Avoid the Saintly Mother

Yang Ning had just reached the treetop when the flying boat arrived, a rope dangling down from above.

He climbed up the rope, pausing mid-climb to casually glance at the distant waterfall before looking away.

In that brief moment, the waterfall had been widened by several hundred meters, with a massive crater blasted into its center. The original straight-line waterfall had collapsed inward into a U-shape.

Yang Ning wasn't surprised by Lin Tianheng's actions. After all, Tuo Buchuan wouldn't go to his death quietly—he would have left behind something to enrage Lin Tianheng.

What truly shocked him was the scale of the destruction. Was this the destructive power of the Golden Core Stage? He just didn't know if Lin Tianheng had done this with a casual flick or with all his strength.

"Deep Blue, what level of damage would be needed to cause destruction on this scale?" Yang Ning asked.

"The main structure of Qin Mountain is granite, hard and dense. The destruction caused by Lin Tianheng is cylindrical in shape, 477 meters in diameter and 1,866 meters high, as if struck by a massive pillar from the sky. Its power is equivalent to 300,000 tons of TNT, or twenty times the Hiroshima atomic bomb!"

"What nonsense are you talking!" Yang Ning immediately retorted. "No atomic bomb was ever dropped there, and I didn't see it with my own eyes!"

Deep Blue quickly corrected itself: "Then it is equivalent to the explosion of a 300,000-ton atomic bomb!"

"That's more like it!" Yang Ning nodded. So the Golden Core Stage had this much destructive power?

He just didn't know if Lin Tianheng had left such a mark with a single strike or many.

Climbing the rope onto the boat, Yang Ning's first sight was Lin Tianheng sitting atop the mast, his expression dark and brooding.

His azure-blue eyes were wide open, fixed intently on Yang Ning.

"Have I been found out?" The thought crossed Yang Ning's mind, but he only felt a slight flutter of panic. His face carried a hint of guilt instead. I've been busy for half a month and found no trace of the culprit. I really don't deserve the lord's trust!

"Hmph!" Lin Tianheng snorted coldly and looked away.

"As I thought, he was testing me—or rather, testing everyone." After all, if a Golden Core Stage powerhouse stared at you like that, doing nothing else, anyone with a guilty conscience would surely slip up.

But Yang Ning had practiced the Black Tortoise Breath Concealment Technique and could now fully control his emotions, heartbeat, blood pressure, and even his spirit!

Lin Tianheng naturally wouldn't suspect that a mere Body Tempering Triple Layer cultivator could master such a technique, so he let him off after a single glance.

"Brother Yang!" Ning Rong called softly. She was sitting in a corner, with a green-clad girl leaning against her.

The girl was curled up in her arms, her body trembling as if she were crying. Yang Ning had no idea what had happened, but with Lin Tianheng sitting above, the entire boat was deathly silent. He naturally didn't ask at that moment.

Sitting down next to the two, Yang Ning first looked at the others on the boat. He noticed that all two hundred Ascension Academy disciples had arrived, but only six hundred and forty of the eight hundred Immortal Seedlings had boarded.

The flying boat was still picking people up, and Lin Tianheng glared at each newcomer just as he had at Yang Ning—one by one, stare by stare. It wasn't until two hours later that Lin Tianheng came down from the mast, his expression much more relaxed.

"My lord, there should still be forty people who haven't come up!" Wei Chaoyang hurried over as soon as he saw Lin Tianheng descend.

"There are no forty people left," Lin Tianheng said coldly. "The living are all here!"

"What?" Wei Chaoyang exclaimed in shock. "But—"

"But what? Ascension Academy disciples actually dying to wild beasts in the mountains? Your selection standards aren't exactly impressive," Lin Tianheng said flatly.

"This—" Wei Chaoyang's eyes went wide. Even for cultivators, the first month was only spent practicing the Breathing Technique, which barely increased combat power.

Even at the Second Level of Body Tempering, a twelve-year-old at that level was no match for an adult tiger or bear!

But he didn't dare argue. He could only watch helplessly as Lin Tianheng flicked his sleeve, took a step, and vanished from the boat.

"Sigh!" Wei Chaoyang let out a long sigh, then waved his hand. "Since no one else is coming, let's head back!"

"That's it?" As soon as Lin Tianheng left, the Immortal Seedlings on the boat, as if a natural enemy had disappeared, immediately raised their voices.

"What else do you expect?"

"But he caused so many deaths—doesn't he have to face any punishment?"

"He's an Inner Disciple! In a dynasty, that's equivalent to a prince. If a prince kills a few commoners, who punishes him? Who dares to punish him?"

"Ah, this—"

"Besides, didn't Teacher Wei already say when we boarded? The path of immortality is elusive, life and death are uncertain. Without the readiness to die, where would one find the courage to step onto the path of cultivation?"

Yang Ning didn't join the discussion. He noticed that Xia Yi hadn't come up.

He first found Xun Hu with his gaze. Xun Hu was squeezed among a few princes, animatedly recounting something.

Yang Ning read his lips: he had seen a group of apes in the forest and followed them for over twenty days practicing ape forms, feeling his skills had greatly improved!

"After getting on the boat, he really doesn't seem to want to hang out with us anymore." Yang Ning recalled Tuo Buchuan's warning and looked at the others.

Small groups had already formed on the deck, but generally, princes talked to princes. Even when princes gathered with their book boys and servants, it was the princes doing the talking, while the book boys and servants just chimed in.

What Tuo Buchuan said might have some truth to it!

"Wuwu, Ning Rong, what should I do? I don't want to go back!" The green-clad girl's sobbing grew louder.

Yang Ning turned his head and saw Ning Rong looking at him with a pleading expression.

"What's going on?" Yang Ning asked.

"She's the maid of the prince from the neighboring Yong Kingdom, and also my good friend. But her prince, book boy, and servants all died in Qin Mountain. According to the Ascension Academy's rules, she's lost her qualification for cultivation and has to be sent back!" Ning Rong begged. "Brother Yang, I know you're always resourceful. Do you have any way to help her stay?"

As she finished speaking, the green-clad girl quickly lifted her head, looking at him with tear-filled eyes. "Brother, Brother Yang, please help me. If you can, I'll do anything!"

Four people were chosen from each kingdom, and the maid's spot was the only female among them. The girl's looks, temperament, and background were naturally top-notch. Though only twelve, she had already grown into a refined, beautiful, and dignified young lady.

Add to that the slightly disheveled look from living in the forest for over half a month and her eyes full of tears—she was the picture of pitiful charm.

Yang Ning opened his mouth, as if wanting to help, but after thinking for a long time, he shook his head helplessly. "How could I have a way? I'm just an extra myself!"

"But—" Ning Rong blinked.

"Ning Rong!" Yang Ning said dejectedly. "I know that in your heart, my image is great—maybe representing wisdom in hand, invincibility, and a whole string of such terms. But that was in the world of ordinary people. Everything has changed now!"

"My intelligence, my abilities—they're utterly useless here!"

"Ah?" Ning Rong's heart trembled. "Brother Yang, did something happen to you? Why do you suddenly seem like a different person?"

"I've just realized how big this world is, and discovered that I'm nothing but a frog at the bottom of a well!" Yang Ning shook his head in defeat. "I'm tired. I'm going back to rest."

"This—" Ning Rong blinked. "How did it come to this?"

Xun Hu never played with her anyway, and she looked down on the chubby Su Bai. Now Yang Ning seemed to have taken a blow and suddenly collapsed.

How had she suddenly lost everyone to rely on?

"Sister Rong?" The green-clad girl had originally come to ask for help, but seeing this scene, she was dumbfounded.

But after thinking it over, she found it quite normal.

Although Yang Ning had a reputation, she'd never witnessed it firsthand. Who knew if he was hyped up or truly talented?

And now, having seen it with her own eyes, the green-clad girl suddenly felt that those legends about Yang Ning might have been exaggerated.

At the very least, a true genius wouldn't slack off at the first sign of difficulty. No matter the circumstances, they should strive upward!

"I—I'll find someone else!" the girl said.

"Alright, alright!" Ning Rong nodded helplessly. "Sorry, I don't know why he suddenly became like this."

"He must have seen the majesty of Lord Tianheng and felt the gap," the girl said. "Don't even mention him—after feeling the Lord's power, I had the urge to bow in submission!"

"But I feel like Brother Yang isn't the type to give up easily," Ning Rong said.

"That's because his life before was too smooth, never encountering setbacks!" the girl said. "Now that setbacks have come, his true nature is exposed!"

"Is that so?"

"That's how it is!"

Ning Rong nodded blankly, yet she didn't want to believe it. Could that youth who had created miracle after miracle in the Yue Kingdom really sink so easily?