CHAPTER 215: CHAPTER 83: RONG YE VS. RONG YAN

Rong Yan also didn’t know what to do next; he was even more bewildered than He Wende.

Although the Trial Land had a notorious reputation, Rong Yan always thought it was just exaggerated tales by the Rong Family ancestors to promote themselves, but the reality was different.

He was quite arrogant and proud; in the Rong Family, and even in Rong City, he had always been like a favored son of heaven, never taking anyone seriously except for Rong Ye’s father back then.

After Rong Ye’s father passed away, he considered himself the most formidable, even if Rong Ye apprenticed with Wen Guiyun, he still didn’t think Rong Ye was noteworthy.

Because of this notion, before entering the Trial Land, he always thought he could easily come out of it, not even wanting the few helpers Rong Yuanqiao had found for him!

But he was slapped in the face upon entering.

They had better luck than Rong Ye’s group; they didn’t get teleported into an array but directly into this Primitive Forest, though dangers were still aplenty here.

The forest was naturally conducive to demon beasts’ survival; it had not seen humans for hundreds of years. The beasts couldn’t be eradicated simply by mutual slaughter, so demon beasts were abundant in this Primitive Forest.

They encountered a pack upon entering—a pride of Cloud Mane Lions, eighth-rank demon beasts. Individually, any of them could defeat one, but they faced a group of about twenty Cloud Mane Lions unprepared. One person was immediately injured, and they quickly realized the situation, battling for about half an hour to finally deal with the pride.

Moreover, they all sustained some wounds, which made Rong Yan very unhappy.

That wasn’t the end—blood scent was most taboo in the Primitive Forest. Due to their injuries, after leaving the Cloud Mane Lions’ territory, they were targeted by other demon beasts.

Over the two or three days since entering the Trial Land, they had been fighting with the demon beasts in the forest and even lost two people!

An hour ago, they entered the territory of a Black Iron Bull, then Rong Yan accidentally killed a Black Iron Bull calf and was targeted by them. If not for their improved evasion skills from escaping and hiding, when surrounded by that herd of Black Iron Bulls, they might have ended there!

"Let’s find a place to heal, then continue searching for the key to exit." Rong Yan knew he couldn’t panic in front of these two, so he forced himself to sound steady.

Even though they were in the same boat now, Rong Yan didn’t want these people to abandon him.

He Wende and another person, Li Xu, glanced at each other and could only nod. At this point, they regretted taking this job.

The three hid for a while longer, confirming the Black Iron Bulls wouldn’t return, then cautiously came out, found a spot, consumed their respective Elixirs, and began healing.

During this time, due to the frequent injuries, the healing Elixirs and Spiritual Power-restoring Elixirs each carried had considerably diminished, particularly Rong Yan, who, as the employer, had previously arranged that He Wende and others’ Elixirs needed in the Trial Land would be provided by him.

As such, Rong Yuanqiao had bought quite a lot of these Elixirs for Rong Yan before entering!

After about an hour, the wounds on their bodies had significantly improved under the Elixir’s effect, and they continued moving towards the depths of the dense forest, searching for the place where the exit key was located.

Rong Yan knew of the key’s existence because Rong Yuanqiao, as Family Head, knew some secrets never recorded on paper. Since entering, they had been trying to find a place fitting those conditions, but unfortunately, they hadn’t found one!

Over time, Rong Yan and his group’s ability to avoid demon beasts improved considerably; just like now, they’d carefully bypassed several demon beast-occupied spots.

After about half an hour of this, they arrived in front of a small waterfall.

The waterfall was about twenty meters high, with a pond in front. The water looked good—very clear. Having run around half the day, Rong Yan and his group immediately wanted to wash up and replenish some water upon seeing the pond.

While drinking the water, Rong Yan noticed a hollow spot behind the waterfall, seemingly a cave, and he suddenly had a flash of excitement.

"Look, there’s a cave there," he pointed at the cave’s location and said to Li Xu and He Wende.

Hearing this, He Wende and Li Xu immediately looked up at the place he pointed to. Upon seeing there indeed was a cave, they became a bit excited.

"Could this be the place where the key is?" He Wende walked up to Rong Yan excitedly and asked.

"It seems like it, but we’re not sure yet. Let’s go up and see." Rong Yan thought for a moment; this place was somewhat like what his father had told him, making him quite eager.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let’s hurry up and go." He Wende, eager to leave this place quickly, naturally felt anxious after hearing Rong Yan’s words and took the lead in flying towards the cave.

Rong Yan’s eyes flashed, and together with Li Xu, they followed behind He Wende, flying towards the area behind the waterfall.

Passing through the waterfall, they entered the cave.

The cave was quite large, about two meters wide, and pretty deep. Looking inside from the outside, it was pitch black, unclear what was within.

Fortunately, Rong Yan and his companions had items for illumination. Once taken out, the three carefully proceeded inside the cave.

They were quite surprised that this cave had no mechanisms or demon beasts, navigating smoothly to a place resembling a stone chamber.

Inside the stone chamber, it seemed as if humans had once inhabited it—there was a stone bed, a stone table, and stone benches. On the table sat a set of blue porcelain teapots. Additionally, there was a wooden cabinet nearby, though decayed over time, which exposed a black box within.

"What is this?" He Wende quickly reached the cabinet, opened the decayed door, and took out the box, cradling it in his hands.

"Why not open it and see?" Li Xu directly reached out, opening the box.

What they saw was a jade token carved with the character "exit."

"This should be the key, right?" He Wende curiously took out the token and asked Rong Yan.

Rong Yan examined it closely. Although he’d never seen the key, the placement of the token matched where his father previously mentioned, and the engraved word "exit" seemed unmistakable, so he nodded.

"Great, as long as we find the other two pieces, we can leave this place." Li Xu’s face was full of joy as he reached out to grab the token.

"What are you doing?" Seeing Li Xu reaching for the token, Rong Yan also extended his hand, asking as he did so.

However, before their hands even touched the token, the token in He Wende’s hand was taken away.

"Who is it?"

The three were startled and simultaneously turned their heads.

"Thank you for helping us find the token." Rong Ye looked at the token in Gu Qingqing’s hand and said to Rong Yan with a smile.

Seeing Rong Ye, Rong Yan immediately became furious.

"Rong Yan, how dare you snatch my token, give it back to me!" Saying so, he swung a palm directly towards Rong Ye.

Rong Ye sidestepped, avoiding Rong Yan’s palm wind.

"Hmph, now that it’s in my hand, how could I return it to you?" He snorted coldly, disdainful of Rong Yan’s demand to return it.

Rong Yan was infuriated by Rong Ye’s attitude. For so many years, he had been used to being superior to Rong Ye, how could he tolerate Rong Ye speaking to him like this? At this moment, he felt overwhelmingly furious and charged directly at Rong Ye.

Rong Ye had also long been displeased with Rong Yan. Previously, he had tolerated Rong Yan multiple times to investigate his parents’ matters, but now he was certain that Rong Yan’s parents were the ones who killed his parents, and Rong Yan might even know about it, so he naturally could not tolerate Rong Yan any longer.

"Geng Geng, take the key and find Senior Brother, leave this to me." His expression turned cold as he instructed Gu Qingqing, then turned to face the incoming Rong Yan.

Gu Qingqing nodded, turned, and walked away.

"Brother He, go get the key back." Although attacking Rong Ye, Rong Yan’s eyes were fixed on the key in Gu Qingqing’s hand. Seeing Gu Qingqing leave, he hurriedly said to He Wende beside him.

"Alright." Actually, without Rong Yan’s words, He Wende would have gone to snatch the key from Gu Qingqing. Now that Rong Yan said so, he immediately responded and intended to bypass Rong Ye and Rong Yan to chase after Gu Qingqing.

"Trying to leave, did you ask me?" Naturally, Rong Ye wouldn’t let He Wende leave, even though he wouldn’t be able to get the key outside.

He evaded Rong Yan’s attack and simultaneously sent a palm strike toward He Wende, blocking his path.

Feeling the strong palm wind from Rong Ye, He Wende didn’t dare to confront it head-on and immediately retreated to avoid Rong Ye’s attack.

The passage of the cave was only two meters wide, and with Rong Ye blocking the outside, He Wende and the others couldn’t get out. The three of them were very angry and anxious and immediately joined forces to attack Rong Ye alone.

If it were before his promotion, dealing with three ninth-level opponents simultaneously would have been challenging, but now it was effortless.

The Heavenly Awakening Record appeared above his head, and talismans flew out from it towards the three of Rong Yan.

As fellow talisman cultivators, Rong Yan’s talisman book was not even close to Rong Ye’s. Although both their talisman books were Immortal Artifacts, his couldn’t compare to Rong Ye’s, and this was Rong Yan’s first time seeing Rong Ye in action.

In the Rong Family, Rong Ye had always been enduring, especially since he spent most of his time in the Lingxi Sacred Land. Rong Yan’s understanding of Rong Ye was still stuck in childhood, completely unaware of Rong Ye’s current state, and now that they clashed, Rong Yan was stunned!

"Impossible! How could you be so strong?" Rong Yan looked incredulously at Rong Ye skillfully handling the three of them.

"What’s impossible?" Rong Ye looked at Rong Yan sarcastically. He was well aware of Rong Yan’s situation, "Do you think the Spirit Fox Saint Master accepted me as a disciple just because I’m more handsome than you?"

"Pft!"

Unable to accept Rong Ye’s prowess, Rong Yan spat out a mouthful of blood, repeating "impossible" while attacking Rong Ye, looking somewhat mentally unstable.

"You think only you in the Rong Family are the most formidable?" Rong Ye cast a scornful look at Rong Yan, showing utter disdain, "Not only do I have better talent than you, my luck is also better, and I look better too. All these years, I was just acting in front of you to find out who killed my parents, and you actually believed it! What a joke!"

Rong Ye’s expression was overly dramatic, and he held a strong disdain for Rong Yan. Even though Rong Yan hadn’t bullied him much in these years, Rong Yan’s high and mighty attitude every time he looked at him was already infuriating!

If not for the investigation, who knows how many times Rong Ye would have beaten up Rong Yan by now!

Rong Ye’s words were unbearable to Rong Yan, who was naturally not magnanimous and could not accept being surpassed by someone he looked down upon, and immediately spat out another mouthful of blood in rage.

"I want to kill you! Kill you!" His eyes were red, and black aura kept appearing in his eyes, his aura becoming unstable.

He was now showing signs of falling into a devilish way, surprising Rong Ye. Although he knew Rong Yan was arrogant and couldn’t stand others being stronger, he never thought Rong Yan would go mad from anger!

At this point, Rong Yan couldn’t care about anything else. He had only one thought: to kill Rong Ye.

This was the Trial Land. Even if Rong Ye died here, no one would say anything. Once he gets out, Rong Yan would still be the strongest among the younger Rong generation, and no one would know that Rong Ye was stronger than him.

With such a belief, Rong Yan’s aura unexpectedly intensified considerably, almost breaking through the ninth-level peak to reach the Half-step Immortal Rank!

"Heavenly Awakening·Ten Thousand Talismans Destroy!"

Rong Ye certainly wouldn’t give Rong Yan the chance. He shouted coldly, and numerous talismans flew from the Heavenly Awakening Record.

Their talismans collided in mid-air, a golden and black glow clashing, and Rong Yan’s face turned savage, veins bulging on his neck, frantically channeling his Spiritual Power, while Rong Ye remained calm. Though he was also increasing his input of Spiritual Power, he seemed much more composed than Rong Yan.

The clash between them already exceeded the level of a ninth-level confrontation. He Wende and Li Xu had to retreat, watching in awe at the place where the lights intersected.

Rong Yan merely had temporarily enhanced cultivation due to demonic deviation, which couldn’t compare to Rong Ye’s quasi-Step Immortal Rank. After holding on for half a moment, Rong Yan spat out a mouthful of blood, his momentum declining.

The golden light soon engulfed the black, then rushed towards Rong Yan with overwhelming force.

Rong Yan unwillingly watched the golden talismans head towards him. He finally regained clarity, but it was too late. His Spiritual Power had been fully depleted during their clash, leaving his body empty, and his meridians were injured, rendering him unable to move!

The golden talismans landed on Rong Yan, exploding into a golden light that enveloped his entire body.