Chapter 96

"From now on, I have one more means at my disposal," Lu Shaoyou thought to himself.

"Let's try the Fire Shadow Finger again," Lu Shaoyou said softly. True qi surged around him, and his hand formed a seal. Suddenly, five red finger marks shot out from his right hand, each carrying a scorching heat and a powerful force that tore through the air, creating sharp whistling sounds.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

On the stone wall, debris flew as the five finger marks struck the steep rock face, instantly creating five finger-sized holes a meter deep, with shallow cracks appearing around them.

The Fire Shadow Finger was a fire-based initial-stage martial technique that Lu Shaoyou had obtained from the Fire Yin Monster. During the battle with the White Eyebrow Elder, the Fire Shadow Finger had shown considerable power.

After opening the jade slip, Lu Shaoyou realized it was the Fire Shadow Finger that the Fire Yin Monster had used. He had personally witnessed its power and decided to cultivate it, as he needed a fire-based martial technique.

Cultivating a star-level martial technique was much easier than cultivating a soul blade technique. In the past month, Lu Shaoyou had only practiced the Fire Shadow Finger in his spare time, and he had already made some progress.

Although he had achieved some success with both the Fire Shadow Finger and the soul blade technique, Lu Shaoyou knew that truly mastering a martial technique was not as simple as just successfully cultivating it. Every strong practitioner spent decades, or even a lifetime, refining their martial techniques to maximize their power.

For example, among practitioners of the same cultivation level, a person who had just cultivated a mystic-level martial technique would have a lower chance of winning against someone who had cultivated a star-level martial technique for decades. The same martial technique, when used by different people, would have varying levels of power, depending on their mastery.

"It's been a month, they should have all arrived at Yunyang Sect," Lu Shaoyou gazed at the valley. If he hadn't fallen off the cliff, he would have arrived at Yunyang Sect by now.

However, thinking about it, Lu Shaoyou felt somewhat fortunate to have fallen off the cliff. Otherwise, he wouldn't have met his cheap master, the Holy Hand Lingzun, and wouldn't have obtained the Heavenly Spirit Record.

Lu Shaoyou calculated that now he needed to find a way to reach Yunyang Sect. Uncle Nan wanted him to obtain the ten-thousand-year-old red copper and the Flowing Light Shadow Body Technique, so he had to get them. However, he first needed to leave the valley.

In the past month, besides successfully cultivating the soul blade technique and the Fire Shadow Finger, Lu Shaoyou had made unexpected gains. With the help of the spirit jade bed, his spirit energy had reached the peak of the second-level Spirit Scholar, and his true qi was on the verge of breaking through.

During this month, Lu Shaoyou had also studied the Heavenly Spirit Record. The puppet-making, array formations, and beast control techniques recorded in it were all extremely profound and could not be learned in a short time. He needed to study them slowly, and he had the patience for it.

As long as he had time, Lu Shaoyou would carefully study the Heavenly Spirit Record. The more he understood, the more he realized its vast and profound nature.

"It's time to leave," Lu Shaoyou said softly, returning to the stone room and putting the spirit jade bed into the storage ring on his hand. This important item was stored in the hidden storage ring on his hand, while the external storage bag contained some less important items. The storage ring he obtained from his cheap master, the Holy Hand Lingzun, was clearly not an ordinary item. In terms of space, it was more than half larger than the one given by Uncle Nan, with a total of over 200 square meters, making it a valuable item, but it could not be hidden in the body.

Lu Shaoyou did not plan to use the storage ring and put it into his own storage ring. Before leaving the stone room, he removed all the night pearls, which were also valuable items. Selling them later would be beneficial. There were over a thousand night pearls, which would be a significant income.

After tidying everything up, Lu Shaoyou left the cave and paid his respects at his master, the Holy Hand Lingzun's grave. He then focused his mind and began searching for Little Dragon.

Little Dragon had become the nightmare of all the animals in the valley over the past month. Since Little Dragon arrived, the animals in the valley no longer dared to appear, and those that did became Little Dragon's meals.

Lu Shaoyou now knew little about Little Dragon and was unsure of its level. Based on his estimation, after Little Dragon shed its skin once, he guessed it might have reached the second-level spirit beast stage. However, Little Dragon's defense seemed too incredible, even the Fire Yin Monster couldn't hurt it, which made Lu Shaoyou doubt its level. A second-level spirit beast's defense was too abnormal.

"Whoosh, whoosh..."

A yellow light flashed through the forest and landed affectionately in Lu Shaoyou's hand. It was Little Dragon.

"You're full, let's go," Lu Shaoyou said, affectionately petting Little Dragon's small head.

Little Dragon's round, shiny eyes seemed to speak as it looked at Lu Shaoyou, flicking its tongue and nodding, as if it understood what Lu Shaoyou said, looking extremely cute.

"Let's make a raft first," Lu Shaoyou said, heading into the forest. He took out the green long sword he used to dig the soil cave and cut down eight straight branches as thick as a bowl. He then found some tree vines and wove them into a raft. Without a raft, they couldn't go downstream.

"Little Dragon, let's go," Lu Shaoyou said after finishing everything. Little Dragon understood and coiled around Lu Shaoyou's shoulder. Without Lu Shaoyou's command, Little Dragon didn't want to go into his sleeve and preferred to stay outside.

Pushing the raft to the center of the water, Lu Shaoyou leaped onto it, took a wooden stick as thick as a baby's arm, and gently pushed. The raft immediately started moving downstream.

"Master, I'm leaving. I will find a way to send the Heavenly Spirit Record to the Duanmu family in Moyun City," Lu Shaoyou said, gazing at the valley. The raft moved downstream, gradually disappearing from view.

The canyon was long and narrow, with thick fog covering the top, making it impossible to see clearly. Lu Shaoyou estimated this was the bottom of the ten-thousand-foot cliff he had fallen from.

The canyon walls were thick and hard, with uneven surfaces. In the stone crevices, Lu Shaoyou could faintly hear the sounds of beasts, making it a true sanctuary.

After two days, the river had become narrower, and eventually, the raft could no longer pass. Lu Shaoyou had to dismantle the raft and proceed on foot.

After several hours, the original eight logs had been reduced to three, and the canyon was just wide enough for one person to pass.

"Is this the exit?" A moment later, the path ahead was blocked by a stone wall. However, upon closer inspection, he could see the water surface moving, indicating that there was a current beneath it.

"This is it," Lu Shaoyou said, turning to Little Dragon on his shoulder. "Little Dragon, are you ready? We're going to dive."

"Hisss"

Little Dragon flicked its tongue, looked at Lu Shaoyou with its round, shiny eyes, and then dived into the water, seemingly unafraid of it.

Lu Shaoyou took a deep breath, surrounded himself with a faint protective circle, and jumped into the water. The water was relatively clear, and he could see a one-meter-wide whirlpool about ten meters down, with water flowing out of it.

Without hesitation, Lu Shaoyou dived into the whirlpool. A strong current pulled him forward, and Little Dragon followed curiously behind.

After about twenty minutes, Lu Shaoyou felt he couldn't hold his breath any longer. At his current cultivation level, he could only hold his breath for so long, unlike martial generals or martial marshals who could stay underwater for days.

At this moment, the pulling force increased, and with a light sound, Lu Shaoyou felt himself exit the whirlpool and enter a deep pool. Looking back at where he had just come from, he saw a stone wall, and at the edge of the exit, there were dozens of stone caves, making it difficult for anyone to find the entrance.

Little Dragon also emerged from the whirlpool, and Lu Shaoyou quickly swam to the surface, as he couldn't hold his breath any longer.

"Bang..."

In a calm area of the water, a figure surfaced with a splash. It was Lu Shaoyou.

"Can't take it anymore, almost suffocated," Lu Shaoyou said, opening his mouth to breathe. The protective circle disappeared, and his body was soaked. Fortunately, he knew how to swim and quickly swam to the shore.

In the water, Little Dragon was swimming happily.

After climbing ashore, Lu Shaoyou looked around. He was clearly in a mountain range, and he estimated he was far from the mountain range where he had fallen off the cliff, but he still couldn't determine the direction.

The mountain range was empty, and the surroundings were silent. The deep, towering trees made a whistling sound in the wind, creating a somewhat eerie atmosphere.

"Whoosh" Little Dragon climbed ashore and stood next to Lu Shaoyou, its small eyes curiously looking at the wet Lu Shaoyou.

Lu Shaoyou smiled, circulated his true qi, and activated his fire attribute. In a moment, his body was dry. As a Spirit Scholar, he had this small skill.

"We'll find our way slowly," Lu Shaoyou said to Little Dragon, looking at the direction of the sunlight. He flew southeast, which was the direction of Wudu City. He needed to go to Yunyang Sect, and it would be impossible to walk there directly. Even a flying beast would take a month, and on foot, it would take a year.

Now, Lu Shaoyou could only go to Wudu City and find a way from there. Wudu City was Yunyang Sect's territory, and he might be able to arrange for a flying beast to take him to Yunyang Sect, as he was still a disciple of Yunyang Sect.

After making up his mind, Lu Shaoyou started heading southeast. He had heard from the White Eyebrow Elder that there were often beasts in the Wudu Mountains, so he had to be cautious.

Little Dragon coiled around Lu Shaoyou's shoulder, its small eyes scanning the surroundings, occasionally flicking its tongue.

"Smell that, it's medicine," after half an hour, a faint medicinal scent reached Lu Shaoyou's nose. In the jade slip from Uncle Nan, there were detailed descriptions of various herbs, and Lu Shaoyou quickly identified the scent.

"Whoosh..."

Little Dragon climbed down from Lu Shaoyou's shoulder and moved in the direction of the scent.

In a short while, the scent of the herb became stronger. At the foot of a hill, a golden-yellow, fifteen-centimeter-tall, thumb-thick three-leaf grass appeared before Lu Shaoyou's eyes.

"Three-leaf soul grass," Lu Shaoyou was surprised. He had easily found a three-leaf soul grass, which was a main ingredient for a second-grade pill to enhance spirit energy, and it was not easy to find.

Little Dragon circled around the three-leaf soul grass, its mouth watering, and its eyes looking at Lu Shaoyou, as if it wanted to eat it.

"Wait, I need this three-leaf soul grass," Lu Shaoyou said. He needed some pills to enhance his spirit energy, and this three-leaf soul grass was perfect.

Lu Shaoyou then put the three-leaf soul grass into his spatial bag. At that moment, two figures appeared behind him.

"Hand over the three-leaf soul grass, we saw it first," the two men were dressed in yellow and were about twenty-five or twenty-six years old. From their aura, they were both martial artists at the fifth level.

Lu Shaoyou glanced back at the two men, who were both fifth-level martial artists, and remained calm. "I saw the three-leaf soul grass first and obtained it first. Do you want to take it by force?"

The two men looked around, as if checking for others. The one on the left held a cold, gleaming curved sword. "Kid, which mercenary group are you from?"

"What does that have to do with you?" Lu Shaoyou asked, knowing that in the Wudu Mountains, large mercenary groups often robbed smaller teams, and killing and looting were not uncommon. If he said he was alone, he would likely have trouble.

The man with the black staff on the right said, "Pockmark, he doesn't look like he's from any mercenary group. He's a stranger. Let's take him."

The man with the sword said, "Iron Ball, we have important matters to attend to. Let's go to the boss quickly to avoid any trouble."

"It's fine. This kid has a spatial bag, and he must have some good loot," the man with the staff laughed. A spatial bag alone was worth over a thousand gold coins.

"Kid, hand over the spatial bag, or you die," the man with the sword looked at Lu Shaoyou, still unsure about him. A young man alone in the Wudu Mountains was unusual, and he was familiar with the area.

"Here, don't kill me," Lu Shaoyou pretended to be scared, his face pale and sweating, and he hesitantly handed over the spatial bag.

"Ha, a coward. Hand it over, and I'll spare your life," the man with the staff laughed, walking forward to take the spatial bag. Seeing Lu Shaoyou's scared and sweating face, the man with the sword relaxed his guard, thinking Lu Shaoyou was just a young man from a small family who had come to the Wudu Mountains for fun.

"Here, don't kill me," Lu Shaoyou handed over the spatial bag, still sweating. The man with the staff took it confidently.

At that moment, a sharp light flashed in Lu Shaoyou's eyes, and a powerful true qi surged around him.

"Mountain Splitting Palm, die!" A pale yellow palm print, carrying a powerful force, swept out, just inches from the man with the staff. The fierce momentum spread, and the air whistled sharply.

"Bang"

The palm print struck the man's abdomen, and a muffled explosion sounded. The man's black staff fell to the ground, and he flew backward several meters, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

"Be careful..."

The man with the sword's face turned green, and he couldn't finish his warning. His eyes widened, and he dropped his curved sword, clutching his neck in pain, unable to breathe. His pupils dilated and turned cloudy.

"Thud"

The man with the sword fell to the ground, dead in less than two seconds. On his neck, Little Dragon was contentedly drinking his blood.

"You wanted to rob me, but you're not good enough," Lu Shaoyou said, looking at the man with the staff who had been knocked back. He had struck first, and with Little Dragon's help, it was not difficult to kill the two men. If he hadn't been afraid of drawing attention, he could have handled them alone.

"Spare me, I won't dare again, please let me go," the man with the staff, injured by Lu Shaoyou's Mountain Splitting Palm, was pale and bleeding from the mouth. As a fifth-level martial artist, he was no match for Lu Shaoyou, who was at the peak of the fifth level. Seeing his companion dead, he was terrified, thinking he had encountered a demon.