A faint red light radiated from Yiyi’s body. She seemed like a transparent light-up doll, her skin becoming so translucent that it was almost possible to see inside her.
Unlike the sprite core, the fiend pellet was the reservoir of spiritual essence within the flesh of a fiend beast, not simply a pure collection of spiritual power. This was why, after consuming the fiend pellet, Yiyi had entered this semi-illusory existence. She no longer needed Tang Jie’s blood for sustenance and could gradually grow while nurtured by the power of the pellet.
Once the medicinal power was finally spent, Yiyi was now the size of a three-to-four-year-old child, no longer as delicate as before.
“Big Brother!” Opening her eyes, Yiyi jumped onto Tang Jie.
“You’ve gotten heavy,” Tang Jie chuckled. “If this keeps up, your big brother won’t be able to hug you any longer.”
“No! No!” Yiyi shouted, twisting her body and refusing to come down.
“Be good! Now tell your big brother: what sort of new abilities do you have?” Tang Jie was more concerned about Yiyi’s growth.
At present, Yiyi still hadn’t left the range of the lower grade, but her strength had clearly grown. She was no longer just barely at the threshold of the lower grade.
This also meant that she was close to the level of that tree sprite from before. Considering that she wasn’t a close-combat type, she was probably stronger when it came to spells.
“Watch!” Yiyi jumped onto Tang Jie’s shoulder and pointed at the ground. “Rise!”
Countless green rose vines erupted from the ground.
It was the same flower formation from before, but they grew in swaths rather than needing to be grown one by one as before.
Besides that, the vines of these green roses were clearly much stronger and thicker than before.
The moment these green roses appeared, they opened their large mouths and bit at Tang Jie. Tang Jie let them bite, and the poison in the petal teeth caused Tang Jie to feel a twinge of pain.
“The poison hasn’t gotten stronger, but their biting force has gotten a big boost. I see,” Tang Jie commented, somewhat understanding what had happened.
The fiend pellet had come from a giant python, which had an impressive biting strength. When used on Yiyi, it majorly boosted the green roses’ close-combat strength, in addition increasing the firmness and length of the vines.
“Is there anything else?” Tang Jie asked.
“Of course.” Yiyi waved her hand, and a large cloud of mist appeared around Tang Jie.
“An illusion formation?” Tang Jie’s eyes brightened.
It was still that small bewildering formation from before, but it was clearly much stronger. The past illusion formation could only imprison a mortal, but this one could even work on Spirit Platform Realm students.
“Not bad, not bad. Alas, it still only messes up direction and can’t influence the mind into producing illusions,” Tang Jie said as he nodded.
The greatest ability of an illusion formation was to induce the mind to see things. Those in the formation would feel like they were transported to another world, and everything they thought and felt would be controlled by the formation. Their actions would be controlled through the illusion, and it could have amazing effects if used properly. As for Yiyi, her illusion formation was still stuck at the disorientation level, unable to influence others in any way. Even so, it was enough for holding down an enemy.
“Is there nothing new?” Tang Jie wasn’t satisfied with just enhanced spells. Tang Jie urgently needed Yiyi to get stronger. Moreover, Yiyi’s current level of strength didn’t fit her status as a peak lower-grade sprite.
“There’s also this.” Yiyi jumped into the air, and then like the fiend fox, she began to freely glide about in the air.
Unlike the fiend fox, which appeared to be treading the air like flat ground but was actually using a kind of spatial shifting spell, Yiyi was swimming through the air like a fish in the water, freely traveling where she pleased.
“The Snakeslither spell?” Tang Jie seemed to understand.
This was clearly an additional power granted by the fiend pellet. It had made her movements much more agile and free.
Although it wasn’t some powerful offensive spell, it was a huge upgrade to Yiyi’s self-preservation abilities. Moreover, Tang Jie could tell that Snakeslither could even avoid large-area spiritual flood attacks when trained to a high level. It was a practical kind of defensive spell.
“Not bad, not bad!” Tang Jie was delighted.
The illusion formation could hold enemies, the flower formation could attack, and Snakeslither could keep her safe. It was an all-around combination that could even let her defeat some of the weaker students.
Little Yiyi had finally grown up.
Seeing how happy Tang Jie was, Yiyi glided back into his embrace and giggled. With her growth, she had gained a lot of spiritual power, so even casting spells had become easier.
“Unfortunately, while the flower formation is decently powerful, it can’t move, so it can only be used for positional battles and isn’t suited for hit-and-run tactics.” Tang Jie was still looking for Yiyi’s shortcomings.
As a flower sprite, Yiyi had inherited the usual style of sprites, which excelled in positional battles and were weak at hit-and-run tactics.
In the future, in complicated situations where one had to face numerous experts, excelling only in positional battles was certain to be suicide.
Tang Jie shook his head. “This is no good. We still need to add onto your abilities.”
“What ideas do you have?” Yiyi curiously asked.
Tang Jie waved his hand, and a screen of light appeared. These were the countless secret arts he had stolen from the ninth floor of Heaven One. “Since I’ve stolen so many secret arts from the Divine Firmament Sword Classic, I can’t just let them go to waste. Let’s look for a secret art that you can cultivate.”
“But it would be terrible if the Basking Moon Sect found out!” Yiyi shouted.
“We just need to find one that they can’t identify. Don’t worry. There are plenty of secret arts to choose from… Which ones do you want to learn?” Tang Jie asked with a smile.
South Mountain House.
This place was located on the southern end of Rising Star Peak.
Proceeding into South Mountain House and following the courtyard, one would see a tall and straight pine tree growing out of the rocks, its top in the clouds.
Beneath the tree were a stone table and a little reclining chair positioned on the edge of the cliff. It was facing the sea of clouds and was witness to the rising mists and the rose-tinted clouds.
Nan Baicheng lightly rocked on the reclining chair as he gazed at the clouds.
He enjoyed this feeling of looking down on the world from atop the mountains. Only cultivators could enjoy this unique sensation.
Standing high above, without any peers.
But at the same time, one was positioned on a cliff and could fall at any time!
Nan Baicheng would be fine if he fell from Rising Star Peak.
But to fall from the Basking Moon Sect would put him through even more suffering than just killing him.
There were always some things that did not go the way one wanted!
A man wearing tight black clothes paced over. He quietly stood not far from Nan Baicheng, his hands at his sides.
Nan Baicheng slowly opened his eyes. “Have you finished your investigation?”
The man replied, “Yes, we’ve finished investigating. Wei Tianchong was able to complete the mission this time entirely because of that servant student, Tang Jie. He was the one who found Lin Lang and also the one who defeated him. He was also the one who reported the matter of Chang Yuping taking bribes and violating the law.”
“Tang Jie… Tang Jie again,” Nan Baicheng muttered as he pondered this familiar name.
He had become far too familiar with this name as of late.
Four years ago, it was precisely this name that had let him into paradise.
But now, the same name was on the verge of sending him to hell.
This thought caused a vicious look to appear on Nan Baicheng’s face. “Why? Why doesn’t he seek the True Inheritor position for himself?”
The man in black hastily replied, “Apparently, it is because Tang Jie swore an oath to the Wei Clan before entering school that he would not leave the family register until he helped his young master enter Celestial Heart. That is why he is doing everything in his power to get this chance for his young master.”
“For the sake of leaving a family register, he wants to make this clumsy oaf into a disciple for my master?” Nan Baicheng stood up and furiously roared, “If Master sees how I’ve served him, ultimately selecting such an incompetent and craven oaf as his disciple, what do you think Master will think of me?”
The man in black did not dare to reply to these words.
Nan Baicheng’s face twisted into a savage snarl.
The path of Immortality was rife with struggles. Every benefit had to be gained through one’s own efforts.
He needed not only to complete the mission his master had given him, but to do a good job!
To complete this mission, Nan Baicheng had refused the requests of numerous Immortal Masters and refused numerous benefits. All of this was to maintain his status in the eyes of his master.
Even though he had average talent, he was at least “able and efficient”.
But if he ended up choosing a clumsy oaf as Yan Changfeng’s disciple…
Nan Baicheng didn’t even dare to imagine the consequences.
While Yan Changfeng might not say anything, in his mind, Nan Baicheng would essentially be banished.
Without the “able and efficient” reputation, he would cease to have any purpose as Yan Changfeng’s disciple.
How could he accept this?
As he raged, the man in black gathered his courage and said, “There are still two more missions. That Wei Tianchong isn’t guaranteed to succeed.”
“You think I don’t understand that?” Nan Baicheng roared. “But since Tang Jie has already decided to make Wei Tianchong a True Inheritor, he would never let the other two chances pass by. If he actually manages to succeed, Master will have no one else to choose. Wouldn’t this be an absolute joke?”
Nan Baicheng took in a deep breath, suppressing his anger. “No matter what, Wei Tianchong can’t be allowed to succeed!”
“Yes, this lowly one understands. In the next mission, I will not allow Tang Jie to succeed!” The man in black thrust his fist into his other hand as he replied.
“No, you can’t do it. You’re my man, so if you’re exposed, you’ll ruin it. As the overseer of the disciple selection, I have to be fair and impartial, so I can’t leave behind such an obvious clue,” Nan Baicheng immediately said.
“Then, Master Nan, you mean to…”
Standing at the edge of the cliff, Nan Baicheng paced back and forth several times before sternly saying, “Tang Jie isn’t a simple person. He hasn’t been completely ruled out as being Tang Jiye, and the academy is still treating him rather favorably and keeping a close eye on him. Trying to deal with him will only make a mess of things. Thus, for the next mission, what we need to do isn’t to stop Tang Jie, but to separate him from Wei Tianchong. Wei Tianchong isn’t able enough to complete the mission without Tang Jie at his side.”
The man in black understood. “Master Nan is wise. But if that’s the case, we will have to alter the mission.”
“Mm. Fortunately, we haven’t issued the second mission. That being the case, let’s give them a little stimulation,” Nan Baicheng chuckled.
The man in black felt his heart chill at these words. “Master Nan, you mean…”
“Have them go to the Valley of No Return,” Nan Baicheng declared.
“The Valley of No Return is too dangerous. It’s not suitable for students to adventure in!”
Nan Baicheng coldly replied, “And what about it? There can be only one True Inheritor, and I only need to select one person. Moreover, the Valley of No Return has abundant resources and is rarely opened. The students should be thanking me for the opportunity to go inside. Go and make the preparations!”