bookbashuk Chapter 30 Yao Ye
Chapter 30 Yao Ye
That unremarkable, inferior Taoist technique, when combined with the two, unexpectedly caused some kind of accident.
He still doesn't fully understand the changes.
"What Xiao Ding extracted is probably not as simple as it seems on the surface."
Chen Bai seemed to be deep in thought. "The Six Si Spirit Fire was extracted from the fragments of the Three Yang Flowing Fire Lamp. That magic weapon was only a low-grade first-order item."
The remnant soul of the Black Crow was extracted from fragments of the Six Crows Black Banner, which was also of pitifully low grade.
These two things shouldn't have any miraculous effects—yet, after being combined, they gave birth to a fire crow that truly possessed sentience.
The more he thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed.
"Either when the small cauldron was extracting, it highly concentrated the remaining essence from these two things."
Either the "Crimson Flame Spirit Guiding Technique" itself has some special feature, which is clearly unlikely.
Regardless of the truth, one thing is certain: the items extracted from the small cauldron may each have extraordinary effects far exceeding their surface quality; it all depends on how they are used.
"I'll go to the market another day."
Chen Bai made up his mind, "I'll buy a few real early-stage Nascent Soul demon beast corpses and have Xiao Ding try to recycle them."
Last time, I recovered fragments of magical artifacts and obtained a cluster of spiritual fire and a remnant soul, which I combined to form Xiao Liu.
If we can recover a few genuine demonic husks this time, we might even get something else in return.
As night deepened, the faint sound of the night watchman's clapper could be heard outside the courtyard wall. Chen Bai lay down on the bed and soon fell into a deep sleep.
Lingjian Sect, an unnamed hill.
Moonlight spills through the bamboo grove, and the sound of the waterfall is like the striking of jade chimes. Above the emerald pool, a few lotus leaves sway gently in the night breeze.
Inside the main hall of the cave, Yao Ye leaned back in his armchair, holding a cup of spiritual tea, listening to Xue Zhen's report.
"What did you say?"
He put down his teacup, his brows furrowed slightly, and looked at Xue Zhen, who was prostrate on the ground.
Xue Zhen looked extremely miserable.
The gray Taoist robe had a large hole torn in the chest, revealing haphazardly wrapped bandages underneath, with dark red bloodstains seeping through them.
His hair was disheveled, his sallow face was covered with streaks of black ash, and his lips were dry, cracked, and white, making him look as if he had just crawled out of a pile of corpses.
"Please calm down, young master!"
Xue Zhen pressed his forehead to the ground, his voice trembling, "It's not that I'm incompetent, it's just that a villain suddenly appeared on the way!"
He was a rogue cultivator of unknown origin, with a cultivation level at least at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm. Having somehow obtained information, he seized the opportunity while his subordinates were off guard and abducted the mother and daughter!
Yao Ye did not speak.
He stood up from the armchair, walked to Xue Zhen, bent down, and held up two fingers.
He picked up a piece of charred cloth from the hole in Xue Zhen's chest, looked at it closely, and then brought it close to his nose to sniff it.
Xue Zhen lay on the ground, barely daring to breathe.
"Mid-stage embryonic breathing?"
Yao Ye straightened up, a hint of amusement in his voice, "Tell me then, what kind of spell did this rogue cultivator at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm use?"
"Fire Crow!"
Xue Zhen quickly said, "A blue fire crow! It's incredibly fast and also very intelligent."
This is definitely not an ordinary fire magic spell!
"My subordinate was caught off guard and had his protective aura shattered by it."
He mustered his courage, raised his head, and swallowed hard. "I reckon that person has at least mastered one intermediate-level Daoist technique, and perhaps more than one."
If I hadn't revealed your name and that of the Yao family of Shangyu in that critical moment, I'm afraid... I'm afraid I wouldn't have made it back.
Yao Ye didn't speak, she just stared at him.
On Xue Zhen's disheveled face, one could clearly see even the subtle changes in his expression.
After a long while, Yao Ye finally spoke: "Azure Fire Crow, intermediate-level Daoist technique, mid-stage of embryonic breathing."
With each word he uttered, Xue Zhen's eyelids twitched. "When did such a person appear in this Xiaojianshan market area, which spans a hundred miles? How come I didn't know about him?"
"I don't know either."
Xue Zhen lowered his head. "That rogue cultivator is a complete stranger, but his methods are ruthless and cunning."
My subordinate wanted to memorize his appearance, but he deliberately turned his back to me the entire time, so I couldn't see his whole face.
Another long silence followed.
The sound of the waterfall outside the window was exceptionally clear in the still night.
"This matter was botched, and they should have been severely punished."
Yao Ye finally spoke, his tone returning to its previous indifference, "Considering you still know to mention my name, go and investigate."
Within three days, find out the background of this rogue cultivator. Once you have the information, don't alert him; report back to me first.
"yes!"
Xue Zhen felt as if he had been granted a pardon, and kowtowed twice, saying, "Your subordinate will definitely investigate to the end!"
"Get lost."
Yao Ye waved his hand and picked up his teacup again.
Xue Zhen backed out of the main hall.
Only when the white jade archway disappeared into the bamboo forest behind him did he dare to straighten up.
A mountain breeze blew by, and his back was soaked with cold sweat, clinging to his spine in a chilly way.
He leaned against a blue stone by the roadside and exhaled a long breath.
He lied to Yao Ye just now.
What do you mean by mid-stage embryonic breathing, what do you mean by intermediate-level Taoist techniques, what do you mean by not being able to see a face? It's all nonsense.
A rogue cultivator with a full dantian, at most with a fire crow that can spew spiritual flames, was somehow hyped up by him into a mysterious expert at the mid-stage of the embryonic breathing realm.
However, if he didn't exaggerate like that, he wouldn't be able to explain himself.
Are you suggesting that he tell Yao Ye that he, a dignified early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, was beaten into this state by a peasant who couldn't even afford rent three months ago?
"fine……"
He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, secretly relieved, "Luckily, the young master didn't ask any more questions."
"If he makes me demonstrate that person's magic in person, I'll be exposed immediately."
Despite the stroke of luck, this matter is far from over.
Yao Ye gave him three days to find out the identity of that rogue cultivator, which was essentially a cold case. He couldn't very well arrest Chen Bai to hand over the task; that would be tantamount to admitting to Yao Ye that he was a good-for-nothing.
But if they can't find anything, it will be difficult to explain to Yao Ye.
"It's all that kid surnamed Chen's fault!"
Xue Zhen gritted his teeth and slammed his fist into the bluestone, making his knuckles ache.
The scene of being humiliated by a mortal cultivator in the alley just now flashed before my eyes.
Xue Zhen had been in Xiaojianshan Market for over a decade; he had never suffered such humiliation.
Even worse, the abduction of the mother and daughter ruined Yao Ye's chances of advancing to the True Disciple level.
Although he might not ultimately be held entirely responsible for this, he knew Yao Ye's personality better than anyone.
He appears to be a gentleman, but in reality, he is extremely vindictive. When Senior Brother Wang asks about it, Yao Ye will definitely find someone to take the blame, and that person will most likely be Xue Zhen.
Can't sit still.
Xue Zhen sat on the bluestone for a while, seven or eight thoughts running through his mind.
He recalled Chen Bai's submissive demeanor three months ago, and the way the young man had stood in the alleyway, refusing to budge an inch, and his teeth itched with hatred.
We need to find a pretext.
He narrowed his eyes, a sinister look rising on his sallow face.