Chapter 345: Ya Ji's Opportunity?

Chapter 345: Yaji's Opportunity?

"Such few good seedlings, and what are these...!"

The female cultivator with starry brows and sword-like eyes looked utterly exasperated.

Those kneeling below—if placed in the Fire Spirit Realm—wouldn't even qualify as menial disciples.

What infuriated her most was that yesterday, she had rejected a youth without spiritual roots from joining.

That youth had directly declared: "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river—don't bully the young and poor!"

Fortunately, they were here, where surveillance cameras were plentiful.

If this had been the Fire Spirit Realm, she would have slapped him to death long ago.

"I heard the Battle God Sect recently took in a Pure Spiritual Root disciple—truly enviable!" The female cultivator spoke with a face full of longing.

The Battle God Sect and the Profound Heaven Sect had long been rivals.

This opposition could be traced back ten thousand years.

But ten thousand years ago, the Profound Heaven Sect had dominated the Battle God Sect.

Yet over the past few millennia, well... the Profound Heaven Sect had declined.

"A Pure Spiritual Root cultivator, if their cultivation goes smoothly and resources are sufficient, might even have hope... of stepping into the Divine Infant realm!" The middle-aged man beside her sighed, envy flickering in his eyes. "The strongest we've recruited is only an Earth-grade Spiritual Root, but that child Zhiqi works hard—his achievements may not be low."

At the mention of Wang Zhiqi, Xie Tang's face softened with tenderness.

That child, within the Profound Heaven Sect, was second only in talent to their missing saintess, Xie Xinsu.

"A few days ago, the Battle God Sect snatched another portion of our student sources.

By the way, Tianyue City, where Zhiqi is from—the Battle God Sect wants to take that too!" The man spoke with indignation.

The more student sources, the greater the number of outstanding talents.

The sources of students for these sects depended, first, on the treaties signed with the Seven Martial Stars; second, on the duels between the major sects.

Well... last time in the duel, the Profound Heaven Sect lost to the Battle God Sect.

Thus, the Battle God Sect took away one of the Profound Heaven Sect's student source regions.

But the Battle God Sect's greed was too much.

The Profound Heaven Sect had clearly lost only Xinshan, yet the neighboring Tianyue was also being targeted.

"If only Senior Sister were still here, how could they be so arrogant!" Xie Tang said bitterly.

Senior Sister Xie Xinsu was the Profound Heaven Sect's number one Yuan Dan cultivator.

Her combat prowess was astonishing, her talent overflowing.

Yet a year ago, Senior Sister had suddenly vanished without a trace.

The sect leader, He Yunzi, had prayed to the ancestors for guidance on Saintess Xie Xinsu's whereabouts, but found nothing.

It could be said that Xie Xinsu's disappearance had become the greatest mystery of the Profound Heaven Sect.

Some within the sect even suspected it might be related to the Battle God Sect.

"No, I must go to Tianyue City this time. If they want to take Tianyue, they'll have to ask for my, Xie Tang's, consent first.

As it happens, Zhiqi is returning home this time—I'll accompany her!"

...

Tianyue City, Jun'an Residential Area.

Yaji basked in the sunlight, feeling life was utterly pleasant.

His sister sat behind him, lazily playing on her phone.

Compared to Guiran, where the only form of entertainment was stargazing, life here was far better.

Most importantly, there was no need to live in fear, no dread of being captured and having organs harvested.

Such a life was all thanks to the adult.

In his heart, he naturally held deep respect for that adult.

"Little friend, what a coincidence—we meet again."

Just then, an aged voice sounded.

An old man in a white robe appeared.

On the old man's white robe was embroidered a golden-edged sturdy pine, along with a peculiar beast, giving it an extraordinary appearance.

Yaji looked at the old man, a hint of caution in his eyes, and instinctively shielded his sister behind him.

Seeing this, the old man smiled helplessly: "Little friend, you seem quite wary of me.

I am Zhang Dayang, a wandering cultivator. I bear no ill will toward you two; rather, I wish to offer you both an opportunity."

"We don't want any opportunity!" Yaji looked up, staring at the old man warily.

Zhang Dayang maintained a kind smile: "Little friend, don't refuse too quickly. Look..."

Dealing with children, Zhang Dayang naturally had his own methods.

He opened his hand, and where it had been empty, a banana suddenly appeared.

Such a trick of transformation was especially appealing to children.

Sure enough, Yaji's sister behind him stared at the banana with fascination, a puzzled expression on her face.

"If you two follow me and become my disciples, then in the future... you too can be like me—turn whatever you want into whatever you want."

Zhang Dayang said smugly, as if full of confidence.

Just then, a young man beside him remarked: "You two kids are incredibly lucky. In the Fire Spirit Realm, who wouldn't weep and kneel, begging to become a disciple of the Wandering Sage?

With such a great opportunity before you, why don't you two little ones kowtow and take him as your master?

Once you become his disciples, the trajectory of your lives will be completely transformed!

You will step into a world... once unimaginable, once beyond your reach."

The young man spoke with an air of arrogance, as if looking down upon the world from a lofty height.

Hearing this, Zhang Dayang shook his head: "Fellow Daoist exaggerates; I am merely a wandering cultivator.

It's just that these two... caught my eye, and their talents suit me well—I'm simply delighted to find such gems.

You two little friends, would you be willing to follow me?

Don't hesitate. If you agree, I'll personally go and persuade your family elders."

The Wandering Sage had his own style, different from ordinary cultivators.

Yaji quickly shook his head: "Sorry, we're not interested."

The Wandering Sage, Zhang Dayang, was slightly taken aback: "Could it be that my Daoist arts aren't flashy enough?"

He waved his hand again.

Between his arms, a small golden dragon appeared, coiling and flying, a splendid sight to behold.

Such a scene was most likely to attract children.

As it turned out, Yaji didn't even glance, pulling his sister's hand and walking straight away.

Zhang Dayang was stunned, then gave a bitter smile.

The young man, seeing this, shot a cold look: "Senior, shall I go and capture them?

Hmph, they have eyes but fail to see the true dragon.

Such a colossal opportunity right before them, and they still let it slip by."

Zhang Dayang shook his head, a smile appearing in his eyes: "All my life, what I have pursued and sought is freedom. Why force others?

Everything hinges on fate. In the coming days, I will reveal a few more tricks. If they still refuse, it means fate has not bound us together."

Hearing this, the young man's eyes rolled: "Then I congratulate you, Senior, on soon acquiring these two fine disciples.

But... if fate does not bind them to you, and our Fighting God Sect... takes them in, I hope you will forgive us!"

The talent of those two was quite remarkable—one with an Earth-grade spiritual root, the other with a Heaven-grade spiritual root.

If not for the Carefree Hermit's desire to take disciples, given the Fighting God Sect's usual methods, they would have already abducted the pair.

"Agreed." The Carefree Hermit acted strangely, with no taboos.

If the Fighting God Sect abducted them, so be it.

"I have already investigated. These two are not from Qinyuan; they were brought back from Guiran by people in this neighborhood.

Our Fighting God Sect has cooperated with the Wu Sect of Wugui before.

When the time comes... we can simply take them away in the name of the Wugui Kingdom. Very simple," the young man said.

...

[Task completed, obtained: one Ancestral Return Pill.]

With a flash of light, a pill appeared in Qi Yuan's stone hut.

Unlike ordinary pills, this one was blood-red, exuding a thick, bloody aura.

Qi Yuan looked at the pill, curiosity in his eyes.

[To take the Ancestral Return Pill, please go to the Blood Jade Wall for the best effect.]

Another prompt came. The Blood Jade Wall was a blood-colored wall present in every stronghold.

On the wall were carved all sorts of bizarre beast forms.

Cultivating beneath the Blood Jade Wall greatly benefited blood warriors.

"It seems I need to go out. I wonder if this Ancestral Return Pill can let me see my ancestors."

On the other side, in the stronghold.

An Qiao was still somewhat dazed.

The prompt for task completion came, and she finally returned to the stronghold.

"An girl, what happened to you? One task... took nearly a year. I thought you had died in the mission." Lin Yishan, dressed in tatters, looked at An Qiao with a strange expression.

Generally, these tasks were completed quickly.

Finishing in a month was already extremely rare.

Someone like An Qiao, taking nearly a year, was unheard of.

Not just Lin Yishan, but others in the stronghold also thought An Qiao had likely died in the task world.

But now, after nearly a year, An Qiao suddenly appeared, shocking many in the stronghold.

At this moment, a crowd had gathered around An Qiao.

"What's going on, An Qiao? This task's difficulty rating wasn't high, so why did it take a year?"

"Exactly, nearly twenty people joined this task, and it took almost a year—too ridiculous!"

An Qiao looked at the people surrounding her and swallowed: "Have any of you experienced a situation where the task target was... taken away by a fellow participant?"

"Huh?"

"Taken away by a fellow participant, for a whole year?"

"This person has malicious intent!"

"He wouldn't want to leave you all stranded in the task world, would he?"

The expressions of those present shifted, all thinking of something terrifying.

If they completed a task and offended a fellow participant, and that participant kidnapped the task target, preventing them from finishing, wouldn't that mean... they might be trapped in the task world forever, eventually exploding from energy overload?

"This person is vicious. Did you catch him?

The task ended after nearly a year, so you must have caught him.

It seems he was very strong and good at escaping, making you spend a whole year to capture him." Lin Yishan sighed.

As an old-school warrior, he was inferior, and entering the task world to complete missions mostly depended on teammates.

If he encountered such a situation, he wouldn't know what to do.

He decided to fully adopt the theory of playing the grandson and put it into practice.

"By the way, what about Brother Qi Yuan? I remember he was at the Blood Jade realm. Didn't he catch that villain either?" Lin Yishan couldn't help asking.

Hearing this, An Qiao's heart skipped a beat, and she gave a bitter smile: "That person... is Qi Yuan."

"What... it's him!"

"How could he do such a heinous thing? Is there no rule?"

"No way, when he comes out, we need to teach him a lesson. Otherwise, if we team up with him, how will we survive?"

"We must teach him a lesson. If he..."

Anyway, the crowd was full of condemnation.

"I think... it's better not to teach him a lesson," An Qiao said weakly.

"What, has he reached the mid Blood Jade realm? Hmph, mid Blood Jade realm... some strength, but that's all!"

"An Qiao, don't be afraid, we've got your back!"

"Today, we must have a good talk with him. Disregarding the lives of his fellow countrymen is truly despicable!"

"No matter how strong he is, can he beat all of us to death before his blood martial energy runs out?"

The crowd was agitated and impassioned.

An Qiao looked at them and muttered, "He can."

"Huh?" Lin Yishan was shocked.

The others also looked at An Qiao, puzzled.

Then they heard An Qiao say: "Fengyuan has twelve demon lairs. The weakest lair has three thousand demon soldiers, led by a demon elite.

The strongest lair has twenty thousand demon soldiers, led by a demon spirit."

Over that year, Qi Yuan, bearing his mission objective, traversed three thousand li, alone and single-handed, sweeping clean every single demon lair... leaving none behind!

"The reason he took the mission objective away was precisely to prevent us from completing it, so he could annihilate all hundred thousand-plus demons of Fengyuan himself!"

An Qiao spoke, growing more agitated with each word, until even her breath became rapid.

The men and women present, upon hearing this, fell silent, stunned.

"How is that possible? A hundred thousand-plus demons, and he slew them all alone?

Even a Martial Spirit couldn't do it; even a Martial King... would likely be exhausted to death!"

The crowd was shaken, finding the matter utterly beyond belief.

After all, demon soldiers were no ordinary mortals.

Twenty thousand demon soldiers, commanded by a demon spirit, could probably wear down even a Martial King through attrition.

And... a Martial King.

Well, they had never heard of any stronghold possessing a Martial King.

Even in mission worlds, those extremely large-scale mission worlds, a Martial King was merely a legend.

A Martial King, translated to the world of immortal cultivation, was a Purple Mansion.

An invincible Purple Mansion!

"An Qiao, you're here—what a coincidence! Perfect timing—take this Genius Alliance credential and send it to Yang Guang for me."

A calm, leisurely voice rang out, and in that instant, everyone present suddenly caught an overwhelmingly thick scent of blood and gore.

For some reason, their blood boiled and trembled, as if they had been targeted by a terrifying demon lord.

Then, a handsome young man in a blood-red long robe appeared.

The Genius Alliance credential also fell into An Qiao's hand.

Everyone stared at Qi Yuan, their bodies trembling involuntarily.

This trembling seemed etched into their genes, their very blood.

Originally, they had doubted whether An Qiao was exaggerating.

But now, with Qi Yuan's appearance, they knew that what An Qiao said was absolutely true!

That terrifying, heaven-defying killing intent and bloody aura could not be faked.

And their Blood Martial Path was founded on demonic beasts.

Thus, they felt it most deeply.

These people looked at Qi Yuan, shivering, all their previous bravado gone.

At that moment, Qi Yuan gazed at the crowd: "Did I just hear someone speaking ill of me?

A few days ago, at the Four Seasons Tavern, someone badmouthed me, and I beat him to death.

Could it be... there's still someone speaking ill of me?"

With a single glance, a dense, bloody aura spread.

These people could not help but tremble in their legs, their hearts filled with extreme fear.

They had a feeling that if Qi Yuan wished, he could kill them at any moment.

"You all look at me with such fear—could it be... you've all spoken ill of me and now have guilty consciences?"

Qi Yuan looked at the crowd, his expression calm.

"No!"

"No!"

These people quickly looked at Qi Yuan with fawning expressions, some even trying to appear innocent.

"If you haven't cursed me, why are you afraid of me?" Qi Yuan moved his lips.

He thought of a classic saying.

The people present grew even more afraid, wanting to act unafraid, but their bodies would not allow it.

But then he said, "Forget it. I am magnanimous and will not bother with you."

Qi Yuan decided that when he returned, he would find the Canary and ask her to help mask the bloody aura on him.

Otherwise, he seemed too much like a demon lord.

This would tarnish his glorious, positive image.

(The chapter ends)