"Heh heh, a graceful and demure maiden is a gentleman's good match!" Ye Tian offered a sheepish smile that was utterly charming.
For a moment, Chen Zilan's beautiful eyes stared in a daze, her dark hair swaying gently. After meeting Ye Tian's gaze, she quickly looked away.
With a deeply blushing face, she whispered softly, "Let's part ways here. It's not like we won't be able to see each other in the future anyway."
With that, she turned into a graceful silhouette and hurried away, looking somewhat flustered as she vanished from his sight.
Ye Tian smiled and withdrew his gaze, murmuring to himself, "I should sell that Serrated Tiger for some spirit stones first."
The city walls of Qingyun City were towering and majestic, standing like a coiling giant dragon. The wide streets bustled with an endless stream of hawkers shouting their wares, teeming with people and rubbing shoulders!
The Myriad Treasures Chamber of Commerce stood in all its magnificent grandeur, gleaming brilliantly like an unyielding general standing tall.
It boasted countless medicinal herbs, claiming to be able to procure any medicine under the heavens.
Travel-worn and weary, Ye Tian arrived at the entrance.
"Well, if it isn't the Ye boy! What good stuff have you brought this time?"
"Eh? How did your cultivation drop?" A fat shopkeeper narrowed his eyes into slits.
Hearing this, Ye Tian—who was a regular—replied familiarly, "It's a long story. Old Pan, take a look and see how many spirit stones this Serrated Tiger is worth." With a clatter, he dropped the beast onto the counter.
"Let me inspect it." Fat Master Pan didn't press the matter further. He looked the beast over carefully and slowly said, "There's damage in several places, but its teeth can be used to forge weapons, and the pelt should make a decent garment."
"How about this, Ye boy? We're old acquaintances, so I'll give you 20 low-grade spirit stones." Shopkeeper Pan concluded.
Ye Tian nodded. Only the teeth were truly valuable anyway, and the rest was damaged, so the price was fair.
In an instant, crystal-clear spirit stones materialized on the counter, radiating the pure spiritual Qi of heaven and earth.
"Well, well, if it isn't Master Genius Ye! I heard your cultivation has regressed."
"And on top of that, you were dumped by your own dao companion. How ironic." As soon as Ye Tian put the stones away, a harsh and mocking voice rang in his ears.
Four young men walked in from the entrance, full of hostility and casting disdainful looks at Ye Tian.
"Guan Jie, you used to not even dare breathe in front of me. What makes you think you can throw your weight around now?" Ye Tian's expression turned abruptly chilling, his eyes sweeping over them like needles.
Guan Jie was a disciple of the Southern Region's Tiangang Sect—an outer sect disciple whose cultivation was at the Martial Disciple 9th Layer.
He had once harassed an innocent woman and been disciplined by Ye Tian, leaving him with a deep, lingering grudge.
"Ye Tian, you've become a good-for-nothing, yet you still dare to act so arrogant? Do you think you're still that same genius from before?" Guan Jie gritted his teeth, his expression instantly turning gloomy.
Surging killing intent erupted across his entire body as he prepared to strike.
"Gentlemen, private fights are strictly prohibited here, or we will deal with you according to our rules." At that moment, Shopkeeper Pan's expression turned cold and his tone rang like clashing metal.
Radiating the cultivation of a Martial General, his aura swept outward like a torrent, forcing Guan Jie and his companions back with a shock.
"Yes, of course we wouldn't." Guan Jie and the others nearly collapsed to the ground, terror gripping their hearts.
They were powerless against the might of a Martial General. Glaring viciously at Ye Tian, Guan Jie spat, "Let's see if you can walk out of here alive."
Without even buying their pills, they strode out of the Myriad Treasures Chamber of Commerce.
"Ye boy, it seems you've been having a pretty rough time lately, letting any stray cat or dog ride on your head," Shopkeeper Pan chuckled in a bantering tone.
"When you're in power, people will fawn over you, fear you, and envy you. Once you stumble, even a beggar on the street thinks he's on the same level as you." Ye Tian shrugged, completely unconcerned.
Once you stop fearing that kind of person, you will never fear them again—especially since his setback was only temporary.
"You certainly speak as if you've experienced the great ups and downs of life," Shopkeeper Pan remarked with a slight start.
Shortly after, Ye Tian borrowed a cultivation chamber, preparing to refine the spirit stones.
With crystal-clear spirit stones piled around him, he circulated the Lunhui Technique. Waves of violent energy began to pervade the air.
The spirit stones emitted wisps of light like fine silk, all converging into Ye Tian's body.
As if drawn by an invisible magnetic force, the surrounding spiritual energy rushed toward him in surging waves.
Spiritual Qi surged turbulently within his body, crashing through his limbs and bones with a sound like popping roasted beans.
It flowed like a babbling spring straight into his dantian, forming a mysterious energy.
"Break for me!"
Ye Tian let out a shout. Looking closely, a whirlpool resembling a reincarnation tunnel had formed around him—though faint, its presence was distinctly palpable.
He had already reached the Body Tempering 9th Layer, but the energy of the spirit stones was not yet exhausted. Seizing the momentum in one go, he pushed to restore his cultivation to the Martial Disciple 1st Layer.
Rumble!
The surrounding spiritual energy rushed inward at a breathless speed, like a river flowing into the sea.
Pouring entirely into Ye Tian's body, he glowed with crystal clarity as his aura climbed higher.
That barrier was being shattered bit by bit. Relying on his previously established foundation, a crisp cracking sound rang out.
"Martial Disciple 1st Layer. Finally, I've recovered a little bit."
Withdrawing his aura, Ye Tian slowly opened his eyes. He wouldn't have to remain a labor disciple anymore.
According to the sect's longstanding rules, anyone who failed to reach the Martial Disciple realm by the age of twenty would be dismissed.
As he walked out of the cultivation chamber, Shopkeeper Pan was taken aback—in such a short time, Ye Tian's aura had grown even stronger, and his demeanor had become vastly more refined.
After bidding farewell to Shopkeeper Pan, Ye Tian hurried in the direction of the Luoyun Sect.
Ding!
[System]: Four enemies detected approaching from behind!
Ye Tian immediately stopped in his tracks and a sneer crept onto his face. It was obviously Guan Jie and the others.
"Ye Tian, should I call you an idiot, or should I praise your boldness for daring to stroll right out in the open?" Sure enough, Guan Jie and his companions approached with cold and murderous expressions.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
They swarmed him like starved hounds, their killing intent surging and filling the surrounding space.
"Quick, look! Isn't that Ye Tian from the Luoyun Sect? I know him, he often comes to the Myriad Treasures Chamber of Commerce."
"Those people with him look like disciples of the Tiangang Sect. It seems they're going to ambush him." Passersby on the surrounding streets began to whisper excitedly, completely of the mind that drama is never too big to watch.
"You lot really are a pack of stray dogs, though you're a bit sharper than ordinary curs." Ye Tian's voice was icy, his expression resolute and confident as he swept his gaze across them.
"Hmph, Ye Tian, prepare to be buried right here today. Don't worry, we'll leave some urine for you to drink."
One of them, Zhao Chang, wore a sinister expression, his eyes shooting out boundless killing intent.
He summoned a mortal-grade broadsword, swung the blade, and slashed fiercely forward.
A metallic clanging rang through the air, sounding as crisp as if it had struck solid rock.
Ye Tian let out a cold snort. His entire body surged with the glow of a spirit beast, moving with blinding speed and leaving a trail of afterimages.
With a palm as wide as a winnowing basket, moving faster than his opponent, he clamped down on Zhao Chang's neck.
With a snap, the man's eyes bulged wide; before he could even react, his life was snuffed out.
The others froze in shock. Recovering an instant later, their eyes blazed with fury, their killing intent soaring to the absolute limit as they roared, "Damn you, kill him!"
Indifferent and unhalting, Ye Tian moved even faster, darting about like a ghost as his heavy palm slammed viciously toward the two men beside Guan Jie.
Splatter!
Splatter!
Blood sprayed everywhere...
Before they could even react, fatal blows struck their chests and the crowns of their heads, leaving them dead on the street!
Having awakened his dao body and recovered his Martial Disciple cultivation, Ye Tian possessed abundant vital energy and skyrocketing combat prowess.
Turn the page to the next chapter...