Chapter 68

Chapter 66: The Little Witch

Tuo Ba Ye easily defeated Leng Yidao and secured over ten million gold coins from the God Slayer Squad, which brought his reputation to its peak. The peripheral members of the God Demon Squad were extremely impressed by Tuo Ba Ye and were even more determined to follow him.

Back at his residence, Tuo Ba Ye felt increasingly uneasy. "The captain of the God Slayer Squad didn't show up, and the vice-captains are so hostile towards me. What's the reason behind this?" Even with his past experience, Tuo Ba Ye couldn't figure out the underlying issues.

"Yang Bin, what do you think the God Slayer Squad is up to? And who was behind the earlier instigation?" Tuo Ba Ye asked.

"Captain, it's all the Sea God Squad's doing. They must be afraid to directly confront our God Demon Squad after you defeated Duan Tianmeng, so they resorted to this method. They succeeded in making us enemies with the fifth-ranked God Slayer Squad," Yang Bin replied.

He paused and continued, "Becoming enemies with the God Slayer Squad means we will have ongoing conflicts even if we become inner disciples or core disciples."

"Since we've already offended them, there's no point in worrying too much. The most important thing is to strengthen our own capabilities. As disciples of the Alchemy Cauldron Sect, the price of elixirs shouldn't be too high. We should encourage our peripheral members to buy more to enhance their strength," Tuo Ba Ye said calmly.

He didn't take the offense against the God Slayer Squad to heart, considering it a form of self-honing. If he couldn't even stand firm in the Alchemy Cauldron Sect, how could he think about returning to the Milky Way or finding his beloved from his past life? His past lover was extremely talented and had joined a major sect, with a promising future. He didn't dare to imagine how far she had come.

Therefore, he had to constantly pressure himself to become even stronger. To be honest, the outer disciples didn't pose much of a challenge to Tuo Ba Ye. Perhaps some inner disciples could give him some pressure, and he was eager to become an inner disciple soon. Originally, he had planned to spend a few years as an outer disciple, but now he had changed his mind and didn't want to waste time. Since no one knew his age, he could claim to be twelve or thirteen without arousing suspicion. As far as he knew, even Mu Lin Sen hadn't investigated his age, only knowing that he met the requirements for the Immortal Edges Assembly.

"Captain, we used part of the ten million gold coins to buy healing elixirs, and the rest to purchase elixirs for enhancing cultivation, to boost our strength," Yang Bin said.

Tuo Ba Ye replied, "The gold coins should be given to those who are injured. How they use them is their own business; don't force them to do anything."

"Captain, rest assured. As new outer disciples, our priority is to enhance our strength," Yang Bin smiled. "Many outer disciples come from wealthy families and can provide gold coins."

Tuo Ba Ye nodded, "You can discuss this among yourselves; I won't interfere. There's less than a month until the year-end grand competition, and I will be in seclusion for most of the time."

Other outer disciples didn't have treasures like the Cosmic Ring, so they couldn't carry gold coins with them. Those with backgrounds would have their families find ways to send gold coins to Immortal Cloud Valley.

"Captain, focus on your cultivation. I'll handle the external matters," Yang Bin said.

Tuo Ba Ye entered seclusion, continuing to study the path of divine symbols and the divine symbol body. Occasionally, he would also refine spirit symbols to speed up his divine consciousness cultivation. Divine consciousness had many uses, but for now, Tuo Ba Ye could only use it to probe enemies, find weaknesses, and inspect spirit roots. He hadn't yet discovered other applications.

Moreover, the amount of divine consciousness he had cultivated was still too little to have a significant effect or directly kill enemies. Cultivating divine consciousness was much harder than cultivating spirit sense. Even after a month of continuous cultivation, it might not increase by even a thread. Only by refining spirit symbols and immediately cultivating after depleting his divine consciousness could he see a noticeable improvement.

As his divine consciousness increased, the rate of improvement slowed down. Cultivating divine consciousness was difficult, but Tuo Ba Ye had to do it. Once he succeeded, he would truly be formidable. Without the divine root in his body, he wouldn't be able to cultivate divine consciousness, and even powerful cultivators rarely managed to do so.

"Tuo Ba Ye, come out! Who is Tuo Ba Ye?"

The voice was a woman's, very pleasant to hear. Judging by the voice, she must be very beautiful. However, her brash and loud manner suggested she might be quite aggressive.

Tuo Ba Ye was startled awake by the voice, and these thoughts involuntarily came to mind. The matter with the God Slayer Squad had just passed, and he hadn't had two days of peace when someone else came looking for him, souring his mood.

"I am Tuo Ba Ye. What do you want?" Tuo Ba Ye walked out, his tone cold. The other party seemed to have come with ill intentions, and Tuo Ba Ye didn't show her any kindness. Although she was a woman, he didn't even spare her a glance.

The woman had a very high status, with exceptional talent, and had just become an outer disciple this year. Only those of the right age could become outer disciples. Despite being a new outer disciple, no one dared to provoke her because of her powerful background.

Moreover, she was known as the Little Witch. If she didn't seek trouble, others would consider themselves lucky.

Recently, Tuo Ba Ye's fame had grown, especially after defeating Leng Yidao, which brought his reputation to its peak. It was likely that no one in Immortal Cloud Valley was unaware of him. The Little Witch had also heard of Tuo Ba Ye, and with some people stirring things up, she came looking for him.

Tuo Ba Ye, of course, didn't know this, and even if he did, he probably wouldn't have taken it to heart. He had no interest in young girls; if he had any interest, it would be in mature women.

Seeing that Tuo Ba Ye didn't even look at her, the Little Witch was instantly furious. It was the first time she had been ignored.

"Tuo Ba Ye, I've heard you're very powerful, so I came to meet you," the Little Witch said, suppressing her anger and smiling.

Tuo Ba Ye replied coolly, "I'm not powerful at all; it's just what others say. There's no need for a meeting. I need to go into seclusion to prepare for the year-end grand competition."

"You... You're very good. I'll see you at the year-end grand competition!" The Little Witch, who had intended to get angry, held back.

The Little Witch left, her bright eyes constantly moving, clearly plotting something. Those who knew her well would be terrified by her smile.

"This girl must be crazy!" Tuo Ba Ye shook his head and sighed. He didn't dwell on it and continued his seclusion.

In the evening, Yang Bin found Tuo Ba Ye, "Captain, things are not looking good!"

"What happened now?" Tuo Ba Ye asked, puzzled.

"Captain, it's now widely rumored that you've declared you will win the year-end grand competition. The news has spread quickly, and it's likely that all million outer disciples know about it," Yang Bin said with a bitter smile.

Tuo Ba Ye felt bewildered, "I never said anything like that. Who's spreading this rumor?"

"I had people investigate, but they couldn't find out," Yang Bin said.

"How could they not find out?"

"There are many people spreading this news, and the top ten squads are all involved. It's hard for others not to believe it," Yang Bin said. "Captain, did you really say it?"

Clearly, Yang Bin was starting to believe it because so many people were spreading the rumor convincingly.

"Of course not. It seems someone is trying to set me up," Tuo Ba Ye said with a bitter smile. "Could it be the God Slayer Squad?"

"It's definitely not them. The God Slayer Squad doesn't have the influence to make the Ten Absolute Squads and the Six Paths Squads spread the news," Yang Bin shook his head.

Tuo Ba Ye was frustrated, not knowing which powerful figure he had offended.

"Never mind, don't think about it, and don't investigate it."

Since the news had already spread, even if he denied it, others would still believe it. A new outer disciple declaring he would win the championship was too arrogant and showy.

This time, he had offended most of the outer disciples, and he would face many challenges at the year-end grand competition.

He couldn't worry about it too much and could only focus on seclusion to enhance his strength and strive for the championship. Winning the championship would be better, as it would be a well-deserved victory. If he failed, he might not be able to stand firm in the Alchemy Cauldron Sect.

Tuo Ba Ye continued his seclusion, ignoring the rumors outside.

However, he had been pushed to the forefront, and if he didn't win the year-end grand competition, the consequences would be dire.

Yang Bin and the others were somewhat worried. Although Tuo Ba Ye's displayed strength was impressive, there were still some formidable figures among the million outer disciples, like the captain of the God Slayer Squad, who could easily defeat Leng Yidao.

Moreover, the Ten Absolute Squads and the Six Paths Squads had even more powerful outer disciples. If Tuo Ba Ye faced them, Yang Bin and the others wouldn't be as confident.

Tuo Ba Ye, however, didn't have the time to worry about these things. He wanted to be low-key, but others wouldn't let him. So, he had to be high-profile.

Even if he had to be high-profile, Tuo Ba Ye still wanted to hide his physical strength as much as possible. If he could win with his elemental power, he wouldn't use too much physical strength.

With the remaining time, Tuo Ba Ye began to intensively practice martial techniques.

The War Dragon Overlord Blade and the Overlord Divine Fist were both extremely powerful martial techniques, making them difficult to master.

Tuo Ba Ye decided to study the third move of the Overlord Divine Fist, the Overlord Flying Heaven. This move involved flying directly into the air and then delivering a powerful punch from above.

The Overlord Divine Fist was already difficult to cultivate, and the third move, Overlord Flying Heaven, was even harder. Tuo Ba Ye had never cultivated it before because his cultivation was insufficient.

With his recent advancement, he chose to cultivate this move, hoping to enhance his combat strength.

As for the War Dragon Overlord Blade, Tuo Ba Ye also worked hard to become more proficient.

Against ordinary opponents, the War Dragon Overlord Blade combined with extreme speed was enough to win. But against extremely powerful opponents, he would need to use the Overlord Divine Fist.

Even without using his physical strength and spirit symbols, Tuo Ba Ye still had the potential to compete for the championship with his current capabilities.

The divine consciousness was incredibly powerful, allowing him to see his opponents' weaknesses, which gave him a significant advantage.

Combined with his abnormal speed, Tuo Ba Ye could always take the initiative.

With these advantages, Tuo Ba Ye carefully reviewed and practiced, ensuring he could win the championship without revealing too much of his physical strength.