Two Freaks!

By the time Ye Tianming returned, Mu Guanchen had already left.

Holding a bowl, Ye Tianming looked at Little Pagoda in front of him and asked curiously, "Tower Ancestor, what did Teacher say to you?"

Little Pagoda smiled. "We were just chatting."

Ye Tianming nodded and asked no more.

Little Pagoda said, "Why aren't you asking any more? I'm sure you must be very curious."

Ye Tianming said earnestly, "Knowing you mean me no harm is enough for me, Tower Ancestor. As for anything else, I believe you'll tell me when the time comes. In short, I trust you unconditionally. If you don't tell me, I'll never ask."

Little Pagoda was clearly delighted. "Good, good! Kid, you're much better than those last two fellows. I, Pagoda Master, like you. Let me tell you, those two were nothing but trouble, always scheming to screw me over. You're much more decent."

The last two fellows... Had Tower Ancestor followed other people before?

Ye Tianming was curious, but he didn't ask any more questions. After eating and cleaning up, he went to the back mountain to continue cultivating.

He could hardly wait to master the power of the earth veins. He was truly impatient to improve his strength now. Only with enough strength could he control his own fate.

He stood on the ground with his eyes slightly closed and circulated his cultivation technique.

Unlike when he had first started, he had now grown accustomed to the power of the earth veins. It surged around him, and he could feel a boundless power beneath the earth, truly endless.

The only regrettable thing was that his body couldn't withstand much of the power of the earth veins. Yet cultivating his body was extremely expensive, and money was precisely what he lacked most. Thus, he couldn't cultivate his body at all.

Without money, everything was an uphill battle!

Ye Tianming suddenly opened his eyes. "Tower Ancestor, I have an idea."

Little Pagoda was curious. "What idea?"

Ye Tianming looked down at the earth. "My body has its limits and can't withstand too much of the power of the earth veins. But what if I don't use my body?"

Little Pagoda was puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Ye Tianming said in a deep voice, "I mean, I was using my body as a vessel to hold the power of the earth veins, but my body has its limits... What if I don't use my body and treat the entire earth as my body instead? When I fight an enemy, I could directly draw on all the power of the earth veins and make it erupt like a volcano without passing through my body..."

Little Pagoda: "..."

Ye Tianming said excitedly, "I can give it a try."

Little Pagoda suddenly said, "Have you considered that even if you succeed, you'll be standing at the very center of the volcanic eruption? Can you survive that?"

Ye Tianming frowned. "That's true... Tower Ancestor, do you have any good suggestions?"

Little Pagoda smiled. "Then I'll give you a hint. Your cultivation technique is rather special. It can absorb the power of the earth, and since it can absorb it, naturally it can also..."

"I understand."

Ye Tianming suddenly said excitedly, "Since it can absorb it, it can also mobilize it."

Little Pagoda laughed. "Clever."

Ye Tianming was beside himself with excitement. He circulated his cultivation technique and slowly raised his right hand. In an instant, the power of the earth veins beneath his feet began to surge, and the earth began to tremble.

I really can mobilize it!

Ye Tianming forced down his excitement and slowly raised his right hand. Deep within the earth, countless streams of power from the earth veins poured forth, and rays of pale golden light surrounded him like a curtain of rain.

His face began to turn pale, and he was also somewhat nervous. He could sense the immense power contained in the power of the earth veins around him, and it was extremely dangerous. But his mind was clear. At a time like this, he had to remain all the calmer, because a single mistake could cause the power of the earth to backlash against him.

He took a deep breath, then brought his fingers together and pointed at the mountain in the distance.

In an instant, countless rays of golden light shot into the distance and slammed into the mountain.

Rumble...

The mountain exploded and was leveled to the ground. Clouds of dust shot into the sky, shrouding the distant horizon. At the same time, the earth split into deep, bottomless fissures, like a giant spiderweb.

But Ye Tianming didn't get to see any of it, because he had already fallen unconscious after pointing his fingers.

He and Tower Ancestor had both overlooked one thing: although the power of the earth veins didn't pass through his body, controlling it required mental strength, and his current mental strength simply couldn't withstand mobilizing so much of it.

When Mu Guanchen arrived and saw the mountain that had been leveled in the distance, he was somewhat surprised. He looked down at Ye Tianming, who was lying on the ground with a face as pale as paper, and said softly, "This little fellow..."

With that, he carried Ye Tianming on his back and walked away.

Inside the hall.

Song Shi looked at Ye Tianming, who was lying on the bed. "He leveled that mountain in the back?"

Mu Guanchen, who was sitting behind his desk writing something, nodded. "Yes."

Song Shi's expression was complicated. "A monster."

Mu Guanchen smiled. "I was rather surprised myself. I didn't expect him to use the power of the earth veins in that way."

Song Shi shook his head. "Too reckless."

"Not reckless!"

Mu Guanchen said, "One should have a spirit of adventure."

Song Shi looked at Mu Guanchen. "Like you?"

Mu Guanchen smiled but said nothing.

Song Shi shook his head. "You two are both freaks."

Mu Guanchen asked, "Has there been any movement from the Xiao Family or Qingzhou Guanxuan Academy lately?"

Song Shi said, "No."

Mu Guanchen frowned.

Song Shi's expression was quite grave.

The lack of movement was what made it abnormal, because the Xiao Family and Qingzhou Guanxuan Academy would certainly not let Ye Tianming go. Forces of that level understood best what it meant to pull up the grass by the roots and eliminate future trouble.

Mu Guanchen suddenly said, "You need to keep an eye on the Ye Family."

Song Shi said, "Miss Nanling Zhao's friends are looking after them."

Mu Guanchen shook his head. "That won't do. Although Nanling Zhao's friends have extraordinary identities and backgrounds, they won't go head-to-head with the Xiao Family and Qingzhou Guanxuan Academy for the Ye Family's sake. So I still need you to help look after them."

Song Shi turned to glance at the still-unconscious Ye Tianming, then said, "I'll ask a few old friends to keep an eye on the Ye Family in secret."

Mu Guanchen suddenly began to cough.

Song Shi looked at him with some concern. "Are you all right?"

Mu Guanchen smiled. "It's nothing serious..."

With that, he looked at Ye Guan lying on the bed. "The biggest problem this little fellow has now is his lack of actual combat experience. If he could train in the Immortal Treasure Pavilion's cultivation tower, it would certainly be a great help to him."

Song Shi said, "I'll think of something. The Immortal Treasure Pavilions in some prefectures won't necessarily defer to the Xiao Family."

Mu Guanchen nodded. "Good."

Song Shi said, "I'll go to the Ye Family and take a look myself first. The Xiao Family has no scruples now. They're capable of anything."

"Academy Master."

Just then, Ye Tianming suddenly woke up on the bed.

Song Shi looked at Ye Tianming, who hurriedly got up, but he was so weak that he nearly fell back down. Song Shi raised a hand slightly, and a gentle force supported him.

Ye Tianming hurriedly took a scroll from his robes and handed it to Song Shi. "Academy Master, please give this to my eldest brother and have him and Ye Zong cultivate it first."

Song Shi glanced at the scroll. "Your cultivation technique?"

Ye Tianming nodded.

The reason he hadn't shared the technique with Ye Nan and Ye Zong before was that he had only just created it. He hadn't even been sure of it himself, so how could he have dared let his eldest brother and Ye Zong cultivate it? But now the technique was complete and could be cultivated.

And the reason he was only letting Ye Nan and Ye Zong cultivate it first was that if the entire Ye Clan cultivated it together, it might bring calamity crashing down upon them. Thus, they could only proceed slowly.

Song Shi looked at Ye Tianming. "Your technique is no ordinary one. Are you really willing to share it with your eldest brother and the others?"

Ye Tianming shook his head. "It's just a worldly possession."

Let alone a cultivation technique, even a Realm-Ignoring divine artifact didn't hold as much weight in his heart as his clansmen.

Song Shi looked at Ye Tianming with a rather complicated expression. With his discernment, he could naturally tell whether the young man before him was telling the truth.

He put the scroll away, turned, and left.

Mu Guanchen looked at Ye Tianming and smiled. "You're still very weak. Lie down and rest for a while."

Ye Tianming lay down. Watching the busy Mu Guanchen, he asked curiously, "Teacher, I see you writing every day. What are you writing?"

Mu Guanchen smiled. "A kind of law."

Ye Tianming was somewhat puzzled.

But Mu Guanchen said nothing more and continued writing.

Lying on the bed, Ye Tianming slowly closed his eyes.

Little Pagoda suddenly said, "Your eldest brother's dantian has been shattered. I'm afraid your technique won't be any use to him."

Ye Tianming said softly, "Tower Ancestor, do you know why I tried to mobilize the power of the earth veins without using my body?"

Little Pagoda asked in puzzlement, "Why..."

At that point, Little Pagoda suddenly realized something and said with some complexity, "Because he can cultivate it without using his dantian..."