TL: Etude
Ye Tian paid no heed to the clamor of the Purple-Gold Rat.
"Purple-Gold Rat, how about I give you a name? Let's call you Xiao Zi, what do you think?" Ye Tian asked.
"Hmm!"
The Purple-Gold Rat gently nodded its head, seemingly quite content with the name.
"Xiao Zi, can your treasure-finding talent detect where there might be veins of Yuan Qi Stones?" Ye Tian asked with some anticipation.
"I know where Yuan Qi Stones are!"
Xiao Zi eagerly raised its tiny paw.
"Really?"
Ye Tian's expression shifted, tinged with excitement.
The fact that Xiao Zi knew the location of the Yuan Qi Stones took him by surprise. However, upon further consideration, it made sense. Xiao Zi had been living in this secret realm for who knows how long, and its talent for finding treasures would naturally make it privy to the locations of various valuable items. Yuan Qi Stones were a kind of treasure, so it was entirely reasonable that Xiao Zi could detect them.
"Xiao Zi, take me to find the Yuan Qi Stones!" Ye Tian commanded.
"Follow me!"
Xiao Zi darted forward, leading Ye Tian in the search for the Yuan Qi Stones. However, Xiao Zi's speed left much to be desired, and in the end, Ye Tian had to carry it, with Xiao Zi merely pointing out the direction.
After running continuously for a day and a half, Ye Tian was about to reach the destination under Xiao Zi's guidance. Yet, the situation did not align with his expectations.
"A corpse!"
Ye Tian found the body of a martial artist, and judging from the condition of the corpse, the individual hadn't been dead for long.
"Spatial Perception!"
A wave of spatial fluctuation emanated, extending forward to explore.Very quickly, multiple corpses of martial artists appeared in Ye Tian's line of sight.
"I've already discovered more than a dozen corpses of martial artists," Ye Tian said, furrowing his brow.
From the current situation, it seemed likely that the vein of Yuan Qi Stones nearby had been discovered; otherwise, there wouldn't be so many dead martial artists. The secret realm was expansive, and the probability of martial artists encountering each other was relatively low. The deaths of so many in this area could only mean large-scale fighting had taken place. The thought that the Yuan Qi Stones might have been exposed filled Ye Tian with urgency. If all the Yuan Qi Stones had been mined, his journey would have been in vain.
"Let's go!"
Ye Tian moved forward cautiously, his Spatial Perception scanning the area. He had the advantage, for he would sense the enemy before they sensed him.
After walking a distance of more than a kilometer, he finally saw a group of people engaged in combat—or to be more precise, a group that was being besieged.
"It's him!"
Ye Tian recognized a familiar face; familiar because he had paid special attention to learning about him. The man was Yun Feng, known as the top combat talent in the Demon Sea Base. Yun Feng was on the side being surrounded. The other party consisted of over twenty individuals, all wearing the same attire, obviously from the same power.
"Yun Feng, your combat prowess is indeed number one among the combat talents, but you are no match for us!"
An aged warrior spoke coldly.
"Helian Bi, you were a grand warrior from the previous generation. Unexpectedly, you've survived in this secret realm for ten years and even discovered a vein of Qi Stones. I have no feud with you, and I assure you I won't compete with you for the Qi Stones. Why must you ambush me? Even if you manage to kill me, more than half of you will die as well. Do you believe me?" Yunfeng retorted in a frosty tone.
"I do believe you!" Helian Bi replied, "But sacrificing some grand warriors to kill you, Yunfeng, is a good bargain. The entire Demon Sea Base believes that among the younger generation of the Yun family, Yuntian has the highest cultivation talent, an extraordinary level, while you, Yunfeng, only have combat power and top-level cultivation talent. If you were merely of top-level talent, I wouldn't bother to kill you. But you're not just top-level!"
"Hmph, if I'm not top-level, what then? Am I of extraordinary-level cultivation talent?" Yunfeng sneered.
"Exactly, you indeed possess extraordinary-level cultivation talent. Perhaps you used to be top-level, but now you are extraordinary. If I'm not wrong, you've found an item in this secret realm that enhances talent, elevating your cultivation talent to the extraordinary level. I'm quite envious; even I want such an item. I was originally of high-level cultivation talent and spent considerable effort to upgrade it to top-level after coming here ten years ago. Just for an item that can enhance talent, I've spent a long time plotting in the secret realm, and that's why I missed my chance to leave."
"I initially thought I was already very lucky, but you're luckier. You've found an item that can elevate your cultivation talent to the extraordinary level; perhaps you even have more!"
As he spoke, Helian Bi became tempted, revealing a greedy expression.
"Do you think anyone would believe such lies?" Yunfeng sneered dismissively.
"Lies?" Helian Bi laughed, "Yunfeng, you're indeed calm, but what you don't know is that I have a unique talent, which allows me to see the cultivation talent of others. The condition is that their talent shouldn't exceed mine. If you were top-level, I should have been able to see it. But now I can't, which means something very clear to me!"
At that moment, Yunfeng finally changed his expression.
"I never expected you to have such a talent. Fine, so what if I have extraordinary-level talent? If it comes down to it, I can kill you!" Yunfeng threatened Helian Bi.
"Let's try then!" Helian Bi wasn't afraid. Today, he had to kill Yunfeng. An emerging combat genius with extraordinary-level talent would become incredibly formidable when grown. If the already powerful Yun family added another invincible king to its ranks, they would be unstoppable.
Helian Bi wanted not only to safeguard the Helian family's status, which was second only to the Yun family, but also sought the treasure on Yunfeng. What if Yunfeng had more than one such item that could elevate one's talent to the extraordinary level? Then Helian Bi could hope to achieve the same.
Just the possibility alone was enough for him to ambush Yunfeng. Moreover, there was a small vein of Qi Stones underground. Once Yunfeng was killed, he planned to join forces with other Helian family members to slay the fearsome beasts guarding the Qi Stones. Then, all the Qi Stones would belong to the Helian family!
From a distance, Ye Tian had not only spied on Yunfeng's situation but had also heard their conversation, and he was mildly shocked.
"Yunfeng has actually become an extraordinary-level talent. When he was in the outside world, he was merely top-level. What outrageous luck, he's like a son of destiny!" Ye Tian thought.
Approaching! Keep approaching!
Whoosh!
In an instant, Ye Tian teleported behind a massive rock 500 meters away from them. His teleportation was so fast that he left no trace, and Yunfeng and the others didn't notice Ye Tian.
"Scan!"
His duplication talent instantly gave him a clear view of the group's talent status.
When Ye Tian saw Yunfeng's talent status, he couldn't help but smile, "The Helian family is done for!"
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