Chapter 10 – Close the Door, Release the Ye Jing
**Originally translated by Incarneous, with edits
Following the vibrations of the specialized compass, Yan Zhaoge and the rest of the people traversed the Sealing Dragon Abyss.
Flashes of red light occasionally passed by only to be caught by Ah Hu, who used his aura-qi to constrain the fragments and then sealed them into specialized crystals.
They traveled for half a day. When suddenly, the black mist that were chaotic streams of baleful qi seemed to slightly calm down and thin out.
Ah Hu who was beside Yan Zhaoge said, “Young Master, we have arrived at the center of a vortex.”
Yan Zhaoge nodded.
In the Sealing Dragon Abyss, there were occasionally areas of relative calm, resembling the central region of a vortex and similar to the eye of a tornado, surrounded by danger all around but rather safe in the middle. This kind of region tended to vary in size and in location. Even the number of regions tended to change. With the passage of time, these areas could even experience movement and transformations.
“The center region of a vortex is relatively safe. Everyone can rest for a bit,” Yan Zhaoge said.
“Normally, this kind of area tends to easily produce unusual treasures. Because this environment is somewhat safe, it is also a good place to hunt for treasure and pick medicine. Everyone may move around independently; maybe you’ll even get lucky. However, please mind your safety. This is the Sealing Dragon Abyss after all.”
Ye Jing, Sikong Qing and the other young disciples all voiced their assent and then curiously investigated their surroundings.
Yan Zhaoge took his special compass and carefully examined it, “This vortex’s center region seems to be more special than expected…”
“Hmmm?” Yan Zhaoge had a sudden premonition. He lifted his head and casually swept his gaze over everything as he calmly said, “Everyone, get back.”
Yan Zhaoge swept his sleeve and a flash of green light pierced the air like lightning through the night sky, lighting up the surrounding canyon.
A golden glow that had been half hidden in the black mist became clearly visible. An enormous body appeared. This was a cyclopian devil python, the golden glow from before having radiated from its single eye.
However, just as the devil python appeared, the green light had already arrived at its neck while faintly releasing a dragon’s roar.
The golden glow was extinguished almost immediately, the devil python releasing a hissing cry that was quickly cut off with a grunt followed briefly by silence.
A moment later, a loud thump could be heard. This was the sound of the devil python’s huge body falling to the ground.
“Golden-eyed python, a native of the Dragon Sealing Abyss. Its entire body can be said to be a treasure, at least to the current you. You may divide the body among yourselves. Split the materials evenly.” Right after the green light flashed, Yan Zhaoge had already shifted his focus back onto the specialized compass.
Everyone else only returned to their senses at this time. Looking at the enormous python corpse that was at least several tens of meters long, the disciples secretly bit their tongues in wonder.
The golden-eyed python’s charge just now had been incredibly fast, fierce and violent, not at all inferior to a practitioner in the Martial Scholar realm. Remembering its ability to move without any presence, the disciples felt a lingering fear.
While dismembering the python, the group discovered its scales were tough and soft at the same time, their defence comparable to an artifact’s.
Even though the golden-eyed python’s blood and qi had already declined after death, they still had a lot of difficulty cutting apart the its scales despite having activated their artifacts.
And yet this golden-eyed python had been killed by Yan Zhaoge in just a single sword strike. The cut was as smooth as glass without any rough edges, like tofu split straight through by a knife.
“Senior apprentice-brother Yan’s notorious self-created sword style, the Coiling Dragon Sleeve. Even though this isn’t the first this I’ve seen it, every time I see it, I can only gasp in amazement.” Some young disciples couldn’t help but swallow at the thought.
A young disciple suddenly asked, “Senior apprentice-brother Yan, what is that?”
Yan Zhaoge lifted his head and looked over to see a faraway cliff that had been enshrouded in black mist. A white light spontaneously flashed by. It was even faster than the golden-eyed python had been.
“That is a Light Spirit Cat,” Yan Zhaoge took a brief look before withdrawing his gaze, “Harmless and beneficial.”
The entire group was surprised.
Ah Hu, who was by Yan Zhaoge’s side, grinned and said, “The Sealing Dragon Abyss’s environment is harsh, with plenty of demonic beasts. Their natures are generally mostly fierce and savage, but this Light Spirit Cat is an exception. Although it is small, its strength is, surprisingly, pretty good. Its speed, especially, is fast as lightning, much faster than that of normal demonic beasts. However, its nature is very gentle. It doesn’t attack and its diet is composed of plants. It mostly eats the plants native to the Sealing Dragon Abyss in order to survive.”
Ah Hu pointed at the flickering white light, “Moreoever, this animal is empathetic. It is kindhearted and will help humans who meet danger here. In the future, should you enter the Sealing Dragon Abyss alone and unfortunately face danger, perhaps you might receive assistance from this type of beast and scrape through the ordeal.”
Ye Jing, Sikong Qing and the others couldn’t help but click their tongues in wonder after hearing Ah Hu’s explanation. They developed a favorable impression towards that Light Spirit Cat, as they made their way towards it.
The flickering white light had also stopped moving. Its true appearance having been revealed, it looked like a tiny kitten the size of one’s palm. A flickering white glow detailed a large pattern that covered its entire body. Its appearance exuded an impression of gentleness and also cleverness.
The Light Spirit Cat also observed the Broad Creed Mountain disciples with curiosity.
A female disciple looked at it with interest, wanting to get closer. The Light Spirit Cat retreated in response. The young girl stopped her advance. The tiny cat stopped as well.
“Senior apprentice-brother Yan, is it possible to tame this little cat?” asked the young girl in a pitiable tone after retreating to Yan Zhaoge’s side.
Yan Zhaoge thought it over before saying, “Do you remember that when we were exploring the Sealing Dragon Abyss, all of you collected the serpent oath grass? That type of spirit grass is the Light Spirit Cat’s favorite food. You can try using that. As long as you harbor no ill intentions, it should be willing to get close to you. However, if you want to bring it out of the Sealing Dragon Abyss, you will need to put in a lot more time and effort.”
The young girl cheered, “Thank you, senior apprentice-brother. I’m going to try!”
Saying thus, she carefully took out several stalks of spirit grass from her pack and walked towards the Light Spirit Cat.
After the initial wariness and familiarization period, one girl and one cat gradually became friends.
The other Broad Creed Mountain disciples also took out their serpent oath grass after seeing the first girl’s success. They also started feeding and playing. Suddenly, the tiny cat was overwhelmingly doted on by everyone.
Even those who did not have any interest in playing were smiling as they watched this heartwarming scene.
The Light Spirit Cat became a streak of white light in the canyon as it ran back and forth, stopping every once in a while. The young girl followed behind it. The dangerous Sealing Dragon Abyss as of this moment no longer seemed so sinister.
In the same canyon a few cliffs away, a man could be seen lying on a big rock as if on his last breath. The shadow of death could consume him at any time.
The female disciple from Broad Creed Mountain was alarmed. Then, she suddenly saw a white light flash by. The Light Spirit Cat had appeared. It carefully observed for a while before approaching the man lying on the big rock.
Remembering what Yan Zhaoge and Ah Hu said earlier, the young girl felt relieved.
The delicate-seeming Light Spirit Cat climbed up to the man and used its mouth to grab his collar. Then, with a toss of its head, the cat managed to drag the man along. Despite its tiny size, its strength was quite impressive.
But just then, the young man who had seemed to be on his last breath suddenly reached out and grabbed the Light Spirit Cat before sitting up.
The cat let out a screech and struggled with all its might as the youth began laughing loudly, “Senior apprentice-brother’s method is definitely effective. If not for it, then it would really be impossible to catch this little thing. It’s just as fast as a Martial Scholar.”
The female disciple of Broad Creed Mountain was given a scare, “What are you doing?”
The young man turned to look at her before carelessly saying, “What’s it to you?”
The young girl frowned and said, “That Light Spirit Cat thought you were in danger and tried to save you out of kindness. And you actually pretended to be in trouble just to catch it?”
“This tiny thing is stupid. It fell for my trick so it can’t complain,” the young man said carelessly, “All living things have their own, natural gifts. God gave demonic beasts their incredible speed and we humans got intelligence. Why should I use my weakness to measure against this thing’s strength? Using brains to defeat demonic beasts is only natural.”
The young girl was furious. She said, “Clearly, it’s you who are despicable. You’re just abusing its kindness.”
That young man chuckled and said, “Since when did people from Broad Creed Mountain have authority over the matters of my Sacred Sun Clan?”
The female disciple of Broad Creed Mountain carefully took a look and discovered the youth wore white clothes with a red-bordered sleeve and a sun-patterned emblem. This attire was indeed the Sacred Sun Clan uniform.
The young man lifted the Light Spirit Cat and used his fingernails to make a cut on the little cat’s neck. Blood immediately spurted everywhere.
“So what if I catch it? The Light Spirit demonic core in this creature’s head is my true goal.”
The Sun Saint Clan disciple smilingly said, “In this world, whoever has the bigger fists makes the rules. If you can beat me, you can also naturally steal this little thing away. If you can’t beat me, no amount of words can make a difference. You Broad Creed Mountain disciples; do you have any abilities other than using that mouth of yours?”
The young girl looked at that palm-sized kitten as its body twitched yet could not even give voice to its despair. She could not help but get increasingly angry till she could no longer suppress her rage, and charged forward.
Broad Creed Mountain and the Sacred Sun Clan possessed neighboring territories, and there were often conflicts and fights between the young disciples of the two sides.
Some other disciples of Broad Creed Mountain had also caught up at this point. Seeing the situation, they also stepped forward without hesitation to assist their fellow disciple.
Unfortunately, the other side was not alone either. Other members of the Sacred Sun Clan now made their way over as well. The battlefield suddenly became messy, developing into a group battle where Broad Creed Mountain disciples were being ganged up on by Sacred Sun Clan disciples.
“Young Master, it’s people from the Sacred Sun Clan.” Ah Hu returned to Yan Zhaoge’s side to report the situation and the process of how it had occurred.
Yan Zhaoge asked, “Do they have a Martial Scholar?”
Ah Hu replied, “None have appeared so far.”
“Then it’s simple,” said Yan Zhaoge as he shrugged his shoulders.
“Close the door! Release the Ye Jing!”