The Master Lu Xiaoyu spoke of made Jiang Yun pause, then he understood that during the time he was asleep, Elder Sha Jingshan must have visited, and just as he had promised, as long as Jiang Yun brought Lu Xiaoyu back, he would accept Lu Xiaoyu as his Disciple.

In other words, Lu Xiaoyu had now acknowledged Sha Jingshan as her Master and become an Inner Sect Disciple.

Indeed, just as Jiang Yun fell asleep, Sha Jingshan arrived at Hidden Peak, and after waking Lu Xiaoyu, he told her everything without reservation.

It was easy to imagine that after learning everything, Lu Xiaoyu was filled with gratitude towards Jiang Yun, so she did not immediately go to Hundred Beast Peak, insisting on staying there until Jiang Yun woke up.

Sha Jingshan naturally had no objection to this, as he also greatly admired Jiang Yun, especially since he had not expected Jiang Yun to truly be able to bring Lu Xiaoyu back safely.

In fact, if Jiang Yun's Aptitude had not been too ordinary, he would have wanted to take Jiang Yun as a Disciple as well.

Lu Xiaoyu sobbed, “Yun Gege, thank you!”

Jiang Yun couldn't help but smile, “Silly girl, do you need to say such things to your brother?”

Jiang Yun also carefully asked about how Lu Xiaoyu had somehow crossed the Red Light Forbidden Zone and appeared in a tree hollow a hundred miles outside Trapped Beast Forest, but Lu Xiaoyu herself didn't know, and she couldn't even recall her general experiences after entering Trapped Beast Forest, as if she had been in a dream.

Although Jiang Yun also found it strange, since Lu Xiaoyu had returned safely, he naturally didn't delve deeper, saying with a smile, “Alright, I'm fine now, you should hurry back to Hundred Beast Peak!”

“I'm not leaving, Senior Brother Dongfang and the others haven't returned yet, I'll stay here with Yun Gege for a few more days.”

“No need, silly girl, right now, the most important thing for you is to quickly raise your Cultivation. If there's nothing important, it's best not to leave Hundred Beast Peak.”

Jiang Yun's words had an effect. After this incident, Lu Xiaoyu knew that if her strength hadn't been too weak, if she had had enough self-preservation ability, then none of these things would have happened. So she no longer insisted and reluctantly left Hidden Peak.

Before leaving, Lu Xiaoyu took out a jade bottle containing some Medicinal Pills, which Sha Jingshan had specially left for Jiang Yun.

Jiang Yun did not refuse. Although he had had some opinions about Sha Jingshan before, now that he had truly accepted Lu Xiaoyu as a Disciple, those opinions vanished like smoke.

Standing on Hidden Peak, watching Lu Xiaoyu's figure gradually disappear, the smile on Jiang Yun's face also faded. A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he slowly turned his head to look at the main Peak of Asking Dao Five Peaks—Sword Dao Peak!

Although Lu Xiaoyu's encounter this time was a false alarm and she even gained a blessing from it, Jiang Yun was very clear that this matter was not over!

Neither Fang Ruolin nor Fang Yuxuan would ever let him go!

Especially Fang Yuxuan, with his arrogant personality, to be swept away by a blurry figure at the last moment when facing a Utility Disciple like himself, this was a great humiliation for him. Only by killing Jiang Yun could he wash away the shame.

And now, Jiang Yun's strength was far too inferior to Fang Yuxuan's. If Fang Yuxuan truly intended to trouble him, Jiang Yun would have no way to deal with it.

Moreover, even if they were willing to let him go, he would not let them go!

Just as his grandfather said, in this world, the strong prey on the weak. Being merciful to enemies is being cruel to oneself!

Rather than waiting for enemies to come knocking, it's better to eliminate them first.

Jiang Yun tightly clenched his fists and slowly withdrew his gaze. When his gaze fell upon the waterfall and the small house at the Peak, the cold glint in his eyes was replaced by worry.

“Senior Brother and Second Senior Sister still haven't returned. Could something have happened to them?”

“But even if something did happen to them, I can't help at all. All of this, in the end, is because I'm not strong enough, far from it!”

“I need to be like Second Senior Sister, go into seclusion for a while, first recuperate my body, and then find a way to quickly improve my Cultivation!”

Jiang Yun turned and strode back into his small house, closed the door, and began his seclusion.

...

While Jiang Yun was in seclusion, another astonishing piece of news spread within Wen Dao Sect.

This news was brought back by an Inner Sect Disciple.

This Inner Sect Disciple, while carrying out a Sect mission, needed to go a hundred miles outside Trapped Beast Forest to search for a certain herb, and it was in that area, which all Disciples considered a Forbidden Land, that he witnessed a shocking sight.

Nearly thirty Vicious Beast Corpses were haphazardly piled beside a swamp, and almost every single one had been disemboweled, a truly bloody scene.

This Inner Sect Disciple was instantly terrified by such a gruesome sight, because all of the dead Vicious Beasts were above the seventh rank, with even a few eighth and ninth rank ones among them.

In a state of panic, this Inner Sect Disciple immediately rushed back to the Sect, and this astonishing news spread.

It was easy to imagine that this news caused a huge sensation within Wen Dao Sect, and everyone's focus was naturally on who had done this.

Some speculated whether Inner Sect Disciples had collectively gone to Trapped Beast Forest for a trial and killed so many Vicious Beasts, but this speculation was quickly rejected because the Inner Sect Disciples of the Five Peaks had not had any collective trials recently. Moreover, the Inner Sect Disciple recalled that he had also examined the wounds on several Vicious Beast Corpses at the time, and it seemed as if they had been killed by a single person!

At this, everyone's speculation focused on a certain Elder or Peak Master, but this speculation was also quickly overturned by a secret circulating within Wen Dao Sect.

It was said that there was an unwritten rule within Wen Dao Sect that Elders, Peak Masters, and other Dongtian cultivators could not enter Trapped Beast Forest. Although the reason was unknown, it was naturally impossible for them to have done this.

Of course, some also suspected Jiang Yun, but this suspicion was dismissed as soon as it arose, and everyone knew the reason why.

Finally, a reasonable candidate emerged who was accepted by most people—Fang Yuxuan!

Firstly, only Fang Yuxuan, the top Inner Sect Disciple, possessed such strength; secondly, some people stated with certainty that Fang Yuxuan, after suddenly disappearing during the minor competition that day, appeared in Trapped Beast Forest and, in a fit of rage, killed so many Vicious Beasts!

...

Jiang Yun knew nothing of this news circulating within the Sect. After three days of peaceful recuperation, he finally restored his body to its Peak state, and his injuries were completely healed.

Now, he was staring in a daze at the thirteen Medicinal Pills before him!

These were all given by Sha Jingshan, a total of eighteen. Jiang Yun had used five, and the remaining ones were all here.

To become stronger, besides Cultivating step by step, Jiang Yun also had a shortcut that others did not—the black stone.

However, before that, he first needed to figure out the effect and usage of the black stone.

Previously, he had no items containing Dao Intent to test with, but now with these Medicinal Pills, he at least had a few chances to try.

As for these Medicinal Pills, to be honest, although they were given by Sha Jingshan, a Dongtian cultivator, Jiang Yun truly didn't think much of them after careful inspection, so even if they were all wasted, he wouldn't feel it was a pity.

Taking out his small compass, Jiang Yun began to test these Medicinal Pills one by one.

He quickly got the result, and Jiang Yun was very dissatisfied with this result, because only two of the Medicinal Pills actually contained Dao Intent.

“The probability of these Medicinal Pills containing Dao Intent is so low. To turn the stone into water, at least three Dao Intents are needed, and I'm still short one.”

Jiang Yun frowned. He was a bit unwilling to give up just like that, but he couldn't go back to Sha Jingshan to ask for more Medicinal Pills. So where could he find that missing Dao Intent?

After a moment of thought, Jiang Yun's eyes suddenly lit up. With a flick of his wrist, thirteen Dragon-eye-sized beads appeared before him—Beast Cores!