The Razor-Backed Colossal Crocodile's return was nothing but a pleasant surprise for Li Tianming. The more ruckus it caused, the safer he would be. The Razor-Backed Colossal Crocodile had identified Liu Qianyang as the thief, and was ready to tear him into pieces. As for Li Tianming, he was safely hidden in the lake where no one could find him.
The Lightning Manor had intended the Razor-Backed Colossal Crocodile to be part of the trial too. Thus, Li Yanfeng couldn't interfere with the battle. As such, Liu Qianyang was in for a rough fight.
"Ha! Sucks to be him!" The commotion outside was getting louder, but that didn't stop Li Tianming from diving deeper into the lake. Having been to the well once, he didn't take long to find it this time.
Ignoring the commotion above the lake, Li Tianming produced the manna from his pocket, and inserted it directly into the keyhole.
Clack! The manna fitted into the keyhole perfectly with a crisp sound. The manna was indeed the key to open this well!
"What's gonna happen next?" The little chick was curious.
Li Tianming was equally curious, but he didn't lower his guard. For all he knew, the well may contain monstrosities beyond his imagination.
Moments later, a slit appeared in the middle of the slate, opening up rapidly to reveal the well's interior. A moment later, Li Tianming saw a pitch black vortex at the bottom of the well, and before he could react, the vortex had sucked him into the well and devoured him completely!
Seconds later, the slate closed back up, sealing the well as if nothing had ever happened here. Yet Li Tianming had completely vanished, gone from the world. As long as he didn't leave the well, he would have plenty of time to refine the manna.
...
"Sis, save me!" Liu Qianyang was almost in tears. The Razor-Backed Colossal Crocodile was determined to hunt him and his lifebound beast down, and it was close to achieving its goals. The Lightning Bolt Cheetah had borne the brunt of the crocodile's wrath, its body covered in blood from the scratches by the crocodile's blades.
"I think we have to step in." Liu Qing's heart ached when she saw her brother being destroyed by the Razor-Backed Colossal Crocodile. According to the Lightning Manor's rules, the moment the two stepped in, their disciples would be disqualified. That was why they had refrained from helping unless it was absolutely necessary.
"Hmm." Li Yanfeng nodded. As the leader of Flamehaven, he was a reputable master from the southern borders of Vermilion Bird after all, and his level of cultivation was unmatched in the region. The Razor-Backed Colossal Crocodile was no different from a chickling before his power.
Li Yanfeng pointed out his finger, and a flicker of white flame appeared on his thumb. With a flicking motion, the white flame shot towards the Razor-Backed Colossal Crocodile, piercing through its head. The crocodile was still chasing after the Lightning Bolt Cheetah when it got hit by the flame and collapsed on the spot, its body still sliding forward due to its momentum.
Even before its body came to a complete halt, the white flame was spreading from its skull to the rest of its body, engulfing the beast with flame in seconds. A minute later, the three-star wildbeast was completely wiped off from the face of the planet. Strangely, the flora and fauna around it was perfectly fine, as if the white flame could not hurt them at all.
"Yanfeng, that was awesome! Wow you really are so strong." Liu Qing exclaimed.
"Piece of cake. I will go search for that 'Princess Qing's subordinate', you focus on healing Qianyang for now." After instructing the two on what to do, Li Yanfeng turned and left. Before this, he was reluctant to use his power to find the person as it was against the rules. But now that he had already killed the Razor-Backed Colossal Crocodile, he might as well forget about the rules and find the thief.
"I think it's fine if you interfere. The rules were meant for the disciples of Lightning Manor, and since it was an outsider that took it, we can decide on our next course of action after snatching it back." Liu Qing suggested,
"Alright." Li Yanfeng was confident of his capabilities. But there was no way he could have imagined that it was Li Tianming who robbed them of their manna.
"Sister, we cannot let this person run. This is my only chance!" Liu Qianyang cried as he stared at his blood stained lifebound beast.
"Don't worry, your brother-in-law will get that person."
...
It took Li Yanfeng a couple of hours to return, and even then his expressions were stern.
"Yanfeng, where's the person?" Liu Qing questioned.
"Gone." Li Yanfeng was clearly unhappy with the results as well.
"How could that be? Don't you know every crook and cranny of Red Twill Mountain? You can't even find a teenager hiding here?" Liu Qianyang's voice was filled with bitterness, as he yelled at Li Yanfeng in disbelief. What about his manna?!
"Calm down!" Liu Qing gave her brother a fierce stare. Liu Qianyang was losing his mind over the manna, and if he knew that the person who took it was hiding right in the lake beside them, he would probably puke blood on the spot.
"I have searched everywhere, and I couldn't find this person. He must be quite good at hiding." Li Yanfeng narrowed his eyes. "Either that, or Jiang Tao made this person up to trick us."
"He won't dare to, he's not the type to play dirty and break the rules." Liu Qing shook her head.
Hearing the conversation, Liu Qianyang got even more agitated. "Then stop wasting time here and keep searching!"
Not only did they find the manna or the person who took it, he also got a beating from the crocodile. Liu Qianyang was holding grudges against his brother-in-law by now.
"Find Jiang Tao and Jiang Yilin, and we can ask him what that young man looks like." Li Yanfeng came to a final conclusion.
"Fine." Liu Qing agreed, as the three of them reluctantly left to find the other groups.
...
In half a day's time, Li Yanfeng met up with Jiang Tao's group again. Following a series of arguments, the three of them had no choice but to believe that there were indeed a 'Princess Qing's subordinate' around who took the manna and eluded Li Yanfeng's capture.
A day later, the six of them ran into another family of three, consisting of the Zhang Chong couple and Zhang Zixuan.
"What's with that sulky look, who got the manna?" Zhang Chong could tell that something went wrong.
"The manna was located in 'Mirror Lake' atop that hill, guarded by a three-star Razor-Backed Colossal Crocodile. By the time we reached it, a random boy had already taken it away."
Zhang Chong was flabbergasted. "A random boy? Even if our younger ones couldn't overcome him, why don't y'all just take it back? How can you let a stranger touch our Lightning Manor's treasure!"
"That boy had Princess Qing's jade pendant, do you dare to touch the princess's subordinate?" Jiang Tao rolled his eyes.
"Princess Qing!" Zhang Zixuan gasped.
"Did you see Princess Qing around?" Surprised by Zhang Zixuan's reaction, the six clueless members stared at him anxiously.
"Yes we did, and what did you say? A young boy, with Princess Qing's jade pendant?" Zhang Chong was in shock too.
"Do you know that person?" Li Yanfeng inquired.
"Here's the story: A few days ago, we ran into this boy..." Zhang Chong briefly explained the dispute between Li Tianming and Zhang Zixuan.
"After Princess Qing brought the boy away, she even gave him the jade pendant? What's so special about the boy for the princess to treat him so well?" Zhang Chong was still trying to fully comprehend what had happened.
"Have you all seen this boy? Are there special any features about him? Or could he really just be a plebian from nearby?" Li Yanfeng's brows were twisted into a single line.
"It's hard to describe what he looks like." Jiang Yilin's group had run into the boy too.
"He has a little chick as a lifebound beast. A tiny yellow one." Zhang Zixuan supplemented with more details that he could remember.
"What!" The Li Yanfeng trio jumped up in shock. A month ago, a particular little chick had left them a strong impression, and it was quite impossible to find another lifebound beast as special as that one.
"Are. You. Sure?" Liu Qianyang was breathing heavily, his face as red as an apple. "Describe his looks in greater detail."
Jiang Tao and Zhang Chong each took their turn to describe the young man, and they came to a conclusion as all the information came together.
"Li Tianming, it must be him! Li Tianming!" Liu Qianyang could not understand, how someone that he had despised so much could possibly spoil his plan and ruin his trip to the Red Twill Mountain!
"Isn't he just at seventh level Beast Vein? How did he defeat Zixuan and Yilin then?" Liu Qing was still doubtful, despite all the evidence that was pointing towards the truth.
"He reached Spiritsource before, and has some degree of battle experience. He must have used some tricks to get the manna." Li Yanfeng stared into the distance. His mind had went blank momentarily when he heard that name earlier on, and even now, his voice was still a lot coarser. Li Tianming, his own son, coming to spoil his plans again and again!
He had already promised Liu Qianyang to get the manna for him, but Li Tianming was here to disturb him yet again. If Li Tianming managed to get the manna, what would Liu Qianyang think of his brother-in-law then? A governor that let his own son ruin his plans not once, but twice?
"What's next?" Liu Qianyang was so pissed off that he couldn't even control the disappointment in his voice.
"He will eventually return to Flamehaven, and when that happens we just have to stop him halfway. Rest assured, he is the last person I will hand the manna over to," Li Yanfeng hissed, looking towards Flamehaven's direction.
"Why would he return if he had gotten the manna?" Liu Qianyang tossed out the question that the rest of the crew had in mind as well.
Li Yanfeng did not respond to that. He had no intention to tell them that the sickly Wei Jing was still in Flamehaven and Li Tianming needed to pick his mother up.
"Did you mention that this boy used a blood pact to get himself a one-star wildbeast?" Jiang Tao asked.
"That is correct."
"Then there's nothing to worry about. No one-star lifebound beast could refine a manna. This boy's efforts are futile."
That sentence made Liu Qianyang a lot calmer.
"Even if we don't find him on the way back, he will make his way back to Flamehaven within a week's time." Li Yanfeng finally managed to appease the group, bringing the discussion to an end.