Chapter 521: Chapter 510: The Sword Cultivator Father
After observing for a while, Ye Sheng saw that the two little merfolk, though struggling, were becoming more valiant the more they fought and weren’t in great danger, so he went ashore. He didn’t know how long this secret realm would remain open, nor the purpose of the owner of the secret realm, but he understood from the past few days of escape that there were many good things here in the secret realm and he couldn’t afford to waste time, right?
However, once onshore, Ye Sheng didn’t venture too far from the river and started to search the vicinity.
Five days later, when Ye Sheng had dug up all the Spiritual Medicine in the area, the battle between the Jiao dragon and the two merfolk also came to an end. Although the Jiao dragon was formidable, its lack of Divine Sense was a major flaw. With the cooperation between Little Blue and Little Hai, the massive Jiao dragon finally fell with a thunderous crash.
Ye Sheng declined the merfolks’ offer to give him the Jiao dragon’s carcass. The merfolk weren’t picky about food, and the adult Jiao was greatly nourishing for the two of them. In the end, he only took the Dragon Tendon, Dragon Bone, and Jiao dragon’s teeth, which could be used for Artifact Refining.
"Let’s go find the Jiao dragon’s lair and see if there’s anything good there," said Little Blue and Little Hai, buoyant and unwilling to return to the Spiritual Beast Ring. Not wanting to confine them, Ye Sheng let them be and followed the river upstream.
As it turned out, the Jiao dragon’s lair did contain some worthwhile items. Although it had lost its Divine Soul, its instincts remained; its nest was filled with treasures, likely gathered by itself, with those shiny ores being the most abundant and of relatively high grade.
Ye Sheng felt he was going to face a tough choice soon. With so many high-grade ores, which ones should he pick for his father to refine swords?
Lin Shen, although having encountered some dangers, generally experienced both risks and opportunities, but it seemed he had found far less treasure than Ye Sheng.
A smug smile played across Lin Shen’s eyes, and he felt confident in this secret realm, yet he was unaware that the owner of the secret realm was showing a look of disgust through Divine Sense at this very moment.
In the secret realm, there were those like Ye Sheng and Lin Shen who found it relatively easy; however, many others encountered danger, with some even perishing under the merciless maws of spiritual beasts.
Zhan Xiaofu and Wang Ting were in grave danger now as they encountered an attack by Fire Wind Birds. Initially, the flock of birds wasn’t targeting them but were diverted by the Beast Taming Sect’s schemes. The Beast Taming Sect stole the birds’ eggs, yet in the end, the smashed eggs ended up on them, leading the flock of Fire Wind Birds to relentlessly pursue them.
"The next time I encounter them, I’ll make sure they don’t die a peaceful death," Zhan Xiaofu gritted his teeth tightly, his face filled with outrage and ferocity.
"It’s your own carelessness, stop talking and just run," Wang Ting scolded her Second Senior Brother, clearly frustrated by his incompetence.
Zhan Xiaofu pursed his lips in silence, admitting his mistake. He should have never trusted those people. If it weren’t for their Third Junior Sister’s sudden appearance, who knows if he would still be...
No, he couldn’t let his own foolish mistake drag his junior sister down with him.
"Junior Sister, you go ahead, you don’t have the scent of the Fire Wind Egg on you; they won’t chase after you."
"What are you talking about? Am I supposed to just leave you here to die?" Wang Ting glared at him with gritted teeth, then glanced at the Fire Wind Birds in the sky, her heart sinking; there were too many, and despite having many treasures in hand, they couldn’t withstand such depletion.
With that said, the flock of Fire Wind Birds above gathered Spiritual Energy and spat a barrage of Spiritual Fire toward the two.
"Oh no!" Zhan Xiaofu dodged, looking like he got burned, and then regarded his Vestment robe worriedly, "I hope this Merfolk Silk robe isn’t burnt!"
"Shall we send a message to Junior Brother..."
After hesitating for a while, they decided to send a message to Ye Sheng; with their Junior Brother having two merfolk with him, perhaps he could rescue them? If he couldn’t help when he arrived, they’d just ask him to leave to avoid implicating him.
Fortunately, Ye Sheng was not too far away and arrived in less than half a day.
"Follow me, there’s a river over there. Their attack power will decrease by the river, and Little Blue and Little Hai will be able to exert their maximum combat power."
Seeing Ye Sheng’s confidence, Zhan Xiaofu couldn’t help feeling inferior. Even the junior disciple was so composed, unlike him, who only caused trouble. If anything happened to his sister today, he would never forgive himself.
With Ye Sheng’s help, the group of berserk Fire Wind Birds finally retreated. What Zhan Xiaofu didn’t know was that in a past life, Wang Ting had willingly sacrificed herself to protect him.
"Let’s move together now, the dangers in the secret realm are too great," Ye Sheng suggested.
Wang Ting and Zhan Xiaofu felt a bit embarrassed. Although they were the senior brother and worldly brother, their combat power was not as strong as Ye Sheng’s, not to mention they had previously taken so many things from their junior brother.
But the junior brother was right, the dangers in the secret realm were immense, and sticking together was indeed the wisest decision. They silently thought to themselves that if they encountered any treasure, they would give it to their junior brother first.
There were not a few who had decided to travel in groups like the three of them, only the amount of scheming and twists and turns among those companions was unknown.
Lin Shen still acted alone, not for lack of people wishing to team up with him, but because he had refused them all.
His thinking was very pragmatic; with good fortune and not insignificant strength, why should he team up with others? Why share the treasures with anyone else?
It couldn’t be said that his approach was wrong, it was just that everyone has their own thoughts and perspectives.
A month later, everyone’s hearts began to grow anxious; the secret realm was filled with treasures, but what about the rest? Shouldn’t the master of the secret realm come out to choose his inheritor?
What they didn’t know was that all their actions in the secret realm were being observed by an invisible Divine Soul.
Suddenly, a bamboo hut quietly appeared beneath a small hill, with a lake in front of it as well. If there were any cultivators who had been here before, they would realize that none of this had existed before.
Ye Sheng suddenly stopped in his tracks, casting a suspicious glance towards the south.
"What’s wrong?" Wang Ting and Zhan Xiaofu stopped and asked.
"I feel like there’s something over there," said Ye Sheng, frowning.
"Then let’s go," Zhan Xiaofu said decisively, rare for him. "We cultivators must trust our own intuition. It was my intuition that led me to meet the master and junior sister."
"You and your big mouth." Wang Ting glared at him, then walked toward the direction Ye Sheng was looking at.
The closer they got to the south, the faster Ye Sheng’s heartbeat raced, yet he maintained his caution.
In mid-air, the invisible Divine Sense nodded satisfactorily. Worthy indeed of the inheritor he had his eyes on. However... he cast a worried glance towards another direction, where someone seemed quite troublesome and might bring danger to the disciple he favored.
Regrettably, there was nothing he could do now, everything depended on the junior disciple.
Simultaneously, at the moment the bamboo hut appeared, a palace emerged in the opposite direction, drawing other cultivators to it. However, it failed to attract Lin Shen.