Thieving Beggars' Chicken

"Come again! Last time, Senior Sister was careless and you, Little Yun'er, took advantage. It won't happen this time, watch this!" Tian Ling'er shouted, and the Amber Zhu Ling attacked again. Ye Yun could only parry once more. Having learned from her previous mistake, Tian Ling'er grew smarter and directly stood on the Amber Zhu Ling to fly, first using it to defend herself before attacking.

Seeing Tian Ling'er's stance, Ye Yun immediately understood that it would be impossible to rely on trickery like before. This time, there was no other way but to confront her head-on. He drew his sword, and the three-foot-long Qingfeng sword floating beside him whistled as it met the fiery Amber Zhu Ling.

The long sword moved fast, but returned even faster. The ordinary long sword was no match for the Amber Zhu Ling, which carried immense force. It was directly knocked back, but although the sword was repelled, the Amber Zhu Ling also stopped.

The Amber Zhu Ling was blocked, but Tian Ling'er wasn't angry. Instead, her face broke into a smile. "Little Yun'er, not bad! You actually managed to block my Amber Zhu Ling with an ordinary iron sword. But let's see how you block this! Long River Setting Sun!"

As she spoke, Tian Ling'er made a hand seal, and the Amber Zhu Ling glowed intensely red, rolling forward like a surging great river. Ye Yun was greatly alarmed. He made a sword gesture, and the plain long sword standing before him suddenly shone brightly, like a steel dam blocking the river. However, Ye Yun remained uneasy, knowing that the sword was merely made of ordinary steel and couldn't possibly stop the Amber Zhu Ling at this moment.

His mind raced. Ye Yun gently pushed off and floated backward like a willow catkin. At the same time, his hand lit up with streaks of yellow light. As these lights appeared, two-meter-high, three-meter-wide earth walls emitting yellow light suddenly rose from the ground before him.

As the third earth wall stood before Ye Yun, a deafening roar erupted. Even with the earth wall blocking, Ye Yun saw the light flash in front of him. He had also lost contact with his iron sword, meaning it had likely been destroyed.

After conjuring the Amber Zhu Ling, Tian Ling'er saw Ye Yun block with the iron sword, then quickly float backward and erect earth walls in front of himself. A slight smile touched her lips, and she murmured, "Trying to run? Dream on." She then increased her magic power output. The Amber Zhu Ling did not disappoint her expectations; it directly shattered the iron sword blocking its path and continued its momentum, smashing into the earth walls behind it and destroying them like crushing dry weeds.

Ye Yun had initially thought three earth walls would be enough, but he had built another one just to be safe. His caution proved correct. The Amber Zhu Ling was stopped by the fourth earth wall after shattering the first three. However, although this wall stopped the Amber Zhu Ling, it was already covered in cracks. Just as Ye Yun was preparing to counter-attack while the Amber Zhu Ling's force waned and Tian Ling'er was gathering new strength, a flash of red caught his peripheral vision.

"Not good!" Sensing danger, Ye Yun pushed off with his feet to escape, but it was too late. The red Amber Zhu Ling had already wrapped around his feet, firmly pinning him in place. More Zhu Ling were coiling around his body, and in an instant, he was wrapped up like a red rice dumpling.

After Ye Yun was bound like a dumpling, Tian Ling'er, with her hands behind her back, skipped over and laughed, "Haha, Little Yun'er, you fell for it! Now let's see how you run. Aren't you all wrapped up like a rice dumpling by your Senior Sister?"

"Fell for it?" Suddenly, Ye Yun thought of a possibility. "Senior Sister, your move, Long River Setting Sun, was just a feint. The real killing move was another Zhu Ling hidden behind it, wasn't it?"

Although Ye Yun's words were a question, they were filled with certainty.

Tian Ling'er nodded and said, "That's right. But if you couldn't block the Long River Setting Sun, then that move would have been the real killing blow."

"Senior Sister is truly amazing! But Senior Sister, I have one more question. Can you let me go first?" Ye Yun's face was full of flattery.

"Letting you go is a small matter, but before that, I want you to promise me one condition." Tian Ling'er's eyes were full of cunning.

"What condition?" Ye Yun's eyes were full of wariness. He had been tricked like this before, rashly agreeing to her request without hearing the terms. Afterward, he had spent a month digging bamboo shoots and pickling a large vat of sour bamboo shoots for her to snack on. Ever since then, he would never rashly agree to Tian Ling'er's demands again.

Tian Ling'er smirked evilly, lowered her head, and whispered into Ye Yun's ear, her breath like orchid fragrance, "Junior Brother, have you ever heard the saying, 'When under someone else's roof, you have no choice but to bow your head'? You are now a fish on my chopping board. You only have one choice: agree. Otherwise, I'll call the Senior Brothers over. I'm sure they'd be very happy to."

"Senior Sister, what are you saying? As long as Senior Sister commands, I, Ye Yun, will go through fire and water without hesitation." Ye Yun immediately caved. After all, as Tian Ling'er said, one had no choice but to bow their head when under someone else's roof.

Tian Ling'er knew they were very, very close and had a great relationship, but she couldn't bully Ye Yun endlessly. So, after giving him a blow, she gave him a sweet treat. With a smack, she kissed him on the cheek before releasing the Amber Zhu Ling that bound him.

"Alright, that's enough cultivation for today. You don't even have a proper magic treasure. To avoid you saying I'm bullying you, I'll bring you a magic treasure tomorrow that's no weaker than the Amber Zhu Ling. I'm sure you'll be satisfied. We'll have a good battle then." After speaking, Tian Ling'er, without waiting for Ye Yun's reply, pulled him onto the Amber Zhu Ling and flew towards the dining hall.

After lunch and a short rest, Ye Yun headed towards the Tai Chi Cave. He had now obtained a cultivation technique that could lead him directly to the third level of Upper Purity, so he could cultivate with peace of mind without worrying about running out of techniques due to cultivating too quickly.

Cultivation knows no time. An afternoon passed in the blink of an eye. Because he had missed the time yesterday, Ye Yun had come out a little earlier today. He casually spotted a wild pheasant in the woods, and his eyes lit up. A famous delicacy from the real world began to swirl in his mind.

Half an hour later, five plump pheasants, already prepared, were wrapped in lotus leaves by Ye Yun. Before him lay a pile of clear mountain spring water and mixed mud.

That's right, the delicacy Ye Yun was about to make was the famous Beggars' Chicken. Now, all he had to do was cover the marinated and lotus-wrapped pheasants with mud and then build a fire to roast them.

There was no shortage of firewood on the mountain. The shade of large trees that people hadn't pruned had plenty of dead branches. As long as one was willing to put in the effort, it was easy to gather a large pile. Although it was a bit less for cooking back home, it was more than enough for roasting a few Beggars' Chickens.

The first batch of firewood was a bit scarce, so when the firewood was almost burned out, Ye Yun had to go further away. He needed to gather more firewood to roast these Beggars' Chickens until they were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

Ten minutes later, Ye Yun returned with a bundle of dry firewood almost as tall as himself. However, when he carried the firewood back to the campfire, he froze. The campfire that should have been burning fiercely had been dug open, and the Beggars' Chickens inside were gone. Reluctantly, Ye Yun poked around with a wooden stick and finally confirmed that none of his Beggars' Chickens were left.

"Who stole my chickens?" Ye Yun's enraged voice boomed through the forest, startling flocks of birds.