"Rumble rumble—"
Silver waterfalls cascade down from the peaks of the ten-thousand-zhang mountains, crashing into the pool like a jade belt, making a "rumble" roar.
Yu Yuan swiftly reaches the edge of the pool, wrapping the Star Grass with eight leaves with his mana, ready to uproot it together with the mud.
In midair, Yun Zhongzi keenly watches his movements, secretly preparing thoroughly.
Just then, he suddenly notices the air near the pool slightly distorting.
Hm?
Yun Zhongzi is taken aback and quickly employs the Yuqing Divine Eye to look over.
What he sees next shocks him.
At the edge of the pool, an apparition of a tiger-leopard-like Fierce Beast had emerged unknowingly.
The beast, transparent and blending into the air, is robust with a large frame, a faint pattern on its forehead, slowly inching toward the pool while eyeing its prey with a voracious and malevolent gaze—the Qi Zhongjun, who is carefully digging out the Star Grass.
This is a Meng Ji Beast!
Not long ago, Yun Zhongzi witnessed this Meng Ji Beast attacking an Earth Immortal.
This Fierce Beast possesses immense strength; its claws are not only razor-sharp but also coated with a potent toxin that can paralyze the Primordial Spirit of a Heavenly Immortal, erasing all mana in a weaker Heavenly Immortal in a short time.
Moreover, it possesses the Divine Skill of invisibility, capable of launching stealth attacks when near its target, which are especially sinister and malicious.
The previous Earth Immortal was ambushed and killed by it, and by the time Yun Zhongzi arrived, he saw the Meng Ji Beast disappearing into the air while holding the Earth Immortal's Primordial Spirit, with no time for rescue.
Back then, he was full of regrets; little did he expect that this Meng Ji Beast had been following them here and now aimed to stealth attack the completely unguarded Qi Zhongjun.
"Watch your back!"
After realizing this, Yun Zhongzi doesn't hesitate and immediately shouts out a warning.
However, maybe due to the noise of the waterfall, Qi Zhongjun seems not to hear his warning, maintaining his posture of digging out the Treasure Medicine.
Meanwhile, the Meng Ji Beast has already launched its attack.
Revealing its form in the air, it is about a zhang tall and three zhang long, its claws glowing with a faint dark green, and pounces towards Qi Zhongjun, who is digging out the Treasure Medicine, as swift as lightning.
Its speed is so fast that it nearly becomes a streak of light.
Even Yun Zhongzi secretly shudders at this speed, unable to help admiring the Meng Ji Beast's innate talents suited for stealth attacks!
Were he the one being ambushed at this moment, he might not be able to dodge in time!
Just as Qi Zhongjun seems about to meet the same fate as the previous Earth Immortal, Yun Zhongzi briskly shakes off his distracted thoughts, and his hand produces a flower basket, preparing to throw it to save him.
But the next instant, only a heavy thud of "bang" is heard.
Yun Zhongzi stops in his tracks, staring dumbfounded at the scene before him.
At the moment the Meng Ji Beast's claws touch Qi Zhongjun's back, instead of piercing as imagined, they bizarrely twist and bend.
Subsequently, due to inertia, the beast's robust body also collides onto Qi Zhongjun.
However, it is like crashing against a formidable mountain; the latter remains immovable while the former is repelled instantly, plummeting to the ground with a sound of shattering bones, not a single bone left intact in its body!
"Hiss—"
Yun Zhongzi takes a sharp breath, deeply shocked by the sight he beholds.
The Meng Ji Beast, which even he perceived as dangerous, now lies limp like a lump of mud, most of its bones shattered, barely able to breathe in, unable to breathe out!
This is a kind of Fierce Beast that relies on instinct to cultivate by absorbing Sun Essence and Moonlight or consuming blood—its physical body should be its most powerful weapon!
Yet, this Qi Zhongjun, who hasn't even lifted a hand, caused the Meng Ji Beast to break its bones and collapse limply like mud.
No, to be exact, he did nothing at all!
He simply let the Meng Ji Beast pounce towards him... then the beast's bones and organs shattered on impact.
How terrifying!
What is Qi Zhongjun's body made of?
Taiyi Essence Gold?!
At that moment, Qi Zhongjun has dug up the Star Grass along with the surrounding soil, wraps it in mana, and ignoring the limp Meng Ji Beast on the ground, flies towards Yun Zhongzi, presenting the Star Grass on his palm with a slightly smug smile, "Here, completely intact with not even a slight damage! Hurry and take it."
Is he really giving it to me?
Yun Zhongzi gazes at Qi Zhongjun in disbelief, a myriad of thoughts racing through his mind.
Is this a test, or some kind of scheme?
Suddenly, a possibility came to his mind, and he asked quietly, "You don't happen to not know what kind of Spirit Grass this is, do you?"
"Star Grass, of course, I know."
Qi Zhongjun said cheerfully, "This Star Grass has already sprouted eight leaves. If you take it back and nurture it in your Medicine Garden, it won't be long before the ninth leaf grows.
By then, whether you use it for Alchemy or eat it directly, it will increase your mana by about one Yuanhui, just like the Star Fruit."
Yun Zhongzi's eyes widened, and he directly asked, "Since you know how precious this Star Grass is as a Treasure Medicine, why are you giving it to me?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard Qi Zhongjun matter-of-factly say, "You are my great-nephew, if I don't give this Treasure Medicine to you, then to whom should I give it?"
Yun Zhongzi: "..."
"We've said we aren't relatives anymore, can you please stop calling me great-nephew?"
"Alright, great-nephew."
"Don't call me that!"
"Understood, great-nephew."
"I... never mind." Yun Zhongzi reluctantly gave up correcting the address, still watching Qi Zhongjun intently, "This Treasure Medicine is so precious... why don't you keep it for yourself?"
"When I have good things, of course, I think of you first," Qi Zhongjun said matter-of-factly, "Besides, you discovered this Star Grass first. How could I, as your uncle, compete with you for it?"
A complex expression flickered across Yun Zhongzi's face as he slowly nodded, "Alright, since you insist on giving it to me, I won't be polite!"
While speaking, he was also discreetly using his Primordial Spirit to observe Qi Zhongjun's facial expressions.
It was his test.
He didn't believe that the other party would really willingly hand over a Treasure Medicine of the level of the Star Grass, so once he said he wanted it, the other party would definitely hesitate or be reluctant.
However, to his surprise, just as he finished speaking, Qi Zhongjun directly tossed the extremely precious Star Grass over to him.
Hesitation? Reluctance?
Nonexistent!
To Yun Zhongzi, it felt as if it wasn't the Star Grass but a commonplace weed...
No, it was like a poison!
A poison that could claim one's life after holding onto it for too long!
Yun Zhongzi caught the Star Grass in his hands and confirmed over and over, this was indeed that extremely precious Star Grass!
No switch-out, no fakery!
Yun Zhongzi became perplexed, followed by a shock at the bottom of his heart.
Could it be that all along, he had misjudged this Qi Zhongjun?
Reflecting back on the previous events, Yun Zhongzi suddenly had a realization.
Qi Zhongjun didn't let him harvest the Star Grass himself because he knew that the Mengji Fierce Beast had followed stealthily, so he risked himself to pick the medicine for him!
Yet Yun Zhongzi, distrusting by nature, thought that Qi Zhongjun wanted to keep the Star Grass for himself!
Upon realizing this, Qi Zhongjun didn't seem to be wanting to establish relation with him or take advantage of him... he truly considered him family!
Thinking of this, Yun Zhongzi couldn't help but feel his face heating up.
Whether Qi Zhongjun was his relative or not, he was sincere and open-hearted, harboring no ill-will towards Yun Zhongzi and always took care of him, yet Yun Zhongzi had repeatedly doubted him!
It turned out he was the petty one!
With this in mind, Yun Zhongzi felt that he no longer had the face to meet this "uncle", and the Star Grass he held felt as heavy as if it truly bore the weight of stars.
After a brief contemplation, he looked at Qi Zhongjun and said seriously, "Since you insist that we are relatives, how about we go back to Kunlun together after leaving Eastern Emperor Heaven and ask my master in person.
I'm alone except for my master and my senior brothers; having a relative to look after each other wouldn't be bad… But before that, let's still refer to each other as Daoist fellows, otherwise, it really feels a bit odd."
"No problem! Whatever you say, great-nephew."
Yu Yuan readily nodded, yet thought to himself that once they leave Eastern Emperor Heaven, if you can still find me, consider me defeated!
His sole purpose in claiming this kinship was to use Yun Zhongzi's unparalleled luck to hunt for treasures.
Initially, he was somewhat nervous when this thought occurred to him.
But after following Yun Zhongzi for a short while, they had already found Purple Ginseng and Black Jade Vine, both of which were rare treasures aged hundreds of thousands of years, plus a Star Grass that had already sprouted eight leaves.
The first two were passable, but the Star Grass was indeed a rare Great Medicine!
Especially since the finest Innate Spirit Root, the Star Fruit Tree, had vanished during the Witch Demon Calamity, this Star Grass seemed even more precious.
This fortune, perhaps, was even better than his original target, the "Treasure Hunting Rat."
Who in the vast Primordial lands could compare?
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