A chance encounter (4k)

At the end of the underground passage, a faint speck of white light appeared in Liu Yu's sight. Moments later, Liu Yu and Han Yue, who followed behind him, reached an opening glowing with white light.

Liu Yu did not particularly mind Han Yue following him inside.

Beyond the opening, an underground world filled with stalactites unfolded before Liu Yu and Han Yue. Milky-white stalactites stretched as far as the eye could see, their pale radiance illuminating the entire subterranean world.

Unlike Liu Yu, who remained calm, Han Yue was awestruck. This was her first time seeing such a natural spectacle, its exquisite craftsmanship putting human artisans to shame. The stalactites everywhere reminded her of a wondrous substance that might have formed in this treasure trove—Earth core body tempering milk!

Moreover, the Snow Demon Ape could speak despite being only a fifth-rank magical beast. That might well have been because of this earth core body tempering milk.

Liu Yu released his invisible Soul Power, sensing the concentrations of energy throughout this underground world. Once he located the spot where the earth's power was richest, Liu Yu headed toward it.

His target soon appeared before him. A gigantic stalactite hung there, one end connected to the cavern ceiling and the other pointing straight down. It was a full hundred meters long and so thick that two people together could barely wrap their arms around it.

Pale light wreathed it, making it resemble a crystal pillar. It was undoubtedly the largest stalactite in this underground world, like an emperor among its kind.

Beneath it stood an enormous bluestone, most of which was buried underground. On its top was a hollow less than half a foot deep, almost filled with milky-white liquid. A faint white mist that seemed never to disperse drifted above it.

Han Yue, who had just reached Liu Yu's side, could not help taking a gentle breath. At once, she felt refreshed in body and mind, as though her entire body had been nourished, leaving her feeling light enough to float away into immortality.

"Earth core body tempering milk forms through the power of heaven and earth. A hundred years produces mist, a thousand produces liquid, and ten thousand produces milk..." Han Yue murmured, a trace of longing flashing through her clear eyes. This was a true wonder of heaven and earth. If she could consume some, she could soon break through to Dou Wang!

Liu Yu glanced at the diluted earth core body tempering milk, then formed his Dou Qi Wings and flew upward along the enormous vertical stalactite. He intended to collect the pure, undiluted earth core body tempering milk first.

Liu Yu soon reached the cavern ceiling. Other stalactites hung nearby, and where the gigantic one joined the ceiling, faint fluorescent light seeped from within, making it look as beautiful as transparent crystal.

With a thought, the Thousand-Mechanism Fan appeared in Liu Yu's hand from the System Space. Blood-red light flashed, and the Thousand-Mechanism Fan transformed into a small knife.

Sensing the liquid's approximate location inside the stalactite, Liu Yu gently cut into its base.

The knife slipped into the crystal-like stalactite the moment it touched its surface. With exquisitely precise movements, Liu Yu cut a circle around it.

Crack!

Once the knife completed its circle, a round fragment of stalactite came loose. Liu Yu held it suspended to one side with his Yu Soul Power. At the same time, brilliant light suddenly burst from the opening.

Inside the stalactite floated a mass of emerald-colored, viscous liquid. It flowed slowly within, almost as though it possessed a spirit of its own, and contained exceptionally pure energy.

This was the true earth core body tempering milk. Only the gentlest, smoothest jade vessels could hold it without damaging it. Fortunately, jade bottles and boxes were what Liu Yu had most of in his Storage Ring. They were normally used for pills, but today they proved useful once again.

He took out two jade bottles and cut one in half with the knife to use as a jade spoon. Carefully inserting the "jade spoon" into the stalactite, he scooped out more than half the earth core body tempering milk and poured it into the other bottle.

After putting away the bottle containing the earth core body tempering milk, Liu Yu used his Soul Power to fit the fallen fragment back into place, restoring the stalactite to its original appearance.

Some earth core body tempering milk remained inside. After being nurtured for "a while," it could be harvested again.

Always leave a thread of possibility—this was an unwritten rule among alchemists. Whenever one encountered a natural treasure, one must never destroy its roots, so that such treasures could endure and leave future generations a "path to survival."

As a high-level alchemist, Liu Yu naturally led by example.

Having obtained the genuine earth core body tempering milk, Liu Yu slowly descended from the ceiling and landed beside the bluestone.

Han Yue still stood where she had been. Seeing Liu Yu return, she lightly bit her red lip, wanting to ask whether she could take some earth core body tempering milk, but not knowing how to begin.

"There's plenty of 'earth core body tempering milk' here. You can take some." Seeing that the liquid in the hollow remained untouched, and noticing her hesitation, Liu Yu conjured a "jade spoon" in his hand and offered it to her with a light chuckle.

Han Yue gave Liu Yu a grateful look and accepted the "jade spoon." A fleeting, enchanting smile bloomed like an ephemeral flower across her cool, pretty face. "Thank you. My name is Han Yue."

Liu Yu nodded lightly in acknowledgment. His face betrayed little emotion, but inwardly he was somewhat surprised.

Her name is Han Yue, and she's from the Inner Academy. She should be the Han Yue who came from the Central Plains.

Han Yue took a jade bottle from her Storage Ring, carefully scooped up some "earth core body tempering milk" with the "jade spoon," and poured it inside. Then she offered the spoon back to Liu Yu.

Looking at her half-filled bottle, and at the remaining "earth core body tempering milk" in the hollow on the Bluestone Platform, which could easily fill five or six bottles, Liu Yu did not take the "jade spoon."

"Fill it up."

Those quiet words stirred a touch of warmth in Han Yue's heart. Without making a fuss, she filled the jade bottle in her hand.

Then Liu Yu took out several jade bottles and collected all the remaining "earth core body tempering milk," filling five bottles in total.

Although diluted, this earth core body tempering milk was still quite effective. It might not cleanse the marrow and refine the bones, but it could still temper the body considerably—a knockoff version of earth core body tempering milk.

"May I know your name?" Han Yue asked, looking at Liu Yu with her pretty face lifted toward him.

"Liu Yu." Giving a casual reply, he rose and took the lead in leaving the underground world.

Han Yue hurried after him. Upon entering the passage, Liu Yu told her to go outside first, saying he had some matters to attend to.

After a while, once he sensed that Han Yue had left the cave, a blood-red longsword appeared in Liu Yu's hand. Surging ice-blue flames poured madly into it, and its bloody radiance flared!

Beneath that radiance, blood-red ice crystals blossomed and spread through the passage, with the light at their center.

As power poured endlessly into the blood-red sword, it shone ever more brightly. By now, the small stretch of passage surrounding Liu Yu was completely filled with blood-red ice crystals. Seeing that the time was about right, he drove the sword fiercely into the passage.

Boom!

In an instant, a freezing force bearing extreme cold surged outward from Liu Yu in every direction. Everywhere it passed became a thick layer of blood-red ice. Within moments, his soul power sensed that more than half the passage had been filled with blood-red ice crystals, and they were still spreading.

Seeing that his goal had all but been achieved, Liu Yu silently unfurled six blood-red wings behind him. Space rippled, and he disappeared from the passage just before it froze over completely.

Outside the cave, Han Yue sensed an intensely cold current surging within. Because her Dou Qi was ice-attributed, she could roughly sense what was happening inside.

Just then, empty space twisted faintly, and Liu Yu suddenly appeared in midair.

"I hope you'll keep my affairs confidential." Liu Yu lowered his head slightly and looked at Han Yue below.

"Mm!" Han Yue nodded gently. Although Liu Yu was probably the uninvited intruder who had broken into the Inner Academy, she felt he was not a bad person. Besides, she had benefited from his generosity.

This child can be taught, Liu Yu thought. A jade bottle appeared in his hand, then floated over to Han Yue.

"This is your hush money. Until fate brings us together again."

As his ethereal voice faded, Liu Yu vanished silently from the Small Valley.

Looking at the jade bottle in her hand, Han Yue wore an unreadable expression. There was no telling what she was thinking...

The mountains behind the Inner Academy were remarkably vast. In a sense, they were fully comparable to the Jia Ma Empire's Magical Beast Mountain Range.

It would take Han Yue quite some time to leave these boundless mountains. As for danger, provided she was careful, her life should not be at risk.

Liu Yu had already "done all that kindness and duty required" for Han Yue, giving her two bottles of "earth core body tempering milk." One compensated her for being dragged into this incident, while the other served as hush money and "travel expenses."

Liu Yu now flew slowly above the Forest Sea. Once he returned to the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower, he needed to obtain that wisp of the Fallen Heart Flame's essence as soon as possible. Afterward, he would head to the Eastern Continent to search for that unknown heavenly flame.

While Liu Yu was pondering this, a tremendous commotion somewhere below caught his attention.

"Stupid monkey! I only ate one of your fruits. What are you screeching about? You're so noisy!"

The speaker was a little girl dressed in white, who looked no more than twelve or thirteen. Her long, pale-purple hair fell to her waist, and her face looked as though it had been carved from jade. A hint of cunning shone in her clear, lively purple eyes. She held an ape-shaped golden fruit in her little hand and took another bite as she spoke, golden liquid dripping from it.

Roar!

Facing the little girl was a Golden Ape only about three meters tall. His arms were long and powerful, his muscles extraordinarily developed, each bulging mass as hard as rock.

Anger nearly overflowed from the Golden Ape's golden eyes. That golden fruit was his companion treasure, known as the Mighty Vajra Fruit. It contained tremendous energy and could also temper the flesh.

Only one fruit grew every hundred years, and he had merely a handful, all essential to his cultivation. Yet the little thief before him had stolen one.

Roar!

The Golden Ape pounded his chest, producing dull, drumlike thuds. With an enraged roar, golden light enveloped his fist. He bent his knees and launched himself forward, instantly becoming a streak of golden light.

Seeing the ferocious attack, the little girl stopped eating. She clenched her fist, gathering a dense mass of purple energy, then flew forward and punched to meet him head-on.

Boom!

Golden and purple energy collided. The spreading shock waves destroyed the surrounding trees, creating a small clearing.

Both figures were sent flying backward simultaneously. It was hard to imagine that the little girl's delicate body contained strength on par with a fifth-rank magical beast.

The little girl steadied herself in midair and shook her fair little hand. Taking a bite of the golden fruit in her other hand, she taunted, "Stupid monkey, you've got some strength! You actually managed to withstand my punch!"

Then she became a purple blur and charged at the Golden Ape again. Her taunting words only enraged him further, and he roared as he rushed to meet her.

Golden and purple light flickered incessantly across the newly created clearing. In mere moments, the little girl and the Golden Ape had exchanged several punches.

Observing secretly, Liu Yu studied the little girl in white. After a moment's thought, he had a fairly good idea of her identity.

She looks "very young," can swallow medicinal ingredients directly and withstand their wild medicinal power, and possesses enough brute strength to trade blows with a fifth-rank magical beast using her body alone. With her appearing in the mountains behind the Inner Academy, she must be Zi Yan!

She belonged to the purest royal lineage of the Ancient Void Dragon Clan. Her father was the former Ancient Void Dragon ruler, Dragon Emperor Zhu Kun, a supreme expert at the Peak Nine-Star Dou Saint level and one of the greatest pillars of support on the Dou Qi Continent. The only blemish was that greed had left this pillar trapped in the Ancient Emperor's Cave Mansion. Ah, a false pillar of support... (Zhu Kun: ...)

One more "underling" meant one more path forward. The Dou Qi Continent was not about fighting and killing, but "relationships and worldly wisdom." By now, Liu Yu had convinced himself. He planned to seize the right moment to do her a favor, then tempt her with pills and recruit an underling.

In the little clearing, Zi Yan's battle with the Golden Ape had reached a fever pitch. Both were now fighting in genuine anger.

Roar!

Sent flying backward once more, the Golden Ape raised his head and roared at the sky. Golden light began to spread across his entire body, its dazzling brilliance shooting into the heavens. Within that light, he underwent an astonishing transformation!

His body, originally only about three meters tall, abruptly grew to fifty or sixty meters. Golden energy raged around him, making him utterly terrifying.

The Golden Giant Ape hunched slightly, looking down at the tiny ant at his feet. Golden currents exhaled from his enormous nostrils transformed directly into golden gales that howled toward Zi Yan.

"An innate ability akin to Gigantification? What a terrifying gift. He was only three meters tall before, and now he's suddenly fifty or sixty meters—nearly twenty times bigger. A larger body doesn't necessarily mean greater strength, but it certainly means tremendous physical power," Liu Yu murmured.

This Golden Ape seems even stronger than the Snow Demon Ape. He originally looked to be only a One-Star Dou Wang, but judging by his aura now, he's already comparable to some High-Rank Dou Wangs. Still, his weakness is obvious: he's too clumsy. A fast enough low-rank Dou Wang could easily wear him down until his transformation ends.

Against the Snow Demon Ape, his chances would be even shakier. After all, that white ape was ridiculously fast, especially after activating his Berserk Bloodline.