Without uttering a word, Qin Ming pulled out ten pieces of Day Gold and quickly tucked the ancient book into his bosom.
The mountain creature covered in black fur was rather discerning and didn't have eyes as shallow as to only fixate on the Purple Lightning Beast. Instead, it engaged Qin Ming in conversation: "Sir, you aren't going to take a closer look at this book before purchasing it?"
Qin Ming stroked the stubble on his chubby face and replied, "I buy ancient books purely for the sake of appearance. They are old items that give a sense of age when displayed on my bookshelf. I confess I don't read much, so I'm merely trying to improve my image a bit."
The mountain shopkeeper chuckled and said, "You are too modest; a lover of books is indeed an elegant person."
While laughing along, Qin Ming felt a prickling sensation at the back of his neck. Being in such a place, he could not shake the feeling of being scrutinized by unusual gazes, and he felt a lurking danger at any moment.
He wanted to escape immediately, but what did he see? In the distance, there was a stall laden with a pile of books!
As a book lover, he couldn’t take his eyes off them and felt both ecstatic and torn inside, unable to make a move.
“Let’s go for it!” Qin Ming thought. Since he was already here and had spotted a treasure trove of ancient tomes, it would be a regret that could last years if he didn’t go take a look.
Besides, what was a mere quarter of an hour to him? After all, this place was filled with mutated creatures. If anything went south, he could always fight his way out.
Though tension brewed in his heart, the presence of some unusual beings made him nervous. The noblewoman from the blessed land who accompanied him certainly wasn't of a simple status.
Especially with the Purple Lightning Beast standing so close and bearing a serious demeanor, it was evident to all that this human man had quite the background.
Many creatures took notice, including the two companions of the Purple Lightning Beast, who stood on that human man's shoulders, grinning foolishly. It seemed as though they believed being near him would lead them to the heights of success, completely forgetting about their own master while laughing to the point of losing their composure!
In reality, the two birds felt deeply troubled. Who would want to laugh? They were being forced into it! Stuck on his shoulders with no way to escape, if they didn't cooperate, they might be turned into paste!
Before entering, they had already been forced to wash the bloodstains from their wings, and by now, it was impossible to tell.
Qin Ming examined the floor littered with books that bore the weight of time, picking them up one by one and casually flipping through a few pages.
He felt a hint of doubt—why was there no spiritual resonance?
In an instant, he realized this was a large-scale forgery!
He lifted his gaze to the mountain creature with a silly grin and silently admired how intense the competition was in the mountains. This bear-like shopkeeper was definitely not a good person; it was clear it wanted to scam humans.
"These were all left behind by my father. I don't quite understand them; the characters are beyond me," the creature grinned widely, trying to wash its hands clean of suspicion.
Qin Ming didn't want to waste time engaging in useless chatter. With danger lurking, he could be thrown into a bloody battle with these mutated creatures at any moment, and he had to find the old treasures quickly.
He sought relics fervently, hoping for a rare inheritance.
Qin Ming felt no guilt. The relationship between humans and other creatures was intricate; they coexisted at times, yet there were frequent betrayals and killings. In the mountains, when they crossed paths, the opportunity often led to mutual hunting.
Some books reaching this place surely had bloody stories behind them.
Finally, Qin Ming made another discovery—an ancient text about leg techniques, bringing him unexpected joy as it was his first encounter with such a category of inheritance.
While the Purple Lightning Beast stood as a mere background presence, Qin Ming was clearly leveraging its status, shamelessly taking advantage.
“Caw, caw...” the language bird and myna continued to chuckle more heartily after Qin Ming found something new.
They thought their master's expression management was lacking; he was too serious. Both of them now feared for their lives, worried about making a mistake that might lead to the Purple Lightning Beast silencing Qin Ming, bringing them all to ruin.
Initially, Qin Ming was so tense his palms were nearly sweating. After all, more mountain creatures were directing fervent gazes toward him. But as time passed, he began to understand the situation: These creatures were seriously misinterpreting things!
For he noticed that the way these mountain creatures looked at him was quite unusual.
"This distinguished gentleman is a close friend of my master!" The language bird chuckled affirmatively.
Some creatures scoffed; they certainly believed that this scheming bird had decided to switch allegiances and follow that human man.
Qin Ming hastened his steps; the thrill of reaping benefits was rather delightful, and he was keen to keep going.
"Shopkeeper, I just saw a book from far away. Where did it go?" Qin Ming inquired, stopping at a special stall.
This wasn’t an ordinary street vendor’s stall, but rather a large tent made of shimmering beast skin. It was clear this mountain creature was quite wealthy, selling extraordinary items.
The shopkeeper was a third-generation beast from deep in the mountains, who occasionally came out to trade unique items with humans based on personal interest.
"You saw us coming and hid it on purpose?" Qin Ming directly pointed out, aware that even if there was trouble, the Purple Lightning Beast would take the brunt of it.
The humanoid creature with long silver hair had two jade-like horns protruding from its head, one longer and one shorter, resembling a rhinoceros horn in appearance.
The Purple Lightning Beast cast a sidelong glance, clearly dissatisfied. It felt as if this creature was trying to hide things from it—as if it were protecting something with ill intentions.
It recognized this white rhinoceros, the descendant of a spirit rhinoceros deep in the mountains, and it couldn't help but feel disdain.
Seeing the look from the Purple Lightning Beast made Bai Xi sweat nervously. Though from one of the strongest families locally, being a descendant of a formidable old rhinoceros, it couldn't compare to this noble presence from the blessed land.
"It’s right here; I just dusted it off a moment ago," Bai Xi said with a smile, pulling out a golden leather-bound book from the silver tent.
Qin Ming took it with some restraint, trying to project an imposing demeanor. The surrounding mountain creatures regarded him with a hint of fear because he dared to show off even in front of Bai Xi.
Now fully embodying his role, Qin Ming presented himself as a close friend of the substantial Purple Lightning Beast and felt he needed some “grandeur” to match.
He concentrated and flipped through just two pages, quickly realizing that this book was far from ordinary. No wonder the rhinoceros creature had tucked it away so quickly; it clearly would not part with such a tome easily.
"How many pieces of Day Gold?" Qin Ming inquired nonchalantly.
"Talking about Day Gold feels too mundane; I, Bai Xi, am willing to befriend someone like you, so it's a gift!" Bai Xi replied generously, realizing that facing someone as significant as Qin Ming didn’t warrant charging a high price and that it was better to foster goodwill.
Qin Ming introduced himself, "I am Zheng Maorong. When the time is right, I shall visit you in the deep mountains, Brother Bai."
The Purple Lightning Beast finally realized that its unpleased glance inadvertently assisted this shameless fat man a bit!
Deep down, Qin Ming felt the pressure rising. Having come this far with such high stakes today, it would be unwise to back down. He had to reap what he could while he still had the chance.
At that moment, he arrived at another stall with a tent, but unfortunately, there were no secret tomes to be found.
"Shopkeeper, do you have any spiritual materials?" Qin Ming asked casually.
Inside the tent, a young woman, her figure as graceful as a willow, adorned in a black dress with a delicate, fair face, froze momentarily upon hearing his words. Was he looking to take advantage of her stock too? She had initially thought nothing significant could happen due to the absence of secret texts.
Only then did Qin Ming notice that her lower half was not legs but a long black serpent tail.
"Do you have any spiritual materials that can grant six or seven lives?" Qin Ming felt this was likely another third-generation beast from the mountains.
With a flick of her tail, Wuyiyi thought to give him a taste of her tail's sting. How brazen of him to ask for such a rare item, clearly not intending to purchase it.
She calmly shook her head and replied, "No, only a level five spiritual material, but it was pre-ordered by a friend last month and was picked up this morning."
Qin Ming felt rather disappointed.
"Then forget the level five; it's not up to par," he said blandly. Even though he didn't get what he wanted, his principles couldn't drop. After all, he was now a friend of the Purple Lightning Beast.
"Then there's nothing I can do; I only have a level two spiritual material," Wuyiyi smiled gracefully.
Qin Ming remained unfazed. "Bring out the level two for me to take a look. I remembered I needed it to enlighten some birds lately."
Wuyiyi felt a bit stiff. This was getting rather greedy, wasn't it? What happened to his dignity?
The Purple Lightning Beast felt humiliated, being forced to stay by his side.
Qin Ming, satisfied, bought a jar of spiritual material at cost. After all, even a mosquito has meat, so why should he care about his principles or reputation? All honor and dishonor could float away with the wind. Let the storms rain down on Zheng Maorong and the Purple Lightning Beast.
He understood he had completely offended the Purple Lightning Beast today, so he might as well let it be useful one last time before he quickly fled!
"Something feels wrong!" Qin Ming became alert, noticing some mountain creatures were still quite sharp, like that snake woman, Wuyiyi, who had an odd look in her eyes.
"Boss, give me a stack of waterproof oil paper," said Qin Ming just before leaving, not intending to take advantage; he genuinely found that paper useful.
The mountain creature was dumbfounded.
The Purple Lightning Beast felt he was going crazy, even resorting to getting such trivial items.
"We're leaving; it’s too boring here! Nothing of value!" Qin Ming reined in his lust for treasures, knowing he could not linger any longer.
He decisively walked outward, dragging along the Purple Lightning Beast and the two little birds, escaping the black market shrouded in night mist.
"My lord, is it over so soon?" the language bird asked.
"Haven't you heard an old saying? ‘Contentment brings no disgrace, knowing when to stop brings safety, and one can endure.’” After saying this, Qin Ming hopped onto the back of the Purple Lightning Beast and urged, "Hurry, take me back!"
The Purple Lightning Beast was about to explode; it was once again a mount!
"Hurry!" Qin Ming urged, sensing something might go wrong.
Indeed, while riding on the back of the Purple Lightning Beast, they had just dashed a mile when a thick fog inexplicably enveloped the forest, dark and chilly.
Qin Ming took a sharp breath, feeling the fresh, fragrant scent of budding grass and trees—what kind of monster was he encountering? This was somewhat reminiscent of the methods employed by people from beyond!
A white owl perched on a large tree appeared quite anxious. Its kind preferred to sleep during the day and roam at night. It had just indulged in a nap while its master was soaking in a hot spring, leading to this predicament!
If the Guardian, the "Four Tooth Grey Elephant," returned from deep within the mountains after drinking and learned about this incident, it would surely lay all the blame on the owl!
The owl’s eyes shimmered with wisdom as it opened its mouth, releasing the fog and pressing forward to capture that brazen human swiftly.
Qin Ming sensed the great mountains surrounding him, pressing down with an overwhelming weight, nearly suffocating him. He had undoubtedly encountered a person from beyond.
The two birds rolled their eyes, fainting from the overwhelming pressure.
Qin Ming didn't want to trouble them further; he untied them and let them drop to the ground for freedom.
He lowered his gaze and noted that the Purple Lightning Beast remained unaffected, with the black fog frantically surging toward his body.
With a loud slap, he struck the Purple Lightning Beast's back.
"If you don’t stop, I’ll kill it!" Qin Ming threatened, drawing his knife assertively.
The shadowy figure from beyond seemed unconcerned by the threat, continuing to fuel the black fog, transforming it into a dark mountain pressing down on his flesh and blood.
Qin Ming's bones cracked painfully under the immense pressure.
He unleashed the power of heavenly light from within him as splendid brilliance tore through the shrouded night. Originally, he intended to wield the Jade Fat Iron Knife, but to his surprise, the unified power of heavenly light he had mastered successfully dispersed the black fog. With a full-hearted strike, he unleashed a palm.
This land erupted like a thunderclap!
The black fog was pushed back by his palm like monstrous waves, violently surging, causing many trees to snap under the strain.
Seeing this worked, he continuously struck with his palms, blasting nearby dark mountains apart one after another!
When he had previously encountered that vaporous young man, his heavenly light had been utterly harmless; he could only rely on the Jade Fat Iron's unexpected assault to narrowly escape.
But now, merging various techniques had bolstered his heavenly light to a level where it could counter some of the tactics from beyond!
As the black fog cleared, a figure appeared upon an ancient tree.
It was the white owl, surprised and puzzled, "Whose heavenly light is this? How can it be so domineering?"
"Let me leave!" Qin Ming demanded, placing the knife against the neck of the Purple Lightning Beast.
"Alright, just don’t harm it!" The white owl, surprisingly straightforward, didn't immediately subdue Qin Ming. Realizing this was too risky, it opted for caution instead.
Moments later, Qin Ming found himself only two miles away from the Red Mist Cave, the place where not long ago, he, Xu Sheng, and Sister Fen had come to fish for spirit eels, only to be ambushed by a horde of flame bats.
Standing there, he patted the Purple Lightning Beast and said, "As the saying goes, 'to send you off a thousand miles, parting is inevitable'; you can return now."
The Purple Lightning Beast felt deeply aggrieved, gritting its teeth in anger, seeming as if its eyes could erupt with fire.
Qin Ming turned suspicious, "Why do I feel like I’ve seen you before? The grinning and glaring expression you have is just like a previous Purple Lightning Beast. You can't be the same one, can you? Did you follow me all the way from the Black and White Mountains?"
"Get lost!" The Purple Lightning Beast exploded, no longer able to hold back, even speaking human words.
"You can actually talk!" Qin Ming was taken aback, giving it a hard shove out of the Red Mist Cave, then quickly triggered an explosion in that area, attracting swarms of flame bats.
He immediately turned and fled toward the cold pond, wrapping several ancient books in waterproof paper along the way before diving headfirst into the frigid water.
Emerging in a lake over twenty miles away, he had already ripped off his stubbly beard and discarded his oversized clothing. His body was no longer plump but thin.
Underneath, he sported a loose outfit, which he now dried with heavenly light. Instantly, his sleeves floated gracefully, reverting to a strikingly handsome youth.
Qin Ming didn't rush back. He engaged in some hunting, and when the time felt right, seeing people gradually emerge from the mountains, he retraced his steps homeward.
"That bearded fatso, come here!"
"You, the bald fat guy, stop right there! Did you just temporarily shave off your beard?"
At the key junction leading to Scarlet Mist City, the plump man faced serious verbal assault from a crowd of birds and terrifying mountain creatures who all stopped him to ask questions about his weight.
Qin Ming's robe fluttered in the wind, his long black hair lifting with the spring breeze. His exquisite features and clear eyes showed no traces of worldly smoke and fire. With an air of elegance, he entered the city.