The Strange Pair

Tell me—how could a burly, seven-chi-tall man with a savage face call a fifteen-year-old boy his big brother?

No one could possibly stomach that, let alone being called "big brother"...

But Qin Yu was no ordinary person. He quickly calmed down, sized up Xiong Tatian, and asked doubtfully, "Xiong Tatian, how old are you?"

"Let me count. I stayed at home for a hundred and ten years, and I've been away from my Lineage for two years. Big brother, I'm not even eleven and a half yet." Xiong Tatian counted carefully on his fingers.

Just as Qin Yu stood dumbfounded, a cool, detached voice rang out.

"His way of calculating age differs from ours. For them, ten years count as one year!"

Qin Yu looked up and saw a white-robed youth of about fourteen or fifteen standing beneath a large tree ahead. The youth was thin and handsome, his long hair draped over his shoulders, giving him the air of a refined gentleman. Yet there was something eerie about his eyes—their pupils seemed layered atop one another, one shade dark and the other light. As a result, his pupils were pitch-black and far larger than those of ordinary people.

"Big brother, you still haven't told me your name!" Xiong Tatian said in a rough voice. During his two years away, he had proclaimed everywhere that he was from the Mad Bear Clan, yet almost no one who heard him had known of it, which greatly irritated him. Now that Qin Yu had recognized his identity, he was particularly delighted. Just as the ancient records had described, underage members of the Mad Bear Clan had not yet fully awakened their intelligence, and their thoughts were as simple as a child's.

"My name is Qin Yu. Oh, just call me Brother Qin." Qin Yu glanced at Xiong Tatian, then looked toward Li Tianji. The pairing of these two simply looked too strange. Catching sight of Li Tianji's pupils, Qin Yu could not help looking a few more times.

"Alright, Brother Qin." Xiong Tatian said happily. After speaking, he did not forget to glance at Li Tianji, as though saying, See? Someone besides you recognizes me. Then, as if recalling something, Xiong Tatian said, "Li Tianji, hurry and tell me whether the person we're waiting for is Brother Qin."

Li Tianji carefully examined Qin Yu from head to toe, then shook his head.

A trace of disappointment and impatience appeared on Xiong Tatian's fierce, fleshy face. "Whether he is or not, Brother Qin is coming with us. Come on, we're done waiting. Let's go in."

At that moment, the ground suddenly trembled. Xiong Tatian abruptly turned toward the forest, baleful intent bursting from his eyes as he roared, "Little Black, you're trying to sneak off again? I'll beat you to death!" With that, he charged straight into the forest they had come from.

Watching Xiong Tatian race away, Qin Yu sighed inwardly. Xiong Tatian looked like a savage fiend, with a towering, burly frame, yet his heart seemed to be that of a child. It appeared the ancient records had spoken true!

Li Tianji merely glanced at Qin Yu, his handsome face cold and aloof. Without saying a word, he turned and entered the forest.

What an arrogant fellow. Qin Yu watched Li Tianji's retreating back and thought to himself. After pondering briefly, he followed as well.

The moment he entered the forest, Qin Yu froze, stunned by the sight dozens of zhang ahead.

There stood an enormous fierce beast more than ten zhang tall—no, it should have been called a Ferocious Beast. Like a moving mountain, it sprawled before them. Its colossal body was covered in palm-sized black scales, and a thick, powerful tail trailed behind it. Xiong Tatian was wildly hammering at the Ferocious Beast's thigh, roaring as he struck, "Run, will you! Run again! If you dare run next time, I'll break your legs!"

"Roar..." The Ferocious Beast let out a pained howl.

At the sight, Qin Yu could only smile bitterly. He vaguely guessed why there had been no Fierce Beasts in the outskirts. It was likely all because of this Ferocious Beast. Xiong Tatian must have abused it plenty on the way here, until its miserable cries had terrified the low-level Fierce Beasts in the outskirts into fleeing toward the central region of the Land of Beast Burial.

Studying the Ferocious Beast closely, Qin Yu searched his memories, and passages of text surfaced in his mind.

Abyssal Golden Lizard: Dwells deep beneath abysses. Enormous in size, with thick, short limbs, swift speed, extremely high defense, and a tail bearing the force of ten thousand jun. Before adulthood, an Abyssal Golden Lizard's scales are dark black. Once mature, its scales turn golden, and its strength can reach the peak of the Spirit Realm.

"An underage Abyssal Golden Lizard? Where did Xiong Tatian catch this one from?" Qin Yu was greatly astonished. Though it was an underage Abyssal Golden Lizard, its strength could not be underestimated. It should currently be a second-rank Ferocious Beast, comparable to a Gangqi Realm cultivator. Yet among Gangqi Realm cultivators, there were likely very few who could defeat this Abyssal Golden Lizard.

"Lie there properly. Once my strength surpasses yours, you can get lost." Xiong Tatian smashed a fist into the Abyssal Golden Lizard's thick leg as he warned it. Then he looked at Qin Yu and shouted, "Brother Qin, what are you still standing there for? Come over!"

Qin Yu's face twitched. So Xiong Tatian was using the Abyssal Golden Lizard to temper his strength. After thinking for a moment, Qin Yu's eyes lit up slightly. If he could obtain some of the Abyssal Golden Lizard's blood, perhaps it could strengthen his vitality and blood. As he walked forward, he asked, "Xiong Tatian, what are you waiting for?"

"I don't know either. Li Tianji, hurry and tell Brother Qin what exactly we're waiting for. My goal is the Ancestor Ape Blood inside. I don't have time to waste here." Xiong Tatian looked at Li Tianji and said impatiently.

Li Tianji sat cross-legged on the ground with his eyes closed, offering no answer. This made Xiong Tatian's eyes blaze with fury. He strode toward Li Tianji and raised his fist as if to strike him. Seeing this, Qin Yu hurriedly stopped him. "Xiong Tatian, let's wait here a little longer."

"Brother Qin, you don't know it—this Li Tianji is a sealed gourd. I've been sick of him for ages. Hmph, if he hadn't saved my life, I wouldn't have wanted to wander around with him for two years. He's a liar. He told me there was Ancestor Ape Blood here... Only when we arrived did I learn he had come to wait for someone!" Xiong Tatian chattered on, as though he had long been holding in a mouthful of anger. Enraged, he turned and punched the Abyssal Golden Lizard.

"Roar..." The golden lizard let out another pained howl.

Seeing this, Qin Yu was completely petrified.

"Brother Li, may I ask whom you are waiting for? We could go find him ourselves," Qin Yu said, glancing at Xiong Tatian, who was nearly losing control, before looking toward Li Tianji.

Li Tianji still had his eyes shut and remained silent.

Seeing this, Xiong Tatian could no longer hold himself back. He roared, "Brother Qin, don't let him fool you. He says he can peer into the secrets of heaven. Last time, he said he sensed a treasure being born somewhere, so we ran there. Do you know what we saw? A group of women bathing... It was the back mountain of a sect. We nearly died there. Luckily, I grabbed him and ran for our lives, only then did we escape that disaster. But they kept chasing us, hunting us all the way!"

Qin Yu was stunned. He glanced at the seated Li Tianji, only to find the muscles on that handsome face had gone stiff, while his face had turned bright red.

"And another time, he said he had calculated that a treasure was being born somewhere else. When we rushed there, not only did we not see any treasure, we saw a pack of third-rank wolves instead. If not for Little Black, those wolves would have bitten us to death too. Look... now he says a fated friend is destined to come here. We've already waited half a month!" Xiong Tatian said angrily, giving Little Black another punch as he spoke.

Li Tianji's handsome face was flushed red. With his eyes tightly closed, he said, "Fine. We'll wait three more days. He will definitely come within three days. If he doesn't, we'll leave. Alright?"

"Fine, three days. If he still doesn't come after three days, don't ever tell me again that you can peer into the secrets of heaven. Otherwise, every time I hear it, I'll beat you once," Xiong Tatian said, his voice booming like a bell.

The muscles on Li Tianji's face twitched. Qin Yu studied him curiously. Could this man truly peer into the secrets of heaven? Qin Yu would not believe it even if beaten to death. Li Tianji was only at the Early Astral Qi Stage—at such a level, he wanted to peer into the secrets of heaven?

"Oh, right, Brother Qin. Why don't you go in first? Wait for us three days, then we'll catch up and enter together. How about it?" Xiong Tatian asked Qin Yu.

Qin Yu pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "It's fine. I happen to want to sit and rest as well." As he spoke, Qin Yu glanced at the enormous Little Black, wondering how to ask for some blood.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

The three of them waited there for a full three days, yet the surroundings remained silent. Not to mention people—even a fierce beast was nowhere to be seen.

Li Tianji opened his eyes suspiciously, his ears pricked as he swept his gaze around curiously and listened carefully.

"Where is he? Where is he? Where is he? I've had enough of you, Li Tianji!" As soon as the time was up, Xiong Tatian wildly punched Little Black, his eyes wide as he roared furiously.

Hearing Xiong Tatian's words, Li Tianji's face flushed crimson. He looked as though he wished he could dig a hole and crawl into it. His eyes darted about before he finally looked at Qin Yu. "Are you sure you used your real name?"

Qin Yu was taken aback, then said calmly, "Of course. I am Qin Yu, the third son of the Qin Family in Tianwu Main City of the Wu Kingdom. If you don't believe me, go ask around."

Xiong Tatian glared furiously at Li Tianji from the side, while Li Tianji's face reddened even further. "M-maybe... maybe that person was delayed by something..."

"You mean we should keep waiting here? Li Tianji, wait as long as you like. Brother Qin, let's go!" Xiong Tatian roared angrily. With his violent temper, waiting three days had already been his limit. After speaking, he slapped Little Black and strode toward the depths of the Land of Beast Burial.

Qin Yu tried his best not to laugh. With his facial muscles twitching, he said, "Brother Li, keep waiting if you wish. Perhaps he may still come. We'll head in first. Whether you find him or not, you can catch up to us later." With that, Qin Yu quickly caught up to Xiong Tatian, leaving behind Li Tianji, who still refused to give up.

"That's not right... That person should have come by now... Could Master have calculated wrongly too?" Li Tianji looked around suspiciously and muttered to himself.