Chapter 24: A Small Fortune

The soil and rocks that had been compressed by nature for who knows how many years cracked open layer by layer like an egg. Ye Yun instantly shot up from dozens of meters underground and landed on a treetop, waiting quietly.

Thump, thump, thump!

Intense friction sounds came from the cave entrance. Unlike Ye Yun, who was agile, and hindered by their innate simple thinking, the demon beasts could only climb out along the tunnel.

With a burst of dust erupting from the cave mouth, two reddish-black lizard-like demon beasts crawled out of the tunnel. They were nearly twenty meters long, covered in ancient scales on their backs. Their limbs were sharp and slender, their heads flat, and they angrily flicked bright red forked tongues from their mouths.

“So they are Burrower Beasts, also known as Earth Dragon Beasts. Today, my divine skill has taken shape. I’ll use you to celebrate!” The corners of Ye Yun’s mouth lifted in a confident smile. He attacked using only his bare fists.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The two Earth Dragon Beasts opened their large mouths angrily. Their bright red tongues shot towards Ye Yun in the air like flying swords. Their tongues could actually reach nearly thirty meters. No wonder they had ambushed and killed so many cultivators.

Earth Dragon Beasts were originally low-level, growing-stage demon beasts, and these were close to breaking through to the Adult Stage. They possessed innate, thick, and domineering demonic power. If ambushed by one, a Seventh Level of Flesh Immortal cultivator would undoubtedly die, and even an Eighth Layer expert would be in great danger.

“These tongues are incredibly fast.”

Ye Yun dodged left and right in the air. The two tongues were so fast it was suffocating. Fortunately, Ye Yun’s speed was far greater than an ordinary person’s. If it were an average person, they probably wouldn’t have held out and would have become cabbage for the Earth Dragon Beasts.

“Being without a weapon really puts me at a disadvantage. This time, when I return to the Broken Sword Mountain Range, I must find a handy weapon. With a sharp sword, one slash would make you all mute. Let’s see if you’d still flick your tongues then.” Unable to attack because he was entangled by the tongues, Ye Yun gritted his teeth in frustration. The Earth Dragon Beasts’ speed and such talent made them like hedgehogs with thorns. There was no good way to attack; forcing a breakthrough would only lead to mutual destruction.

Looking at the Earth Dragon Beasts’ frenzy-filled eyes, it was as if they were saying to Ye Yun, “A puny Flesh Immortal Fifth Layer weakling dares to trample on the noble honor of our Beast Clan?”

“Poor Earth Dragon Beasts. Meeting me today is your bad luck. Taste my Overlord Fist! You have long-range attacks, and so do I. Hmph!”

Rushing sounds exploded violently behind Ye Yun. The Nine-Armed Divine Fist was instantly unleashed. Nine fists condensed from True Qi were both transparent and blurry, noble yet simple: “Be destroyed!”

Ye Yun controlled his Blood Mansion, making the vast True Qi surge madly out of his body. The Nine-Armed Overlord Fists instantly pounced towards the two tongues, as mighty as the legendary nine-tailed fox hunting stars.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Nine-Armed Overlord Fists crashed frantically against the tongues. The tongues were instantly pressed down and slowly shredded by the True Qi, as fragile as tofu.

Ye Yun was now covered in sweat. As the Nine-Armed Overlord Fists continuously descended and extended, he grew much more exhausted. Controlling such a long distance was something even an Eighth Layer Flesh Immortal powerhouse couldn’t manage, but Ye Yun did it, and his opponents were two Earth Dragon Beasts close to breaking through to the Adult Stage.

“Release!”

When the Nine-Armed Overlord Fists were only a few meters away from the Earth Dragon Beasts, Ye Yun severed the nine streams of True Qi behind him. His whole body instantly felt lighter. The nine Overlord Fist strikes, like invincible warriors, fiercely slammed into the Earth Dragon Beasts. The ground instantly cracked open, creating a huge crater. The dispersed True Qi formed a meat grinder-like vortex, pulverizing everything into dust.

Aow! The painful cries of the Earth Dragon Beasts came from the dust cloud. Before things settled, one of the Earth Dragon Beasts desperately fled towards the tunnel, seemingly not expecting this tiny human before them to be so freakishly strong.

Boom!

Just as the Earth Dragon Beast neared the tunnel, a powerful figure like a war god descended from the sky. His feet landed on the Earth Dragon Beast’s head like Mount Tai. The Earth Dragon Beast immediately sank into the ground, and the earth cracked open once more. Explosions centered around the Earth Dragon Beast, the violent force seemingly capable of destroying heaven and earth.

The Earth Dragon Beast, deeply embedded in the ground, seemed to have lost its vitality, painfully wagging its tail. Ye Yun’s feet firmly stomped on the Earth Dragon Beast’s head, as if all living beings should prostrate at his feet.

With a squelch, Ye Yun thrust his palm through the Earth Dragon Beast’s lower abdomen. When he pulled it out, he held a dazzling, enchanting Demon Crystal Core. Ye Yun immediately stored it away, then turned his gaze to the other Earth Dragon Beast. It was severely wounded by the Overlord Fists and now had only half a breath left, allowing Ye Yun to easily take its Demon Crystal Core.

Ye Yun completely ended the Earth Dragon Beasts’ lives, then headed back into the tunnel.

Arriving deep inside the tunnel at the cavern, Ye Yun burned all the white bones. The cave immediately brightened. He discovered about a dozen or so cultivator corpses. Most of these cultivators were at the Seventh or Eighth Level of the Flesh Immortal Realm, and there was also one Ninth Layer of Flesh Immortal powerhouse. In the mortal world, these experts were all formidable figures, even clan leaders. Unfortunately, they all perished in this dark, sunless tunnel.

The bones and corpses made Ye Yun realize the importance of strength. Whether in the human world or the Beast Clan world, power was paramount. Without strength, one could only be trampled underfoot, unable to control one’s own life.

“This Earth Dragon Beast isn’t quite dead yet. You killed so many of my human kin. Go to Hell, you lowly creature!” Immersed in sorrow, Ye Yun saw that the Earth Dragon Beast, whose heart had been pierced earlier by the Vacuum Sword Qi, wasn’t completely dead. In a fit of anger, Ye Yun directly slapped its forehead, instantly turning it into a pulp.

He retrieved the Demon Crystal Core, which dripped with fresh blood. For the sake of this one Demon Crystal Core, how many cultivators had perished?

“I, Ye Yun, am willing to send you off cleanly!” Scanning the cave floor covered with corpses, Ye Yun felt a chill in his heart. With a wave of his hand, a great fire instantly ignited in the cavern.

Sizzle! Sizzle!

The stench of corpses and the smell of rot mixed together, emitting a pungent odor under the intense fire. The flames turned the bones and the Earth Dragon Beast corpses into ashes. Driven by Ye Yun’s True Qi, the fire grew increasingly fierce. No matter how resilient the cultivators’ and Earth Dragon Beasts’ bones were, they still turned to ash.

“Dozens of Demon Crystal Cores, and all sorts of weapons and treasures.” After the fire burned out, the ground was littered with enchanting Demon Crystal Cores, though they were all low-level, juvenile-stage ones. Along with the other treasures, this was quite a haul, especially for a poor guy like Ye Yun who came from the countryside.

“Hmm? This ring?”

While happily sorting through the loot, Ye Yun suddenly noticed a black ring floating above the ashes of the Ninth Layer of Flesh Immortal powerhouse. He walked over, picked it up, and a faint, cool aura emanated from it. Upon closer look, Ye Yun was overjoyed. “Haha, this is the legendary Storage Ring, worth tens of Demon Crystal Cores. Only Earth Immortal powerhouses are qualified to possess these. Ordinary Flesh Immortal Realm cultivators only have them at the Tenth Layer. This man was at the Ninth Layer of Flesh Immortal; he must have had some background.”

Storage Rings were magical. Once recognized by a master and worn, they completely fused with the owner’s aura and became transparent, invisible to ordinary people.

He examined it further, trying to send his consciousness into the Storage Ring. But as soon as he entered, he was expelled by a sealing force. “There’s indeed a Seal. But this person is dead, so the Seal’s power has weakened. Now I’ll use the vast True Qi from my Blood Mansion to break it open.”

With a thought, his Dantian immediately became turbulent. True Qi, like ocean tides, surged out from his Blood Mansion—far thicker and purer than the True Qi of an ordinary Flesh Immortal Fifth Layer cultivator—continuously flowing out from his body.

Controlling the True Qi to envelop the Storage Ring, the True Qi entered the storage space but was abruptly blocked by the sealing force. Ye Yun carefully sensed the Seal. He found it was like a layer of light film, delicate as a spider’s web, constructed layer by layer. This technique didn’t seem like something the Flesh Immortal Realm could achieve; it must be a method only an Earth Immortal Realm powerhouse could perform.

“Break!”

Under the impact of the vast True Qi, the Seal began to bulge and tear. But the sealing force within the Storage Ring was protected by the artifact’s original defenses, so it still resisted stubbornly. As Ye Yun went all out, the True Qi, like sharp swords, entered the Seal and directly pierced through it, bursting open like a split watermelon.

Whew!

Ye Yun finally let out a sigh of relief. With his Fifth Layer cultivation, he actually managed to open a Seal comparable to that set by an Earth Immortal Realm powerhouse. If this news spread, it would surely cause shock. After all, the difference in realms was huge. Although it was just a sealing technique, its power contained the lingering authority of its master, an authority that could instantly kill a weaker person. Therefore, since ancient times, many cultivators who obtained secret treasures dared not casually touch Restrictions, fearing they might be killed by the mysterious power left by the original owner’s Seal, or trapped inside, suffering a fate worse than death.

“I didn’t expect the space to be over ten feet in size. It seems this Storage Ring is a low-grade one, only capable of holding ordinary items. Not like the legendary Immortal artifacts, whose space could hold an entire Ocean.” When his consciousness entered the space, Ye Yun was shocked by the various items inside—hundreds of Demon Crystal Cores, over a hundred different weapons, and countless other unknown treasures.

Besides being overjoyed, Ye Yun immediately placed the few Demon Crystal Cores he had on him inside, along with the nearly hundred cores obtained from the tunnel. Now, Ye Yun had six to seven hundred Demon Crystal Cores in his possession, though the one with the highest quality was still from the Four-Armed Demon Bear. Most of the others were low-level, juvenile-stage cores.

If he exchanged all the Demon Crystal Cores for a Storage Ring, he could probably get nearly ten of them, let alone other weapons—he could easily obtain them all.

This time, Ye Yun truly made a small fortune.

“Uncle Han said that only Flesh Immortal Eighth Layer cultivators are qualified to enter the Xuanwu Sect. So I need to break through to the Sixth Layer Heavenly Boundary as soon as possible. Once I break through, the Eighth Layer will be within reach.” Ye Yun walked out of the tunnel. After some thought, he decided to continue training in the Broken Sword Mountain Range for a while longer, waiting until he was stronger before returning to Red Cloud City.