Mountain Survival

At this moment, a new friend arrived at Long Jiuyyao's courtyard—Qing Yu, Lan Xinhuang's Lifebound Spirit Insect.

Since the Mountain Survival event prohibited bringing anything, not even one's own spirit treasures, let alone a Lifebound Spirit Insect, Qing Yu was left behind in Long Jiuyyao's courtyard as well.

When Long Jiuyyao first saw Qing Yu, he was slightly startled. Aside from bearing a striking resemblance to Zi Lin, its strength was also a notch above, at the Qi Creation Realm.

"Hiss!"

But when Long Jiuyyao reached out to touch it, the usually docile Qing Yu acted out of character, showing him great hostility.

This left Long Jiuyyao utterly puzzled. He thought, isn't this our first meeting? Why such enmity toward me?

What Long Jiuyyao didn't know was that this was entirely Lan Xinhuang's doing. The reason Qing Yu held no goodwill toward him was that, before ever meeting him, Lan Xinhuang had privately badmouthed Long Jiuyyao to Qing Yu at length.

Just as Long Jiuyyao was pondering this, a man in linen robes appeared out of thin air.

"Blue Girl, what do you think of this brat?" Yuan Gan, who had appeared from nowhere, said with a light laugh.

"Uncle Yuan, what nonsense are you talking about!" Lan Xinhuang's jade-like cheeks flushed crimson as she retorted in mock anger.

"Haha! Blue Girl, just stay here at Jiuyyao's place. In three days, go compete with him." Yuan Gan stroked Lan Xinhuang's hair as he spoke.

Hearing this, Yuan Xin was displeased.

"Father, what about me? Every time Sister Lan comes, you only care about her." Yuan Xin said indignantly.

At that, Yuan Gan immediately scooped up Yuan Xin. "How could that be? Of course I care about you most. Slip of the tongue—all three of you go together, together."

"Blue Girl, settle in here comfortably. Stay as long as you like, don't go back. Let that old Bai Shan live there alone." Yuan Gan said in a deep voice.

Lan Xinhuang was somewhat tempted. After all, aside from her father, hardly anyone ever visited that place. Usually, it was just Qing Yu and Blackback keeping her company.

Blackback from before, now Zi Lin, had been taken away by Long Jiuyyao, leaving only Qing Yu with her. It was fine for a short time, but as time wore on, loneliness was inevitable.

"Great! Sister Lan, don't leave. Stay and play with me." Yuan Xin, seeing Lan Xinhuang wavering, chimed in to persuade her.

"Uh... This is my courtyard, isn't it? Don't you all want to ask for my opinion?" Long Jiuyyao scratched his head and interjected.

Yuan Gan was instantly exasperated. He had barely managed to convince Blue Girl to stay here, and this brat dared to complain.

"This Dragon Clan is mine to command. Do you dare to have an objection?" Yuan Gan smacked Long Jiuyyao on the head.

"Blue Girl, stay at ease. I'll talk to your father. If this brat dares to bully you, just tell Uncle Yuan, and I'll teach him a lesson." Yuan Gan said kindly.

Seeing Lan Xinhuang nod, Yuan Gan pulled Long Jiuyyao aside and whispered, "Brat, I think Blue Girl is excellent. You must seize this opportunity."

"Uh... That's not good. I'm still young, I..." Long Jiuyyao stammered.

"Slap!" Before Long Jiuyyao could finish, Yuan Gan smacked him on the head again. "Brat, what does being young matter? Blue Girl isn't much older either. Don't be ungrateful. I'm telling you, if you can't win Blue Girl over, don't blame me for being harsh."

Lan Xinhuang, still chatting with Yuan Xin, glanced over. Yuan Gan smiled and nodded reassuringly.

"Brat, I've set my sights on Blue Girl. In terms of looks and strength, where else can you find someone better? Don't miss this chance." Yuan Gan kept persuading.

"I actually do know. At least two who aren't worse than Lan Xinhuang." Long Jiuyyao muttered under his breath.

"Oh? You know, and two at that? Where did you see them? Where have you even been, who have you met? Do you think I don't know?" Yuan Gan cut him off.

Long Jiuyyao thought to himself, "Of course you don't know. I haven't even met them yet! But going by the timeline, they're only a few years old now."

Long Jiuyyao naturally couldn't say it, because even if he did, no one would believe him. Those two were in the Eastern Xuan Domain, at least billions of li away from the Demon Domain, and he himself had never even left the Dragon Domain.

Yuan Gan didn't linger long. He only quietly instructed Long Jiuyyao to be sure to seize this opportunity.

Long Jiuyyao's courtyard was spacious enough to house these people, spirit insects, and demon beasts with ease.

Night fell quickly, and Lan Xinhuang, staying away from home for the first time, felt a bit uneasy, especially in the home of Long Jiuyyao, who had left her with a poor first impression.

Lan Xinhuang didn't send Yuan Xin away. Instead, she planned to have Yuan Xin stay with her in Long Jiuyyao's courtyard.

Thus, what was originally Long Jiuyyao's master bedroom became the two girls' room, leaving Long Jiuyyao to sleep in the side room.

Every night at Zi Shi, Long Jiuyyao would go to the mountaintop to cultivate his Spiritual Power under the moonlight.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Today was the start of the Mountain Survival event.

The three of them set out early, fully prepared, heading to the Dragon Clan Plaza. Lan Xinhuang was seeing such a shocking scene for the first time, utterly beyond words.

Long Jiuyyao remained perfectly calm, after all, he had participated in a Clan Competition before and had some composure. Lan Xinhuang beside him, however, was far less steady.

"Country bumpkin." Long Jiuyyao seized the chance to mock Lan Xinhuang sharply.

"You bastard." Lan Xinhuang naturally wouldn't back down. She pinched the soft flesh at Long Jiuyyao's waist, making him wince in pain.

Yuan Xin, watching from the side, was used to it. Over these past few days, she had grown immune to their bickering, which to her seemed just like flirting.

Because over those three days, Long Jiuyyao had shown off countless novel gadgets, each time piquing Lan Xinhuang's curiosity, and he would mock her as a country bumpkin with no experience.

On the high platform, Yuan Gan watched the two of them fooling around below, his mood greatly improved. At least this brat hadn't forgotten the task he'd given him.

Time slowly passed, and people gradually gathered. The Dragon Clan Chief, Yuan Gan, on the high platform, let out a surge of aura, and the noisy crowd below fell into dead silence.

Even Long Jiuyyao and Lan Xinhuang, who had been messing around, stopped. Everyone's eyes were fixed on Yuan Gan atop the platform.

"Mountain Survival is our clan's grand event held once every five years. The eleven competing teams will spend one month surviving in the Rock Mist Mountain Range."

"Inside, there are three hundred demon beasts of varying strength. The team that kills the most demon beasts will be the champion. The three champions will each receive a Spirit Martial Art of their choice. Fight for the championship." Yuan Gan declared solemnly.

"Contestants, board the vessel." The Dragon Clan Great Elder, Tian Sha, bellowed.

A luxurious Dragon Clan warship, a thousand zhang in size, appeared in the Dragon Clan Plaza. Countless beams of light shone down, and Long Jiuyao's group was directly teleported onto the warship.

Lan Xinhuang was riding a Dragon Clan warship for the first time, and couldn't help but feel curious. She looked around, then peered down at the Dragon Clan Plaza, seeing only a dense mass of tiny black dots.

Just as Long Jiuyao was about to mock her, a youth in a green shirt came to his side.

"Jiuyao Clan Brother, a year without seeing you, and your strength is still impressive," the green-shirt youth said softly.

"Liu Qing Clan Brother, your strength is truly outstanding as well, no less impressive," Long Jiuyao replied with a smile.

The two exchanged a round of mutual flattery.

"Xin'er, Miss Lan, long time no see," Liu Qing said, turning his gaze to the two women nearby.

"Brother Liu, you came to participate too?" Yuan Xin asked.

Liu Qing nodded. He had just emerged from seclusion and wanted to use the demonic beasts in the Rock Mist Mountain Range to sharpen his skills.

"I wonder if Jiuyao Clan Brother has forgotten the agreement between us," Liu Qing inquired.

"Of course not. I too am looking forward to a battle with you, Clan Brother," Long Jiuyao answered with a smile.

"Good. I'll wait for you to step into the Creation Three Realms, hahaha." Liu Qing laughed heartily and left.

Lan Xinhuang was puzzled, and Yuan Xin began to tell her the story between the two men.

But as Yuan Xin spoke, the Dragon Clan warship had already reached its destination—the skies above the Rock Mist Mountain Range.

The contestants were not all dropped in one spot, but scattered separately.

The Rock Mist Mountain Range spanned five thousand li—not large, but certainly not small. Every sunrise brought a yellow haze the color of rock, and the ancient trees in the mountains were dense, making it extremely difficult to discern direction.

Only at noon did the yellow haze disappear for two shichen, or four hours. That was the best time to search for food and water.

On the Dragon Clan warship, the crowd thinned out. Finally, it was Long Jiuyao's group's turn. The warship descended to a certain height, and Long Jiuyao and his companions leaped down.

Once their feet touched the ground and the warship flew away, they all understood—this mountain survival had officially begun!

Long Jiuyao's group now stood in a mountain forest, surrounded by yellow haze, visibility less than five meters.

Long Jiuyao's first step was clear: find a suitable place to live and start building a shelter!

This step was crucial. If they couldn't manage it, they might as well say goodbye to mountain survival.

Then, Long Jiuyao led Yuan Xin and Lan Xinhuang through the mountain forest. Of course, they also had to watch out for nearby demonic beasts. With the haze obscuring everything, every attack from a beast was unpredictable and treacherous, because you never knew from which direction they would strike.

Fortunately, they could use Yuan Power, which at least gave them a fighting chance. But they wouldn't actively provoke the demonic beasts—at least, not yet.