead, he still couldn't tell Chu Xiaoran's exact cultivation level at a glance.

"My sister arrived so quickly!"

Upon seeing Chu Xiaoran, Chu Luo Chu Xiaoran overjoyed and took her hand.

Yi Yun then noticed that they all shared the surname Chu, and were mostly from the lineage of the Duke of Zhenguo. Although Chu Luo and Chu Shan were older, they were clearly no match for Chu Xiaoran.

"Yes, we came as soon as we received your distress signal! And... Yi Yun! What a coincidence to run into him here!"

Chu Xiaoran had seen Yi Yun ago, and Chu Xiaoran genuinely admired him.

"So you're Yi Yun! No wonder you have such strength at such a young age!"

Chu Luo and Chu Shan had naturally heard of Yi Yun's name, but they had never met him in person. They also knew that their beloved younger sister, whom they regarded as a prodigy, had been defeated by this man.

"It's a coincidence. Actually, I'm perfectly normal here in Falling Star Abyss. But Miss Chu, you clearly cultivate the Ice Element Law, so why did you come to Falling Star Abyss?"

Chu Xiaoran smiled slightly and said, "The Falling Star Abyss has absorbed all the Pure Yang Energy in the surrounding area. Below the Falling Star Abyss is an extremely Yin place, from which flows an icy Ice River. I've been training there these past few days."

"Oh? Is that so?" Yi Yun had only looked up information about the Pure Yang Land at the time and didn't know that there was Pure Yin Land. It turned out to be in Falling Star Abyss as well.

He had indeed seen a small river earlier. The water temperature was below freezing, so it seemed to be a tributary of that Ice River.

This is probably a case of things reaching their extremes and then reversing.

"Haha, Brother Yi, since we've run into each other, let's go together." Qiu Niu also had a good impression of Yi Yun; it's true that you don't become friends without a fight.

He patted Yi Yun on the shoulder in a casual manner, "Brother Yi, you must have researched a lot about Falling Star Abyss before, but information is just information, it can't compare to us living maps. I, Qiu Niu, have been in Falling Star Abyss for several months! I can analyze where there are wild beasts and which ones are suitable for you. Besides, we can look out for each other if we're together!"

Qiu Niu's words made Yi Yun hesitate slightly. Falling Star Abyss was indeed extremely dangerous, and it would be very tiring for him to deal with it alone.

Especially at night, having to be on guard while also resting is extremely dangerous.

However, being alone also has its advantages...

As Yi Yun hesitated, Qiu Niu said, "Young Brother Yi, you killed these Iron Fire Ant. You should quickly try to condense Dharma Aspect Totem. Although it's very difficult to condense Dharma Aspect Totem before reaching the Origin Foundation Realm, with your talent, Young Brother Yi, you still have a chance!"

After Qiu Niu said this, everyone looked at Yi Yun, waiting for him to condense the beast seal.

They all wanted to see what kind of beast seal Yi Yun, a dual genius who cultivated both the Dao of the Blade and the <Tai'a Sacred Law>, would condense.

Generally speaking, it is extremely difficult for martial artists in the mid-to-late stages of the Purple Blood realm to condense beast seals, and they may not even be able to condense a single one.

For example, Qiu Niu couldn't condense a beast seal. He came to Falling Star Abyss purely for trials and to earn Dragon Scale Rune.

"Well..."

Seeing a group of people staring at him like curious children, Yi Yun felt somewhat helpless. The advantage of being alone was that he could easily condense a beast seal without anyone watching.

Yi Yun didn't know how different his beast seal, condensed from Purple Crystal, was from others; he wondered if it would seem too strange...

"What do your beast seals look like?" Yi Yun asked casually. If the differences were too great, he wouldn't want to stay with these people.

"It looked like a blurry little beast..." Having just escaped danger, Chu Luo seemed very excited and eagerly answered.

She has not yet broken through to the Origin Foundation Realm. She was only able to condense a beast seal by sheer chance, but she is still far from meeting the requirements for condensing Dharma Aspect Totem.

"Yi Yun, haven't you tried condensing a beast seal yet?" Chu Luo asked.

"I've tried it..." Yi Yun said, connecting his spiritual power to the Purple Crystal. He intentionally weakened the Purple Crystal's control over energy. Since everyone's condensed beast imprints were just blurry images of small beasts, they shouldn't be too shocking...

At most, it's just that the beast seal energy I condensed is a bit stronger?

As Yi Yun thought this, a vortex had already formed in his dantian.

The Pure Yang Power emanating from the Iron Fire Ant was drawn by the vortex and quickly condensed, resembling tiny firefly-like particles of light. In the sky, they coalesced into the shape of a golden ant.

The ant is so lifelike, it seems to have a life of its own.

With a thought, Yi Yun sent the ant flying towards him.

At this moment, Chu Luo, Chu Shan, and the others around Yi Yun stared blankly at the ant-like beast mark, their expressions as if they had seen a ghost.

That was way too fast and too easy!

Yi Yun is exceptionally talented, so it's not surprising that he can condense a beast seal, but this beast seal is simply too exaggerated!

The beast seal flew into Yi Yun's dantian and disappeared.

Yi Yun felt that the rudimentary form of the Dharma Aspect Totem within his body seemed to have improved a little, but it was still far from being truly condensed.

He turned around and saw Chu Luo, Chu Shan, and the others staring in disbelief.

"Uh... is my beast mark strange?"

Yi Yun had slightly reduced the Purple Crystal's control over energy, since ordinary wild beasts didn't contribute much to the <Myriad Beast Catalog> anyway.

"Strange?" Chu Luo's heart pounded. "Strange is more than strange... The beast seal you've condensed is... simply..."

Chu Luo didn't know what to say. She didn't even want to be with Yi Yun anymore; it was just too disheartening.

She is quite talented in condensing Dharma Aspect Totem; at least she can condense a beast seal in the Purple Blood Realm, while someone like Qiu Niu has never been able to condense a beast seal even once.

But compared to Yi Yun, there's really no comparison.

At this moment, Chu Xiaoran spoke up, "Yi Yun, do you know what the instructors of Tai'a Divine City would think if they saw you just condensing the beast seal?"

"The beast seal we've condensed is only about the size of a peanut, roughly one-tenth the size of yours, and..."

Chu Xiaoran sighed as she said this, "The beast imprint you condensed is lifelike, while our beast imprints are just blurry phantoms. The difference in quality is huge. Even when the Human Race Hegemon want to evolve their Dharma Aspect Totem, the beast imprints they condense are probably similar to what you are now."

Chu Xiaoran really didn't know how to evaluate Yi Yun anymore. He was simply a monster, and being with him was too hurtful to her self-esteem.

There are two things I'm most proud of: the Dharma Aspect Totem and my understanding of the laws.

Now that Yi Yun has completely crushed the first point, can he maintain his position on the second point?

"Similar to the Human Race Hegemon...?"

Upon hearing this assessment, Yi Yun felt it wasn't too outrageous. If it were compared to that of a sage, who knows what kind of uproar it would cause.

"Brother Yi, how am I supposed to live like this..." Qiu Niu patted Yi Yun's shoulder, saying with a wry smile. Compared to Yi Yun, his talent in Dharma Aspect Totem was truly pathetic. "Brother, what kind of Totem Secret Method are you cultivating? At this rate, you'll probably master Dharma Aspect Totem in less than a month."

Qiu Niu asked with considerable envy.

"Uh... the Totem Secret Method I'm practicing?"

Yi Yun rubbed his temples, feeling a bit of a headache. This Qiu Niu was such a curious little devil. The secret technique he had learned was truly shocking if he were to tell others. No, he should say that if he told others, people would think he was crazy.

However, it seems this thing can't be kept secret any longer...

"What's wrong? Still keeping it a secret? Haha, by the time you've mastered the Dharma Aspect Totem and use it, everyone will have seen it for a long time!"

There's really nothing to keep secret about Totem Secret Method; it's different from Martial Skill moves.

"Um, the secret technique I chose is a bit difficult to learn..." Yi Yun said vaguely.

"Difficult to learn? Of course! Brother Yi, with your talent, how could you not choose something a little more difficult? This secret technique must be of high quality!"

Yi Yun hadn't expected that Qiu Niu, who seemed so cool, would become so talkative once they got to know him.

Seeing that everyone else was looking at him, seemingly quite curious about the secret technique he had chosen, Yi Yun could only cough and say, "I chose the <Myriad Beast Catalog>..."

<The Myriad Beast Catalog>!?

When the name of this secret technique was mentioned, the four people reacted in completely different ways. Chu Luo and Chu Shan were completely bewildered, having no idea what it was.

However, Qiu Niu and Chu Xiaoran were both dumbfounded.

They had all come into contact with some of the most valuable resources of Tai'a Divine City, and of course, they had seen the <Myriad Beast Catalog>...

"What did you say? You chose the <Myriad Beast Catalog>, which even sages couldn't master!?"

Qiu Niu excitedly grabbed Yi Yun's arm; this was too outrageous!

...(To be continued~^~)