First Glimpse of Feng Mengli

After refining the Star Soul Grass, Ye Shu turned and walked away.

Facing a cave full of spatial rings and treasures, he felt no lingering attachment.

Hesitation only leads to disaster.

The Lion King could return at any moment, and it might not be as easy to talk to as the little beast. It might send him to the afterlife with a single swipe of its paw before the little beast could even speak. He wouldn't even have a chance to cry about it.

However, the little beast ran in front of him and blocked his way.

"Wu wu!"

"Bu jiu bu jiu!"

This time, it reached out a little paw, pointed at itself, then at Ye Shu. Its two paws drew a large circle, pressed together, and then pointed at the two treasures he hadn't chosen, nudging them forward.

"You mean, as long as I stay with you, I can have all these treasures?"

Ye Shu thought for a moment before asking tentatively.

"Awoo!"

The little beast immediately nodded, placing its two small paws obediently in front of its chest, striking an incredibly cute pose as it gazed at him eagerly.

Lin Qingxue, standing to the side, was speechless.

How should she put it?

As expected of this guy. He looked decent enough and was strangely good at deceiving others; even wild beasts couldn't resist his charm.

However, Ye Shu remained completely unmoved.

He simply left behind a calm sentence, "I won't stop for anyone," and continued walking toward the cave exit.

"Wu wu wu!"

Seeing him leave, the little beast grew anxious.

It quickly ran forward, biting onto Ye Shu's pant leg. Its little paw pointed at the cave full of spatial rings and nudged forward again, as if telling him that if there weren't enough treasures, there were more here!

Ye Shu stopped and patted its head.

"Little guy, this isn't about money."

Staying here would be nice, of course. The vastness of the Magical Beast Mountain Range was enough to hide his whereabouts, not to mention having a Rank Five magical beast, the Amethyst Lion King, as a protector. He could live quite comfortably.

But cowering in one place was not his style.

Given his current situation.

Losing his drive to advance would only result in a miserable death.

So Ye Shu did not stay. He resolutely pulled his leg back and walked toward the cave exit.

"Wu wu!"

The little beast tried to stop him again, but a brilliant sword light flashed before its eyes, landing between it and Ye Shu.

"If you come any closer, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Ye Shu sheathed his sword, took one last look at the little beast, and turned away.

"Wu wu..."

Watching his retreating back, the little beast hesitated several times but ultimately stayed in place, letting out a low whimper full of attachment and reluctance.

Outside the cave, even Xiaobai couldn't stand it anymore. Pointing at Ye Shu's nose, he scolded, "Hey, hey, hey, aren't you being too heartless?"

"Even if you don't stay, you could have taken it with you, right?"

"The cub of the Amethyst Lion King will grow up to be a very powerful combatant! Plus, it likes you so much."

"Take it with me?"

Ye Shu didn't stop walking and replied calmly, "You mean I should divert my resources to raise a pet whose strength will never surpass mine? In this world surrounded by enemies where everyone wants to kill me?"

"In this world filled with immense personal power, I see no need to bring it along."

"That... that makes a lot of sense." Xiaobai was stunned.

Ye Shu said no more and just walked forward in silence.

Lin Qingxue, following behind him, looked back at the glittering spatial rings inside the cave. Finally, she reluctantly withdrew her gaze and quickly caught up with Ye Shu.

The most important thing right now was to stick with this guy to avoid being hacked to death by Feng Mengli.

Lin Qingxue's heart was bleeding.

With so many spatial rings, how many good things must be inside?

Could there be a fragmented Heaven-tier cultivation technique that the Lion King failed to recognize? Could there be a Nine-Turn Golden Pill? Could there be...

She couldn't afford to think about it anymore.

"Where exactly are we going?" Lin Qingxue shook her head and couldn't help but ask Ye Shu.

Because after leaving the beast's nest, Ye Shu didn't go looking for Feng Mengli. Instead, he walked in the completely opposite direction.

Lin Qingxue was completely baffled.

She couldn't understand what this guy was trying to do.

According to her memories from her previous life, this guy should have rushed frantically toward the source of the sound after hearing the explosion. Halfway there, he would find the heavily injured Feng Mengli, take her to a hidden place, care for her meticulously, and capture her heart through a series of coincidences that were actually his secret designs.

But now, he had robbed the Lion King's home, lectured the little beast about principles when resources were right at his fingertips, and rejected the little beast.

This series of actions completely contradicted the greedy, lecherous figure in her memory who always took advantage of every situation.

Just as she asked her question, Ye Shu suddenly stopped.

"Ouch!"

Caught off guard, Lin Qingxue crashed hard into his back. Clutching her sore nose with teary eyes, she complained, "Why did you stop so suddenly?"

Ye Shu, however, stood in place, his ears twitching.

"Don't speak. Listen."

"Listen?" Lin Qingxue looked around in confusion. She pricked up her ears and listened carefully for a moment before saying blankly, "There's no sound at all."

"Exactly, there's no sound at all."

Ye Shu's gaze deepened as he looked toward the direction where the explosion had originally come from. "They've finished fighting, or rather... she ran out of patience."

After saying that, under Lin Qingxue's confused gaze.

A green light flashed in Ye Shu's left hand as he grasped the Male Mandarin Duck Sword. He sat down cross-legged and began writing and drawing on the ground with his right hand. He wrote down three lines of text and said to the dazed Lin Qingxue, "When we see someone later, ask these three questions for me."

"Eh? How do you know someone will come?"

Lin Qingxue glanced at the lines of text and found them exceptionally familiar. Before she could react, she saw Ye Shu pick up a pill flashing with a metallic luster in his right hand and swallow it forcefully.

Taking advantage of the gap before the Iron Armor Pill's medicinal power took effect, he took out all the Qi Recovery Pills he had refined over the past few days, a full hundred or so, and swallowed them all in one breath.

"Shu'er! Why are you doing this?"

Danxia was greatly shocked. She subconsciously raised her hand to help soothe the violent spiritual energy inside his body but was stopped by Ye Shu's gaze.

Unless absolutely necessary, he really didn't want to owe anyone a favor.

Practice makes perfect.

There is a first time for everything.

It is always tight at first, but becomes much looser later.

Ye Shu was the same right now. After experiencing the body-tearing effects of the Iron Armor Pill for the first time and dancing with Danxia's spiritual energy, he had faintly grasped the balance of spiritual energy circulation.

Crack... crack crack crack...

Accompanied by a subtle cracking sound, Ye Shu's skin began to shed powder, then cracked, and finally turned into fragments like broken porcelain, floating quietly in the air. A terrifying spiritual pressure emanated from between his skin and flesh.

Beneath it were pale blue bands of light, clearly visible like the veins of a leaf. The Universal Starry Sky was circulated to its absolute limit by Ye Shu. Spiritual energy revolved through his major acupoints, passing along like a game of hot potato. Even his shattered dantian was utilized, with spiritual energy flowing along its cracks to relieve the pressure.

For a moment, he actually managed to avoid exploding and dying.

Lin Qingxue's beautiful eyes widened, completely astounded by this unbelievable scene.

Last time she woke up groggily in the night, she had only felt it was extremely terrifying.

Now, bathed in the sunlight filtering through the mottled shadows of the trees, every inch of his torn skin, paired with Ye Shu's resolute and silent profile, surprisingly conveyed an indescribable, fragile beauty.

He was calm and decisive, completely disregarding life and death.

As the saying goes, a serious man is the most handsome. At this moment, Ye Shu exuded a distinct charm from head to toe.

"Is this guy... made of iron?"

Lin Qingxue muttered under her breath.

Enduring such immense pain, yet he did not let out a single groan.

In reality, if he could make a sound, Ye Shu would have screamed louder than anyone else. If he had the chance to release the pressure, he absolutely would not hold it back.

The problem was that the side effects of the Iron Armor Pill made it nearly impossible for him to move.

Otherwise, he would have cried out ages ago.

"Buzz!"

Pure spiritual energy flowed down his left arm, slowly and steadily pouring into the Male Mandarin Duck Sword. As the spiritual energy infused into it, the blade began to emit a soft glow, letting out an excited, cicada-like hum due to the overwhelming surge of power.

Recovering from her shock, Lin Qingxue furrowed her brows.

But why was he doing this?

Soon, Lin Qingxue's confusion was cleared up.

A breathtakingly beautiful figure descended from the sky, landing about thirty feet away from them.

"Ye Shu, I have come to kill you."