"Elder Yangh, you... how did you turn into this... appearance?"
The spiritual power invitation Yangh Yiguan left for Ye Zhen did not mention the Five Elements Melt Blood Pill; it merely stated that the matter was of great importance and required a face-to-face discussion with Ye Zhen. The invitation only contained an address.
When Ye Zhen met Yangh Yiguan, an elder of the Beast Taming Sect, in a separate courtyard in Qinglan Martial City, he was also taken aback.
If it weren’t for Yangh Yiguan’s signature goat beard remaining, Ye Zhen would have almost doubted the person before him was the same imposing elder of the Beast Taming Sect he had met half a year ago.
At this moment, Yangh Yiguan was skin and bones, his complexion yellowed, and even his hair had whitened partially, looking like an ordinary old man in his seventies or eighties, aged by decades in an instant.
For a martial artist, it’s basically impossible to end up like this. If a martial artist displays such signs of aging that are common in ordinary people, it indicates one thing— their life span is nearing its end, and death is not far away.
Ye Zhen also noticed that Yangh Yiguan’s aura was much weaker than before. After careful sensing, he discovered that Yangh Yiguan’s cultivation aura had plummeted from the peak of the Sixth Stage of the Vein Forging Realm to the Early Stage.
A full level of cultivation had dropped. Were it not for the fact that martial artists’ veins are not easily scattered after successful vein forging, Yangh Yiguan’s cultivation would probably be at the Fifth Stage of the Vein Forging Realm now.
"Cough cough!"
Before speaking, Yangh Yiguan first coughed violently several times, appearing extremely weak.
"What else can it be? Isn’t it just for finding the Five Elements Melt Blood Pill for you that I have ended up like this! In the pursuit of the Five Elements Melt Blood Pill for you, my master risked his life nine times out of ten. And my junior brothers, they all... they all..."
At this point, Yangh Yiguan’s eldest disciple, the grown man Ma Yue, actually started to choke up.
Ye Zhen first listened in shock and then his expression became solemn. Ye Zhen had not anticipated that finding the Five Elements Melt Blood Pill would be so difficult.
But Yangh Yiguan coughed lightly and waved his hand, "Yue’er, this has nothing to do with Young Hero Ye! The reward was issued by me. Since Young Hero Ye has found the information, I would have to make this trip sooner or later; it’s just a matter of time... cough cough..."
"But Master, if we hadn’t been so rushed, so many brothers wouldn’t have had to..." Speaking to this point, Ma Yue, a grown man, had his eyes turn red.
Seeing Ma Yue like this, it didn’t seem like he was faking, which made Ye Zhen feel rather somber.
"Don’t take offense, Young Hero Ye. Over the years, most of the disciples I have taken were taught by me personally, and their relationships with each other are as close as brothers. Losing over half of them in one go, he is naturally..." This time, even Elder Yangh’s expression became somewhat distressed.
"Lost over half..." Ye Zhen’s expression turned severe.
"To be precise, seven died, three were crippled! It’s my incompetence; several of them died protecting me..." Elder Yangh’s expression turned mournful.
"Sorry, I didn’t know things would turn out like this..."
"I’ve said it before, this has nothing to do with you, Young Hero Ye. The main reason I asked you to come here is to discuss matters related to the Five Elements Melt Blood Pill with you!" Elder Yangh said.
"But what kind of... compensation should I make?" After pondering for a moment, Ye Zhen asked.
Looking at the situation, it seemed they had obtained the Five Elements Melt Blood Pill. Since they had it, they should just complete the transaction; was there really any need for negotiation?
Since Elder Yangh brought up something like negotiation, Ye Zhen figured that he might be planning to raise the price. However, seeing the heavy losses on Elder Yangh’s side, Ye Zhen didn’t mind making some sacrifices.
For Ye Zhen, as long as it would allow his little cat to advance in rank sooner, any price was worth paying.
Elder Yangh did not take up Ye Zhen’s offer but instead gave a bitter smile as he glanced at the extremely grieving Ma Yue, leaving Ye Zhen even more puzzled.
"I, Yangh Yiguan, have been wandering the martial world for over a hundred years. I am a man of my word, how could I possibly commit an act of extortion? The issue I want to discuss with Young Hero Ye is how to obtain the Five Elements Melt Blood Pill," Elder Yangh said.
"How to obtain the Five Elements Melt Blood Pill?" Ye Zhen was stunned. Could it be that the Beast Taming Sect had paid such a heavy price and still had not obtained the Five Elements Melt Blood Pill?
"You... didn’t succeed?"
"I am ashamed to say, this mission resulted in the loss of many disciples, with nothing to show for it," Elder Yangh said with a bitter smile.
"So, what does Elder Yangh want from me by having me come here? I have already said before that the information I obtained came at the risk of my life; unless I see the Five Elements Melt Blood Pill, I will not reveal it. Other than that..." Ye Zhen’s face suddenly darkened.
"Such matters, of course, I won’t do! This time, I am asking Young Hero Ye to come here mainly to discuss the possibility of joining forces to get the Five Elements Melt Blood Pill.
Aside from Ma Yue, the cultivation levels of my other disciples are not up to par," Elder Yangh said.
"Join forces?"
"Elder Yangh, it should be your affair to acquire the Five Elements Melt Blood Pill. Why should I risk danger alongside you?" Ye Zhen said.
Elder Yangh’s cultivation was not weak, and his ten-plus disciples, although with average cultivation, each had a demon servant of Heavenly Level Lower Grade; their combat power was also extremely formidable.
With such formidable combat power lost by half and even Elder Yangh facing death’s door, Ye Zhen believed that wherever Elder Yangh had gone, it must have been extremely dangerous.
Moreover, Ye Zhen held the information that Elder Yangh needed most. Why opt for risk if he could get what he was looking for without raising a hand?
"To cooperate, to cooperate with us! If Young Hero Ye wishes to obtain the Five Elements Melt Blood Pill," Elder Yangh said.
Ye Zhen’s face once again darkened, "Elder Yangh, am I to take this as a threat from you?"
Ye Zhen’s reply, filled with animosity, made Elder Yangh’s expression suddenly turn to astonishment, followed by a wry smile.
"Young Hero Ye, you’ve misunderstood. Come, let’s have a cup of tea, and I’ll explain the causes and consequences to you slowly!"
"Very well," Ye Zhen nodded.
Within a few moments, Ma Yue, the top disciple of the Beast Taming Sect, presented the prepared Spiritual Tea. However, from beginning to end, Ye Zhen didn’t touch a single drop, always maintaining a strong sense of wariness towards the Beast Taming Sect.
The fate that befell the Beast Taming Sect was quite tragic, but the sect itself was no congregation of saints.
Perhaps realizing his error in expressing himself, Yangh Yiguan recounted the whole story from beginning to end to Ye Zhen.
The place where Elder Yangh went in search of the Five Elements Melt Blood Pill, or rather, where he believed the pill to be, was the ancestral land of the Beast Taming Sect: Ten Thousand Beast Valley.
The history of the Beast Taming Sect was extremely long. According to Elder Yangh, it had a legacy spanning over a thousand years; at its peak, the Beast Taming Sect even dominated the entire True Spirit Domain. Records show that, eight hundred years ago, they reigned as the supreme power of the True Spirit Domain for over one hundred years.
That period was also the most prosperous era for the Beast Taming Sect. The sect leader of that generation, Niu Xiaotian, was said to be the most gifted and strategic person under the heavens.
Ten Thousand Beast Valley was also built during that time.
Due to that generation’s sect leader, Niu Xiaotian, who gained insight bridging across antiquity to the present, he concluded an undeniable truth: everything under the heavens, once it reaches its peak, will inevitably decline!
And at that time, the Beast Taming Sect had been dominating the True Spirit Domain for decades, hailed as the foremost sect in five hundred years by the people of Jianghu. In Niu Xiaotian’s view, the Beast Taming Sect had reached its zenith.
To reach the peak is to brace for the decline!
Niu Xiaotian believed that the status of the Beast Taming Sect would not be shaken in the next decade or so. But what about in dozens of years, or a hundred years?
Moreover, once the decline sets in, everyone would turn against them. The enemies amassed during the Beast Taming Sect’s rise could lead to a disaster that might annihilate the sect.
In anticipation of brewing storms, Niu Xiaotian gathered the sect’s vast resources to build Ten Thousand Beast Valley, stocking it with copious amounts of Spirit Crystals, Secret Manuals, Pill Formulas, Pills, Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, and so on.
This place was heralded by the Beast Taming Sect as the land of its revival, Ten Thousand Beast Valley!
Originally, this revival ground was highly secret, with very few within the sect being privy to its existence—only the sect leader and a few top elders knew of it.
And indeed, Niu Xiaotian was truly prescient; a hundred years later, when the Beast Taming Sect reached its peak and began to decline, facing the danger of extermination multiple times, it was the revival ground, Ten Thousand Beast Valley, that helped them endure.
For several hundred years, although the Beast Taming Sect had not reclaimed its former glory, its strength had steadily risen. In the ranks of the many sects of the True Spirit Domain, its status has been increasingly prominent, and in terms of the overall power hierarchy of the True Spirit Domain, it had nearly returned to the top ten.
The revival was close at hand.
Yet, no one would have expected that the Beast Taming Sect would be wiped out overnight, leaving a mountain of corpses!
When Elder Yangh returned, he only saw hills of bodies.
According to him, he didn’t know how he got through that ordeal.
Alone, cremating tens of thousands of corpses, he was perilously close to breaking down.
While handling the vast number of corpses, ninety-nine percent of the martial artists were incinerated by Elder Yangh. He then erected a blood monument. The bodies of other high-ranking members of the sect, including the sect leader and several elders familiar to Elder Yangh, and his own master’s body, were buried elsewhere with separate monuments.
Elder Yangh’s master was also one of the governing elders of the Beast Taming Sect.
While he was burying his master, the sect leader, and the other elders, something unexpected happened.
Many of the places where people died contained the words "Ten Thousand Beast Valley."
Elder Yangh’s master died face down, with the bloodstains on the green stone pavement forming the words "Ten Thousand."
Another elder died even more heroically, spewing a mouthful of blood onto a large blue stone across from him, coalescing into the faint outline of the three words "Ten Thousand Beast Valley."
The sect leader died more tragically, leaving behind only the word "Ten."
It could be coincidence for one elder to leave such clues, but for several elders and the sect leader to leave words related to it, that was quite extraordinary.
But the Beast Taming Sect died too cleanly.
Except for Elder Yangh, this lone survivor, all the higher-ups and mid-level authority figures were dead, and to make matters worse, all their storage rings had been looted clean.
Even knowing the words "Ten Thousand Beast Valley," Elder Yangh had no clues.
What followed next was nearly a hundred years of Elder Yangh wandering through Jianghu.
It was perhaps fate, as Elder Yangh said; a little over fifty years ago, he stumbled upon a secret mansion, which was built by another sect that had been destroyed by the Beast Taming Sect centuries earlier.
Inside one of the secret letters, there was mention of the hidden land of revival within the Beast Taming Sect, the Ten Thousand Beast Valley.
From that moment, Elder Yangh understood the purpose of Ten Thousand Beast Valley.
Unfortunately, the secret letter only mentioned Ten Thousand Beast Valley and not its exact location.
Thus, Elder Yangh started searching the entire world for the so-called Ten Thousand Beast Valley. He would visit every place that contained the character "beast" in its name.
Regrettably, he found no leads.
Until ten years ago, through a chance accident, Elder Yangh finally made a breakthrough regarding Ten Thousand Beast Valley! (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets on Qidian.com. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)

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