TL: Etude
In Ye Tian's eyes, Yun Feng's talent was all too clear.
Human: Yun Feng
Cultivation Talent: Extraordinary
Wind Blade Talent: Top-tier
Speed Talent: Mid-tier
Contrary to what was publicly known—that Yun Feng had only basic speed talent—his speed talent had now become mid-tier. Although the gap between basic and mid was just one tier, the actual difference in speed was significant. Basic speed talent could amplify speed threefold, while mid speed talent could amplify it fivefold. For example, if Yun Feng's speed talent was at five times the speed of sound, his basic speed talent would have only allowed him to achieve 15 times the speed of sound. With mid speed talent, he could reach 25 times the speed of sound. The difference between 15 and 25 was immense, like comparing clouds to mud.
"Yun Feng is indeed lucky," Ye Tian thought to himself. "Not only has he elevated his cultivation talent to an extraordinary level within the secret realm, but he has also upgraded his speed talent from basic to mid. With mid speed talent, others can hardly harm Yun Feng. And his top-tier Wind Blade Talent can instantly kill most of the powerful warriors among them."
Among the twenty or so people from the Helian family, there were genuine powerhouses. For instance, Helian Bi was very strong, possessing three unique talents—mid insight talent, basic speed talent, and high-level Earth Spear talent. In terms of sheer power, Helian Bi was formidable, second only to battle geniuses like Yun Feng.
After scanning the battlefield briefly, Ye Tian lost interest; the outcome was already decided. His spatial perception extended underground to investigate the vein of elemental stones. Suddenly, he sensed a massive beast deep within the earth.
The creature was located 420 meters below ground, within the range affected by his copying talent.
Type: Earth-Walking Pangolin
Bloodline Talent: Top-tier
Defensive Talent: Mid-tier
Earth Escape Talent: Mid-tier
Strength Talent: Mid-tier
"This beast is indeed powerful," Ye Tian marveled. "It possesses three unique talents and even has an Earth Escape talent. In an underground battle, even warriors much stronger than it might not be able to defeat it."
He now understood why Helian Bi had not taken these elemental stones despite spending ten years in the secret realm: He couldn't defeat this Earth-Walking Pangolin.
"These warriors are guarding the entrance to the underground tunnel they must have dug," Ye Tian mused. "If I dig another entrance, I won't have enough time, and the noise would alert them."
Teleporting directly was also unrealistic. Teleportation could only take him where his eyes could see. If he were to appear at that entrance, he would definitely be discovered.
"If my spatial talent were high-level, maybe I could pull it off, but not now," Ye Tian thought, struggling to come up with a solution.
"Xiao Zi, do you know of any other ways to get to the vein of elemental stones?" Ye Tian patted Xiao Zi's purple backside as he asked.
"Pervert master!" Xiao Zi huffed indignantly but obediently replied, "I do know of another tunnel. It was dug by that Earth-Walking Pangolin. It doesn't stay underground all the time; it occasionally goes out to hunt other beasts for energy. I happened to find that tunnel!"
"Happened to?" Ye Tian speculated that Xiao Zi must have set its sights on the elemental stones and thus calculatedly sought another passage. However, being much weaker than the Earth-Walking Pangolin, it had failed.
"Where is it?" Ye Tian asked.
Xiao Zi pointed to a distant location, and Ye Tian immediately teleported there. His one-time teleportation range was 1,000 meters, and with the use of spatial markings, he could teleport 2,000 meters in an instant. Given that this was out of the range of the warriors' spiritual sense and coupled with Ye Tian's ultra-fast consecutive teleportation, no one detected him.
Soon enough, he arrived.
Swiftly, Ye Tian arrived at the place Xiao Zi had described—a small lake.
"Master, beneath this lake is a passage that connects to an underground chamber. From that chamber, you can enter the tunnel that the Earthwalking Pangolin has dug," Xiao Zi explained.
Even without Xiao Zi's reminder, Ye Tian had already sensed it.
"Wow, this Earthwalking Pangolin really knows how to dig! It even dug its way into the lake. If Xiao Zi hadn't led the way, even with my spatial awareness, it would have taken a lot of effort to find this place," Ye Tian marveled.
So, Ye Tian, accompanied by Xiao Zi, entered the lake and followed the underwater passage to reach an underground chamber. There, he found numerous tunnels—it was like an underground labyrinth sprawling in all directions.
However, such a labyrinth was as good as nonexistent to Ye Tian, thanks to his spatial perception.
"Let's go!"
Ye Tian let Xiao Zi lead the way, slowly approaching the Qi stone vein.
"The concentration of Qi has increased manifold!"
Ye Tian abruptly realized this, clearly indicating that they were nearing the Qi stone vein.
"There's a Qi stone here!"
Upon reaching a tunnel, Ye Tian found a Qi stone embedded in the rock wall. This Qi stone was entirely white, radiating an extremely dense Qi.
"How much Qi must this stone have gathered to be this rich? No wonder it's so precious," Ye Tian said as he carefully excavated the stone, making sure to avoid alerting any ferocious beasts.
It's worth mentioning that the rock layers here were extremely hard. Clearly, they had undergone transformation due to the nourishment of Qi. An average person wouldn't have been able to chip even a speck of dust from these rocks.
Crack!
Accompanied by a soft sound, the first Qi stone was successfully excavated by Ye Tian and was promptly stored in his personal space.
Keep searching!
Quickly, Ye Tian found about ten more Qi stones and harvested them all, storing them in his personal space.
"The battle is almost over!"
Ye Tian's spatial perception revealed the situation above ground. Under Yun Feng's full strength, the people of the Helian family were falling one by one, unable to resist Yun Feng.
At that moment, around a dozen members of the Helian family had already perished.
"If the Helian family is completely wiped out, Yun Feng definitely won't leave the Qi stone vein unexploited. He can deal with the Earth Walking Pangolin, and I can take this opportunity to quickly dig out the Qi stones unnoticed," Ye Tian thought, smiling broadly at his plan.
In truth, he had another option: to kill everyone, including Yun Feng, to monopolize the entire Qi stone vein. But he didn't do that, as one of his principles was to avoid intentionally killing people.
Eleven stones!
Twelve stones!
Thirteen stones!
Twenty stones!
Ye Tian happily harvested one Qi stone after another, completely avoiding the attention of both people and beasts—except for Xiao Zi, of course.
Above ground, Yun Feng had also sustained some minor injuries. Being the skilled warriors of the Helian family, they had their trump cards or astonishing weapons; it was unrealistic to expect Yun Feng to kill them without getting hurt.
Under the influence of moderate speed talent, the people of the Helian family stood no chance of escape.
Ten minutes passed.
Only one person remained in the battlefield—Helian Bi.
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