<h4>Chapter 492: Yang Shenlong</h4>
The sky was devoid of stars, and the moonlight was hidden.
On a deste mountain in the Southern Regions, there stood a dpidated ornate building, marked with traces of the Great Dao of Years. On this dark, windy night, the mountain winds blew with a faint wail.
<i>Crack.</i>
Someone''s foot stepped on a fallen twig, making a crisp crack. Several people appeared in front of the ornate building, gazing at it for a moment before entering it.
There were five people in total. The most conspicuous of them was a burly man, sturdy like an iron tower. His thin shirt wasn''t enough to cover up his chiseled muscles that seemed to have been carved by a knife or a hatchet. His face looked equally strong and rugged like a rock.
The person at the front of the group was an old man in in clothes. He had wrinkled skin and a weathered face.
The old man''s hands were resting on the shoulders of a child. This child seemed simple-minded and robust, but his face had a simrly dullplexion.
Behind them stood a short, stocky middle-aged man and a youth who was tall and slender like bamboo.
The group pushed open the building''s entrance doors, revealing arge messy hall with cobwebs and dust everywhere.
"Is anyone here?" the leader of the group, the old man, called out.
After a moment, a man responded from deep within the hall, "Well, who do we have here? Which route have youe from, friends?"
A man and a woman walked out from the back of the hall. The man was tall and had a youthful appearance, but the malevolent qi he exuded gave him a menacing air. The woman was young and beautiful. She clung closely to the man, with her soft and supple body. She watched the group with a gaze that was as alluring as she looked.
"<i>Hohoh,</i> pardon the intrusion," the old man said as he saw the pair approach. "I heard you take in children here?"
"Yes."
The young man who was shrouded in malevolent qi nced at the child. When the child fearlessly met his gaze, the young man furrowed his eyebrows slightly.
The old man pushed the child forward. "Take a look at this eight-year-old child. How much can you give me for him?"
The young man looked down, observing the child carefully. He then let out a coldugh and looked back up at the old man.
"You say this child is eight?"
"That''s right," the old man answered with a chuckle. "His birthday just passed recently. His family couldn''t afford to keep him, so they gave him a red egg and sent him off."[1]
"My friend, stop pretending," the young man said loudly. "We only take in humans, not demons."
"I told you it wouldn''t work," the short, stocky middle-aged man at the backmented. "Even if he''s really a child, human traffickers wouldn''t take a dim-witted child like him."
The child turned around to retort, "Better than having a mouth that stinks like your momma''s ass."
"The ve of Mount Tai, attack!" the old man shouted, reaching out to grab the alluring young woman.
Before the old man shouted, the ve of Mount Tai, the burly man, had already made a move. Hisrge hands spread open like a, about to capture the young man.
"You dare cause trouble here?!" the young man snarled.
With a whoosh, he broke free and slid several zhang away.
His lower body had transformed into the thick tail of a ck-scaled python. Extending upward from its tail, the python split into two upper bodies. One belonged to the young man, and the other belonged to the young woman. The two of them actually shared the same body!
The python twisted about, revealing the true form of the young man and woman—a giant two-headed ck python.
"<i>Raaaar!</i>"
It opened its mouth and spat out a cloud of blood fog that contained an extremely toxic venom capable of dissolving flesh.
Nevertheless, the group of five was not afraid in the slightest and surrounded the pair.
The ve of Mount Tai grabbed the python''s tail and roared as he swung it up into the air! The short, stocky middle-aged man and the tall, slender youth rushed forward, each grabbing one of the python''s heads. The three of them held the two-headed python up in midair.
The old man turned his hand over and conjured a stone sword that seemed to have been made from cliff rock. Its thick, wide de did not have a sharp edge. Yet, it sliced the two-headed giant python in half with just one sh like a legendary weapon!
"<i>Aaaaahhhhhh!!!</i>" both python heads screamed. "We are all demons. Why are you ughtering your own kind?!"
Before it was even done talking, it was obvious the two-headed python would soon be dead.
...
<i>Thud, thud.</i>
The two severed bodies fell to the ground.
The group of five wiped the dust and blood off their hands, then they moved further into the hall. Soon after, they arrived at the rear of the hall, where a deep cavey ahead.
The old man continued to lead the way as they ventured into the pitch-ck cave. The cave walls were sticky and slippery, clearly the work of a giant python.
Momentster, they approached the end of the cave. The old man dropped down to the bottom and found another cave, dimly illuminated by a small candle me. More than a dozen childreny in a deep sleep there.
The old man swept his gaze over them and then said, "There are children missing from around a dozen or so families. Those missing children should all be here."
"Luckily, they are all unharmed," the ve of Mount Tai remarked quietly in his deep voice.
Just as the group was about to move forward to wake the children, the old man shouted, "Be careful!"
Right then, a boy dressed in a scarlet robe suddenly opened his eyes, revealing vertical pupils that gleamed with ferocity!
<i>Whoosh.</i>
He opened his mouth and spewed out strange sinister mes, knocking down the tall, slender youth. The boy made a twisting motion and transformed into a slithering Fire Python with wings!
"Protect the children!" the old man yelled.
The Fire Python went on a rampage, spewing a torrent of raging mes! The small cave was instantly filled with scorching mes of qi!
The group of five raised their hands simultaneously, and a dense stone wall rose from the ground, shielding the children and preventing the mes from passing through.
The Fire Python''s cultivation level was quite high, so its mes were extremely powerful. If even just a spark from those mesnded on a person, it could instantly engulf them, incinerating their body and soul!
After spewing the mes, the Fire Python had no intention of fighting further. It moved upward in a twisting motion. Rumbling reverberated through the cave as the Fire Python drilled through the ceiling, creating arge hole at an amazingly fast speed!
The Fire Python disappeared from the cave in the blink of an eye.
The group of five had been focused on protecting the children, so they had no time to attack it. By the time they wanted to pursue, it was already gone.
<i>Whoosh.</i>
After breaking free, the Fire Python and soared into the sky, intending to escape into the distance. However, a white-robed figure suddenly appeared in its path.
It was a tall young man dressed in white robes, standing gracefully in the wind. He had sleek sword-like eyebrows and long, beautiful hair. His eyes glowed with divine light as he calmly looked at the Fire Python with a piercing gaze.
The moon could not be seen in the night sky, but this young man had an illuminating presence, making him shine just like a bright moon!
The Fire Python had no idea why, but the sight of this young man made its heart race in fear, as if it was about to suffer a great cmity. Nevertheless, it was not going to sit around and wait for death.
It opened its mouth and spewed another st of sinister raging mes!
<i>Boom!</i>
This ball of fire was even fiercer than the one in the cave!
Yet, the young man just casually raised his hand, spreading it open and gently pressing down on the fireball. The zing fireball immediately transformed into a tiny spark under his palm and dissipated in the wind.
Following that, the Fire Python came under the young man''s palm too and fell, shrinking in size until it turned into a worm-like creature. It scurried around on the young man''s palm only to find that there was an invisible barrier preventing it from escaping.
The rest of the group emerged from the cave and caught up to the young man.
The old man stepped forward and said respectfully, "Young Master, in the end, we still needed you to take action."
"Are the children unharmed?" the young asked.
"They''re fine," the old man replied. "They should all be here. We can interrogate this serpent demon when we return."
"Just who are you people?!" the serpent demon, the Fire Python on the young man''s palm, raged, writhing back and forth. "You are all greater demons with cultivation power. Why are you willing to serve this human''s ves?"
"<i>Hohoh,</i>" the old manughed. "You probably don''t know our young master''s identity."
"What is his identity? Is it worth betraying your own kind?" the serpent demon snarled.
The young man nced at the serpent demon, his fingers closing in on it.
Just before he clenched his hand into a fist, he said, "My name is Yang Shenlong."
...
"Three days after Yang Shenlong emerged from closed-door cultivation, he destroyed a demon hideout in the Southern Regions, rescuing more than a dozen children who had been kidnapped!"
"He''s truly incredible. He''s handsome and cool, as well as chivalrous and righteous. He even has extraordinary cultivation power. Isn''t he the heroic husband I''ve always dreamed of?"
"Before going into closed-door cultivation, his cultivation level was already the best among the younger generation. Now that he has emerged from closed-door cultivation with a breakthrough, I''m afraid no one can be a match for him."
"Most geniuses would not be a match for any one of his Wuyue Mountain ves, not to mention him whomands the Wuyue Mountain ves. He was the one who had subdued those five greater demons by himself! They''re even serving him willingly!"
"The top spot at this year''s Assembly of Immortal Sects will probably belong to the Peni Supreme Sect once again."
"Of course! Peni''s representatives won first ce for three assemblies in a row. They only got third ce in thest assembly, but there''s no doubt they''ll be determined to im first ce at the uing assembly. With a peerless genius like Yang Shenlong, their win is practically set. There are very few who would be able to challenge them."
"As for past strong contenders like the Celestial King Sect, the only notable disciple they have in the current generation is Feng Chaoyang; the others are unremarkable. There might be some notable geniuses among the enigmatic younger generation of the Endless Sword Sect, but no one knows about them. So, it seems that there isn''t really anyone among the other sects who canpare to Yang Shenlong."
"Actually... I think Mount Shu''s got a pretty good chance."
"Don''t be ridiculous. Mount Shu''s goal this year is just to not fall out of the top ten."
"But Red Cotton Peak is holding a promotional event again. The things you can buy there are cheap and useful."
"That''s true. Then I''ll support Mount Shu too."
With the release of the new issue of <i>The Seven Stars Gazette</i>, Yang Shenlong''s name returned to the public eye. He had been in closed-door cultivation for nearly a year. The world of immortality cultivators still regarded him as the strongest of the younger generation, but there had been little news about him.
However, after emerging from closed-door cultivation recently, he destroyed a demon hideout in one fell swoop. It was rumored that this hideout was connected to the demons of the Far West and that Yang Shenglong was investigating leads rted to it.
As soon as this news broke, it upied the headlines of <i>The Chronicles of the Nine Provinces</i>, highlighting Yang Shenlong''s prominence.
In reality, this matter couldn''tpare to Chu Liang''s thwarting of the Celestial Charm Sect''s conspiracy in the capital of Yu. However, that incident had been caused, in part, by the imperial court''s negligence.
The imperial court had organized the Grand Capture Ceremony to boost public morale, but if news of such a major incident were to get out, the public would end up having the opposite reaction. Unrest and chaos would spread across the nine provinces, and that was likely one of the things that the Celestial Charm Sect had aimed for with this incident.
Therefore, after various consultations, the Celestial Pivot Pavilion did not publish news of Chu Liang''s great merit in <i>The Seven Stars Gazette</i>.
Only certain citizens of the capital of Yu would remember just how perilous that day had been. And of course, the "Skillful Hands and Benevolent Whip" banner in Chu Liang''s home would serve as a memory of his great service to them.
As for Chu Liang himself, he didn''t care much about this kind of fame. He was more interested in another piece of news.
<i>Princess Jingyang Rejected for Marriage Again. Mount Shu Sect Disciple Bestowed the Title of Imperial Younger Brother.</i>
1. In Chinese culture, red is the color of good fortune and happiness, while eggs are symbols of new life. So, in this context, the red egg could be conveying the message of wishing the child good fortune in his new beginning. ?