Chapter 2

Night fell! Moonlight spilled onto the ground, casting shadows of all things, and the cicadas' chirping rose and fell.

Di Yuan packed his belongings, opened his divine sense, and simultaneously employed concealment technique, avoiding the patrolling ninjas, arriving at the north gate of Leaf Village, and swiftly ran out of the village, evading several patrolling ninjas along the way.

After a double-hour's gallop, Di Yuan finally reached the outskirts of the Land of Fire.

Di Yuan had no clear direction and simply walked northward.

One day later, Di Yuan entered the interior of the Land of Fields.

"This is the Land of Fields! Indeed, as its name suggests, everywhere are fields, and those terraces are indeed a fine sight." Di Yuan praised the terraces while admiring the scenery.

Di Yuan found an inn and settled in, sitting on the bed recalling that someone had once said that one of Leaf Village's defecting ninjas, Orochimaru, seemed to be here!

"I recently heard that Sasuke Uchiha defected from Leaf Village and fled to Orochimaru; if I were to meet him… hehe, interesting." Di Yuan curled the corners of his mouth, revealing a faint smile.

Having said that, Di Yuan entered a cultivation state.

Ten days later! A rumbling sound erupted from within Di Yuan's body, and he broke through in one fell swoop to the late stage of Refining Qi.

A flash of disappointment crossed Di Yuan's face as he sighed: "These days the breakthrough speed is getting slower and slower; if I don't quickly find a place with abundant spiritual energy, I'm afraid I won't even be able to keep up with the pace of my previous life."

Di Yuan walked out of the inn, using his divine sense to search this country for a place rich in spiritual energy.

As time passed, two double-hours had elapsed.

Di Yuan inexplicably arrived at a ninja village called Sound Hidden Village.

"This looks like the village that attacked Leaf Village last time! But judging from its dilapidated, deserted appearance, it must have been destroyed." Di Yuan said, looking thoughtfully at the characters on the gate.

Di Yuan scanned the entire Sound Hidden Village with his divine sense, and suddenly discovered there was actually an underground chamber.

"Could this be Orochimaru's hiding place?"

"I'd like to see just whose dwelling this is, and whether it truly belongs to Orochimaru." Di Yuan proceeded toward the chamber with large steps while employing the concealment technique.

Inside the secret chamber!

"This secret chamber actually has so many levels." Di Yuan was somewhat speechless.

Soon after, a figure appeared before Di Yuan's eyes; he looked at the person, and only after a moment did he recognize him as the previously defected Sasuke Uchiha.

"What are you?" At that moment, Sasuke said, his eyes flashing crimson, expressionless.

Di Yuan's heart jolted; he had indeed employed a low-level concealment technique.

"Oh? You can actually see me?" Di Yuan suppressed his surprise, dispelled the concealment technique, and spoke with a faint smile.

Di Yuan stared into Sasuke's eyes and teased: "Writing Wheel Eye? Hmm, it's a pair of eye techniques that are merely passable."

Sasuke's mouth twitched, he nearly spat blood; this was the first time he'd heard someone say that even one of the three great eye techniques, the Writing Wheel Eye, was merely passable.

Sasuke looked at the youth before him, who was about his own age, and coldly said: "Who are you? What are you doing here? You must answer truthfully."

Di Yuan's eyes flashed with a cold gleam as he smiled and said: "What if I say no?"

"Then I won't waste any more words!"

"Thousand Birds" Sasuke also swiftly formed seals with both hands and shouted.

Splurt!

Sasuke gripped Thousand Birds and rushed toward Di Yuan at breakneck speed.

Di Yuan expressionlessly gazed at the Sasuke charging at him to kill, still standing in place without moving an inch.

Seeing Thousand Birds come within less than a meter of Di Yuan, he instantly unleashed a Rushing Thunder Palm, blasting the approaching Sasuke several meters away.

Cough! Cough! Ptui!

Sasuke spat out fresh blood, his eyes wide with disbelief as he stared at Di Yuan and said: "How is this possible? My Writing Wheel Eye cannot even catch your movements. How could you form seals so quickly? Or is it that your technique doesn't require seals?"

"You defecting ninja from a village, where do you get all this nonsense! If you have any questions, you'll naturally know once you meet King Yama." Di Yuan chuckled, gripping his longsword and walking toward the fallen Sasuke in the distance.

Just then, an abrupt change occurred!

Only saw a long-haired figure standing beside Sasuke, he smirked strangely and said: "Little brat! Not even that old, yet you harbor such great killing intent."

"Who are you?" Di Yuan sensed that this person's aura was not weak and somewhat eerie, so he furrowed his brows and asked warily.

"Hahaha! You've come to my territory and don't even know my name. How shameful!" The man laughed hysterically, saying with a hint of sadness.

Di Yuan's heart jolted; could this person before him be the defecting ninja Orochimaru? He hadn't expected to meet him so soon.

"As you thought, I am Orochimaru." Orochimaru chuckled.

He seemed to have seen through Di Yuan's thoughts.

Afterward, Orochimaru slowly walked toward Di Yuan; through the darkness he was a figure wearing a kimono, a thick purple rope coiled around his waist, his pallid face bearing a pair of snake-like eyes, looking at Di Yuan with a half-smile.

Di Yuan stared in disbelief at the man before him, who resembled a demonic cultivator from the immortal realm of his past life.

"Just now, you were using immortal arts, right? I never expected to meet someone here who can manipulate natural chakra. How exciting!" Orochimaru licked his finger with his tongue and gave a hehe laugh.

"Natural chakra? Could this be what this world calls spiritual energy?" Di Yuan thought to himself.

"Oh? So you've also come into contact with natural chakra? May I ask where you obtained it?" Di Yuan showed a look of surprise, then a questioning gaze toward Orochimaru.

"It's no problem to tell you; I once trained in natural energy, i. e., natural chakra, at the Dragon Earth Cave, one of the three great holy lands of the ninja world." Orochimaru said, narrowing his snake eyes.

"Dragon Earth Cave? Surely the spiritual energy there must be richer than elsewhere! Then I could raise my strength to Foundation Establishment," Di Yuan thought, delighted.

"I wish to go to the Dragon Earth Cave; I don't know if senior could disclose its location to me?" Di Yuan immediately changed his tone, asking respectfully.

"I can tell you, but what benefit would I gain?" Orochimaru immediately revealed his true venomous nature.

"I observe that senior, your body has problems; I can help you." Di Yuan spoke calmly, full of confidence.

Di Yuan's divine sense was immensely powerful; in an instant he saw that Orochimaru had already taken several different bodies, merely to maintain his youth.

Orochimaru's expression shifted in surprise, and he hastily asked: "Then do you have a way to help me resolve this?"

"There is naturally a way; once you tell me how to get to the Dragon Earth Cave, I will impart this plan to you." Di Yuan replied with a mysterious smile.

Orochimaru, looking contemplative, then said: "I can give you a map of the Dragon Earth Cave; as for what comes after, it's up to you."

Having said that, Di Yuan pointed a finger and transmitted a Refining Qi secret to Orochimaru.

"As long as you cultivate this method and enter the Refining Qi stage, your lifespan will increase with your cultivation; in the Refining Qi stage, the maximum lifespan can reach about two hundred years."

"If one's cultivation is high enough, moving mountains and filling seas, plucking stars with bare hands, and the like are mere trifles; even having a lifespan comparable to the stars is not impossible." Di Yuan transmitted his voice to Orochimaru.

After hearing these words, Orochimaru instantly felt doubtful about his research of these years, and he also wholeheartedly admired Di Yuan's method of voice transmission.

Having said that, Di Yuan left Orochimaru's base without looking back.

"By the way, may I ask how to address you, sir?" Orochimaru's respectful voice came from behind Di Yuan.

"I am Di Yuan! I will come again; I hope that when we meet next time you have already reached the peak of Qi Refining." Di Yuan replied from ahead.

Orochimaru watched the retreating Di Yuan, his heart filled with great excitement.

Chapter complete!