Volume 1: Heavenly Machine Pavilion, Stormy Weather Chapter 21: Zhao Yi Mountain

  "My old man is going to kill you!"

  This is the first sentence Ling Feng said after regaining consciousness.

  He suddenly woke up with a start, sat up at once, panting heavily, and his hands were slightly trembling.

  "You've finally woken up, great!"

  A crisp and pleasant voice sounded in his ear, Ling Feng raised his head to look, a delicate and sweet little face appeared before his eyes.

  "Who is she? And where am I?"

  Ling Feng glanced at the owner of that delicate small face, composed himself, and looked around, only to see that this was an ordinary compartment, with two small windows, simple and clean furnishings inside, with only a few tables and chairs.

  Lying on a wooden bed, beside the bed, sat a little girl who looked eight or nine years old, staring at herself with big black eyes that didn't blink!

  "Ahem!" Clearing his throat, Ling Feng's face broke into a harmless smile as he asked the little girl sitting beside him in a tentative tone, "Little sister, where is this place..."

  "This is Mount Zhuoyi!" The little girl, seeing that he was unharmed, showed a joyful smile on her face and immediately began to chatter away, "You were sent here three days ago, and have been unconscious the whole time. Several high-ranking priests came to visit you, even the High Priest himself came once, examined you, and instructed me to take care of you. Oh, it's been several days already, I still don't know your name..."

  The little girl seemed to have a lot to say and once she started, she wouldn't stop. Ling Feng listened intently, his mind racing with thoughts of the strange things that had happened to him before.

  "It seems that little thing didn't harm me after all, and I've already left my own soul orifice. This time it was a narrow escape!"

  Ling Feng pondered in his heart, and a faint smile spread across his face without him realizing it.

  "Hey, I've been talking for half a day, did you hear me or not?" The little girl saw that Ling Feng was ignoring her, so she puffed up her small mouth and scolded: "I haven't slept in days taking care of you here, humph! You're awake now but you won't even acknowledge me!"

  Although she is young, she has a beautiful appearance and a lovely demeanor, looking exactly like a beautiful maiden.

  "Oh, it's my fault," Ling Feng came back to his senses and hastily admitted his mistake. Having narrowly escaped danger, he was now feeling cheerful and relaxed, his eyes turned to the little girl who was pretending to be angry, and asked in a teasing tone: "Little sister, I haven't had a chance to ask your name yet?"

  "My name is Yun Ning, I'm from the Shadow Clan, and you?"

  "Lin Feng, born of the Barbarian Tribe!"

  "Ling Feng?" The little girl Yun Cong softly read out, her big black eyes turned around, looking at Ling Feng and asked in a low voice: "You also have a spiritual root, right?"

  "Hmm!" Ling Feng nodded and replied: "I was tested to have a Wind Spirit Root when my bloodline awakened, little sister, what about you?"

  From the tone of the other party's words, Ling Feng had already guessed that this little girl also possessed a spiritual root, hence this question.

  "Feng Linggen? Rare to see! " Yun Ning nodded with a pretended mature expression, then smiled mischievously at Ling Feng, two shallow dimples appearing on her tender little face, looking adorable.

  "My spiritual root is slightly inferior to yours, it's a water and fire dual spiritual root!" Yun Cong said with a slight pout.

  Looking at her, she seemed a bit unhappy. Ling Feng smiled and comforted her: "Little sister, whether it's Wind Spirit Root or Water Fire Double Spirit Root, for us, there are only two words to describe it - useless!"

  "It can't be said like that!" Yun Cong shook her head, wanting to speak but stopping herself. After a while, she finally said, "You've just arrived, and there are many things you don't understand yet. Wait a few days and you'll realize the importance of Linggen!"

  "Huh?" Ling Feng's heart was filled with surprise as he listened. He just wanted to ask for clarification when he saw Yun Cong stand up.

  "You're awake now, I have to go and report to Master Lin!" Yun Cong smiled slightly, turned around and was about to leave when she seemed to remember something, adding a sentence: "Ling Feng, you should only be eight years old, but I'm already nine this year, next time don't call me little sister again, you should call me big sister!" After that, the little girl made a mischievous face and skipped out of the room.

  "Sister?" Ling Feng was amused and cried. Although he had the memories and mindset of an adult, his actual age was only eight years old. In that case, it seemed he really should call Yun Cong this little girl "sister".

  Shaking his head, Ling Feng got out of bed, put on his shoes, and walked step by step towards the door.

  The door was half open, and a faint breeze blew in, feeling cool.

  With a creak, Lingfeng opened the door and the bright light from outside poured in, making him squint. The warm and gentle sunlight fell on his body, feeling cozy and comfortable beyond words.

  Outside the door is a small courtyard, with a cypress tree, several clusters of grass and trees, and many fragrant small flowers blooming. In front of the door is a gravel path leading to the outside of the yard.

  "Is Hei Zi here too?"

  Ling Feng walked into the courtyard, pacing back and forth without stopping. After thinking for a moment, he decided to go find Chu Hei, and at the same time take a look around the surroundings.

  He had made up his mind and was about to set off, but saw two people walking into the yard outside. One of them was Yun Cong, the little girl who called Ling Feng her sister, and the other was a young man wearing a white mourning robe, with an air of elegance on his face, looking not very old.

  He quickly walked over and smiled at Ling Feng: "You're awake!"

  "The young master has seen the venerable one!" Ling Feng hastily bowed. Presumably, this youth before him was Yun Cong's Junior Master Cui, who at a young age had cultivated the Soul Clan's sorcery to the level of a senior master, an extremely rare occurrence.

  "No need for formalities!" Master Kuang looked at Ling Feng, nodded and said: "A few of the sacrificial officials want to see you, ask you some questions, just follow me!"

  "Yes!" Ling Feng responded, following behind Master Cui as he walked out of the courtyard. As for Yun Cong, this little servant girl, she didn't follow them, but stayed in the yard, her eyes fixed on Ling Feng, and when no one was looking, she stuck out her pink tongue at him.

  As he walked out of the courtyard, Ling Feng only then discovered that he was in a secluded and mysterious mountain valley. Looking around, the surrounding mountains were surrounded by peaks, with dozens of courtyards identical to the one behind him, appearing in front of him not far away.

  "I heard that Mount Zhao Yi is the headquarters of the Nan Huang Twelve Tribes Alliance, but why... it doesn't seem to be much different from what I imagined?" Ling Feng was surprised in his heart, but he didn't ask any questions, and instead silently followed behind Master Lin, heading forward.

  They walked for about half an incense stick's time and stopped in front of a common courtyard.

  "The three high priests, the child has awoken..."

  "No need to say more, bring him in!" Before Master Kuang could finish speaking, a hoarse voice came from the courtyard, interrupting his words.

  Ling Shang Shifu said in a low voice to Ling Feng: "Follow me inside!"

  They walked into the courtyard together, and Ling Feng saw that there was a house made of bluestone in the courtyard, exactly the same as where he used to live. The door was wide open, and Master Cui stepped inside without stopping, walking straight into the house. Ling Feng followed closely behind him, not taking a single step back.

  Upon entering the house, three ordinary-looking old men wearing golden ceremonial robes sat beside a wooden table, their gazes all fixed on Ling Feng.

  "I've seen three venerable priests!" Ling Feng was very quick-witted, and without needing to be summoned, he took a step forward and respectfully bowed to the three elderly men.

  "This kid is quite clever!" One of the white-haired old men said with a smile all over his face, pointing at Ling Feng and saying to the two people beside him.

  "At such a young age, he already knows how to use strategy and tactics, killing one of the foundation-building monks. This kid is indeed not bad!" Another thin and small old man nodded in agreement, his tone showing some appreciation for Ling Feng.

  "With bravery and strategy, good!" The old man who spoke last had a stern face, with three strands of clear whiskers under his chin, making people feel that this old man was not angry but majestic.

  Three people looked at you with one eye, and I spoke a word to praise Ling Feng highly. Ling Feng was extremely clever and didn't say much, standing aside with his hands hanging down.

  These three old men in front of him are all Soul Clan priests, and any one of them can make a big figure in the Nanhuang region tremble with just a stomp. Ling Feng dare not be presumptuous in front of them!

  "Child, when you were brought here, you had been unconscious the whole time. According to Lord Qiu's words, you killed a Jigong monk, and then his primordial spirit escaped and forcibly opened your soul aperture, intending to use the Soul-Seizing Technique on you. Can you tell us in detail what exactly happened?" The white-haired old man asked gently, looking at Ling Feng with a kind expression.

  "It's like this......" Ling Feng, after hearing it, didn't dare to be slow and recounted in detail how he and Chu Hei encountered the foundation-establishing cultivator who was pursuing them, and then used a scheme to annihilate him.

  “……The man's primordial spirit followed me into a space filled with thick fog, he wanted to kill me, I naturally couldn't just wait for death, but the opponent was very powerful, if we fought head-on, I would absolutely be no match for him. So, I could only desperately flee, strangely, in that foggy space, I could actually fly freely, and my flying speed was extremely fast, even the cultivator's primordial spirit couldn't catch up to me. We chased each other like this, not knowing how much time had passed, finally, the cultivator's primordial spirit slowed down, I saw his body seemed to have faded a lot, looking very weak, so I turned around and fought him, and with just a few moves, I solved that guy!”

  Ling Feng's eloquence was exceptional, his words vivid and lifelike, making listeners feel as if they were present at the scene. After he finished speaking, the three old men looked at each other in stunned silence, unable to utter a word for quite some time.

  "The three venerable priests, every word I say is absolutely true, not a single lie!" Ling Feng saw them deep in thought and felt a chill run down his spine. Most of what he said was indeed true, except that he had hidden the existence of the strange beast statue in his 'soul aperture', as well as the terrifying small beast devouring the cultivator's primordial spirit.

  "If that's really the case, wouldn't this child's primordial spirit be even stronger than that Foundation Establishment cultivator?" The slender old man with an incredulous expression on his face said to the two people beside him.

  The old man with white hair thought for a moment, then said, "It's easy to verify this!" He turned his gaze to Ling Feng and continued, "Child, come forward, I'll teach you the method of controlling your soul power!"

  Ling Feng heard and felt apprehensive in his heart, but on the surface he didn't hesitate at all, walking to the old man's side.

  Thank you! (giggling)