Thus, the two began to cultivate beside the spiritual spring. Lin Xue had already become inseparable from Xiao Linglong; even when Lin Xue was meditating, Xiao Linglong would sleep soundly in her pocket. The two had clearly developed a master-pet relationship.
The next morning, Ye Tiancheng and Lin Xue arrived at the Evil Valley. This time, thanks to a Wuling Hongguang, they reached the Evil Valley in just two hours.
Yet, in broad daylight, the place looked pitch black. From a distance, they could see strange, grotesque figures walking around inside.
As the two reached the entrance of the Evil Valley, a foul, pungent odor assailed their nostrils.
"This place smells awful."
As Ye Tiancheng covered his nose and finished speaking, a terrifying face suddenly flew towards Lin Xue. Lin Xue, holding a short sword, immediately slashed through the face.
That was merely a part of the Evil Valley's guardian mechanism, entirely illusory and useless.
The level of the evil creatures here was not very high. Upon realizing this, Ye Tiancheng's face broke into a wicked grin.
Ye Tiancheng put his arm around Lin Xue's waist and then leaped into the Evil Valley.
Suddenly, a cat's meow was heard, and a monster resembling a cat suddenly charged out, attacking the two.
Lin Xue gently flicked her umbrella, sending it flying into the air, from which hidden weapons rained down.
Not only this cat demon, but many others who were watching from the sidelines without intervening, all perished under Lin Xue's sword.
These monsters were not to be pitied; they were all manifestations of demonic energy. When killed, they instantly turned into wisps of black smoke, dropping some equipment in the process.
What equipment dropped depended entirely on luck, but most of it was somewhat useful. Even a mere stone fragment was something Ye Tiancheng treasured, picking it all up to use for the construction of the Pure Land.
Since the divine artifact had fallen and given rise to the Pure Land, many people had wanted to cultivate there, as it was an excellent place. However, reaching it was not easy; many were struck down by lightning along the way, and the tribulation lightning was not something ordinary people could overcome.
Because the Pure Land chose people, and Ye Tiancheng was selected, he felt an even greater sense of responsibility to protect it well, to gradually make up for the deficiencies of the past years, and thus maintain it.
The two fought their way through, quickly arriving before the ultimate boss of the Evil Valley. This ultimate boss had a ferocious appearance but lacked any substance. Not only was its appearance frightening, but it also exuded a lot of demonic energy.
"This damned thing is certainly going to die today now that it's met us."
Ye Tiancheng could sense that the ultimate boss's level was not very high. For a cultivator, someone at the middle stage of the Golden Core realm should be able to defeat it. Unfortunately, both of them were injured, and neither could reach the Golden Core realm.
Yet, they continued to fight it together. The final boss kept spawning small monsters. Although the small monsters were not high-level, their endless stream was quite troublesome. Fortunately, they dropped loot after being defeated, which somewhat balanced Ye Tiancheng's mood.
It was too difficult to deal with. Both of them sustained minor injuries. When the large boss exploded, it released a large amount of demonic energy, which was almost a fatal blow to them. In the end, Lin Xue shielded Ye Tiancheng from the attack, but she sustained severe injuries.
Although it was only a superficial wound, it caused her to faint. Ye Tiancheng collected all the dropped equipment into large bags and then helped Lin Xue away.
There were faint movements of demonic energy within the Evil Valley, indicating the possible presence of other monsters. Therefore, Ye Tiancheng and Lin Xue could not linger there and had to prepare for their return journey quickly.
Ye Tiancheng not only collected the dropped fragments but also took some monster meat. Humans could not eat this monster meat, but he thought Xiao Linglong might be able to.
Upon returning, Ye Tiancheng immediately used the fragments to repair the Pure Land. Lin Xue was still unconscious, and Hou Mingzhu, very worried, quickly took Xiao Linglong to see her.
"Xiao Xue, why have you fainted again? Will it take a long time this time?"
Hou Mingzhu suddenly remembered that Lin Xue had said Xiao Linglong had saved her before. At this moment, Hou Mingzhu could only entrust her hopes to this little bird.
"Xiao Linglong, your master is injured. If you can still save her, then I'll have to rely on you."
Ye Tiancheng came to see Lin Xue after finishing the repairs to the Pure Land, and coincidentally met Hou Mingzhu bringing Xiao Linglong.
"Xiao Linglong, look what good things I brought for you."
It is said that feeding monster meat to spiritual animals can enhance their spiritual energy, turning waste into treasure.
Ye Tiancheng threw the monster meat to Xiao Linglong. Xiao Linglong sniffed it first, then gobbled it down. Despite its small size, it could eat a lot.
"Ye Tiancheng, what did you give Xiao Linglong to eat? Don't upset its stomach. If Xiao Xue wakes up and blames us, it will be our fault."
"It's alright. This is monster meat. I heard from the Great Green Snake before that divine beasts like them really love eating monster meat. If I hadn't gone to the Evil Valley, I wouldn't have gotten this good stuff. Besides, the monsters in the Evil Valley take many years to grow, so this is a great tonic."
As the two were talking, Xiao Linglong suddenly flashed with red light and seemed to be in an abnormal state.
"Brother Ye, what should we do? I feel like Xiao Linglong ate something bad and is now mutating."
As they were talking, Xiao Linglong suddenly grew a bit larger, about twice its previous size.
"What a false alarm! I thought this little bird was going to explode just now. It turns out it just grew bigger. It seems this monster meat is indeed good stuff, to make this little bird grow so large."
Xiao Linglong then stuck to Lin Xue's body, and Lin Xue began to emit a faint red light. Then, she immediately opened her eyes.
Ye Tiancheng and Hou Mingzhu exclaimed with great excitement and joy.
"Xiao Xue, it's Linglong who saved you this time. This is truly a spiritual bird!"
Ye Tiancheng was no longer stingy and handed over all the monster meat from the bag to Lin Xue.
"I didn't expect your little bird to like monster meat so much. After feeding it the monster meat just now, its spiritual power greatly increased. Feed it slowly; eating too much at once is not good and can lead to indigestion. It's better to feed it gradually."
Lin Xue was also very excited. It seemed that by chance, she had also saved Xiao Linglong, and Xiao Linglong was becoming more and more powerful.
Now, the entire defense of the Pure Land was more stable than before, and everyone felt more relaxed.
This time, Xiao Pang and Hou Mingzhu worked together in the kitchen for a long time, preparing three dishes and one soup, all of which were Ye Tiancheng's favorite dishes.
After so many twists and turns, Lin Xue had woken up, and everyone could finally have a good meal together. Before these hardships, Ye Tiancheng often didn't know how to cherish things.
But now, having gone through these trials, Ye Tiancheng deeply felt the warmth of human relationships, how people could support each other and give them the strength to keep going.
And now, everyone by his side was very important to Ye Tiancheng. He was willing to do his utmost to protect them, and the prerequisite for all of this was to cultivate diligently.
Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, a month had passed in the Pure Land. Ye Tiancheng's true qi had recovered most of its strength, and he had now reached the upper-middle stage of the Golden Core realm, a level that many cultivators could only dream of.
While Ye Tiancheng was cultivating, Hou Mingzhu would sometimes visit him out of boredom and chat with him.
"Ye Tiancheng, will you become an immortal in the future? Like, immortal and ageless?"
"That is a grand ideal, but not easily achieved. Hou Mingzhu, don't worry, I won't leave you."
In fact, Hou Mingzhu envied Lin Xue. Lin Xue was intelligent and had great spiritual roots, cultivating quite powerfully. If Hou Mingzhu were like Lin Xue, and on the same path as Ye Tiancheng, it would be wonderful.
"Then how can I start cultivating? I also want to be like you, at least to be on the same path as you."
"This is an extremely difficult path. Everything depends on destiny and coincidence. When the opportunity arises, I will make you the same as me."
In fact, even if Hou Mingzhu had no cultivation, Ye Tiancheng had never thought of abandoning her. As they were talking, a white-haired old man suddenly appeared.
The old man was leaning on a cane, but he was dressed simply, in a plain blue robe. He looked at Ye Tiancheng with an angry expression, which was somewhat incomprehensible.
"So, the Pure Land has been intruded upon by your kind. Otherwise, there wouldn't be this instability. There are constant attacks of dark energy from the outside. You should leave here quickly and not disrupt the balance of the Pure Land."
"There's someone here! Old man, who are you in the Pure Land? I haven't seen you before."
"Young lady, don't blame me for not warning you. You have one day to leave the Pure Land. I am the guardian here, and I will not allow you to disrupt its balance."
Ye Tiancheng looked at the old man with a helpless expression, then a smile curved his lips.
"The defenses of the Pure Land were about to be breached before, and you didn't show up. Now you appear, and your words lack credibility. You seem like a swindler."
"You are the swindlers!"
Seeing the old man raise his cane towards the sky, he let out a roar, and the world immediately changed color.
Countless pure energies surged towards the two. Hou Mingzhu had no cultivation, so Ye Tiancheng shielded her, blocking the attack from the old man.
"So you are already above the Golden Core realm. But no matter how powerful you are, get out of the Pure Land quickly. This is not a place for cultivators like you to seek shortcuts."
Then the old man unleashed the same move again. This time, spiritual energy and heavenly lightning struck down together with immense power.
Fortunately, Lin Xue arrived in time and used her umbrella to block the heavenly lightning. However, Lin Xue was also struck and fell to the ground, barely clinging to life.
The power used by the old man was all from the Pure Land, clearly its guardian spirit. Ye Tiancheng dared not act recklessly anymore.
"Old man, I apologize. It was my fault for being blind and not recognizing you as a sage of this place. We are only here to take refuge from the attacks of the dark energy. We haven't harmed any living beings. It is the external dark energy that has been attacking, causing cracks in the Pure Land. It truly has nothing to do with us."
"How can it have nothing to do with you? If you hadn't come, how could such a great upheaval have occurred? Your arrival has brought the hatred of the secular world."