Chapter 618 - 614: Thousand Peacocks Map

RUMBLE!

The Devouring Demon Tree suddenly vanished.

The last trace of Soul Poison was also completely devoured by the Devouring Demon Tree. Hong Yu's face paled, and his aura instantly flagged.

He had been forcing his body to hold on.

Only now did he finally relax. But as a result, the severe injuries inflicted by Elder Huo, no longer suppressed, erupted fully, and blood poured endlessly from his mouth.

GULP!

He swallowed a Sixth-Grade Spirit Pill and regulated his breathing for a moment, which temporarily stabilized his injuries.

However, Elder Huo's Power was simply too immense, and that last strike had been delivered in anger, without a shred of mercy. A full recovery was not something he could achieve in a short amount of time.

"Your Highness? Your Highness, please wake up!"

Mei'Er held the Peacock Princess and shook her gently.

Hong Yu said, "Stop shaking her. She needs to rest. Take her away for now; she should wake up in a day or two."

"This…"

Mei'Er froze, instinctively looking toward the Grand Elder.

The Grand Elder nodded.

Only then did she nod respectfully to Hong Yu and carry the Peacock Princess away.

The seven Elders then gathered around Hong Yu, their eyes filled with astonishment.

Even the Peacock King had been helpless against this Soul Poison, yet Hong Yu had managed to completely neutralize it. His methods left them breathless with admiration.

Of course.

Elder Huo, on the other hand, wore a sullen expression, looking as if he had swallowed a dozen flies. He looked incredibly awkward.

The man had always been hot-tempered and despised evil, so the other Elders could never do much with him. Now, seeing him so awkward for a change, they all wore amused expressions.

The Grand Elder smiled. "Young friend, thank you for your righteous intervention!"

"I just happened upon the situation; naturally, I couldn't ignore it," Hong Yu said, a faint smile on his pale face.

The Grand Elder nodded and asked with some apprehension, "About the Soul Poison affecting the Little Princess…?"

"It's been completely resolved. However, the Soul Poison has been in her body for quite some time and was suppressed by a Seal for years. When the Seal suddenly broke, the poison eroded her Heart Spirit. For her to make a full recovery, she will need some time to recuperate," Hong Yu explained with a frown.

Soul Poison is incredibly vicious and difficult to eradicate.

If not for the Devouring Demon Tree, even Hong Yu would have had to expend considerable effort to deal with it.

The Grand Elder breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

As long as the Soul Poison was eradicated, that was all that mattered. When it came to recuperation, the one thing Peacock Mountain did not lack was all manner of Spirit Medicines and Spirit Pills.

Seeing the trace of blood at the corner of Hong Yu's mouth, the Grand Elder took out a Brocade Wooden Box from his robes.

The box was covered in strange, sealing Runes, but even they could not conceal the pure medicinal fragrance wafting from within.

The box must contain an incredibly rare Treasure Medicine.

The Grand Elder said solemnly, "Young friend, my second brother acted impulsively just now, which is why he struck and severely injured you. On behalf of Peacock Mountain, I apologize. Inside is a Seventh Grade Heavenly Pill. It should help with your injuries."

"This…"

Hong Yu hesitated.

The Celestial Pill was a type of Healing Spirit Pill said to be able to bring the dead back to life and grow new flesh on bare bones.

This gift was truly precious.

The Grand Elder chuckled. "There's no need to be so courteous, young friend. You just saved our Little Princess, after all!"

Hong Yu no longer refused. "Thank you, Grand Elder!"

Watching him accept the Seventh Grade Heavenly Pill, the several Elders at his side couldn't help but feel a little envious.

Elder Huo snorted coldly, muttering in dissatisfaction, "I've never seen such a shameless junior, just accepting a gift from his senior like that…"

"Second Brother…"

The Grand Elder shot him a glare.

Elder Huo looked sullen but still shot Hong Yu a vicious glare.

The Grand Elder gave a wry smile. "My apologies. My second brother has had this temper since childhood…"

Hong Yu waved his hand, indicating that he didn't mind. But seeing Elder Huo glaring at him so fiercely, a spark of anger ignited within him. He smiled playfully. "It's no problem. I'll be sure to properly guide my new little disciple in the future. Yes, at the very least, I'll teach him what it means to respect his master and the Dao!"

"Erk!"

The Grand Elder's expression froze.

He had offered the Celestial Pill partly out of gratitude for Hong Yu saving the Peacock Princess, but also in the hopes that it would persuade Hong Yu to drop the matter of their earlier bet.

But now…

He couldn't help but look vexed. He shot Elder Huo a pitying glance and thought, 'Second Brother, oh, Second Brother, this is as much as I can help you. Why did you have to provoke him again?'

Elder Huo's face was livid. He glared at Hong Yu and roared, "You wet-behind-the-ears little brat! Who are you calling your little disciple?"

"Oh? My disciple, are you planning to go back on your word? Fine. Seeing as you're on the older side, if you really want to break your promise, then I, your master, will just have to hold my nose and accept it. Generally, I only accept disciples who are trustworthy and have a conscience. If you and I are truly not fated to be, we can't force it, right?"

Hong Yu said this with a look of regret, shaking his head in a way that made the other six Elders' eyes twitch.

'After he put it like that, who the hell would dare refuse?'

'Refusing now would be admitting you're a promise-breaker with no credibility or conscience, wouldn't it?'

A petty person might have just accepted the label.

But Elder Huo, for all his explosive temper, was an incorruptibly righteous man. Hearing this only enraged him further.

His eyes bulged, and hot air snorted from his nostrils. He was clearly furious to the extreme. Glaring at Hong Yu, he bit out, "Fine! Fine! I'll accept you as my master today."

"Master, please accept this disciple's bow!"

With a THUD, Elder Huo dropped to his knees and kowtowed heavily.

Hong Yu laughed and helped him up. "Ah, such an obedient disciple! Come, come, your master has a little something for you as a greeting gift."

Elder Huo just snorted coldly.

He said nothing.

Clearly, even though he had formally become a disciple, he didn't take Hong Yu seriously in the slightest.

Hong Yu wasn't worried. The initial bet had been made in a fit of anger, but after getting a closer look at Elder Huo, he had changed his mind.

He noticed that Elder Huo carried a rich medicinal fragrance, a scent that could only come from refining Pills year-round.

Moreover…

The medicinal fragrance on Elder Huo was the scent of High-Tier Pills.

Connecting this to the Four Great Pill Kings of the Nanshan Collection, Hong Yu guessed that Elder Huo was likely one of them.

Right now, what the Hong Alliance lacked most was a supply of High-Tier Pills.

Although Hong Yu could perform the refining himself, his focus was on increasing his own strength; he couldn't spend all his time refining Pills for the Hong Alliance. That was why he had decided to truly take Elder Huo on as his disciple.

The Pill Kings of the Nanshan Collection were only at the Sixth Grade Advanced level, not true Seventh Grade Pill Kings.

But for Hong Yu, who possessed the Divine Medicine Scripture, raising a Sixth Grade Advanced pseudo-Pill King to the Seventh Grade would be a trivial matter.

But the Fire Pill King didn't know any of this.

He was still fuming, refusing to acknowledge Hong Yu.

Ignoring Elder Huo's expression, Hong Yu took a Jade Scroll from his Storage Ring. Inscribed on it were the two words "Pill Scripture."

Of course, this was no ordinary Pill Scripture. It was a copy Hong Yu had made by imprinting a portion of his Divine Medicine Scripture onto the Jade Scroll.

"My good disciple, your master doesn't have much to give you, but this Pill Scripture was written by me personally. Here, take it and have a look," Hong Yu said with a grin, handing the Jade Scroll to Elder Huo.

"Hmph, Pill Scripture? I could recite them backward when I was ten…"

Elder Huo snorted and muttered disdainfully, but the moment he scanned the contents of the Jade Scroll, his expression changed completely.

It was a complex expression of shock, awe, and utter disbelief.

After standing there stunned for a long while…

The anger on Elder Huo's face vanished completely, replaced by a look of fervent adoration, even a touch of sycophancy. He grabbed Hong Yu's sleeves with both hands, a fawning smile plastered on his face as he winked. "Hehe, Master! Your disciple pays his respects!"

Grand Elder: "…"

The other five Elders: "…"

Xishang Ling: "…"

Even Hong Yu broke out in a cold sweat.

'This guy changes his tune way too fast, doesn't he?'

But Elder Huo felt no shame at all. He chuckled, "Master, about that… just now, this old Huo had eyes but failed to recognize Mount Tai. Wahaha! Master, you must have other treasures on you, right? Come, come, let your disciple massage your shoulders! Oh, my! Master, your fingernails are a bit long. Let your disciple trim them for you…"

"…"

Hong Yu was sweating buckets.

He suddenly began to regret his decision. 'It seems I've accepted quite a character as my disciple!'

"W-What is going on?"

Xishang Ling and the others were completely bewildered, unable to understand what had caused Elder Huo's sudden, drastic change in attitude.

Only the Grand Elder seemed to be in deep thought as he gave Hong Yu a profound look.

After finally placating Elder Huo with another Jade Scroll containing a portion of the Pill Scripture, Hong Yu got down to business. "Grand Elder, we came here for an audience with the Peacock King. We have something to show him."

"His Majesty is in seclusion!"

The Grand Elder mused for a moment before saying, "However, I know a way to contact him. Follow me."

The Grand Elder then led Hong Yu to the highest level of Peacock Mountain.

"His Majesty is in seclusion inside. I cannot enter, but you may go in and see for yourself. If His Majesty is willing to meet you, he will appear. If not, simply walk to the end of the path and return," the Grand Elder instructed.

Hong Yu nodded and went inside.

The tunnel was long. Although there was no visible source of light, it was as bright as day.

"Hm?"

Hong Yu noticed murals lining both sides of the passage.

These murals all depicted peacocks. They were no ordinary reliefs; each peacock was rendered with lifelike detail.

More importantly, every single peacock contained Daoist Principles.

What were Daoist Principles?

As the name suggested, they were the Laws of the Martial Dao.

Mystical Power was the power mastered by those in the Primordial Embryo Realm. The Mystical Dharma Aspect was the advanced form of Mystical Power, wielded by experts of the Primordial Spirit Realm.

As for Daoist Principles, those were an ability that only experts at the Yin Yang Realm Level could control.

Once one grasped Daoist Principles, they could evolve their Mystical Dharma Aspect into a Martial Dao Dharma Aspect, wreathed in the Laws of the Martial Dao. With further improvement, the Daoist Principles would advance into Order Divine Chains, granting control over a fundamental order—such as the changing of seasons or the cycle of the sun and moon—and bestowing heaven-shattering power.

This was the level of the Mystic Realm.

And right now, every one of these Peacock Maps contained Daoist Principles left behind by Yin Yang Realm experts. Hong Yu was completely mesmerized.

Before he knew it, he had observed his way down the entire passage, taking in a total of 999 Peacock Maps.

Just then, Hong Yu reached the end of the path.

There was no path ahead, only a massive peacock relief. This peacock stood motionless and unchanging. The moment Hong Yu saw this Peacock Map, his mind went blank with a sudden BUZZ, and a look of wild joy flashed in his eyes…

"This is…"