The Return Journey

"No, don't!!"

The eerie child was gripped tightly by the golden hand, struggling desperately.

Waves of dense blood energy erupted frantically, and despite a myriad of techniques being unleashed—attacks that would make a Xiantian expert's scalp crawl—they failed to shake the golden palm even in the slightest.

"Ah!!"

The golden hand squeezed fiercely, and the eerie child let out a shrill, miserable scream.

The struggles grew even more violent.

Unfortunately, given the massive gap in strength, it was nothing more than a death throe.

Such a fine high-grade medicinal herb had even manifested a spirit; how could Lin Cheng let it go?

Not long after.

As the golden palm slowly dissipated, the child from before had long since vanished.

In its place was a blood-red plant resembling ginseng, with red liquid flowing within it. The potent blood energy it emitted surprised even Lin Cheng.

"Such strong medicinal power. This is surely an Earth-grade spirit herb, perhaps even showing signs of evolving toward the Heaven-grade."

Having inherited the insights of numerous Alchemists from the system, Lin Cheng judged the grade of the eerie child's true form at a glance.

He felt delighted inside.

A bountiful harvest!

"It's a pity I can't take this valley with me."

Casually putting away the blood-red ginseng, Lin Cheng looked around with a regretful expression; his system space was currently limited in size.

Taking some spirit herbs was one thing, but an entire valley was out of the question.

"Since I can't take it, I'll seal this place for now so it can be recycled later."

Lin Cheng waved his hand, and a layer of dense golden light descended. He activated the Great Concealment Art, and a faint, ethereal illusion shrouded the entire valley.

As long as one's strength didn't vastly exceed his own, this place would remain hidden.

As for experts who far surpassed him, they wouldn't care for such meager assets anyway.

With everything settled.

Lin Cheng felt at ease.

As he relaxed, a hint of fatigue appeared in his eyes.

Having consumed a massive amount of true energy in succession, even with the god-level Nine Transformations of the True Spirit technique—which gave him far more true energy than his peers—he was starting to feel the strain.

"With this matter concluded, it's time to return to the Jingyun Sect."

Before leaving, Lin Cheng glanced toward the Ten Thousand Beast Canyon. There were many disgusting auras there; they must be alien races.

However, the Thunder Canyon was still covered by lightning power, and rushing over there would be too risky.

It would take at least another ten days for the lightning to dissipate.

Lin Cheng shook his head. Since that was the case, he would leave the headache to the people from the Ten Great Sects.

In any case, he couldn't stay stationed in this godforsaken canyon forever.

Even if he were to step in and wipe out that group of aliens, more would soon replenish their ranks, and in the end, the people from the Ten Great Sects would still have to deal with the headache.

Moreover, if he intervened, things might become even more troublesome.

It might even draw the attention of powerful alien experts and put a target on his back.

Although he had reached Foundation Establishment and could be considered a top-tier existence in this small corner of the Southern Region.

If he were to face the vastness of the entire continent.

He would still be an insignificant speck of dust.

"Time to leave."

He had only come to rescue his disciple and had managed to snag some benefits along the way; he should be satisfied.

Thinking of this, Lin Cheng stood motionless.

Gradually, a breeze blew, and a lingering afterimage slowly dissipated.

Lin Cheng returned directly to the Library Pavilion of the Jingyun Sect.

Having just obtained a large pile of spirit herbs, he couldn't wait to transform them into high-quality pills.

Once refined, they would be at least Yellow-grade, and in terms of medicinal power, they would be comparable to the Profound-grade.

Anything passing through Lin Cheng's hands was effectively enhanced and modified by the system.

Products of the system are guaranteed to be of the highest quality!

While Lin Cheng returned to the Library Pavilion in less than the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, Meng Tangtang and her group were far away in the territory of Beast Taming Mountain.

There was no helping it; after all, they weren't freaks like Lin Cheng.

It was perfectly normal for their travel speed to be a bit slower.

On his way back, Lin Cheng had sensed his disciples' presence, but he had no intention of interfering. Letting them walk back on their own would serve as a lesson.

They needed to learn to be more careful when venturing out next time.

Otherwise, if they remained this reckless every time, there would eventually come a day when Lin Cheng couldn't look after them.

Life, after all, only happens once.

However, despite this, Lin Cheng still silently cleared away most of the dangers along their route.

He even made a trip deep into the Mist Forest to intimidate the Foundation Establishment spirit beasts, ensuring they wouldn't set their sights on Meng Tangtang and the others before he finally stopped.

Lin Cheng did all of this quietly.

He didn't alert anyone; in his eyes, such trivial matters were not worth mentioning.

Lin Cheng's painstaking efforts indeed yielded significant results.

The group from the Jingyun Sect happened to be passing through the Mist Forest, a famous forbidden zone in the Southern Region where even beings on the level of the Five Elements Venerable had been forced to retreat in defeat.

They couldn't help but be cautious.

They had been walking on eggshells the entire way, yet they found they hadn't encountered any major dangers.

They hadn't even run into a single decent high-level spirit beast.

In the Mist Forbidden Zone, where high-level spirit beasts were everywhere, this simply didn't make sense.

"Strange, did we take the wrong path? How have we not seen a single spirit beast above the seventh rank after so long?"

After walking for a while, the Fat Elder couldn't help himself anymore; he scratched his head and voiced his confusion.

Old Lady Xu also wore a puzzled expression, while the Thin Elder remained full of vigilance.

"We're almost there."

Zhang Feng didn't answer directly, merely uttering a cryptic remark.

The Fat Elder looked completely bewildered, exchanging blank stares with the others who were equally confused.

They didn't quite understand what Zhang Feng meant.

What was almost there?

Why did it feel like they weren't even on the same page?

"Hm?"

Immediately after, he noticed that not only Zhang Feng but the entire group from Beast Taming Mountain also appeared indifferent, showing not a shred of tension.

That shouldn't be.

Weren't you all afraid?

This was the Mist Forbidden Zone!

A man-eating, bone-crushing forbidden zone in the Southern Region!

Zhang Feng's relaxed expression could be understood as the boldness of a skilled expert; after all, he was a peak eighth-rank powerhouse, so he had the capital to be arrogant.

But you lot, a bunch of wet-behind-the-ears kids, were also acting like it didn't matter.

Were you tired of living?

Had the elders of Beast Taming Mountain never taught you to be cautious when traveling?

How on earth had you survived until now?

At that moment, the Fat Elder felt a lump in his throat, his face turning red as he struggled to speak but couldn't find the words.

He only felt that the atmosphere was somewhat bizarre.

A dignified Xiantian expert was walking in fear and trepidation alongside a group of eighth-rankers.

Yet a bunch of youngsters were strolling along, carefree and relaxed.

If it were ordinary people, one might say ignorance is bliss.

But these Beast Taming Mountain disciples clearly knew the dangers of this forest, so how could they be so relaxed?

Especially that guy named Sun Li.

His walking posture was incredibly arrogant, his eyes fixed on the sky, and he was strutting through the perilous Mist Forbidden Zone with a gait that defied all reason.

Where was the logic in this!

Feeling the Fat Elder's gaze, Sun Li couldn't care less.

What was wrong with a Child of Destiny walking arrogantly?

Wasn't it expected?

As for Liu Yanran and the others, they just smiled without a word; if asked, they would only say, "We're almost there," or "You'll know soon enough."

None of them gave a straight answer.

They all just brushed him off with inexplicable remarks.

This made the Fat Elder feel as if a cat were clawing at his heart; it was agonizing and utterly unbearable.

Suddenly.

Zhang Feng paused his steps, his eyes lighting up as he pointed ahead and shouted.

"Look, we've arrived!"

The Fat Elder had been walking with his head down in frustration, but upon hearing Zhang Feng's voice, he looked up with complete indifference.

"Hmph, I'd like to see what kind of tricks you're pulling—holy, holy sh*t!"

"Holy sh*t!!"

"Holy sh*t!!"

A rapid succession of exclamations vividly expressed the shock within the Fat Elder's heart.

It wasn't just the Fat Elder; Old Lady Xu, the Thin Elder, and even Meng Tangtang, who had been barely noticeable throughout the journey, were all equally stunned and dumbfounded.