Section 106: With Plenty of Immortal Stones, One Speaks with Confidence

Wuyun, suspended in mid-air, offered few words regarding the arrangements. "Take advantage of this moment before we are monitored," he commanded. "Make haste."

The earring suddenly shifted, transforming into a sharp bone-carving knife. Jia Youke held it in one hand, measuring his movements. Enduring the agony, he hacked off his own body below the waist, and then, with another swift motion, severed his rapidly regenerating right arm. Following this, his newly sprouted right arm proceeded to amputate his left.

Once Wuyun had sutured the limbs using the life-bound silk of Old Third Bear, he began to chant, his body wreathed in black mist. With a sudden rotation, Jia Youke’s limbs fused perfectly with his mangled stumps, leaving not a single scar behind.

Having regained his vitality, Wuyun exhaled a long, turbid breath. Without pausing to celebrate, his first priority was to approach the creature known as Fine Rope, the mount of Green Leaf and Feng Qianyu.

The little insect, feeling a sense of gratification, recited a few verses of joyful Buddhist scripture, only for Wuyun to kick the snake-headed Fine Rope. One kick was not enough to vent his frustration; after all, his new limbs and hands were still far from the hardness of an immortal body.

"Wake up!"

Amidst the roar, Wuyun summoned the Fear-Hating Immortal Sword. The little insect, sensing something was amiss, glanced at the main target. Feng Qianyu was utterly drained, lacking even the strength to shout.

"You have devoured that tiger, that leopard, and that person. Why keep up the charade? Are you hoping to play the mantis stalking the cicada?"

Wuyun’s words shocked the little insect and the others, and even Feng Qianyu frowned in distress.

Fine Rope suddenly opened its eyes and, shamed, coiled itself back around Feng Qianyu’s waist. It murmured, "For the sake of my young mistress, I have staked everything. Without consuming them, how could I ever recover? I will bear all the sins alone. To hell with backers and patrons—to cultivate immortality is to accept the reality of death!"

Fine Rope exhaled three souls, which vanished into the depths of the cave. Wuyun made no move to liberate them; after all, it had little to do with him. The leopard Yan Fei, the Red Tiger Immortal, and Jing Shou, an inner-sect elder of the Myriad Crystal Immortal Sect, had been captives in its belly, only to become rations when danger struck. Most significantly, it had not only devoured their cultivation but had completely obliterated their souls, leaving nothing to dissipate into the heavens.

"Different paths, different goals. Take your young mistress and find a way to leave. The opportunities you have lost lie entirely within your own thoughts of good and evil!"

Fine Rope bowed its head, its three skulls rotating in unison, and carried Feng Qianyu through the restrictions above the cave, disappearing without a trace. Only Old Third Bear felt a pang of regret, grumbling about losing two laborers.

Long Yi, observing this, snorted and chided, "Such demonic cultivators have no sense of morality; they would even devour a soul. If kept by your side, they would surely turn on you in a moment of crisis."

After settling the squabbling between the two beasts, Wuyun stretched his body and approached the soft-skinned Jia Youke, who was channeling immortal energy to perfect his newly grown flesh. When Jia Youke caught sight of Wuyun’s benevolent and harmless expression, he shuddered, stopped his cultivation, and asked urgently, "My lord, what are your further instructions?"

"First, find us suitable identities—servants or slaves, it matters not. Second, leverage your connection with Dao Yuan to enter the Vice Valley Master’s tower and locate the reincarnated Antuo. Third, once your cultivation reaches the Great Immortal realm, send these bears, dragons, bugs, and humans to the inner and outer sects of the Hundred Flowers Valley to learn and do chores."

Faced with these demands, Jia Youke did not object, though he worriedly replied, "The status of a slave requires no inquiry, but servants must be registered. We can conceal this for now, but if discovered, it is a crime punishable by expulsion!"

Reflecting that his fate was now tied to theirs—having already killed a deputy captain of the Hundred Flowers Valley’s law enforcement—he realized there was no point in retreating. "Apart from the difficulty of entering the Vice Valley Master’s Yang-Igniting Soul-Sealing Tower, the rest is manageable. These seniors—the Black Bear, the Insect, the Snake, the Dragon, and this glowing little golden man—can all enter the Beast-Training Mountain as mounts. However, it is a chaotic place; sometimes, mounts sent there simply disappear without a trace."

After hearing his concerns, Wuyun waved his hand dismissively and looked at Long Yi, who had transformed into the likeness of Fine Rope. "Once they enter, the situation will be different!"

A moment later, guards arrived to investigate the traces left by the earlier departure, but they soon left, harboring vague suspicions. Because so many people came to inspect Jia Youke, and given his association with Dao Yuan, he had gained a small degree of fame.

"What kind of dog-luck does this fellow have, to be favored by the Immortal King’s daughter? Hmph, he just has a pale face and tender skin—anyone could do that, bah!"

After the guards left, Jia Youke’s friends, Feiteng Shi and Jue Li, arrived. The cave was suddenly empty, save for one person. When the two saw Wuyun, dressed in rags as if he had emerged from the wilderness, they were stunned.

Jia Youke felt a bit embarrassed, but Wuyun smiled and said, "I ascended from a small world. Unfortunately, I was saved by Senior Youke, who has promised to take me as his disciple!"

Wuyun projected a divine sense image of the environment of the Qianluo Space. Jue Li was skeptical. "Everyone who ascends from a small world must be registered. Furthermore, we have no reception point here. Each small world is under the jurisdiction of a major power..."

"When they ascended, the spatial channel underwent a mutation, likely triggered by a previously fallen meteorite!" Jia Youke explained. After Feiteng Shi finished his inspection and confirmed the findings, he said, "As long as you haven't cultivated demonic arts like soul-devouring or spirit-transformation, we can register you as a temporary servant."

Jia Youke quietly pulled Feiteng Shi aside and whispered, "I have promised benefits, so don't embarrass me by failing to arrange this properly!"

Feiteng Shi nodded, unhesitatingly accepting the ten immortal stones Jia Youke handed him. "Don't worry, I guarantee there will be no mistakes!"

After Feiteng Shi took a drop of Wuyun’s blood and a three-dimensional image, he left with a smile, leaving Jue Li behind, who stared at Wuyun with a cold face, as if scrutinizing a prisoner.

"Jue Li, you still don't believe me!"

"It’s not that I don't believe you; I fear you will be harmed by demons or entrapped by treacherous immortals. Do you not know that my dual-cultivation with Bing Heng is the talk of the Great Immortal circle? Countless Great Immortals are scheming against me, even hoping to buy me away from Bing Heng!"

"But you must know, Bing Heng is merely a playboy. While he is lustful, there are no rumors of him bullying the weak. I can still handle him!"

"You have changed, Jue Li!" Jia Youke sighed with melancholy, triggering an old injury to his soul, which caused Jue Li to hurriedly use her immortal power to examine him and cast an immortal spell to soothe him.

Even so, Jia Youke continued to chatter on, speaking of their past—the good times, the memories of watching the sunrise and sunset, traveling through mountains and rivers, hunting, and seeing true love revealed in times of crisis. Jue Li, however, always urged him to forget the past, look to the future, and recognize the current situation: only cultivation is the ultimate truth, and only with many immortal stones can one speak with authority!

Jue Li and Jia Youke argued incessantly until two valley elders arrived, at which point they stopped.

"Jue Li pays respects to the two elders!" After she bowed, the elders ignored her. Seeing that Jue Li did not leave, one of them said, "I am an enforcement elder from the Law Enforcement Hall. Step aside; I have important matters to inquire about in person!"

After shooing Jue Li away, the two elders noticed Wuyun standing to the side, sipping a small cup of wine. They looked at him with suspicion, but this was a private cave, and what immortal did not have dozens or hundreds of retainers and slaves?