Along the way, Ye Liuyun and his companions encountered feral beast. The weaker ones were left for Ye Tiandao to practice his blade intent, while the stronger ones were dealt with by Ye Liuyun using spatial powers—dodging and weaving before finishing them off with his fists. For the most formidable foes, the two joined forces, and they managed just fine.
Qin ngxi, however, trailed behind, constantly lanting how cruel they were. Eventually, her complaints wore on Ye Liuyun's patience, and he couldn't help but retort, "Aren't you here to hunt beasts too?"
"I *am* here to hunt," Qin ngxi explained. "But we kill them swiftly—no drawn-out battles, no making them suffer the despair of facing death."
"What's the difference? They die either way. If we use them to sharpen our skills, isn't that giving their deaths more aning?" Ye Liuyun shot back.
"It's *not* the sa! I only target beasts I can kill cleanly. You two slaughter indiscriminately—it's reckless and cruel!" she argued.
Deep down, Ye Liuyun understood her point. But in the world of martial arts, strength dictated everything. If they followed Qin ngxi's logic, the strong would never challenge the weak—yet in every world, wasn't it the way of warriors to dominate the lesser to seize more resources?
*Master,* Li Daoyuan suddenly transmitted to him, *people from this star system all think like Qin ngxi—hypocritically righteous. They act when they must, but they're just better at justifying it. Makes them feel noble and kind.*
Ye Liuyun imdiately grasped the implication. *No wonder their resources are so abundant, yet their strength isn't much greater than yours. Too much effort wasted on crafting excuses.*
To shut Qin ngxi up, he adjusted his approach in later battles. Now, he simply annihilated the beasts' souls with a single ntal strike, then stored their carcasses, claiming they were for food.
Besides, they were nearing the end of the Thousand Burial Mountain, and there were no high-level beasts left worth training against. Better to silence Qin ngxi this way.
Sure enough, she stopped complaining. To her, hunting for sustenance was a justifiable reason—and at least the beasts died instantly, spared prolonged agony.
*Just as I thought,* Ye Liuyun mused inwardly, amused by the hypocrisy. *All high-minded pretense.*
He transmitted to Li Daoyuan again, *So how do they train, then?*
Li Daoyuan replied, "They have combat arenas everywhere here where anyone can find opponents of similar strength to spar with. Killing is permitted in those places."
"What if they can't find a suitable match?" Ye Liuyun asked, puzzled. He knew all too well how difficult it was to find a worthy opponent.
Li Daoyuan explained, "If they can't find one, they just have to wait. Even though those arenas allow killing, the locals rarely take it that far. Most native martial cultivators avoid those places altogether, considering them brutal and bloodthirsty. The young masters of major families train within their own clans, using sparring partners, puppets, or formations. Only rogue cultivators and outsiders frequent those arenas."
"Then they must have very little real combat experience?" Ye Liuyun found it hard to believe.
Li Daoyuan nodded. "Exactly. Their actual combat skills are weak. In a real fight, they can only rely on overwhelming their opponents with sheer cultivation level. Fortunately, the power of the Buddha's Light here compensates sowhat for their lack of experience."
Seizing the chance, Ye Liuyun discreetly examined Qin ngxi's core. Sure enough, the quality of her true essence was lacking.
"Lack of real combat doesn't just an poor experience—it also weakens the purity of their true essence! That makes their cultivation unstable, and progress slows the further they advance."
The realization made Ye Liuyun understand why, despite the abundance of resources here, the martial cultivators weren't particularly strong.
Just as he was pondering the situation, his divine sense suddenly detected several elders—all at the Unity Realm—approaching swiftly from ahead.
Unconcerned about their origins, Ye Liuyun moved to et them. The mont they spotted Qin ngxi, their faces lit up, and they hurried forward.
"Young Mistress!" one of the elders called out from a distance.
Recognizing them, Qin ngxi waved cheerfully at the leader. "Fifth Elder!"
From afar, Ye Liuyun's golden pupils scrutinized them, confirming that their true essence was indeed unrefined. With such poor quality, breaking through even the first level of the Unity Realm would take them years!
As the elders arrived, they quickly assessed Ye Liuyun and his companions before producing a Interspatial Ring.
"All the resources are inside. Now, release our Young Mistress," the Fifth Elder demanded.
"Mr. Wu, you've misunderstood! They're not bandits!" Qin ngxi explained with a smile. "They rescued from the bandits and even escorted out of the dense forest, fearing I might be devoured by savage beasts. I promised them the resources originally ant for the bandits as their reward."
Mr. Wu looked astonished but quickly expressed his gratitude to Ye Liuyun, imdiately handing over the Interspatial Ring to him.
*Are these people truly indifferent to such resources, or are they just inherently this straightforward?* Ye Liuyun thought to himself, holding the Interspatial Ring with so unease. The martial cultivators he'd encountered before would never part with their storage rings so willingly.
Yet, these people seed utterly unresistant—even genuinely thankful. Upon learning that Ye Liuyun and his companions hailed from another star system, they warmly invited him to stay at the Qin family residence.
"Mr. Ye, since you're not from around here and have no lodgings, why not stay with our Qin family? It would allow us to express our gratitude and fulfill our duty as hosts," Mr. Wu offered earnestly.
"That's right! We've already gotten acquainted along the way—hardly strangers now. Please join us so I can properly thank you for rescuing and escorting !" Qin ngxi chid in cheerfully.
Had Ye Liuyun not been briefed extensively by Li Daoyuan about the local customs, he might have suspected ulterior motives behind their hospitality!
Unable to refuse their earnest insistence, Ye Liuyun agreed and accompanied Qin ngxi back to the Qin estate. Delighted, Qin ngxi practically skipped along the way, her steps noticeably lighter.
anwhile, Mr. Wu engaged Ye Liuyun in conversation, inquiring about their origins. Ye Liuyun simply stated that he ca from the Ironhorn Star System, was an alchemist visiting for the first ti, and that Li Daoyuan and Ye Tiandao were his attendant and bodyguard, respectively.
The Ironhorn Star System wasn't far from their Demonward Star System, and to Ye Liuyun's surprise, the elders were familiar with it. Assuming he was here to gather herbs, they even recomnded several regions renowned for their dicinal plants.
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