Chapter 66

As the sun set, casting long shadows, the sound of hooves echoed, and dust flew up.

On a swift horse, a young man in green clothes galloped rapidly along the official road.

In his line of sight, a small market town appeared. Since leaving Green Peak Mountain, Ye Xiwén had already been on the road for two days. The swift horse he bought in Green Peak Town cost him five hundred low-grade spirit stones. This was not an ordinary fine steed, but a swift horse with the bloodline of a beast, capable of running for two months without stopping. An ordinary horse would likely die after running for less than a tenth of that distance!

For ordinary people, this speed was sufficient, but for Ye Xiwén, an ordinary horse was far from enough!

With his cultivation, he could go without sleep for several days and nights without any issue, but the horse couldn't. Moreover, this swift horse with the beast bloodline was extremely fast, more than twice as fast as an ordinary fine steed, allowing Ye Xiwén to not spend all his time on the road.

Ye Xiwén entered the town and learned that it was called Cao Family Market. The Cao family was the most powerful force in the town, and the town itself had developed around the Cao Family Manor.

Upon entering the town, Ye Xiwén noticed many martial artists coming and going, with varying levels of strength. The weaker ones were at the Sixth Level of the Postnatal Realm, while the stronger ones were even at the Half-Step Xiantian Realm.

He found an inn to stay at, settled the horse, and just as he sat down, a waiter warmly greeted him.

"Sir, what would you like?"

"First, bring me a bowl of cold tea, and a bit of every small dish!" Ye Xiwén ordered. While traveling, meals were never on a fixed schedule, as it wasn't always possible to find a place to rest at the right time.

"Sure thing!" the waiter replied.

"Waiter, hold on a moment. I have a question. Is there something going on in this Cao Family Market? I see many martial artists coming and going!" Ye Xiwén asked.

"Sir, you're not here to answer the call, then?" the waiter was surprised. "It's like this: about thirty miles south of Cao Family Market, there's a subterranean lava pool. Recently, someone discovered a Di Cang Fire Lotus in the dead volcano. Many martial artists have come here for it. A few days ago, the head of the Cao family in Cao Family Market started recruiting brave warriors to go there!"

Di Cang Fire Lotus? Ye Xiwén was taken aback. He didn't expect it to be such a heavenly treasure. According to the records, the Di Cang Fire Lotus only grows in extremely hot lava, and even ordinary lava isn't hot enough for it to grow.

Of course, consuming it has many benefits. It can transform one's physical body into a Fire Spirit Body, making the cultivation of fire-attribute techniques much easier, which is extremely rare.

"But why are they recruiting brave warriors?" Ye Xiwén asked. For such a good thing, people would usually want to keep it all to themselves.

"Sir, you ask a good question. In the lava pool, there's actually a monster guarding it!" The waiter shuddered at the mention of the monster. "It's said that the monster is extremely vicious. A few martial artists who went to investigate were eaten alive by it."

"Such a thing is happening!" Ye Xiwén frowned. It was normal for a heavenly treasure to be guarded by a beast, but it was clearly not an ordinary beast, or it wouldn't have caused such a commotion.

"Do you know what kind of monster it is?" Ye Xiwén asked.

"How could we know that? But the news first came from the Cao family. Now, the Cao family is recruiting brave warriors to slay the monster. If you're interested, you might want to ask them!" the waiter said. "If the monster can be killed, it would be great. Since we're close to the lava pool, the monster has been visiting frequently. Strangely, all those killed by the monster were from the Cao family!"

Ye Xiwén, who had only planned to rest here, stopped and decided to stay to see what was going on. He was also very interested in the Di Cang Fire Lotus.

Time passed, and the inn gradually filled up. After reserving a room, Ye Xiwén slowly sat down to eat and drink, having not had such a relaxed meal for two days.

Suddenly, Ye Xiwén noticed a towering, muscular man enter the inn. He scanned the already crowded inn and saw Ye Xiwén sitting by the window. He strode over to Ye Xiwén and said in a gruff voice, "Kid, move, get out of here, grandpa will spare your life!"

"Get out!" Ye Xiwén didn't turn his head, just growled. In a world where strength was paramount, yielding in such a situation would not be seen as courteous, but as weakness.

"What, you little brat!" The muscular man's eyes widened, and he cursed, his hand, as big as a蒲团 (cushion), instantly slapped toward Ye Xiwén.

"Bang!" Ye Xiwén slammed the table, causing the chopsticks to fly up. He struck with the force technique of the "Coiling Dragon Palm."

"Whoosh!" The chopstick whistled through the air at an incredible speed, like a bolt of lightning, heading straight for the muscular man's hand.

"Ahh!" The muscular man screamed in pain as the chopstick pierced his palm, the force of the impact sending his massive body flying into the wall, his hand pinned to the wall by the chopstick.

The muscular man wailed in agony on the wall, but Ye Xiwén acted as if nothing had happened, calmly picking up another chopstick from the chopstick holder and continuing to eat and drink.

Ye Xiwén knew that countless eyes were now on him. These were all arrogant martial artists, each a ruthless individual. Although there were no Xiantian realm martial artists here, Ye Xiwén wasn't afraid of them, but it was still a hassle. Due to the Di Cang Fire Lotus and the monster, many strong martial artists had been drawn here. Before the situation became clear, Ye Xiwén didn't want to be too high-profile.

Therefore, before the situation escalated, he needed to震慑 (intimidate) some ambitious individuals. Indeed, Ye Xiwén could feel that a few hostile gazes quietly withdrew.

"Ha ha ha, Brother, impressive skills!"

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