Though they said to have them catch wandering souls, Tianyan Academy still wouldn’t let Spirit-grade and Heaven-grade xiangwen take risks. The chosen training ground was also a quiet secret realm with some wandering souls without much resentment released inside.
Yan Ling set off alone.
In broad daylight with no need to fear darkness, he wasn’t afraid of ghosts either. Holding the small wooden sword Sheng Jiao gave him, he leisurely strolled through the secret realm.
After walking a while, Yan Ling took off his ear cuff and obediently clipped it to his collar so he wouldn’t lose it, curiously looking around everywhere.
The secret realm was tranquil—mountains, forests, and flowing water everywhere. Unlike Central State’s other noisy places, it was somewhat like Yan Family Mountain.
Yan Ling, who grew up in the mountains since childhood, had no fear. He even climbed mountains and trees, chasing birds for fun, playing to his heart’s content.
Only after playing enough did he finally remember he still needed to catch wandering souls. Pouting, he easily leaped down from the tree, following the sounds from ‘Idle Listening to Sounds’ to search for wandering souls.
After searching for ages, he didn’t find wandering souls but instead encountered a giant beast foraging in the secret realm.
That spirit beast looked like a tiger, but its markings were peculiar—like coiling tree roots. Its fangs wide open, eyes full of hungry ferocity. Yan Ling had to crane his neck to see its eyes.
Yan Ling froze. The sword in his hand fell to the ground. Looking up dumbstruck at the spirit beast that could crush him with one paw, for a moment he didn’t know how to react.
This secret realm wasn’t large. After the entire Zhuxing House entered in teams, except for Rang Chen and Heng Yudu, Lezheng Jiu, Sheng Jiao, and Xi Jue—along with their paired teammates—didn’t even glance at the wandering souls. They directly and swiftly searched everywhere for Yan Ling’s traces, lest his small frame be gnawed by wild beasts.
Suddenly, an earth-shattering beast roar came from the mountains.
Lezheng Jiu’s face changed. Grabbing Feng Yu, he swiftly headed toward where the roar came from.
Feng Yu shouted loudly while running: “Playing with ghosts my ass! That sound is a Chi Tiger—a fierce beast, Jiu gege! One bite could swallow that shorty whole!”
Lezheng Jiu, already anxious to death: “…”
The two moved swiftly through the mountains. But Central State had few mountains. Lezheng Jiu was someone who stayed cooped up at home year-round with a reserved temperament. In the complex, forest-covered mountains, he couldn’t walk normally at all. Several times he nearly rushed off cliffs, barely stabilized after Feng Yu yanked him back.
After stumbling along for half a quarter-hour, the two finally followed the sound to the place.
Lezheng Jiu’s head was covered in sweat. He didn’t even have time to remove the leaves in his long hair. After hastily landing, he nervously looked carefully.
The Chi Tiger’s form was massive, full of ferocity as it slowly approached. Its giant paws stepping on the ground could directly stomp out huge craters. Its aura fierce and imposing—making even Feng Yu, who was used to seeing fierce ghosts, involuntarily feel a chill down his spine.
On the fierce beast’s enormous body, a small head suddenly popped out.
Yan Ling sat on the Chi Tiger’s fluffy body munching spirit pills. Sensing familiar sounds, he hurriedly grabbed a tuft of the Chi Tiger’s fur and poked his head out to look. Seeing Lezheng Jiu and Feng Yu with a bruised eye, he said happily: “Gege, what a coincidence! Did you find any wandering souls?”
Lezheng Jiu: “…”
Feng Yu: “…”
Though the Chi Tiger looked full of ferocity, it showed no intention to attack. Having its whisker fur yanked by Yan Ling, it even obediently lowered its head, letting Yan Ling slide down from its paw.
Yan Ling ran over, chattering: “I’ve run through most of the secret realm but haven’t found a single wandering soul.”
Feng Yu was dumbstruck for a long moment, then suddenly gasped: “How did you do it?!”
“Right?” Yan Ling said. “I’m also curious how I did it. Is Headmaster Liu lying to us? There actually aren’t any wandering souls here at all.”
Feng Yu: “…”
Feng Yu couldn’t hold back. Extending his hand to pinch Yan Ling’s baozi face, he said through gritted teeth: “I’m asking you—how did you subdue this Chi Tiger? Why didn’t it swallow you in one bite?”
Yan Ling was using the small wooden sword to pat Chi Tiger fur off his boots. He looked up confused: “Huh?”
Lezheng Jiu was very direct. He slapped away Feng Yu’s hand and replaced it with his own to pinch Yan Ling’s baozi face, saying coldly: “Don’t tell me you know some kind of sorcery?”
Yan Ling: “?”
Yan Ling didn’t understand: “The tiger? It said it was hungry and wanted to eat something, so I gave it spirit pills.”
Lezheng Jiu and Feng Yu fell silent.
‘Idle Listening to Sounds’ could even understand the thoughts of unenlightened fierce beasts?
Worthy of being Spirit-grade.
Half the secret realm remained unsearched. Yan Ling, tired of playing and not wanting to walk, climbed back onto the Chi Tiger’s back. Sitting cross-legged, he looked around: “Did you find any wandering souls?”
Lezheng Jiu said irritably: “We were looking for you. What wandering souls?”
Yan Ling said puzzled: “I haven’t heard any wandering soul sounds either.”
The sounds of humans and wandering souls were different. Yan Ling had heard it from Feng Yu’s little ghosts before—that peculiar sound that would spread chills throughout one’s whole body after hearing it once.
The little ghost Feng Yu controlled returned, shaking Yan Ling’s ear painfully. Covering one ear with furrowed brows, he looked over.
The little ghost’s face was fierce, but when it spoke, it was soft cooing.
After Feng Yu listened for a while, he raised his hand to put the little ghost back into his pouch: “There’s a very peculiar barrier at the northernmost part. Want to go check it out?”
Lezheng Jiu nodded.
Yan Ling was somewhat worried: “Didn’t the headmaster say I should be alone? If he knows the three of us are together, will we be scolded?”
Lezheng Jiu said flatly: “He didn’t say two teams couldn’t merge together.”
Yan Ling thought about it—that was true—and obediently followed along.
Halfway there, Yan Ling felt uncomfortable all over, scratching constantly. Originally wanting to lie on the Chi Tiger to rest, but before long he actually started sneezing.
Lezheng Jiu frowned at him: “What’s wrong?”
“Don’t know.” Yan Ling sneezed non-stop, even his nose tip turning red.
Lezheng Jiu extended his hand to him: “Come down. Let me see.”
Yan Ling had the Chi Tiger stop, letting Lezheng Jiu lift him down.
Feng Yu said punchably from the side: “Yan Ling’er, why are you like a little girl, so delicate?”
Yan Ling was about to speak when he sneezed earth-shatteringly again, nearly slapping himself to the ground.
Lezheng Jiu frowned, seeing Yan Ling’s black clothes covered in snow-white Chi Tiger fluff. He raised his hand to pat him twice: “This thing sheds too severely. Try having it leave?”
Yan Ling said disappointedly: “Huh? But I still want to ride it.”
Lezheng Jiu looked at him coldly.
Yan Ling couldn’t hold out for more than a few breaths before admitting defeat. Sneezing, he sent the Chi Tiger away.
Lezheng Jiu took off Yan Ling’s black outer robe, pulling out a new robe from his storage ring to put on him. Only then did Yan Ling feel more comfortable.
After this commotion, they finally arrived at the place Feng Yu’s little ghost mentioned.
It was still a dense forest, but touching it with one’s hand, one could vaguely sense a thin barrier blocking everyone from entering.
Yan Ling sneezed until dizzy and disoriented, dazedly hugging Lezheng Jiu’s arm and being dragged along, completely not wanting to use his brain.
Lezheng Jiu let Yan Ling cling to him, frowning: “Isn’t Fu Man proficient in arrays? Who did he come with?”
“That ‘ugh.'” Feng Yu said.
Lezheng Jiu’s face immediately drooped, looking like he very much didn’t want to be with Xi Jue. The two could only circle around the barrier, planning to see if they could open the array themselves.
Before long, another Chi Tiger roar came from the surroundings.
Along with earth-shaking sounds, Sheng Jiao and Liu Changxing swiftly rode the wind together. Behind them, a massive-bodied Chi Tiger bared its fangs and brandished its claws chasing them—it looked hungry again.
Liu Changxing gripped his sword, roaring: “Why is this thing’s hide so thick?! Why did you have to provoke it?!”
Sheng Jiao calmly fled while saying: “I sensed Yan Ling’s aura on it, I thought…”
…thought Yan Ling had been eaten by it.
But seeing the Chi Tiger this hungry, he probably hadn’t eaten any children yet.
Liu Changxing, such a resolute sword cultivator, and Sheng Jiao, possessing a Spirit-grade xiangwen—a Heaven’s favored child—were being chased by a Chi Tiger, howling as they desperately fled.
Lezheng Jiu and Feng Yu both sneered simultaneously, extremely disdainful and contemptuous of their disgraceful behavior.
Yan Ling was actually startled. He hurriedly extended his hand to stop the Chi Tiger: “Roar! Roar roar roar!”
Lezheng Jiu, Feng Yu: “??”
This is how you communicate?!
Probably Yan Ling’s “roaring” was very effective. The Chi Tiger, just about to swallow Sheng Jiao and Liu Changxing in one bite, immediately stopped its steps. Its fierce expression faded as it wagged its tail and pounced toward Yan Ling.
Poor shorty Yan Ling was pressed squarely by one paw. Desperately pulling out a pile of spirit pills to feed it, only then was he not flattened.
The Chi Tiger clung to him and nuzzled for a while.
Yan Ling nearly sneezed to the heavens.
Lezheng Jiu took out a sheet of paper, using spiritual power to write on it while saying: “Looks like it really is the Chi Tiger’s fluff causing it. My earlier guess wasn’t wrong.”
Feng Yu: “…”
Yan Ling changed into white clothes—the snow-white fluff couldn’t be seen at all. He still didn’t know what was wrong with him. Dizzy and disoriented, he ran to Sheng Jiao’s side, looking up with a groggy smile: “Are you okay?”
Sheng Jiao, seeing him safe and sound, also breathed a sigh of relief. Skillfully rubbing his head, he said gently: “I’m fine.”
“That’s go—” Yan Ling, “—achoo! That’s good.”
Seeing Yan Ling about to break out in a full-body rash, Lezheng Jiu hurried over and had him change clothes from head to toe again. Only then did the headache-inducing sneezes stop.
Earlier Yan Ling was still worrying about whether three people could team up. But now with the number increased to five, he immediately forgot about this matter. Happily hugging Sheng Jiao’s arm, he had them look together at how to open this barrier.
In fact, the saying “many hands make light work” was a lie—previously three people had headaches over the barrier. Now it became five people with headaches together.
Just when Yan Ling was about to sit cross-legged on the ground eating snacks, the barrier suddenly transmitted violent tremors, as if being shattered from the inside by someone.
Thud, thud.
Muffled sounds, accompanied by the sound of ice gradually cracking, made everyone present simultaneously hold their breath.
It seemed something dangerous was about to come.
Suddenly, Yan Ling’s face changed. He rose abruptly, his tender voice carrying a trace of panic.
“Leave quickly—!”
Before everyone could react, that thin barrier was finally broken from inside by someone. With a thunderous sound it exploded straight out, transforming into countless glazed fragments shooting toward the people outside.
Yan Ling’s reaction was already considered fast, but the barrier shattered even faster. His cultivation was too low—he couldn’t condense a protective barrier at all. Unlike the others who had protective dharma artifacts, he simply had no time to escape. He could only watch helplessly as those fragments scattered like heavenly maidens toward him.
Suddenly, an osmanthus fragrance assailed him.
Sheng Jiao directly opened his arms to embrace Yan Ling. Borrowing the momentum, he rolled on the grass. The Tianyan Pearl belatedly transformed into protective barriers with lightning patterns, surrounding the two together, isolating the shattered barrier fragments outside.
Several clanging sounds of shattering.
Yan Ling looked at Sheng Jiao dazedly.
The shattered barrier only shot out for an instant before stopping. An eerie quiet surrounded them.
Sheng Jiao had almost entirely embraced Yan Ling’s small body. Sensing no more movement around them, he carefully released him, looking toward the barrier area with lingering fear.
Thanks to Yan Ling’s warning, Lezheng Jiu and the other two were protected in time by dharma artifacts and restrictions covering their whole bodies. They weren’t injured.
Feng Yu cursed as he climbed up, helping up the little ghost that had blocked a strike for him. Seeing its soul nearly scattered, he hurriedly used yin energy to protect it, finally stabilizing its spirit.
“Damn it!” Feng Yu cursed. “What the hell is that thing?!”
Liu Changxing’s sword was nearly shattered. Clutching his precious sword and checking it for ages, he finally relaxed, following by looking up: “This barrier… how can there be a barrier in the secret realm? Hiss, it’s a bit cold.”
After Lezheng Jiu got up, he keenly detected a bloody smell. He thought Yan Ling was injured and rushed over anxiously, only to see Sheng Jiao lowering his eyes looking at the wound on his arm.
Yan Ling, seeing blood, was also shocked. With trembling hands at a loss, he didn’t dare touch Sheng Jiao’s hand at all.
“Ge—gege?”
Sheng Jiao tore off his sleeve to prevent him from seeing, saying softly: “Just a scrape. Nothing serious.”
But his white clothes couldn’t hide much. As soon as the sleeve touched it, it was soaked through with fresh blood.
Yan Ling’s small face turned deathly pale.
Lezheng Jiu walked over with furrowed brows. Straightforwardly tearing open Sheng Jiao’s sleeve, he gripped the wrist and looked back and forth, saying coldly: “This barrier was formed from yin energy. The fragments pierced into your meridians—they must be extracted quickly, or your xiangwen might be damaged.”
Sheng Jiao froze.
Yan Ling didn’t expect it would be this serious either. Frightened, his eyes reddened: “Then hurry and extract them…”
Lezheng Jiu seemed to want to scold him, but seeing Yan Ling scared senseless, he could only pinch his nose and suppress the urge to curse. As patiently as possible, he said: “I’d like to, but my spiritual power isn’t enough to extract the yin energy—Feng Yu, Feng Yu, do you know how to draw out yin energy?”
Feng Yu came over to look, also frowning tightly: “This injury is too severe. I’m not too clear either.”
Everyone looked at each other.
Yan Ling said hurriedly: “We must hurry back to find Mother!”
Sheng Jiao didn’t feel much pain. It should be the ‘Fathom the Heavenly Dao’ xiangwen blocking the yin energy from invading his meridians. He said gently: “No need to worry. I can still…”
Just as his words fell, from within that ghost-energy-filled barrier came another earth-shattering evil beast roar.
This sound was much weaker than the Chi Tiger’s roar from before—even more like a human’s angry shout. But Yan Ling’s already pale face instantly turned white as paper, his eyes staring in terror toward the barrier’s direction.
If before, hearing the little ghost’s voice just made Yan Ling feel cold air slowly crawling up his back, this time the sound was like countless hands extending from the ground, forcibly grabbing his three souls and seven spirits, dragging them bit by bit toward the frigid Yellow Springs hell.
So cold he trembled all over, his lips even starting to turn blue.
Sheng Jiao noticed something wrong with him, extending his hand to touch his ice-cold small face: “Yan Ling? Yan Ling!”
Yan Ling violently shuddered, his eyes unfocused and terrified.
In that instant, from where the roar came, an overwhelming wave of energy suddenly arrived, whipping up fierce winds that could almost flip people over.
Everyone struggled to stand firm. Looking back, they were immediately stunned.
Like storm clouds, pitch-black darkness pressed in from the horizon—its aura chillingly imposing, carrying an unknown yet instinctively fearful oppressive feeling that made one want to flee.
Black fog came in waves like tides. At the “crest of the waves,” several figures were running non-stop toward here. Faintly, their “friendly” conversation could be heard.
“Are you insane?! Can ‘Wheresoever I Roam’ teleport steadily or not?”
“Screw you! You can curse me all you want, but don’t fucking question my xiangwen?! So I made a mistake—this is the first time! I wanted to find Yan Ling. Who knew I’d teleport directly to that monster’s lair!”
“One mistake and you want to get us all killed?”
“Rang Chen, shut your mouth! Do you have to talk non-stop every day?! So I made a mistake, so what?! Come hit me—I’ll stand right here and let you hit me!”
Rang Chen: “…”
Heng Yudu had even lost his wheelchair. Being carried on Rang Chen’s back while fleeing, he couldn’t help much, so he could only help Rang Chen and Xi Jue with their verbal sparring.
“You should also say less. Did you see what that thing behind us is? We’ve come all this way without seeing a single wandering soul. Most likely that thing caught and ate them all.”
Xi Jue roared: “You two ganging up on me? Is there no justice left?! Who… who was paired with me again? Fu Man?! Fu Man! Where the hell did you die?!”
Fu Man said very quietly: “You might not believe it, but I’ve really been speaking up for you this whole time.”
Xi Jue: “…”
The five with Yan Ling: “…”
It was hard on them to have such boring verbal fights even while fleeing so desperately.
Xi Jue had used ‘Wheresoever I Roam’ too many times. His meridians and xiangwen now ached densely. His small face pale, forcibly enduring, he could only send the four people in segments of distance. Otherwise, with their mediocre spiritual power, they’d have long been caught by that ghost thing behind.
His gaze inadvertently swept to not far away. Xi Jue froze, immediately roaring at the five people.
“Don’t want your lives anymore?! What are you standing there dumbly for! Run—!”
Yan Ling, oppressed by that fierce ghost carrying enormous resentment, trembled all over. His ears even bled, blood dripping down his earlobes bit by bit. He couldn’t hear Xi Jue’s voice at all.
Sheng Jiao made a decisive decision, scooping Yan Ling up into his arms. Ignoring the still-bleeding wound on his wrist, the Tianyan Pearl transformed into spiritual power drilling out from his meridians, swiftly riding the wind away.
**
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152