As the saying goes, even thieves have their code of conduct. Though this was quite a bit different, but it was a kind of principle, after all.
…A pervert with principles.
Ling Han covered Niu Niu’s ears, and said, “Does your family know you are so unrestrained, Miss?”
“Giggle!” The girl trembled lightly with laughter and cast a coy glance at Ling Han, then said, “Big Brother, could it be that you’re interested in my master? Though my master is quite advanced in years, but she’s still very attractive, exactly the type of woman that a young man like you has the least resistance to.”
Ling Han shuddered, turned to Gu Feng Hua and said, “Pervert, this is your problem, you solve it!” After saying these words, he picked up Hu Niu and walked towards the lake. Now that the lake was no longer occupied, Hu Niu naturally could have her bath.
“Ya ya!” Hu Niu jumped down from Ling Han’s arms and completely removed all her clothing in a few moments. With a splash, she had jumped into the lake and began to play to her heart’s desire. “Ling Han, come play with Niu!” she said to Ling Han, acting spoiled.
Ling Han waved his hand with a smile. He had no desire to get undressed in front of others, especially when that woman was so shockingly unrestrained in her behavior.
Peng! Peng! Peng!
Soon, sounds of battle came from the bushes and after a while, Gu Feng Hua came out with a swollen face that was not much different from a pig’s head. However, there was no sign left of that girl.
Ling Han was curious, and asked, “That woman is only in the ninth layer of Element Gathering Tier, so why is Brother Pervert cutting such a sorry figure?”
Gu Feng Hua threw a disdainful look at Ling Han and said, “A good man does not fight with a woman!”
Ling Han’s mouth twitched. So that was why he had been so harshly beaten up… but that girl should have found out that Gu Feng Hua’s ability was far above her. Thus, she had only given him a beating and ran off to avoid inciting Gu Feng Hua’s killing intent.
In this mystery realm, the benefits of having a good background were much smaller. As long as you weren’t caught, who would know if you had commited murder?
“Hahahaha, why has your cultivation level fallen to the first layer of Element Gathering Tier?” Gu Feng Hua suddenly laughed, then he scratched his head. “When other people cultivate, they become stronger and stronger. But the more you cultivate, the more you regress. En, you indeed have some potential to be a pervert.”
Ling Han could not help but shake his head. Looks like if he did not break through to Gushing Spring Tier, his present condition would attract a lot of aggression towards him.
“That’s odd. Though your cultivation level is lower, but why is it that the feeling you give me is even more oppressive than before?” Gu Feng Hua said, looking a bit baffled and scratched his head, seeming very puzzled.
“Haha, you are indeed a pervert!” In the end, he credited everything to his being a pervert. After all, as long as he was a pervert, anything odd could be easily explained away by him as being perverted.
Ling Han did not want to be stuck in confusion about this point, so he asked, “Didn’t you go back into the mountains to cultivate? Why have you come here again?”
“On my way back, I’ve encountered a goddess and kept trying to hit on her. In the end, I ran into this place somehow, and was separated from that goddess.” Gu Feng Hua suddenly startled, then said, “I won’t chat with you anymore. I still have to go find my dream girl.”
Xiu , he broke into a run, and in a mere moment, there was no sign of him left.
Ling Han shook his head, and drew some clear water from the lake to wash his face.
Hu Niu did not find it that fun playing alone in the water. Thus, she only bathed herself clean then ran onto the shore. Acting spoiled, she had Ling Han dry her and help her wear her clothes before she finally smiled sweetly.
The two of them continued on their way, and witnessed much bloodshed throughout.
This place also contained people of the Nine Nations. It was possible that there might be some who were not randomly transported when they entered, which meant that the people of a nation may appear in the same big area. However, as they get closer to the Ring-shaped Mountain, since there were only four ravines that connected into the mountain’s depths, many of the people from different countries began to encounter each other.
Ling Han’s principle was: if you don’t mess with me, I would be too lazy to bother with you either. As someone who used to be an ultimate elite of Heaven Tier, he was very indifferent to the idea of belonging to a country.
“Brother, help me!” However, he had not managed to maintain his attitude of minding his own business and staying away from trouble for long when he saw a young man swiftly racing towards him from the wilderness. There were two middle-aged men wielding sabers chasing after him, wearing fierce expressions.
One glance was enough for Ling Han to know that this was an attempted robbery and murder.
It was no wonder that this young man had fixed his eye on him. He was dressed very richly—his clothing was made using high quality silk, and the various ornaments hanging from his clothes were all expensive. He was obviously a member of a rich family, and due to the random teleportation, he was separated from the elders of his Clan when he entered this place.
And he was only in the fifth layer of Element Gathering Tier. That was like an idiot carrying gold and parading around in the streets. It would be strange if he had not attracted others coveting his wealth.
This young man acted as if he was a drowning man who had managed to grasp onto a life-saving straw, and he did not care even if Ling Han looked younger than himself and had a little girl by his side. He simply ran towards Ling Han while screaming loudly at him.
When it was a matter of life and death, his speed miraculously became quite a bit faster than normal, and very soon, he ran behind Ling Han and pointed at the two men that had chased him as he said, “Brother, help me chase them off, and I will definitely reward you handsomely.”
“Yi?” The two pursuers stopped. One wielded a saber while the other held a sword, and they both gave Ling Han a glance before laughing loudly. “And here I was thinking that it was some kind of powerful character. So it’s just a little brat in the first layer of Element Gathering Tier!”
“What?!” the young man exclaimed in shock. Initially, he had thought that since Ling Han dared to bring a little girl with him and walk around so casually in this wilderness, he had to be extremely powerful. He had never thought that Ling Han was only in the first layer of Element Gathering Tier and was much weaker than even him.
Ling Han could not help but sigh. After merging the nine Nuclei, his cultivation level seemed to have dropped drastically. Not only his friends worried about him, but even others would look at him in disdain out in the wilderness. What a depressing thing.
“That’s fine. We’ll just kill them both!” The man armed with a saber looked fiercely at them.
Shua . His words had just left his mouth when he quickly shot forward, raising his sword to slash at Ling Han.
Ling Han merely raised his hand casually and the man’s wrist fell into his hand. The man was only in the ninth layer of Element Gathering Tier, but even if they were at the same cultivation level, with Ling Han’s Five Element Origin Nuclei, he would have several times the power of this man—what more when he had broken through to the tenth layer and had power comparable to the first layer of Gushing Spring Tier.
“Yi?” The saber-wielder struggled but felt as if it was a metal chain that was holding onto his hand, and could not manage to get free at all.
“Fatty, what’s wrong with you? What’s so fun about playing with a little guy? Kill him quickly!” the man holding a sword urged.
The saber-wielder was already breaking out into a cold sweat. In front of him, Ling Han’s face was still very calm, and he even had a sliver of a smile on his lips. However, it was p
recisely this smile that made him a feel a coldness that seemed to penetrate into his body.
Da da da da… his teeth were endlessly clicking together as he said, “Old Zhang, come quickly and help me. This brat is strange!”
“What’s so strange? He’s just a piece of trash in the first layer of Element Gathering Tier!” the swordsman said disdainfully. “Fatty, this is not funny in the slightest. Kill off those two brats quickly.”
Chapter 220
Translator: Reverie_ Editor: Kurisu
Ling Han casually threw a slap, and pa , the fatty wielding the saber was sent flying.
“Huh?” The swordsman, Old Zhang’s expression stiffened. He thought that the fatso was showing off, but no matter how he showed off, there was no reason to take a slap from the other party—it instantly raised his vigilance.
“This kid is strange!” the saber-wielding fatty said as he got up, stroking his hurting face.
“Strange where?” Old Zhang asked.
“His strength is strangely large, when he held on to my wrist just now, I couldn’t even get free,” the saber-wielding fatso said truthfully with his face was on fire; if he tried to lie to save his face, it might get them both killed.
“Could it be an inborn gift like surprising physical power?” the sword-wielding Old Zhang speculated.
“It should be so. His presence is definitely just that of the first layer of the Element Gathering Tier,” the saber-wielding fatso said with complete certainty.
Both men stared fiercely at Ling Han. “Kid, we originally had no grievances or hate, but if you must try to be brave, then it’s you seeking your own death!”
Ling Han sighed as he never thought about helping. Adventuring here meant having resolve to face dangers, but who let that the youngster bump right into him with two middle-aged men who couldn’t wait to attack them on his tail?
The fact remained that he looked easy to bully, and now that they’ve gotten a small lesson, they were beginning to take him seriously.
“Hu Niu, the skinny one is up to you,” Ling Han said with a smile. He might as well let Hu Niu practice… the little girl had the Gushing Spring Tier guy from the Wu Clan running in circles the other time, so the guy in the ninth layer of the Element Gathering Tier before them shouldn’t pose much danger to her.
“Good!” Hu Niu immediately jumped out. Other than eating, fighting and such were her favorite activity—except they had been in the Imperial City so far, thus Ling Han wouldn’t let her fight.
“What!?” The sword-wielding Old Zhang almost got a crooked nose from anger. He let a five, six year old little girl fight him? He couldn’t help but conceive a wicked idea—he was going to split the little girl in two and use her blood-soaked corpse to tell Ling Han what were the results of infuriating him.
“Kid, let’s spar a bit more!” The saber-wielding fatso flourished his saber. “This time, I definitely won’t underestimate you.” Those words implied that he lost earlier only because he was careless.
Ling Han smiled, and said, “Your face still hurts, right?”
“You…” The saber-wielding fatty was instantly angered out of embarrassment; that slap certainly hit him hard, so much that it still stung.
“Since you know the pain, why can’t you remember and learn?” Ling Han shook his head and laughed. “You are already a dead man since you unleashed your saber against me anyways; it matters not if you can’t remember.”
“Bullsh!t!” the saber-wielding fatso bellowed. With both his hands holding the saber’s handle, he fiercely erupted with strong attacks. “Large demon heaven saber, splitting skies and shattering ground, I, Zhu Qian Kun am invincible…”
Pu!
He hadn’t finished his warcry, yet his stomach had already received a heavy kick and his entire being instantly flew like a cannonball. Peng , he fell heavily onto the ground and shrunk like a shrimp, his face convulsing.
Ling Han pulled back his leg. In this attack, he used 20-30% of his strength, but for a an opponent in the ninth layer of the Element Gathering Tier, that much power was enough to be lethal. However, this fatso was so fat that the power was redistributed by large amounts of fat; unexpectedly, the kick didn’t destroy his internal organs, but the skin on his entire body cracked under the immense shock, instantly turning him into a tragic blood-soaked man.
Even though his life was saved, the fatso could only groan, no longer having a shred of battle power.
On the other side, Hu Niu was playing very contently. Her cultivation progress was absurdly fast, and she was now at the seventh layer of the Element Gathering Tier. She went head on with the old sword user fearlessly, exhibiting a speed advantage over him and circling behind her opponent for a surprise attack; all this while, Old Zhang could not even land a single attack on her.
Shua shua shua… Hu Niu’s hands were like tiger claws, and after several swings, Old Zhang’s back was covered in fresh blood. The blood stimulated Hu Niu’s murderous nature even further as she bared her teeth halfway and attacked even more ferociously.
Behind Ling Han, the youngster stared with his mouth agape.
A youngster in the first layer of the Element Gathering Tier wasted an opponent in the ninth layer of the Element Gathering Tier with a kick, and a five, six year old little girl completely suppressed her opponent… what sort of monsters were these two?
After a moment’s effort, Hu Niu slapped the sword user Old Zhang unconscious and laughed as she returned to Ling Han’s side, reverting to her look of a cute and pure little princess.
Pa, pa!
At this time, the youngster used a rock to bash the fatso and old Zhang’s heads into mush to make sure they died—even Heaven Tier warriors wouldn’t survive that.
Ling Han couldn’t help but look at him twice more; this youngster was quite vicious.
“Thank you, benefactor, for upholding justice and saving me!” The youngster quickly threw away the rock, and, with an expression filled with humility, he said, “I’m called Yang Ming, I’m from Stone Country. Please don’t blame me, I was hunted down over a long way and almost lost my life. I had to at least do that much to vent the hate in my heart.”
The two were mere robbers—if they died, then that was it; Ling Han did not care about them. What surprised him was Yang Ming’s expression when he set about finishing them off without a shred of emotion, appearing utterly cold-blooded.
“Benefactor, could I tag along? I was separated from my family when I came in, but I believe I can definitely meet them at the central hall. When that time comes, my family’s seniors will definitely repay you generously.” Yang Ming looked sincerely at Ling Han.
Unsure of how long it’d be before reaching the canyon ahead, with multiple dangers ahead, it’d naturally be safer to cling to someone strong.
Ling Han smiled as he looked at the other. While this guy was talking all this drivel, he just wanted him as a bodyguard—he was not bad at hoaxing people.
Yang Ming saw that Ling Han was unmoved, then said unwillingly, “Benefactor, you know why those two were hunting me down?”
“Because you look like a fat sheep?” Ling Han laughed.
“That’s only half.” Yang Ming shook his head, and continued, “In the village ahead, I was very lucky to have found an ancient record… but I soon bumped into those two and was hunted down by them.
I placed the ancient record on top of a dried up tree—as long as benefactor promises to protect me along the way, I’m willing to give you the ancient record.”
Ancient record?
Ling Han pondered, and said, “What’s that ancient record about?”
“I only briefly looked at it. The ancient record should be an indigenous inhabitant’s diary, recording the details of the Ring-shaped Mountain,” Yang Ming said, paused, then continued, “There’s also a map inside!”
The latter words moved Ling Han. He was very interested in the depths of the Ring-shaped Mountain, wanting to investigate its secrets.
&
nbsp; “Alright, let’s get that ancient record.” Ling Han nodded.
Yang Ming exulted at this reply; normally, a cultivator’s like for “books” was related to arts and skills—they naturally would not glance at other books more than once. He was only making a bet, and unexpectedly, Ling Han actually gave him a promise.
Chapter 221
Translator: Reverie_ Editor: Kurisu
They walked a bit on the outer ring of the Ring-shaped Mountain. Sure enough, Yang Ming took out an ancient record from a dried up tree. The cover had almost completely rotted away and it wasn’t hidden very well—half of it showed.
Obviously, Yang Ming only hid it behind the tree trunk hastily at the time and shoved in the ancient record offhandedly, then immediately left; hence it was hidden so sloppily.
“Young Master Han, here.” Yang Ming submitted the ancient record respectfully with his head slightly lowered, a hint of unwillingness that was hard to perceive in his eyes.
For normal people, this ancient record was worth nothing, but for some, it could be priceless.
Ling Han took it without hesitation. On their way, he told Yang Ming his name—hearing ‘benefactor’ and such all the time was uncomfortable. He started to leaf through it in front of Yang Ming without being evasive.
This was certainly a predecessor’s logbook. The part at the start recorded some trifling matters; the person was called Xiao Ding, who was once a chief that managed a village, living a quiet life.
Xiao family had lived here for many generations, but a change happened in Xiao Ding’s generation. The whole village was driven away from the mystery realm, but Xiao Ding stayed behind with an act of great deception.
He disobeyed the orders of one called “Demon Master” at the time, and entered the depths of the Ring-shaped Mountain, wanting to know why they were being expelled.
Relying on his understanding of the land, he avoided several barriers, which enabled him to enter the depths. However, he was unable to enter the depths of the core area as a mysterious power infected him, making him feel like he wasn’t himself anymore.
Alchemy Emperor of the Divine Dao c1-1294 Page 126