Volume 4 Chapter 33

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Volume 4 Chapter 33: Watching the Duel

Outside the door, the sunlight was dazzling.

In this bright sunlight, Ting’er and Little Green were playfully frolicking.

Ting’er used a technique to control Little Green’s precious toy, making it float and move nimbly in the air. Meanwhile, Little Green, unwilling to lose the toy, kept chasing it. Watching Little Green’s clumsy attempts, Ting’er couldn’t help but chuckle.

Seeing this scene, Xu Qingfan was momentarily stunned; it was the first time he had seen Ting’er smile so freely, without any burden or pressure.

Unfortunately, perhaps the noise of Xu Qingfan opening the door was too loud, as the moment he saw Ting’er, Ting’er also noticed Xu Qingfan, and the smile quickly vanished from her face.

Seeing this, Xu Qingfan sighed quietly to himself, realizing that the goal of letting Ting’er live without any burden or pressure seemed still far away.

"Take it slow, compared to the beginning, Ting’er’s changes have been quite significant," Xu Qingfan comforted himself in his heart.

While Xu Qingfan was sighing, Ting’er had already approached him with Little Green and was curiously looking at Little Black on Xu Qingfan’s shoulder, as if wondering why there was now an unsightly "crow" on her uncle after he came out.

Little Green, behind Ting’er, was much more direct. It held a grudge against Xu Qingfan for its mother’s death and was always hostile towards him. However, as Xu Qingfan’s strength grew, even without the "Soul Bead" in hand, he could easily defeat it. So in recent years, Little Green’s hostility towards Xu Qingfan was merely bluffing and baring its teeth, despite knowing Xu Qingfan wasn’t afraid of its threats. Nonetheless, it continued unabated.

Although Little Green didn’t dare to directly challenge Xu Qingfan, it vented by destroying things around him. Xu Qingfan’s clothes had been bitten and ruined more than ten times.

At this moment, seeing a "crow" perched quietly on Xu Qingfan’s shoulder and seemingly easy to bully, Little Green felt the urge to get back at Xu Qingfan. Thus, upon spotting Little Black, it began to glare and show its teeth, resembling an ancient beast ready to devour someone.

Unfortunately, no matter how much Little Green glared and showed its teeth, Little Black on Xu Qingfan’s shoulder was unmoved. It merely stared blankly at Ting’er in front of Xu Qingfan, seemingly intrigued by some unusual aspect of Ting’er’s body.

Feeling ignored, Little Green grew angry and intensified its intimidation, starting to growl softly at Little Black.

Sensing Little Green’s persistent disturbance, Little Black finally moved, calmly turning to glance at Little Green with its cold, icy eyes.

Although that glance seemed indifferent, Little Green instinctively sensed extreme danger, as if the Gate of Hell had opened in front of it, with the chilling wails of countless spirits, and a terrifying Death God staring coldly at it. This frightened Little Green deeply, causing it to step back repeatedly, not daring to look at Little Black again.

Seeing Little Green’s appearance, Xu Qingfan couldn’t help but laugh. Although Little Black might not look impressive, it was indeed a true Earth-level low-grade demon beast, with potential to grow stronger in the future. It was definitely much stronger than Little Green, making Little Green’s provocation a futile effort.

Ting’er was surprised as she glanced at Little Black. Her unique body allowed her to sense that Little Black was not as simple as it seemed, but she didn’t expect the quiet, cold gaze from Little Black to hold such immense power.

Noticing Ting’er’s astonishment, Xu Qingfan smiled gently and said to her, "This is Little Black, a demon beast of Earth-level called ‘Dark Crow.’ It has now become my spirit beast."

Ting’er nodded slightly, indicating her understanding.

Xu Qingfan observed Ting’er carefully and discovered that she had already advanced beyond the Inedia Stage and reached the early stage of the Lingji Stage, with the middle stage not far ahead. He couldn’t help but be impressed. Such a rapid cultivation pace could probably only be matched by Feng Qingtian on the entire Jiuhua Mountain, even surpassing Jin Qinghan by a bit.

Thinking of the dust accumulated in the house, Xu Qingfan’s mind suddenly stirred, and he asked Ting’er, "Ting’er, how long did it take for Uncle to finish this seclusion?"

Ting’er frowned slightly, then answered softly, "Twenty years."

Xu Qingfan nodded slightly, a response close to what he had imagined. However, he was unsure what new duties had piled up at Jiuhua Mountain during his twenty-year seclusion, and he felt a bit guilty for troubling Li Yuhan continuously, which gave him a slight headache.

Shaking his head gently, Xu Qingfan dismissed these bothersome thoughts and smiled at Ting’er, asking, "Ting’er, have your years of cultivation been smooth? Have you encountered any confusion?"

Ting’er nodded slightly and then stopped speaking. She began to demonstrate the magical arts she had learned over the years in front of Xu Qingfan. Whenever she had doubts, she paused and looked at Xu Qingfan for guidance, to which he carefully responded.

After resolving all of Ting’er’s questions, time had passed from midday to dusk. Watching the red clouds on the horizon, Xu Qingfan patted Ting’er on the shoulder and smiled, "I’ve told you everything I can. The rest is up to you to comprehend."

Seeing Ting’er nod, Xu Qingfan continued, "I’m going to the front mountain to take care of some matters; you can keep playing with Little Green."

With that, Xu Qingfan gave Ting’er a gentle smile, then rode the cloud swiftly towards the front mountain.

Upon arriving at the front mountain, Xu Qingfan was met with matters that had accumulated at Jiuhua Mountain over the past twenty years. Luckily, Li Yuhan had helped solve most of them. Nonetheless, by the time everything was settled, the sky had turned dark.

Originally, Xu Qingfan planned to visit the sect leader Zhang Hualing, but a disciple informed him that Zhang Hualing was currently in seclusion. It is said that fifteen years ago, five years after Xu Qingfan began his seclusion, Zhang Hualing went to the top of Jiuhua Mountain and returned with an unusual, seemingly sorrowful expression. Since then, he has been in and out of seclusion, only occasionally emerging to deal with Jiuhua matters. This is his fourth seclusion period.

Hearing the disciple’s words, Xu Qingfan couldn’t shake the feeling that something was amiss, but he couldn’t pinpoint what it was. With a sigh, he shook his head and decided to think no more of it.

After handling all worldly matters at Jiuhua Mountain, Xu Qingfan didn’t linger long. He rode the cloud toward the rear mountain where his own cave was located, continuously pondering his future plans.

"Next, I need to start cultivating Flourish Qi. Right now, it is far from taking shape and can’t compete with Withered Qi. I also need to quickly accomplish the tasks Martial Uncle Liu entrusted to me. Once the Flourish Qi has somewhat matured, I will discreetly leave Jiuhua Mountain through the secret path Martial Uncle Liu mentioned, and return once everything is done, without anyone knowing…"

Just as Xu Qingfan was lost in thought, he suddenly paused, sensing two streams of Spirit Qi intensely fluctuating somewhere in the back mountain. It was clear that two cultivators were engaged in a magical duel.

Judging by the scale of these Spirit Qi energies, one of them, based purely on the richness of Spirit Qi, was not beneath Ting’er, while the other had reached the late stage of the Inedia Stage.

"Could someone be dueling in secret here?" Xu Qingfan wondered silently.

When Xu Qingfan was still an ordinary disciple of Jiuhua Mountain, he had heard more than once that because the back mountain of Jiuhua was quiet and rarely visited, it often became a place where Jiuhua disciples settled grudges privately.

Shortly after Xu Qingfan joined Jiuhua Mountain, while walking around the back mountain, he inadvertently stumbled upon a private duel between Jin Qinghan and Feng Qingtian.

Later, after Xu Qingfan established a dwelling in the back mountain, he noticed several times that Jiuhua disciples came here to duel, but since Xu Qingfan didn’t like trouble, he didn’t pay much attention.

This time, when encountering Jiuhua disciples dueling in the back mountain again, Xu Qingfan habitually prepared to return to his dwelling without concerning himself, but then abruptly realized that, as a Deacon Elder of Jiuhua, it seemed he had a duty to prevent such actions, leading him to sigh helplessly and head towards the location of the Spirit Qi fluctuations.

With Xu Qingfan’s current skills, his speed riding the clouds was extremely fast, and in almost an instant, he arrived at the location of the Spirit Qi fluctuations. Coincidentally, this was the very place where Jin Qinghan and Feng Qingtian had dueled decades ago. The traces of the ruins from that battle were still visible.

However, the main characters of the scene now were no longer Jin Qinghan and Feng Qingtian but had changed to three other people.

The person with the strongest presence stood proudly on one side of the field, coldly watching the two people on the other side. This middle-aged man had a stern look on his face but was of the Lingji Stage in cultivation.

On the other side, two young men supported each other, barely able to stand. The more delicate-looking one was at the late stage of the Inedia Stage and was stubbornly staring at the middle-aged man. The other young man had an ordinary appearance, dark skin, and remained silent. Because he was only at the middle stage of the Qi Refining Stage, Xu Qingfan initially didn’t notice his presence at all.

As Xu Qingfan observed, the middle-aged man finally spoke.

"Deng Yuquan, you want to intervene while I’m disciplining the younger ones?"