Immortal-Exterminating Divine Venerable

The sky was pitch-black as night fell.

An unknown amount of time passed.

Yang Xiao opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw upon opening them was a purple figure in the flickering firelight, followed by a sweet laugh. ”You’re finally awake, little Junior Brother. You’ve been unconscious for several days.”

’Little Junior Brother? Have I been reborn again?’

He stared at the purple-robed woman before him for a long while.

Yang Xiao couldn’t process what was happening.

Seeing the utter confusion on his face, Yang Ziling quickly realized. ”Oh, right, I haven’t asked for your name yet, have I?”

”My name? Aren’t you already calling me little Junior Brother?”

This only confused Yang Xiao more.

Yang Ziling, however, blushed slightly.

’Curse it,’ she chided herself internally. ’How could I have accidentally said what I was thinking out loud?’

’It would be bad if I annoyed him.’

’Still, this little guy looks so dazed and clueless. He shouldn’t be too hard to handle, right?’

”Um, actually, I found you not far from here. My name is Yang Ziling, the Eldest Senior Sister of the Pure Yang Sword Sect’s Inner Sect. And you are?”

Yang Ziling said to Yang Xiao after a moment of thought.

Her eyes seemed to shine with pride, especially when she mentioned being the Eldest Senior Sister of the Pure Yang Sword Sect’s Inner Sect.

’Pure Yang Sword Sect? Does that mean I’m already on the west side of the Celestial Cloud Mountain Range?’

Yang Xiao was shocked.

The Pure Yang Sword Sect was also one of the Upper Three Sects. In fact, among the Three Great Upper Sects, it was the most powerful—at least, that was how it appeared on the surface.

And while the Pure Yang Sword Sect’s territory wasn’t far from the Purple Sun Sect’s, the entire Celestial Cloud Mountain Range lay between them.

One was in the east, the other in the west.

As a result, the two sects had very little interaction.

This was because the deeper one ventured into the Celestial Cloud Mountain Range, the more terrifying the Barbaric Beasts became. There were even Fifth Tier Barbaric Beasts comparable to Martial Saint Level experts.

Rumor even had it that Tier Six Barbaric Beasts, whose power surpassed that of Martial Saints, existed there.

With such a natural barrier, the Purple Sun Sect and the Pure Yang Sword Sect naturally had little contact.

After all, getting around the Celestial Cloud Mountain Range was very difficult, requiring a long detour through the Celestial Flame Kingdom to the south.

Therefore, compared to the Pure Yang Sword Sect, which was closest in a straight line, the Purple Sun Sect was actually closer with another of the Three Great Upper Sects, Medicine King Valley.

But now, this woman was claiming to be a disciple of the Pure Yang Sword Sect.

Didn’t that mean he had flown all the way to the other side of the mountain range?

”That’s right, we are indeed on the west side of the Celestial Cloud Mountain Range. This area is considered the inner region. Your strength is decent, but it’s still a bit lacking. There are quite a few Tier Three Barbaric Beasts around here, you know.”

Yang Ziling said with a serious expression.

Being completely oblivious, she had entirely missed the main point of what Yang Xiao was saying.

”Oh, right, you still haven’t told me your name.”

Instead, she grew even more eager to know Yang Xiao’s identity.

”Yang Xiao!”

Yang Xiao didn’t hide it.

After all, no matter what, this purple-robed woman had saved him.

”Yang Xiao? Your surname is Yang, too? That’s wonderful! It seems we’re really fated to meet.”

Yang Ziling let out an exaggerated laugh.

This left Yang Xiao a bit speechless.

’We’re fated just because we have the same surname?’

’That’s a bit of a stretch.’

’And even if it were true, why are you laughing so dramatically?’

However, due to his mental exhaustion, he didn’t have the energy to argue with this woman. He was just too weak right now.

”You must be hungry, right? Here, have something to eat. This big fella was trying to eat you earlier.”

Seemingly oblivious to Yang Xiao’s silence, Yang Ziling skipped away for a moment, allowing him to see a large section of a python’s body roasting over the flickering flames nearby.

Yang Ziling used a small knife to cut off a piece of the python meat, then quickly ran back and handed it to Yang Xiao.

Although it was unseasoned, Yang Xiao, having been unconscious for several days, was indeed quite hungry. He accepted it subconsciously.

”Thank you!”

”Thank me for what? You’re going to become my...”

”Become your what?”

Seeing Yang Xiao’s confused expression, Yang Ziling let out an unladylike laugh. ”Nothing, nothing! By the way, how did you end up here in the Celestial Cloud Mountain Range?”

Yang Xiao immediately fell silent.

”A revenge killing? No? A broken heart? That’s not it either? Could it be... you’re running away from a marriage?”

Yang Ziling’s guesses grew more and more dramatic.

Yang Xiao was truly left speechless.

’Is there something wrong with this woman?’

But then he remembered that she had saved him, so he held his tongue, simply shaking his head and ignoring her.

And so, the night grew deeper.

Seeing that Yang Xiao didn’t want to talk, Yang Ziling finally seemed to realize that he wanted to rest.

She just kept watch by the fire.

She continued to chatter on, mostly about how wonderful her Pure Yang Sword Sect was.

Recalling how she had called him ”little Junior Brother” earlier...

Yang Xiao instantly understood what she was thinking.

But after a soft chuckle, he gave no response.

Eventually, perhaps because she found it boring or because she herself was tired, Yang Ziling closed her eyes and sat down cross-legged.

She actually started cultivating right in front of him.

This shocked Yang Xiao once again.

’Could a woman really be this naive?’

’Isn’t she afraid I might be a bad person?’

’That I might ambush her?’

’Or is she just that confident in her own abilities?’

After his surprise, Yang Xiao gave a bitter smile.

’It seems my Divine Soul must have been severely injured. Otherwise, my senses wouldn’t be this dull. I can’t even gauge Yang Ziling’s strength.’

’Looks like I need to recover as quickly as possible. If not, I’ll really end up a blind fool.’

With a thought, after a moment’s hesitation, he openly took out the Divine Communication Grass from his Storage Ring.

Looking at the small, purple grass...

Yang Xiao couldn’t help but think of the Earth Fire Qilin Beast.

’That creature was such a fool.’

’Divine Communication Grass normally needs to be processed before it can be absorbed and refined. The Earth Fire Qilin Beast soaked it in lava for probably at least several decades, infusing it with a fire attribute. This is the dumbest, but also the simplest, processing method.’

’If this Spirit Communication Grass were given back to the Earth Fire Qilin Beast, it would probably take at least another three to five years before it could be used. As for me, I can just barely use it directly.’

He examined its quality and the purple-red veins on its surface.

Yang Xiao decided to use it directly.

However, he didn’t put it in his mouth.

Instead, he placed the Divine Communication Grass on the spot between his eyebrows.

At the same time, he channeled his remaining Spiritual Power into the Divine Communication Grass.

This was the correct way to use Divine Communication Grass.

Because its greatest effect was strengthening the Divine Soul and allowing one’s Spiritual Level to rise rapidly.

To put it bluntly, possessing a stalk of Divine Communication Grass guaranteed that one’s Spiritual Level would one day step into the Divinity Communication Realm.

It was also effective for beasts. If the Earth Fire Qilin Beast had truly used this stalk of Divine Communication Grass and unleashed its full medicinal effect...

...it would have surely become a Great Demon in the future.

It might even have had the chance to become a Demon God.

However, to completely unleash its medicinal power, one needed to use it correctly, just as Yang Xiao was doing.

If it were directly ingested, although there would be some effect, at least eighty percent of the medicinal power would be wasted. Only twenty percent would be absorbed.

Only an ignorant fool would do that.

Yang Xiao was naturally no fool. On the contrary, when it came to Spirit Medicine, no one knew more than him.

This was precisely why he had been willing to give up the Earth Fire Qilin Beast’s Inner Core back then, but would never have given up the Divine Communication Grass.

After all, the difference between the two was simply too great.

And just as Yang Xiao was continuously using his Spiritual Power to refine the Divine Communication Grass...

...in the distance, a pair of sparkling eyes watched with great curiosity.