In the Heavenly Wolf Cave Heaven.
A beautiful woman dressed in a white skirt was trimming the flowers and plants in the courtyard with a small pair of scissors. Her face always carried a trace of serene calm.
At that moment, a young girl in a white dress walked over from nearby. She looked curiously at the beautiful woman and asked: “Old Ancestor, these flowers are clearly growing very well. Why are you cutting them off?”
“What you see as good is only good on the surface. I cut them off precisely to make them better!
All living beings in the world are like this. Too much ease only leads to mediocrity. To stand out, one must break free from comfort and endure trials that ordinary people dare not face!”
The beautiful woman spoke lightly, yet the white-dressed girl frowned upon hearing this. She could not help but huff proudly: “What are you even talking about, Old Ancestor? What you said has nothing to do with what I asked!”
The beautiful woman gave a faint smile upon hearing this. Then she looked toward the young man practising swordplay in the distance and beckoned to him: “Yan Mo, come here.”
“Yes, Old Ancestor!”
The young man immediately stopped his practice, returned the long sword to the sword case on his back, and hurried over. He bowed respectfully to the beautiful woman: “Old Ancestor!”
If Mo Fan were here, he would surely recognise this young man as the human cultivator Yan Mo, who had helped him many times in the past!
And this beautiful woman was none other than the current Old Ancestor of the Tu Shan Clan: Tu Shan Jingya!
“Have you fully refined the golden core that Di Shitian sent last time?”
Tu Shan Jingya looked at Yan Mo, a mysterious glint flashing in her eyes.
“Reporting to Old Ancestor, I have already fully refined it. My cultivation has now broken through to the peak of the Core Formation Realm!” Yan Mo answered honestly.
“Wow! Brother Yan Mo, you have actually broken through to the peak of the Core Formation Realm as well?”
“Does that not mean you are now the same as me?”
The white-clothed girl beside them immediately became excited upon hearing this. She could not help asking: “When did you break through? How did I not know?”
“Just a few days ago!”
Yan Mo replied with a gentle smile. Then he looked toward Tu Shan Jingya again, frowning slightly as he said: “Old Ancestor, what exactly was that golden core refined from? Why does it contain such immense vitality? Moreover, I also sensed a trace of bloodiness…”
At this point, Yan Mo did not continue. A faint sense of unease lingered in his heart.
“Brother Yan Mo, why do you care what it was refined from! As long as it helps your cultivation, that is all that matters, right?!”
The white-clothed girl spoke first. Then she chuckled lightly: “That Di Shitian is actually quite generous. Not only did he find us such a cave heaven to settle in, he even supplied us with so many cultivation pills!”
“Yun Shang, there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Since Di Shitian has been so accommodating toward us, he must have some request for Old Ancestor!
After all, he is a demon race Holy King. In the future, it is better for us to keep our distance from him!” Yan Mo could not help saying.
“That makes sense!”
Tu Shan Yun Shang nodded. Then she looked toward their Old Ancestor and asked: “Old Ancestor, what exactly did Di Shitian come to ask you to calculate last time? With your deduction ability, could you really not figure anything out?”
Tu Shan Jingya gave a faint smile upon hearing this. After thinking for a moment, she finally said: “Indeed, I was unable to deduce it. The secrets of heaven are unfathomable. It is normal not to be able to calculate them!”
“Ah?!”
Tu Shan Yun Shang was stunned. Even Yan Mo beside her was equally shocked.
The Tu Shan Clan possessed the divine ability of heavenly secret deduction. And Tu Shan Jingya, as the only remaining Old Ancestor of the Tu Shan Clan, had deduction techniques of unfathomable power!
At least in the eyes of both of them, Old Ancestor had never failed in her deductions!
Yet now she personally admitted she could not deduce it. This naturally left them quite astonished.
“Old Ancestor, you are not fooling us, are you?”
“Could it be that the one you were trying to deduce is your illegitimate…?”
“Bang!”
“Ouch!”
Before Tu Shan Yun Shang could finish saying the words “illegitimate child”, her head received a sharp flick from Tu Shan Jingya’s finger. In pain, she immediately transformed into a small white fox and with a “whoosh” jumped onto Yan Mo’s shoulder.
“Brother Yan Mo, Old Ancestor hit me!!”
The little white fox spoke in human words, her tone full of grievance.
“…”
Yan Mo was speechless. Then he said: “You deserve it. Who told you to speak so carelessly?”
“You… Hmph!!”
Seeing that even Yan Mo did not take her side, the little white fox immediately turned her head away in a huff.
“Someone that even Old Ancestor could not deduce… Could it be a demon race Holy King?” Yan Mo could not help asking.
“Not quite. Although I could not deduce his identity through heavenly secrets, I already know who it is. However, this demon has some karma with me, so naturally I cannot tell Di Shitian.”
Tu Shan Jingya shook her head slightly. Then she looked at Yan Mo again, her gaze flickering as she said: “I know you are still troubled about that golden core. But Yun Shang is right. No matter what it was refined from, as long as it causes you no harm and instead benefits you, it is a great blessing for you!
We cultivators fear most being held back by certain things. Since we have embarked on the path of cultivation, we must press forward without hesitation!
Perhaps in the future, many bones and blood will fall beneath your feet. But you must still walk forward resolutely if you wish to have any hope of attaining immortality!”
“If your heart is not at ease and your thoughts are blocked, you will instead be taken advantage of by inner demons. At that time, you too will become nothing more than bones on the road to immortality!”
“Old Ancestor, this junior understands!”
“Thank you for your guidance, Old Ancestor!”
Yan Mo’s heart trembled slightly upon hearing this. He immediately nodded heavily and exhaled a breath of turbid air.
“Good. Only when one is not trapped by the heart can one be truly powerful!”
Tu Shan Jingya nodded slightly upon seeing this. Then she looked deeply at Yan Mo with a serious expression and said: “Yan Mo, you were born with the Sword Immortal Physique. Your talent in sword cultivation is unmatched. In this life, you are destined to contend for immortality. This Ancestor places great hopes on you and hopes you will not disappoint me!”
“I know you like Yun Shang. Therefore, this Ancestor can promise you: as long as you can cultivate to the great perfection of the Nascent Soul Realm, this Ancestor will marry Yun Shang to you!”
As soon as these words were spoken, Yan Mo’s body trembled. Then joy appeared on his face. He immediately bowed deeply to Tu Shan Jingya: “Thank you, Old Ancestor! Yan Mo will certainly cultivate diligently and marry Yun Shang back to my Yan Family Village as soon as possible!”
“You… you two… how can you talk about this right in front of me?!”
“It is so embarrassing! I am ignoring you both!!”
On Yan Mo’s shoulder, the white fox’s cheeks immediately flushed red. She transformed into a streak of white light and flew away.
Tu Shan Jingya smiled faintly upon seeing this. But soon her expression changed slightly. With a casual wave of her hand, a token appeared in her palm.
At this moment, the token was emitting a faint glow.
“Old Ancestor, what is it?” Yan Mo could not help asking curiously.
“The spatial array formation I set up in Moon-Gazing Valley has been activated… It seems Di Shitian has done something again…”
Tu Shan Jingya frowned slightly. Then she poured rolling spiritual energy into the token in her hand. A beam of light immediately shot out from the token and projected an image in the sky.
Within that image was precisely the scene inside the array space!
“So many great demons!”
Yan Mo was slightly stunned upon seeing this. But he soon frowned and said: “No, these great demons all seem very young…”
“Of course they are young. None of them is over two hundred years old, and almost all are King Realm demon cultivators. In the demon race, only the prodigies of the major holy lands can break through to the King Realm before reaching two hundred years of age!”
Tu Shan Jingya narrowed her eyes slightly. Her gaze quickly locked onto a certain figure in the image. She sneered coldly: “The Heavenly Wolf Holy King truly has good methods. He actually wants to use this way to screen out the one who stole the Nine Nether Divine Mill!”
“Huh… That fellow looks a bit familiar?”
