IS Chapter 20
by VolareThe Two Extremes Domain was originally created by Tai Hao and Tai Zi together, but with Li Yuan’s divine sense joining in, the deduction became much faster.
Ye Zhuo could sense that the moment the deduction ended, Li Yuan’s divine sense subtly withdrew from his sea of consciousness, without peeking at any other part except for the Two Extremes Domain.
Opening his eyes, the black dragon was nowhere to be seen.
“Here.” A voice came from above, and Ye Zhuo looked back.
Li Yuan was on the ridge of a pavilion, looking down at him.
“The moon looks good from here,” Li Yuan said.
The moon was the same every night; Ye Zhuo didn’t find anything special about it.
“Never mind, you wouldn’t understand,” Li Yuan said.
Someone like Ye Zhuo wouldn’t even bat an eye looking in a mirror; there was no point in talking to him.
He really didn’t know what else this person had in his mind besides cultivation.
Ye Zhuo: “Weren’t we supposed to discuss this at length?”
Li Yuan: “I’ve thought about it again, and it seems there’s nothing to discuss since things have come to this.”
How could innate talent improve for no reason? They were all cultivators; who didn’t understand?
Perhaps it was because their constitutions complemented each other, perhaps it was because their spiritual energies augmented each other, or perhaps it was simply because their cultivation methods could be complementary.
With a bit of embellishment, it was dual cultivation that could improve one’s foundation.
To put it bluntly, it was that they could be each other’s furnace.
Either way, it was the same thing, except that the former, when spoken in the human world, belonged to righteous cultivation, while the latter seemed to be a heretical path that would be condemned according to the rules of the Immortal Dao.
Having seen Li Yuan’s attitude of not caring about the consequences, Ye Zhuo remained expressionless.
Now that things had come to this, there really wasn’t anything to discuss.
How important was a good foundation for cultivation?
Someone who could cut an inch off the Sword Testing Stone during the Foundation Establishment stage could cut a foot off during the Golden Core stage.
And someone who could cut three inches off during the Foundation Establishment stage could cut ten feet off during the Golden Core stage.
A difference of a hair’s breadth would eventually lead to a difference of a thousand miles.
—It was said that if your fate was eight feet, it was hard to ask for ten.
But if you could ask for ten, who would want eight instead?
Ye Zhuo suddenly remembered the few days before Lou Ke arrived.
During that time, when he entered meditation, he often saw mirage-like illusions: the East Sea Shores were covered in dark clouds, thunder rumbled, and there seemed to be a dragon’s roar in between.
A cultivator’s qi and veins were connected to heaven and earth, and wouldn’t imagine things for no reason; it must be related to their own karma and fate.
What was he thinking at that time?
He was thinking that a storm was brewing, and it wouldn’t be a good omen.
Thinking of this, Ye Zhuo was thoughtful, and his fingers lightly caressed the Reverse Scale Sword in his hand. A life-bound sword was connected to its master’s heart, and with his movement, the Reverse Scale Sword, which was jet-black and as smooth as ice jade, let out a clear and loud hum, lingering for a long time, like a dragon’s roar in a dream.
This scene made Li Yuan feel uneasy.
That damned scale, although it wouldn’t respond even if he called it now, he couldn’t treat it as something external.
Li Yuan couldn’t help but sneer, “I forgot to ask you, what method did you use to break it and make it recognize you as its master?”
How could something from a true dragon be so easily used by humans?
He had prepared himself for his Reverse Scale to rather die than submit when he came to the human world ten years later.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he stepped into the human world, he sensed that its state was unusually calm and peaceful, and it wasn’t missing its master.
Then, he followed the sensation and saw it acting like a lackey, letting the sword cultivator drive it around!
Li Yuan only had endless contempt for this Reverse Scale.
But after observing coldly these days, it was truly unfortunate that it had fallen into the hands of someone as cold and ruthless as Ye Zhuo. Perhaps it had suffered inhuman torture and had no choice but to recognize him as its master.
“Recognize as master?” Ye Zhuo frowned, seemingly puzzled, after hearing his question, “Isn’t it enough to drip blood?”
Li Yuan just wanted to draw his sword and fight this person again!
But looking at his breathing, his cultivation was probably only two percent recovered now.
“Get up.” Li Yuan said in a bad tone, “Ye Zhuo, I’ll take you somewhere.”
Ye Zhuo: “?”
If he remembered correctly, Misty Green Peak was his territory, and Green Mountains was the Micro-Snow Palace’s domain. Where was this dragon going to take him?
—It was the back mountain of Misty Green Peak.
Then they circled around in an unfamiliar deep mountain and dense forest for at least three laps.
Ye Zhuo’s patience was running out.
Li Yuan said, “Found it.”
Saying that, he took him around another lap.
Ye Zhuo only felt that he shouldn’t have come in the first place.
The autumn night was cold, and Ye Zhuo’s expression gradually turned gloomy.
One couldn’t be too careful, especially since Li Yuan’s actions were erratic and couldn’t be predicted. In such a dark and windy night, who knew if this dragon wasn’t going to find a Feng Shui treasure land to kill him, abandon his corpse, and avenge himself?
Today, he had also revealed the matter of meridians and bones. If he didn’t kill him and abandon his corpse, refining him into a furnace was also possible.
Li Yuan was walking when he heard the footsteps behind him gradually stop. When he turned around, he saw that this person’s face was uncertain, and he seemed to be mobilizing his defenses with reason.
“What are you thinking?” Li Yuan said, “Your own back mountain, is there anything that can eat you?”
He also said, “Besides, you’re injured, and I’m not.”
Precisely because of this, he needed to be even more vigilant. Ye Zhuo didn’t respond to Li Yuan’s words.
Finally stopping, they stood in front of a green rock cave, with a large patch of hanging green vines in front of them, and fireflies scattered in between.
Li Yuan reached out. His attire was originally styled according to the dragon clan’s preferences, dressed as a noble young master. At this moment, parting the green vines was like parting a beaded curtain, gentle and courteous.
Even his voice seemed to be softer: “Look inside.”
Ye Zhuo looked inside.
Strange green stones formed a natural cave, and moonlight shone from above. The interior was a different world, with soft, green grass and several glowing exotic flowers and plants. What was even more eye-catching was a snow-white spirit deer standing in the grass, with azure blue eyes and an elegant figure. At this time, it was pacing slowly in the grass, occasionally looking down at a rolling clump of grass.
Looking closer, it wasn’t the grass that was rolling, but a snow-white fawn. It wasn’t even as big as a cat, and its four legs were so thin that they looked like they could be broken with one hand. It was arching and playing in the deep grass.
“Look at that fawn,” Li Yuan said, “It wasn’t even born the last time I was here. It should be a month old now.”
Saying that, he took Ye Zhuo into the cave, and the spirit deer looked over.
Li Yuan said, “Deer friend, long time no see.”
The spirit deer called out to Li Yuan in a friendly manner, then tilted its head slightly, sizing up Ye Zhuo.
Obviously, it had seen Li Yuan, but it didn’t recognize Ye Zhuo.
“This is its father,” Li Yuan said. “Its mother often goes out, and should be nearby now. Look at the fawn’s forehead, there are two streams of qi flowing around it; its parents have been pouring spiritual energy into it to protect it.”
Ye Zhuo: “So what are we here to do?”
“To see the fawn. It’s a month old.”
“?”
Coming to the back mountain in the middle of the night just because a deer was a month old?
Were they going to have a full moon celebration?
In Ye Zhuo’s inexplicably strange gaze, Li Yuan had already picked up the fawn and walked towards Ye Zhuo.
The fawn twitched its ears and sniffed Li Yuan, then looked curiously at Ye Zhuo opposite him.
“It’s very soft,” Li Yuan said.
Of course, something with fur was soft. Deer skin carpets were even softer.
—So what? What were they here to do?
Li Yuan held the fawn in front of Ye Zhuo. Ye Zhuo and the fawn stared at each other in silence.
Li Yuan: “Come on, hold it.”
“What are you trying to do?”
“Just hold it.”
Ye Zhuo was unusually resistant, and slowly took it.
It was very soft. Deer were best known for their slender elegance, but this fawn was very plump.
And warm. His fingers were pressed against the fawn’s chest, and he could feel a heart beating rapidly.
What was so good about holding something that could die if you pinched it?
Ye Zhuo only felt uncomfortable all over.
Obviously, the fawn he was holding also felt uncomfortable. Its deer head was already trying to get away from Ye Zhuo.
Then, it struggled.
A translucent, snow-white shadow suddenly floated out of it and quickly left Ye Zhuo in a fleeing manner, then disappeared like a bubble.
Very particular.
“Did you see that?” Li Yuan said, “The Deer family’s innate divine ability is avatar transformation. I think it’s better than that Martial Sect’s beast transformation method. You might find it useful.”
Ye Zhuo continued to stare silently at the fawn.
The fawn became even more vigilant.
Thus, a half-formed snow-white shadow involuntarily emerged from its body again and fled.
The innate divine abilities of spirit beasts were often uncontrollable in their youth, but for this reason, one could see the initial state of a divine ability.
—It was indeed much more natural than the Martial Saint Lou’s moves. Moreover, it consumed less energy.
Almost in the next moment, a third shadow emerged, and fled as well.
“Okay,” Ye Zhuo said, “I’ve learned it.”
Li Yuan: “You don’t seem to like holding it.”
Ye Zhuo: “I really don’t.”
“Then give it to me.” Li Yuan came over, and Ye Zhuo threw the fawn back into Li Yuan’s arms like a hot potato.
Looking at the slightly frowned expression on this person’s face, it was as if he wanted to forget that feeling immediately.
He was hopeless.
Li Yuan stroked the fawn a few times in comfort.
“Okay, I just wanted to see your divine ability. Come on, eat this.”
Putting the fawn down, Li Yuan took out a few crystal clear spirit fruits for it. The fawn wasn’t very afraid in the first place, and when it saw the fruits, it happily arched Li Yuan’s hand, ate one, and then ran and jumped, taking the spirit fruits one by one to its father.
Its father called out twice, and two solid deer shadows were conjured, walking around the fawn.
Li Yuan: “Look, it’s teaching the fawn how to use its divine ability.”
The divine ability was indeed good. How much the fawn could comprehend remained to be seen, but Ye Zhuo had already learned it.
While speaking, the two white deer, one large and one small, had slowly gone to the depths of the cave.
“These white deer have a very high cultivation, but they don’t like to transform into human form. The fawn’s bloodline is also very pure,” Li Yuan looked at their figures and suddenly said, “If you’re interested, you can invite them to be guardian spirit beasts. They’re about to advance. In a hundred years, you’ll have two Tribulation Passing Deer Kings guarding Misty Green Peak.”
After Li Yuan finished speaking, he turned back and met Ye Zhuo’s gaze, realizing that Ye Zhuo had been looking at him the whole time he was saying this.
That gaze was faint, like autumn wind and mist, and he couldn’t understand it.
“No intention,” Ye Zhuo said, “Let them be.”
Spirit beasts chose mountains to live in. They naturally stayed here because the spiritual energy of Green Mountains was abundant, and they would naturally scatter when the spiritual meridians were cut off one day.
The gatherings and dispersals of the human world were also like this.
The white deer disappeared into the night, and Ye Zhuo also turned and left the green rock cave.
Comprehending a divine ability wasn’t a complete loss.
If someone else had brought him to learn it, Ye Zhuo would have felt that the other person had ulterior motives, but Li Yuan brought him to see it, and the reason was probably only one: this black dragon really thought the divine ability was good and worth seeing.
“Thank you for your kindness.” Ye Zhuo turned to look at Li Yuan, “What’s next?”
He saw Li Yuan standing quietly in the forest under the moonlight, looking at him.
He vaguely remembered that not long ago that night, when he first saw Li Yuan’s face clearly in the cold pool, what he saw was also this kind of gaze.
Like the calm surface of the sea at night, without any waves. Ships passed over it safely, unaware of the abyss below.
“Next, you can go back to your residence,” Li Yuan said seriously.
“If you want to dual cultivate, then I’ll go back with you. If you don’t want to, I’ll go back to the cold pool myself.”
Ye Zhuo: “If I remember correctly, the cold pool is also my place.”
“Is that so?” Li Yuan said, “Then you can stay in the cold pool if you want.”
Ye Zhuo: “…No need.”