Chapter Forty-Six: The Fourfold Dharma

The three disciples of the Beast Taming Sect all wore expressions of terror on their faces. Among them, a short, dark-faced cultivator’s hands trembled slightly as he formed a spell seal. He whispered, “Erlong, you promised to keep us safe. Look at us now—do you think we can still get out of here alive? If anything happens to us, don’t expect to leave here in one piece either!”

Another cultivator, thin and with a sallow face, said, “Blackhand, is this the time to complain? The only way for us to break through is to work together. If you keep whining like this, we’re all doomed!”

The third cultivator, refined in appearance with a high nose and bright red lips, rolled his eyes and said, “Tang Lu is right. I paid a steep price to invite you here—surely you haven’t forgotten that! And now you want to retreat at the first sign of trouble?”

Blackhand snorted coldly, “This isn’t just trouble. We might lose our lives here!”

Erlong’s eyes flashed cold as ice. “I have a way to break through this crisis. I need your full support.”

“Then say it quickly—can’t you see how dire it is?”

“The fire is already at our eyebrows, and you’re still dragging your feet?”

Erlong took out a round disc engraved with a lifelike, majestic one-horned white tiger. With a spell, he tossed it into the air. The disc spun and transformed into a resplendent, ferocious tiger.

Erlong said quickly, “Pour your spiritual power into the artifact. Or do you want to die here?”

With their lives on the line, Blackhand and Tang Lu dared not hesitate. They each channeled their power into the disc.

Erlong changed his hand seal. The tiger grew to the size of three meters, its single horn sparking with lightning.

The two men felt their spiritual power surge out of them like a flood, pouring into the disc until not a drop remained.

But as their power faded, the tiger suddenly raised its head, opened its maw, and spat out two bolts of lightning directly at the pair.

“You bastard, how dare you!”

“You mongrel, you’ll die a miserable death!”

The lightning shattered them, bursting them into two clouds of blood mist, which the disc absorbed.

Erlong immediately cast another spell. The tiger’s body crackled with lightning, its aura swelling violently.

A sneer appeared on Erlong’s face. “You fools. Did you really think I was searching for treasure? You’re nothing but offerings to refine my artifact. Once I absorb your essence and souls, perhaps I can break through to the Foundation Establishment stage!”

The tiger’s aura in the air soared, breaking through Foundation Establishment and advancing straight to Core Formation.

The fire ravens, possessing keen instincts, were terrified at the sight of the Core Formation-level tiger and scattered in all directions.

Once the fire ravens had fled without a trace, the tiger suddenly deflated like a punctured ball and vanished.

The spell disc shrank to palm size and dropped from the air. Erlong, pale as death from the secret art he’d employed, his life force and power depleted, reached out to catch the disc.

Yet what landed in his hand was only a stone. Erlong froze, then flew into a rage. Someone had stolen his ancestral treasure without him even noticing.

Just as he was about to curse, a flying needle pierced his forehead, and he fell, unwilling to accept his fate.

The one who struck was none other than Ge Qian, who had been silently observing the unfolding events.

He and Yingxue were huddled together, hiding in a crevice. Ge Qian was facing the scene while Yingxue’s back was turned. Though Ge Qian dared not be too blatant, some physical contact was inevitable.

Yingxue pouted, secretly vowing that when this was over, she would make Ge Qian pay for taking such liberties.

Ge Qian, seeing the fire ravens disperse, executed a sleight of hand, swapping the spell disc for a stone. Then he sent out a flying needle to kill Erlong.

Suddenly, Ge Qian felt heat on his leg—bad news. Although Yingxue hadn’t seen Erlong die, she had noticed the fire ravens fleeing. With nothing left to hold her back, she cast a Fireball Spell, making Ge Qian suffer for his mischief.

He immediately activated his Cloud-Stepping Technique and blinked out of the crevice, leaving Yingxue behind, her face flushed with anger and a fireball in her hand.

In just a few movements, Ge Qian appeared beside the Beast Taming Sect disciples, quickly collected their three storage pouches, and flicked out three fireballs, reducing the corpses to ashes. The ground was littered with the corpses of many Winged Serpents—these beasts had signed life-and-death contracts with their masters, and died with them.

Yingxue glared at Ge Qian. “Junior Brother Ge, you’ve taken quite enough advantage of me. I won’t make things hard for you—just leave me a hand. Shall I do it myself, or will you?”

“Senior Sister, we were forced by circumstances. I had no choice but to offend you, and besides, I saved your life! We haven’t even found the herbs for pill refining yet—you need both hands for that. I promise to do my best in alchemy once we’re safe,” Ge Qian said hurriedly.

Yingxue could only sigh. He was right—what general is killed before the battle even begins? But she wasn’t about to let him keep all the spoils, either.

She extended a hand. “There are three storage pouches. Surely one of them is mine. I’m not a Core Formation expert who can kill and walk away without a care.”

Ge Qian immediately understood—Yingxue assumed a Core Formation cultivator had passed by and scared off the fire ravens. That was just as well.

Reluctantly, Ge Qian tossed her one of the pouches. “Senior Sister, you lead the way.”

Yet inside, he was secretly delighted. The most valuable spell disc was in his hands!

Yingxue tucked away her pouch and strode forward without a backward glance.