Chapter 36

The square in front of the Baique Mountain hunting ground was already crowded with parents waiting for their children. Yang Junshan stepped out from behind the light screen of the mountain-guarding formation, and the hundreds of parents on the square immediately stirred slightly. Hundreds of eyes stared at him, including the gaze of martial realm cultivators like Yang Tiangang, making Yang Junshan feel as if thorns were pricking his back.

When the news of Yang Junshan obtaining a medium-grade ox gallbladder spirit essence was announced by Xiong Manshan, everyone inside and outside the formation already knew about it. As a treasure second only to the high-grade spirit essence purple cloud skin obtained by the talented cultivator Zhang Yueming, many parents naturally wanted to see who this person was.

The closest to the exit were the three mountain-guarding cultivators of the Hantian Sect. However, the first thing Yang Junshan noticed was not these three martial realm experts, but the two young cultivators standing behind them.

One of these two young cultivators was Xu Jing. It seemed that the combination of the spirit essence aperture in her ear and the medium-grade spirit essence wind messenger had already caught the attention of the Hantian Sect's mountain-guarding cultivators. A young cultivator with the potential to develop innate magical abilities, once successfully activated, could immediately become an inner disciple of the Hantian Sect.

At this moment, Xu Jing was unaware that her betrayal and abandonment of her fellow villager Hao Zhuang had been discovered by Yang Junshan. From her proud and even more smug face, Yang Junshan could not detect the slightest hint of guilt over Hao Zhuang's death.

The other young cultivator, who was much more composed compared to Xu Jing's smugness, was Zhang Yueming, who was almost predestined to become an inner disciple of the Hantian Sect. The moment he saw Yang Junshan, a ripple of emotion flashed across his usually calm face.

Yang Junshan smiled and nodded at the two. Perhaps because Yang Junshan had knocked out over a dozen young cultivators of the same age in the mist, the originally proud Xu Jing actually showed a hint of respect towards Yang Junshan. Zhang Yueming also smiled slightly at Yang Junshan. The two had once fought in Baique Mountain, and the meaning behind this mutual nod was known only to them.

Xiong Manshan, standing on the far left, looked very displeased. The moment Yang Junshan emerged, he let out a cold snort and glared at him with eyes that radiated danger.

If it were any other young cultivator, they might have been intimidated by Xiong Manshan's fierce gaze, but Yang Junshan paid no attention to it. He stepped forward and bowed slightly to the elder cultivator Chen Ji in the center, thanking him for twice stopping Xiong Manshan's excessive harassment.

Xiong Manshan was angry at Yang Junshan's attitude, but he could not act as he had in the mist of the formation. At that time, Xiong Manshan could have closed the formation and harassed Yang Junshan in various ways after the spirit essence announcement, and the other two mountain-guarding cultivators would not have interfered as long as it was not too excessive. Now, however, he could not do that.

Xiong Manshan's harassment of Yang Junshan was mainly due to his competition with Yang Junshan's uncle for a place as an inner disciple of the Hantian Sect. Yang Junshan's original plan was to find a way to dissuade his uncle from his relentless pursuit of becoming an inner disciple of the Hantian Sect. After all, no one could have predicted that the Hantian Sect, which had dominated Yujun for countless years, would collapse so suddenly and easily. Yang Junshan's uncle had spent great effort to board a sinking ship.

However, the moment he stepped out of the Baique Mountain hunting ground, Yang Junshan suddenly changed his mind. Since Xiong Manshan was making things so difficult for him, he decided to help his uncle become an inner disciple of the Hantian Sect, just to thwart Xiong Manshan's plans!

The other mountain-guarding cultivator, Zhang Fengyi, looked at Yang Junshan with great interest. Upon learning that Yang Junshan possessed an ox gallbladder spirit essence, he already knew that Yang Junshan was the one who had set the trap in the small forest by the stream. How could a twelve-year-old boy possess such skills comparable to those of a seasoned hunter?

Only Chen Ji, standing in the center, looked at Yang Junshan with a probing gaze. Seeing Yang Junshan bow in gratitude, the high-ranking martial realm cultivator suddenly said, "Your physical body is well-trained. What kind of body-strengthening technique do you use?"

Yang Junshan was inwardly alarmed but respectfully replied, "Junior uses the Mighty Ox Fist."

"The Mighty Ox Fist?" Chen Ji's face showed surprise, and he nodded, saying, "To achieve such a level with a low-grade body-strengthening technique at such a young age is indeed remarkable. It's a pity you are not a disciple of the Hantian Sect; otherwise, I might have taught you a medium-grade body-strengthening technique."

Chen Ji pondered for a moment, seemingly impressed by Yang Junshan's talent in body-strengthening, and said, "Well, since you seem to have a talent for body-strengthening, I cannot teach you a medium-grade technique due to the sect's rules, but if you have any questions in the future, you can come to Baique Mountain and ask me!"

Chen Ji's words made Zhang Fengyi look at him in surprise, while Xiong Manshan's lips moved as if he wanted to stop him, but he ultimately said nothing, only looking at Yang Junshan with even more ill will.

The other cultivators in the square all expressed their admiration and envy upon hearing Chen Ji's words. As a high-ranking martial realm cultivator, Chen Ji was one of the top five in Mengyu County, and many people could not even get a chance to meet him, let alone receive his guidance.

Chen Ji was a seasoned inner disciple of the Hantian Sect, and there were even rumors that he was only one step away from condensing true qi and achieving the True Human realm. Even if he could not become a true disciple of the Hantian Sect due to his age, he would at least become an elder, thereby gaining the qualifications to govern a county.

As long as it did not involve becoming a cultivator of the Hantian Sect, Yang Junshan would not miss such a good opportunity, so he hurriedly bowed again to thank the inner disciple of the Hantian Sect.

Chen Ji nodded in satisfaction and then pointed to the little tiger cub poking its head out of Yang Junshan's backpack, saying, "Don't raise this beast too much, or it will truly become a tiger that you nurture to your own detriment!"

Yang Junshan quickly nodded in agreement. If the little tiger cub were still a fierce beast, he would not dare to raise it, but now that it had been refined by demonic qi and its intelligence was gradually developing, it would inevitably become a demonic cultivator, thus eliminating any potential threat. Moreover, Yang Junshan and the little tiger cub had sworn a blood oath.

Hastily leaving the three mountain-guarding cultivators of the Hantian Sect, Yang Junshan waited until their attention returned to the mist of the mountain-guarding formation before he let out a long sigh of relief. He then realized that his back was drenched in sweat. Despite knowing a secret technique to conceal his cultivation, being scrutinized by three martial realm cultivators had still been extremely stressful.

Returning to the square, the villagers of Tuqiu Village quickly came forward to congratulate Yang Junshan on obtaining the ox gallbladder spirit essence. Yang Junshan returned their greetings and then noticed that Su Baozhang was standing beside Yang Tiangang, looking at him with a joyful expression from a distance.

Yang Tiangang, who rarely smoked, was tapping his pipe against his palm, clearly not calm at this moment.

Before Yang Tiangang could ask about his experience in Baique Mountain, Yang Junshan said, "Father, I'm tired. Let's go back to the village first?"

Yang Tiangang glanced at his son and nodded, saying, "Alright, Baozhang, let's go back together!"

Just as the three were about to leave, someone called out to Yang Junshan. Turning around, Yang Junshan's expression subtly changed. The person was none other than Hao Zhuang's father, Hao Sanwang.

"Village Head Yang!"

Hao Sanwang looked at Yang Tiangang with some fear but quickly asked Yang Junshan anxiously, "Nephew, did you see my Hao Zhuang? How is he? Did he find a spirit essence?"

Seeing the hopeful look on Hao Sanwang's face, Yang Junshan did not know how to respond. After a moment, he forced a smile and said, "Uncle Sanwang, I didn't see Hao Zhuang in Baique Mountain. I was with Baozhang at the time. You can ask Xu Jing if she saw him!"

"No, I didn't see him!"

Hao Sanwang's face showed disappointment, but it was quickly replaced by a confident smile. "My Hao Zhuang is a good boy. He will surely come out of Baique Mountain with a spirit essence!"

"We'll be going now!"

Yang Junshan forced a smile, greeted Hao Sanwang, and quickly left.

Yang Tiangang and Su Baozhang hurriedly followed. After riding the beast for twenty to thirty miles away from Baique Mountain, the three stopped at a secluded hillside to rest. Yang Junshan then said, "Hao Zhuang is dead. He was killed by Xu Jing."

"Ah?" Su Baozhang let out a gasp of shock.

Although Yang Tiangang was not as startled as Su Baozhang, he paused in the act of putting his pipe to his mouth and asked in a grave voice, "What happened? Why didn't you say anything at the time?"

Yang Junshan recounted what he had seen to the two. Su Baozhang was stunned, and Yang Tiangang sighed, saying, "I didn't expect this girl to be so ruthless. You did the right thing. Not only did you only speculate based on the footprints on Hao Zhuang's shoulder and did not see Xu Jing harm him, but Xu Jing has already gained the favor of the Hantian Sect. If you had revealed the truth, you wouldn't have been able to do anything to her, and you might have endangered the Hao family."

Su Baozhang opened his mouth but did not know what to say. After a moment, Yang Junshan said, "What should we do next? Hao Zhuang left behind a low-grade spirit essence, the elm heart. Should we secretly return it to Hao Sanwang?"

"Elm heart?" Yang Tiangang asked in confusion. "Didn't you only get two spirit essences, a medium-grade ox gallbladder, and a low-grade grain stone?"

Yang Junshan smiled smugly and said, "Father, I was about to tell you. I plan to give the medium-grade ox gallbladder spirit essence to Baozhang."

Before Su Baozhang could react, thinking he might have misheard, Yang Junshan patted the little tiger cub lying at his feet and said, "Alright, spit it out. Don't tell me you really swallowed all three spirit essences!"

---

This chapter is an additional update promised to the Gold Alliance member Weifa. It's a bit late, and everyone is probably already asleep!

Page flip AD starts

Page flip AD ends