Ye Qiu jumped in fright.
When he opened his eyes, he suddenly discovered an old man right in front of him.
The old man was extremely thin, skin and bones, very advanced in years. The wrinkles on his face resembled dried tree bark, his eye sockets were deeply sunken, and when he grinned, he revealed a few black teeth.
Cold sweat broke out on Ye Qiu’s back, because during all the time he had spent in the treasure furnace, he had never noticed anyone else.
Ye Qiu clenched his fists, looked at the old man warily, and asked, “Who are you?”
The old man chuckled and replied, “You can call me Ancestor.”
Bang!
Without another word, Ye Qiu threw a punch straight at the old man’s face, sending him flying backwards in a somersault.
“You little bastard, how dare you hit me? Have you eaten the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard?”
The old man clutched his face, lay on the ground, and roared curses.
Ye Qiu glanced at his own fist, somewhat puzzled. When he had struck just now, it felt like hitting a ball of cotton, yet the old man had still been knocked down.
“This old man is strange.”
Ye Qiu narrowed his eyes and asked again, “Who exactly are you?”
“Grandpa isn’t human,” the old man said.
“Could you be a demon then?” Ye Qiu asked.
The old man replied, “Grandpa isn’t a demon either.”
“Since you’re neither human nor demon, there’s nothing more to say.” Ye Qiu threw another punch.
“Damn, you want to hit me again? Looks like if Grandpa doesn’t show his power, you’ll treat me like a sick cat!” The old man’s figure suddenly vanished from the ground, causing Ye Qiu’s punch to hit empty air.
Where did he go?
Ye Qiu looked around, but saw no trace of the old man, not even sensing the slightest aura.
The old man had disappeared into thin air.
“This old man is no ordinary fellow.” Ye Qiu gripped his fists tightly, his whole body tense, not daring to relax in the least.
“Kid, Grandpa is here.” Suddenly, the old man’s voice sounded right by Ye Qiu’s ear.
Ye Qiu whipped his head around and found the old man’s face less than three centimetres away. He instinctively headbutted forward.
“Thud!”
Ye Qiu’s headbutt hit nothing; the old man’s figure had vanished again.
“You really think that by hiding, I won’t be able to find you?” Ye Qiu snorted coldly and activated his Heavenly Eye.
In an instant, he spotted the old man.
The old man was hiding within the thick mist, less than five feet tall, barefoot, looking like an old beggar.
“Whoosh!”
Ye Qiu flicked his finger, sending a sword qi slashing towards the old man.
This sword strike was not only immensely powerful but also incredibly swift.
However, before the sword qi could hit, the old man’s figure abruptly disappeared.
“Heh heh… you little bastard, you actually found where I was hiding. Interesting.” The old man’s eerie laughter echoed around Ye Qiu’s ears.
When Ye Qiu tried to locate the old man again with his Heavenly Eye, he was shocked to discover that the thick mist had blocked his vision.
“It must be that old man’s doing. Just who is he?”
Ye Qiu frowned.
The old man’s voice rang out, “Little bastard, what are you standing there for? Come hit me, come on, hit me…”
Boom!
Ye Qiu attacked.
This time, he swung his fists wildly, bombarding everything indiscriminately.
“Tsk tsk tsk, so young, yet your fist technique is quite decent.”
“Too bad you haven’t even touched the corner of Grandpa’s clothes.”
“Your cultivation is too weak, simply a weakling…”
Weakling?
Ye Qiu grew furious, stopped his attacks, and said coldly, “Old undead, I’ve tolerated you long enough.”
“Insulting me is one thing, but calling yourself Grandpa? I think you really want to die.”
From within the mist came the old man’s mocking laughter.
“What, you want to kill me?”
“Little bastard, it’s not that I look down on you, but even if you cultivate for ten thousand years, you couldn’t kill me.”
“Your Grandpa here is…”
Boom!
At that moment, a Qiankun Cauldron hovered above Ye Qiu’s head, releasing a vast imperial pressure.
“A… a divine artefact… damn, little bastard, stop right now.”
The old man leapt out from the mist with a whoosh, crying out in terror.
Ye Qiu said in an unfriendly tone, “What did you just call me? Little bastard?”
“No, you misheard.” The old man put on a flattering smile and said, “How could I possibly call you little bastard? I was calling you Grandpa.”
“Grandpa, hurry and put the divine artefact away.”
“This treasure furnace cannot withstand the power of a divine artefact.”
Ye Qiu found it somewhat amusing. This old man was cut from the same cloth as the Long-Browed Real Person, utterly shameless.
Moreover, this fellow bullied the weak and feared the strong. So arrogant before, now completely cowed.
“Grandpa, your grandson begs you, please put the divine artefact away!” the old man pleaded.
“Get lost. I have no grandson like you.” Ye Qiu then asked, “Who exactly are you?”
The old man said in surprise, “Those little demon brats outside didn’t tell you who I am?”
Ye Qiu said coldly, “No more nonsense. Speak quickly, or don’t blame me for being rude.”
“You can call me Eighth Master…” The old man started to say, then hurriedly changed his words with a servile grin, “Grandpa, just call me Little Eighth.”
“I am the artefact spirit of the Eight Trigrams Treasure Furnace.”
Ye Qiu suddenly understood. No wonder this old man had appeared here so suddenly; this was his territory after all.
This was Ye Qiu’s first time seeing an artefact spirit. He sized him up for a moment and asked, “Do artefact spirits all look like you?”
“Artefact spirits can change into thousands of forms, but I like this appearance best.” The old man, fearing Ye Qiu might dislike it, said, “If you don’t like it, I can change into something else.”
“I can become a flower, or a graceful and charming woman. I can also…”
Ye Qiu said, “Turn into a pile of shit and let me see.”
“Uh…” The old man stared at Ye Qiu in shock, wondering what sort of peculiar preference this was.
“Just joking with you.” Ye Qiu asked, “I’ve been in here so long and never saw you. Why did you suddenly appear?”
The old man said, “That… could you first put the divine artefact away?”
Ye Qiu withdrew the Qiankun Cauldron.
The old man immediately let out a long breath and said, “Lit… Grandpa… how should I address you?”
“My name is Ye Changsheng,” Ye Qiu said. “You can call me by my name directly. Don’t call me Grandpa.”
The old man smiled, “Yes, Grandpa!”
Ye Qiu’s face instantly darkened.
“I was wrong, Grandpa. Don’t be angry. I’ll call you Young Master Ye instead!” the old man said. “Young Master Ye, actually, from the moment you stepped in, I saw you. At the time, I thought you would leave after a short while. Who knew you would stay so long?”
“Young Master Ye, you are truly amazing.”
“My admiration for you flows like the endless rolling river. My worship of you is like…”
“Cut the useless talk.” Ye Qiu interrupted the old man and asked coldly, “What exactly do you want?”
The old man looked at Ye Qiu with utter sincerity and said, “Young Master Ye, I want to be your grandson!”
