Chapter 23: The Mysterious Little Creature

Looking at the seductive and voluptuous woman in front of him, Yang Ye softly spoke, "Qing Hong, it seems that since last night, you've intentionally kept your distance from me?" Since last night, her attitude towards him had changed, deliberately maintaining a certain distance. He knew that it might be because of his strength, but regardless, he considered her a friend and didn't want their friendship to dissipate like that.

Upon hearing Yang Ye's words, Qing Hong's lips moved, seemingly wanting to deny it, but when she saw the earnest expression on Yang Ye's face, she ultimately sighed and didn't come up with any excuses. She simply sighed softly.

Undeniably, she had a favorable impression of Yang Ye and hoped to consider him a friend. However, Yang Ye was a disciple of the sect, a highly promising one at that. It was difficult for there to be any friendship between a disciple of the sect and a mercenary. It had nothing to do with anything else, just because they belonged to different social classes.

If it were any other mercenary, it would be an exciting thing to become friends with a disciple of the sect. However, she didn't want the friendship to be based on charity.

Seeing Qing Hong's silence, Yang Ye continued, "Qing Hong, I don't know why you're deliberately keeping your distance from me, but I want to say that I genuinely consider you a friend!"

"Why?" Qing Hong asked, "We're just ordinary mercenaries."

Yang Ye smiled and said, "I treat others the way they treat me. Since we entered the Ten Thousand Snake Forest, back when I concealed my strength, you didn't look down on me or distance yourself from me like others did. Instead, you always looked out for me, taking care of me. From that moment on, I considered you a friend."

"If I had known you were so powerful, I wouldn't have meddled." Qing Hong glanced at Yang Ye, her face showing a smile. She could feel that Yang Ye's words were sincere.

Yang Ye smiled and then spoke seriously, "Qing Hong, I believe that friendship doesn't require strength, wealth, or anything else. Some of your thoughts can be detrimental."

Qing Hong wanted to refute, but her face suddenly reddened. When she heard Yang Ye mention "some of your thoughts," she thought of something. She deliberately distanced herself from Yang Ye, not because she couldn't become friends, but because... thinking about certain things, Qing Hong's face turned even redder.

Seeing Qing Hong's sudden blush, Yang Ye was somewhat puzzled. He hadn't said anything inappropriate! Why did this straightforward woman blush?

Seeing Yang Ye staring at her, Qing Hong suppressed the embarrassing thoughts in her mind and glared at him fiercely, saying, "What are you looking at!"

Alright, Yang Ye was completely speechless. He really wanted to say "how absurd," but he held it back. Now that Qing Hong seemed to no longer have that deliberate distance from him, if he said it, he would probably get scolded.

With a flick of his wrist, a powerful talisman appeared in his hand, and he handed it to Qing Hong, saying, "Qing Hong, this is for you. Until we meet again." With that, he didn't linger and swiftly dashed towards a distant location.

Watching Yang Ye's disappearing figure, Qing Hong inwardly thought she was embarrassing herself. He's only sixteen or seventeen years old. How could she have such thoughts? Shaking her head, she cleared her mind of those inexplicable thoughts. Then she lowered her head and looked at the item that Yang Ye had randomly given her. When she saw the talisman engraved with a golden flame, Qing Hong's body instantly froze, and her hands couldn't help but tremble.

After a while, Qing Hong hurriedly put the talisman into her bosom, then raised her head and looked towards the direction where Yang Ye had disappeared. As if in a daze, she whispered to herself, "A high-grade power talisman... How, how is this possible..."

...

Running all the way, Yang Ye was like an agile monkey, constantly leaping through the dense jungle. During his journey, he encountered some unknown mystical beasts, but he didn't take action because their ranks were too low. He wanted to reach the Phantom Wolf Valley and find those powerful Phantom Wolves.

After running for several hours, Yang Ye finally stopped and leaped onto a large tree beside him. He focused his gaze in the distance and could only see the towering mountains stretching endlessly, disappearing into the clouds.

Looking at the endless mountains, Yang Ye's expression turned solemn as he spoke in a deep voice, "There are rumors that at the center of the Hundred Thousand Mountains lies a massive kingdom of mystical beasts. I wonder if it's true or not. If I have the opportunity in the future, I must go and see." He shook his head afterwards, self-deprecatingly saying, "If I can't become an outer disciple in more than 20 days, or if I can't defeat Liu Qingyu in three months, I won't even have my life anymore. What's the point of going to see a kingdom of mystical beasts?"

Putting his thoughts aside, Yang Ye took out a tattered map from his pocket. It was the map that the three men had given him last night, detailing some dangerous areas in the peripheral region of the Hundred Thousand Mountains, as well as the location of the Phantom Wolf Valley.

After scanning the map, Yang Ye's gaze finally fell on the location of the Phantom Wolf Valley. Memorizing the route to the valley, he put away the map and prepared to descend from the tree. However, at that moment, Yang Ye's body, which had already tilted forward, suddenly froze in place. He stared intently towards the distance.

In the dense forest about a hundred feet away, a purple figure suddenly flashed out. The figure's speed was extremely fast, or rather, it was eerie. It flickered and disappeared dozens of feet with each flash. Seeing this eerie scene, Yang Ye's scalp tingled, and he immediately focused his mind and held his breath, afraid to make the slightest movement.

Within a couple of breaths, the purple figure covered the hundred-foot distance and arrived at Yang Ye's position. Thankfully, the figure didn't stop but passed by him in a flash. Just as Yang Ye let out a sigh of relief, the purple figure that had already been more than ten feet behind him suddenly stopped. Then, in a flash, it appeared right in front of Yang Ye.

Yang Ye's body immediately stiffened as he looked at the little creature that suddenly appeared in front of him. He didn't dare to make any movements, afraid of provoking the creature and getting instantly killed.

Suddenly appearing in front of him was a ferret, looking incredibly cute. It was entirely purple, with a slender body and short limbs. It had long ears and a round head, and its small tail flicked back and forth. On its forehead, there was a dazzling mark of a blood lotus.

The purple ferret stood in the void, its lively eyes looking at Yang Ye, occasionally blinking, which was incredibly adorable. Under the gaze of those lively and cute eyes, Yang Ye didn't dare to make any moves. The ferret's eerie speed had truly frightened him. Even a king realm expert wouldn't be able to achieve such speed!

After a moment, the ferret furrowed its brows in a human-like manner, taking two steps forward towards Yang Ye. Its small nose sniffed Yang Ye's body, as if it had discovered something good. The little creature's big eyes instantly lit up, and even though Yang Ye didn't understand the language of beasts, he could sense that the little creature was happy. The expression on its face was just like when he had discovered his own potential to become a cultivator.

The purple ferret seemed to have found something exceptional on Yang Ye's body. It continuously sniffed with its nose, and an intoxicated expression appeared on its chubby face. Just as Yang Ye was preparing to run away, the purple ferret suddenly turned into a streak of purple light and vanished into his chest. This sudden action left Yang Ye's mind blank.

After a while, Yang Ye hurriedly checked his body. When he saw the condition inside his body, he muttered to himself like a lost soul, "How, how is this possible..."

That's right, the cute creature had entered his body, more precisely, it had entered his small vortex dantian. When he had immersed his mind into his body just now, he had discovered that the purple ferret was inspecting his small vortex dantian. On its little face, there was first excitement, then confusion, and after a while, it turned back into excitement.

The purple ferret seemed unusually excited, flickering within his vortex dantian, just like a mercenary finding a treasure trove.

At that moment, Yang Ye suddenly opened his eyes wide and looked towards the distance. He saw a black figure darting out of the dense forest in the distance. Seeing this figure, Yang Ye's throat rolled, and his mind went blank once again. This figure was flying through the air without relying on any external objects.

Yang Ye didn't know what level of strength was required to fly without relying on external objects. It was something that even those in the King Realm and the Spirit Realm above couldn't achieve. It belonged to the realm of a Revered Realm expert!

The black figure's speed was extremely fast. In an instant, it arrived next to Yang Ye. The figure was completely black, surrounded by dark energy, and countless black mists roamed around its body like venomous snakes, ready to strike at any moment.

The figure didn't linger but swiftly flashed towards the distance. At this moment, Yang Ye's face turned pale because that figure had glanced at him. That single glance made him feel as if he had fallen into hell, a sense of fear spreading through his entire body, leaving him unable to muster any resistance.

"No..."

Being looked at by the figure like that was so unbearable that a feeling of humiliation arose from the depths of Yang Ye's heart. He let out a low roar, forcefully raised his head, looked towards the direction where the figure disappeared, and with a determined expression, said, "Rather die than fear. The sword of a disciple from the Sword Sect shall break, not bend. A disciple of the Sword Sect would rather die than be humiliated!" This phrase was something the founder of the Sword Sect had once said, and Yang Ye remembered it clearly!

As soon as the words left his mouth, Yang Ye's long sword in his hand began to tremble violently, emitting a clear and resounding sword cry. Then, with a "clang," the sword shattered into countless fragments.

At that moment, Yang Ye closed his eyes slightly. After uttering those words, he entered a peculiar state, a state that was both strange and profound.

Unbeknownst to Yang Ye, as he entered this state, not only did his sword break into pieces, but even the leaves around him rustled as if being stirred by an invisible force.

If the Peak Masters or the Sect Master of the Sword Sect were present, they would recognize the state Yang Ye was in. It was a state that countless members of the Sword Sect had longed to achieve, for it was the comprehension of sword intent that had eluded them for hundreds of years.

"Whoosh!"

Just as Yang Ye entered his meditative state, a rushing sound echoed. The black-robed figure that had disappeared into the distance suddenly turned back. Sensing the terrifying aura emanating from Yang Ye, he immediately gave up on that state and regained his clarity. As soon as he regained his clarity, the figure appeared ghost-like in front of him.