Little Beast Huhu approached silently, transforming into a faint glimr of light and entering the Profound Celestial Tower unnoticed.
Hong Yu watched the increasingly fierce battle ahead with a calm, amused expression as his consciousness slipped into the Profound Celestial Tower.
"Huhu!"
The fluffy little beast was holding the simple, ancient ring and gnawing on it. But after chewing for a long ti, all it got was a sore tooth from the CRUNCH without leaving so much as a scratch. Annoyed, Huhu tossed the ancient Storage Ring high into the air, slamd it onto the ground, and then jumped on it with its furry body, stomping furiously.
As it bounced up and down, its black and white fur swayed with the movent.
It looked like a pillow stuffed with goose down.
"Huu..."
After stomping for ages with no effect, Huhu's cheeks puffed out in anger, its gem-like eyes glaring at the Storage Ring.
Seeing Huhu about to charge forward and abuse the Storage Ring again, Hong Yu quickly grabbed the little fellow. Looking at the furry beast struggling in his arms, Hong Yu tapped it on the head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "This thing isn't for eating. Why are you getting so worked up over it?"
"Huhu!"
The little beast's eyes widened in a pouty glare.
It was as if to say: 'If I can't eat it, then why did you have go get it?'
Hong Yu rubbed his nose. "Alright, alright. I'll let you go to the dicine garden and pick a Tier One Spirit dicine to eat. How about that?"
"Hu!"
The little guy vanished in a flash, hopping away with incredible speed!
"Hong Yu, you got it?" Little One flew over, holding his Smoking Pipe and standing on a ball of thick white mist.
Hong Yu nodded. "I got it." Then he gave a wry smile. "But this Storage Ring has a contract restriction. I can't open it."
Little One paused for a mont. "It's just a contract, right? Hand it over. I'll take care of it in a minute..."
While Little One was fiddling with the Storage Ring, the battle between Hong Renjie and Ding Yuanshan in Liger Ravine was escalating, reaching a fever pitch!
"True Yang Sword—Piercing Void!"
Hong Renjie's gaze was like a torch. His body moved like a Flood Dragon soaring through the sky as his longsword whistled through the air, stirring up a ferocious Sword Aura.
The Sword Aura was eighteen ters long and over three ters wide.
Wherever the Sword Aura passed, it was t with the Wind and the Crying of Cranes, striking fear into all who looked upon it!
Ding Yuanshan's robes whipped about, tattered and torn. He was covered in wounds, and fresh blood soaked his robes as he roared, "Hong Renjie, you fucking bastard, you've gone too far! You forced my hand..."
"Nine Yin Demon Prison!"
Surging Dark Energy gathered before him. Nine Energy Vortexes, ford entirely from the Power of Primordial Spirit, materialized out of thin air. They shot out from nine different directions, instantly surrounding Hong Renjie.
"Condense!"
Ding Yuanshan growled again.
The nine vortexes condensed and converged at once, attempting to completely annihilate Hong Renjie.
"Get lost!"
Hong Renjie roared in fury.
The Sword Aura in his hand erupted in a brilliant flash of light, like a true scorching sun appearing in the sky. Its blinding radiance resisted the nine vortexes of Dark Energy.
"BANG! BANG! BANG!"
A series of deafening roars, like claps of thunder, echoed through the air.
"Explode!"
With a ferocious expression, Hong Renjie let out a low roar, and the twenty-ter Sword Aura instantly exploded outward. The terrifying energy fluctuations surged forth like a vast ocean.
The Nine Yin Demon Prison and the Sword Aura detonated at the sa ti.
Hong Renjie and Ding Yuanshan bore the brunt of the impact from the energy vortex.
Both were sent flying backward.
They were both experts at the Half-step Heavenly Soul Realm, and their physical strength was considerable. They snapped trees and shattered rocks in their path, finally slamming into the mountainsides behind them. Boulders tumbled down as human-shaped craters appeared on the two peaks.
"You lunatic. You're a madman..."
Ding Yuanshan's eyes twitched violently as he spat out a mouthful of blood. That last exchange had broken three of his ribs and severely injured his internal organs.
Hong Renjie's face was pale, with a stark trail of blood at the corner of his mouth.
Carrying his Primordial Weapon Treasure Sword, he strode sideways, closing in on Ding Yuanshan. "Ding Yuanshan, hand over the Five-Colored Golden Lotus. Otherwise, I, Hong Renjie, will fight you to the death..."
"..."
Ding Yuanshan's eyelid twitched.
'Fight to the death?'
If he had heard those words before, he would have scoffed. But after that last battle, he was completely intimidated by Hong Renjie's ruthless thods. His heart pounded as he said in a low voice, "Hong Renjie, it's impossible for to give you the entire Five-Colored Golden Lotus. How about this: we each take half?"
"Get lost. I want it all!"
Hong Renjie said coldly, pointing his sword at him.
"Hong Renjie, don't push it. Do you really think I'm afraid of you?" Ding Yuanshan said.
"Either hand over the Five-Colored Golden Lotus, or we fight to the death. You can leave after you kill !" Hong Renjie remained just as cold.
The two were at a stalemate.
Hong Renjie impatiently flicked the hilt of his sword, preparing to fight again.
Seeing this, Ding Yuanshan's heart skipped a beat. He cursed inwardly, 'Damn it, why did I have to run into a powerful, reckless madman like him?'
With a bitter smile, Ding Yuanshan had no choice but to compromise. "Fine, you win." The Five-Colored Golden Lotus was precious, but not more important than his life.
Ding Yuanshan lowered his head, preparing to take the Five-Colored Golden Lotus from his Storage Ring.
But then, his expression changed.
"How is this possible? Where's my Storage Ring?"
Ding Yuanshan stared at his empty finger, a look of disbelief on his face.
Hong Renjie frowned. "Ding Yuanshan, what trick are you trying to pull now?"
Ding Yuanshan's face darkened as he said angrily, "My damn Storage Ring is gone, and the Five-Colored Golden Lotus is inside it!"
"Hm?"
Hong Renjie paused, then flew into a rage. "Do you take for a three-year-old? A Storage Ring is bound to you by a contract. As long as you focus, you can sense it from ten li away."
"Right, right, I can sense the contract, wait a second!" Ding Yuanshan wiped away a cold sweat.
But soon... "What? How is that possible? My contract was broken? No, impossible..."
Looking at the distraught Ding Yuanshan, Hong Renjie felt like he had been played for a fool, and played hard.
Rage burned in his chest. Trembling, he raised his sword and charged at Ding Yuanshan. "Do you think I'm an idiot? For an outsider to forcibly break your contract, they'd have to be an expert at the Late-stage Celestial Soul Realm. Where would you find a Celestial Soul Realm expert here? Ding Yuanshan, you've tricked again and again! I'll kill you!"
"No, no, no, I'm not lying to you! Dammit, you've gone too far! I'll fight you to the death..."
The two clashed once more.
...
「Inside the Profound Celestial Tower.」
Little One had a smug grin on his face. He tossed the Storage Ring, its contract now broken, to Hong Yu. "Here you go. The ring is ownerless now. You can just perform Blood Recognition to establish a new contract!"
"Alright!"
Claiming an ownerless Storage Ring was very simple.
Hong Yu could already sense everything inside the Storage Ring. The Five-Colored Golden Lotus was lying quietly within.
Besides that, there were also many Spirit dicines, Spirit Pills, Secret Manuals, gold, silver, and so on...
This must have been everything Ding Yuanshan owned.
"It's not convenient to take it out for now. Little One, I'll leave this with you for the ti being. Once I'm back at the Sect, I'll start trying to absorb and refine the Five-Colored Golden Lotus!" Hong Yu said.
Little One nodded.
Then, Hong Yu's consciousness returned to his body.
"Huh? Where are Hong Renjie and Ding Yuanshan?" Hong Yu asked, confused.
He couldn't find any trace of the two.
Tie Shou explained, "Ding Yuanshan tried to fool Hong Renjie by saying his Storage Ring was gone. Hong Renjie got furious, thinking Ding Yuanshan was taking him for an idiot. He swore to fight him to the death and is chasing him down now!"
"I see!"
Hong Yu nodded, his expression turning a little strange. 'Well, well, I can't believe I unintentionally screwed over Hong Renjie.'
His mood instantly brightened.
After a mont's hesitation, he looked at Tie Shou. "Senior Brother Tie Shou, since Hong Renjie is chasing Ding Yuanshan, I doubt they'll be able to settle things anyti soon given their strength. The Thief Gang has already collapsed, so should we head back first?"
"You have a point. Let's head back then!"
Tie Shou nodded.
In any case, their relationship with Hong Renjie wasn't good, so there was no need to waste ti waiting here. He organized his own group to withdraw from Liger Ravine.
They didn't rush on the way back, so it wasn't until seven days later that Hong Yu, Tie Shou, Ling Tian, and the others returned to the Cyan Nether Sword Sect.
Gazing from afar at the massive and magnificent Mountain Gate of the Sword Sect, the cliff carvings of the Sword Demon and the Cyan Nether Sword looked as sacred and mysterious as ever. Even though it wasn't their first ti seeing them, the sight was still breathtaking.
"We're finally back!"
"I made it back alive..."
Of the more than three thousand Sword Sect disciples who had set out full of vigor and high spirits, only over nineteen hundred now remained.
Almost half of them had been lost forever in Liger Ravine.
This filled the survivors with a sense of lancholy, that things would never be the sa.
A few new disciples whose closest friends were now separated from them by death couldn't help but cry, silently mourning their fallen comrades.
'I wonder how Liu Liyun and Gao Zijie are doing?' Hong Yu was also worried about his companions.
"Junior Brother Hong, I still need to report to the Sect about the Eight Desolates Mansion incident. If you need anything in the future, just co find in the Inner Sect!" Tie Shou said to Hong Yu with a cupped fist salute. "I'll take my leave first!"
"Senior Brother, please," Hong Yu said.
Tie Shou left with a few other Inner Sect Disciples.
Ling Tian ca over. After going through several life-and-death situations together, he had beco much more familiar with Hong Yu.
He was still not very sociable, but he was less stiff than before. "Hong Yu, I'm leaving too. I'll ask my master to intervene and help diate your relationship with Hong Renjie!"
"Thanks, but I'd rather handle this matter myself," Hong Yu said with a smile.
Ling Tian was taken aback, then said, "You're only at the Half-Step Earth Soul Realm. Even if you break through to the Earth Soul Realm, you'll still be no match for him!"
Hong Yu just smiled without saying anything.
Ling Tian sighed. "Alright then. But if you need my help, just say the word!"
"Okay!"
Hong Yu nodded with a smile.
After Ling Tian left, Hong Yu finally headed toward Cyan Cliff Peak.
He was worried about the safety of Liu Liyun and Gao Zijie. After all, Tie Shou had said they seed to have been taken away by people from the Heaven and Earth Alliance.
This filled Hong Yu with a vague sense of unease.
He hurried all the way to Cyan Cliff Peak, to Liu Liyun's residence.
Just as he arrived outside the door, he slled a strong scent of dicine and heard waves of sighing.
"I don't know how much longer Liu Liyun and Gao Zijie can hold on."
"Those two just don't know what's good for them. The Heaven and Earth Alliance told them to say it was their people who saved us. They should have just agreed. Insisting that it was Brother Hong who saved us... they were just asking for death..."
"You're full of shit! Brother Hong saved us, and this is how you talk about him?"
"Didn't you hear what the Heaven and Earth Alliance said? They're going to kill Brother Hong this ti. It's not even certain he'll make it back..."
As the few of them were talking, they suddenly noticed a figure appear outside the Stone Gate. They all turned their heads, and upon a closer look, they were all dumbfounded...
"Bro-Brother Hong?"
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