Chapter 544: 543. Chapter 538: Acquaintances, But No Old Friends

543. Chapter 538: Acquaintances, But No Old Friends

Ji Luo pulled out a teleportation talisman and handed it to Ding Huan: "I'll set up a teleportation array here. When you arrive, activate this talisman—you'll appear here instantly."

"Thank you, Brother Ji. Maybe when I come, that guy still hasn't arrived yet." Ding Huan took the talisman, genuinely thanking him this time.

Ding Huan's spiritual sense found no familiar faces, but he saw the statue of Qu Yi.

He hadn't expected Qu Yi to have a statue.

Qu Yi's statue stood in the plaza of the Human Corridor Defense Line.

Ding Huan landed beside Qu Yi's statue and gazed at the characters beneath it.

"Qu Yi, Earth's Ten-Star Protector. In 2089, Earth experienced its largest-ever beast surge, with nearly half its nations and population swallowed by beasts."

"Earth's sole Foundation Establishment cultivator, Qu Yi, led the Earth Alliance Army and held the Human Corridor Defense Line firm."

"The following year, Asian beasts also erupted in chaos. Master Qu Yi entered Kunlun Mountain alone and persuaded the first beast, Great Wilderness Jin Yuan. Great Wilderness Jin Yuan turned traitor, and the beasts collapsed…"

"In 2095, Master Qu Yi, accompanied by Zhong Chi, Fan Yibing, Lü Zi, Fang Chong, Geng Qianxing, and Zhan Wei, departed Earth aboard Huaxia One."

Ding Huan touched the statue—he had fused the gene-spirit root for Qu Yi, yet never imagined Qu Yi would successfully reach Foundation Establishment.

As for turning Great Wilderness Jin Yuan, that was normal.

Before he left, he had instructed: if Qu Yi needed help, Great Wilderness Jin Yuan must act.

Otherwise, the soul-blood oath wasn't something to be taken lightly.

Yet Ding Huan felt uneasy—even when he left Earth, Qu Yi was far from Foundation Establishment.

But a Foundation Establishment cultivator in the vast void was still pathetically weak.

He hadn't expected Qu Yi to take nearly all his disciples and friends, except Li Wanran.

His thoughts drifted far back, and Ding Huan felt as if he, too, had become a statue, standing beside Qu Yi's.

"Y-You… are Teacher Ding?" A trembling voice broke through Ding Huan's reverie.

Ding Huan slowly turned. Before him stood a woman with seven or eight scars across her face, appearing forty to fifty years old.

Though his spiritual sense had briefly scanned earlier and found no one familiar, he recognized her now: "Li Wanran?"

Li Wanran was a Level Nine gene cultivator, not Foundation Establishment. Her appearance had changed so drastically, she was nearly unrecognizable at first glance.

But she must have fused longevity genes—otherwise, she couldn't have lived this long.

Clearly, Earth's longevity genes had advanced.

He never imagined the only familiar face he'd find upon returning to Earth would be Li Wanran. Honestly, he didn't want to see this woman.

"You really are Teacher Ding…" Li Wanran burst into tears, her whole body trembling.

She never thought, after so many years, she'd see her cultivation enlightenment teacher, Ding Huan, again.

Ding Huan looked almost exactly as he had when she last saw him—except for a bloody gash on his forehead, slowly oozing blood.

Additionally, a blood hole marred his neck, also slowly leaking blood—he was severely wounded.

Ding Huan sighed: "I never thought, after all these years, I'd meet an acquaintance here."

But it was only an acquaintance—not an old friend.

"Teacher, I'm sorry…" Li Wanran collapsed to her knees.

She had always known why Master Qu Yi didn't take her with him.

She knew Gene Alliance had been scheming against Teacher Ding, yet she walked with them—effectively stabbing her own teacher in the back.

Back then, she never thought it wrong. She believed it was normal for a student to have multiple teachers.

To take a teacher was not to sell oneself; one's choices were one's own.

As years passed, she realized how childish and absurd her past self had been.

She had regretted her choice countless times—but there was no medicine for regret.

"Stand up," Ding Huan waved his hand. Li Wanran's actions might be what many would do—he wouldn't blame her.

But once something happens, the verdict is set.

If today he saw Fang Chong or Lü Zi, he'd re-teach them cultivation methods and leave them rings and training resources.

After all, spiritual stones and Daoist cultivation techniques from the cultivation world were as useless to him as trash in his True Soul world.

But Li Wanran—forget it.

He owed her nothing; she owed him.

"How many years has Qu Yi been gone from Earth?" Ding Huan asked.

Li Wanran froze. She'd heard Ding Huan left Earth, but seeing him here, she assumed the rumors were just rumors.

Now he spoke this way—did that mean he not only left Earth, but just returned?

She quickly realized: "One hundred and twenty to thirty years."

Ding Huan fell silent.

Time on Earth must differ from the realm he inhabited.

"Farewell," Ding Huan nodded to Li Wanran, stepped forward—and vanished instantly.

Li Wanran stared blankly at the spot where Ding Huan had disappeared, unable to recover for a long while.

Was this truly divine ability?

Even after Qu Yi reached Foundation Establishment, he never possessed such power.

Then sadness washed over her—after meeting her again, Ding Huan treated her as nothing more than a passing acquaintance, exchanging a few words.

He showed no intention to teach her any technique or give her anything.

Clearly, her past actions still weighed on her teacher's mind.

Standing beside Qu Yi's statue for a long time, Li Wanran finally turned and walked away slowly.

She appeared forty to fifty years old—but her lifespan was nearly spent. She came here only to pay one final tribute to the place where she once fought.

"Grandma…" The moment Li Wanran turned around, a young woman rushed forward and supported her.

"Grandma, who was that young man just now?" Though she had not dared to step forward, she had seen with her own eyes her grandmother kneel to that person.

Her grandmother Li Wanran was one of the few standing at the very peak on Earth; one could say no one on Earth could bear the weight of her grandmother's kneel.

Li Wanran wiped the tears from her eyes: "That is my teacher."

"Ancestral Master Ding?" the young woman cried out in shock.

Li Wanran nodded and did not continue speaking.

She knew in her heart that Ding Huan had never taken her as a disciple. To call him teacher was merely her own wishful thinking.

……

Ding Huan's divine sense swept out once more; after leaving Earth this time, he did not know when he would be able to return.

If the fierce beasts were too strong and humanity could not resist, he would simply wipe out all the fierce beasts.

Fortunately, Earth's humans now held the upper hand, while the fierce beasts were clearly a notch weaker.

To be safe, Ding Huan still needed to observe carefully.

A violent aura abruptly appeared beneath Ding Huan's divine sense—was this within the Ten Thousand Great Mountains?

Ding Huan's divine sense swept over; this was an old friend, that two-horned fire lizard he had seen before at Penglu Mountain.

This two-horned fire lizard had hidden itself remarkably well; if it had not advanced to a fourth-tier demon beast, he really might not have discovered it.

The moment Ding Huan discovered this fire lizard, bolt after bolt of lightning came crashing down.

A demon beast drawing a Lei Jie on Earth—once he left, would there perhaps no longer be any humans on Earth?

A being of this level destroying the entire Earth would be utterly effortless.

A creature with divine beast bloodline really is extraordinary; last time he chopped off half its head and let it go, sparing its life.

Who would have thought this fellow not only recovered, but became the only fourth-tier demon beast on Earth.

He had just swept his divine sense over this place; there wasn't even a third-tier demon beast here, yet a fourth-tier demon beast appeared—simply heaven-defying.

A fourth-tier demon beast is equivalent to the Primordial Soul realm.

Such a being actually existing on Earth—if he had not personally witnessed this fire lizard's advancement, he truly would not have believed it.

No, before leaving he must wipe out every fierce beast here.

The moment this thought arose in Ding Huan, he dismissed it himself; Earth's environment had now mutated.

Even if he wiped out all the fierce beasts, new fierce beasts would soon appear.

If another fierce beast with even a trace of divine beast bloodline came and advanced to fourth tier again, that would not be impossible.

Since that is the case, let him pay a visit to this fire lizard.

The fire lizard's formidable body completed its Tribulation Crossing swiftly; although it still could not speak, its powerful aura suppressed all the surrounding fierce beasts so that none dared make the slightest sound.

"Ee-orr!"

The fire lizard let out a piercing roar, and immediately swarms of fierce beasts madly surged over.

Looks like this fellow is not behaving.

Ding Huan stepped down right in front of the fire lizard: "Little thing, we meet again."

The fire lizard clearly had not forgotten its grudge against Ding Huan; the moment Ding Huan appeared it reacted, opening its mouth and spewing a pillar of fire that locked onto Ding Huan.

Ding Huan paid no heed to the flames at all, standing without moving, and then sent out a palm seal formed of immortal essence.

"Boom!"

The fire lizard was slapped flying several hundred meters away; before it even hit the ground, another immortal essence palm seal gripped its neck and tossed it back.

Although Ding Huan had not extended his domain, this terrifying aura made all the fierce beasts that had gathered tremble, and some had already begun to carefully retreat.

"Advanced to a fourth-tier demon beast, preparing to dominate Earth, huh?" Ding Huan said with a chuckle as he looked at the two-horned fire lizard.

The two-horned fire lizard trembled all over; last time it had been about to come out and reign supreme, the Great Wasteland Jin Yuan had ruined its plans.

So it hid away and cultivated diligently, and after great difficulty advancing to a fourth-tier demon beast, an enemy who could kill it with a single breath had appeared—how was it supposed to get by?

The fire lizard prostrate on the ground was very unwilling to die; it understood in its heart that Ding Huan probably would not let it go.

"Speak, what do you plan to do?" Ding Huan's voice fell by its ear; it trembled and kept crying out.

Ding Huan took out a Spirit-Communing Blue-Faced Fruit: "I'll give you a fruit; refine it first, then answer my question."

Seeing the Spirit-Communing Blue-Faced Fruit in Ding Huan's hand, the two-horned fire lizard's eyes went wide.

The knowledge in its subconscious told it that such a thing did not exist on Earth, but it could raise its intelligence and even let it speak.