Chapter 190

　In a courtyard in Yunzhou City.

　　Feng Liyao led a group of experts from Kun Kingdom to stay here temporarily. After resting for a few days, they recovered from their injuries and their fatigue was gone, but they still did not receive any news from Qi Fei and Li Yuyao. The people sent out to inquire about the situation also reported that they had not found anything, as if they had suddenly disappeared from this world.

　　Feng Liyao sat cross-legged on the bed, her beautiful eyes slightly closed, feeling the rhythm of life.

　　Just then, the door creaked open, and Fang Huaxian quietly walked in, coming to stand before Feng Liyao. Feng Liyao opened her eyes and asked, “Any news?”

　　Fang Huaxian shook her head: “There is still no news of them, but I have sent out all my disciples. Once they have any information about their whereabouts, they will be notified immediately.”

　　After a pause, Fang Huaxian continued, “I’m really worried that Fei’er will fall victim to their cruelty…”

　　Feng Liyao shook her head: “No, I can sense Fei’er and Yuyao’s life force. Never mind, let’s go back to Kun Kingdom first. Tell them to go downstairs, we’ll set off first thing in the morning.”

　　Fang Huaxian nodded and left.

　　She had just left when Gu Yinzhang knocked on the door and entered shortly after.

　　Feng Liyao looked at the beauty before her and asked in confusion, “Yinzhang, is there something you need?”

　　Gu Yinzhang hesitated for a moment, then said, “There’s something… um, it’s about Sister Li and Sister Xiangxiang, they, they…”

　　Feng Liyao looked at her in confusion. Gu Yinzhang stammered for a while before saying, “Sister Li and Sister Xiangxiang… are pregnant.”

　　Feng Liyao was stunned upon hearing this, and after a long while she said, “I understand. You can go out now. We’ll go back to Kun Kingdom tomorrow and talk about it when we get back.”

　　Gu Yinzhang nodded, glanced at Feng Liyao, and then left.

　　”Why did it have to happen at this time…” Feng Liyao rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache. Her headache wasn’t just about Li Huiyu and Shen Xiangxiang’s pregnancy, but also about her own situation.

　　On that very day, during the great battle with Jiang Yuangong on Jinding Mountain, at a crucial moment, she suddenly realized that she was pregnant. Otherwise, she would not have been injured by Jiang Yuangong.

　　If that’s the case, the days ahead will probably be very difficult.

　　Once she enters her pregnancy, her strength will inevitably be greatly reduced. If the Great Xia Dynasty takes the opportunity to attack, then the Kun Kingdom will be in trouble.

　　Currently, she is the only Heavenly Realm expert in the Kun Kingdom. After she enters a weakened state, no one in the world can stop Jiang Yuangong.

　　For now, the only option is to cover this up and keep it a secret. Then, Kun Kingdom should avoid war and wait until it has recovered its strength after giving birth before considering other options.

　　After Feng Liyao led her people away from the border of the Great Xia Kingdom, a group of key figures in the Great Xia court discussed important matters in the palace hall.

　　Xia Yushu sat on the dragon throne, with Long Zhanye, Yao Ye, Wei Dongxiang, Wang Hongyu, Ye Jingyun, Bai Bufan, Yuan Fuyao, and others standing below. Armored soldiers stood guard outside the hall, displaying the majesty of the Great Xia Dynasty.

　　”Uncle-Master, even you don’t know where Master went?” Xia Yushu looked at Long Zhanye. Since the day they came down from the Golden Peak Mountain after the great battle, he had not seen Jiang Yuangong, and even the Four Elders of Qiankun had disappeared.

　　Long Zhanye said lazily, “Big brother is probably in seclusion. He was injured the other day. Don’t worry, since we’re determined to do something big this time, we won’t give up halfway.”

　　”Yes, yes.” Xia Yushu chuckled. He was indeed worried that Jiang Yuangong might suddenly leave without saying goodbye, which would mean he would lose his greatest strength against the Kun Kingdom. “In this battle at Golden Peak Mountain, we suffered heavy losses. Not only my master, Layman Haoyun, but also many experts from the Great Zen Temple were killed, and the Shaoyue Sect experts who came to our aid were also killed on the way. It’s truly hateful. Of course, the price was worth it. At least we eliminated our greatest threat, that brat Qi Fei… It’s just a pity about Consort Wanru and the Snow Mountain Nun, alas!”

　　”Qi Fei! He got off too easy!” Ye Jingyun gripped the Golden Crow Blade, gritting his teeth. Qi Fei had killed his father, Ye Taixuan, and he wanted to finish him off himself, but Xia Yushu didn’t give him that chance.

　　Long Zhanye said, “During this period, we should not take the initiative to attack, but focus on defense. By the way, I also need to go into seclusion for a while and try to break through to the Heavenly Realm as soon as possible.”

　　Xia Yushu hurriedly said, “Uncle-Master, if you go into seclusion, who will guard the palace? What if Feng Liyao comes to attack…”

　　Long Zhanye said, “Don’t worry, I will introduce you to someone. With him, not only can we protect this mere palace, but we can protect the entire world!”

　　”Oh?! Could he also be my martial uncle?” Xia Yushu was overjoyed upon hearing this. He knew that Long Zhanye must be referring to the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend Demon God, as only the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend Demon Art could possess such power.

　　Long Zhanye said calmly, “That’s right, and he ranks second only to my elder brother. Among the seventy-two Earthly Fiends, he ranks second.”

　　Upon hearing this, Xia Yushu immediately exclaimed, “Could it be Senior ‘Corpse Demon’?”

　　Long Zhanye smiled slightly: “Exactly!”

　　”That’s wonderful!” Xia Yushu was overjoyed. He had heard of the ‘Corpse Demon’s’ great reputation and knew his abilities.

　　Overjoyed, Xia Yushu then looked at Yuan Fuyao and Bai Bufan and said, “It would be best if the two seniors, the Demon Master and the Demon Wisdom, could also show up!”

　　Bai Bufan said, “Senior Demon Master and Senior Demon Wisdom are still handling important matters. They will naturally come to find us after they are finished.”

　　Yuan Fuyao also said, “Even without our seniors, we can still hold up our own world!”

　　”that is!”

　　The group exchanged glances and saw the intense passion in each other’s eyes.

　　…

　　Before losing consciousness, Qi Fei vaguely felt Wang Wanru holding him and leaping into the pool below the cliff. As a cold aura surged in, accompanied by a powerful suction, he fell towards the center of the whirlpool and then lost consciousness.

　　In a daze, Qi Fei saw golden light flashing before his eyes. The dazzling golden light was very blinding. Slowly, the scene before his eyes became clear. He saw a huge body lying in front of him, or rather, a huge corpse.

　　The corpse shimmered with a iridescent, multicolored light, and countless golden characters surrounded its body, seemingly alive and constantly leaping about.

　　Qi Fei looked closely and found that the golden characters resembled countless fluttering butterflies, surrounding the corpse and almost completely enveloping it. He could vaguely sense a certain rhythmic pattern in the golden characters. Although he didn’t recognize the characters, their meanings were clearly clear to him as soon as he saw them.

　　”To fight against the heavens is an endless source of joy…”

　　A golden character circled around the body of the corpse, like a golden dragon in motion. As Qi Fei looked at the character, he suddenly felt a life force begin to emerge. Just as he was about to continue reading, the golden character suddenly dispersed, revealing the head of the corpse.

　　Qi Fei looked at the head of the corpse, and was shocked to find that the corpse’s face looked exactly like his own!

　　”ah…………”

　　Qi Fei yelled and woke up abruptly!

　　”You’re awake?” A pleasant voice reached my ears.

　　Qi Fei opened his eyes and found himself in a cave. A woman with a familiar appearance was sitting next to him, and a faint fragrance wafted over him. There was a fire burning nearby, and a young girl was sitting on the other side, adding firewood to the fire.

　　Qi Fei took a deep breath and slowly circulated his internal energy. Soon, the powerful energy flowed throughout his body, and he immediately regained his mobility. He sat up, shook his head, and suddenly clutched his chest, spitting out a mouthful of blood before coughing violently.

　　”Don’t move, your injury hasn’t healed yet!” The pleasant voice rang out again.

　　Qi Fei looked closely and saw the beautiful faces of Wang Wanru and the Snow Mountain Nun. They were both stunning beauties, one dressed in a crescent-white monk’s robe and the other in a pale yellow gauze dress. The two of them supported him on either side.

　　Qi Fei then remembered that he had been stabbed by Wang Wanru, then stabbed by Yuan Fuyao, and then fell into the pool and was caught in the whirlpool. He never thought he would survive.

　　His upper body was naked, and the wounds on his waist and back had been bandaged.

　　The Snow Mountain Nun said, “Young Hero Qi, you are seriously injured. Fortunately, your constitution is extraordinary, and your recovery speed is extremely fast, otherwise you would have died long ago. You should rest and recuperate first.”

　　Qi Fei said, “Thank you, Divine Nun.”

　　The Snow Mountain Nun sighed, “I really didn’t expect that you would risk your life to save people under such circumstances. I misunderstood you before. You are a chivalrous person and deserve to be called a hero of our time. It is only right that I save you.”

　　Wang Wanru also cast a grateful and admiring glance at Qi Fei, seemingly having completely changed her opinion of him.

　　Qi Fei became smug and said, “Don’t worry, I’ve studied the ‘Compassionate Voyage Sutra.’ As long as I don’t die, I’ll recover quickly. By the way, where are we?”

　　The Snow Mountain Nun shook her head and said, “I don’t know either. We were swept into a whirlpool in the pool that day. Fortunately, I am a good swimmer and led you into an underground river. We drifted downstream for who knows how long before we arrived here.”

　　”Let me see…” With the help of the Snow Mountain Goddess and Wang Wanru, Qi Fei managed to stand up, walked out of the cave, and looked around at the surrounding environment.

　　What came into view was a valley, surrounded by sheer cliffs, thousands of feet high. It looked similar to the valley below the cliff of Liangjie Mountain where Qi Fei had fallen. Not only were there no people, but the vegetation was also extremely lush, so much so that even the sunlight couldn’t penetrate. It was also larger in area.

　　A stream of water gushed out from under one cliff and flowed into another cliff, clearly flowing from one underground river into another.

　　Qi Fei looked up at the towering cliff and exclaimed, “This… it seems it will be very difficult to get out.”

　　Wang Wanru said, “If you want to get out, you can either go out from the cliff above or go out along the underground river. Even someone with the best lightness skill would probably find it difficult to climb this sheer cliff unless they reach the Heavenly Realm. As for the underground river, it is almost impossible to go upstream from where you came from. If you go out through another underground river, who knows what dangers it holds or how long it is… Sigh.”

　　Qi Fei said, “It’s alright. Since we’re here, let’s make the best of it. I think the scenery here is quite nice. We can stay here for a while and recover from our injuries.”

　　As he was speaking, his stomach suddenly growled a few times.

　　Wang Wanru smiled, picked up a piece of roasted meat from the ground, and said, “Young Master Qi, you’ve been unconscious for three days and haven’t eaten anything. Hurry up and eat something to replenish your strength.”

　　”Thank you, wife.” Qi Fei took the roasted meat she handed him and started biting into it.

　　Wang Wanru blushed and said, “Why are you so annoying?”

　　”What’s wrong?” Qi Fei asked, looking bewildered. “By the way, what kind of meat is this? It tastes really good.”

　　Wang Wanru said, “This is a wild rabbit. There’s no shortage of wild game in this valley.”

　　Qi Fei exclaimed in amazement, “My God, it smells so good! Even though I, Qi Fei, was once the head chef of the Diancang School, I could never roast such delicious wild rabbit meat! Did you roast this, my wife?”

　　”It was…it was baked by my master. I’m ignoring you now.” Wang Wanru turned around.

　　Qi Fei immediately looked at the Snow Mountain Nun with an amazed expression and showered her with praise: “I never imagined that the Nun had such culinary skills. Although I, Qi the Great Hero, consider myself unparalleled in cooking, I can only rank third in front of the Nun. I am truly ashamed of myself…”

　　The Snow Mountain Nun blushed, smiled faintly, and didn’t know what to say.

　　Wang Wanru couldn’t help but ask, “My master is first, you’re third, then who’s second?”

　　Qi Fei said, “It’s you, my wife!”

　　”You…you’re so annoying!” Wang Wanru said, but her eyes were full of smiles, and her heart was sweet as honey, and she was very happy.

　　Snow Mountain Nun glanced at Qi Fei and thought to herself, “Although this kid is glib, he has a good heart, and… well, it’s rare that he can maintain such an optimistic attitude even in this environment.”

　　After arriving here, Snow Mountain Nun and Wang Wanru were depressed for three consecutive days. Unexpectedly, as soon as Qi Fei woke up, he immediately brought laughter and joy. She really couldn’t feel any aversion to this young man. On the contrary, she liked him more and more as she looked at him.

　　Qi Fei finished the roasted meat with his glib tongue, and his strength was restored considerably. Suddenly remembering his Panlong Sword, he hurriedly looked around for it.

　　At this moment, the Snow Mountain Nun laughed and said, “Is this what you’re looking for?”

　　Qi Fei looked over and saw her take out a long sword from behind her back—it was the Panlong Sword, which he never parted with. He quickly replied, “That’s right!”

　　The Snow Mountain Nun said, “It’s a fine sword. No wonder you were able to fight against many opponents with it.” As she spoke, she handed over the sword.

　　Qi Fei took the Panlong Sword, stroked the hilt and scabbard, and said, “This is my treasure!”

　　Just then, a huge roar suddenly rang out from the valley. The strange sound was so loud that the sound waves rippled in the air, causing the grass and trees to tremble and the cliffs to shake. Countless birds and beasts around were frightened and fled for their lives!

　　Upon hearing this, both Snow Mountain Nun and Wang Wanru’s expressions changed simultaneously, and they both said, “Quickly hide!” The two of them pulled Qi Fei and hid in the bushes to the side.

　　Qi Fei and the two men lay down in the grass, held their breath, and curiously peered outside.

　　A series of loud thuds followed, and after a violent earthquake, a colossal creature appeared before Qi Fei’s eyes. Upon seeing this enormous beast, Qi Fei was completely stunned.

　　This is a strange tiger with blood-red fur. It looks to be eighteen feet tall and several feet long, almost bigger than an ordinary elephant. One of its forelimbs is thicker than a water bucket. Its claws are extremely sharp. Every step it takes leaves a dent in the ground. Its tail flicks gently, revealing unimaginable strength hidden beneath.

　　Looking at the tiger’s head again, its eyes were bigger than lanterns, flashing with blood-red light, revealing a cruel and bloodthirsty ferocity. Its red whiskers were thick and long, clearly sharper than needles. Most strangely, it had a horn-like feature on its forehead. Its size, fur, and horn all told the group that this was no ordinary tiger.

　　Amidst the earth-shaking tremors, beasts fled frantically through the valley. The tiger accelerated slightly, its massive body becoming a blurry afterimage. It quickly caught up with a bison and trampled it underfoot, crushing the bison’s flesh and blood. Then, the tiger opened its blood-red maw and swallowed the robust bison whole.

　　”roar–“

　　After swallowing the bison, the tiger raised its head and roared, then turned around and, amidst a tremor, gradually disappeared into the distance, soon vanishing into a corner of the valley.

　　”What…what is this?” After a long while, Qi Fei finally asked this question.

　　“Throat…” Snow Mountain Nun got up from the grass and sighed.

　　Wang Wanru helped Qi Fei out of the bushes, and the three of them returned to the campfire in the cave and sat down.

　　The Snow Mountain Nun said, “When we first arrived here, we saw this Blood Tiger hunting. Fortunately, this cave is narrow and the Blood Tiger is too big. We hid inside the cave, and it couldn’t get in. Otherwise, we would have been in its jaws long ago.”

　　Wang Wanru added, “This blood tiger usually sleeps under the stone wall over there. It comes out to hunt every noon, once a day, and goes back after it has eaten its fill.”

　　”Blood Tiger?” Qi Fei asked in confusion.

　　The Snow Mountain Nun said, “There is a legend in Dachan Temple that hundreds of years ago, there was a blood tiger on Golden Peak Mountain. It was a descendant of an ancient beast and was ferocious and cruel. It ate many monks and woodcutters. Later, the masters of various sects in the martial arts world joined forces to drive away the blood tiger. I didn’t expect the legend to be true. I didn’t expect that the blood tiger was not only still alive, but also living in this valley.”

　　Qi Fei said, “I see. Then aren’t we in trouble?”

　　The Snow Mountain Nun said, “As long as we don’t provoke it, we should be fine.”

　　Qi Fei looked around the stone cave. The entrance was indeed small, many times smaller than the size of the Blood Tiger, and could only accommodate one person at a time.

　　However, the space inside is quite spacious. Going further in, it is several meters deep. At the very back, there is a large stone slab covered with thick thatch, which can be used to rest. Outside, there is a fire pit for roasting meat and keeping warm, and there are several stones next to it that can be used as benches.

　　The three of them could make do with living here for a while without any problems. They could rest when they were tired, fetch water from a nearby stream when they were thirsty, and hunt some wild game when they were hungry.

　　Qi Fei sat cross-legged on the stone slab and began to circulate the mental techniques from the “Compassionate Voyage Scripture.” His internal energy was immediately mobilized to repair the injured parts of his body.

　　The “Compassionate Voyage Sutra” truly lives up to its reputation as a top-tier healing technique in this world. It can heal injuries without the use of any medicine. When I opened my eyes without using any medicine, the injured area had already healed considerably, and the wounds had mostly healed. I believe that with a few more days of recuperation, I will be fully recovered.