Chapter 40: The Immortal Venerable Directly Snatches It Away
His gaze finally settled on Fang Li, who was still crouching with her head in a defensive posture, looking completely bewildered.
"You need not contend for this woman any longer." His tone was calm but left no room for doubt: "She has her own place to go. From today onwards, she will be my personal disciple, Ye Wuyang."
The last four words exploded like a thunderclap.
Master Qingxuan was the first to react, jumping up and down: "Senior brother! This is against the rules! You never take on disciples! Besides, she is clearly a disciple of my talismanic arts..."
Hong Lie's voice boomed with frustration: "Immortal Venerable! This isn't fair! This girl was born to refine her body! Look at how fiercely she fought just now!" Ji Qianqiu nodded vigorously beside him: "Exactly!"
Ling Xiaozhi's face turned ashen: "Immortal Venerable...this matter..."
The old woman who was in charge of medicine, the fire-forging expert, and the old man who was in charge of beasts looked at each other, not daring to refute, but their faces were full of resentment.
Fang Li's brain completely shut down.
A Celestial Venerable is taking on a disciple?! This is even more terrifying than being fought over by various peaks!
Ye Wuyang glanced at Hong Lie and Ji Qianqiu and said calmly, "I know your ambitions lie elsewhere." Hong Lie and Ji Qianqiu's faces immediately fell.
He turned to Master Qingxuan: "He also has some talent in the art of talismans."
Master Qingxuan's eyes lit up instantly!
“In that case, you shall enter Yixing Peak to cultivate.” Before Qingxuan could cheer, he continued, “However, since the master-disciple relationship is established, the Yixing Peak Master may teach her, and I will also guide her.”
The ecstasy on Qingxuan Zhenren's face froze instantly, turning into a mixture of ecstasy and frustration.
If he can keep someone here... that's fine! He quickly bowed and said, "Yes, Senior Brother!" afraid that Ye Wuyang would change his mind.
Hong Lie pounded his thick chest and sighed at the stiff Ji Qianqiu beside him, his voice involuntarily lowering: "Alas! What a promising talent! Good material for getting beaten up... What a pity! It's all going to those Yi Xingfeng guys who can only draw talismans!" His tone was full of heartache.
Ling Xiaozi's face turned ashen. Granny Yao and the Elder of Ten Thousand Beasts exchanged bewildered glances. Huo Duan was shocked and frustrated, thinking, "The Immortal Venerable actually came down to snatch someone away?" In the end, all of this turned into envy, jealousy, and hatred towards True Person Qingxuan.
The immortal decree is golden; who dares to refute it?
【Host! Wake up! Stop pretending to be a quail!】The system kept popping up messages in Fang Li's mind.
[A nominal master?! This is some amazing move by the Immortal Venerable! He's on Yixing Peak, but his name is in the Forgotten Dust Palace? He's got powerful backing, but a Damocles' sword is hanging over his head! Isn't this like being 'forced into a sale' with a lifetime VIP monitoring package as a bonus?]
Fang Li was jolted awake by Tongzi's noise and finally came back to her senses from her petrified state.
She stood up slowly, her legs still a little weak.
A nominal master? A disciple of the immortal? She looked up at the snow-white figure in mid-air, feeling immense pressure and her throat went dry.
Forcing a stiff smile, she bowed respectfully in Ye Wuyang's direction, saying, "This disciple... thanks the Immortal Venerable for his kindness! However..."
Ye Wuyang seemed to have no intention of listening to what she had to say next, and his figure disappeared without warning, just as he had appeared.
Fang Li stopped mid-sentence, unable to continue. She could only turn around and bow in the direction of the sect leader: "Disciple Fang Li wishes to become a disciple of Qingxuan Zhenren of Yixing Peak!"
Master Qingxuan immediately stopped arguing, his face beaming with joy. He said repeatedly, "Good, good, good! Good child! From this day forward, Fang Li will be my closed-door disciple, the ninth true disciple of Yixing Peak!" He glanced smugly at the other peak masters.
Xie Chen reacted immediately, his gentle smile returning to his face. He waved his hand to remove the barrier and walked gracefully to Fang Li, who was still in shock and confusion.
"Junior Sister," Xie Chen said with a warm smile, "Welcome to Yixing Peak." His gaze swept meaningfully over Ji Qianqiu, whose face was full of dissatisfaction, and Hong Lie, who was patting Ji Qianqiu's shoulder and sighing.
He raised his eyes again, glancing with a half-smile in the direction where Ye Wuyang had disappeared.
He changed the subject, looking at Ji Qianqiu with a hint of provocation: "As for sparring..." He waved his fan, his smile deepening: "Junior Brother Ji, perhaps we should talk after you defeat me first? The art of talismans cannot be broken by fists alone."
Provoked by him, Ji Qianqiu stiffened his neck and was about to shout back when Hong Lie covered his mouth: "Shut up, you brat! Aren't you embarrassed enough already!"
At this moment, Xie Chen handed her a jade tablet engraved with intricate runes and a bulging storage bag.
Fang Li's vision went black, and a desperate cry echoed through the air: "System! Help! Can this dungeon be restarted?!"
The commotion on the arena gradually subsided. The sect compensated Fang Li with a considerable amount of spirit stones and pills for the lottery incident, which made Fang Li feel a little better.
But the burning pain in her body and the almost dried-up spiritual veins reminded Fang Li that what she needed most right now was peace and quiet to heal.
Fang Li, relying on the jade token of the newly enrolled peak disciple, walked alone towards the back mountain of Yixing Peak.
Yixing Peak is quite different from other peaks. Here, you can see stone pillars with mysterious patterns everywhere, jade slips that occasionally float in the air, and a tranquil and orderly spiritual energy flow in the air.
The back mountain is even more serene, with lush trees, exotic flowers and rare herbs scattered among them, and a clear stream flowing gently by, making a pleasant tinkling sound.
The spiritual energy here is indeed more concentrated and purer than that of the front mountain. Taking a deep breath makes one feel comfortable all over, and even the pain in the wound is relieved.
[Host, this is a great spot! A VIP spa suite! (ω)] The system chimed in at the perfect moment.
"I hope I can have some peace and quiet for a while," Fang Li replied softly. She found a flat, smooth rock by the stream, sat down, closed her eyes, and began to circulate her cultivation technique, guiding the gentle water and wood spiritual energy around her to nourish her damaged meridians. At the same time, she swallowed a few healing pills. As the medicinal effects dissolved and combined with the spiritual energy, the pain in her body gradually subsided.
After an unknown amount of time, she felt her injuries had stabilized somewhat before slowly opening her eyes.
The surroundings remained tranquil, and the scenery was breathtakingly beautiful.
She stood up, wanting to stretch her muscles and familiarize herself with her surroundings.
As we walked upstream along the stream, the scenery became increasingly secluded and beautiful, as if we had stepped into a landscape painting.
As she walked, she suddenly felt that something was wrong.
It's so quiet; even the birdsong and insect chirps have disappeared.
She stopped and looked around warily.
【Host…something seems off? (⊙_⊙;)】The system’s voice carried a hint of hesitation.
Fang Li frowned and tried to walk back.
But after walking a few steps, I realized that the scenery in front of me seemed... unchanged? It was like going around in circles!
"An array?" Fang Li's heart skipped a beat! She immediately tried to use her divine sense to investigate, but found that her divine sense was like being stuck in quagmire, gently blocked by an invisible force, and could not go very far!
Just then, a gentle, smiling voice came from not far away, breaking the eerie silence:
"How is your injury, Junior Sister? Are you feeling any better?"
Fang Li turned her head sharply! She saw Xie Chen, dressed in a moon-white robe, appear on the other side of the stream, smiling at her.
“This place is secluded and has excellent spiritual energy, which is perfect for Junior Sister to recuperate.” Xie Chen’s tone was gentle, and his gaze swept over her still somewhat pale face with concern: “I was a little worried when I saw Junior Sister coming this way, so I came to check on her.”
Fang Li's alarm bells rang in her mind! He came specifically to check on her? What a coincidence! She suppressed her wariness and maintained a calm expression: "Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother. My injuries are much better now. This place is very nice; I wouldn't dare trouble you to accompany me. Please return, Senior Brother."
As she spoke, she secretly activated the token, trying to contact the outside world or find the array node, but found that the faint light on the token seemed to be blocked by something and had no response!
"System! Emergency! Scan the surroundings! What kind of formation is this? This fox suddenly appeared and trapped me. What does it want to do? House arrest?" Fang Li cried out in her mind.
[System immediately responds: Beep beep! Environmental scanning in progress... Energy analysis... Holy crap! Host! This formation structure is so weird! It comes with built-in concealment, enemy trapping, spirit gathering, and... and a layer of one-way emotional resonance induction fluctuation? What kind of combination is this? Database comparison... No complete match record! Suspected custom composite formation! Developer's signature... uh... Xie Chen?! Code name... 'Golden Cage'... Xie Fox independently developed it? Host, you're in danger! I suggest you try praising him for being handsome? (⊙_⊙;)]
Golden Cage 1.0? Fang Li almost choked on her breath. This name was too fitting! Xie Chen, that freak! What is he planning to do with this kind of formation?!
Xie Chen seemed oblivious to her nervousness, calmly stepping over the round stones in the stream as he approached her. When he heard "golden cage," he paused, then his smile deepened. His junior sister had given his clumsy creation a wonderful name.
“Junior Sister seems to…” he said slowly, with a hint of probing in his voice, “always have many surprising secrets.”
He finally walked up to her and stopped. Fang Li could even smell the faint sandalwood scent on him.
His gaze fell on the token that Fang Li was clutching tightly, and the corners of his lips curved up: "This small array is something I recently acquired. It has some flaws, and it will take some time to break it. Junior sister, why don't you stay here and recuperate? Once I have thoroughly studied it, I will escort you out."
Fang Li's heart pounded wildly, and she instinctively stepped back, her back hitting a tree trunk, leaving her with nowhere to retreat!
"Thank you for your kindness, Senior Brother!" Fang Li's voice was clearly cold and resistant: "Junior Sister is used to healing alone and does not like to be disturbed by others! Please, Senior Brother, break the formation!"
Xie Chen seemed not to hear her refusal, leaned slightly forward, looked at her flushed neck, and said with a coaxing tone, "Then, junior sister, why don't you tell your senior brother your secret?"
He slowly raised his hand, his slender fingers moving towards Fang Li's cheek, gently caressing it as if it were nothing, his warm breath brushing against her face, getting closer and closer.
Fang Li tensed up like a cat with its fur standing on end! Her pupils contracted as Xie Chen's face drew closer!
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