Chapter 66 - 66

“Your envy is useless.

Without any inheritance or a clan, and simply lucky to have been born in your master’s space, you should be grateful for the cultivation you’ve achieved.

But you should also work hard and help out more with the chores,” Eryao grumbled while it worked, noticing how idly Little Blue Ox stood by, which somewhat soured its mood.

“Moo…”

What else could Little Blue Ox do?

It had to help with the chores!

When they were tired from working, they returned to their master’s side to rest.

Eryao cooked another pot of rice, gave their master some water to drink, and then fed him some of the rice.

Watching the food automatically slide down their master’s throat, which meant he was absorbing it, was proof that he was in the process of healing.

After feeding their master, Eryao ate as well.

It was just plain rice, how bland!

How wonderful it would have been to have some vegetable seeds!

Eryao could barely tolerate vegetables, but Spirit Grass and flowers were more to its liking.

Little Blue Ox silently munched on straw, the leftover straw sprouts from the harvest were its food.

Having filled its stomach with sprouts and drunk some water, Little Blue Ox lay down on the ground to sleep.

After filling its belly, Eryao walked around the space, looking for any treasure it might have missed.

Then it realized something troubling; it remembered falling into a deep pit underground earlier.

Where could they be now?

Eryao employed its spells to sneak out of the space quietly.

But no sooner had it left than it felt a surge of danger.

There was a sucking force trying to pull it away.

It was like a ghost’s claws, tearing it apart piece by piece.

“Ah!”

Eryao quickly returned to the safety of the space, patting its chest with its little paws, “That scared the life out of me!”

“Moo…”

Seeing Eryao in such a frantic state puzzled Little Blue Ox; it had always seen Eryao as quite formidable, so what could scare it so?

It was very curious about what Eryao had encountered.

“What’s with that look?

Even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand; talking to you is pointless,” Eryao complained to Little Blue Ox, venting to ease its anxiety.

“Moo…”

Little Blue Ox’s innocent gaze seemed to ask, “What did I do wrong?” It was just a cow, after all, one that couldn’t speak the language of humans.

“Ah, never mind…”

Eryao calmed itself down before peering outside the space again.

The sky was a dull gray, the outside pitch-black as though it were night.

Yet there was something off about that night.

Even a dull gray sky on the surface wouldn’t have such a powerful suction — a force Eryao couldn’t resist with its current cultivation.

Eryao tried using one of its spells to shoot out a burst of fire.

The Thunder Fire shot outside.

It illuminated a small area, and in that darkness, Eryao saw the pitch-black earth, lacking even weeds, much less trees or flowers.

The sky was an overcast gray, not the natural color one would expect; it was more like the hue of a Spiritual Artifact.

“Ah…

ah”

At first, there was no reaction to the fire that Eryao had sprayed out, but when the light spread further away, many ghosts began to let out miserable screams.

It was as if Eryao’s fire had injured them, eliciting their pitiful cries.

Eryao didn’t understand how there could be ghosts beneath a dull gray sky and pitch-black earth?

Had they entered hell?

No, that couldn’t be.

They were not dead; how could they have entered hell?

Eryao didn’t dare move; it just wanted to wait for their master to wake up before making any plans.

It also wanted to check if there were other abnormalities.

Inside the Primordial Treasure Lingtian Space was the safest place.

Eryao had no intention of going out.

There was food and water here, albeit a bit bland, but that had no impact on its cultivation.

This injury had humbled Eryao, removing its previous arrogance.

Its abilities were not yet enough to fend off the mana from others’ Magical Treasures.

If not for the Primordial Treasure Lingtian Space, they might have all perished.

It knew it had to cultivate in silence, improving its cultivation, waiting for their master to awaken.

But Eryao dared not venture out alone to explore; that sucking force had nearly taken it away.

As Eryao continued to cultivate steadily, it and Little Blue Ox diligently worked the fields, harvesting more food and accumulating more Pills with each cycle, a reward that brought them substantial benefits.

Among the Pills Eryao reaped, it always prioritized feeding any suitable ones to their master first.

The Nangong Immortal Sect Elder’s Disciple’s Cave Abode.

Luo Yaxuan had been going out to the mountain peaks every day to practice his wind and thunder lightning techniques.

In order not to damage more mountain peaks, he always went to the same one for training.

Each time he finished cultivating, that mountain peak seemed to have become shorter.

Originally, it was as tall as the others, but now it stood out, conspicuously lacking the lush green trees and grass.

It even changed color, turning black – the sort of black that comes from earth scorched by fire.

Each day there too, fierce winds would blow, with astonishing thunder lightning, and the thick smoke that rose when lightning struck the earth would draw other disciples to secretly watch and learn from a distance.

Many disciples stationed themselves atop nearby mountain peaks just to observe Luo Yaxuan’s display of wind and thunder lightning technique, hoping to derive some understanding of cultivation from it.

Not every disciple could be a Direct Disciple with access to high-level Secret Manuals.

Servant Disciples relied on completing tasks and the reward manuals they received were not very advanced.

They knew that in a few days the great competition would take place, and aside from their chores, they climbed mountains that no human cultivator had trained on before, hoping to find resources.

But they chanced upon someone practicing such powerful spells – an opportunity for them to learn from a senior brother.

Outer Sect disciples also didn’t have many resources, and the Secret Manuals and spells they obtained from the Scripture Pavilion were not as sophisticated as those given to Direct Disciples by their masters.

Having encountered Luo Yaxuan’s cultivation, many disciples learned and realized how to use spells more expertly.

Disciples of similar levels all had roughly the same learning and spells; only the difference in their Spiritual Roots could lead to variations.

Without a master to instruct them directly, they could only occasionally attend sermons given by senior brothers, who did not perform spells for their observation.

Besides displaying his spells outside, Luo Yaxuan would also meditate and cultivate in his cave abode.

Wishing to concentrate on his cultivation here, he did not resume contact with his family.

One day, while practicing his wind and thunder lightning on a mountain peak, Luo Yaxuan discovered that the wind technique and thunder lightning he unleashed were more powerful than before, further reducing the height of the small mountain peak.

Luo Yaxuan realized that his wind and thunder lightning had reached a level of mastery.

This realization filled him with surprise; with the mastery of wind and thunder lightning, he now had the capability to compete with other Direct Disciples.

Among Direct Disciples, the one who wins the competition would of course move on to compete against all other Sect disciples, and also secure an entry ticket to join a grand competition of various Sects.

Many Sect disciples worked so hard for the chance to compete with disciples from other Sects, obtain more understanding of spells and Cultivation Manuals.

They also hoped to win awards and achieve rankings, bringing honor to themselves, their Sect, and the noble clans they represented.

In the remaining two days, Luo Yaxuan did not venture out; he focused on filling his entire body with cultivated energy in preparation for the Disciple Competition.

Two days later, the Sect became exceptionally lively as the Servant Disciples’ competition started.

After a day’s rest, it would be the turn of the Outer Sect disciples, and so on until the Sect contests came to an end ten days later.

All disciples were required by the Sect to watch the Servant Disciples’ competition, offering them encouragement.

The Sect’s Elders would also be seated on a high platform to observe.

On this day, Luo Yaxuan also attended the competition among Servant Disciples.

As a Direct Disciple, his seat was at the very front of the arena.

The white robes of the Sect disciples differed among those in the arena, not apparent to outsiders.

However, known by those within the Inner Sect, every disciple’s robe bore a watermark symbolizing their position within the Sect.

Luo Yaxuan, dashing, handsome, and with an elegant gait, took his seat among the onlookers as he entered the area and reached his assigned position.

Many of the Servant and Outer Sect disciples noticed his entrance, and the disciples about to compete felt a surge of spirit upon seeing him.

So this senior brother is a Direct Disciple.

With his presence, I feel keen to show what I’ve learned and realized these past few days, heh heh.

The Servant Disciples began drawing lots, and they were assigned to compete in this arena.

The stage was designed with a Formation, and combat within could be intense – even if a Magical Treasure caused injury and one lost, at the moment a disciple was in deadly peril, the Formation would automatically whisk them away from the arena.

This was also a measure to prevent disciples from killing each other during the competition.

Not only were the arenas designated for Servant Disciples set up this way, but all disciples competed in this place, just on different days.

The Servant Disciples finished drawing lots and took their places across the four arenas for the competition.

There were senior brothers hosting, Elders judging, and Sect patrols present to prevent brawls after a loss.

The patrols also prevented competitors from using external forces to win, like a Spiritual Power Talisman infused by their family members.

Many of the Servant Disciples were at the Qi Cultivation Stage, and the Outer Sect disciples were of similar levels too.

If the opponent used a talisman infused by their family with a Foundation Establishment Stage or a fraction of a Golden Core Elder’s mana, with such a talisman, other competitors stood no chance and the contest would be pointless.

Luo Yaxuan sat among the Direct Disciples, his neighbors too were Direct Disciples of other Golden Core Elders.

That master only had one Direct Disciple by his side, which was him.

There used to be another senior brother, who seemed to have left the Sect for experience.

Since becoming the master’s disciple, Luo Yaxuan had not yet met this senior brother.

“Luo Yaxuan?” the young male disciple sitting to his right side said.

“Greetings, senior brother,” Luo Yaxuan responded without letting the formality slip just because the other was also a Direct Disciple.

The young man sitting on his right was indeed just a little older than him, and their cultivation levels seemed comparable, both were young men.

However, he did not know the name of this man.