Chapter 78: Popularity Reaching the Heavens

Sure enough, not long after, with a "Boom—", a scorpion with a completely translucent body broke through the soil.

The scorpion's speed was extremely fast, just like a cloud flying past.

As soon as it appeared, it attacked everyone indiscriminately.

This caused Tian Ruoyun, Huang Yang, Luo Yunfan, Fang Changzai, and the others to fall into a panic.

However, with a "Thud", the Cloud Scorpion took a heavy kick to its forehead, and the one who kicked it was none other than Su Yuanshan.

This immediately infuriated the Cloud Scorpion, which abandoned the others and lunged straight at Su Yuanshan.

And this was exactly the result Su Yuanshan wanted; after landing a heavy kick on the Cloud Scorpion, Su Yuanshan did not hesitate to dash directly toward the incoming giant Demon Beast, then shouted to the little white fox.

"Quick, hide!"

Hearing this, the little white fox nimbly dodged the Demon Beast's pounce, and taking this opportunity, Su Yuanshan channeled a sliver of spiritual energy within his Spirit Bead,

and then struck it heavily onto the Demon Beast's head.

The Demon Beast felt the pain and abandoned the little white fox to roar at Su Yuanshan.

Soon, that Demon Beast and the Cloud Scorpion collided; one raised its tail stinger to stab at Su Yuanshan, while the other raised its beast claw to swipe at Su Yuanshan.

Seeing that Su Yuanshan was about to be hit while facing the siege of the two Great Demons, Tian Ruoyun's heart jumped into her throat, and Luo Yunfan and Fang Changzai were also dumbfounded.

However, with only a "Puff" and a "Bang", Su Yuanshan was nowhere to be found; the Cloud Scorpion's tail stinger stabbed right into the Demon Beast's body, and the Demon Beast's claw swiped right onto the Cloud Scorpion's head—with this, both Great Demons were enraged and began to fight each other directly.

Their battle could be described as incredibly fierce, with strange moves appearing one after another, truly spectacular.

Yet Su Yuanshan hid to the side, leisurely sitting on the mountain to watch the tigers fight.

Not until the Demon Beast and the Cloud Scorpion were both battered and exhausted,

did he leisurely go down to finish them off, one strike for each, gouging out their Inner Cores, and then one more strike to send them to the afterlife.

The series of actions, smooth as flowing water, stunned Huang Yang, dumbfounded Lu Yunfan, and left Fang Changzai completely bewildered.

Seeing this, Tian Ruoyun was left completely rooted to the spot; they had not expected that what they considered such a thorny problem would be so simple for Su Yuanshan—the gap between them and Su Yuanshan was like the distance between heaven and the abyss.

Cutting the Cloud Scorpion's Inner Core in half and tossing it to Tian Ruoyun, Su Yuanshan then said.

"Take this to save people; it should be enough, I reckon!"

The other half of the Cloud Scorpion's Inner Core was directly stored away by him into his Spirit Void Ring.

Of course, he did not waste the corpses of these two Demon Beasts either, and directly stored them inside as well.

Receiving the half Inner Core from Su Yuanshan, Tian Ruoyun's tightly furrowed brows finally smoothed out, and she was filled with joy. With this half Inner Core plus the Miasma-Eliminating Spirit Herb, her master's illness would no longer be a concern.

Having not found any trace of Huo Jun, Su Yuanshan took the little white fox and left the Ancient Tomb Scenic Area.

Tian Ruoyun, Huang Yang, and the others followed closely behind and left together.

Originally, Su Yuanshan had intended to play missing and abandon the identity of Ouyang Jianyi, but he had not expected Tian Ruoyun to keep such a close eye on him, leaving him no opportunity to carry out this tempting idea, which made him feel somewhat regretful.

The Yaoguang Sword Sect was indeed a small sect, located at the foot of a low, small mountain; although it belonged to the territory of Huangliang Xian, its location was rather remote.

Seeing Huang Yang, Tian Ruoyun, Luo Yunfan, and the others return, those disciples bowed and greeted them one after another.

"Uncle-Master Huang is back! What was the harvest this time?"

"Uncle-Master Huang, did you bring the spirit herbs?"

"Second Senior Brother... was the trip smooth... eh? Isn't that the First Senior Brother? Heavens, the First Senior Brother is back!"

"What? The First Senior Brother is back? Really?"

"Would I lie to you? Look!"

"Ah, it really is the First Senior Brother!"

"The First Senior Brother is back!"

The deafening cheers spread throughout the distant mountains.

The phrase "The First Senior Brother is back" was like a magic spell, passing from one person's ear to another; they all excitedly gathered from all directions, as if he were a god, as if he were the sky of their Yaoguang Sword Sect.

Su Yuanshan was a bit surprised; he had not expected Ouyang Jianyi to be so popular in the Yaoguang Sword Sect; it seemed the saying "there is a reward for every effort" was truly not a lie.

The shouting seemed to have reached the ears of the Yaoguang Sword Sect Master, Xie Lingyu, and it startled her as well!

Only, she did not have the joy and excitement of the others; what she had was a trace of astonishment and confusion, and her eyes also carried a faint sorrow.

"First Senior Brother, greetings!"

"First Senior Brother, are you alright?"

"First Senior Brother, where have you been all this time?"

Seeing this, the disciples of the Yaoguang Sword Sect bowed and greeted Su Yuanshan one after another, as if he were a bright, dazzling beam of light wherever he walked; he felt the reverence everyone had for him.

This feeling was wonderful and made one feel light and airy, but Su Yuanshan kept his composure and did not lose himself.

Led by Huang Yang, Su Yuanshan, Tian Ruoyun, Luo Yunfan, Fang Changzai, and the others climbed the steps one by one and finally arrived at the Yaoguang Palace on the mountaintop, arriving before the sickbed of the Yaoguang Sword Sect Master, Xie Lingyu.

After the pill, refined from the Miasma-Eliminating Spirit Herb, the Cloud Scorpion's Inner Core, and several other medicinal herbs, was taken by Xie Lingyu.

Xie Lingyu, who had been bedridden for a long time, finally had a bit more vitality in her eyes.

Tian Ruoyun, who was by her side, talked happily without stopping.

"Master, you don't know, the First Senior Brother lured those two Demon Beasts together..."

She recounted the scene of Su Yuanshan's battle to Xie Lingyu, her mouth telling it more brilliantly than a storyteller.

Xie Lingyu listened while smiling, and from time to time, she would glance at Su Yuanshan.

Even Huang Yang, who was on the side, could not help but interject.

"That's right, Senior Sister, you don't know how capable Jian Yi is now.

To tell the truth, being able to get the spirit herbs and the Inner Core was all his credit."

Although Xie Lingyu said nothing, Su Yuanshan could clearly feel her goodwill and gratitude toward him.

Finally, when Tian Ruoyun and the others had said about enough, Xie Lingyu raised her wrist and said in a low voice.

"This master is a bit tired; you all go back first, Ouyang Jianyi stay."

Upon hearing this, Huang Yang and the others exhorted Xie Lingyu to rest well before leaving one by one, leaving only Xie Lingyu, Su Yuanshan, and a young maid in the room. Eventually, even that young maid was sent away by Xie Lingyu.

Only then did Xie Lingyu stare at Su Yuanshan and suddenly ask.

"You brought me spiritual herbs and an Inner Core, so I shall address you as benefactor! But I am very curious, who exactly are you? Why are you impersonating my disciple, and what has happened to... Jian Yi?"

Su Yuanshan had not expected that the two of them would meet in such a scenario; Xie Lingyu was over thirty years old and still possessed a charming grace, and although her voice was soft when she spoke, her words carried great force.

She went straight to the heart of the matter, directly exposing his disguise.

For a moment, the surroundings were deathly silent, and the temperature seemed to drop to freezing. The two of them looked at each other, neither speaking again.

Finally, Xie Lingyu managed a faint smile.

"You are perhaps confused as to why I asked this, and how I knew—knew that the child might already be... gone!"

Her expression was somewhat sorrowful as she said this, clearly feeling sad over the loss of her beloved disciple, Ouyang Jianyi.

She continued.

"Just a few days ago, the Life Ball that Jian Yi left with me suddenly shattered, and I knew he had met with a calamity! I had originally held onto a sliver of hope, until you suddenly appeared."

"Although you look very much like him, but... from the first moment I saw you, I knew that you... are not him, and that he... is already gone."

As she said these things, this woman actually shed tears.