Let's Talk Reason

Seeing this, Li Fan was puzzled, while Ziling and Nan Feng were just as surprised.

"Big sister, what's going on...? Why did Ao Ming and the others run away...?"

Ziling was utterly bewildered.

Nan Feng thought it over, then glanced at Li Fan. "If I'm not mistaken, Venerable Xiao Tian came with them. They may be blind, but Venerable Xiao Tian has a keen eye... With Senior Li here, how could he not be afraid?"

Ziling instantly understood.

So that was it.

"That means we don't have to be afraid of them at all. With our teacher here, even a Supreme would be helpless!"

Ziling's eyes lit up, and she clenched her little fists!

Nan Feng smiled, too. Ziling was absolutely right. She remembered how even Hong Xuan and Luoming, the two renowned Supremes of the Southern Domain, had respectfully addressed their teacher as Senior!

"Since they've left, I'll reason with them when they come back."

Li Fan smiled at Nan Feng and Ziling.

The two felt even more at ease. The Supremes probably weren't even qualified to endure Senior Li's "reasoning."

"Come on, let's head back. We'd better stay inside for a while."

Li Fan turned and left.

It was too dangerous.

But Bai Xiaoqing gazed at the spirit beasts outside the village, her big eyes filled with longing.

All that spirit beast meat... If her people could get their hands on it, so many of them would grow much stronger...

What a pity.

She meowed twice.

"Stop meowing. I'll cut you some meat when we get back." Li Fan patted her head.

Bai Xiaoqing's eyes immediately lit up. Meow, she could eat Golden Beast?!

This cat was about to die of happiness!

Ao Ming and the others sped away in their flying ship.

"Uncle-Master, what happened? Why are we running away?"

Ao Ming was deeply reluctant. They had finally found Nan Feng and Ziling.

With just a snap of Xiao Tian's fingers, the two would have died, and the threat would have been gone.

And now they were fleeing in disgrace.

"Shut up!"

Venerable Xiao Tian snapped at him. "That place is a forbidden ground!"

"Were you trying to get me killed by starting a fight there?"

He was still shaken.

That blade—the "kitchen knife" that could slice through the Three Yuan Turtle's shell—its terrifying power still haunted him!

Ao Ming and Zhu Xin were both stunned. A forbidden ground?!

Could that Small Mountain Village really be so terrifying?

Before long, they had returned to where they had come from.

In the sky, the two Supremes, Tie Ming and Shi Tai, were still watching the Cangli Mountain Range.

"Ao Ming and the others are back."

The old man with a paintbrush tucked into his belt smiled. "Looks like the threat has been dealt with. Only our disciples can obtain the items left behind by the Ancestor!"

Tie Ming nodded. "Good. I hope they handled it cleanly and don't let the sect find out."

Before long, Ao Ming's flying ship drew near.

"Senior Brother, something terrible has happened!"

As soon as he approached, Venerable Xiao Tian turned into a streak of light and appeared before the two Supremes.

Seeing Xiao Tian, both men frowned at once.

"What happened? Did something go wrong while you were on your way to kill Nan Feng and Ziling?"

Tie Ming asked.

Xiao Tian nodded, his expression grave. "Nan Feng and Ziling have entered a forbidden ground!"

"That place is terrifying. I didn't dare go near it!"

He then described what he had seen in the Small Mountain Village.

The two Supremes' expressions changed at once!

"The Cangli Mountain Range has completely collapsed, yet there's still a pure land untouched by the disaster?"

"So many spirit beasts, nearly at the Venerable level, all died outside that Small Mountain Village?"

"What kind of kitchen knife can cut through the shell of the Three Yuan Turtle, famed for its limitless defenses?"

They fired off one question after another.

The two could hardly believe Xiao Tian wasn't talking nonsense. How could any of this be possible?

Each revelation was more astonishing than the last.

"It's absolutely true! That kitchen knife contains Great Dao energy. Even observing it from afar gave me a deadly sense of danger. If I'd gone closer, I feared I would have been crushed to pieces!"

Xiao Tian spoke, still shaken.

Tie Ming glanced at the old man with the paintbrush tucked into his belt. "Brother Shi Tai, it looks like we'll have to go there ourselves."

Shi Tai nodded. "For such a strange pure land to appear in a place like this, it might be connected to the entire Cangli Mountain Range. We can't ignore it."

"Let's go take a look!"

The two Supremes then headed toward the Small Mountain Village Xiao Tian had described.

Ao Ming and Zhu Xin were delighted when they heard the two Supremes were going in person.

"Excellent! This time, no matter where Ziling and Nan Feng are hiding, they're doomed!"

They followed the two Supremes to the Small Mountain Village.

Before long, they had returned to the village outskirts.

This time, they didn't dare show themselves rashly.

Instead, they hid in the sky.

"There really is a pure land here. How strange!"

Shi Tai remarked in surprise.

"The Cangli Mountain Range has collapsed, yet this place remains unharmed. It truly is unusual!"

Tie Ming nodded. "Come on, let's sneak into the village and have a look!"

The group disembarked from the flying ship and entered the Small Mountain Village through an unoccupied entrance.

"I can't sense anything unusual at all. It looks so ordinary..."

Tie Ming looked around.

Just then, a middle-aged man carrying a chunk of meat came toward them.

"Is that... Mammoth Beast meat?!"

Shi Tai was stunned.

Their eyes widened.

Xiao Tian had told the truth. The villagers here really did treat Venerable-level spirit beasts as prey?

How terrifying!

"May I ask, brother, have you seen two young women in the village?"

Shi Tai's eyes shifted, and he stepped forward. "One of them likes playing the zither, and the other likes painting."

The middle-aged man carrying the meat smiled. "Oh, you mean the two disciples Xiao Li took in? I've seen them. They're at Xiao Li's place!"

Shi Tai and Tie Ming were both taken aback.

Disciples?

Ziling and Nan Feng had taken another master?

What was going on?

"That's right, we're looking for them. May I ask where they are now?"

Shi Tai pressed on.

The middle-aged man then told them where Li Fan's courtyard was.

After the man had gone some distance, their expressions turned cold.

"Those two traitors!"

A cold glint appeared in their eyes.

"Heh, this is even better. They dared to take another master without permission—do they even care about the sect? Now we can kill them in the open, and the Sect Master won't say a word!"

Shi Tai sneered and waved a hand. "Come on. I want to see what sort of person would dare shelter those two traitors, Nan Feng and Ziling, and set himself against the Three Absolutes Holy Land!"

They set off along the path the middle-aged man had told them about.

Meanwhile.

Li Fan and the others had already returned to the Small Courtyard.

First, he stir-fried some Golden Beast meat with green peppers from the vegetable patch, making a small dish to share for lunch.

Needless to say, Nan Feng and Ziling were glowing with spiritual energy after eating a dish cooked with a sacred herb and Venerable-level meat. Their cultivation had improved!

Bai Xiaoqing had turned into a glutton, eating until her belly was round.

Li Fan couldn't help picking up Little White and rubbing her belly. "You're such a glutton!"

Meow... As Li Fan rubbed her belly, Bai Xiaoqing's big eyes took on a bashful look.

Meow, how can you touch a girl's chest...

But he's so gentle...

I don't want to move...

"Nan Feng, Ziling, you two traitors! Come out and face your deaths!"

At that moment, a loud shout suddenly came from outside the Small Courtyard!