Chapter 61: Re-entering the Deep Mountains

After reaching the ninth rank, the surging energy in his body made Xu Feng realize the gap between each subsequent rank. Xu Feng had no doubt that the gap between the tenth and ninth ranks would be even greater.

Thinking of Ye Hu, Xu Feng believed that if he faced him now, he would have a good chance of winning. From the beginning, he had been tempered by lightning, even swallowing a bolt of Heavenly Lightning. In the same rank, his strength far exceeded others.

Although Ye Hu had the peak ninth-rank strength, as long as he hadn't reached the tenth rank, Xu Feng wasn't afraid of him.

After reaching the ninth rank, Xu Feng felt much more relaxed. He thought about finding an opportunity to spar with Ye Hu, but after some consideration, he abandoned the idea. If Ye Hu didn't come to him first, he didn't need to seek him out. After all, after their battle, Ye Hu would surely urge Ye Si to return.

"Xu Feng! You're here!" Just as Xu Feng was pondering these thoughts, Xiao Lin's excited voice rang out. However, when he saw Xu Feng watering the flowers with a watering can, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but twitch.

At Xu Feng's feet was a mess. The flowers, originally in pots, were now completely soaked, clearly overwatered! "Damn, are you nurturing flowers or destroying them?"

"Xu Feng! Watering flowers is such a high-difficulty task, you shouldn't do it anymore. With your high intelligence, doing such a task is too much of a waste." Xiao Lin said seriously to Xu Feng.

"No problem! It's a good way to exercise!" Xu Feng shrugged indifferently and poured more water from the can.

"Damn..." Xiao Lin almost kicked Xu Feng to death. "You're exercising, but the Xiao family's flowers are being destroyed by you."

Without hesitation, Xiao Lin snatched the watering can from Xu Feng and said seriously, "Xu Feng! If you're really bored, why don't you try to wash a piece of coal white? Taking care of flowers is too simple for you!"

"Can coal be washed white?" Xu Feng asked in confusion.

Xiao Lin nodded vigorously, "It's difficult, but it's definitely possible. You should give it a try. Such a high-difficulty task would be more suitable for you!"

Xu Feng thought about it and agreed. He was so smart that watering flowers was too boring. It seemed that when he had nothing to do, he would go wash coal. Washing coal white would be an extremely impressive feat.

"Master! What are you doing here so early in the morning? Not going to a brothel, are you? You know I'm a pure servant and would never get involved in such things!" Xu Feng looked at Xiao Lin seriously.

"Get lost!" Xiao Lin finally couldn't hold back and kicked Xu Feng, but to his surprise, Xu Feng easily dodged. "Going to a brothel is something I'd never take you to. What would you say to Yilin?"

"Hehe! Master! So you really have such a hobby!" Xu Feng laughed, "Don't worry, as a man, I completely understand your actions and would never do something as despicable as tattling."

Xiao Lin, realizing he had slipped, blushed and said awkwardly, "I came here for another reason! The school's vacation will soon be over, and we'll have to head back. Since we have time now, I want you to accompany me to hunt a spirit beast and find a medicinal herb!"

"Spirit beast?!" Xu Feng took a deep breath and stared at Xiao Lin with wide eyes, thinking he must be crazy. Spirit beasts weren't that easy to provoke. How much effort did it take to deal with the black snake? And that was only after Uncle Ye had severely injured it, allowing them to barely kill it!

And now Xiao Lin wanted to go and kill a spirit beast. Wasn't that just asking for death?

"Why are you so surprised? It's just a spirit beast, not a particularly strong one. If we organize well, we definitely have the ability to kill it." Xiao Lin said, dissatisfied, then added, "It's different from the one the Ye family killed, which was a powerful spirit beast. We're going after the weakest kind. They're not in the same league!"

Although Xu Feng didn't know how spirit beasts were classified, hearing Xiao Lin's explanation, he felt reassured. He thought Xiao Lin wasn't the kind of person to do something so dangerous.

"What does Master need the spirit beast for?" Xu Feng suddenly asked.

"Because of my father's old injury! Never mind, it's hard to explain to you." Xiao Lin didn't elaborate much, "Get ready quickly, and don't let Yilin know. We need to leave soon!"

"Hmph! Don't think you can hide it from me, I'm going!" Just as Xiao Lin finished speaking, Xiao Yilin's voice came from behind them.

Looking over, they saw Xiao Yilin standing there, her long, beautiful eyelashes expressing her dissatisfaction.

Xiao Lin was helpless with Xiao Yilin. Seeing that this "lady" knew everything, he said with a headache, "Lady, this is a dangerous matter. Can you not come this time?"

"No! You never let me go! This time I must go!" Xiao Yilin glared with her phoenix eyes, her long, beautiful eyelashes expressing her determination.

Xiao Lin shrugged, not giving in. He didn't dare take his cousin along.

Xu Feng looked at the delicate and womanly Xiao Yilin and smiled slightly, saying to Xiao Lin, "Master! Let Miss Yilin come along! She gets lonely staying at home by herself!"

"But..." Xiao Lin didn't expect Xu Feng to speak up for Yilin and still didn't want to agree.

"Master, don't worry! I'll take good care of Miss Yilin and won't let her get into danger." Xu Feng said to Xiao Lin.

Xiao Lin stared at Xu Feng for a long time, thinking that this servant really doted on Xiao Yilin, more so than he, her brother. Seeing Xiao Yilin's excited eyes, he sighed, "Alright, it's decided. Take good care of her!"

With that, Xiao Lin left the two to arrange the trip.

"Xu Feng! I knew you were the best!" Xiao Yilin pounced on Xu Feng, hugging him excitedly. Her soft body pressed against Xu Feng, making him very comfortable.

"I'm Miss Yilin's attendant, so of course I have to think about her!" Xu Feng looked at Xiao Yilin, thinking that this innocent young girl always made people feel protective.

"But I never treated you as my attendant!" Xiao Yilin muttered, but quickly became excited again, "Xu Feng, I've never been to the deep mountains before. Should we bring food? Otherwise, I'll be hungry."

Hearing Xiao Yilin's words, Xu Feng was embarrassed and quickly tried to dissuade her. If Miss Yilin brought a lot of things, he would end up carrying them, and Xu Feng didn't want to carry a big bag of food.

"Miss Yilin, don't worry! I won't let you go hungry! Just follow me!" Xu Feng said seriously.

Miss Yilin nodded and said, "Then you can't let me go hungry!"

Xu Feng felt a headache. What was this woman thinking? She was already worried about being hungry before they even set out.

A large group set off for the deep mountains. What surprised Xu Feng was that the leader was the ninth-rank Xuan practitioner, Uncle Sun, who held a special position in the Xiao family. Normally, no one would disturb him unless it was something important. But now he was leading the group, making Xu Feng realize how important this mission was.

This made Xu Feng secretly ask Xiao Yilin why the Xiao family was so serious about hunting the spirit beast.

Xiao Yilin, naturally, told Xu Feng everything. Xu Feng was surprised to learn that Xiao Rong had once been a Ling-level practitioner and a general in the empire. However, he was severely injured in a battle with the enemy country, preventing him from gathering spirit energy, and his strength rapidly declined to the tenth rank. Despite this, because he had once reached the Ling level, his strength was still greater than that of an ordinary tenth-rank Xuan practitioner. However, due to his old injury, he needed a spirit crystal and various potions to maintain his health. In this small town, spirit crystals couldn't be bought, so they had to be hunted.

A spirit crystal is a form of energy that spirit beasts gather in their bodies, but not every spirit beast has one. Only with good luck could one encounter a spirit beast with a spirit crystal. The black snake Xu Feng killed last time didn't have one.

Xu Feng now understood that the reason for the trip was this. He was amazed by Xiao Rong's past glory and realized the importance of this mission, no wonder even Uncle Sun was involved!

Just as Xu Feng was thinking about this, Xiao Yilin suddenly shouted, "Xu Feng! Look there, the Ling family's bunch of bad guys!"

Xu Feng was startled and looked over, indeed seeing the Ling family's young master and the Ling family's elder, who had once fought with Xu Feng, leading a group of servants heading towards the deep mountains.

Xiao Lin also saw this and his expression changed, "What are the Ling family people doing here?"

Xu Feng frowned and asked Xiao Lin, "Do they know that Master needs a spirit crystal?"

"How could they not know! It's not a secret!" Xiao Lin said, then his expression suddenly changed, looking at Xu Feng, "Do you think they're here to cause trouble?"

Xu Feng nodded, "We can't rule out that possibility. Better to be safe than sorry."

Xiao Lin nodded, "Right! Given the enmity between our families, they very well might be here to cause trouble."

Xu Feng, seeing Xiao Lin's worried expression, smiled and said, "Master, don't worry too much. We just need to be cautious. With Uncle Sun here, they won't gain any advantage even if they try to cause trouble."

---

The group set off for the deep mountains. Xu Feng was surprised to see that the leader was the ninth-rank Xuan practitioner, Uncle Sun, who held a special position in the Xiao family. Normally, no one would disturb him unless it was something important. But now he was leading the group, making Xu Feng realize how important this mission was.

This made Xu Feng secretly ask Xiao Yilin why the Xiao family was so serious about hunting the spirit beast.

Xiao Yilin, naturally, told Xu Feng everything. Xu Feng was surprised to learn that Xiao Rong had once been a Ling-level practitioner and a general in the empire. However, he was severely injured in a battle with the enemy country, preventing him from gathering spirit energy, and his strength rapidly declined to the tenth rank. Despite this, because he had once reached the Ling level, his strength was still greater than that of an ordinary tenth-rank Xuan practitioner. However, due to his old injury, he needed a spirit crystal and various potions to maintain his health. In this small town, spirit crystals couldn't be bought, so they had to be hunted.

A spirit crystal is a form of energy that spirit beasts gather in their bodies, but not every spirit beast has one. Only with good luck could one encounter a spirit beast with a spirit crystal. The black snake Xu Feng killed last time didn't have one.

Xu Feng now understood that the reason for the trip was this. He was amazed by Xiao Rong's past glory and realized the importance of this mission, no wonder even Uncle Sun was involved!

Just as Xu Feng was thinking about this, Xiao Yilin suddenly shouted, "Xu Feng! Look there, the Ling family's bunch of bad guys!"

Xu Feng was startled and looked over, indeed seeing the Ling family's young master and the Ling family's elder, who had once fought with Xu Feng, leading a group of servants heading towards the deep mountains.

Xiao Lin also saw this and his expression changed, "What are the Ling family people doing here?"

Xu Feng frowned and asked Xiao Lin, "Do they know that Master needs a spirit crystal?"

"How could they not know! It's not a secret!" Xiao Lin said, then his expression suddenly changed, looking at Xu Feng, "Do you think they're here to cause trouble?"

Xu Feng nodded, "We can't rule out that possibility. Better to be safe than sorry."

Xiao Lin nodded, "Right! Given the enmity between our families, they very well might be here to cause trouble."

Xu Feng, seeing Xiao Lin's worried expression, smiled and said, "Master, don't worry too much. We just need to be cautious. With Uncle Sun here, they won't gain any advantage even if they try to cause trouble."