Chapter 156: This Comfort is a Bit Hurtful

Seeing the sudden burst of metallic energy, Ye Jiuyao’s eyes flashed with a sharp light as his body leaned sideways and dodged past.

Before Ye Jiuyao could fully process what had happened, another piercing sound rang out.

"You're cheating!"

Ye Jiuyao let out an angry roar, then took a step forward to evade the attack, but he was a fraction too slow.

"Bang!"

Taking the blow squarely on his back, Ye Jiuyao was sent crashing to the ground, though the impact did knock him clear of the Yuan beast's range.

"Why are every single one of these Yuan beasts inside here like mutated freaks? Their strength is just beyond words."

Looking at the frenzied Yuan beast, Ye Jiuyao clicked his tongue and praised it in spite of himself.

"Young master, the Mountains and Rivers Token can suppress it, and the rune I gave you earlier is meant precisely for suppressing it as well."

Just as Ye Jiuyao was sighing with emotion, the figure of Cang Sangsang appeared before him and spoke.

"With a cheating method like this, you're only telling me now? You must be trying to get your young master killed."

Ye Jiuyao was utterly speechless. Why tell him only now? That blow he took just moments ago had completely been for nothing.

"Young master, you were the one who didn't let me speak earlier, and then we arrived right here. The moment I caught up, you were already acting like this..."

Cang Sangsang wore a pitiful, wronged expression. Sighing and realizing he had blamed her wrongfully, Ye Jiuyao offered an apology.

"My fault."

Ye Jiuyao said apologetically.

With that, he stepped back into the fray.

"You bastard, come over here! Let's see if Grandpa doesn't beat you to death!"

The moment Ye Jiuyao stepped forward, the aura within his body surged wildly. The rune power bestowed upon him by Cang Sangsang began to spin at a rapid pace, gathering terrifying might from all directions and directly enveloping the beast.

Everything started moving in a favorable direction, yet the Yuan beast showed not the slightest trace of fear as it watched Ye Jiuyao closing in step by step.

Instead, it slammed its foot heavily onto the ground and let out a furious roar at him. The soundwaves swept across the surroundings, seemingly determined to resist Ye Jiuyao's terrifying might.

"Sword-Drawing Art!"

A terrifying surge of power gathered in an instant. The vital energy materialized into something akin to a sharp blade, slashing horizontally toward the Yuan beast in the blink of an eye.

Its speed was as swift as lightning, with only a flash of light visible.

The energy swirling around his body poured entirely into the vital energy longsword, instantly erupting with power of the most terrifying magnitude.

"You... hand over some treasures when you drop!"

Ye Jiuyao roared at the Yuan beast.

"Clang!"

The sound of metal clashing rang out, yet the impact was not as terrifying as one might expect; the giant metallic sword condensed from vital energy unexpectedly produced a dreadful wave of force.

And even more terrifying than that was Ye Jiuyao's [Sword-Drawing Art], which in a split second concentrated all his bodily strength to its absolute limit before unleashing it.

That momentary burst of power tore right through the Yuan beast's body.

The immense force brought the massive Yuan beast crashing down. Its normally impenetrable hide and flesh offered not the slightest bit of resistance under this single sword strike.

At this, Ye Jiuyao smiled.

"I told you, how could you ever hope to beat me? Though I really do have Sangsang to thank for this, otherwise I truly wouldn't have known how to use it."

Looking at Cang Sangsang with eyes full of gratitude, Ye Jiuyao waited expectantly for the treasures the Yuan beast was about to drop, a wide smile on his face.

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

"Explode!"

Ye Jiuyao counted down on his fingers one by one. On the final word, the Yuan beast shattered into stardust, instantly spilling forth a multitude of treasures.

Gazing at the dropped items, Ye Jiuyao's eyes shone brightly, making him feel as though he were floating on air.

Walking over to the pile of treasures, Ye Jiuyao beamed broadly at the items scattered across the ground and picked up the very first one.

"Sage Pill."

Following that, the second item: "Two Mountains and Rivers Swords."

The third item: "Several passages of ancient texts."

Picking up the treasures one by one while muttering under his breath, Ye Jiuyao felt completely lightheaded with joy.

"There aren't many things, but they should be quite good. After all, rarity makes things valuable."

Though feeling slightly disappointed by the meager quantity, Ye Jiuyao forced himself to believe that these items were exceptional.

"Young master, what did you pick up?"

"Here, just these things."

Ye Jiuyao produced the items. Cang Sangsang showed no reaction whatsoever to the first two, but the moment her gaze fell upon the third, her eyes lit up.

"Ancient text scrolls?!"

Cang Sangsang exclaimed in surprise.

Hearing and seeing this, a sudden look of curiosity appeared in Ye Jiuyao's eyes, as if he had just discovered something wonderful.

"Sangsang, what are these things?"

"These are ancient characters. They don't belong to this realm, but rather to another place—specifically, the worlds of cultivation."

"Over there, these characters are used as symbols, and cultivation scripts are written in them as well. Only by mastering these characters can one access cultivation techniques and Yuan skills..."

Hearing this, Ye Jiuyao burst out laughing.

If Cang Sangsang's words were true, then these ancient text scrolls might just be the key that unlocked the world of cultivation for him. After all, such items were certainly not easy to come by.

Thus, Ye Jiuyao's smile grew even more joyous.

"Sangsang, tell me quickly, how do you study these characters? Is it difficult to learn? Do you have any memories of them?"

"Let me see."

With a flick of Cang Sangsang's delicate hand, the scrolls of ancient texts landed in her palm.

"These aren't too difficult; you should be able to learn them rather quickly. This scroll contains texts concerning the 'Eating and Sleeping Technique'. Once you've learned them all, perhaps you'll be able to uncover some secrets regarding the Eating and Sleeping Technique..."

Cang Sangsang looked at Ye Jiuyao and said seriously.

"Really?!"

Ye Jiuyao was truly overjoyed at this moment. This was genuinely a case of finding something without even looking for it; through a twist of fate, he had actually obtained a scroll pertaining to the [Eating and Sleeping Technique].

"Then hurry up and teach me, I want to take a look."

"Memorize this character."

With a gentle tap of her slender finger against his forehead, a string of esoteric and obscure characters imprinted themselves into his mind.

"???"

Rows of question marks materialized in Ye Jiuyao's mind. How could there be something so incomprehensibly difficult in this world?

He had originally assumed that, relying on his peerless talent, it would take him at most a day or two to master it, but he had never expected it to be this hard.

It seemed he wouldn't be able to learn it without three to five months of effort, and even once learned, writing it well would be a challenge. It looked like he was going to have to hunker down and put in some serious, bitter practice.

With that, Ye Jiuyao quieted his mind.

He tried desperately to memorize the character, yet it persistently slipped from his grasp, driving him slightly mad. These ancient characters were simply too difficult!

"Young master, it's okay if you can't learn it. Even though your talent is lacking, I can feel that you are the most diligent one, so don't be discouraged."

Ye Jiuyao: "..."

This kind of consolation was far worse than no consolation at all. Why did it sound so heartbreaking?

"Fine, I'll go back and contemplate it properly."

With that, Ye Jiuyao stepped out of the grotto-heaven, departed from the Canglang Scroll, and returned to reality.

The character still hovered vaguely in Ye Jiuyao's mind, stubbornly refusing to be firmly committed to memory no matter what he did.

At that moment, the sound of a door opening pulled him completely back to his senses.