Soaring the Heavens

Of course, some things he could only keep to himself. If he said it aloud, he was sure to be smashed to bits by Yao Ruoxian’s mace.

Meanwhile, Yao Ruoxian was soon happy again. He was ready to feed the little fellows only Gold Crystals from this day onwards.

Miao Yi didn’t find this surprising. ‘How many years had he raised the little fellows? Yet, they’ve only produced this much Crystalline Silver.’ If he really wanted to produce en masse, he had to wait for the little fellows to grow a few notches first.

Most importantly, without a billion Gold Crystals to extract the essence powder from, he could forget about refining any transcendent artifacts. What kind of crazy idea was a billion Gold Crystals? If everyone could take out this sort of money, then would the skies not be filled with Crystalline Gold transcendent artifacts already?

Miao Yi was still more concerned about the method that Yao Ruoxian had used to speed up the little fellows’ growth.

After tucking the little fellows back into his own sleeve, Yao Ruoxian didn’t even bid goodbye before walking off laughing.

Once he left the cave and saw Charcoal loitering by the seaside, Yao Ruoxian’s feet froze in place; his expression twitched. ‘Use the tiny mantids to exchange for Charcoal?’

Right now, he did not want to give even a single tiny mantis up. Of course, he didn’t want to give Charcoal up as well.

Of course, this wasn’t a major problem with his cultivation. When the time was right, even if he took them away by force, Miao Yi probably wouldn’t be able to stop him anyway. For the success of his plan, he had to think of a way to control Charcoal and the tiny mantids. This was the most important thing.

There was another very real problem standing before him—there were eighty-five mantids! If he was going to use Yao Cores to feed them and Charcoal, where would he be able to find so many Yao Cores? Clearly, Yao Cores with a higher grade would have a better nourishing effect.

He couldn’t simply run off to the Sea of Constellations, and start a bloody slaughter of the Yao cultivators. If he really did that, it would mean he was getting sick of living.

As he thought about all this, Yao Ruoxian’s facial muscles twitched. It was good to make new discoveries, but these beasts were not something he could afford to raise.....

The ocean waves boomed furiously. A typhoon strong enough to move mountains and overturn the oceans; made the trees on the island flail violently, as though they were about to be uprooted.

Miao Yi and Yao Ruoxian stood atop a small hill, enduring the monstrous gale. They stared at the two rocky mountains before them that had already been reduced to flat ground.

Within the howling wind, Yao Ruoxian clicked his tongue as he shook his head. Those were two large mountains—what’s more, they were mountains of rock and stone. He found it a little difficult to imagine how those two delicate little girls managed to endure these past three years; and the kind of mental fortitude they needed to do so.

The two of them stood on the small hill for a whole day and a whole night, waiting the whole time for the two girls to complete their final strike.

When the final few booms dissipated, Xue’Er was facing straight ahead after shattering the final giant piece of stone with her spear; then she stared down at the wooden spear in her hands—she finally did it!

She turned around and saw Qian’Er smiling at her with a wooden spear in her hands as well. Qian’Er had finished her task sooner than she did, and had been waiting for her.

Xue’Er ran over excitedly and hugged Qian’Er, exclaiming, "Sister. We did it!"

Qian’Er gently pushed her away, and turned around saying, "Master is waiting for us!"

Xue’Er stuck her tongue out. The two of them held each other’s hands and leapt over to land before Miao Yi, before paying their respects.

Seeing the two girls’ initial growth, Miao Yi felt happy for them. He gave a light nod and said, "How do you feel about your training?"

The two girls nodded elatedly; they could feel the sharpness of their spear arts now, but they didn’t think it would be good to boast.

Miao Yi let out an ‘Oh’, then put out his hand and said, "Hand me a wooden spear."

Qian’Er immediately drew out a wooden spear from her storage ring, and presented it to him with both hands.

Miao Yi grabbed the spear and stepped into the typhoon. He came to a standstill at a certain point, and simply said, "I will control my cultivation to a level similar to you two. You will both fight me together!"

Yao Ruoxian’s interest was immediately piqued; he knew that Miao Yi’s spear arts were exceptional. If the two girls could match Miao Yi with their spear arts, then it meant that they had already mastered it.

"Hurry up. Your Master wishes to test the fruits of your training." said Yao Ruoxian excitedly, as he waved his hand.

The two girls shared a glance; they were also eager to test their hand. They both gripped onto their spears and jumped over. Standing on either sides of Miao Yi, they eyed him cautiously and raised their spears—trapping Miao Yi in the center.

They didn’t expect Miao Yi would then stab the spear in his hands into the ground—actually taking out a piece of cloth, and covering his own two eyes with it.

Yao Ruoxian and the girls were stunned. This was... not only was he going to restrict his own cultivation to the same level as the two girls—he was going to fight them blindfolded?

The howling of the wind was very loud just then. With the weather being so chaotic, not only would it affect one’s vision and hearing, it would affect the sensing of transcendence energy as well.

Even Yao Ruoxian felt that Miao Yi was being a little too confident. If Miao Yi were to really restrict his own cultivation to the same level as the two girls, and cover his own eyes on top of that; he was going to have it rough.

In order to make certain that Miao Yi was not employing some sort of trick, Yao Ruoxian immediately invoked his arts and covered the entire field with his sense, examining the fluctuation of transcendence energy in the three of them.

"Begin!" said Miao Yi, turning to his side.

The two girls couldn’t help but bite their lips. Being able to use a single wooden spear to decimate a giant stone mountain with their low cultivation had a huge impact on their mentality. Their temperament had already undergone a massive change, especially the confidence and boldness they had when dealing with affairs—it was no longer the same as it was before.

Under such a terrible conditions, the Master not only lowered his own cultivation, but also intended to fight them blindfolded. They felt he was belittling them a little too much.

Xue’Er grit her teeth as her feet took off; under the mighty wind, she launched the spear with a woosh.

Demure as a maiden, Miao Yi didn’t even bother looking; he had no way to with his eyes covered anyhow. However, the instant Xue’Er struck out, he swiftly moved his hands and pulled the spear around; twisting his elbow, he returned a strike back in the direction Xue’Er was stabbing from.

‘PA!’ With pinpoint accuracy, the tips of the wooden spears clashed together.

To be more specific, it wasn’t that Xue’Er’s spear strike was accurate, but that Miao Yi had precisely struck at her incoming spear tip—forcefully stopping her piercing strike.

Xue’Er gaze underwent a great change, she had to concede that her precision wasn’t at such a level. Furthermore, the moment both spears clashed, she could feel that Miao Yi had indeed restrained his cultivation to fight against her. He had restrained his cultivation so much that it was actually slightly lower than her own—he had only used the cultivation of one who had just attained White Lotus First Grade!

Sensing the changes within the battlefield, Yao Ruoxian sucked in a breath of cold air; secretly praising how strong the brat’s sensory ability was under such harsh conditions.

Qian’Er’s eyes were alight. No longer having any hesitation, she shifted her waist and quickly launched her spear out, joining forces with Xue’Er to face Miao Yi in a vicious battle.

With spears in their hands, they danced around Miao Yi—their long, sharp spears stabbing at high speeds.

Miao Yi more or less stood in place, quickly shifting his body about; he didn’t go head on with the two girls, and barely clashed with their spears. Instead, he would strike with flawless precision whenever he saw an opening amidst their torrent of strikes.

His spear strikes were almost impossible to see. Furthermore, they were incredible precise and free of any unnecessary flamboyance; simple, yet effective—his every strike was fatal. He constantly struck at the vital points of the two girls, forcing them to a distance. Every time they even attempted to approach, the sharp point that sought out their vital points would force them on pins and needles, as they anxiously tried to protect themselves.

The two girls became more astonished the more they fought. Their Master had blindfolded himself, and lowered his cultivation to an even lower level than their own, yet he was still able to keep them at bay, and force them on the defensive. Both of them had finally come to realise the vast divide between their Master and themselves. ‘If the Master were to fight without a blindfold...,’ the two girls broke out in cold sweat just thinking about it. Only then did they realize how arrogant they had been, back when they thought they could be confident about themselves.

Yao Ruoxian shook his head as he watched. Originally, he thought that on spear arts alone, the two girls were good enough to traverse the cultivation realm. However, compared to Miao Yi’s spear arts, he realized that the difference between them was not small at all. He finally understood, how Miao Yi was able to slaughter his way in and out of an encirclement of one to two hundred men.

Suddenly, Miao Yi, who had been defending on the same spot, started to go on the offensive. It was no exaggeration to say that with a spear in hand, his strikes were both precise and vicious—forcing the two girls to their wit’s end. They had no choice but to join forces to defend themselves from him.

As they anxiously retreated, the two girls secretly transmitted messages to each other. Qian’Er abruptly swept the ground with her spear, sweeping up dust and rubble towards Miao Yi. Xue’Er took advantage of the opponent’s confusion caused by the dust, and swiftly struck out. Qian’Er closely followed suit with another strike from her spear as she twirled her body around.

Two girls, one in front and one behind; one from above and one below. One sweeping strike and one downwards strike, both striking simultaneously.

When they saw Miao Yi quickly using his spear to deflect the rubble coming at him, they thought their plan had succeeded. Suddenly, Miao Yi gently snapped up the point of his spear—immediately striking the underpart of Xue’Er’s spear tip, and flicking her spear upwards. In that moment, Miao Yi used the momentum to instantly strike out with his spear. His strike quickly scraped past her chest by a hair’s breadth, only tearing her clothes a little before he drew it back.

If it was a true battle with an enemy, Xue’Er would probably already have a cold gaping hole in her heart from being pierced by Miao Yi’s spear.

Retracting his spear slightly, Miao Yi used the momentum to flick the spear downwards—deflecting Qian’Er’s oncoming strike. He didn’t follow up with a fatal strike; instead, he hurriedly stepped in and twisted his body, striking back from under his rib. As Qian’Er crossed paths with the spear, her back was immediately struck by the tail of the spear.

Qian’Er gave out a muffled cry; staggering as she fell to the ground. She looked at Miao Yi in awe, her back a little numb. He had already stabbed his spear into the ground, and ceased attacking. She knew that Miao Yi had been holding back just then. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been struck with the tail end of the spear.

The victor had already been decided. There was no longer any need to continue battling. In truth, it had been easy to tell which side was stronger, and which was weaker from the very beginning.

The two girls stood side by side—looking at the blindfolded Miao Yi standing stoically, as his clothes fluttered amidst the howling wind. There was a marveling gleam in their eyes. After following their Master for so many years, they had finally come to realize how powerful he was.

The two girls were absolutely certain that from the battle with him—from start to finish—Miao Yi had faced them with a cultivation that was lower than their own. Furthermore, he didn’t use any external objects such as transcendent artifacts. With a single wooden spear, he had suppressed the both of them to the point where they barely had any strength to resist at all.

They understood clearly that if Miao Yi had intended to defeat them from the beginning, they wouldn’t have had any opportunity to showcase their skills.

If he had treated the two of them as enemies, even with his suppressed cultivation now, he would have long killed them both.

The thing that they found the most mysterious was that even when blindfolded, Miao Yi could actually not be distracted by any external objects. Sometimes, it was almost as though he had a set of eyes behind his back—there was no hesitation in his strikes; furthermore, they were incredibly precise.

The blindfolded Miao Yi seemed to be able to guess their thoughts. He quietly turned to his side and said, "Sometimes, what you see with your eyes is not real. The eyes are but a part of your body. Do not be accustomed to letting only your eyes guide your entire body, doing so will only limit your own capabilities."

The teachings that Lao Bai had bestowed upon him that year; right now, he was telling the two girls the same thing.

Even Yao Ruoxian had a serious expression after hearing it. He was slightly astonished as he stared at Miao Yi—he never knew that this brat could actually have such deep insight.

Miao Yi raised his hands to the back of his head and untied the cloth. As he opened his hand, the cloth was immediately carried away by the strong wind; opening his eyes, he looked at the two girls with a calm gaze, and said, "A mountain is not a living being. It isn’t much to be able to decimate a stone mountain with a wooden spear. Are you willing to continue enduring this bitter training?"

The two girls immediately bowed, and said, "These girls are willing."

As such, Yao Ruoxian invoked his grand arts again and created another waterfall within the mountain.

The two girls carried the rubble from the decimated stone mountain up the waterfall one by one like slaves; then wove a net and placed the stones inside the pocket formed; and lastly, they pulled open the net, and allowed the stones to flow down the fast-flowing waterfall. Under the torrential crashing of the waterfall, they swung their spears at the stones hidden in the waters, and proceeded to shatter them. The process was incredibly arduous—it wasn’t something a cultivator should be doing at all.

Yao Ruoxian came to understand the more he watched—he would not have any luck with this damn spear art at all, ‘No wonder that brat never forbade me from observing. Yet he didn’t mention it sooner, and made me lose a few years worth of cultivation...’