Shennong Mountains

Shennong Mountains

Living in this world for eighteen years, Lin Yu had initially harbored doubts while first practicing Dou Qi, unable to confirm whether the world he had transmigrated to was truly the one he knew so well.

Yet with the emergence of the name Feng Xian, coupled with the towering, rolling Shennong Mountains nearby, Lin Yu's conviction grew ever stronger—this was the Dou Qi Continent, and the era he found himself in was none other than the legendary years of Yao Lao.

For these past eighteen years, Lin Yu had spent nearly every day tempering himself in the Shennong Mountains, gathering herbs, hunting beasts, and cultivating, living a life that was plain yet fulfilling.

The Shennong Mountains stretched for thousands of miles, with overlapping peaks and enshrouding mists; magical beasts ran rampant in the mountains and medicinal herbs were everywhere, making this place a veritable natural treasury for an alchemist.

Carrying a medicine basket and weaving through the depths of the dense forest, holding a freshly harvested Purple Cloud Grass in his hand, Lin Yu was just preparing to head back when his spiritual strength suddenly captured fierce Dou Qi fluctuations transmitting from afar.

He frowned, reining in his aura and quietly approaching.

Through layers of branches and leaves, he saw three fiercely pulsing Da Dou Shi jointly besieging a youth. The youth looked to be around fifteen years of age with delicate features and tattered clothes, several wounds already marking his body as blood dyed the majority of his robes crimson.

Yet even so, the Dou Qi condensing in the youth's hands remained fierce, his every gesture faintly revealing a composure and sophistication far surpassing his peers.

What made Lin Yu's pupils shrink was that the aura emanating from this youth was actually at the three-star Dou Shi level.

A fifteen-year-old three-star Dou Shi appearing in the Shennong Mountains at this time period!

And currently being hunted by three Da Dou Shi!

Lin Yu's gaze abruptly sharpened.

The identity of this person was practically ready to emerge—Yao Chen, the future Venerable Yao, an Eighth-Grade Alchemist destined to shake the continent in days to come!

He had not expected to encounter him under such circumstances.

Lin Yu held his breath, flames already quietly condensing in his palm.

With his cultivation as a seven-star Da Dou Shi, coupled with an Earth Rank Battle Skill, launching a sneak attack might just allow him to take down these three in one fell swoop.

Just as he was about to make his move, an unfamiliar figure suddenly appeared within his spiritual perception range.

It was a girl with a fox face, silently approaching the battlefield from another direction.

Her concealment skills were extremely brilliant; had Lin Yu's spiritual strength not far surpassed those of his rank, it would have likely been difficult to detect her.

He could wait no longer.

Lin Yu made a prompt decision, the fire beneath his feet suddenly surging as his figure transformed into a crimson afterimage, instantly appearing beside one of the Da Dou Shi.

Scorching flames crazily condensed in his palm, the surrounding air instantly turning blazing and distorted, and the moment he struck it was none other than his most proficient low-tier Earth Rank Battle Skill—Scarlet Flame Sky-Shattering Palm!

"What—" That Da Dou Shi only managed to utter a cry of alarm, turning hastily to block. However, facing a peer expert's Earth Rank Battle Skill completely unprepared, his defense was as brittle as thin paper.

Boom!

The giant flame palm carrying destructive force slammed down savagely, the violent gale blasting away the surrounding vegetation and trees completely.

The Da Dou Shi's chest directly collapsed, his figure flying backward like a kite with a snapped string, crashing heavily into a boulder dozens of meters away as shattered rocks flew and he died on the spot.

Simultaneously, the fox-faced girl made her move as well.

With a low beastly roar, she abruptly opened her blood-mawed mouth and bit toward the remaining two Da Dou Shi.

That giant open maw was a full zhang wide, pristine white sharp teeth glinting with cold light in the sunlight as a violent gale directly swallowed and bit down on one of them.

That Da Dou Shi put forth all his strength to lash out with a streak of Dou Qi, yet Hu Jiujiu's sharp teeth easily shattered it, and his entire person was instantly swallowed into her belly.

The final Da Dou Shi was frightened out of his wits, but he too could not escape death, being consumed by Hu Jiujiu once more.

Lin Yu quickly walked over to Yao Chen. At this moment Yao Chen had fainted on the ground due to exhaustion and injuries, his complexion as pale as paper and his aura so weak as to be barely perceptible.

The battle ended extremely quickly, taking no more than a few breaths from start to finish. Lin Yu and the fox-faced girl looked at each other in dismay.

Only then did Lin Yu clearly see her appearance—a skin of pinkish hue holding a faint luster, dressed in a set of emerald green robes, her facial features completely defying human aesthetic standards with her nose and mouth protruding far forward, ears standing up sharply on both sides of her head, and a fluffy tail swaying gently behind her.

At a single glance one could tell her transformation had failed, still retaining obvious fox characteristics.

"Hey!" Hu Jiujiu felt somewhat uncomfortable being looked at by him, her voice carrying a trace of annoyance, "Do you have a problem with my appearance?!"

"Hehe, no, no." Lin Yu waved his hands hurriedly, explaining with a dry chuckle, "It's just my first time seeing a legendary Nine-Star Fox, so I'm a bit excited."

"Hmph!" Hu Jiujiu put her hands on her hips and lifted her chin, her tone carrying a trace of pride, "To think you even know about the Nine-Star Fox, you have some discernment after all!"

This arrogant and dainty demeanor of hers matched with that failed-transformation fox face was indescribably comical and cute. Lin Yu forcefully suppressed his smile and shifted the topic, "Hehe, we had better treat his injuries first."

Saying this, Lin Yu retrieved an emerald-green medicinal pill from his Storage Ring, squatted down, gently pried open Yao Chen's mouth, and delivered the pill inside.

The medicinal pill melted upon touching the throat, a strand of warm medicinal potency slowly seeping into Yao Chen's limbs and bones as the wounds on his body began healing at a speed visible to the naked eye, his originally weak breathing also gradually stabilizing.

Hu Jiujiu squatted off to the side, watching Lin Yu's actions with curiosity, those amber-colored fox eyes filled with astonishment.

She twitched her nose, sniffed the residual medicinal fragrance in the air, and suddenly asked, "Are you an alchemist?"

"That's right." Lin Yu patted his hands and stood up, his tone carrying a trace of thinly veiled pride, "Recently just advanced to fifth-grade."

"Fifth-grade?!" Hu Jiujiu's voice suddenly pitched up a bit, her fox tail unconsciously standing straight up, "You're a fifth-grade alchemist at such a young age?"

She couldn't help but be astonished; how arduous was the elevation of an alchemist's grade? Never mind fifth-grade, an alchemist capable of reaching third-grade before the age of twenty could already be considered a genius.

The person before her looked to be merely eighteen or nineteen years of age, yet was already a fifth-grade alchemist—such talent could be called exceptionally rare throughout the entire Dou Qi Continent.

Lin Yu chuckled, offering no further explanation.

The reason he had been able to advance to a fifth-grade alchemist in such a short span of time was naturally due to his golden finger.

Eight years ago, which by calculation should have been the year the legendary story of Yao Lao began, Lin Yu had awakened the Fusion Panel.

The ability of this panel was extremely peculiar—any items could be fused with one another. The higher the quality of the fused items, the more fusion points obtained; if waste items were produced from the fusion, fusion points would be deducted.

And these fusion points could be exchanged for various treasures within the System Shop.

The items in the System Shop encompassed all sorts of things, but they were entirely items, cultivation methods, Heavenly Flames, Ancestral Symbols, medicinal pills, and battle skills that had appeared in the five volumes of Battle Through the Heavens, having everything one could expect.

Over these past eight years, relying on day-after-day accumulation from fusions, Lin Yu had used nearly all the fusion points he obtained to purchase the legacy of a Sixth-Grade Alchemist.

The alchemist legacy contained a vast amount of pharmacological knowledge, medicinal formulas, and alchemy experience, equivalent to directly pouring the lifelong learning of a Sixth-Grade Alchemist straight into his brain.

Presently Lin Yu's spiritual strength was already sufficient to support the refinement of sixth-grade medicinal pills, and his pharmacological knowledge had long since been thoroughly committed to memory; his only shortcoming was his Dou Qi cultivation.

Had his Dou Qi not been insufficient to support the refinement of the overwhelming majority of sixth-grade medicinal pills aside from special ones, he would already be a genuine Sixth-Grade Alchemist right now.

However, this secret was naturally something he would not tell anyone.

The effect of the medicinal pill was immediate; not long after, Yao Chen slowly opened his eyes.

"You're awake? That's great!" Hu Jiujiu bounded up to him in pleasant surprise, that clear and melodious voice forming a sharp contrast with her failed-transformation face, "I thought you were going to die!"

Yao Chen struggled to sit up, his complexion still somewhat pale, but his aura had already stabilized much.

He rubbed his dizzy forehead and raised his gaze. Entering his view was a rather handsome man wearing a faint smile, standing to the side and looking him over.

And beside him squatted a failed-transformation fox girl whose tail shook restlessly behind her, her amber-colored eyes brimming with curiosity.

"Was it you... who saved me?" Yao Chen's voice was somewhat hoarse as he looked at the chaotic battlefield around him, a trace of complex emotion flashing through his eyes.