Chapter 74: Beginning and Ending

"Ouch ouch ouch, be gentle. Hiss~~ I told you to be gentle, and you're still so heavy, are you some kind of sadist?" "Who's the sadist?!" "You… I… you! It's you! You're the sadist!" "Hmph hmph! Looks like your training isn't up to par yet. Falling off such a short cliff and you're still crying about the pain…" "Who said I'm in pain?! I'm fine! Look! Look! I can even jump! Watch. I can jump like this… my training has made my body much tougher, look, I can twist like this…" *Crack…* A bone-breaking sound. Silence… "Ah---!!" "Keep your voice down!" *Slap!* A whip sound. Silence… Three days later… Ye Yun walked dejectedly at the very back of the group, his fierce eyes locked tightly onto An Zhi Mei. If a glance could kill, An Zhi Mei would have died countless times already. It was only when Ye Yun was at the very back that he dared to shoot such a murderous look at An Zhi Mei, because the unprecedented pain from three days ago was all thanks to him. The visibility around was indeed very low. Even though Ye Yun and An Zhi Mei were separated by Ye Tong and Luo Lan, in Ye Yun's eyes, An Zhi Mei appeared and disappeared within the white fog. "So this is Qianlong Valley? How can such a sparsely populated place be a holy place for training, it's really strange," Ye Yun said, which could also be taken as asking An Zhi Mei for an explanation. An Zhi Mei walked gracefully in front, unhurried, and answered, "This is just the outer part of Qianlong Valley. The inside is the true training sanctuary, where the environment is excellent. But I must warn you, whether it's the outer area or the inner, you are not allowed to touch any flowers, plants, trees, birds, beasts, or insects… Hey! I just said don't touch, and you still moved!" At this moment, Ye Yun was approaching a very cute white cat that had slipped past his feet. Just as he was about to reach out, the surrounding plants suddenly crazily surged towards him, binding him firmly to the ground. Ye Tong looked at An Zhi Mei, because here she was the most familiar with Qianlong Valley. An Zhi Mei stood aside with her arms folded, watching the scene unfold without saying a word, letting Ye Yun struggle. In her heart, however, she felt secretly pleased: serves you right for not listening to me, huh? You got your just reward! As Ye Yun's struggle weakened due to exhaustion, the strangest flowers and plants binding him began to loosen. He suddenly realized this and simply lay down without moving. As he expected, the odd plants indeed released him. Ye Yun somersaulted upright, feeling quite pleased with himself.The Charm of Darkness glared at him silently, then continued walking forward. After only a few steps, Ye Tong realized that Ye Yun had disappeared from behind. Reacting to the Charm of Darkness, she didn't hesitate to leave Ye Yun behind, for the following reason: Why worry? He won't die anyway; let him do whatever he wants. Thus, the three women of the Charm of Darkness walked forward, completely separating from Ye Yun. In the vast white mist, a tiny figure sped by. Not far behind, shockingly, was Ye Yun chasing after it. This kid had discovered an exceptionally intelligent spirit fox and, disregarding what the Charm of Darkness had said, decided to pursue it. Such a spirit beast was rare, almost nonexistent outside the Hidden Dragon Valley. If used to refine pills, the resulting medicine would be extremely powerful. Therefore, Ye Yun preferred to catch this spirit fox rather than obediently follow the Charm of Darkness's instructions. At this moment, Ye Yun focused all his mental energy, locking his aura firmly on the spirit fox, determined to catch it at all costs! The spirit fox ahead suddenly made a sharp turn and vanished. Ye Yun did not dare be careless; a surge of wind element erupted from his feet, and his speed increased again. Thankfully, he had rushed past the waterfall — that was Ye Yun's thought. If he were at his Flower Cloud City state, it would have been impossible to catch up with this little guy. It was too cunning, even more cunning than a fox combined with a human's intelligence! Luckily, Ye Yun's aura tracking had locked onto this little creature; otherwise, he would have lost it long ago. Suddenly, a sharp turn — “Bang!” He felt something slightly hard hit his chest. Ye Yun rolled to release the force, then stabilized and looked carefully. It was a white blur; the little creature was gone. Strange, why couldn't he see it? The aura feeling was clearly still nearby. Ye Yun walked forward a dozen steps, and then he froze. A girl held the spirit fox that Ye Yun had been chasing in her left arm, while her other delicate hand gently rubbed her forehead, letting the hair in her bangs sway. No way, after all that chasing, this creature already had an owner? The thing that hit his chest just now — could it have been this girl's forehead? The chances seemed high, and Ye Yun suddenly felt extremely embarrassed. “Ahem, you… you're okay, right?” Ye Yun coughed awkwardly, glancing around nervously, thinking of an escape route. But he felt a bit speechless; he hadn't been moving so fast. Even if he had bumped into this woman, she shouldn't have… flown that far, right?The young girl looked up in astonishment, and it was only after Ye Yun spoke that she realized there was someone standing before her. Yes, a person! However, feeling the little creature in her arms blinking its watery eyes and trembling, anger surged in her heart: "Why are you treating it like this?" Ye Yun: "Treating who?" Girl: "It." Ye Yun: "...I thought it looked so cute that I wanted it to be my pet." Girl: "Pet? Animals here are free; they are not... your toys!" Ye Yun: "I... I didn't say to make it my toy, it's a pet." Girl: "Hmph! To you humans... pets are nothing but toys. When you're interested, you pamper them, and once you lose interest, you discard them mercilessly!" Sweat... Ye Yun was drenched in sweat; this girl really exaggerated things, saying one thing and then stretching it to the sky. Ye Yun: "I'm sorry." Girl: "This must be your first time here, right?" Ye Yun: "Yes." Girl: "No wonder you're so impolite." Ye Yun: "..." Ye Yun: "Are you alone?" Girl: "What are you trying to do?" Ye Yun: "..." Ye Yun: "I mean, are you staying here alone? Where are your family?" Girl: "I don't have any family." Ye Yun: "I'm sorry." Girl: "Sorry for what?" Ye Yun: "..." Girl: "Oh, I never had a family." Her face was unusually calm when she said this. Ye Yun: "Then how do you live here? By hunting small animals?" Girl: "How could I bear to harm such cute animals?!" Ye Yun: "..." At this moment, Ye Yun felt as though his entire body had been scanned, and then everything returned to normal. The girl, realizing that Ye Yun was inherently kind (clumsy...), said plainly: "I am the guardian spirit of Qianlong Valley, protecting the harmony and stability of nature. I only need to absorb the essence of the world daily to live, and I don't need the methods used by humans." Ye Yun: "I see." Girl: "Follow me." Ye Yun watched the girl's graceful figure and followed closely. No wonder she's an elf; she is as beautiful and as approachable as nature itself. Ye Yun thought to himself. Although he still felt some reluctance to part with the little spirit fox, since there was an elf present, there was nothing he could do.Of course, even if the elf wasn't there, Ye Yun wouldn't have done that again... Soon, Ye Yun followed the girl through the thick fog and entered the interior. Immediately, an extraordinarily fresh scent filled Ye Yun's surroundings, making his body feel indescribably pleasant.

However, he saw it—the ominous Dark Charm… Ye Yun suddenly felt that the beautiful, dream-like scenery before him was not beautiful at all… Instead, it made him feel fear and disgust.

Heavens! Why did she bring me here to face this deadly fiend!

Dark Charm walked toward Ye Yun, while the girl, holding the spirit fox, stepped aside as if watching a show.

Just the right chance to let Chu'er properly punish you, so you dare not destroy anything here again! the girl thought. The spirit fox in her arms perked up its large ears, its watery eyes staring at Ye Yun, seemingly enjoying the show with the girl.

"Starting today, you will…"

Dark Charm's voice trembled slightly through the beautiful valley, gradually dissipating into the wind…

(Phew, this part is finally over, feeling a huge sense of relief. Recently, I've not been in good form, so I'll pause here and carefully consider the plot at home. I want to bring a completely new Ye Yun to everyone in the second part.

The beautiful elves of Qianlong Valley, the torturous training Ye Yun endures from Dark Charm, the various frictions between Ye Yun, Yeming, and Luo Lan; during Ye Yun's dedicated cultivation, the continent will be turbulent, and what awaits Ye Yun will be a completely different Feng Yuan Continent.

How will the Demon Realm, the Supernatural Realm, and the Cultivation Realm develop? Is Yu Zizhong just the tip of the iceberg of the Dark Wizards?

Everything will be revealed in the brand-new second part! Friends who are interested, let us witness Ye Yun's most terrifying rise together!)