49Chapter 48 Nesti

Translator: 549690339 |

The ten water buffaloes, seeing the battle end and that they were no longer needed, disappeared into thin air, returning to the Spirit Field.

“How are you, can you stand?” Man Gu asked with concern. Lu Yang’s decisive, deep-blue sword stroke, which had determined the outcome of the battle, had impressed him profoundly.

Although he and Meng Jingzhou had helped and injured the Tiger Demon, Man Gu suspected that even without their help in injuring the Tiger Demon, Lu Yang’s sword would still have been able to slay the creature.

Lu Yang consumed a packet of Qi Recovery Powder, and his breathing quickly returned to normal while his energy steadily increased. The speed of this was something that a few measly Qi Recovery Powders could not achieve.

“I should’ve bought a Qi Recovery Pill instead, this Recovery Powder is so dry.” Lu Yang mumbled and then activated his Water Condensation Spell, causing a small blob of water to appear at his fingertip. The water blob extended into a pillar two fingers wide, which he directed into his mouth.

“Did you just use ‘Big and Small Ruyi?'” Meng Jingzhou asked in surprise when he saw Lu Yang turn small and then suddenly expand again. The move seemed very familiar to him, almost like the magic skill ‘Big and Small Ruyi’ that an uncle from his clan would use.

As far as he knew, this magic skill was extremely hard to master and had a very high threshold. It wasn’t possible to successfully learn it without reaching the Golden Core Stage.

“Something similar. What I used is the magic skill ‘Becoming Inch’,” Lu Yang replied.

‘”Becoming Inch’?” Meng Jingzhou was filled with confusion. As a member of the Meng Family, he had heard of all sorts of magic skills. But this so-called “Becoming Inch” was unfamiliar to him.

Was it a magic skill invented by Eldest Senior Sister Yun Zhi?

This explanation seemed to make sense.

“Lady Lan Ting gives greetings to the three illustrious cultivators here.” Lan Ting approached with grace.

“All three of us are disciples of the Seek Dao Sect. This is Meng Jingzhou, and this is Man Gu,” Lu Yang introduced. Earlier on, the situation had been too pressing, so he had only introduced himself.

“All, so these are Daoist Meng and Daoist Man.” Lan Ting, ever the poised lady, addressed everyone very politely. She hadn’t even asked Qi Wu and the others to leave the Mountain God Temple earlier when they were seeking shelter from the rain, and now she was just as courteous.

“We’re grateful to Daoist Lan Ting for your help. Without you, dealing with two Tiger Demons at once would have been quite troublesome. We might have even failed our mission,” Lu Yang thanked her.

Of course, he was mainly being polite as they actually still had some hidden cards left to play.

“So, this was your mission.” Lan Ting didn’t elaborate further. She had also come down the mountain to complete a secret mission.

She was new to this place and unfamiliar with the terrain. She didn’t come down the mountain in daylight and encountered a rainy night instead. She tried to find a place to stay and unexpectedly became involved in all this trouble.

“I dabble in the art of rune divination, and both these Tiger Demon’s skins look quite nice. Would you mind giving these to me?” Lan Ting asked.

“Of course, you can have them,” Lu Yang responded warmly, “If there’s anything else you need, Daoist Lan Ting, feel free to take it.”

The tiger skins were very valuable, but compared to the help that Lan Ting had provided, it wasn’t even worth mentioning.

Lan Ting shook her head, not asking for anything else.

Having lived in the wilderness with his parents since he was a child, Man Gu was very adept at skinning. His two fingers were sharper than a butcher’s knife. In just a few cuts, he had skinned the two Tiger Demons completely.

After receiving the Tiger skins, Lan Ting politely said goodbye to the three of them and disappeared into the depths of the forest.

Her Senior Sisters had told her not to get too close to people from the Seek Dao Sect too rashly, lest they become influenced by them.

“Jingzhou, do you want the Tiger bones and the tiger penis?”

Meng Jingzhou was all confusion: “What do I need Tiger bones and tiger penis for?”

Lu Yang mischievously replied: “For male enhancement.”

“Get lost!”

His Pure Yang Spirit Root was already strong enough. If he got any more Yang energy, would his body even be able to take it?

“Keep these two Tiger Demons—it’s crucial evidence for the completion of our mission.” Lu Yang took out his identity jade pendant, wiped it with his thumb and the bodies of the two Tiger Demons were taken into the pendant.

The jade pendant could also function as a storage ring.

“Let’s go, that mother Tiger Demon made quite the ruckus when she came. She knocked down quite a few trees, so we can just follow her tracks in reverse to find their lair,” Lu Yang proposed.

The two Tiger Demons had been in Song Mountain for many years. They must have a lair.

The heavy rain didn’t affect the three of them—any rain spell could conveniently repel the rain.

Following the trail of fallen trees and shattered rocks, they quickly found the Tiger Demons’ lair.

It was a cavern about three meters high, pitch-dark inside, with nothing visible.

“Does anyone have a torch?” Man Gu asked. He couldn’t see anything inside the cave, and he was wary there might be traps.

He had read in books that these mysterious caves were the best places for setting traps, like stepping on a brick only to be shot by arrows from both sides, or suddenly releasing a puff of poisonous gas to asphyxiate intruders. Or worse, rolling boulders that could crush people.

“Who puts so many traps in their home? Are they afraid they have it too easy when they go home?” scoffed Lu Yang, finding Man Gu’s runaway imagination a bit ridiculous.

Even so, having torches did bring about an atmosphere of adventure. Outside the cave, the rain was pouring heavily, and inside, the three of them held up torches, discovering treasures. Just imagining the scenario was thrilling.

“Who walks around carrying a torch?” Meng Jingzhou teased. They were cultivators and they had Fire Control Technique to use. Why would they need torches?

“You need to broaden your perspective,” Lu Yang replied as he took out a fried dough stick. With a spark of fire, he lit it and the whole stick started burning. It seemed like it could burn for a long time.

Lu Yang held the burning fried dough stick, seemingly unafraid of getting burnt, looking quite smug.

The canteen’s food really came in handy. Apart from eating and fighting, they could even serve as torches.

Man Gu had an epiphany, realizing that there was indeed a lot to learn from Lu Yang.

Lu Yang led the way, holding the ignited fried dough stick, followed closely by Man Gu and Meng Jingzhou.

There weren’t any traps, like Man Gu had imagined.

What they found was simply a creature’s lair.

There were rarities and treasures from traveling merchants, collections of classics from scholars, martial arts techniques from warriors…

These items didn’t need to be turned over to the Sect. They counted as spoils of their victory.

“Jewelry and antique… ” Among the three of them, Meng Jingzhou had the most knowledge, and was thus responsible for determining the origins of these items.

“A teacup from a hundred years ago, worth only a few coins.” To cultivators, a hundred years was like a fleeting moment, incredibly short. Any random item in their homes could have a history of hundreds of years.

Antiques were the least valuable items in the Cultivation World, and only mundane folk coveted them.

“A rusty iron sword. What were the Tiger Demons keeping it for, to sharpen their teeth?” Meng Jingzhou shook his head.

Lu Yang thought to himself, don’t look down on a rusty sword. Just one slash can give you tetanus, believe it or not?

” ‘Pictographic Fist?’ Isn’t that a folk martial art technique that mimics animals?” Meng Jingzhou flipped through a few pages, uninterested, and tossed it to Lu Yang.

Lu Yang, however, was quite interested and planned to learn it when he had the time.

” ‘Words of the Saint’…” Meng Jingzhou sneered. “What use is ‘Words of the Saint’ to these two beasts? Are they any less beastly by having it?”

“Words of the Saint” was a starter book for Confucian Cultivators. It recorded the teachings of the Saints. Man Gu knew every word of it by heart, and he had a deep understanding of its contents.

Man Gu kept “Words of the Saint” not because the book was valuable, but because of its unique status. It had to be kept properly.

This was out of respect for the Saints.

“Hmm? There’s a letter in here. Is it written for the Tiger Demon?”