Seeing the confusion written all over Liu Yanran's face, Meng Tangtang was just as bewildered.
Wasn't it her master?
The thought had barely surfaced before she shook her head and dismissed it.
Impossible. Others might not know, but she knew full well that Beast Taming Mountain was full of danger.
Even the Innate Realm expert stationed there had fallen.
With only the Supreme Elders and the others, there was no way they could have made it here safely.
"Junior Sister Meng?"
"Ah, it's nothing. I didn't say anything."
They were safe now, anyway. If she wanted to know the truth, she could just ask her junior brother or her master later.
With that thought, Meng Tangtang said no more.
Now that they had finally rescued the captives, everyone from Jingyun Sect let out a sigh of relief. The rest was simple.
They would return to the sect and spread the news that Beast Taming Mountain had been wiped out.
All the elders and disciples of Beast Taming Mountain had perished.
The Innate expert had fallen in battle, and the sect's guardian spirit beast had been tortured to death before everyone arrived.
In other words, only a handful of people like Liu Yanran remained of all Beast Taming Mountain. The sect existed in name only.
If they stayed any longer, they might encounter some unknown danger.
At that thought, everyone immediately decided to head back. There was no point in Liu Yanran and the others staying behind, so they simply left with the people from Jingyun Sect.
Before leaving, Liu Yanran looked back at the silent Beast Taming Mountain, her gaze complicated.
"Master, I'll avenge you!"
Not long after everyone departed,
the aura of an Innate Realm seventh-stage expert slowly faded away inside a sealed chamber somewhere.
The Yin-Yang Elder had finally reached his limit.
After being rescued, Meng Tangtang and the others set off for Jingyun Sect.
Lin Cheng, meanwhile, went alone to Ten Thousand Beast Canyon.
He wanted to see what exactly lay behind that bronze statue.
"This is the place."
Gazing at the layers of Thunder Mountain ranges, Lin Cheng felt a little uneasy. The power contained in each bolt of lightning made even his heart pound.
The slightest brush against one would leave him dead or crippled.
For hundreds of miles around, the only safe place was the canyon, where one could pass through freely. Everywhere else was a death trap.
"Found it!"
Guided by that faint trace of a connection, Lin Cheng quickly discovered the unusual place.
With a thought, his divine sense spread into the distance.
In an inconspicuous little canyon,
spiritual energy was so dense it was almost tangible. Strange, fragrant scents wafted from spirit herbs growing all over the mountains. It was an unprecedented treasure trove.
A child wearing a red bellyband lounged lazily among the herbs.
Piles of bones lay nearby—some human, some belonging to demonic beasts.
Their sinister, blood-red color looked utterly out of place in the paradise-like surroundings.
Every so often, curses rang out.
"Damn it! I was so close—just a little bit more, and I would've completed the ritual."
"The blood essence of hundreds of cultivators! If I could've swallowed it all in one gulp, I'd have completed my evolution. Damn that human bastard!"
"The ritual's ruined, and I've lost contact with the Witch Demon Race. Where am I supposed to find enough blood for food now?"
"Sigh, what a headache."
"The blood of these demonic beasts just isn't as spirited as human blood. It's nowhere near as effective..."
The child grumbled in annoyance, then casually grabbed a Wolf Demon whose eyes were wide with terror. It opened its little red mouth and sank its teeth in.
The Wolf Demon let out a heart-rending scream.
The other surviving demonic beasts trembled and cowered on the ground, too frightened to run.
"That scream has its own charm, but I still prefer the screams of humans..."
The child casually slit open the Wolf Demon's belly, pulled out its pounding heart, and tossed it into its mouth. Blood smeared its face as it ate.
After a long while, it sighed in contentment.
"This life is pretty nice. No annoying outsiders around. It'd be even better if that wretched human hadn't ruined everything."
Whenever it thought of the mysterious human expert who had ruined its plans, resentment and fear glimmered in its eyes.
That human was powerful.
Even when it had only been a projection of someone's will, it had sensed the man's strength and the threat he posed.
So even though he had ruined its plans, it hadn't rushed off to take revenge.
It still wasn't a match for him.
"Once I've completed my evolution and gained power comparable to Foundation Establishment Late Stage, that human's as good as dead!"
A sinister red glint flashed in the child's eyes.
It had memorized his face!
This grudge had to be avenged—but not yet.
What it didn't know was that while it continued to grumble and curse, a figure wreathed in gray mist stood not far above its head, staring intently at it.
"What the hell is that thing?"
Lin Cheng activated the Great Concealment Art, hiding his presence and figure.
As long as the other party wasn't much stronger than him, there was no chance it would notice him.
Next, he activated another divine ability: the Eye of Truth-Breaking.
A flash of purple glimmered in his eyes as he peered at the sinister child below. The child's appearance gradually faded from view.
In its place was a bizarre-looking plant.
Its main body was a thick, broad stem, surrounded by countless roots. It looked somewhat humanoid.
It was bloodred all over, as if cast from rubies. Red liquid seemed to flow faintly inside it, almost exactly like human blood.
It looked a little like the ginseng from Lin Cheng's previous life.
But Lin Cheng knew this thing definitely wasn't ginseng. It seemed more like some kind of evil creature.
"I've really struck it rich this time..."
Lin Cheng licked his lips, eyes shining as he stared at the vast canyon. It was a treasure trove, packed with high-grade medicinal herbs!
With all these herbs, he'd never have to worry about running out of ingredients for alchemy.
The canyon was so rich in spiritual energy it was staggering, and the spirit herbs it had nurtured were of exceptionally high grades. More than eighty percent could be used to refine Yellow Grade pills.
There were even quite a few Mystic Grade spirit herbs!
As for the child in front of him, it looked like it was the incarnation of some kind of spirit herb, and a very high-quality one at that.
"If I take all of this back, the pills I refine should last me until I break through to the Golden Core Realm!"
Lin Cheng felt that this trip had been more than worth it!
The high-grade spirit herbs here were probably dozens of times more plentiful than all the herbs gathered across the Southern Region.
And it wasn't just the herbs themselves that had him so excited.
Once he got his hands on them, he could refine them into pills—and those pills would be enormously useful to him.
He'd been working himself to the bone, cultivating desperately, and had only just managed to reach Foundation Establishment fifth stage.
He was still a ways off from the peak of Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
With these herbs, cultivation would no longer be a problem!
At that thought, Lin Cheng wasted no time. He stretched out a huge hand and grabbed at the child below, who was still cursing away!
From what he could tell, this thing counted as a kind of demonic creature. At most, it was around Foundation Establishment third stage—far weaker than him.
"What?!"
The sinister child had been lazily eating when suddenly everything went dark. It was as if the whole world had dimmed.
Its pupils shrank as it looked up in shock!
Then it froze in terror at the sight of a golden palm, dozens of zhang across, descending from the sky to crush it.
"No!!"
The sinister child tried to flee, only to discover that the surrounding space had been completely sealed off. It threw everything it had into trying to escape, but couldn't break free of the golden hand's grip.
Finally, with a scream, it was seized in the palm of the hand.
"Done!"
With a sweep of Lin Cheng's hand, the countless high-grade spirit herbs packed throughout the canyon tore free from the ground and were swept into his system space.
After finishing everything, Lin Cheng was practically beaming.
What a bargain!
This trip had been well worth it!
Before you continue