Chapter 29: Dividing the Spoils

Yue Li hated Song Zhen to the extreme. He relied on his strength to bully the weak, he was cruel and cunning, even willing to betray his own companions. Yue Li only hated that he himself did not have powerful strength, otherwise he would have slapped Song Zhen to death long ago.

A member of the prestigious Yue Family, threatened by a strong cultivator from a small family—even if he were just a Yue Family servant, he would have felt humiliated. If this were in Tianyao City, how would Song Zhen dare to act so recklessly? Even if he were given a hundred times the courage, he wouldn’t dare to make a sound.

“This Song Zhen…!”

Yue Li looked at Ye Yun, and a fierce killing intent rose. “Brother, this man must be eliminated. He is very powerful, and he will soon break through to the Tenth Layer of Flesh Immortal peak. If we let him go, it will be very disadvantageous for me.”

“Big brother, don’t worry. Your enemy is my enemy. He will definitely die today. Even if a Tenth Layer of Flesh Immortal powerhouse were to issue a command, it couldn’t save him, unless he had three heads and six arms.” Ye Yun felt Yue Li’s surging killing intent like waves. But even if Yue Li didn’t want to kill Song Zhen, Ye Yun would kill him anyway.

This time, if Ye Yun’s strength were ordinary, he would have been turned into a pile of meat pulp long ago. He hated being plotted against the most. Ye Yun was not afraid of this man, but considering Yue Li, if they let Song Zhen escape alive, Yue Li would face life-and-death threats at any moment in the future.

“You beast!”

Song Zhen flew out of the thick mist in a sorry state, covered in wounds. He held a black-bladed greatsword. A huge golden shadow immediately pounced towards him from behind—it was the ferocious Golden-Maned Beast.

“It’s you two.” A flash of Divine Light gleamed in Song Zhen’s eyes as he saw Ye Yun and Yue Li walking towards him. Song Zhen brandished his greatsword, snickering darkly. “I didn’t know the real strength of that brat named Ye. Hmph, never mind that now. I’ll kill them first.”

“Die!”

Song Zhen swung his greatsword, charging forward with his whole body. Waves of astonishing sword energy vibrated in the air, as fierce as a violent, unbridled wild horse.

“Damn!”

Seeing the unfavorable situation, Yue Li summoned the Frost Ice Bracelet again. Facing Song Zhen’s powerful attack, he could only defend, so he brought out this Cultivation Artifact—a treasure that only Earth Immortal powerhouses could possess.

“Huh? A Cultivation Artifact! Haha, I never thought I would get my hands on a saint-grade Cultivation Artifact one day. Heaven is helping me!” Seeing Yue Li’s Frost Ice Bracelet, Song Zhen was overjoyed. The huge blade transformed into a soaring sword energy that shot towards the sky.

Roar~~ The Golden-Maned Beast seemed to be summoned by someone else. It descended from high above, aimed at the greatsword in Song Zhen’s hand, and spat out a mouthful of Demonic Energy. The greatsword was shaken to pieces, and even Song Zhen was sent rolling away like a balloon.

The Golden-Maned Beast suddenly opened its bloody maw. Before Song Zhen even hit the ground, it rushed in front of him and bit down, snatching Song Zhen’s left arm. Blood sprayed out.

Song Zhen’s face turned pale with fright. Subconsciously, he gathered astonishing True Qi and slapped the Golden-Maned Beast’s neck with his palm. The Golden-Maned Beast let out a low, angry cry, gave a fierce tug, and Song Zhen’s left hand along with his entire left arm were torn off. Blood and bits of flesh scattered everywhere, a scene of extreme gore.

The severed arm instantly disappeared into the Golden-Maned Beast’s stomach. Song Zhen turned and fled, no longer daring to entertain thoughts of killing and plundering. Now, if he could just escape this valley, he would have a chance to make a comeback someday. Even a severed arm could be restored.

A cultivator in the Flesh Immortal Realm would still grow old and die one day. Even at the Tenth Layer of Flesh Immortal peak, one could only live for two to three hundred years at most. But once one successfully built their foundation and became an Earth Immortal Realm cultivator, their lifespan would increase severalfold, even tenfold. They would also gain the ability of muscle regeneration. With the aid of some spiritual herbs, a severed limb could also regrow.

Song Zhen’s plan was simple. The Cold Ginseng Grass and the Cultivation Artifact were external possessions. Once he escaped alive, if he cultivated to the Earth Immortal Realm in the future, he could possess anything.

However, would Heaven and others give him that chance?

By now, the Golden-Maned Beast’s entire body of golden mane stood erect like needles. It leaped high into the air, using the golden mane on its body as weapons. It plummeted down from above, smashing towards Song Zhen.

“Oh heavens…!”

The Golden-Maned Beast was like a tank of flesh, terrifyingly fast. By the time Song Zhen noticed, it was already too late. All he could do was pray in his heart.

Boom! Boom!

The powerful True Qi of a Ninth Layer Flesh Immortal instantly exploded. The Golden-Maned Beast was like a meat grinder, pressing onto Song Zhen and spinning continuously. First, Song Zhen’s protective True Qi was shredded, then his physical body. In an instant, bits of flesh flew everywhere, blood rained down in the air, and the entire ground became a living Hell.

A peak Ninth Layer powerhouse died just like that here, a pitiful end. Perhaps he was a lofty Venerable in the human world, but here was the domain of demonic beasts. How precious was human life here!

“Golden-Maned Beast, I’ll spare your life this time.”

Seeing the bloody scene all over the ground, Ye Yun’s heart softened for a moment. After all, they were of the same race. He felt some regret that he died just like that. He shouted at the beast, which was cowering with its tail between its legs, looking pitiful. The Golden-Maned Beast immediately disappeared without a trace.

“He deserved to die! Pah!”

Yue Li came to the remains of Song Zhen and spat.

Whoosh! Ye Yun grabbed a black, glimmering ring from within the flesh and blood. This ring was the same as the one on his hand—a Storage Ring. Without a second thought, he tossed it to Yue Li. “Big brother, take this Storage Ring.”

“How can I accept this?” Yue Li caught the Storage Ring. He knew very well how greedy Song Zhen’s heart was. There must be quite a few treasures inside.

Ye Yun naturally knew how precious Storage Rings were. The Ye Family didn’t have a single one. “We are brothers. The Cold Ginseng Grass is mine, so of course the Storage Ring goes to you, big brother.”

“Then I’ll accept it, big brother.”

Yue Li put it on his middle finger, releasing his intent to probe inside. But he was quickly repelled by the Seal left by Song Zhen. He said regretfully, “I’ll have to wait until I return to the clan and ask Mother to help me break the Seal.”

“This valley has abundant Spiritual Qi. Big brother, why don’t we cultivate here properly?” Ye Yun looked at the quiet valley. The scenery was beautiful. Powerful Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi brewed and steamed within the valley, like an ocean of Primordial Qi.

The fact that a wonder like the thousand-year Cold Ginseng Grass could brew in this valley was enough proof that Broken Sword Mountain Range possessed immense Primordial Qi. Cultivating here would likely lead to significant improvements in one’s cultivation.

“A great suggestion, brother. I was just about to break through to the Eighth Layer of Flesh Immortal. Heaven is truly helping me. But this place is demonic beast territory. What if we encounter demonic beasts?”

Yue Li looked at Ye Yun worriedly, knowing how powerful adult-stage demonic beasts could be. It was even possible that mature-stage demonic beasts might appear. Mature-stage demonic beasts were more powerful than human Tenth Layer Flesh Immortal cultivators.

“Big brother, just rest assured. Even if it’s a mature-stage demonic beast, I am not afraid. In fact, I was thinking of challenging a mature-stage demonic beast.” Ye Yun seemed to see what Yue Li was thinking and said it directly.

Hearing this, Yue Li looked shocked. “Haha, I have confidence in you, brother. But brother, what is your true strength? Are you really at the Flesh Immortal Fifth Layer? You’re not hiding your realm, are you?”

“I am indeed at the Flesh Immortal Fifth Layer. It’s just that I once had a strange encounter and ate a miraculous fruit of unknown origin. Not only did it successfully repair my Dantian, but it also allowed me to cultivate an extraordinary amount of True Qi.”

Ye Yun recounted smoothly, but he was unwilling to tell the whole truth. He had received the Inheritance of the Heavenly Immortal-level powerhouse, Uncle Han. If this were to spread, probably the entire Ye Family would be destroyed because of it—the Ye Family would definitely be wiped out. Moreover, Uncle Han never revealed the reason for the Ye Family’s destruction three thousand years ago. Surely there was some reason for that. At this time, Ye Yun could only keep cultivating and guard the secret. He always felt that the secret Uncle Han spoke of was not simple, especially that stone statue. Uncle Han’s secret might cause a tremendous upheaval.

“So that’s the kind of encounter you had, brother!” Yue Li was happy for Ye Yun. If not for this encounter, Ye Yun’s life would have been obscure and unknown. At the same time, the doubts in his heart gradually cleared up.

“With my current strength, as long as it’s not a peak powerhouse at the Tenth Layer of Flesh Immortal, I can kill them. As for peak powerhouses and mature-stage demonic beasts, I’d have to fight them to know. Even if I can’t defeat them, I can still escape.”

“Good, then let’s cultivate here!” Without another word, Yue Li flew up onto a towering stone pillar, sat cross-legged on it, and began to absorb energy and cultivate.

Ye Yun flew down beside the Cold Pool. His gaze fell on the Spirit Qi-filled Cold Pool. “The water in this pool absorbed the thousand-year Spiritual Qi of the Cold Ginseng Grass. It’s also a treasure. Taking it back for Father might help with his recovery.”

“Correct. This water can indeed be considered spiritual water. If an ordinary Mortal drinks it, it can not only strengthen their body but also expel impurities from it. Even if a first or second-layer cultivator drinks it, it can bring great benefits for a breakthrough.” At this moment, Uncle Han’s hollow voice suddenly came out.

“Uncle Han.”

Ye Yun called out respectfully, then immediately stored all the water from the pool into his Storage Ring, nearly filling it up. The space in the Storage Ring was very small now, insufficient to hold large-volume items anymore. Ye Yun somewhat wanted to know how large the space of a higher-grade Storage Ring was.

“This place is quite good. It will be of great help to you. It might even help you achieve great completion of your Blood Mansion. By the way, the Broken Sword Mountain Range is a very mysterious place, especially the inner mountains. Rumor has it there are many powerful saint-grade and even king-grade Cultivation Artifacts inside. It’s a place many Earth Immortal and Heavenly Immortal powerforces venture into. It’s best not to enter without at least the Eighth Layer of Flesh Immortal cultivation.” Uncle Han cautioned.

“Understood!”

Hearing Uncle Han say this, Ye Yun felt a sense of caution, but he also became curious and yearned for the inner mountains. Instead, he felt a surge of excitement in his heart.

The Cold Pool had become a dry, sunken pit. Ye Yun simply sat cross-legged inside it, letting the vast True Qi from his Dantian begin to circulate throughout his body. The mysterious and elusive Blood Mansion also released crimson True Qi. The two intertwined, merged, and impacted Ye Yun’s body. Faced with such a powerful Qi Field, Ye Yun felt a bit unable to control it fully, yet there was no sign of breaking through to the Sixth Layer Heavenly Unity realm.

The Sixth Layer Heavenly Unity, one initially senses Heaven and Earth, communicating with the heavens. This is a realm where a cultivator’s state of mind merges with nature. It’s not just about power. Logically, Ye Yun’s True Qi was comparable in capacity to that of Ninth or even Tenth Layer powerhouses, yet he could not break through to the Sixth Layer Heavenly Unity realm. This was the difference between realm and strength. Realm was realm. Only by breaking through the realm and comprehending Heaven and Earth could one cultivate those powerful Great Divine Abilities of the same level.