111: Chapter 109 Ye Zhen’s Intuition 111: Chapter 109 Ye Zhen’s Intuition “Hmm?”

As he looked at Xie Shao’s right hand, flashing with spirit light, Ye Zhen’s eyes sharpened, and his own right hand moved without hesitation to meet it.

However, the moment their hands touched, Protective Gang Qi had already densely covered Ye Zhen’s right hand.

“Kid, you dare to come at me?

Watch as I crush your bones!” Xie Shao’s right hand suddenly sped up!

Boom!

The two hands clashed fiercely, emitting an extremely grating sound, startling Che Tiejun, the patriarch of the Che Family.

Seeing that Ye Zhen and Xie Shao were now wrestling with a handshake turned into a struggle, he grew even more frustrated.

Why were things going so poorly with this request to clear the ore veins for his family?

First, Li Kuang died, and now disciples from the Lishui Sect and Qiyun Sect were squabbling.

It was so frustrating that Che Tiejun almost rolled his eyes.

Once they got to the ore veins, it didn’t matter to him how they dealt with each other, whether they got injured or crippled.

But to fight right at his doorstep?

What was going on?

As Che Tiejun brooded, the other six martial artists watched Ye Zhen and Xie Shao’s confrontation with great interest.

Of course, most of them wanted to see Ye Zhen make a fool of himself.

Especially Shadowless Hand Huang Qi.

“That hand, even if it doesn’t become useless, must be broken into several pieces, right?” Huang Qi speculated maliciously.

But, what happened next took everyone by surprise.

The sound of True Yuan clashing continued non-stop.

Xie Shao’s hand, mixed with spirit light, flickered wildly, but the Protective Gang Qi on Ye Zhen’s hand remained utterly unaffected.

By comparison, Xie Shao was gritting his teeth, fiercely channeling True Yuan.

While Ye Zhen, calm and collected, extended his right hand and watched Xie Shao, his gaze tinged with faint scorn.

“Dream on if you think you can take me down with a handshake!”

Ye Zhen’s Hundred Stacked True Qi was not cultivated in vain.

Over the course of more than a month on Fairy Peak, as Ye Zhen’s Divine Sense had more than doubled, the extremely difficult cultivation method of Hundred Stacked True Qi became as easy as channeling water into its designated path.

With but a slight stir of his immense Divine Sense, he could layer the Protective Gang Qi.

Now, Ye Zhen had already accumulated over seven layers of Protective Gang Qi and was diligently working on the eighth.

The defensive power of seven layers stacked had increased more than tenfold.

“What’s the matter, is that all the strength you’ve got?” Ye Zhen mocked mercilessly.

Swoosh!

Xie Shao’s face turned red!

As red as a monkey’s butt.

He had intended to intimidate Ye Zhen at the start but ended up embarrassing himself.

Now, everyone present knew what he was up to.

Even with a handshake, he, a martial artist in the early stages of the Spirit Summoning Realm, couldn’t overpower someone from the fourth stage of the True Essence Realm.

“Ah…”

Unable to step back, Xie Shao couldn’t help but growl lowly, frantically driving his True Yuan, intending to crush the Protective Gang Qi on Ye Zhen’s hand.

But no matter how hard he tried, Ye Zhen’s Hundred Stacked True Qi wouldn’t budge.

Ye Zhen’s seven compressed layers of Protective Gang Qi had far more than tenfold the defense.

Shihe’s Monster Yan Shan, Shadowless Hand Huang Qi, and Fast Sword Cao Bufan all looked serious upon seeing this.

Ye Zhen was no ordinary man.

Che Tiejun grew anxious; if this kept up, would they ever get to clear the Che Family mines?

“Gentlemen, isn’t this enough?”

“Young Hero Ye, you must have cultivated some special technique in your hand, right?

You must be renowned for your hand techniques, impressive!

I admire you, Che!”

“Young Hero Xie, don’t you agree that Young Hero Ye must have cultivated some special hand technique?”

In just a few words, Clan Leader Che Tiejun skillfully gave Xie Shao a way out, allowing the beet-red Xie Shao to finally step down with some decency, awkwardly releasing his grip.

“Oh…

you’re letting go?

Brother Xie, if you hadn’t let go, I’d have thought you had some special objectionable preference.

I have no interest in bunnies at all—too disgusting!”

While speaking, Ye Zhen took out a jar of clean water from his Storage Bracelet and began washing his hands, feigning disgust.

Xie Shao, whose face had just eased, turned scarlet to the base of his neck.

“You…

who are you calling bunny lord?

Say it again if you dare!”

“What, can’t own up to what you’ve done…”

Ye Zhen managed to infuriate Xie Shao to the point of fury.

If not for Che Tiejun’s intervention, a fight would have broken out.

Ye Zhen naturally held extreme disdain for disciples of the Lishui Sect, let alone a sly fellow like Xie Shao.

“Hmph, you’re lucky this time, with your special hand technique…”

Xie Shao once again paved a way out for himself.

“Special technique?” Ye Zhen chuckled internally without offering any explanation.

After several incidents, the team hired by the Che Family to clear the ore veins finally set out.

However, the team was not limited to the seven martial artists, including Ye Zhen, who were hired for the task.

The Che Family also had many experts accompanying them.

Che Family Patriarch Che Tiejun, his eldest son Che Yuan, two Spirit Summoning Realm elders of the Che Family, and nearly a hundred Che Family guards, whose cultivation ranged from the Blood Training Realm to the True Essence Realm.

This team of over a hundred people set off from Shihe City, directly entering the Yin Mountain Range via the well-trodden ore path.

The mountain path was treacherous, but thankfully, this ore path had been used for decades, and Demon Beasts were almost extinct, with Fierce Beasts also very rarely seen.

The first day went uneventfully, and the martial artists like Ye Zhen hardly needed to exert themselves.

After camping overnight at an abandoned mine pit, the team set off again the next day.

“Be careful, everyone.

From now on, we are entering the path to the Che Family’s Purple Copper Ore vein.

Since it’s a newly opened vein, Demon Beasts often prowl around.”

However, Che Tiejun’s warning was just that—a warning.

After all, they had traveled this path nearly a hundred times.

Even with the presence of Demon Beasts, the threat was not significant.

Putting aside encounters with enemies, Ye Zhen’s demeanor was quite easygoing.

He got along with those he took a fancy to.

Along the way, Ye Zhen chatted with Fast Sword Cao Bufan and Gao Xiong of the Founding Mountain Sect, particularly with Fast Sword Cao Bufan, who had been in the Jianghu for a long time.

This broadened Ye Zhen’s horizons significantly.

Martial artists without the backing of a powerful sect face far more difficulties in the Jianghu than one might imagine.

Despite appearing carefree, feasting on large bowls of wine and chunks of meat, they spend most of their days earning silver, living on the edge of the knife.

Take Fast Sword Cao Bufan, who is now over forty years old.

After nearly thirty years of struggling through life in the Jianghu, it was only five years ago that Cao Bufan’s cultivation broke through to the Spirit Summoning Realm, and his earnings from risking his life finally took a turn for the better.

For instance, this single deal with the Che Family offered a reward of thirty thousand taels of silver.

Thirty thousand taels is a lot, enough to afford a common person a life of luxury for a lifetime, but for someone in the Spirit Summoning Realm, it’s not even enough to buy half a page of a secret manual.

For martial artists in the Spirit Summoning Realm, using spirit crystals is the most effective during cultivation.

However, even the lowest grade low-grade spirit crystal costs a thousand taels of gold or ten thousand taels of silver, and that’s just the purchase price.

For loose cultivators like Cao Bufan to buy a few low-grade spirit crystals, they have to pay at least a thirty percent premium.

Thirty thousand taels of silver, that’s just two low-grade spirit crystals.

But low-grade spirit crystals are a luxury; Cao Bufan can hardly afford to use them.

What loose cultivators like him need most are cultivation technique manuals.

Other than acquiring them through killing and looting, they can participate in secretive auctions.

A common human-level top-quality cultivation technique manual can easily fetch more than three hundred thousand taels of silver at auction, and for some special powerful manuals, bidding can reach five or six hundred thousand without a problem.

These thirty thousand taels of silver are just a fraction of the price for a human-level top-quality secret manual.

All these experiences caused Ye Zhen to sigh deeply.

The life of a loose cultivator is indeed incredibly hard.

In the Qiyun Sect, a good human-level top-quality cultivation technique might only cost seven or eight thousand sect contribution points, which converted to silver, is merely seventy to eighty thousand.

Moreover, for the same task issued by the Che Family, the rewards differ vastly depending on one’s status.

Cao Bufan, the loose cultivator, only receives a reward of thirty thousand taels of silver.

After finishing the sect task, Ye Zhen received five thousand sect contribution points, equivalent to fifty thousand taels of silver, nearly twice the compensation.

“Alas, it’s tough for loose cultivators!

Look at me, the Red-clothed Venerable, and Shihe’s Monster; we all struggled bitterly for decades just to barely step into the Spirit Summoning Realm.

I thought things would change after entering the Spirit Summoning Realm, only to find out that the demands of cultivation are greater, and life is even harder!

Not like you sect disciples…”

Ye Zhen remained silent.

Indeed, in the Qiyun Sect, those old stewards in their forties and fifties with slow cultivation progress live a life much more comfortable than Fast Sword Cao Bufan and the others.

Moreover, as long as they work for the sect, there’s a continuous supply of pills, and their cultivation can always improve slowly but steadily.

For a moment, everyone became quiet.

Even the usually aloof Red-clothed Venerable appeared somewhat helpless.

Suddenly, Ye Zhen, who had been listening attentively on the way, suddenly changed his expression and shouted, “Stop, stop right there!”

“Young Hero Ye, what’s the matter?”

After the entire team stopped, Che Family Patriarch Che Tiejun hurried over.

“Clan Leader Che, I sense that the forest ahead is dangerous, possibly teeming with a large number of demon beasts.

Maybe we should change our route?” Ye Zhen suggested.

Che Tiejun was taken aback, “Young Hero Ye, are you kidding?

We have passed through this forest over a hundred times.

Sure, there are demon beasts that haunt this place, but they are just a few human-level middle-upper grade demon beasts.

With our team’s skills, isn’t capturing them a piece of cake!”

“Is that so?

However, Clan Leader Che, you’d better listen to me and take a detour.

This forest is too dangerous!” Ye Zhen’s expression was very solemn, without a trace of jest.

“Take a detour?” Che Tiejun’s face showed difficulty.

Yan Shan, the monster of Shihe City who walked at the very front, furrowed his brows and chastised Ye Zhen, “Kid, do you know how dangerous it is to change paths on your own in the mountains?

Moreover, how many times have you taken this path, and how many times have I?

I have escorted the Che Family mining team dozens of times, and it’s always been safe.

This is your first time, and you’re talking about danger?

Young man, it’s good to want to show off, but you absolutely must not talk nonsense!”

“Elder Yan, what I’m saying is true!”

“True?

We are all here; how can you tell that there’s a large number of demon beasts in this little forest?

Have you come here before, have you scouted the area?

How do you know?” Yan Shan questioned Ye Zhen.

“Intuition…”

This question was indeed difficult for Ye Zhen to answer; he certainly couldn’t reveal the secret that he could understand the language of beasts, the king of the forest.

“Ha ha ha ha….”

Xie Shao pointed at Ye Zhen and burst into laughter, “Intuition now!

Look, Ye Zhen, all of us in the Spirit Summoning Realm have spirit perception and haven’t felt anything, and you’re talking about intuition?

Can you tell me, what exactly is this intuition of yours?”

“Are all the disciples from Qiyun Sect like you, speaking without any restraint?”

“Hmph, a kid who hasn’t grown all his facial hair yet, talking to us about intuition?” The Red-clothed Venerable joined in the mockery of Ye Zhen!

“Ye Zhen, if you’re afraid to enter and afraid to die, just stay outside the forest.

After we have safely crossed, you, the coward, can catch up!

Don’t worry, we won’t despise you for being a coward.” Xie Shao was very happy to have an opportunity to ridicule Ye Zhen.

“Young Hero Ye, this route is genuinely safe.

We’ve passed through it many times.

How about you walk in the middle?” Che Tiejun was very considerate towards Ye Zhen, a disciple of the Qiyun Sect.

Even Fast Sword Cao Bufan, who was on good terms with Ye Zhen, started persuading him.

But no one believed what Ye Zhen had said!

“Since none of you believe it, then let’s go ahead…”

“Let’s go!”

As Che Family Patriarch Che Tiejun waved his hand, the team of over a hundred people arranged themselves into a formation stretching over thirty meters long, setting out towards the little forest.

“I have already warned you.

If something happens, don’t blame me…” Ye Zhen sighed quietly to himself.

The team, stretching over thirty meters long, soon entered the little forest completely.

Inside the forest, it was silent without any incident.

“Ye Zhen, open your eyes wide and see, where are the demon beasts, the large number of demon beasts?

Where are they?

Please, even if you want to show off, be more reasonable…”

Rustle…

rustle rustle….

As the sound of Xie Shao’s voice fell, a rain-like rustling noise suddenly arose.

Clan Leader Che Tiejun’s complexion changed drastically, and he shouted urgently: “Listen, what’s that sound?”(To be continued.

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