NFBE Chapter 34 Senior Brother
Chapter 34 Senior Brother
Zhang Yunling walked straight into the village. There were many houses, but no crops were growing in the small farmland. The soil was so dry that it was cracked and broken.
They encountered an old man carrying a sack, and Zhang Yunling hurriedly went up to him and asked, "Grandpa, why don't you grow grain here? Has the harvest already been plentiful?"
When the old man heard Zhang Yunling's question, he glanced at the man's clothes and looked helpless. He put the sack on the ground and said, "Young man, I can tell you're from out of town. Our village hasn't had any rain for a whole year. How can we expect a good harvest? That's why we're taking our things to the mountains over there to worship the gods and pray for rain!"
After saying that, the old man kicked the sack on the ground, then reluctantly picked it up, swallowed hard, and ignored Zhang Yunling, continuing to walk slowly into the distance.
"Offering sacrifices to immortals? Could it be that these people are unaware of the existence of cultivators? No, I must follow them and find out." Zhang Yunling thought to himself, and after the old man had gone far away, he quietly followed behind him.
After following the old man for a long time, one by one, people carrying sacks appeared around them. They were all heading towards a high mountain in front of them, and this mountain immediately caught Zhang Yunling's attention.
Without even needing to use his divine sense to investigate, he could sense several powerful aura fluctuations on this mountain, and the area around the mountain was constantly radiating intense heat, causing the surrounding hundreds of miles to be barren.
As Zhang Yunling pondered, he began to understand the situation of the village he had just visited. It seemed that the mountain had not always stood there, but had suddenly appeared a year ago. The hot aura emanating from the mountain had affected the climate within a radius of hundreds of miles, causing no rain to fall all year round, and the fields were all extremely arid due to lack of water.
These villagers, unaware of the true nature of the mountain, mistakenly believed they had offended some deity, and thus attempted to appease this so-called deity through sacrificial rituals.
Zhang Yunling didn't find the villagers' actions laughable. They weren't ignorant; they were simply desperate, treating the worst possible outcome. A year without a harvest meant a large-scale famine was inevitable. The corpses strewn across the fields would be a minor matter; the most terrifying consequence would be the complete desolation of these villages, large and small, stretching for hundreds of miles.
"Hey, why didn't you bring any offerings?" A voice suddenly rang in Zhang Yunling's ears, startling him. He hurriedly lowered his head and replied in a flustered manner, "Ah! I...I...I came with my third uncle. He showed me around so I could come and perform the sacrifices by myself next time!"
After speaking, Zhang Yunling deliberately leaned closer to the old man in front of him, trying to prove his kinship with the old man. But the man who had spoken chuckled, suddenly producing a folding fan in his hand, which knocked the storage bag at Zhang Yunling's waist into the air. He then stomped his right foot and leaped up, grabbing Zhang Yunling's storage bag in his hand. He then slowly floated down, looking at Zhang Yunling, who was standing there dumbfounded, with a playful expression.
"You...you're a cultivator?" Zhang Yunling narrowed his eyes, beginning to feel hostility towards the person in front of him. He probed the other party with his divine sense and learned that the other party was at the early stage of the Golden Core realm. He became somewhat cautious, but said coldly, "If you don't return my things to me immediately, then someone will inevitably shed blood today!"
The young man, holding a folding fan and dressed in fine clothes, looked at Zhang Yunling's posture, ready for a life-or-death duel, and simply smiled and shook his head. He tossed the storage bag into the air again and said indifferently, "If you can take it, then come on."
Zhang Yunling, with his resolute character, was not about to admit defeat. He immediately used his right foot to propel himself up from the ground and headed straight for his storage bag.
The young man was not to be outdone. He also leaped into the air, reaching the same height as Zhang Yunling. Both of them were only a few feet away from the storage bag. Just then, the young man seized the opportunity and struck out with his right palm, aiming to attack Zhang Yunling's chest. Having undergone physical training, Zhang Yunling also quickly controlled his body to react. He pulled his right hand back sharply and caught the palm strike with his arm.
With a single move, Zhang Yunling was knocked off the air and plummeted to the ground. The young man was somewhat surprised by Zhang Yunling's quick response and became quite interested. He completely ignored the storage bag that had fallen to the ground and muttered, "Not bad. As expected, everyone who can come to this Xuanxu Ancient Realm has some skills. But you've met me. Consider yourself unlucky. Today, you will perish here."
Because the cultivators entering the ancient realm are numerous and diverse, but the opportunities are few and far between, if an opportunity that should have been one's own is seized by someone else beforehand, it is an invisible loss. Therefore, the current encounter between the two must be a life-or-death struggle, and only the survivor can continue to compete. This is the essence of desire, but such is human nature. Selfishness is not the original sin; weakness is.
Zhang Yunling's eyes sharpened. He had always been beaten up while cultivating alongside Duan Weihuang, a Nascent Soul stage expert. Now that he had left his sect to venture out into the world, he was determined to go all out against his first opponent and see just how strong he really was.
The young man also decided to increase the intensity of the attack and finish the battle quickly in order to avoid attracting too much attention. In this dangerous ancient world, keeping a low profile was the only way to survive longer.
He extended his right index finger, and after a brief moment of gathering power, the finger shone with golden light. But at that moment, the young man saw that Zhang Yunling opposite him was also imitating him, and his right hand was also emitting golden light. This made him a little suspicious.
However, the arrow was already on the bowstring and had to be released. This finger strike would not kill him directly; the truth could be inquired about later. At this moment, it was time to decide the outcome with one move. Both of them stomped their feet and thrust out their fingers. The two powerful forces collided and burst out with astonishing spiritual energy fluctuations!
The already weakened mortal villagers were blasted far away by the aftershocks of the battle, causing chaos to erupt as mortals screamed in terror.
"An immortal?! It's an immortal!!"
"Could these two be sent by the Mountain God?"
Zhang Yunling and the young man ignored the villagers who dared not approach but were gossiping amongst themselves. Their eyes were fixed on each other, and their two interlocked fingers remained frozen in place.
"True Yang Finger? You're actually a disciple of the Quanzhen Sect?" The young man broke the silence first. "How could you not recognize my identity?"
These words left Zhang Yunling puzzled. He had never seen this young master before. He had snatched things from people without saying a word upon meeting them, and now he was trying to get close to them during the fight. It was all very strange.
However, after thinking about it carefully, Zhang Yunling suddenly had a bad idea and immediately replied, "So it's Senior Brother! Hahahaha! Because of my low cultivation level, I've been barely surviving in this place for a while now, and I'm almost like these villagers! Senior Brother, you must help me!"
Upon hearing this, the young man from the Quanzhen Sect burst into laughter, patting his chest and assuring everyone, "Junior Brother, don't worry. This time, Elder Ming has led us disciples here to seek opportunities. In a whole year, those rogue cultivators without sects will surely be barely surviving. As disciples of the Quanzhen Sect, it's only a matter of time before we obtain opportunities under the sect's protection!"
Zhang Yunling laughed along, the two of them going from a life-or-death struggle to becoming sworn brothers in an instant, a feeling of unreality washing over them. Zhang Yunling tentatively continued, "Then, Senior Brother, my storage bag... hehehe... can I have it back now?"
"Sure, it's over there. I'll find it for you." The young man, with a smile on his face, turned and walked towards the patched, tattered storage bag on the ground. The surrounding villagers panicked and retreated, not daring to take a step closer.
Zhang Yunling finally breathed a sigh of relief, secretly congratulating himself on his cleverness. He was about to reach out and take the storage bag from the young man when the man slapped his hand away with a fan, his smile turning from gentle to cold.
"Hmph, there are only six of my Daoist disciples who have entered the Ancient Realm this time. They all came with Elder Minggui. Although I don't know where you stole my Quanzhen Sect's secret manual from, if you don't tell the truth today, I will cut off all ten of your fingers and make sure you never use the True Yang Finger again in this lifetime!"