Chapter 6: Touching

  A blood-red lingzhi mushroom appeared before Ye Chen's eyes, about the size of a fist, emitting waves of fragrance. In this instant, Ye Chen felt an indescribable aftertaste in his heart. For over twenty years, no one had treated him like Nann'er did - she was just a little servant girl, yet she always thought of him at every moment, and could do so to such an extent that Ye Chen was deeply moved.

  "I don't need any of that crap!" Ye Chen shouted angrily: "If you ever sneak into the back mountain again to pick up whatever crap, you'll leave the Ye family and not stay by my side!"

  Nan'er was stunned, still holding the "blood zither" in her hand and maintaining the posture of handing it to Ye Chen. The smile on her face froze there, and tears of grievance rolled down her cheeks one by one. She lowered her head and looked at her small shoes covered with mud, not speaking for a long time.

  After a long time, Nang'er wiped away her tears and smiled on her face, saying softly: "Young master, Nang'er will go back to make soup for you, wait for you to come back and drink."

  Ye Chen's heart skipped a beat as Nang'er disappeared into the distance, her small figure and frailty piercing his heart with pain.

  He knew Nang'er was very wronged, but Ye Chen had to do this. Going deep into the mountains was too dangerous. Even with his strength, he didn't dare to venture in easily. This mountain range was thousands of miles wide, and it was unknown how many wild beasts were hidden within, including those 7th or 8th level wild beasts, or even 9th level ones. That would be equivalent to a power above the 7th segment. If anything happened to Nang'er, Ye Chen didn't dare to imagine.

  "Deep in the back mountain..." Ye Chen muttered to himself, his eyes lighting up, "The fact that low-grade supreme spiritual medicine can grow deep in the back mountain means that the spiritual energy there must be many times thicker than here. I might consider going there to cultivate, and with that, my speed will definitely increase several fold."

  It was still early in the day, just past noon. Ye Chen left a note on the ground that read: "Don't look for me, I'll be back by nightfall." Then he headed straight into the depths of the rear mountain.

  They had been moving forward for over a hundred miles, and it was undeniable that the spiritual energy here was much denser. The deeper they went, the denser it became. The mark on Ye Chen's chest had been in a dry state due to the lack of spiritual energy during this period. Now that he had arrived at this place with relatively dense spiritual energy, it was like a black hole frantically absorbing the spiritual energy between heaven and earth. Countless green dots appeared in the air, all gathering towards Ye Chen's chest.

  Ye Chen deliberately avoided some places filled with the aura of wild beasts, and found a relatively safe place to stop, no longer venturing deeper. This place was already two or three hundred miles away from his cultivation grounds, and if he went any further, he would truly enter the depths of this mountain range, where it was difficult to predict what kind of dangers he would encounter.

  The most important thing is that the spiritual energy here is relatively dense, and the mysterious mark on the chest should be able to absorb it to a saturated state.

  After a month, Ye Chen had gained a deeper understanding of the mark on his chest. The mysterious seal could automatically absorb and store spiritual energy, and as his own cultivation grew, its ability to absorb and store spiritual energy would also increase.

  Now, if he could store the spiritual energy in the mysterious seal to a saturated state, Ye Chen estimated that he should be able to break through to the realm of flesh and blood five segments of bone refinement. At that time, his skeleton would become even more tenacious, and he would once again complete the transformation of his flesh.

  Two hours later, the mark on Ye Chen's chest began to shine brightly, a manifestation of his absorption of spiritual energy reaching saturation. The spiritual energy within a radius of ten miles was almost depleted, and at this time, the sky was no longer early, the sun had already set in the west, Ye Chen stood up and walked back.

  Just then, Ye Chen felt a sense of foreboding, and a strong gust of wind came, in the blink of an eye it was behind his head, carrying a thick bloody smell. Ye Chen rolled on the ground to avoid it, turned around and saw that three meters away, a green wolf was staring at him ferociously, its eyes flashing with bloodthirsty light, its sharp fangs gleaming with a cold light.

  This azure wolf was robust in build, like a fierce tiger, and weighed probably around 300-400 pounds, nearly one meter high. At this moment, its azure fur stood on end, its hind legs bent, and it let out a loud howl as it charged over again.

  Ye Chen was slightly startled, having never seen a wolf of such physique before. He shifted his body to the side, barely avoiding the green wolf's sharp claws and jaws, and swiftly struck out with lightning speed. With a loud slapping sound, he slapped the green wolf on its waist and back.

  "Ahh!"

  The green wolf let out a pained howl, its body falling from mid-air and rolling several meters away, the skin on its back splitting open.

  Ye Chen's hand felt a slight pain, and he was shocked in his heart. This green wolf should be a fifth-level wild beast, equivalent to a five-stage Bone Refining cultivator. Otherwise, with just one slap, it wouldn't have been just the skin splitting open, but the entire wolf's waist would have broken.

  "Ahh!"

  The green wolf let out a fierce howl, sprang up and pounced on Ye Chen, its eyes filled with ferocity. Like an arrow off the string, it lunged at him, ready to tear him into shreds. Its sharp claws sliced through the air with a whooshing sound.

  "Bastard!"

  Ye Chen's eyes turned cold, he sprang into the air, his right leg swung in a circle, the airflow surged, emitting a faint humming sound, and fiercely chopped down.

  Bang!

  A blue wolf let out a mournful howl, flying diagonally out, and crashed into the trunk of a large tree with a loud thud. Blood splattered everywhere as the massive wolf body rolled down along the tree trunk, its bones broken and tendons torn. The ferocity it had shown earlier was gone, and the waist that Ye Chen had struck was almost severed, its skeleton shattered to pieces. Large amounts of blood gushed out from its mouth and nose, and it seemed unlikely to survive.

  This was Ye Chen's first real life-and-death battle since arriving on the Longevity Continent, but his opponent wasn't a human, rather a wolf, a fifth-level or higher wild beast, which gave Ye Chen an approximate understanding of his own strength.

  His physical strength and power far surpass those of a four-stage cultivator, and even a five-stage bone-refining cultivator is no match for him. Even Ye Chen, who has reached the sixth stage of marrow refining, has confidence in his ability to fight him. Moreover, he also has a set of fierce and powerful King Fist techniques. Most importantly, when he was on Earth, he had learned killing moves that could take lives with just one strike.

  The green wolf completely lost its breath, Ye Chen didn't want to stay any longer. This place was close to the depths of the mountain range, and staying for a moment longer would add another layer of danger. If they encountered a seventh-level wild beast, it wouldn't be easy to leave unscathed.

  Ye Chen turned around and left, his footsteps were astonishing, each step was almost two meters long, like a cheetah darting through the forest. He returned to his training place when the sun gradually faded below the horizon.

  It's not dark yet, and Nang'er obviously hasn't come to find him. Besides, this girl might still be sulking. Ye Chen practiced a few sets of the Overlord Fist Seal, stretching his limbs and feeling refreshed, with a hint of the Overlord's roar in the air as he moved his arms, although he still couldn't condense the fist seal into a solid form.

  "Boom!"

  Every punch, Ye Chen blasted on a giant tree that two people could hug together, and leaves fell from the sky. Dozens of fist prints as deep as inches appeared on the giant tree.

  "My father threw a punch from afar, but I landed every single one of my punches, yet the effects were so different. It seems the gap between us is still quite large." Ye Chen shook his head, and he didn't even know how much strength Ye Wentian had used at that time.

  The sky was getting dark, Ye Chen estimated that Nan Er's little head was probably going to come up the mountain to find him, so he slightly tidied up his cultivation equipment and returned to the small courtyard.

  When he returned to the small courtyard, however, there was no sign of Nang'er. The whole yard was filled with a refreshing fragrance. Ye Chen directly walked towards the kitchen and saw Nang'er intently guarding the Blood Ginseng stew. Her face was still covered in mud and had two tear streaks on it, now even more obscured by a layer of ash. She hadn't even noticed Ye Chen's arrival, her mind completely focused on the Blood Ginseng soup in the small pot, muttering to herself, "The Blood Ginseng is almost done, Young Master will be back soon and can drink it. With the spiritual energy from the Blood Ginseng, Young Master will definitely be able to break through to the fifth stage smoothly and won't have to suffer every day."

  Ye Chen stood at the kitchen door, quietly looking at that frail little body, his nose tip tingling with a sour sensation, for the first time in over twenty years, he had the urge to shed tears.

  "The blood jujube is finally done. Young master can drink it now." Nang'er's small face was filled with a dense, happy color, thinking that Ye Chen drinking the blood jujube soup had increased his strength, and she was even more delighted than when she herself had increased her own strength.

  "Ah! Young master, when did you come back? The kitchen is a mess again. How did you get here? Hurry back to your room, I'll bring it over right away." Nang'er had just put out the fire and turned around to see Ye Chen standing at the door looking at her.

  "What a mess! Everything we eat comes from the inside out, now hurry up and wash your face clean, change your clothes, I'll wait for you in the room. I'll bring this blood clam soup to the room myself." Ye Chen put on an expression of not caring, not wanting to be seen as being moved by this little girl, otherwise he would lose face as a big man.

  "Oh, okay, I'll be fine soon." Nann didn't say anything and directly ran to wash her face and change her clothes. She didn't dare hesitate, fearing that Ye Chen would scold her again with a stern face.

  Ye Chen poured the Blood Orchid Soup into a bowl and brought it to the room, quietly waiting for Nan'er. A moment later, Nan'er arrived, wearing a light yellow shirt, her small face flushed red, with a hint of confusion in her eyes. She walked to the table, picked up the Blood Orchid Soup, blew on it gently, and brought it to Ye Chen's lips. "Young Master, why haven't you drunk it yet? If you wait too long, the spiritual energy will be wasted."

  "Nan'er, leave this soup for you to drink, I don't need it."

  "No! This blood ginseng was collected with great difficulty for you, young master. Why won't you drink it?" Nang'er shook her head like a wave drum as soon as she heard this.

  "Do you know how hard it was to get this?" Ye Chen raised his voice, his face darkening. Although he looked only thirteen years old and couldn't look very intimidating, in Nang's eyes he seemed so frightening that her heart was racing wildly.

  "I don't need to drink this spiritual medicine soup at all. Anyway, I won't drink it! If you're not willing to drink it either, then pour it away!"

  "I..." Nannuo didn't know why Yechen was so angry again, looking at Yechen's eyes and then at the blood jujube soup in the bowl, tears finally fell down again, putting the blood jujube soup on the table.

  "Master, have you come to dislike Nang'er..." Nang'er hung her head low, tears welling up in her eyes, her small hands fidgeting with the hem of her clothes, looking uneasy.

  "Not bad, I don't like a disobedient little girl," Ye Chen said in a low voice.