Celestial Dragon Sword Venerable

Ye Tianling knew that Li Xuyao’s inner turmoil had grown even deeper. He feared that only by making the Heaven-Sundering Sacred Land rise again and completely suppressing the Lie Mountain Divine Race could Li Xuyao find peace of mind and achieve a breakthrough.

But this would be no easy feat.

The Lie Mountain Divine Race was now a Divine Land. Its scale and power far surpassed that of the Heaven-Sundering Sacred Land.

"Let’s go. My sister should be at the other end of this canyon."

As he spoke, Ye Tianling had already started down the quiet path in the center of the canyon.

HISS HISS—

The aura of the Ancient Dao Marks between Heaven and Earth manifested, blocking Ye Tianling’s path.

However, he didn’t pause. Instead, he gathered Primordial Runes and continuously formed hand seals, quickly breaking the Trapping Array that would have been insurmountable for anyone else and clearing the way forward.

Li Xuyao, Li Xushan, and Li Yanjin were very close to Ye Tianling. They were utterly shocked to personally witness him wave his hand and form countless Primordial Rune Arrays.

But Ye Tianling had always been a monstrous talent. As a legendary, Mythical-Level figure, it somehow seemed perfectly normal for him to accomplish such feats.

The three didn’t hesitate and immediately followed him.

Tianqing, Xia Xinyan, and the rest of their group also followed without hesitation.

Soon, the group disappeared onto the small path, entering the depths of the canyon.

Behind them, the two groups of Alien Race Cultivators watched quietly but did not set out immediately. Instead, after Ye Tianling’s party had left, they all let out a sigh of relief.

"Brother Ban, why aren’t we following?"

"Follow? Didn’t you see that last battle? The Divine Son and Divine Lady of the Lie Mountain Divine Race were incredibly powerful, yet the Celestial Secret Divine Son slapped them to death! He didn’t give us permission to follow. If I go, am I just offering up my own head?"

"He can’t be that vicious, can he? He didn’t attack us before, and we haven’t offended him."

"The man is mercurial. Over in the Ten Thousand Demon Race’s territory, he enjoyed killing demons for a barbecue. Just because you haven’t offended him doesn’t mean he won’t decide to roast and eat you."

"...Alright, let’s not follow. We’ll just scavenge for whatever we can find. As long as some opportunities come our way, that’s good enough. We won’t compete with them."

"That’s the right idea. This place is dangerous, but it’s not too difficult for us to handle. Follow the Kunpeng Divine Son? We might get killed by the aftershocks of his battles. That would be a real loss!"

"Sigh, how can the Celestial Secret Divine Son, the Kunpeng Divine Son, be so strong! Isn’t he afflicted with the Venerable Soul Curse?"

"I’d like to know too. Why don’t you tell me?"

"How would I know?"

"You don’t know either? Then how would I know? You’re fucking asking me, who am I supposed to ask?! If I knew, would I still be hanging around with you lot?"

"Tch! Shi Ya, what’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying we’re all trash? Is it that shameful to be seen with us?"

"It means nothing. Just don’t talk about this Kunpeng Divine Son. Whether you speak well of him or ill, it’s never a good thing! Stay as far away from him as you can. When this man gets angry, he once massacred an entire Holy Land—the Celestial Overpass Holy Land, you know? The Saint-Slaying Demon, you’ve heard of him, right?"

...

The group of cultivators debated amongst themselves. In the end, apart from the friends Ye Tianling was familiar with, no one followed them into the depths of the canyon.

Ye Tianling waited for a moment. Seeing that no other cultivators were following, he was left speechless.

Of course, he hadn’t heard the cultivators’ discussion about him, nor had he noticed their attitude of avoiding him like the plague.

’That part of the canyon will soon be filled with poisonous smoke, and the Killing Arrays inside will activate. They really didn’t follow?’

Ye Tianling glanced back, a hint of pity in his eyes.

"Compared to being with you, that place is probably safer," Xia Xinyan said with a faint smile.

"Am I really that vicious?"

Ye Tianling felt a little embarrassed.

"You’re even more vicious than that. One of the cultivators back there is from the ancient Stone Race, named ’Shi Ya.’ He was probably there at Kunpeng Celestial Mountain when you displayed your divine might. And by now, everyone in the Ten Thousand Demon Race knows what happened in Luoyun Town," Xia Xinyan said.

"Alright, then. We can only wish them good luck."

Ye Tianling was at a complete loss for words.

But such was the Cultivation Realm. A dangerous environment often meant you had only a slim chance of survival.

If they feared death, no cultivators would have shown up here in the first place.

And any cultivator who did appear here would have already accepted the possibility of their own demise from the very start.

"Passing through this area of Ten Thousand Beasts Ridge... I feel a little uneasy," the Tianqing Goddess said after they had traveled some distance. Her eyes darted around, her pretty face etched with a grave expression.

"Don’t be so nervous; we should be fine for now. By the way, Fairy Qin Xingyi, why don’t you try performing another inference?"

Although Ye Tianling was somewhat confident, after walking a bit further, he too began to feel a faint sense of unease.

After the Tianqing Goddess mentioned it, an idea struck him, and he decided to have Qin Xingyi perform another inference.

Qin Xingyi naturally wouldn’t refuse Ye Tianling’s suggestion. ’She knew she couldn’t afford to offend him!’

Not to mention, she was already captivated by Ye Tianling’s charm. She was on the verge of obeying his every word.

"Mm-hm."

Qin Xingyi replied meekly.

As for how Ye Tianling addressed her, her heart filled with sweetness.

As a Saintess, her status in the Sect was very high, but it was clearly inferior when compared to a Divine Son or Divine Lady.

Not to mention a peerless man like Ye Tianling, a being at the Young Venerable Level.

Just the fact that Ye Tianling was speaking to her so gently made Qin Xingyi feel incredibly flattered.

Qin Xingyi’s heart pounded—THUMP-THUMP—and it took her a while to calm down.

Facing Ye Tianling’s somewhat puzzled gaze, Qin Xingyi felt extremely shy. Her heart hammered against her ribs, and she was terrified that he would see right through her.

She normally could have easily used the Immortal Reincarnation Scripture, but it actually took her three consecutive attempts to succeed. This greatly surprised Qin Xingzhao, Qin Xingchen, and Qin Xingfan.

Qin Xingzhao frowned, about to ask Qin Xingyi what on earth she was doing. But when he saw her blushing face, glowing with a springtime radiance, his own heart skipped a beat. He found himself inexplicably captivated and couldn’t get the words out.

After a moment, Qin Xingzhao finally realized: Qin Xingyi had developed feelings for Ye Tianling.

’Sigh, the three of us clan brothers all have strong feelings for her, but her heart isn’t moved in the slightest... Comparisons are truly infuriating. The Celestial Secret Divine Son... sigh.’

Qin Xingzhao thought miserably. But what could he do besides sigh in regret?

’If Qin Xingyi liked someone else, they would have tried to interfere to some extent. But Ye Tianling...’ On the contrary, Qin Xingzhao found himself happy to see it happen. He even wished Qin Xingyi would be a little more proactive.

’I must be fucking crazy to have such a bizarre thought.’

Qin Xingzhao was rendered utterly speechless when he realized what he was thinking.