Immortal Path to Heaven

The beast-skinned man sneered and scoffed. “Hmph, how stubborn!”

He pressed his palm down, then a purple gourd elongated with the wind. It aimed to crash the long dragon that was formed from feathers.

The disparity between cultivation bases was evident at this moment. A crack was heard as the long black dragon was simply crushed from the middle and shattered. When the beast-skinned man grabbed the air, the purple gourd instantly turned into a purple light and returned to his sleeve.

Shu Ya’s eyes lit up. She noted with respect, “Big Brother Deng, your tricks are becoming more profound. This is worth congratulating.”

Deng Changfeng looked proud as he chuckled and responded, “Little Sister Shu, you’re overpraising me.”

All of a sudden, the red crow flapped its wings and caused countless feathers to fall. The feathers connected into a black arc that stirred up the quiet night sky.

“This is nothing but a petty trick that’ll even consume your potential. I’d like to see how many more times you’re able to use this trick.” Deng Changfeng scoffed. Instead of throwing out the purple gourd again this time, he bent his body and opened his legs as though he became a bow that was stretched into a round shape. Following that, the spiritual Qi inside the man’s dantian burst out and transformed into a pair of giant hands to squeeze what was in front of them. Consequently, the black arc was grabbed as if it was an earthworm. As the giant hands exerted force, the arc turned into countless ashes.

Nonetheless, the moment of delay allowed the red crow and Wu Xuning to take flight again.

“They’re quite strong-willed to have gotten away again,” Deng Changfeng remarked as he stepped on a branch.

With beautiful eyes, Shu Ya covered his mouth and chuckled. “Big Brother Deng, how could I not know what you’re thinking? You’re afraid that the red crow would self-explode its dantian to protect its master, or you would’ve seized them a few days ago already.”

Deng Changfeng rubbed his nose and grinned. “Little Sister Shu, you’re a clever girl indeed!”

Shu Ya smiled without saying a word. The cultivation technique that she practiced required her to collect young cultivators, and she would especially be nourished if the cultivator had overflowing pure Yang energy, which was why she had been pursuing Wu Xuning closely. As for which clan he belonged to, the young lady was not afraid because she had no strings attached as a rogue cultivator.

As long as she did not provoke clans with Venerable Ones, she could go anywhere in the world as an Advanced Spiritualist.

Deng Changfeng was similar to her as he was also a cruel rogue cultivator who committed all kinds of evil deeds that were too numerous to be listed. The 2 of them hit it off as soon as they met, and they were also quite famous among rogue cultivators in Zhangzhou.

Shu Ya was known as the black widow while Deng Changfeng was the smiling tiger. Together, they were considered popular among rogue cultivators.

※※※※

The Forest of Death was more dangerous at night. Ou Yangming and his companions found a tree hole and started a bonfire.

Although the fire was sometimes bright, sometimes dark, and was not exactly warm, it seemed to be able to drive the cold out of their bodies. A bunch of smoke drifted into the sky and drew an odd arc.

Xue Xuanle sat next to Ou Yangming and looked even more stunning as the fire made her cheeks look redder. She squinted her eyes and looked pleased as she carefully stole a glance at the young fellow.

Ou Yangming shook his shoulders and smiled at Xue Boren. “Senior, it’s still early before the Hunting Meet ends, but I’d like to clear up something, or our losses will outweigh our gains if we harbor ill feelings against each other.”

Xue Boren rolled his eyes and smiled heartily. “Brother Tianrui, just tell us what’s on your mind.”

Ou Yangming nodded and expressed calmly, “I participated in the Hunting Meet with the Xue family this time for the Beyond Heaven Pavilion’s unique material. I’m willing to make up the difference with spirit stones and spiritual herbs, so I hope that you’ll be able to give up the material, senior. As for the reputation from this event, it’ll belong to the Xue family. What do you think?”

Xue Boren’s eyes lit up, but he replied to the young fellow in a deep voice, “Brother Tianrui, you’re making it sound like we’re estranged. Honestly, Xuanle and I didn’t help much in the forest this time; we’ve been relying on your formations. If any of us is going to compensate the other, the Xue family should repay you instead. As for the smithing material, it’s all yours, Younger Brother.”

Given that he had lived long enough, he knew the ways of the world well and immediately made a choice. People were bound to owe each other favors, and the act of always returning favors to one another would eventually improve relationships.

Xue Xuanle smiled so brightly that her eyes looked like crescents. She breathed out some fragrant air as she noted, “Big Brother Yu, Great Elder is right—you contributed the most during this Hunting Meet. Besides, the Xue family lacks a good reputation at the moment, so we really got a good bargain from this!”

The elder cursed internally, ‘It’s true that a girl of age must be married off. You haven’t even gotten married yet, but you’re already helping an outsider. A lady’s heart is with her lover indeed!’

Nevertheless, instead of showing his real thoughts, he agreed with the young lady. “Yes, Xuanle’s right. Young Brother Tianrui, you shouldn’t reject this anymore.”

Ou Yangming added some firewood into the fire then cupped his hands and said, “Since you say that, senior, it’ll be impolite for me to refuse the kind gesture.”

“Great, great, great!” Xue Boren clapped his hands and laughed out loud.

Without saying anything else, Ou Yangming guarded his soul with his heart and meditated. He visualized the snow mountain in his spiritual world, where the peak was majestic and cold winds blew. A dragon that was formed from the cold winds roared at the top of the mountain.

It had become Ou Yangming’s habit to visualize the snow mountain.

If one could enter Ou Yangming’s spiritual world at the moment, one would be surprised to see the peak towering like a longsword at the edge of the sky. It looked like it was sharp enough to make a hole in the vault of heaven. The snow layer was ready for action and carried a surging and magnanimous power. One could imagine that the peak would release an earth-shattering power once it crumbled. This was the Big Avalanche, this was an unyielding spirit, this was a powerhouse’s heart.

The night passed with neither of them saying anything else. Due to the dead Qi in the sky, the morning sunlight could not enter the forest at all, thus it was still dark even when it was already daytime.

At the spur of the moment, Ou Yangming’s eyes flickered, and he looked to the side.

Xue Boren was moved. He flashed out like a ghost and raised his saber to stab the heart of a low-rank spirit beast, then he retrieved its blood crystal skillfully.

Even so, the elder was shocked, and he sighed. ‘Younger Brother Tianrui’s mental power is too great; he spotted ferocious beasts that even I didn’t notice. I’m afraid that he’d also be one of the top powerhouses in the Land of Inheritance where God-favored ones are gathered. In fact, a Daoist disciple?’

Such a situation had happened many times. In the beginning, Xue Boren did not believe it and thought it was merely an accident. After several times, he had to admit that Ou Yangming’s mental power was much greater than his.

Xue Xuanle leaped toward the elder and smiled like a flower. “I’ll do it, I’ll do it!”

She took the blood crystal and kept it inside her interspatial bag with a flash of thought. Before long, she retrieved all of the blood crystals and looked like a miser but thought, ‘The Xue family’s going to be famous this time.’ The young lady looked carefully at Ou Yangming. She was excited and content at the same time.

At this moment, 4 light spots suddenly appeared in Ou Yangming’s senses and were moving quickly.

As he sensed them closely, his mental power condensed and several figures appeared in his mind. His face changed as he asked, “Is the Wu family’s youngest master—Wu Xuning—participating in the Hunting Meet too?”

During his stay at the Wu residence, he had seen the young master once.

Xue Boren pondered for a while before he nodded and answered, “Yes, he is. He brought a red crow and an Advanced Spiritualist along with him, and he’s also an Intermediate Spiritualist. They’re only staying at the periphery, so they should be fine, right?”

Even though he said that, he was unsure about what might happen to them. After all, they were in the Forest of Death, where nobody could tell what they would encounter.

Ou Yangming’s face changed. Instead of answering the elder, strong winds lingered around his legs as he flew away.

Xue Boren and Xue Xuanle also had grave looks in their eyes. They had a bad feeling about this, so they quickly followed him.

Below a cliff.

“Bam!” Deng Changfeng raised his palm and hit it in front. A white light instantly flashed from his palm.

The red crow had long been depleted of spiritual Qi and could not dodge the attack, hence its wing was struck, and it staggered backward. The Qi that it forcibly gathered at its chest was also dispersed, and it fell from mid-air and landed on some decayed leaf. As cold winds blew, the fallen leaves that were eaten by poisonous insects flew out.

“Keep on running! Let’s see where you can run to this time!” Deng Changfeng and Shu Ya stood side by side. Looks of ridicule could be seen on their faces as the former suddenly grabbed forward.

The red crow was extremely flustered, and it secretly said to Wu Xuning, “I’m sorry, Young Master. I can’t keep you company anymore.” With that, it flapped its wings and released a gentle spiritual power that carried Wu Xuning away and was guided by its mental conception. Subsequently, the crow mustered the last bit of spiritual power left inside its dantian and pounced on their enemies.

It wanted to be entangled with their enemies, then it would self-explode after the young master had gone far away!

“No!” Wu Xuning shouted at the top of his lungs. Red lights were flickering inside his eyes.

“If I don’t die, the Wu family will surely fight against the 2 of them until one’s last gasp!”

However, Deng Changefeng’s eyes shone brighter. He laughed out loud and commented, “Given that it’s a spirit beast that I took a fancy to, it’s unordinary indeed.” It did not bother about what the crow said at last.

Shu Ya added, “It’s my first time seeing such a spirit beast that protects its master so well. Big Brother Deng, you have a good eye indeed.”

“That fella’s an Intermediate Spiritualist and has notable vitality and Yang energy—he’s a fine subject for your collection. Little Sister Shu, you’re not bad either.”

The 2 of them conversed happily as though they were strolling in a garden. They seemed like they did not notice the red crow that was charging at them.

At this time, Shu Ya suddenly recalled something and noted softly, “I heard that this young fella’s from the Wu family, and I heard that the Wu family’s quite well-known in Huixun City.”

Deng Changfeng waved his hand. “It’s fine. We’re not going to kill him, so his soul light won’t be distinguished. By the time the Wu family notices that something’s wrong, we would’ve gone 500 kilometers away.”

While he spoke, he drew his hands inward and managed to restrain the red crow and even freeze the spiritual power left inside its dantian. The crow would not be able to self-explode even if it wanted to, thus it simply collapsed to the ground and rolled far away.

Afterward, Deng Changfeng looked at Wu Xuning and chuckled. “Don’t worry, Little Sister Shu Ya’s a loving master, so she’ll surely serve you well and make you feel like you’re in paradise. By then, I’m afraid that an aristocratic family’s disciple like you might even enjoy it so much and cry because you won’t want to leave her!” He tilted his head and looked at Shu Ya on purpose.

Instead of being furious, Shu Ya smiled charmingly and approached Wu Xuning. Her slim waist swayed and gave off an endless amorous feeling. One would not be able to help but worry—would her slim waist be snapped by the wind?