Martial God Vol 2 ch 11-20

Chapter 11 - The Three Energies

22 Jan 2017

“Temper bones, condense essence into Internal Energy, and cultivate Internal
Energy…this is Houtian.”

In the room, He Yiming’s slow, skeptical voice sounded.

The book lay opened in his hands as he read by the torch flame on the wall. He
discovered that this was the not the complete book, but a major part of it.

However, it was still the most detailed among all the books he’d ever seen.

Other than the author’s personal experience, for the most part, it explained the
essentials to break through at every layer below the tenth. The author of this book
had evidently not experienced the Xiantian realm for himself, and thus, this book
didn’t help He Yiming at all.

Of course, this book would prove to be extremely beneficial to the family’s third
generation in the future- saving them a lot of troubles during their cultivation path.

He Yiming could even bet that although his father and third uncle had not visited
this room, they had certainly read these books.

Although he wouldn’t say that they had read all, he was certain that they had at
least read all the content regarding the breakthrough. Only, they had failed to
advance nevertheless.

And the reason his eldest uncle and grandfather never mentioned this subject to
him was that his speed was already too quick- so quick that it was simply beyond
their expectations. Thus, they simply never had the chance to mention it to him.

If they had not seen his listless appearance today, they probably wouldn’t have
disclosed this information to him.

Among all these books, only one book mentioned the Xiantian realm.

According to this book, the way of cultivation was divided into three daos-
Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

In Houtian realm, one cultivated the physical body.

The physical body innately contained Essence. Every individual’s physical
constitution differed and so did the Essence, but what cultivators cultivated… was
precisely this Essence.

All the techniques, regardless of their types, paid special attention to continuous
advancement and accumulation of the Essence so that one’s body could sustain the
bitter cultivation practices, which then lead to the tempering muscles and bones.

If one’s muscles and bones were sturdy, one’s Essence would naturally thrive.
Only after possessing a strong Essence could one begin the cultivation of Internal
Energy. Cultivating Internal Energy was precisely to convert this Essence into
Internal Energy.

Refining Essence into Internal Energy…is Houtian.

These words were the best portrayal of all the Houtian realm experts.

According to the book, Essence was Houtian’s Jin(energy) dao, Qi was Xiantian’s
Qi dao, and Spirit was Heaven and Earth’s Spiritual dao.

The three realms had different types of cultivation. Xiantian’s Qi dao was
exceedingly strong in itself. One could even say that attaining the Xiantian realm
was already separating oneself from humankind to some degree.

Peak, tenth layer experts were exceedingly strong individuals who possessed
tyrannical physical bodies and unmatched Internal Energy reserves.

However, confronting a million people or even a combined encirclement of a few

hundred cultivators along with a troop of ordinary men who had completely
disregarded their personal safety, such strong tenth layer experts could only die out
in the end.

However, if one had attained the Xiantian realm, this would no longer be the case.
Only under a seize of tens of thousands of ordinary cultivators would a cultivator
of Xiantian realm be killed.

Moreover, Xiantian realm’s cultivators would also not choose to struggle before
such a big army.

One could safely assume that after attaining the Xiantian realm, a cultivator could
not be killed by relying on numbers alone.

As for Spiritual dao, the realm above, this book didn’t mention anything regarding
it except for its name. He Yiming didn’t know if the original book had more entries
because this copy only contained a single page about the Xiantian realm.
Perhaps it hadn’t been copied in its entirety or this section had been lost before it
was copied, whatever the case, He Yiming felt extremely regretful.

However, this single page had already enabled He Yiming to somewhat understand
the reason he’d not made the breakthrough after cultivating a new Internal Energy
technique.

According to this book, a human body in the Houtian realm resembled a big,
unfilled water tank.

Before cultivating a primary cultivation technique, the body’s essence would be

refined and purified, transforming into Internal Energy, which would then
eventually fill the tank.

With the constant improvement of Internal Energy, the water in the tank would
also increase correspondingly.

With every layer, a human body- the water tank- would also become bigger and
more stable, which would increase its holding capacity.

However, after attaining the tenth layer, water would have attained the peak and
also the limits of a human body. At this point, a human body could no longer rely
on Internal Energy to enlarge itself.

One could say that at this realm, the potential of a human body had already been
maximised.

Therefore, the ancient cultivators came up with the idea of the above mentioned
‘Qi’.

The so-called Qi was not a reference to one’s breath, but to a strange energy that
pervaded the heavens and earth.

This strange energy had many names- Worldly Yuan Qi, Worldly Spiritual Qi…so
on.

After countless efforts and wasting countless lives, the ancient cultivators
eventually discovered a technique to utilize the Worldly Qi.

After attaining the tenth layer’s peak, they would try to connect with the Worldly
Qi and try to absorb this boundless energy in their bodies.

After entering the body, this Qi would naturally transform into a new energy, and
the power of this new energy could easily allow a human’s body to break its
previous limits.
Although it was said that if the water tank ruptured, the body would also die out as
a result, as long as one could absorb the Worldly Qi, one could easily forge another
water tank which would be inconceivably huge.

This was precisely the so-called ‘if the old doesn’t leave, new will not come.’ Only
after experiencing ‘destruction and reestablishment’ would one be able to attain the
Xiantian realm.

Putting down the book in his hand, He Yiming bitterly smiled.

No wonder he didn’t feel any reaction after cultivating [Power Secrets]. Although
he had converted all the Essence of his body into Internal Energy and his body now
stood at the peak of the Houtian realm, his water tank had no more holding
capacity at all.

To step further, he had to break the limits and connect with the Worldly Qi. Only
then he could obtain a new scope.

Although the words in the book seemed quite simple and easy, he’d been racking
his brain for so long but had not feel any sort of worldly power around his body at
all.

If this book had not talked in such a confident manner and his grandfather had not
preserved this book as if it was the family heirloom, and if he’d not cultivated
Xiantian battle skills and thus knew that difference between the two genres of
cultivators was so huge that it defied reason, he wouldn’t have believed that some
Qi permeated the entire world.

He faintly shook his head. In order to break through the tenth layer’s peak, he
would apparently need to establish a friendship with this Worldly Qi- the very
existence of which felt skeptical to him. This didn’t seem easy.

Of course, if it was easy, He Wude would have entered the Xiantian realm long
ago.

Suddenly the room’s door opened and He Wude entered.

He Yiming faintly started, “Grandfather, one day has passed?”

He Wude faintly shook his head and brought out a bamboo basket from his back.
Taking out a bowl, he said, “I know you probably aren’t feeling hungry, but you
should still eat something and take a rest.”

He Yiming astoundedly glanced at the bowl. Bamboo shoot roasted meat, roasted
chicken wings..so on- although these few dishes were merely part of the family’s
daily meals, this part was his favourite among the daily meals.
Feeling warm inside, he respectfully said, “Yes, grandfather.”

With his current strength, whether he didn’t drink a drop of water for a few days or
ate like a pig, he wouldn’t have to face any problem at all. Although the old man
also knew this, he couldn’t help but bring some food. As he looked at He Yiming
happily eating away, he also smiled.

Sweeping his gaze around, He Wude faintly smiled, “Yiming, why are you reading
this book?”

He Yiming’s heart faintly stirred before he asked, “Grandfather, where did this
book come from?”

He Wude deeply sighed, “Back in the day, when I was a pill-helper, I casually
copied this book in my free time.”

He Yiming blinked his eyes. He felt certain that this certainly had a story behind,
but since the Lord Master was not willing to divulge, he didn’t follow up either.
After thinking for a bit, he said, “Grandfather, this seems incomplete.”

“This is indeed an incomplete book. However, it is still enough to be our family’s

heirloom.”

He Yiming faintly nodded. He’d no qualms on this at all. However, the issue was
that this incomplete book didn’t hold much value to him.

He Wude suddenly slapped his forehead and said, “Right! There seems to be one
more page. It fell down due to carelessness. I think…”

He Yiming’s eyes brightened up. Not to mention a full page, he would be fine even
it was a part of page.

He Wude’s brows faintly creased as he said, “That page mentioned the method to
break through tenth layer’s peak and enter the Xiantian realm. Where did I end up
putting it?”

He Yiming’s breath suddenly quickened.

At this moment, he forgot that if such a good method existed, how come the Lord
Master hadn’t used it?

He Wude thought for a while before he suddenly turned around and left. When he
returned back, one of his hands held a paper.

“Ten years ago, I always kept this paper right next to me. However, in recent years,
I have understood that Xiantian is hopeless for me, so I just put it in the bookshelf
outside. If I hadn’t seen you flipping through this book, I wouldn’t have thought
about it at all.”

The old man sighed relentlessly. His memory had started to gradually fall off.

He Yiming accepted the paper from his grandfather, not minding the old man’s
blabbering.

On the front side, he didn’t find anything relevant.

He impatiently flipped the page around and quickly swept his vision downwards.

Sure enough, it mentioned the author’s own experience and the method he’d used
to break through the tenth layer’s peak and attain the Xiantian realm.

However, when he saw the method, even he who had cultivated his Internal Energy
to the tenth layer’s peak by himself couldn’t help but curse towards the heavens,
“Inhuman….!”

Chapter 12 - Leaving Home

22 Jan 2017

The world has spiritual beasts which live for five hundred years. Kill one to obtain
its inner pellet, refine it into a golden pellet, consume the golden pellet, and break
through the extreme bottleneck to comprehend the Xiantian Qi dao.

In a few lines, the method to break through the tenth layer and attain the Xiantian
realm had been clearly illustrated.

However, knowing this method wasn’t much different from not knowing it. All it
did was add another concern for the mind to work on.

Although spiritual beasts were not humans, the wisdom they possessed did not pale
much in comparison to humans.

The gold-crowned python that their He family had killed was merely a hundred-
year-old spiritual beast.

A hundred-year-old spiritual beast possessed such formidable abilities. If they had

not been fortunate, the entire elite layer of the He manor could have been wiped
out in that fight.

If that gold-crowned python had lived for five hundred years…

He Yiming indeed felt himself incapable to imagine the might required to kill such
a beast.

He Wude didn’t pay attention to the change in his complexion and frankly told him
that when he’d advanced to the tenth layer’s peak, he also harbored similar
thoughts. However, after the one time he’d gone to hunt a spirit beast, he dispelled
all such thoughts from his mind.

First of all, he wouldn’t be able to find a five-hundred- year-old spiritual beast, but
even if he did, he wouldn’t be able to kill it. Thus, he completely abandoned this
idea.

Moreover, his age was too high. Even if he swallowed a golden pellet from a five-
hundred-year-old spiritual beast, he might not be able to break through.

For an eighty-year-old Houtian expert to consume such a golden pellet, him dying
due to his body bursting seemed more probable than him making the breakthrough.

The reason he’d handed over this page to He Yiming was that he wished to re-
ignite the fighting spirit in his genius grandson.

After sorting out the things he’d brought, He Wude gave a slight nod, turned
around, and left.

As the entrance of the room closed, the lighting suddenly dropped down, leaving
behind two fire torches on the wall, gradually burning with a flaming sound.

He Yiming’s mind schemed at a lightning fast speed. Although he’d not personally
witnessed a five-hundred-year-old beast’s might, it probably wouldn’t be too
shabby.

The current He Yiming was vastly different than the one a few years before.

Especially after cultivating the two Xiantian battle skills, his self-confidence had
vastly increased. With his current strength, if he mounted a sneak attack with
Hidden Needle Imprint, or used the [Splitting Mountain Thirty-Six Forms] with his
grandfather’s blade to produce that one frightening strike, he felt he had a chance.

As soon as he thought till here, his heart blazed.

Since that senior could accomplish this feat, why couldn’t he? His confidence
slowly increased, completely overshadowing his previous concerns.

His body once again began to emanate that intense aura of confidence.
Profoundly reading the additional page in his hand, his yearning for Xiantian realm
increasingly thickened.

Those who could resist a Xiantian realm cultivator were only the cultivators of
Xiantian realm themselves.

These people absorbed the Worldly Qi and strengthened their body to an extent
that simply couldn’t be compared with that of Houtian realm cultivators. On one
side was Internal Energy, and on the other side was the true Qi extracted from the
heavens and earth itself. The difference was simply poles apart.

Moreover, this Qi contained endless mysteries, and these mysterious could be

brought out using some strange techniques. You could say that if a family had a
Xiantian overseer, they would basically not be provoked, at least not before the
death of this overseer.

Furthermore, by absorbing the Worldly Qi, cultivators could reap enormous

benefits regarding their bodies, thereby prolonging their life.

Of course, prolong by how much- that would rely on the age of cultivator when he
entered the Xiantian realm.

The earlier one could enter the Xiantian realm, the more one’s body could be
transformed and life prolonged. Similarly, as far as an eighty year old individual
like He Wude was concerned, not only the probability of entering the Xiantian
realm would be exceedingly low, even if he managed to succeed by a fluke, he
wouldn’t be able to extend his life by more than fifty or sixty years.

If one could attain the Xiantian realm at about the age of fifty, generally, one
would be able to live for two hundred years.

As for before twenty years….

It wasn’t mentioned. He Yiming reckoned that even the author of this book didn’t
think it was possible.

After reading the book, He Yiming carefully pasted this page at the book’s end.

Sitting in silence, he contemplated for a long time. Eventually, he arrived at a

decision.

He suddenly stood up while throwing a glance at that book with his electric-sharp
eyes. Subsequently, walking in big steps, he arrived before the room’s entrance
before slowly knocking a few times.
After a few moments, the gate opened, and he saw He Wude looking at him with a
slight surprise.

The time of one day had not been completed. He Wude didn’t expect that He
Yiming would come out before the allocated time, ‘Could it be…he didn’t find
anything worthwhile here?’

However, as he saw He Yiming’s appearance, he immediately understood and his

concerns completely disappeared.

He could see that currently, He Yiming no longer looked listless and seemed full of
energy once again- his eyes in particular, which again shined with an
unquestionable confidence.

Sensing the change in his grandson’s mood, He Wude felt quite pleased. He
suddenly recalled another matter before he asked with a faint smile, “Yiming, the
golden pellet is still with me. Do you want to use it?”

After saying these words, he took out a small jade bottle from his bosom and
placed it on the table.

He Yiming faintly started before his brows rose up and a slightly annoyed
expression emerged on his face.

He Wude waved his hand, “Yiming, I understand your thoughts. I only want to let
you know that using a golden pellet to breakthrough is not something to be
embarrassed about. You should have also seen that that senior also broke through
the limits of Houtian realm by consuming a golden pellet refined from the inner
pellet of a five-hundred-year-old spiritual beast.”

He Yiming bitterly smiled inwardly. If this golden pellet had truly been refined
from the inner pellet of a five-hundred-year-old spiritual beast, he probably
wouldn’t have been able to resist.

A hundred-year-old gold-crowned python held no use for him. It would only be

wasted if he consumed it.

He faintly shook his head, then faintly smiled, “Grandfather, the three year
agreement has not concluded yet.”

He Wude deeply sighed, feeling quite helpless about his grandson’s stubbornness.
However, subsequently, he heartily laughed and said, “Fine. Since you are so
confident, I will not make things difficult for you. I hope to see you ascending the
tenth layer soon.”
He Yiming heavily nodded before suddenly saying, “Grandfather, I have been
cultivating behind closed-doors in the clan for quite some time now. Nowadays, I
feel like making a trip outside.”

When he said these words, although his tone seemed permissive, it still contained a
hint of determination, seeming as if even his grandfather didn’t agree, he wouldn’t
hesitate to execute his plans.

He Wude faintly started. He hesitated for a bit. However, he also knew that
although He Yiming was only fifteen years old, the latter’s strength was not below
his.

Although ninth layer was no match for tenth layer, with the support of Xiantian
battle skills, even he would have to back down.

However, travelling alone at an age of fifteen still seemed quite premature.

Seeing the hesitation in his grandfather’s eyes, He Yiming said, “An unpolished
jade is worthless. Grandfather, you yourself said that this grandson’s ambitions
doesn’t lie here.”

He Wude’s eyes slightly rose, but he eventually nodded and said, “Fine. You can
go out. However, you still have to uphold our three year agreement.”

He Yiming retreated a step, bowed, then turned around and left.

After a short while, he’d already completed his preparations. This time, he was also
carrying the huge broadsword, which was no longer a burden to him, in its three-
part form at his side.

Carrying a huge, meter-long package, He Yiming left the home without conversing
with anybody.

Currently, the sun was ascending.

Outside the manor’s entrance, He Wude’s eyes followed the grandson he felt most
prideful about, shining with unspeakable arrogance and emotion.

He had a feeling that when his grandson would come back, he would have
certainly attained the tenth layer- becoming the youngest peak, tenth layer Houtian
cultivator in the history of Tai Cang county.

And relying on him, He family would become the number one family of the Tai
Cang county.
Silently and wordlessly, a person arrived beside him. This person was precisely his
childhood friend, He Laibao.

“Sixth young master left.”

“Yes, he left.”

“Old master, we are already old. Today belongs to these young masters.” He
Laibao unhurriedly said.

He Wude turned his head. For the past two years, the appearance of his old friend
had increasingly waned. Perhaps, they both knew that they didn’t have much time
left. Therefore, they shared a sentiment that others couldn’t comprehend.

“Laibao, in this life, I have only one wish apart from the establishment and
development of the He manor. If that wish can be fulfilled, I can happily close my
eyes.”

Laibao lifted his head. His originally pale face seemed to be possessing a bizarre
luster, “Old master, that wish will certainly be fulfilled. Sixth young master will
not let you down.”

He Wude faintly smiled and said, “Yes. I believe he will certainly accomplish it for
me,” He profoundly glanced at the former before continuing, “So, what about you?
Did you forget, this is the desire we created for ourselves together?”

He Laibo’s both eyes gradually brightened with a golden luster, as if he’d recalled
something extremely emotional to him.

“Old master, be at ease. I will not die so easily. Before seeing sixth master grow
and you returning back to the Heng mountain, this old man’s voice wouldn’t be so
easily stifled.”

Seeing He Laibao momentarily brimming with vitality, He Wude heartily laughed-

the sound of his laughter was so loud that it covered the entire He manor and also
entered He Yiming’s ears.

The latter turned his head and distantly waved towards He manor before following
after the ascending sun.

Chapter 13 - Entering The Forest Again

24 Jan 2017

“Pa…”
In the mountain forest, a gigantic air-cleaving sound suddenly rang out. As a swift,
majestic white light flashed, a huge fox bear’s head rolled down before it could
even make a sound.

Two fox bears had teamed up to mount a sneak attack on a certain individual in the
mountain forest. However, they didn’t expect that just by a casual wave of that
individual’s hand, one of them would lose its head as soon as they revealed
themselves.

The other one trembled from head to toe. It could smell the odour of death. The
human, who had seemed completely harmless a moment ago, this moment, exuded
such a dangerous feeling that it couldn’t help but shiver uncontrollably.

The cunning fox bear had no intentions of taking revenge for its friend. It suddenly
turned its head and fled for its life several times more nimbler than it had revealed
itself a moment ago. Henceforth, this fox bear would never dare to even approach
the humans who seemed much weaker than it.

He Yiming reached out with his hand and made a grasping gesture before the huge
blade obediently returned back to its owner.

The broadsword, which vividly exhibited its might in the Tai Cang county during
He Wude’s youth, was constituted of three parts.

Apart from the two sections made of pure steel that stretched one meter long and
constituted the body, it consisted of a long blade. This blade further consisted of a
handle, which could be used as a mid-sized weapon.

If all three parts were to be assembled together, the broadsword would weigh one
hundred and eighty kilograms. Apart from those who possessed innate divine
strength, even cultivators of the tenth layer wouldn’t risk showing it off.

He Wude had possessed innate divine strength in his youth, and ever since he
attained the eighth layer, this blade became his signature weapon. Even his old
opponent, Xu Yinjie, felt a headache while dealing with this blade.

Nobody dared to clash head-on with him.

Although He Yiming’s strength was not weak, compared to the innate divine
strength of his grandfather, he lacked far behind. The only reason he could
previously wield this blade was the support of his strong Internal Energy.

In reality, he’d not intended to carry this blade along with him at first. However,
this time’s objective was a five- hundred-year-old spiritual beast. Thus, the might
of this blade felt indispensable to him. However, after walking with the
broadsword for several days, He Yiming suddenly discovered…

For the current him, this blade didn’t comprise any trouble at all.

This time, he’d cultivated the extremely difficult earth type technique [Power
Secrets].

For ordinary people, the difficulty of cultivating this technique would be almost on
par with that of cultivating a peak level technique. Therefore, apart from young
immatures or those who had no other choice, nobody would likely make this
technique as their primary cultivation technique.

However, after cultivating to the tenth layer, this technique had brought enormous
benefits for He Yiming.

His strength had received an enormous gain. Even if he didn’t use his Internal
Energy at all, this one hundred and eighty kilograms heavy broadsword didn’t
effect him much. In particular, while holding the blade with only the foremost
section in one of his hands and imbuing a little bit of Internal Energy, it felt
completely weightless.

He naturally felt overjoyed at this discovery.

After leaving the He manor, he penetrated deep into the mountain forest, wielding
this blade.

Tai Cang county contained immense mountain ranges, and nobody had ever
succeeded in uncovering these boundless mountain ranges. He Yiming’s thought
process was quite simple. Since a gold-crowned python could appear here, it ought
to have other high level spiritual beasts.

Spiritual beasts had myriad of classes. However, they all shared one characteristic.
They lived in areas far away from human grounds. The stronger a spiritual beast
happened to be, the harder its traces would be to discover.

Although He Yiming knew that chances of finding a spiritual beast by relying on

luck like this would be quite low, even if he couldn’t find one, he could always
temper himself. This was his thinking when he’d begun his journey. As such,
despite not finding a single spiritual beast, he did not feel discouraged.

However, living in the wild and facing the difficulties of the forest had instead
rejuvenated his spirit. Moreover, while using battle skills, he could act as he
pleased, which increased his thought process as well.
Poisonous snakes, mosquitoes, and assaults of all sorts of ferocious beasts
presented an excellent training opportunity for him. After three months, his
conduct didn’t lag behind that of those hunters that lived in the mountains. As
such, with his strength, which hunters couldn’t even hope to attain, he obviously
wouldn’t encounter any life-threatening situation.

Of course, some matters gave him endless headaches as well. Walking in the forest
for three months, he’d no idea about his whereabouts.

Since half a month, he’d not found a single other human. If not for his plan, he
wouldn’t have been able to endure such loneliness and returned back.

Turning around, he disembowelled the fox bear that had followed the path of its
own death. Subsequently, he found a few thick trees, prepared a stand, and began
to roast the bear meat.

He clearly remembered that he’d also faced a fox bear when he’d just attained the
sixth layer. At that time, he’d barely managed to scare away the beast. However,
this time, a mere wave of his hand had settled the outcome while also scaring the
other fox bear witless and making it flee for its life.

As he recalled the past as if it happened yesterday, he felt somewhat emotional.

The meat slowly cooked over the branches. However, it was merely being cooked.
Expecting He Yiming to bring out some sort of exotic delicacy from this meat
would be a fool’s errand. Stringing the meat properly was already an extraordinary
progress for him.

As he recalled his first time roasting the meat, he couldn’t help but feel a shiver run
throughout his body. Fortunately, after leaving behind this time period filled with
horrendous memories, his current product could barely be considered as
consumable.

After eating a little bit, He Yiming’s movements suddenly stiffened before he

slightly inclined his ears, quietly listening.

In the forest, apart from the rustling wind and sounds of animal’s movements, he
actually heard a sound that he didn’t expect to hear.

This sound was that of leather shoes stepping on dry branches. He Yiming had not
heard this sound for a long time. He Yiming’s eyes suddenly brightened. Meeting
another group of people in this region was indeed quite fortunate.

You guessed correct. The sound wasn’t made by a single person, but a group of
people- probably a hunter household that lived in these mountains.
From their sounds, they seemed to be coming right at him. Glancing at the flame
which was about to die out, He Yiming immediately understood that they ought to
be attracted by the meat’s aroma.

He Yiming threw a quick glance at the gigantic body of the fox bear before
revealing a faint smile, “Even including the people that are coming, it wouldn’t be
enough to finish off this big guy…”

He remained seated and had no intentions of welcoming his guests.

In the forest, the animals didn’t comprise all of the danger. Even humans also
meant a certain sort of danger. However, with his current strength, this wouldn’t
likely be the case. If these people came with evil intentions, they would be the ones
to regret it afterwards.

The movements of these people were rather quick- evidently, quite experienced in
moving through the forest.

In reality, apart from a guy like He Yiming who relied on his strength for guts,
even a normal eighth layer expert wouldn’t dare create trouble in an unknown
forest.

The more these people approached, the gentler their movements became.
Evidently, they had already discovered that someone had roasted meat here and
didn’t wish to be discovered.

Faintly shaking his head, He Yiming’s bluntly said, “Friends, since you are already
here, why don’t you just show yourself. I have lots of unfinished meat here. Help
yourself.”

The footsteps suddenly stopped. This action seemed to have been accomplished in
an instant and in a synchronized manner.

He Yiming faintly started. He had clearly heard their movements. Ordinary hunters
simply couldn’t posses such order and discipline. He vaguely felt that these people
certainly weren’t ordinary hunters.

An effortless and candid voice sounded, “Since the gentleman here has shown such
hospitality, we wouldn’t dare not comply.”

The next moment, eight individuals revealed themselves not too far away before
moving towards the fire.

They seem to be careless, but He Yiming knew that six among them were walking
rather scattered and placing their feet quite carefully. Clearly, they were protecting
the two in the middle, and trying to feel if any ambushes lay in wait with their
bodies.

The two in the middle walked alongside each other, enjoying this treatment as if it
should be deemed as proper and expected.

He Yiming’s heart faintly shook. From the attire of these six, they seemed to be
from the same region. Probably some influential family’s attendants. An influential
family that could cultivate such faithful attendants couldn’t be looked down upon.

Moreover, all these attendants’ Internal Energy cultivation could be considered as

quite high.

With his spiritual sense, from their footsteps, speed, force…..so on… He Yiming
could tell that these people ought to be somewhere around the seventh layer.

Although He Yiming didn’t know whether Jadeting’s Lin family had such high-
level attendants, he felt absolutely certain that Tai Cang county’s three influential
families’ attendants simply couldn’t attain such a realm intrinsically.

In a few steps, the two individuals arrived before He Yiming. As they took a clear
look at He Yiming’s face, they couldn’t help but reveal faint astonishment.
Following the flame, their vision fell upon the fox bear and the meter long, one-
section broadsword.

The head among the two individuals was a big, stout middle-aged man. His face
had big, coarse pores and somewhat swollen eyes, but as soon as He Yiming met
eyes with him, he didn’t dare to hold the slightest contempt for the former.

This man gave a faint feeling of danger. If he’d not misjudged, this man’s
cultivation was not inferior to his grandfather.

Tenth layer Internal Energy. At such a wild, desolate region, a peak Houtian expert
had appeared.

At the side of the big man, a white-faced young master stood. This young master’s
age was around He Yiming’s. His whole body was covered in skin tight clothes,
revealing his figure which had evidently been tempered through tough training.

He resembled the big man somewhat, making them look like a pair of father and
son. The former’s cultivation lied around the seventh layer’s peak, comparable to
that of He Yitian.

In a mountain forest, suddenly encountering an expert duo of father and son was
completely out of He Yiming’s expectations.
Chapter 14 - Xie Family Of Fire Crow
Country
25 Jan 2017

“Please have a seat, you two.” He Yiming said with a wave of his hand.

Although this group consisted of a tenth layer, peak Houtian expert, He Yiming
neither felt happy nor sad about it. He didn’t care much about it at all.

Relying on his two Xiantian battle skills, even if a fight erupted between the two
sides, he definitely wouldn’t be at the bottom end of it.

The middle-aged man’s eyes exuded a strand of strange light, which lingered on
He Yiming’s body for a moment. Subsequently, he first started, then blankly stared
before assuming his normal appearance and saying with a smile, “Many thanks,
little brother.”

After saying these words, he immediately patted his dress, and imitating He
Yiming, placed his bottom on the ground without the slightest hesitation.

The youngster at his side and the attendants dumbfoundedly looked at him with
expressions of disbelief. Despite following him for so many years, this was the first
time they had seen him behaving in such an unbridled and casual manner.

“I am Xie Grace, and this is my son Xie Mingjin. May I ask little brother’s name?”
The middle aged man asked with a face beaming with smiles.

The youngster and the attendants were inwardly alarmed. If the man’s previous
words had surprised them, then these words simply left them appalled.

They all knew what sort of person this man was. Therefore, when they saw him
treating the youngster before them with such respect, going as far as to assuming
him as an equal, the astonishment they felt was not small.

He Yiming faintly smiled before speaking without the slightest hesitation, “He
Yiming.”

After rushing through the forest for three months, only heavens knew where he’d
ended up. In any case, he was certainly not anywhere near the Tai Cang county,
and thus, he’d no misgivings about revealing his real name.

Xie Grace’s smile didn’t falter at all but his mind operated at a lightning fast speed.
However, he couldn’t recall if he’d heard about this young expert before.
He Yiming pointed at the fox bear on the ground and said, “Everyone, please help
yourselves. No need to be courteous.”

Xie Grace heartily laughed and said, “Many thanks for your gracious invitation.
Everybody, go on.”

His words were like a command. Two men immediately walked out. Their actions
were hundred folds more skillful than He Yiming’s. Holding sharp small knives,
they quickly and efficiently skinned the entire fox bear, stringed the meat,
sprinkled seasoning, and slowly roasted it over the fire. Just after a few moments, a
dense, alluring smell spread around.

He Yiming’s nose slightly shook before he felt quite ashamed inwardly.

Looking at these mens’ actions, they would be considered as professionals, and

looking at the half-baked meat slices produced by his own hands which seemed no
different than stones again, he could no longer swallow them past his throat.

With a faint smile, Xie Grace extended a bottle gourd towards him, “Little brother,
this Xie can’t thank you enough for your kindness. Here is some good wine. If you
don’t mind, try it.”

He Yiming eyes brightened. He felt a bit ashamed in replying. He’d heard the fame
of a fine liquor. However, the rules of the manor were extremely strict. Before
reaching the age of eighteen years, even he wasn’t permitted to drink wine, and he
could also be considered as a type of obedient child. Thus, he’d never tried wine
before.

With a slight hesitation, He Yiming accepted the bottle gourd from Xie Grace’s
hands. As he uncovered it, a fragrant aroma pervaded the air. The tip of his nose
faintly twitched two times before he pretentiously said, “Good wine.”

Subsequently, he raised his head high and fiercely took a big gulp.

As the wine entered, he suddenly felt a burning sensation, as if being cut apart by a
knife, in his throat. His chest and abdomen further felt as if been set ablaze.

He Yiming blinked his eyes. His only feeling was that of the internal heat inside
his body before he almost threw up on the spot.

Fortunately, his Internal Energy was incomparably profound. After it circulated in

his body once, the troubling sensation immediately turned a lot better.

He let out a deep sigh. He Yiming had so boldly drunk the wine because he’d the
support of his Internal Energy. He couldn’t be unwittingly poisoned. As long as he
prepared beforehand, he could always expel out the poison from his stomach.
However, although this feeling felt strange to him, it didn’t feel like that of
poisoning at all. Instead, it seemed almost the same as his eldest brother and the
rest had described about the feeling one would have after drinking wine for the first
time. Thus, he also eased his concerns.

However, this wine was too intense- so much so that he almost couldn’t endure it.

Xie Grace astoundedly observed He Yiming as he took a huge gulp, then forced
down his throat and eventually exposed miserable appearance as his face turned a
shade of red.

He couldn’t help but ask, “Little brother He, don’t tell me this is your first time
drinking wine.”

He Yiming said with a slightly red face, “Hehe, I drink occasionally. However, this
wine is a bit too different. Mr. Xie, you can enjoy it yourself.”

Xie Grace heartily laughed as he took the bottle gourd back from He Yiming’s
hands.

While Xie Mingjin and the rest simultaneously revealed expressions that contained
a bit of contempt.

This bottle gourd wine was an exceedingly reputed wine in Fire Crow country. It’s
price was simply that of gold. Just by looking at He Yiming’s appearance, they
could tell that the latter had no appreciation of wines and was certainly not a
character from a big, powerful family.

However, since they had seen Xie Grace’s amiable behaviour, they would
obviously not dare to be presumptuous.

After a few moments, the two attendants had finished roasting the first batch. They
respectfully presented it. Xie Grace picked one slice for himself while offering
another to He Yiming, “Little brother, this fox bear was killed by you. Would you
offer me the courtesy of accepting this borrowed offering?”

He Yiming inwardly praised. This man had previously seen that the meat slice in
his hand seemed completely flavourless and had thus deliberately talked in such a
manner. Talking to this man was indeed quite comfortable and pleasant.

He accepted the roasted meat while casually expressing his thanks. Not standing on
ceremony, he began to eat.

At the first bite, he almost swallowed his tongue inside. Although he’d not been
starving for these three months, his diet was no better than a monk’s. Thus, when
he suddenly tasted a delicacy, he somewhat couldn’t control himself.
Continuously smiling, Xie Grace patiently waited for He Yiming to finish before
offering another slice in a completely natural manner.

He’d already assigned six of the attendants to collect firewood, slice the meat,
string the branches, and roast the meat. These six divided themselves accordingly,
and like flowing water, continued to bring roasted meat slices.

Father and son ate to their heart’s content together with He Yiming. They actually
finished twenty percent of the gigantic fox bear before He Yiming eventually
stopped eating after being completely satisfied, following which, the father and son
also stopped accordingly.

With a hint from Xie Grace, the six attendants then began to eat. However, two
among them separated themselves out to keep watch- being extremely cautious and
attentive, giving no chance for the slightest nitpick.

“Brother He, this is a wild, desolate region. I wonder what brings you to such an
area?” Xie Grace asked in a casual tone.

He Yiming also didn’t hide, “I heard that this forest has spiritual beasts. Thus, I
came to hunt one.”

“Hunt spiritual beast?” Astonishment covered Xie Grace’s face, and Xie Mingjin
lost his composure. A glint flickered in his eyes, as if he’d turned somewhat hostile
to He Yiming.

However, He Yiming didn’t even glance at him and said in a rather blunt tone,
“Correct. However, I have spend a few months in the forest now but have yet to
see a single spiritual beast.”

Xie Grace faintly shook his head, “Brother He, entering forest like this…is it not a
bit impetuous?”

He Yiming indifferently smiled, “Perhaps a little. However, if I can’t find a spirit

beast, it could also be regarded as tempering myself. At the very least, spending
these few months in solitude has reaped me abundant gains.”

Xie Grace started and pondered for a bit. He then threw quick glance at Xie
Mingjin beside him and nodded as if he’d realized something.

His gaze turned grave as it lingered on He Yiming’s body momentarily, “Brother

He, are you from our Fire Crow country?”

“Fire Crow country?” He Yiming astoundedly asked, “I’ve already left Heaven
Sieve country?”
Inwardly, he said, ‘No wonder the clothing of these people seemed so strange. So it
turns out they are from Fire Crow country. Where is Fire Crow country though?’

Xie Grace faintly smiled and said, “So it turns out you have come from Heaven
Sieve country. That’s right, this region is already inside the boundaries of Fire
Crow country.”

His voice didn’t seem surprised at all. Evidently, he’d already guessed He
Yiming’s origins from his clothes.

He Yiming rather awkwardly smiled and said, “Mister Xie, I’d entered through the
mountain ranges of Heaven Sieve country. After continuously moving through the
past few months, I accidentally arrived here. I wonder how far this place is from
Heaven Sieve country.”

Xie Grace thought for a bit before saying, “Heaven Sieve…if you take the official
road, the distance is a thousand li. Even if you walk thirty li a day, you will need a
month or two to cover the distance. Moreover, there is Gold Forest country in
between as well. However, there are no roads in the mountain forest, and one can
move as he pleases. I reckon brother He must have moved around in a few circles
to arrive here in three months.”

He Yiming heavily nodded. When he’d entered the forest, he’d no fixed
destination in mind, and he’d followed his heart. Arriving here could be said to be
as karma.

Sweeping his vision through Xie Grace and the rest’s faces, He Yiming directly
said, “Mister Xie, I can see that Xie family is probably a big influential family of
Fire Crow country.”

Xie Grace had yet to show any reaction, but faces of Xie Minjin and the attendants
turned a little complacent.

“Not a big influential family…but we do have a little fame.” Xie Grace slowly
said.

He Yiming brightly said, “Mister Xie is too polite. May I ask mister Xie in return,
what brings you to such a desolate, wild region?”

Xie Grace immediately said, “My purpose….is same as your’s- to hunt a spirit
beast.”

Xie Mingjin and the rest were looking at Xie Grace, and some of them even shifted
their hands to their weapons, seeming as if waiting for the latter’s orders.

He Yiming didn’t pay attention to any of it and calmly waited.

As he’d expected, Xie Grace continued, “This area has been explored by our Xie
family several times, and we’ve indeed spotted two long-armed racoons.”

He Yiming’s heart faintly shook as he asked, “How old are these two spiritual
beasts?”

Xie Grace bitterly smiled, “We don’t know their specific age. However, from their
movements, we’ve deduced their life expectancy to be around two hundred years.

A slight disappointment flickered on He Yiming’s face. As far as he was

concerned, a spiritual beast with a life expectancy of two hundred years held no
use at all.

Chapter 15.1 - Long-Armed Raccoon

The disappointment in He Yiming’s eyes didn’t contain a trace of pretense, nor did
he try to gloss it over in the slightest.

As Xie Grace saw He Yiming’s expression, he suddenly thought of a certain

matter. However, as he carefully analyzed He Yiming’s age, he immediately
discarded it.

Even he wouldn’t dare believe that He Yiming’s Internal Energy had already
attained the tenth layer.

He faced upwards and chuckled, “Brother He, don’t tell me even these two long-
armed raccoons can’t appease you?”

He Yiming shrugged. He indeed didn’t feel too excited. However, he also knew
that being able to locate two long-armed racoons was already extraordinary. As for
a five-hundred-year-old beast, the possibility of finding such a beast was almost
zero. One could say that such a beast could only be met, not sought.

“Mr. Xie, since your family has already located these two spiritual beasts, why not
go hunt them?” He Yiming sincerely asked.

If He family could hunt a hundred-year-old gold-crowned python relying on their

strength, hunting two spirits beast with two hundred years of age couldn’t even be
considered as an accomplishment for Xie family who possessed several times more
strength.

Xie Grace faintly started. Only after he saw He Yiming’s water-like clear eyes, did
he confirm that the latter had not been mocking him just now.
He bitterly laughed before saying, “Brother He, you have surely never seen a spirit
beast before.”

He Yiming faintly raised his eyes, “How can you tell?”

“If you had, you wouldn’t be saying such words,” Xie Grace bitterly smiled, “Not
only spirit beasts are extremely powerful, their movements are extremely nimble.
These two raccoons further have extremely hard skin and tough bones. Even a
tenth layer expert shouldn’t be thinking of inflicting a injury on its body.”

He Yiming recalled that when He family had hunted the gold-crowned python,
they had not engaged in a direct confrontation with it and had rather poisoned its
prey. Then they had intercepted it and had still almost lost.

A single spirit beast was so troublesome by itself, what about two?

He eventually grasped the counterpart’s line of thinking. Even such a big family
might not necessarily be able to easily deal with spiritual beasts.

Seeing the thoughtful expression on He Yiming’s face, Xie Grace further said,
“Except for a powerful cultivator who had attained the Xiantian realm, no one can
claim to hunt spirit beast with complete certainty. If you come across a spirit beast,
whether you hunt the beast or it hunts you, nobody knows.”

He Yiming’s brows faintly creased, “A powerful cultivator of Xiantian

realm….does your noble clan have the assistance of such a person?”

Xie Grace’s smile eventually stiffened a bit. He forced out a laugh said, “A
powerful Xiantian cultivator… how can you find such a person so easily?”

He Yiming immediately understood that Xie family didn’t have a Xiantian

cultivator watching over them.

“Then, what do you have in mind?” He Yiming curiously asked, “Don’t tell me
you will continue to delay it like this?”

When he spoke these words, complexions of Xie Mingjin and the attendants
worsened. However, Xie Grace still revealed a smile and helplessly said, “Our Xie
family has three peak level experts who have attained the tenth layer’s peak.
However, we still have no certainty in taking on two long-armed raccoons.
However, if we can obtain help from another tenth layer expert’s assistance, we
might be able to try our hand.”

He Yiming blinked his eyes, admiring the former inwardly. This person had
already seen through his depths. However, he still couldn’t guess how the former
had accomplished this feat when none among his grandfather, Xu Yinjie, Lin Taoli
and so on….had been able to discern that his Internal Energy was the tenth layer.

Xie Grace suddenly cupped his hands slightly and said, “Brother He, although our
Xie family is not the number one family of the Fire Crow country, we are still one
of the four big influential families. Currently, our family’s leader is my elder
brother Xie Nuanhang.

He Yiming immediately guessed former’s intentions, ‘So he is also trying to recruit

me like Lin Taoli…”

Faintly waving his hand, He Yiming puzzledly said, “Mr. Xie, I truly don’t
understand, with your identity, why are you so courteous to this youngster. It
surely couldn’t be because I treated you with bear meat, right?”

Inwardly, he added, ‘I truly can’t tell who treated whom, though.’

This was the question Xie Mingjin and the rest had been asking inwardly all along.
Why a person like Xie Grace, who counted as one of the three top experts of Xie
family, would attach so much importance to a random, strange youngster.

Xie Grace’s face gravened, “Since brother He has asked, this Xie will speak in
clear words.”

He pointed at the fox bear on the ground, “This ought to be brother He’s
masterpiece.”

He Yiming faintly nodded. The answer to this question was evident, concealing it
would be useless.

“I saw the fox bear’s corpse. It was a single strike, and the cut was smooth and
round. Clearly, the head was cut off in one strike without even a possibility of
struggle,” Xie Grace took in a deep breath before continuing, “Although a fox bear
is not too troublesome of a beast, its movements are exceedingly quick. To cut off
its neck in one strike, and do it so cleanly, I’m afraid even I might not be able to do
it this cleanly. Moreover, I can see this massive blade here. To use such a blade so
swiftly, brother He must have already grasped the essence of the way of blade. Am
I right?”

He Yiming faintly smiled. He might not necessarily have comprehended the true
essence of the way. However, he’d assimilated [Splitting Mountain Thirty-Six
Forms] into the way of blade. One could see a hint of the seventh form in his blade
strikes. So saying that he’d already grasped the true essence should barely be
plausible.
Xie Grace continued, “Apart from blade techniques, I couldn’t see through your
Internal Energy cultivation either. If I can’t see through, then your Internal Energy
cultivation should have at least attained the eighth layer, or….” He momentarily
paused, “Ninth layer?”

This time, the complexions Xie Mingjin and the rest eventually transformed. They
simultaneously shifted their incredulous gazes onto He Yiming’s body.

This person actually possesses eight layer, or ninth layer Internal Energy? Has the
lord made some mistake?

He Yiming admiringly smiled and said, “Even if it’s eight layer or ninth layer,
what does it matter? Xie family has three tenth layer experts.”

Xie Grace astoundedly smiled and said, “To me, brother He’s most prominent
feature is not your current cultivation.” His face suddenly turned dignified, “If I
haven’t seen wrongly, little brother’s age must be currently below eighteen years.
If you possess such strength before the age of eighteen, your future prospects are
simply boundless. Therefore, this Xie had acted so presumptuously. Please pardon
me.”

Xie Mingjin and the rest eventually understood why the old man had offered such
respect to the counterpart. If this youngster truly possessed such a strength and had
an age below eighteen years, not to mention softening their tone a bit, even if they
had to marry off a girl from the family in order to attract him, it would be all worth
it.

He bitterly smiled. He didn’t expect that even this much of display would lead to
such trouble, and people would try to recruit him from so far away.

He shook his head and was about to decline when he heard, “Little brother, our Xie
clan carries a legacy of thousands of years, and our connections are also quite deep.
I know your objective behind hunting spiritual beasts.”

He Yiming faintly started before involuntarily tensing up.

Xie Grace promptly waved his hand and said, “Brother He, don’t misunderstand.
The information about spiritual beasts’ inner pellet being converted into golden
pellets is known even to influential families with legacies of a few hundred years.
Frankly, our Xie family has inherited a few golden pellets. If brother joins Xie
family, after a few years, our family would definitely not be stingy in offering a
golden pellet to you.”

He Yiming’s brows slightly jumped but he didn’t reply. Making such a promise to
a person he’d just seen….this indeed felt a bit too unexpected.
At the same time, He Yiming also felt quite astonished. He naturally understood
the worth of a golden pellet. He felt somewhat touched by the counterpart’s
sincerity, “Mr. Xie, I am a cultivator. All I have learned is the teachings of my
family. As such, I can only turn down your kindness.”

Xie Grace didn’t seem to have become angry. On the contrary, he laughed,
“Brother He, as far as I know, Tian Luo country’s five influential families don’t
include He family, and it doesn’t have a reputed expert with surname He either.
Although my Xie family is humble, we have some fame in the northwest. If I were
to meet your elders, I believe they will also comply with my request.”

He Yiming had truly started to admire this man somewhat. Within this short time
period, this man had already guessed so many things. Not all the men possessed
such ability. Furthermore, with his identity of a tenth layer expert, he presented
himself with such humility, one couldn’t help but admire him.

If it had been an ordinary youngster, he would have already been moved by him,
and a youngster from a small family would have already joined the big, influential
family to acquire more opportunities.

A pity, He Yiming’s situation was rather unique. How could he put someone in his
eyes if not a Xiantian expert?

He faintly cupped his hands and was about to politely decline when his ears
suddenly twitched. His expression had not transformed before his vision, like two
knives, turned to his right.

He Yiming’s actions aroused everybody’s attention, and all shifted their vision to
that direction.

With a burst, leaves of trees trembled before a completely black, two meters long,
human-like hand slowly came out.

One look at this arm, the complexions of Xie Grace and the rest transformed, and
Xie Mingjin further blurted, “Long-armed racoon!”

Chapter 15.2 - Long-Armed Raccoon

27 Jan 2017

His voice brimmed with fright. Evidently, he knew the terror of this spiritual beast.

The six attendants immediately rushed ahead and placed themselves in front of the
father and son. One of them severely said, “Second lord, young master, quickly
leave!”
His voice didn’t seem loud but brimmed with determination. His five companions
simultaneously drew their blades out, and the six men arranged themselves in a
small, strange formation. Not a single one among them thought of escaping.

“Impossible. They can’t come out in this season.” Xie Mingjin’s voice brimmed
with panic, which surprised He Yiming a lot, ‘Could the strength of these two
spiritual beasts be that far above gold-crowned python’s?’

Xie Grace’s complexion changed a few times before he grabbed his son with one
hand while saying, “Brother He, quickly leave with us.”

He Yiming skeptically glanced at him and said, “Why leave?”

Xie Grace hurriedly said, “These two Long-armed racoons have always been
together. Since one has appeared, the other will certainly be nearby as well.
Without three tenth layer experts, we wouldn’t be able to fend them off. If you stay
here, it will only lead to death.”

His words clearly indicated that he’d given up on the attendants, and all of them,
be it father and son or the attendants themselves, deeply felt that this was the
proper action.

However, He Yiming faintly shook his head and said, “Mr. Xie, you people are
powerless against these two spiritual beast, right?”

“Yes.”

“How about I take on one. It shouldn’t be problem then, right?” He Yiming said
with a faint smile.

“What are you saying……” Xie Grace’s eyes suddenly constricted, because he’d
already seen He Yiming’s movements.

He’d picked up the sword before he opened the long package on the ground. Inside
the package were two long rods, which were even more exaggerated than the blade
itself. He flicked his foot, and the two rods flew into his hand before almost
magically transforming into a almost four meter long gigantic broadsword.

The father and son’s eyes momentarily lost all color. The sudden appearance of
this gigantic blade sent even them into a daze.

Of course, what surprised them was that He Yiming had not tried to use this
opportunity to make his escape, but to make his preparation to battle the spiritual
beasts.
After recovering, they couldn’t help but bitterly smile. A naive, country bumpkin.
If the two spiritual beasts could be killed just by relying on a massive weapon, why
would the three tenth layer experts of Xie family feel such trepidation while facing
these beasts?

Xie Grace took in a deep breath. At this point, his desire to recruit He Yiming had
also lessened a lot. Such an idiot who overestimated his capabilities, regardless of
how talented he might be, he would only die in the end due to his own idiocy, and
during the moment of life-and-death, he would even drag down those nearby.

After all, he could never believe that He Yiming could kill two long-armed racoons
which required three peak Houtian experts to confront them.

Truly a pity, heaven has bestowed such talent upon such an idiot.

“Brother He, since you have decided to stay, we will not bother you. Hope to see
you again,” He faintly cupped his hand, grabbed his son, and turned around while
adding another line inwardly, ‘In the next life.’

However, he’d barely took a step forward when a huge steel rod appeared before
him.

Xie Grace’s eyes sharpened. Delaying at this moment would only lead to death. He
even felt a bit killing intent at this moment.

“Brother He, what’s the meaning of this?”

“Mr. Xie, did you not say that there were two long-armed racoons?” He Yiming
said without turning his head, “There is only one ahead.”

Xie Grace reacted extremely quick and realized his misunderstanding before
trembling inwardly.

Calming and focusing his mind, he looked far in the opposite direction.

There a myriad of trees stood and all sorts of grasses ran rampant in the mountain
forest. Nobody could see any disturbance. However, at the end of the eye’s reach
lay a patch of darkness. As a tenth layer expert, his vision was extremely sharp,
and he could distinctly see something inside this patch.

With a wave of hand, Xie Mingjin brought out a long sword and asked, “Ah…Mr.
He, are you saying one long-armed racoon is behind us?”

He’d first thought of addressing He Yiming as brother. However, as he thought

how his father had addressed the latter as brother himself, he thought better of it.
However, looking at the exceedingly young features of He Yiming, he simply
couldn’t force the word ‘uncle’ out of his throat and settled for Mr. in the end.

He Yiming faintly nodded and withdrew the sword, gently sweeping its steel body
above a big rock on the ground.

This rock had previously been used as a seat by He Yiming. Swept by the blade at
this moment, it issued a whoosh sound as it soared in the opposite direction like
lightning.

A trace of astonishment and envy appeared in Xie Grace’s eyes.

The rock’s weight would be around forty or fifty jins. For a tenth layer expert like
him, this didn’t amount to anything. However, to make it soar this effortlessly
using a sword and with such a speed that it resembled a hidden weapon, this was
not so easy to perform.

Not only did this feat require formidable Internal Energy, even the body’s strength
must have attained a frightening degree.

So this youngster also possesses innate divine strength?

The rock streaked past the trees and leaves. However, when it entered the dense
canopy of a certain gargantuan tree, a fierce roar echoed. Following which, an
intense colliding sound echoed, and countless stone fragments rained down from
the tree.

The complexions of father and son immediately transformed before they both
threw a quick glance at He Yiming. They suddenly discovered that the more they
saw this youngster, the more he seemed unfathomable, ‘Have I really judged him
wrong?’

Perhaps because their whereabouts had been revealed, from the front and the back,
two coarse roars echoed. Following which, two almost identical looking strange
beasts nimbly jumped down from the trees.

Looking at their appearance, He Yiming faintly started.

These were obviously horse and monkey like creatures. Only, their arms were two
meters long. It truly felt quite strange. He couldn’t understand why they were
named raccoons though.

Their arms were extremely long. Thus, they looked extremely nimble when they
operated in the forest- grabbing the trunk of a tree with a casual stretch of their
hands. Even an Internal Energy expert might not have been able to match their
lightning fast jump of just now.
Holding the huge blade, He Yiming said, “Mr. Xie, how about we equally divide
these two guys among our two sides?”

Xie Grace faintly trembled and said, “All right, but please be extremely careful
brother He.”

This moment, he held no contempt for He Yiming and wished with all his heart for
He Yiming to take down one of the two spiritual beasts. Otherwise, under the
pincer ambush of these two long-armed raccoons, even if he somehow managed to
escape, Xie Mingjin and the attendants would die for certain.

He Yiming smilingly nodded. His hand shined as the sword in his hand emitted a
buzzing sound, which was the sound of Internal Energy being imbued on the body
of the blade, exuding a feeling of resonance.

With but a flicker, his body disappeared.

Chapter 16.1 - Fist Concept, Blade

Techniques
28 Jan 2017

After jumping down, the two long-armed racoons didn’t immediately attack.
Rather, they slowly circled about. Perhaps they were teasing or trying to figure out
how this bunch of humans had seen through their plan.

They were unlike humans. In addition to a high wisdom, they also possessed
exceedingly sharp perception. In their perception, the male holding the huge
broadsword exuded a dangerous feeling. In comparison, although the rest were
quite a lot in numbers, they didn’t amount to much.

The racoon in the back gradually opened its mouth. This huge spiritual beast,
which looked hardly any different than a horse-monkey(macaque), stretched its
upper limbs, which were longer than its whole body, and suddenly jumped.
Grabbing an arm-thick branch, it observed the humans before it; its body half-
suspended in the air.

Subsequently, like a ray of light streaking across the horizon, a snow-white color
filled its eyes.

Its wisdom and beastial instinct screamed danger. Its two arms released the branch
before its body curled up as it retreated backwards while its two arms recklessly
struck at its front.
In one jump, He Yiming’s figure had already landed on this spiritual beast’s head.
The broadsword in his hands flickered- appearing and disappearing- as it severely
slashed at the raccoon’s arm.

This was not some secret art or peerless blade technique. It was merely an illusion
created due to the swiftness of He Yiming’s broadsword.

“Bang, bang, bang…”

A burst of acute noises rang out in succession, bringing a painful sensation to the
ears of listeners as if metal had been struck.

Suddenly, the raccoon issued a long screech. Subsequently, its body flew back. In
this series of severe exchanges, the first who had failed to preserve was not He
Yiming, but this long-armed raccoon who had seemed so majestic all along and
had treated the humans before it as weeds.

He Yiming heartily laughed, the sound of which contained an unspeakable feeling

of being rejuvenated. Even as his laughter echoed, his footsteps unceasingly
followed after the retreating raccoon. At the same time, the broadsword in his hand
danced, limiting the path of raccoon to a straight line.

Xie Grace and the rest all had their eyes opened wide. If this scene had not been
playing right in front of their eyes, they wouldn’t have believed it even in their
death.

He Yiming’s blade techniques exuded nothing extraordinary. Every individual

present here could use a broadsword to this degree.

Of course, they didn’t know the true weight of this sword. If they had known that
the weight of this sword exceeded three hundred jins, even Xie Grace wouldn’t
dare think as such.

However, although they didn’t know the blade’s true weight, in any case, they
could clearly see He Yiming forcing the beast into a retreat while it even issued
howls of pain. As such, they could somewhat estimate how much strength this
broadsword actually contained.

In addition to the possession of innate divine strength, this person’s Internal

Energy had reached an exceedingly high realm. This was the only explanation.

Suddenly, a thought struck their mind like lightning.

Tenth layer. Only a tenth layer expert who had the support of innate divine strength
could accomplish this feat.
Suddenly, Xie Grace’s front blurred before he sternly shouted, “Careful!”

Even as the sound of his voice spread, he scuttled out, arriving in front of the
attendants. With a wave, a deft soft-looking sword appeared in his hand. Infused
with his Internal Energy, this flexible sword immediately stretched perfectly
straight while emitting a soft humming sound.

Like a viper, the flexible sword stabbed at the long-armed racoon pouncing at him.
Xie Grace didn’t possess innate divine strength like He Yiming and nor he had that
broadsword, which was so gigantic that even the entire Fire Crow country might
not have its match. Thus, he didn’t dare to directly engage with the long-armed
raccoon. Instead, he skillfully flicked his wrist, aiming straight for the beast’s eyes.

Although spiritual beasts were quite fierce, their eyes were one of the weakest pair
among all creatures. The long-armed raccoon obviously wouldn’t allow the sword
to pierce its eyes. It waved its long arm. Followed by a loud air-cleaving sound, its
palm opened, aiming to grab the sword.

Xie Grace had squandered the major portion of his life on this sword, how could he
fail this easily? His wrist remained as steady as Mt. Tai but the Internal Energy in
the sword suddenly lessened. Suddenly, the perfectly straight and stable sword’s
pointed edge softly bent down.

As the long-armed raccoon grabbed the air, the sword once again erected, again
poking at the eyes of spiritual beast like a viper opening its fangs.

The furious spirit beast brought one hand before its eyes while waving the other
like a long rod, aiming to kill this cunning human on the spot.

With his skill, how could Xie Grace let it happen. His feet performed a set of
wondrous steps, circling around the raccoon’s body as he retreated. At the same
time, the aim of his sword shifted to the ears and other vulnerable parts of the
raccoon which were not far from its eyes.

As for the raccoon’s body, Xie Grace had no intentions of even touching it, and its
two arms were even further out of his consideration.

In this manner, his figure hovered around the raccoon’s body at a lightning fast
speed. Although it appeared quite dangerous, for a short period of time, he
wouldn’t have too much problem protecting himself.

With a heavy countenance, Xie Mingjin softly said, “Defense formation.”

In the wake of his words, the attendants retreated a few steps and arranged
themselves around the former, maintaining a subtle distance between each other.
This formation technique was taught to the core attendants of Xie family from
childhood for the time when they had to confront a high-level cultivator.

In this formation, these eight individuals could even confront a ninth layer expert
for some time.

However, inwardly, they all knew a spiritual beast was not some ninth layer
cultivator. If it acted on them, this formation would not stand a chance. It was
merely a method to comfort themselves in this moment of crisis.

As for helping Xie Grace, although they did harbour such thoughts, they knew
even more clearly that if they involved themselves in the fight, they would be
instead creating more troubles for their second lord.

Such a high-levelled fight was not something they could interfere in.

Hearing the distant successive painful mourns of the long-armed raccoon on one
side, and on the other hand, seeing Xie Grace exerting all his might and barely
resisting the long-armed raccoon here, their faces had turned completely white, ‘In
this forest, where the hell did this youngster come from?’

The attendants who had viewed him in contempt a few moments ago and had
wished to capture him were even more pale. They rejoiced that they had not been
reckless. Otherwise, not to mention the ambush of these two spiritual beast, just
this youngster would have been able to leave their corpses behind.

The broadsword in He Yiming’s hand waved like swift winds and fierce torrents.
Apart from a single straight path, it didn’t allow the spiritual beast to escape
anywhere.

At this moment, he felt completely relaxed- free from all anxiety. The Internal
Energy in his body was surging and rampaging, seeming as if it could burst out any
moment.

Of course, this didn’t signify that he would explode. Rather, it signified an

indistinct, mystical connection of Internal Energy with the external world. He even
felt that if he could maintain this feeling, he might not even need the golden pellet
refined from a five-hundred-year-old spiritual beast to attain the Xiantian realm.

Chapter 16.2
29 Jan 2017

In Tai Cang county, He Yiming had always repressed his true strength because he
didn’t wish his grandfather, father, and other elders to discover his true strength.
The progress of his strength had been too quick- to the extent that even he himself
sometimes felt skeptical. In all honesty, he actually might be treated as a devil for
real. Even if he somehow made them empathize with his situation, the word
‘genius’ alone still wouldn’t be able to cover the explanation.

Consequently, if he had to reveal his fortuitous event at the bottom of the lake, the
further development would spiral out of his control. Therefore, as long as he
remained in the He manor, or even Tai Cang county, he couldn’t help but conceal
his strength. In the passing two years, this had already transformed into an instinct
for him. Although he did a good job of it, it had also changed into an inescapable
giant shadow of his heart.

Like a massive chain, it had been weighing down on him, suffocating him.

However, in these months, braving the wind and dew every day, associating with
wild animals as he walked in the forest, using heavens as his roof and ground as his
bed, he’d been completely carefree and exempt from all worries.

In these three months, his mood had been quite pleasant. Be it physically or
spiritually, he’d not felt any repression at all.

Spiritually in particular, which seemed to have undergone a natural cleansing,

making it pure and bright.

The spiritual repression he’d suffered through the course of two years had been
swept away in one swoop.

Precisely because he was a stranger in this strange place known as Fire Crow
country, which was several thousand li away from Heaven Sieve country, he had
discarded all his concerns and engaged Xie Grace with a completely free mind and
confronted this spiritual beast without concealing his strength at all.

Here, he would not hide, and neither did he need to do so.

His eyes shined brightly while his face had an excited expression, even carrying a
hint of going berserk.

From the beginning of the fight, he’d only used brute force without using any
technique behind it at all. However, at this moment, his sword began to exhibit a
hint of fist concept.

The broadsword surged like a gigantic rolling boulder as it danced in the air while
maintaining the immense pressure on the spiritual beast, seeming endless and
incessant.
He’d never thought of merging the moves of Rolling Boulder Fist into his blade
technique. However, today, he’d indescribably, involuntarily, and unwittingly
accomplished this feat.

While employing the blade with all his skill, the moves of Rolling Boulder Fist, the
technique he’d trained throughout his life, completely integrated with his
broadsword.

This was the fist concept. It was not some fist technique, but the spot where the
profound essence of fist techniques lied.

If He Wude and his other acquaintances were to see this scene, they would be once
again stunned at his display.

“Ha, haha, hahahaha…”

Hearty laughs of contentment and joy echoed. His broadsword was becoming
increasingly swift- producing whistles like wails of ghosts and howls of wolves in
the air.

Rolling Boulder Fist’s characteristic was precisely that more the time of use, more
the might accumulated. As long as the opponent was evenly matched and the user
could ensure that the momentum of Rolling Boulder Fist would continue to build
up, the final victor would always be Rolling Boulder Fist.

Of course, if the opponent could forcibly break it halfway, or use some mysterious
skill and disrupt its momentum gain, that would be a whole different matter.

However, this long-armed raccoon evidently didn’t possess such capability. It was
already trembling at the sight of the broadsword before it. At this moment, it
further discovered that all of the four directions around it had suddenly been
shrouded by the images of the broadsword. Even its path of retreat had also been
obstructed by that flowing water-like blade light.

Regardless of where he tried to breakthrough from, he only found a huge screen of

light. As its impenetrable, iron-hard hands would make contact with this screen, he
felt as if he’d been struck with countless hammers, hurting him to the bones. Not
struggling was out of the question as well, since this blade would occasionally
succeed in breaking the defense of its two arms, smashing its body.

At that moment, the accumulated might of Internal Energy would completely

shake its spirit as if being struck by an iron hammer, making it see stars in the day.
Even its movements would become somewhat sluggish.
In its memories, this was the first time it had felt so close to death, feeling as if
spirits of death were looming around its body, waiting for it to die.

Suddenly, it raised his head high up before its mouth issued a series of unspeakably
shrill cries. As these cries spread around, all the creatures in the vicinity
immediately fled for their life.

At the same time, the long-armed raccoon that was engaging Xie Grace raised its
head and issued a series of similar shrill cries before rushing in the direction where
He Yiming was forcing its partner into retreat.

As its figure disappeared, Xie Grace also stopped. Currently, his clothes had two
long holes. These represented his momentary wishfulness while battling the long-
armed raccoon. Fortunately, he’d always been a cautious person and had not fully
committed. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be his clothes sustaining the damage but his
body.

While confronting such a spiritual beast, relying solely on the light sword didn’t
seem too effective. A broadsword, like He Yiming’s inconceivably huge one,
seemed much more potent. However, using a broadsword to an extent that even
spiritual beasts couldn’t resist- accomplishing such a feat was not possible for
everybody.

“Father,” Seeing that the spiritual beast had left, Xie Mingjin let out a sigh and
advanced two steps while saying, “We should quickly leave.”

A trace of hesitation flickered in Xie Grace’s eyes. He’d seen the direction in
which that spiritual beast had just rushed off and had also heard those cries which
even a deaf person might hear. He naturally understood that spiritual beast’s
objective.

“Father, why are you still thinking about him?” Xie Mingjin shouted, “This is the
best opportunity to escape. Don’t tell me you still intend to help and recruit that He
Yiming?”

Xie Grace glared at him while sighing inwardly, ‘How can you ever understand
your father’s thoughts…’

As he hesitated, Xie Mingjin turned even more anxious, “Father, these two
spiritual beasts had never killed our people in these past two years, why would they
suddenly want to attack us?”

Xie Grace faintly started, “You think it’s related to He Yiming?”

“I also don’t know,” Xie Mingjin bitterly smiled, “However, regardless of how
powerful he is, he won’t be winning over two spiritual beasts. Father, this is our
best opportunity to leave.”

Xie Grace’s brows creased before he suddenly said, “You all leave first, I will go
take a look.”

Xie Mingjin and the rest were about to oppose but Xie Grace waved his hand, “My
expertise lies in sword and agility. Even if those two long-armed raccoons are
together, I can make my escape. However, this wouldn’t be the case with you.
With you troublesome bunch, I wouldn’t be able to escape even if I wanted to.”

Xie Mingjin and the attendants looked at each other’s faces. Xie Grace’s face
stiffened as he sternly said, “You’re still not getting lost? Do you really want to
take me down with you?”

Xie Mingjin left in heavy footsteps. The attendants behind him bowed at Xie
Grace, and one of them said, “Lord, be at ease. Even if we lose our lives, we will
ensure young master’s safe return.”

Xie Grace faintly nodded. The seven attendants immediately followed after Xie
Mingjin.

With their familiarity with this forest, they would only require half a day at most to
return back. In this forest, besides the two long-armed raccoons, nothing could
pose a threat to their group. As such, Xie Grace felt quite assured.

Distantly, the roars of the long-armed raccoon had yet to stop. Instead, they seemed
to have become even louder.

In Xie Grace’s perception, each roar sounded like a toll of death, making his heart
anxious.

Holding the sword, Xie Grace headed in that direction.

Like Xie Mingjin, he also didn’t believe that He Yiming could take on two long-
armed raccoons at once. As such, the reason he was going there was to buy as
much time as possible.

He’d stayed behind not to help He Yiming, but for the sake of his own son.

The species of long-armed raccoons were known to hold a grudge to the extreme.
Since their two sides had already battled once, with their memory, they would
certainly commit all their appearances into their memories. Perhaps, He Yiming
and he would be able to escape. However, if He Yiming fell, these beasts would
again pursue the rest. At that time, Xie Mingjin and the rest would have nowhere
left to go.

Only if they could stall these two beasts here would his son and attendants be able
to return safely. As for himself, if he wished to escape, he certainly held some
certainty.

Xie Mingjin had obviously failed to discern his thinking. However, one of the
attendants had. That was the reason he’d said that line ensuring the safety of Xie
Mingjin.

As he neared the battlefield, his body began to exude an intense aura. He’d already
determined that regardless of the method, he would make sure that these two
spiritual beasts would remain here.

For this objective, even if he had to sacrifice the life of the recently acquainted He
Yiming, he would not hesitate in the slightest.

Chapter 17.1 - Frantic Blade Technique

31 Jan 2017

“Ha….”

Even though Xie Grace had not arrived at the battle scene, he gave a loud shout.

He wished to let He Yiming know that he’d not escaped, so that the latter could
preserve the confidence to continue the battle. At the same time, he also wished to
tell the two spiritual beasts that there is another expert here, ‘Don’t you dare take
advantage of your numbers.’

However, as his aura exploded, covering the heavens, and he appeared out of a big
tree, he was immediately stumped. Of all the countless scenes he’d imagined in his
mind, none even came close to the reality.

As he laid his eyes upon the scene before him, he was somewhat sent into a daze.

This section of the forest had already been destroyed. All the trees had been
uprooted, leaving behind a huge patch of open land.

In this section of open land, three figures were circling around.

In Xie Grace’s perception, these three figures resembled huge boulders which were
chasing after each other.
Among these, the biggest stone emanated an intense white radiance, enveloping the
ground and issuing indistinct stormy sounds.

In the forest, the sunshine wouldn’t have been reflected so brightly before.
However, currently, all the surrounding trees had been cleared, and thus, sunrays
were falling straight down on the broadsword, dazzling the eyes of the spectator.

The two comparatively smaller, dark spheres were not rocks, but the long-armed
raccoons that had no choice but to keep track with He Yiming’s broadsword. They
wished to jump above, but the broadsword seemed to be completely seeing through
every movement they made, keeping them strictly at ground. He Yiming had
forced these two spiritual beasts to fumble about the ground in humiliation. Since
the beginning, they never obtained a chance to exhibit their strong points.

Due to this situation, Xie Grace felt as if three rocks were rolling about the ground.

Although his strength was inferior to He Yiming’s, as soon as he saw the situation,
he immediately understood that the upper hand had not been claimed by the two
spiritual beasts, but this youngster he’d recently met.

The astonishment he felt this moment was indeed hard to explain in words.

If he couldn’t tell that He Yiming was the highest level, peak tenth layer, Houtian
expert even at this moment, he would have lived his life in vain.

However, a tenth layer expert who is not even eighteen…

Pursing his lips, he speechlessly smiled inwardly, ‘Which rock’s crack has popped
out such an expert?’

After closely observing the battle for while, Xie Grace’s complexion changed even
more.

He Yiming is a tenth layer expert, fine. However, an ordinary tenth layer expert,
even if he encounters only one long-armed raccoon, can only look to make his
escape.

However, relying solely on his broadsword, He Yiming had been able to strictly
restrict the movements of these two raccoons within the blade rays.

Slowly but surely, from He Yiming’s blade rays, Xie Grace could perceive a
mysterious pressure. He suddenly realized that this was the essence of metal type.

The broadsword in He Yiming’s hand was not using any exquisite blade technique,
but rather a kind of strength stemmed from the true essence. Only after grasping
the fundamental essence of a certain technique would one be able to exhibit that
technique to such level.

Although he’d not been able to recognize He Yiming’s modified Rolling Boulder
Blade technique, he could sense the profound fist concept embedded in this blade
technique.

Xie Grace’s complexion paled. Capable of exhibiting a battle skill to this level,
‘Where on earth has this guy learned from? Or is this technique actually invented
by him…..’

As he was lost in his thoughts, two loud howls jolted him awake.

Xie Grace trembled inwardly. He couldn’t tell whether these raccoons were
extremely furious or frightened. He took a deep breath and prepared to help He
Yiming; the flexible sword in his hand jumping about like a viper.

While in battle, He Yiming had already taken notice of Xie Grace before the latter
had arrived at the scene.

However, he couldn’t guess the latter’s true intentions and was still under the
impression that latter was concerned for his safety. As such, he naturally saw Xie
Grace in a slightly more favourable light.

These two long-armed beasts were indeed spiritual beasts who possessed great
strength.

However, after fighting for so long, He Yiming could tell that they were quite
inferior to that gold-crowned python. In terms of strength at least, these two might
not be as powerful as the gold-crowned python even if taken into consideration
combined.

The gold-crowned python could directly grasp the broadsword, forcing He Wude,
who possessed innate divine strength, into retreat time and time again. Moreover, it
had accomplished this feat under the influence of anaesthetic drug. Even He
Yiming couldn’t help but admire that unaccountable strength.

However, these two long-armed racoons evidently paled in comparison. Their

strength lied in their rock-solid body and bones, and nimble movements patterns.

Even if He Yiming landed the broadsword on their body, it would only leave
behind a white scar at the point of contact.

However, since they couldn’t suppress He Yiming with strength, He Yiming was
naturally able to employ the might of the broadsword to the extreme. The weapon
weighing three hundred and sixty jins seemed weightless in his hand. It had formed
a gigantic net of light, confining them within.

Only a broadsword could accomplish this feat. If the might of the weapon had been
slightly less, these beasts could have escaped in return for some pain, and He
Yiming wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it.

Of course, if He Yiming had not abruptly comprehended the fist concept of Rolling
Boulder Fist and integrated it into his blade technique, accomplishing this feat
would have been simply impossible for him.

However, what worried He Yiming was that although the battle seemed quite
flashy, neither of the sides had sustained any substantial injury. Under his pressure,
the two long-armed raccoons were obviously unable to injure him. However, he
too could only suppress them. Injuring them relying on Houtian battle skills
evidently seemed impossible.

Suddenly, he felt a strong aura. The flexible sword in Xie Grace’s hand gently
swayed, seeming as if he could enter the fight at any moment.

He Yiming was slightly alarmed inwardly. Under these circumstances, an increase

in numbers was not necessarily a good option. On the contrary, the lag that would
occur during the formation of their mutual coordination might even allow the
raccoons to escape the net.

“Mr. Xie, leave these two raccoons to me,” He Yiming’s clear voice sounded from
the battlefield, “I will trouble you to hold the rear line and prevent these two from
escaping.”

The flexible sword in Xie Grace’s hand slightly shook as he smilingly said, “All
right. I will act as your rear guard brother He. However, be careful, these two
spiritual beast have exceedingly endurant bodies. If you wish to fight them by
tiring out each other, I’m afraid you will not have your wish fulfilled.”

He Yiming heartily laughed, “So this is the case. Many thanks for showing the
correct direction.” Inwardly, he suddenly understood why despite fighting for so
long and sustaining so many blade strikes, these raccoons had merely issued howls
of pain, which had always seemed full of energy. Moreover, their movements
hadn’t dulled in the slightest, seeming extremely smooth and capable of continuing
forever.

Chapter 17.2
02 Feb 2017
Since it’s like this, let’s settle it directly….

The battlefield suddenly changed. That flowing water like boundless blade
technique suddenly ceased to operate. The light, which had seemingly shrouded
everything, was suddenly reduced to one respondent thread, lingering over He
Yiming’s head.

After enduring the suppression for so long, when the pressure on them suddenly
disappeared, the two spiritual beasts were naturally overjoyed. Moreover, enduring
for so long had also thoroughly ignited their fury. As soon as the pressure was
lifted, they issued furious roars and immediately wanted to tear apart the human
who was the cause of their suppression.

However, as soon as they straightened their body, they felt an intense sense of
deadly crisis.

Spiritual beasts could innately communicate with heaven and earth through some
mysterious force.

It was just like Xiantian cultivators among humans, who could comprehend
Worldly Qi. However, unlike humans, spiritual beasts didn’t practise cultivation
and only relied on time to slowly build their strength.

However, all spiritual beasts possessed extremely keen spiritual sense. This
spiritual sense allowed them to pursue fortune and avoid dangers. Especially while
confronting a life-threatening danger, it issued a clear, premature indication.

That gold-crowned python had hesitated over and over again before swallowing
the wolves. This was certainly not a normal beastial instinct. If not for its insatiable
greed for food and the fact that the wolves weren’t poisoned in true sense, it would
never have swallowed those dead animals.

Therefore, as they sensed the current aura on He Yiming’s body, their fierceness
immediately disappeared, leaving behind only one thought- to turn around and flee
as soon as possible.

However, right as they heeded this thought and were about to act, their body
suddenly turned cold, as if they had suddenly entered an ice cellar, no longer able
to even budge.

A ferocious, baleful aura hid the sky and shrouded the ground, completely
enveloping their ability to react.

Holding the broadsword, He Yiming’s both hands lifted up above his head.
At this moment, his body exuded a feeling of a deity looking over the world, and
his aura like billowing waves.

Holding the huge blade high in the air, his slanted shadow seemed to be
boundlessly extending into the forest. It seemed as if this blade could extend to the
infinity, capable of splitting apart the heavens and earth, capable of cleaving this
entire forest into two parts.

Under the sunlight, the one-meter long head of the blade shone with a dazzling
resplendency.

[Splitting Mountain Thirty-Six Forms] twelfth form.

This form was the strongest form among the Houtian ones.

From the twelfth form, the subsequent forms couldn’t be employed by a Houtian
cultivator. To learn and cultivate the subsequent forms, one would have to attain
the Xiantian realm first.

The might of the twelfth form was the strongest a human could bring about while
being in Houtian realm. Such a might was already infinitesimally close to Xiantian
realm.

Of course, it was still somewhat inferior to that gold-crowned python slayer strike.
However, the repercussions of using this form were also much better than that of
the former.

As He Yiming lifted the broadsword high in the air, not only had the two spiritual
beasts felt as if they had fell into the death stare of a viper, even Xie Grace, who
was standing not too far away, felt himself shivering from head to toe.

With his discerning eye, he could naturally see the might that this form contained.

Xiantian battle skill; only a Xiantian battle skill, which had further been studied to
the peak of Houtian realm, could release such a frightening aura.

At this moment, he’d eventually understood the reason He Yiming could tangle
with two spiritual beasts relying on his own strength. He was not only a peak, tenth
layer expert, but one who had also learned a Xiantian battle skill and was
infinitesimally close to the Xiantian realm.

Compared to breaking through the tenth layer, learning a Xiantian battle skill
prematurely in Houtian realm was much more difficult.
Xie family had altogether three tenth layer experts. However, among these three,
only one had been able to learn a Xiantian battle skill, and that person was his elder
brother Xie Nuanhang.

This was precisely the reason his elder brother had inherited the command of the
family.

In the absence of an Xiantian battle skill, confronting a spiritual beast would

require at least two tenth layer experts working together. On the other hand, if a
tenth layer expert had learned a Xiantian battle skill, regardless of how petty it was,
he could deal easily with a long-armed raccoon.

Of course, experts like He Yiming, who could suppress two long-armed raccoons
relying merely on ordinary techniques, were extremely rare.

Such a genius who could grasp the true essence of a certain battle skill would
definitely become an exceedingly illustrious character in the future. One could say
that such an individual was an otherworldly person only seen once in centuries.
How could ordinary people match him?

Xie Grace’s eyes slightly twitched. A less than eighteen-year-old, tenth layer
cultivator; a genius who had grasped the essence of a metal-type battle skill and
even a Xiantian battle skill.

If not for seeing it with his own eyes, he would never have believed the existence
of such a genius.

He Yiming’s eyes blazed as he suddenly issued a roar before the broadsword in his
hands swiftly struck.

High in the air, although the broadsword struck in an downward arc, the two
spiritual beasts before He Yiming felt as if their surroundings had frozen, strictly
holding them at their positions like a giant rope.

The moment the broadsword chopped down, they felt completely incapable of
escaping regardless of the direction, and instead, they seemed to be perpetuating
the blade’s aura.

The two long-armed raccoons simultaneously howled, rippling outwards and going
far deep into the forest, bringing a dense hopelessness with it.

Subsequently, the four arms lifted high in the air. Even though they were under an
immense pressure, they wouldn’t give up without a fight.

The gigantic broadsword transformed into a streak of white rainbow, overlapping

and shrouding the four arms.
Momentarily, that meteor-like rainbow stopped.

However, at that very moment, the blade once again chopped down.

Subsequently, the radiant rainbow fiercely burst forth. Xie Grace involuntarily
closed his eyes due the seemingly omnipresent white radiance.

This had already stepped beyond the capability of a Houtian expert. This
represented a kind of resonance with the heavens and earth which only a Xiantian
expert could attain.

Although this blade strike contained a blade technique pertaining to Houtian realm,
at the same time, it was infinitesimally close to Xiantian realm. Thus, it triggered
an extremely faint resonance with the heavens and earth, creating this bizarre and
mystical scene.

As this seemingly illusory scene disappeared, Xie Grace eventually opened his
eyes.

The scene in front of him was a spectacle that would remain forever in his
memories.

The arms of the raccoons, which were even harder than steel, had been rigidly
chopped off. In addition to this, the blade had not stopped at this point. Taking the
two gibbons with it, it had entered halfway into the soil.

The two heads of the long-armed raccoons were powerlessly dangling. Xie Grace
could tell at a glance that these two raccoons’ internal organs had suffered a severe
impact; wordless and instantaneous deaths.

The might of this strike was far beyond their endurance, rendering them incapable
to even issue the final cry before death.

The heaven shrouding white light had completely disappeared. A few meters away
from the two corpses, He Yiming stood holding the broadsword; his eyes focused
on the head of the blade, as if contemplating something, not even paying attention
to the two dead long-armed raccoons at all.

Xie Grace felt himself tongue-tied and as if his feet had been filled with lead.

Apparently, he could still see a patch of white before him. That indescribable,
peerless blade strike seemed to have frozen his blood and stopped its circulation,
completely stiffening his body as if he’d already died.
Although that strike was not directed at him and he’d only been subjected to its
influence, it was enough to make him, a tenth layer expert, to give up on all
thoughts of resisting.

This was the strength of Xiantian realm. In front of the strength brought about with
the help of Xiantian realm’s Qi, a Houtian cultivator was simply defenseless.

Of course, he could also indistinctly tell that He Yiming had not really broken
through into Xiantian realm.

However, since he’d learned a Xiantian skill, to the point of almost touching the
boundary of Xiantian realm, such a circumstantial, mystical transformation had
been triggered.

If he was truly a Xiantian cultivator, why would he tangle with two long-armed
raccoons, which didn’t even have a lifespan of five hundred years, for so long.

However, even though this was the case, he was thoroughly convinced by He
Yiming’s might.

This moment, he had no thoughts except for establishing good relationship with He
Yiming.

‘The talent which I had no use for, shall be extinguished by me…..’ All such
unrealistic thoughts had gradually disappeared from his mind.

In front of absolute strength, all tricks and schemes are nothing more than
delusions.

Looking at the youngster before him, who had entered a deep contemplation, Xie
Grace was completely motionless. He simply didn’t dare make any movements,
lest he disturb the former’s thoughts.

In his eyes, the figure of this youngster had started to gradually rise, going up to
the extent that he even felt admiration for the latter.

Suddenly, he heard sounds of footsteps behind him. He turned his head and saw his
son and the attendants, who had already left, rushing towards him in large strides.

He inwardly cursed ‘not good’. His vision returned just in time to see He Yiming
lifting his head; an annoyed and dangerous glint flickering in his eyes.

Chapter 18.1 - Returning Favour

03 Feb 2017
The shade of trees and mist shrouded the forest as the autumn wind rustled
through.

Xie Mingjin, who had rushed away from the battlefield with all his might,
suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Behind him were seven attendants of Xie residence. These attendants were either
orphans adopted by the Xie family or the successors of their great grand ancestors
who had themselves served the Xie family.

If they were discovered to possess cultivation talent, they would be bestowed with
Internal Energy cultivation techniques. However, their final accomplishments were
quite limited. Attaining the seventh layer was already considered quite
extraordinary for them.

This was not only related to their talent and provided techniques, but also to the
limited allocations of resources to them.

However, the attendants raised by such means were nevertheless extremely loyal
and devoted to the Xie residence and wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice their lives for
the family’s cause. They were far more dependant than the spongers who were
only attracted by the riches and power.

This moment, as Xie Mingjin suddenly stopped, the forty-year-old attendant who
held the most seniority in their group cupped his hands and said, “Elder young
master, this place is not safe. You should quickly leave.”

A peculiar glint flickered in Xie Mingjin’s eyes as he asked in a lowered voice,

“Xie Mingsan, tell me honestly, why did father go there?”

That middle-aged attendant faintly started, then bitterly smiled and said, “Young
master, since your father has already decided, you don’t need to rack your brains,
and quickly get out of this place.”

Xie Mingjin glared at him once and said, “So, father has not gone to recruit that
person but to stall the long-armed raccoons?”

Xie Mingsan didn’t utter a word.

Xie Mingjin snorted, turned around, and left. Xie Mingsan immediately blocked
his path and said, “Elder young master, you can’t go back. Otherwise, all of the
lord’s effort will be in vain.”

A faint killing intent flickered in Xie Mingjin’s eyes as he said, “Xie Mingsan, you
are a father’s personally selected attendant. Don’t tell me you will silently watch
him throwing his life away?”
Xie Mingsan faintly shook his head. His gaze quite calm, not evading the former’s
at all, “Elder young master, calm down a bit. The lord’s words were correct. If you
go, you will only be a burden to him. With you away, the lord’s chances of
escaping will increase by a lot.”

Xie Mingjin coldly said, “If my father doesn’t come back, then?”

“Impossible,” Xie Mingsan faintly shook his head and said, “I believe the lord will
certainly come back.”

After pausing a bit, Xie Mingjin slowly said, “If father doesn’t come back, I will
enter the mountains and challenge those two long-armed raccoons myself.”

Everybody blankly stared. With his insignificant strength of seventh layer, entering
the mountains and battling the two long-armed raccoons was simply following the
path to his own death.

If Xie Grace truly didn’t return, he wouldn’t be the only one dying.

Xie Mingjin’s took a deep breath and said, “All right, I will follow you all…”
Saying up to here, he suddenly exerted his feet and circumvented Xie Mingsan,
rushing ahead.

The complexions of the seven attendants instantly paled before one of them asked,
“What should we do?”

Xie Mingsan’s figure moved, following after the Xie Mingjin while saying,
“Chase.”

The seven attendants simultaneously chased after the latter. However, they all had
varying thoughts inwardly.

Although Xie Mingjin was their elder young master, he possessed an outspoken,
straightforward temperament, unlike other members of influential families’ young
generation. Moreover, his way of dealing with affairs was somewhat that of taking
everything for granted. If he’d been born in an ordinary clan, this kind of
temperament wouldn’t have amounted to much. However, in a clan that possessed
a legacy of millenniums, this wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

The reason Xie Grace had entered the forest was to actually teach him the law of
the jungle. However, from the present scene, it seemed it hadn’t been too useful.

As the trouble reached up to the neck, the elder young master had failed to heed
reason in the end. Even though he clearly understood that he would worsen the
situation by going there, he was still not willing to quietly leave.
Although the cultivation of the seven attendants and that of Xie Mingjin was the
same, both at the seventh layer, the techniques they had learned differed vastly.
Especially, the agility technique which Xie Grace had imparted to his son. It was
far out of their reach. Fortunately, Xie Mingjin’s experience was quite lacking and
had to pause again and again in order to confirm the direction. Otherwise, they
would have been left far behind.

At the beginning of the chase, they had felt extremely anxious. However, in the
end, they had instead calmed down.

They had already given up on their lives when they had first encountered the long-
armed raccoons. Currently, it merely amounted to a bit of delay, nothing more.

As the group eventually scuttled out from behind a big tree, they first saw a section
of open land and also a strange scene on the ground.

He Yiming’s entire attention was focused on the blade. A few moments ago, the
twelfth form of [Splitting Mountain Thirty-Six Mountains] had surprisingly
aroused a certain power in the void. The profound mysteries of such a power that
originated from the nature itself were simply inconceivable.

He clearly knew that although this strike was quite powerful, it shouldn’t have
been able to directly sever the arms of long-armed raccoons, killing them instantly.

The reason it could accomplish this feat was that, at the time of its deployment, it
aroused a certain force of heavens and earth, creating a miraculous effect.

Killing two spiritual beasts in one blade strike, this was definitely the might
pertaining to Xiantian realm.

However, this strike was the result of He Yiming infusing the Rolling Boulder Fist
into his blade, then building up its might for a long time, and eventually using a
Xiantian blade technique for an instantaneous deployment.

This strike not only contained the might of [Splitting Mountain Thirty-Six Forms],
but also the accumulated might of Rolling Boulder Fist. Precisely because he’d
assimilated the two into one, he’d been able to arouse the unfathomable and
mysterious Worldly Qi.

If the circumstances were to be changed, allowing He Yiming to use the [Splitting

Mountain Thirty-Six Forms] since the beginning, it definitely wouldn’t bring forth
such immense might.
However, since the might of this move had stepped beyond the limits of Houtian
realm’s boundaries, triggering a response from the Worldly Qi, a mere trace of
Xiantian realm’s power in his blade strike had instantly killed two spiritual beasts.

An exceedingly high leveled blade strike had allowed He Yiming to sense the
Worldly Qi for the first time. For a Houtian cultivator, this was an extremely rare
insight. Momentarily, all thoughts in He Yiming’s mind had vanished, and he’d
completely immersed in comprehending that feeling.

Although his surroundings hadn’t undergone any change, in his perception, the
wind of the forest or rather the sound of faintly swaying trees carried by the wind,
and even the slender world of insects which lay hidden in the vegetation, exuded a
mysterious feeling.

In his spiritual perception, this world constituted a fictitious setting. He didn’t need
to open his eyes to explore his surroundings, and his explorations were far more
vivid and real than the capabilities of an eye.

The current him seemed to be like his former self, when he’d eavesdropped on Xu
Right and others in the Xu castle.

At that time, he’d used his hearing power to create a three dimensional image in
his mind. However, that image seemed amateurish in front of the current one. The
two simply couldn’t even be compared.

As he was indulged in this mysterious perception, he suddenly sensed an

overflowing killing intent before several quickly rushing people appeared in his
perception, coming towards him. The appearance of these people seemed to have
cause a sudden disruption in his spiritual sense, jolting him out of this mystical
realm.

He suddenly lifted his head; his gaze involuntarily carrying a trace of malice
towards Xie Mingjin and the rest.

However, the latter didn’t pay attention to him and emotionally shouted, “Father,
are you alright?”

Xie Grace’s complexion turned as pale as possible. He’d faintly perceived He

Yiming’s situation. Being disturbed during such a rare moment of insight, if He
Yiming turned out be short-tempered, he could easily kill them all to vent his
anger.

With the strength He Yiming had recently revealed, even if the latter didn’t use
that exceedingly frightening Xiantian battle skill, he could easily leave behind both
the father and son for all eternity.
However, he never expected that after hearing Xie Mingjin’s voice, He Yiming’s
expression not only didn’t show any signs of flaring up, it even seemed to be
calming down extremely quickly.

Xie Mingjin’s cry had reminded him of the familial love. He’d already been away
from He manor for three months now. After two months, it will be the new year.
Although his agreement with his grandfather stated his return within three years,
he’d already decided to spend the new year at his home.

Only three months had passed since he’d left his homeland for the first time, but
he’d already started to feel concern about his family members.

Although previously, he used to enter closed-door cultivation for several months

straight, only after he left the manor did he realize that these two situations were
completely different.

Xie Mingjin’s cry for his father immediately touched his soft spot, and thus, he
naturally failed to preserve his anger.

Seeing Xie Grace’s pale complexion, Xie Mingjin immediately paled himself in
fright before quickly rushing to his father, “Father….”

Chapter 18.2
04 Feb 2017

Xie Mingsan and the rest also arrived, but their reaction was unlike Xie Mingjin’s.
As soon as they appeared, they immediately encircled the father-son duo, arranging
themselves in a rudimentary battle formation. However, as their vision fell upon
the two raccoons, which were halfway through into the ground, especially the four
severed arms, their expressions changed vividly.

Severing the arms of renowned long-armed raccoons, such a feat had already
stepped beyond their imagination.

In their minds, although the light sword of their second lord was quite formidable,
if the latter wished to accomplish this feat, it would be merely a wishful fantasy.

Subsequently, the eyes of the seven attendants simultaneously shifted onto the
four-meter long, thick, bulky, and unimaginably large weapon. Looking at their
second lord’s pale complexion, then looking at He Yiming’s mighty appearance,
even a fool could guess the killer of the two long-armed raccoons which lay on the
ground.
Xie Grace let out sigh of relief, feeling ashamed inwardly. His face regained some
color as he said, “Esteemed brother He, are you…..alright?”

Xie Mingjin’s and the rest immediately had their eyes opened wide, feeling
skeptical whether they had heard correct, ‘Second lord is using honorifics?’

Even in the family, he conversed in this manner only before his great uncle, who
resided at the tenth layer’s peak and had already been living in seclusion for many
years.

However, as they looked again at the spiritual beasts, which lay in the pool of their
own blood, they felt this didn’t seem too unreasonable.

He Yiming candidly smiled and twisted his wrist a few times. The huge
broadsword immediately split in three parts. However, every one of these parts was
by itself more than one meter long. Even in its first form, just the long blade was
enough to make it a stand alone, tyrannical weapon.

“Mr. Xie, be at ease, I’m completely fine,” He patted his chest and casually said,
“We will follow our previous agreement.”

Xie Grace faintly started and asked, “What agreement?”

He Yiming’s complexion slightly sank as he said, “We agreed to divide the two
beasts each between our sides, and thus, the harvests would also be one for each.”

Xie Grace revealed a slight astonishment before he repeatedly nodded and said,
“Since brother He is so generous, this surnamed Xie conveys his sincere
gratitude.”

Although these two beasts had first been discovered by the Xie family, in the
forest, one has to abide the law of the forest- weak are for the strong to prey upon.
Since these two beasts had been killed by He Yiming, Xie Grace never thought of
stealing a tiger’s prey. However, now that the other side had complied with the
previous verbal agreement, the surprise and joy he was feeling at this moment
didn’t need to be mentioned.

He Yiming stretched his hand and pulled out the two spiritual beasts from the
ground.

However, after observing the beasts for some time, He Yiming felt himself at a
loss. He’d absolutely no clue how to deal with this situation.

Xie Grace thought for a moment before stepping forward, “Is brother He worrying
about how to deal with these beasts?”
“That’s right,” He Yiming unhesitatingly said, “I wish to extract its inner core and
refine it into gold cores. However, I don’t know how to do it.” (Tl: pellet —->
core)

Xie Grace cordially said, “Our Xie family started out by concocting pills. With a
legacy of millenniums, we have some knowledge in this field. If you are willing to
take a leap of faith, allow our family to deal with this long-armed raccoon. Within
a month at most, we can complete the process and hand over the gold cores, fur,
skin, and other items to you.”

He Yiming was faintly astonished inwardly, “Mr. Xie, your family can refine gold
cores ?”

Xie Grace’s voice brimmed with confidence as he said, “I can guarantee you that
in Fire Crow country, our Xie family is the most accomplished in refining gold
cores.”

He Yiming hesitated inwardly. However, after thinking for while, he made his
decision.

From his grandfather, he already knew that an inner core couldn’t be consumed
directly. It must be first refined into golden cores, only then would it benefit a
cultivator in breaking through a bottleneck.

However, refining gold cores was no easy task. Previously, in order to refine the
gold-crowned python’s inner core, they had to spend half a year merely to prepare
the supplementary ingredients. Even after that, in his grandfather’s words, it was
the gates of fortune smiling on their He family that made the refining process a
success.

Hereby, it could be seen that the process of refining gold cores didn’t have a high
success rate, whereas the cost of the process was extremely high.

However, the words that came out of Xie Grace’s mouth told a different story. He
could complete the refining process within a month and even felt quite certain
about it. This made He Yiming feel quite amazed and even moved.

“Mr. Xie, if your noble family can truly refine gold cores, this surnamed He is
willing to divide half of them with you. Moreover, the long-armed raccoon’s other
parts are also not needed.”

Xie Grace chuckled and said, “Brother He is too courteous. Since your esteemed
self has already gifted one of the two long-armed raccoons to our family, if we
can’t even do this much for you, will there be anything left of our face as one of
the Fire Crow country’s four big influential families?”
With a wave of his hand, the attendants stepped forward. However, they didn’t
disembowel the beasts immediately. Instead, they collected the corpses. The four
severed arms were further collected by them with extreme caution.

At this point, Xie Grace seemed to have remembered something. He turned his
head and asked, “Mingjin, didn’t you leave? Why are you back here?”

Xie Mingjin was immediately tongue-tied. He fumbled about, not uttering a word.

Xie Mingsan stepped forward and said, “Second lord, after going halfway through,
elder young master had to return to help you at all costs. We lowly people couldn’t
stop the young master. Please grant our punishment.”

Xie Mingjin and the other attendants lowered their heads, not uttering a word.

Xie Grace turned his head back and said, “Brother He, I wish to take a look at
these two beast’s lair. Then, we will immediately return to refine your golden
cores. What do you say?”

He Yiming naturally had no objections.

Xie Grace continued, “Mingjin, you all wait here. We will return soon.”

Xie Mingjin and the rest obviously respectfully agreed. Since the two long-armed
raccoons didn’t exist here, no other creature would be able to pose a threat to Xie
Grace with his strength.

Xie Grace was evidently a notch above He Yiming in terms of agility. Of course,
this was also related to He Yiming carrying a three hundred and sixty jin heavy
weapon.

At this point, Xie Grace’s heart had somewhat calmed down. If he couldn’t beat
this youngster in his strongest aspect, agility, his martial heart truly might have
crumbled apart.

He Yiming curiously asked, “Mr. Xie, is something not to your liking?”

Xie Grace shook his head and said, “I sure have disgraced myself before brother
He. I am merely concerned about that child Mingjin.”

“Brother Mingjin?” He Yiming astoundedly asked, “Brother Mingjin is so kind

and righteous - not willing to escape leaving you behind. Why are you still
concerned about him?”

Xie Grace bitterly smiled, “Brother He, Mingjin is too impulsive. He clearly knew
that his presence here would only increase our troubles, but he still came back.
Although currently, it does seem that he values comradeship a lot, if he were to
take the lead of Xie family in the future, I’m afraid our family’s legacy of
thousands of years will be cut at his hands.”

He Yiming blinked his eyes. Although he didn’t agree with Xie Grace completely,
he’d acknowledged his meaning inwardly.

This kind of nature from the perspective of running a knight’s errand seemed fine,
but from the perspective of inheriting a big clan, it was not too good.

Unwittingly, He Yiming’s impression of Xie Mingjin turned quite favourable.

However, he failed to notice that after turning his head back, a peculiar glint
flickered in Xie Grace’s eyes.

Chapter 19.1 Pulpless Fruits

05 Feb 2017

The color of the sky had evidently started to darken. However, it didn’t affect He
Yiming and Xie Grace much. With their strength, even if the color of the sky
turned completely dark, they could easily see their surroundings with the help of
starlight.

After a hour, Xie Gracing, who was leading the way, eventually stopped and
pointed at a huge tree, “We’re here.”

He Yiming felt apprehensive inwardly. At the time of leaving, this man had
claimed an early return before Xie Mingjin and rest. However, they had
continuously rushed through the forest for an hour before finally arriving at the lair
of the long-armed raccoons. Adding in the time to return, this simply couldn’t even
be associated with an early return.

He faintly shook his head. However, since they had already arrived, he’d no
intentions of complaining.

“Mr. Xie, why you wished to come here? Is there some treasure here?” He Yiming
said with a chuckle.

Xie Grace said in a grave voice, “Whether there is treasure or not is hard to say.
However, I’ve come here due to seek confirmation of the words contained in a
certain medical book of my clan.”

He Yiming was quite curious but since the counterpart had said clan’s book, he felt
too awkward to ask another question.
Xie Grace arrived underneath the tree. With a slight jump, his body quickly
climbed up the tree. After a few moments, his pleasantly surprised voice could be
heard down below, “Brother He, quickly come up. We’ve found some good stuff.”
He Yiming faintly started before binding the broadsword with the vine strips.

These vines were rather unique, perfect for binding the broadsword. However,
climbing up while such a heavy weapon made him feel quite sour.

As Internal Energy covered every part of his body, the strong feeling of being
pushed downwards gradually disappeared. Subsequently, He Yiming quickly
climbed up like Xie Grace had done a few moments ago.

Amidst the dense clusters of trees and branches, He Yiming suddenly spotted a
treehouse.

The only noticeable aspect about this tree house was its immense size. Its interior
contained thick, bulky branches placed horizontally across. This treehouse was
quite simple. Even those mud huts of common people on the surface seemed far
more glamorous than it.

Upon finding this tree house, Xie Grace’s face was slightly flushed due to
excitement.

He Yiming immediately understood that the former had found something truly
good. Otherwise, with his shrewd temperament, he wouldn’t have showed such
emotions.

After a few twists and turns, He Yiming arrived beside Xie Grace. Not too far
away from the top end of the treehouse, he could see ten green colored fruits
growing down.The size of these fruits was not big at all- hardly different than the
fist of a grown man. However, somehow, they were causing He Yiming to feel like
plucking them and take a bite.

“Mr. Xie, which fruit is this?” He Yiming gravely asked.

“This is pulpless fruit. According to the book, this kind of fruit only grows on a
tree that is more than three thousand years old,” Xie Grace suppressed the
excitement in his heart and said, “Not only this, only if a spirit beast lives on such a
tree for a hundred years will such a fruit be born.”

He Yiming threw a quick glance at the treehouse and immediately understood that
it was made by the two long-armed raccoons. He hadn’t expected long-armed
raccoons to be possess such wisdom.

“What is the use of such a fruit?”

“This thing is extremely useful,” Xie Grace took in breath, “Originally, these two
long-armed raccoons wouldn’t have taken initiative to attack us humans, especially
since we were big in numbers. As long as we hadn’t provoked them or entered
their territory, it would have been completely safe.”

He Yiming nodded. If it wasn’t safe, Xie Grace wouldn’t have come in the forest
with his son and attendants.

“Brother He, today, these two long-armed raccoons suddenly appeared and
surrounded us from both sides, wishing to kill us all. This is quite queer. Do you
know why it happened?”

He Yiming faintly trembled inwardly, “Does it have something to do with these

pulpless fruits?”

“Correct. A pulpless fruit is born on an ancient tree and receives breath of a

spiritual beast for a hundred years. Thus, it has miraculous effects. If a spiritual
beast swallows it directly, it could certainly increase its physical strength and
spiritual Qi. However, after consuming the fruit, its blood and qi will be
stimulated, making its temperament aggressive. In this state, it could easily attack
harmless creatures.”

He Yiming unhurriedly nodded. However, inwardly, he supplemented, ‘Although

these raccoons tried to kill us after swallowing the fruit, it can’t really be said as
attacking harmless creatures.’

Not to mention him killing the two beasts, even Xie family had been planning to
kill them for so long. If not for their adequate strength, Xie family wouldn’t have
allowed them to trespass on their lands.

He had a feeling that precisely because these two long-armed raccoons recognized
Xie Grace and rest had they taken the initiative to attack their group after
consuming the fruits. His appearance here was merely a coincidence, and because
of this coincidence, these two long-armed raccoons had to lose their lives.

Xie Grace didn’t pay attention to He Yiming’s expression and unhurriedly

continued, “Apart from increasing the strength of spiritual beasts, pulpless fruits
has another significant use. They will increase the success rate of refining our long-
armed raccoons’ inner cores.”

He Yiming’s shook inwardly before asking, “Mr. Grace, how much do they
increase the success rate?”
Xie Grace pondered, then confidently said, “Normally, it’s around eighty percent.
However, now that we’ve obtained this rare fruit, it should increase to ninety
percent.”

He Yiming calmed his surging heart. Sighing inwardly, he thought if his

grandfather knew that the efficiency was ninety percent how would he feel? Even
without pulpless fruits, the eighty percent efficiency was quite high. Xie Grace had
taken the initiative to refine the gold cores because he was brimming with
confidence, which was backed by his clan’s legacy of millenniums.

Lightly exerting himself, Xie Grace’s body jumped up like a light feather floating
in air before he reached out with his hand, plucking down all ten fruits one after
another in one swift motion.

Subsequently, he took out two square, blue cloth strips. Dividing the ten fruits into
two equal parts, he made two wrappings.

Offering one wrapping to He Yiming, he said, “Brother He, finders are keepers.
We will divide this equally.”

He Yiming faintly started before declining, “Mr. Xie, I have no use for this thing.
Since your noble family possess a medicinal legacy, it would be better to leave
them in the safekeeping of your noble residence.”

Xie Grace chuckled and said, “Brother He, you are looking down on this thing’s
value too much,” Restraining his smile, he continued in a lowered voice, “This
thing’s value is not one bit below that of a golden core.”

He Yiming was inwardly alarmed, involuntarily revealing a trace of unconvinced

expression.

Xie Grace could tell the former’s thoughts from his expression. He smilingly said,
“Brother He, actually the most important use of the pulpless fruits is not to increase
the success rate of refining inner cores of long-armed raccoons.”

He Yiming suddenly realized and astounded said, “Could it be…..this thing can
also be used to increase the efficiency of refining inner cores of other spiritual
beasts?”

“Correct,” Xie Grace said, pleased with He Yiming’s reaction, “Refining inner
cores to gold cores, which are then consumable by cultivators, is not an easy task.
Just refining the inner cores of spiritual beasts below life expectancy of five
hundred years is extremely difficult in itself. Our clan, even after going through an
experience of a thousand years in this field, can only manage about eighty percent
efficiency. However, as far as the spiritual beasts above five hundred years are
concerned, not only are their inner cores extremely precious, the efficiency of the
refining process is simply pathetic. Even if a Xiantian cultivator were to undertake
the task of refining, the success rate would not be good. However, after adding the
pulpless fruits, the success rate can be increased to cross the mark of seventy
percent.”

He Yiming sucked in a breath of cold air and said, “Mr. Grace, didn’t you just say
that this thing only increases the efficiency by ten percent?”

Xie Grace chuckled and said, “Brother He, there isn’t a person who could
guarantee hundred percent efficiency in refining golden cores. We already had
some confidence to complete the refining process with eighty percent efficiency.
However, the addition of the pulpless fruits will further increase the chances.
However, for the refining of golden cores that have bad efficiencies, this fruit
works wonders.”

He Yiming finally understood and didn’t decline any further, carefully placing the
wrapping in his bosom.

The duo tried to look for more fruits, but returned empty handed.

However, these ten fruits were already an unplanned gain, making them feel that
they had not made this one hour trip in vain. After coming down from the tree, Xie
Grace raised his head and saw the color of the sky. He was quite familiar with the
forest. At the very least, he was much better than He Yiming who had yet to
completely mature.

“Brother He, we should return,” Xie Grace patted the wrapping in his bosom with
satisfaction and said, “If we wait longer, I’m afraid Mingjin, that chap, will begin
to search the entire forest for us.”

He Yiming naturally didn’t have any objections. With but a flicker, the two figures
hit the path back.

Chapter 19.2
11 Feb 2017

After a while, He Yiming thought for a bit before asking, “Mr. Xie, can your noble
family refine golden cores of spiritual beasts above five hundred years?”

Xie Grace bitterly smiled, “Brother He sure can joke. If we truly had this ability,
why wouldn’t there be a single Xiantian cultivator in the clan? Why would be
unable to deal with two long-armed raccoons?”
He Yiming was not surprised. It was indeed as he’d expected. He was only
casually asking as well.

“Mr. Grace, do you know where one can find a five hundred year or older spiritual
beast?”

Xie Grace thought for quite while before saying, “Generally, spirit beasts flourish
in desolate regions. Five hundred year or older spiritual beasts….I have also
merely heard about them, not seen one with my own eyes. However, it is said that
in the few restricted zones of Grand Extension country, several such spiritual
beasts can be found.”

“Grand Extension country?” He Yiming could only bitterly smile. These words
almost meant the same as nowhere.

To them, who lived in the small countries in the east side of the continent, Grand
Extension country in the north, which occupied more than one-fifth of the entire
continent’s land, seemed too far-fetched.

To say the least, He Yiming never even thought of going to Grand Extension
during his journey.

Within the agreed time period of three years, he wouldn’t be able to even make a
round trip.

Xie Grace could naturally discern his line of thinking. He smiled and said,
“Brother He, actually encountering a five hundred years or older spiritual beast
also depends on one’s luck. If your luck is not good, even if you were to travel ten
thousand li and go to Grand Extension country, you wouldn’t succeed. However, if
your luck is good, you might find your desired spiritual beast in this mountain
forest.”

Feeling quite surprised, He Yiming asked, “This mountain forest also has five
hundred year or older spiritual beasts?”

Xie Grace extended his hand and slashed a big circle in the air, “This mountain
range is endless, running through the continent’s entire northwest region as an
aisle. From our Fire Crow to your Heaven Sieve merely constitutes a minute
section of it. Since ancient times, nobody has ever succeeded in exploring this
entire mountain range. What the core of this mountain range looks like, nobody
knows. That place is a truly desolate region. Even five hundred year spiritual
beasts wouldn’t be considered rare there.”

He Yiming slowly nodded, a brilliant luster flickering in his eyes.

While scurrying, Xie Grace threw a quick glance at He Yiming before suddenly
taking a deep breath, “Even if one manages to find a five hundred year spiritual
beast, whether it’s a good thing or not, it’s hard to tell.”

“Mr. Xie, why would you say that?” He Yiming puzzledly asked.

“The more time a spiritual beast lives, the more its wisdom will be, and its strength
would further simply be like a boat riding on a tide. Long-armed raccoons are
ranked at the bottom among the spiritual beasts. Living for merely about two
hundred years, they possess such strength. If you run into some other ferocious
spiritual beast, or one that has lived for more than five hundred years, not to
mention hunting it, you might not even be able to escape,” His tone was quite slow
and even seemed somewhat that of advice, evidently persuading He Yiming to
abandon this frightening notion.

Looking at the cordial and sincere expression in Xie Grace’s eyes, He Yiming
faintly smiled. The recent battle had given him another method to break through.

During the life and death battle, only when he completely freed his heart and spirit
and fought completely unrestrained, he’d been able to faintly establish a
connection with the mysterious Worldly Qi.

Forging these circumstances in a closed-door cultivation was almost impossible.

Therefore, he’d already decided to continue seeking spiritual beasts in the forest. If
he encountered a five hundred year or older spiritual beast, even if he couldn’t win,
with the two grand Xiantian battle skills at his disposal, he held faith in his ability
to escape.

After extensive fighting and killing, perhaps he could gain some sort of
enlightenment and breakthrough without consuming a golden core.

However, this line of thinking needn’t be shared with others.

“Mr. Grace, if I somehow managed to obtain the inner core of a five hundred year
beast, can your noble residence refine it for me?”

Seeing that his earnest advice had been turned down by the counterpart, Xie Grace
bitterly smiled inwardly. However, after hearing He Yiming’s request, he thought
for a while before eventually shaking his head, “Pardon me, the worth of a five
hundred year spiritual beast’s inner core is too much. Even if you ask someone to
refine it for you, you will have to ask a Xiantian realm Pill master. Only then can
you have some chances of success.”

“Xiantian realm Pill master? There are such people?” He Yiming skeptically asked.
“There are,” Xie Grace assuredly said, “Be it Grand Extension country, or the three
strongest nations of our northwest region, all have Xiantian realm Pill masters.
However, inviting them to refine a gold core for you is extremely difficult. If you
manage to get hold of two inner cores and wish to refine both of them into gold
cores, you will only have the opportunity to get one.”

He Yiming lightly sighed. He was not surprised by such astronomical cost, rather
the vastness of the world beyond Tai Cang county.

At this moment, he finally understood the true meaning behind his grandfather’s
words that said he doesn’t belong in the Tai Cang county.

In the entire Tai Cang county, there were only a total of three tenth layer, peak
Houtian realm experts including his eldest uncle who had advanced by consuming
a gold core.

However, in Fire Crow country, even an influential clan that excelled in the
medical field and not versed in the martial way had three tenth layer experts.

Then what about the entire Fire Crow country? And Heaven Sieve country? How
many tenth layer, peak Houtian experts were there?

Above these experts, there were also Xiantian realm experts which had
comprehended the Worldly Qi.

With his cultivation speed, sooner or later, he would step into the Xiantian realm.

At that time, he would discover how wonderful and mysterious this world is, and
after that, how could he be willing to keep himself bound in a corner?

His grandfather had already anticipated. His eldest brother might be content with
inheriting the clan. However, this was definitely not the direction he would be
willing to steer his life in.

Indistinctly, an indescribable emotion welled up inside He Yiming. His blood

boiled with the desire to witness with his own eyes, hear with his own ears, and
feel for himself- to go and experience the entire world.

Currently, the two individuals were on their way back, walking side by side.

This moment, Xie Grace’s figure momentarily paused before resuming. However,
in this moment, he felt an indescribable transformation.

This transformation stemmed from the young expert walking beside him.
This transformation couldn’t be described in words and seemed one pertaining to
mentality.

However, its extent was so big, even he, who was walking beside the latter, was
strongly affected.

Xie Grace recalled their conversations and actions. Apart from obtaining the five
pulpless fruits, there didn’t seem to be anything worthy to move their hearts.

However, after all that, only at this moment had he felt the transformation in He
Yiming’s disposition.

He could only bitterly smile inwardly. He truly couldn’t make out any sense from
this youngster. However, perhaps only because this was the case, this youngster
could possess this almost impossible, miraculously tyrannical strength.

Chapter 20.1 - Alchemy

11 Feb 2017

The rays of the rising sun entered the window, illuminating the insides, and
morning birds chirped.

The door silently opened, without issuing any creaking sound at all.

He Yiming walked out of the room. Before his feet landed outside, Xie Mingjin
was already before him, “Mr. He, you are awake.”

This moment, Xie Mingjin’s face didn’t have a trace of the arrogance that he had in
the forest. After learning that He Yiming had killed the two long-armed raccoons
relying on his own strength, whether it was him or the seven attendants, they all
now viewed He Yiming as a celestial being.

In Xie Grace’s words, even if all the three tenth layer experts of the family joined
hands, they could only fight the two long-armed raccoons to a standstill. Wouldn’t
it be same as saying that He Yiming could easily deal with the clan’s three top
experts?

Before such strength, Xie Mingjin simply couldn’t hold arrogance in any aspect.

Throwing a surprised glance at him, He Yiming smiled and said, “Brother Xie, you
are up quite early. You wouldn’t be waiting here specifically for me, would you?”

Xie Mingjin’s face turned slightly red as he said, “Mr. He, father asked me to await
you here sir.”
“Where is Mr. Xie?”

“Father is in the lobby, awaiting you to join him for breakfast.”

He Yiming faintly nodded and followed after Xie Mingjin.

After killing the two long-armed raccoons and obtaining the pulpless fruits, He
Yiming followed Xie Grace and the rest down the mountains.

Under the lead of people that were familiar with that section of the forest, he only
had to spend one day to get out of the forest. Subsequently, after crazily steering
their horses through the day, they arrived in the Fire Crow country’s capital,
Downwind city.

Downwind city was obviously far incomparable to the insignificant county town of
the Tai Cang county. The city wall was as high as fifteen meters, and the city was
quite vast. Reportedly, the permanent residents of the city exceeded the mark of
thirty thousand. Adding in inflow and outflow, the city’s population measured
above forty thousand.

Xie family, one of the four reputed influential families of Fire Crow country,
owned a large manor in the city, which sustained 2000-3000 people.

Xie Grace’s status in the family was extremely high, having a independent
courtyard for his bloodline. Due to arriving quite late in the night, the group hadn’t
immediately announced their arrival and had instead gone to rest.

He Yiming naturally received the best guest room. After spending three months in
the forest, this was his first time sleeping on a bed. However, he was awakened by
Xie Mingjin arriving at his door.

Although Xie Mingjin had been cautious to the utmost, softening his footsteps as
much as possible, how could it escape past the current He Yiming?

Knowing that someone was waiting for him outside, He Yiming’s skin had not
thickened enough to ignore the latter. Moreover, seeing that the color of the sky
had started to brighten, he left the bed.

The two seemed to be walking shoulder by shoulder. However, Xie Mingjin’s

appearance seemed slightly rushed and body faintly inclined towards He Yiming,
as if escorting the latter.

En route, all the servants who saw this scene were left rubbing their eyes, as if
having a hard time believing their eyes.
In the clan, the family head, Xie Nuanhang, wholeheartedly pursued the martial
dao and never married.

Although Xie Grace was the second lord, his son, Xie Mingjin, was the big young
master of the clan. Although this young master was not the best candidate for the
position of clan leader due to his straightforward temperament, he was loved dearly
by the second lord, and thus, was quite haughty in the clan. Therefore, his current
submissive appearance seemed quite unbelievable to everybody.

Soon after, they arrived before the lobby.

As soon as He Yiming entered, Xie Grace stood up and brightly said, “Brother He,
did you sleep well last night?”

Faintly nodding, He Yiming smiled and said, “It’s been quite a while since I slept
on a bed. Many thanks for Mr. Xie’s hospitality.”

Xie Grace chuckled. With a wave of his hand, servants served the breakfast. The
breakfast in the Xie family consisted of light ingredients. Eighteen kinds of
congress and soups were laid out, allowing He Yiming to vastly broaden his
horizons.

He Yiming heartily ate and drank all the items. Although he wouldn’t go as far as
to clear everything out, this big-belly monarch caused all the servants to be tongue-
tied inwardly. At the same time, they also disdained him incessantly, feeling
puzzled why their second lord, who was such an heroic character, had brought
back such a moronic bumpkin.

The father and son happily accompanied He Yiming, occasionally taking a bite
from the chopsticks. However, their eating was quite cultured in comparison.
Seeing He Yiming patting his stomach in satisfaction, the father and son also put
down their chopsticks, indicating they had finished just now.

Although this was merely an insignificant action, it earned them quite a favourable
impression from He Yiming.

After the breakfast, Xie Grace again waved his hand. Subsequently, the servants
quickly sorted out bowls and chopsticks before quickly withdrawing.

With a faint nod from Xie Grace, Xie Mingjin immediately stood up and gave a
deep bow to He Yiming, “Mr. He, we father and son have a request for you.”

He Yiming hoarsely laughed and said, “Brother Xie, if you have something in
mind, just say it.”
Xie Mingjin’s complexion somewhat tensed but he still said, “Brother He, please
don’t publically proclaim that we killed two long-armed racoons yesterday.”

He Yiming unhesitatingly nodded and said, “All right.”

The father and son exchanged a glance in astonishment. Originally, they thought
they would have to extensively reason with him or pay a considerable price in
order to convince him. They hadn’t expected him to agree directly.

Little did they know, He Yiming had profoundly experienced the results of how
riches and fame could move people’s hearts firsthand.

Why would their He family be so secretive about the gold-crowned python?

Xie Mingjin bowed to the ground and said, “Many thanks to brother He for
understanding.”

He Yiming immediately helped him up and said, “No need to be courteous, brother
Xie.” Subsequently, his vision shifted to Xie Grace before he grimly said, “Mr.
Grace, I have a request as well.”

Xie Grace solemnly said, “Whatever request brother He has, if it’s in our power,
we will spare no effort to fulfill it.”

“I wish to learn Xie family’s alchemy. I will trouble Mr. Grace to help me fulfil
this wish.” He Yiming sincerely said.

XIe Grace faintly started and said, “Brother He, I will go take a look if my elder
brother is awake. If he is, I will pass on the information about your arrival and
request to him. Then it will be up to him to decide. Is that fine with you?”

He Yiming deeply nodded and said, “Please,” before supplementing, “I merely

wish to learn the technique of inner core extraction. Please, make this distinction
clear on my behalf.”

Xie family was, after all, a clan with a medicinal legacy. Thus, alchemy would
obviously be of utmost importance to the family. The decision that whether it
could be passed to an outsider made by the clan leader only seemed fair and
reasonable.

Xie Grace’s face revealed an understanding smile and said, “So, it’s like this.
Brother He, be at ease, my elder brother will certainly not decline.”

After saying these words, he briefly cupped his hands, threw a meaningful glance
at Xie Mingjin, then left.
Although Xie Mingjin’s nature was candid, he was not a fool by any means. He
immediately picked on the gesture and immediately called for tea.

“Mr. He, this is Grand Extension country’s reputed tea Mist. It is said that this tea
grows on mountain peaks amidst dense fog. Plucking its leaves is extremely
difficult. After being transported to the northwest, it becomes extremely expensive-
equivalent to gold,” He bowed and said, “ Please have a taste.”

He Yiming’s curiosity got better of him. In the He manor, although he did drink
tea, for him, it was no different than an ox chewing peony flower. He’d no
appreciation at all.

He picked up the exquisite cup, which seemed more like a piece of art, and sniffed.
As he expected, there was a mild fragrance. However, upon taking a light sip, he
discovered that it wasn’t any different than the tea back home- at least not in any
way he could discern.

Xie Mingjin also took a sip, then expectantly shifted his vision over to He Yiming.

Four eyes met. After a while, Xie Mingjin embarrassedly laughed and said, “Mr.
He, actually, I have studied a bit about tea sampling, but never managed to
understand a thing about it. Please, forgive me.”

Chapter 20.2
12 Feb 2017

He Yiming’s eyes immediately shined, “Brother Xie is correct. This Mist tea is
although somewhat fragrant, in my mouth, it seems hardly any different than the
tea we grow back home.”

Xie Mingjin’s jaw dropped open in astonishment. Slowly, smiles flickered in their
eyes.

Although the identities, strengths, temperaments, and growing conditions of the

two were different, indescribably, they found each other to their liking. They
slowly started to chat, even feeling quite friendly.

After having a friendly chat with Xie Mingjin, He Yiming could clearly tell that
this was due to their temperaments being quite suited to each other. Although he’d
a similar warm and affable conversation with Lin Taoli previously, he also knew, if
the latter didn’t have intentions to rope him in, he wouldn’t have been this
affectionate.
Although currently Xie Mingjin also might have been trying to rope him in
substituting his father, as their conversation deepened, He Yiming couldn’t help
but admit that his impression of the former had vastly improved.

Of course, gaining such a quick approval from He Yiming was closely related to
that time in the forest when he completely disregarded everything and tied his life
and death with his father’s.

Although such a decision might seem impulsive and path to one’s own doom, not
something the leaders of influential family would approve, as far as He Yiming
was concerned, he would rather make friends with such a rude and impetuous
fellow than those noblemen who claimed to act while taking the bigger picture into
consideration.

Xie family’s principal courtyard. A man with delicate features and seemingly
younger than Xie Grace by a few years suddenly turned around.

Along with his movements, a cold aura abruptly spread out. Even Xie Grace, who
was standing before him, couldn’t help but palpitate.

However, this aura only remained momentarily. As he controlled his intensely

stimulated emotions, he immediately restrained himself.

“Second brother, two-long armed raccoons have been killed?”

“Yes, elder brother,” Xie Grace said, “I’ve even brought back the corpses.”

This man was precisely the current clan leader of Xie family, the clan that
possessed millenniums of medicinal legacy and counted as a part ofthe four big
influential families of Fire Crow country, Xie Nuanhang.

Although he seemed quite young, his true age was full ten years above Xie
Grace’s- already in his seventies.

“What is his name?”

“He Yiming, a person from Heaven Sieve.”

“He Yiming?” Xie Nuanhang muttered. However, he’d no impressions of this

name whatsoever.

“Yes, He Yiming.” Xie Grace praisingly said, “Not only he’d already grasped the
true essence of metal type, having already understood its dao, he is also a peak,
tenth layer expert and even possesses a Xiantian blade technique.”
Xie Nuanhang waved his hand, cutting off his younger brother’s unceasing praises,
“Although Heaven Sieve country is quite far away from here, I’ve heard about the
reputed people there. If there truly was such an expert who has grasped the essence
of metal type and learned a Xiantian battle skill, how could he not be famous?”

Xie Grace coarsely laughed and said, “Elder brother, I’ve seen He Yiming’s age.
He is not even eighteen yet. Thus, he obviously couldn’t be too famous.”

The truth was that he was completely unaware that He Yiming was already
extremely famous in Tai Cang county. However, under careful suppression of Lin
family, the news had not spread out.

Xie Nuanhang was immediately alarmed. If one were to say that he was shocked
just now, currently, he was appalled.

Such achievements were already quite praiseworthy for a fifty or sixty year
cultivator. However, a youngster, who was not even eighteen, having such
achievements was too horrifying.

If these words had not come out of his own brother’s mouth, and he hadn’t
personally seen the corpses of long-armed raccoons, he wouldn’t have dared
believe them.

After quite a while, he asked in a lowered voice, “Have you asked this person’s
origins?”

“No, but I suppose he ought to be a disciple of some hidden sect.” Xie Grace said
with a sigh.

Xie Nuanhang faintly nodded and said, “Since he has such achievements at such a
small age, he is certainly some sect’s inner disciple, or even a core disciple raised
in abundance of cultivation resources,” He also deeply sighed before continuing,
“Unfortunately, such a genius who has been fostered with utmost care will
certainly become a Xiantian cultivator in the future and is of no use to our Xie
family. Furthermore, we can’t afford to offend his sect either.”

Xie Grace nodded to show his agreement but said, “Elder brother, although he
can’t join our family, maintaining close relations with such a character will be
quite of assistance to our family.”

Xie Nuanhang’s eyes brightened slightly as he asked, “Second brother, do you

have some way to establish relationship with him?”
Xie Grace’s said in a heavy voice, “This person is quite curious about alchemy and
wish to learn our family’s alchemic technique. However, his request is not high at
all. He merely wishes to learn the technique to refine gold cores.”

Xie Nuanhang’s brows slightly creased as he estimated benefits and losses.

Slightly hesitating, Xie Grace stepped forward and said, “Elder brother, during this
time’s trip in the forest, Mingjin was with me. When he encountered the long-
armed racoons, although he returned in the end, making me extremely
disappointed, it resulted in him earning He Yiming’s favourable opinion. His
attitude was clearly different than what you would usually see. If you allow it, I
wish to try recruiting him with the help of Mingjin.”

Xie Nuanhang lifted his head and deeply looked at his brother. After quite a while,
he eventually nodded and said, “Refining technique of golden cores is merely a
subsidiary of our medicinal legacy. If he wishes to learn it, he is free to do so.
Moreover, I will have a word with seventh uncle. He Yiming can watch when he
refines the gold cores.”

This time, it was Xie Grace’s turned to be astonished. He sucked in a deep breath
and heavily bowed, “Many thanks, elder brother.”

Xie Nuanhang supported his brother up, then said in grave voice, “Second brother,
I understand your intentions. If Mingjin’s luck is good and he can obtain a Xiantian
realm expert’s support, there will be no question about passing the family to him.
However, if he fails to obtain He Yiming’s assistance, or He Yiming fails to
ascend into Xiantian realm before my death, the family’s future cannot be left in
Mingjin’s hands.”

Xie Grace deeply lowered his head and said, “Yes, everything will be according to
elder brother’s instructions.”

In the inner courtyard, He Yiming and Xie Mingjin were merrily chatting away.

Even in the He manor, He Yiming had never talked this freely and unrestrained
with any of his brothers.

After all, He manor had been recently established. As such, all the members of the
younger generation completely immersed themselves in cultivation. Although the
affection of siblings ran quite deep, they never talked as such.

Only an individual who was close to him in age and had also met his approval
could gain his true friendship.
Suddenly, a servant arrived beside Xie Mingjin in quick steps and handed over a
letter and token to him.

Xie Mingjin opened the letter and was immediately overjoyed at the good news.
He waved the letter and excitedly said, “Brother He, eldest uncle has already
agreed and has sent the gold token. With this token, we can enter the pharmacy and
alchemic chamber. Hehe, your reputation is not small. Not only you have access to
entire core refining recipe, you can even watch the eldest grandfather’s core
refining.”

He suddenly raised his head and said, “Brother He, when you go to watch the core
refining, you have to bring me along at all costs.”

After conversing for half a day, their way of addressing each other had already
unwittingly changed. To say the least, Xie Mingjin no longer addressed He Yiming
as Mr.

He Yiming chuckled and said, “Of course, but right now, I wish to take a look at
the recipie.”