Finally Arriving

After all the twists and turns, Xiao Bai had already been in the mountains for ten days. At this moment, he stood atop a cliff, with nothing beneath him.

"Xiao Bai, kid, you weren't tricked by that Tian Canzi, were you?" Yao Lao was no longer as calm as he had been at the start. He did not have much time, and he still had to get back early to guide Xiao Yan!

If Xiao Bai refused to give up after checking every place on the map and just kept wasting away in the Demon Beast Mountain Range, then he would be screwed.

"That shouldn't be the case!" Xiao Bai was starting to feel uncertain too. His luck couldn't really be this bad, could it?

He took out the map and looked it over. There were only three marked cliffs left that he had not visited.

Xiao Bai made up his mind. If he still could not find it after these three, then he would stop looking. In any case, the only thing inside that was useful to him was that Flying Dou Skill.

A Flying Dou Skill was only a temporary transition anyway. Once he reached Dou Wang, it would basically be useless. As for that Pure Lotus Demonic Fire Remnant Map, it was not of much use to him either.

"Senior, don't worry. There are only three left. If I still can't find it, then we'll head straight out to get the Heavenly Flame!" Xiao Bai promised Yao Lao.

"That's good. Right, what exactly is in there? Why are you so concerned about it, kid?"

Yao Lao was truly curious now. In his eyes, Xiao Bai treated many things as if they were optional. Take Heavenly Flames, for instance. Which ordinary person would not treasure one immensely, even if they were not an alchemist?

But Xiao Bai was different. Even though he had used a Heavenly Flame to exchange for some things from him, Yao Lao still felt that this kid did not really care much about Heavenly Flames.

Could there be something inside more precious than a Heavenly Flame?

"Just a Flying Dou Skill," Xiao Bai said calmly.

"A Flying Dou Skill? What do you need that thing for? Is it some precious Dou Skill?" Yao Lao asked in puzzlement.

Flying Dou Skills might be extremely tempting to other attributes, but they should not have much appeal to the Lightning attribute and Wind Attribute. Once people with those two attributes reached Dou Wang, they were among the best when it came to speed.

"It's just a Dou Skill that lets someone fly even at the Dou Zhe stage. It can't really be called precious. At most, it's rare!" Xiao Bai denied it.

"What? You came all this way and wasted time just for something like that?" Yao Lao was a little shocked.

"Do you have one, Senior?" Xiao Bai shot him a sidelong glance.

"No, but..." Yao Lao suddenly did not know what to say. He did not have such a thing not because it was precious, but because he had looked down on it back then. What was the point of keeping something like that? To take up space?

"Sigh! Forget it, forget it. If you want to look, then look!" Yao Lao suddenly remembered that, long ago, before he could fly, he had also greatly envied those who could.

That seemed like a very distant memory, so distant that he had already forgotten that youthful longing to fly.

Only then did he realize that although Xiao Bai usually acted maturely, he was still just a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old youth. When it came to flying, he was no different from other youths. He yearned for it deeply.

Xiao Bai looked at Yao Lao, not knowing what had suddenly gotten into the old man. He was looking at him with a kind expression, and Xiao Bai seemed to see a trace of affection in his eyes.

Xiao Bai watched Yao Lao warily. What was this wretched old man trying to do?

"What kind of look is that, kid?" Yao Lao was a little dissatisfied.

"Old man, what kind of look was that from you?" Xiao Bai shot back irritably.

"You don't even call me senior anymore now, is that it?" Yao Lao stroked his beard and said fiercely.

"When you were scamming me, old man, why didn't you remember you were a senior?" Xiao Bai rolled his eyes. Just thinking of what had happened last time made him grit his teeth a little.

The two of them bickered all the way as they set off toward the next cliff.

"This is the last one!" Xiao Bai murmured as he looked at the final cliff in the distance.

If it still was not here, then this opportunity simply had no fate with him.

"Xiao Bai, kid, if you find it at this last one, would you say your luck is good or bad?" Yao Lao teased with a chuckle from inside the ring.

"I've decided. If I don't find it here, I'll keep staying in the Demon Beast Mountain Range until I do!"

Seeing the old man tease him, Xiao Bai said viciously.

Come on! Let's hurt each other!

He was already holding back a stomach full of anger! If he really found it in the very last place, he felt like he would be depressed to death. After all, he was the one who had planned the route on the map.

"Doesn't matter! The one being delayed is Xiao Yan anyway. Although I'm his teacher, he did call you Bai Ge. Can you really bear to watch him cultivate those low-grade Qi Methods of the Xiao Clan?"

Yao Lao floated out, wearing the air of an expert, and spoke leisurely.

"Heh." Xiao Bai sneered. Did he think Xiao Bai did not know about the "Flame Mantra"? What was the old man pretending to be so calm in front of him for?

The old man desperately needed someone to successfully cultivate it so they could help him refine a body for his resurrection! How could he possibly keep staying here forever?

Never mind how calm and leisurely he looked right now, saying that it did not matter. If they really holed up in the Demon Beast Mountain Range, the first one to lose his cool would be him.

However, Xiao Bai did not say it aloud. If he exposed it, the old man might very well panic. This could be considered his greatest secret.

"Let's go! It's the last one. Once we're done looking, we'll leave!" As soon as he finished speaking, lightning flashed beneath Xiao Bai's feet. Each step covered several meters as he walked toward the cliff.

Yao Lao watched his back from behind, revealing a faint smile, then floated after him.

"Heh, so it really is here!"

After Xiao Bai climbed up onto the last cliff, he did not even need to use Soul Strength to sweep the area before he discovered the cave on the cliff face.

The cliff wall was steep, with some old trees and shrubs growing on it. There, on a section of mountain wall concealed by horizontal timber, was a small platform that could only allow two people to stand.

Through the gaps between the trees, one could see a pitch-black opening behind the platform.

Xiao Bai looked at that cave, his gaze complicated. He started to doubt the decision he had made. Could his luck really be this bad? The only correct answer had been arranged at the very last place!

"Hm? There really is one. But Xiao Bai, kid, it seems someone got here ahead of you."

Yao Lao drifted over to Xiao Bai's side and spoke.

Xiao Bai frowned when he heard that. He did not even need to sweep the cave with his Soul Strength to know there was someone inside right now, though that person's cultivation did not seem very strong.

Because one end of a rope was tied to a crooked tree on the cliff, while the other end hung down the cliff and landed on a small platform in front of the cave.

Is it her? Xiao Bai thought silently.

But he felt a little puzzled. How had she come here so far ahead of time? Thinking of this, Xiao Bai was just about to use his Soul Strength to check the situation inside the cave.

Suddenly, a figure darted out of the cave, face full of panic, constantly looking back at something. After confirming something, the figure carefully picked up the rope on the platform at the cave entrance, then hurriedly grabbed it and started climbing upward.

Xiao Bai looked at that figure, his eyes teasing, the corner of his mouth curving into a smile.

He did not seem anxious at all. He shook out his robe, sat down cross-legged beside the rope at the edge of the cliff, and leisurely waited for the person below to climb up.

Seeing Xiao Bai's expression, Yao Lao found it a little strange. He did not look like he wanted to rob the person below, but rather as if he were waiting to meet an old friend. Could this kid know the person down there?