He Lan Tianxia

"Oh no! A bunch of beasts are coming!" Just as everyone was at a stalemate, the old pine tree spirit shouted from outside.

Everyone who could move went out to take a look. Good heavens! A huge, dark flock of birds swooped down, led by several lions with antlers. Even more terrifying was the white-haired woman chasing after them, holding a bloody wild beast in her hand. When she reached the front of the group of beasts, they frantically chased after her, creating a truly magnificent scene.

Just as everyone was filled with terror, a bolt of lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, striking the dark flock of birds, causing them to fall to the ground. At that moment, the white-haired woman suddenly threw down the bloody object, pushed with both hands, and unleashed a vicious and deadly annihilation palm strike at the beast behind her.

*Thump, thump, thump.* Another large amount of snow fell. The lions in front, wounded, attacked the white-haired woman even more frantically. The white-haired woman remained calm, parrying each move with increasing speed and ferocity. The last few antlered lions were wounded, and two-thirds of the flock of birds had fallen. The white-haired woman picked up the antlered lion that had just torn her apart, ripped off its bloody leg, and with a flick of her right hand, scattered a cloud of powder. The beasts behind her then chased after her frantically.

What's going on? Training beasts? Just as the woman was about to continue watching, a hand suddenly covered her mouth, and then she didn't know what happened.

When Lingyi turned around, the woman, the pale-faced scholar, and the shopkeeper were all gone, even the giant gorilla had vanished without a trace. Lingyi was extremely frustrated; he knew that this time the pale-faced scholar had hidden the princess even more thoroughly. What to do? Lingyi was at a loss. The fact that the scholar could take two people away at once and disappear so silently before his eyes changed Lingyi's opinion of him; his gentle and refined demeanor might just be a facade.

What to do? Just then, Lingyi's tail was touched, and then with a "whoosh," an eagle's talon slashed out. Ouch! Another talon slashed out, ouch! The usually good-tempered Lingyi was angry. He was afraid the eagle would lose its footing, so he had used his tail to protect the creature when he went out earlier. He didn't expect it to use its talons to attack him as soon as it woke up. Did it not even recognize him? He had already taken three antidotes; the poison from the previous year should have been neutralized by now.

Huh? Lingyi turned around and saw something was wrong. The guy was standing firm, but his eyes weren't open. What happened? Had he been poisoned and blinded?

The eagle continued to claw wildly, seemingly unaware of Ling Yi. Ling Yi simply swung its tail around, and with a hiss, the eagle's talons actually tore a bloody gash in Ling Yi's tail, causing blood to drip out.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Lingyi suspected that the pale-faced scholar had given her fake medicine.

"Hiss." The eagle, eyes closed, attacked Lingyi's tail. Good heavens, why did you take a liking to my tail? What grudge does my tail have against you?

Lingyi tried to command the eagle several times without success; the eagle only grew more aggressive, using its claws and beak to attack, forcing Lingyi to retaliate. Despite its slender body, the eagle's bones were incredibly strong, likely due to its long-term flight. Compared to Lingyi's physique, the eagle was much more agile, allowing it to land its attacks successfully each time, infuriating Lingyi.

Seeing the eagle seemingly possessed, Lingyi decided he couldn't bear it any longer. He had to wake the creature up so he could rescue the prince. So, Lingyi swept his long tail, took to the air, and began to fight the eagle. Seeing this, the eagle became even more energetic, weaving left and right at Lingyi's tail, locked in a fierce battle, fighting from the winery to outside the gate, and then from outside the gate back into the air—a truly spectacular scene.

Strangely, the eagle was fighting with its eyes closed the whole time. Even when Lingyi called to it, it wouldn't respond, as if it didn't recognize Lingyi at all. The eagle grew stronger with each fight, while Lingyi became increasingly frustrated. After three hundred moves, Lingyi was actually at a disadvantage. Lingyi's tail was covered in wounds, and he was exhausted both physically and mentally.

Suddenly, Lingyi lunged forward, darting towards a small pond outside the door. He decided to stop fighting; if he kept going like this, he'd exhaust himself and the eagle wouldn't even recognize him. He knew the eagle couldn't swim, so diving into the water would be the end of the fight, and besides, soaking his battered tail in water would ease the pain.

"Splash!" The eagle responded and plunged into the water. How infuriating! Did it not value its life? The eagle plunged straight into the water and sank.

Lingyi let out a long sigh. Huh? Why isn't it floating to the surface yet? Did it sink? Lingyi glanced at the still pond, a sense of foreboding flashing through his mind. Without thinking, he jumped into the water with a "plop."

With a "poof," Lingyi sprang out again, his body awkwardly positioned. Besides a large grass carp clutched in his tail, he also had a snarling eagle dangling from its jaws. So this guy wasn't dead; he'd played dirty. Wait a minute, while the eagle might be stingy, it was still upright in its actions. In terms of treachery, I was slightly better than it—I could tell from the time it stole the Transformation Pill.

It seemed the eagle was poisoned with an unusual kind of poison, one that had even clouded its mind. Lingyi was frantically trying to figure out how to save the eagle when he heard a "thud"—the large fish had fallen to the ground. It rolled a few times on the ground and then lay still. It's common for fish to become motionless out of water due to lack of oxygen, but suddenly, the eagle, which had been clinging to Lingyi's tail, turned and swooped down on the fish, snatching it up in its mouth and preparing to fly away. Lingyi was bewildered by the eagle's actions, but the next second he was so frightened that he immediately took to the air and chased after it.

The large fish that the eagle was holding in its beak had turned completely black, and its eyes were bulging.

Poisoning?

Lingyi broke out in a cold sweat. Good heavens! He knew how terrifying it was to be poisoned to this color, but what was even more terrifying was that the eagle was actually trying to eat the poisonous fish. How could such a large fish be poisonous? The eagle couldn't possibly not smell the poison! And it was still desperately trying to eat the highly poisonous fish… A series of questions flashed through Lingyi's mind. Just as the eagle was frantically trying to swallow the fish whole, Lingyi leaped forward and kicked the fish away with a "smack." The eagle tried to rush forward to grab it, so Lingyi had to slap it hard with his tail.

With a "plop," the eagle fell to the ground.

At this moment, Lingyi finally realized a problem: was his tail poisonous?

Ling Yi approached the eagle. The creature's jaw was still clenched, and the blow Ling Yi had delivered with his tail earlier had certainly taken its toll. Ling Yi opened his mouth and sprayed mist at the eagle for a while before the eagle's dark expression softened. Ling Yi instinctively reached out with his tail to support the eagle, but thankfully reacted quickly and stopped halfway. He found a clump of soft, dry grass, rolled it into a small nest, and placed the eagle inside with his beak before standing next to the large fish. For comparison, Ling Yi also placed his tail next to the fish. About half an hour passed, and Ling Yi stared motionlessly at the dark red fish and its bright red tail. He remembered that his tail wasn't originally this color.

Lingyi was puzzled. Why didn't his tail feel poisoned at all?

Meanwhile, in another stone cave within the "Dark and Sunless" forbidden zone, the pale-faced scholar stared blankly at the unconscious shopkeeper, utterly helpless. For ten thousand years, he had devoted himself to concocting poisons, possessing knowledge of virtually every kind. His current inability to deal with it was undoubtedly the greatest irony of his life. Suddenly, he thought of someone—his sister Yan. She could destroy all his poison flowers. Yes, why not just have her destroy the shopkeeper's poison as well?

Wishes are always beautiful, but reality is cruel. The pale-faced scholar carried the woman to sit next to the shopkeeper and waited and waited, until he was dozing off, but there was still no movement. Finally, unable to bear the awkwardness of the shopkeeper and the woman being close together, he became extremely jealous, carried the woman into his bedroom, and then went to the shopkeeper to continue his deep thought.

The beast trainer ran away, the gorilla fled, and the ones staring at the dead fish and watching the shopkeeper continued. One person was the most idle: the old pine tree spirit. Standing there unnoticed, it was completely forgotten. So, bored, it approached the eagle, observed it for a while, and then suddenly pulled a pill from its body and stuffed it into the eagle's mouth. Recently, Murong Junlan had been throwing it pills out of the blue, and it hadn't been willing to finish them, but it knew these pills were brewed by the eagle. Although it didn't usually have much contact with the eagle, now that it was poisoned, it was willing to help it, both for its own sake and for personal reasons. Actually, the old pine tree spirit didn't know if the pill would actually help the eagle, but it still stuffed it in without hesitation.

Cough, cough, cough. The eagle choked. Its eyes snapped open, glaring fiercely at the old pine spirit, which made the old pine spirit shiver. Before the shiver was even finished, the eagle suddenly pushed off the ground and attacked it fiercely.

Run! Before the word "run" even finished flashing through the old pine tree spirit's mind, it had already sprinted several feet—no, it should be said, rolled several feet. However, it was no match for the speed of an eagle. It only heard a whistling sound overhead before its already sparsely foliaged head was viciously scratched by the eagle's talons. Oh dear, is my scalp still intact? Before it could even catch its breath, the eagle's talons were upon it again. In a moment of panic, the old pine tree spirit instantly stopped and transformed into a pine tree. Oh dear, luckily it reacted quickly, or it would have lost its life.

With a hiss, a large chunk of bark fell off the old pine tree, and the old pine spirit grimaced in pain. The eagle, seemingly still not finished its venting, continued circling the old pine tree, relentlessly clawing at it. The old pine spirit, unable to bear it any longer, had no choice but to run frantically forward, but the eagle truly relentlessly pursued it. The old pine spirit thought resentfully, "This is the result of my meddling."

With a "thud," the old pine tree spirit, busy on its way, crashed solidly into a person, a branch snapping off with a crack, causing excruciating pain. For a moment, it even forgot about the eagle.

The old pine tree spirit looked up and saw the gorilla glaring at it unfriendly. Clearly, it was quite annoyed that a tree had bumped into it. The gorilla was furious. It swung its blade at the old pine tree, and instantly, broken branches and leaves rained down. The old pine tree was so angry it felt like it wanted to die. Had it offended the Grand Duke Jupiter today?

Whether it clashed with Tai Sui or not is unknown, but in any case, there really was a Tai Sui standing in front of it. The pale-faced scholar appeared out of nowhere, his cold gaze falling on the eagle, his brows furrowing, then on the old pine tree spirit, and finally on the suddenly appearing, annoying gorilla. The pale-faced scholar suddenly reached out and grabbed at the old pine tree spirit.

"Damn it, it's me again!" The old pine tree spirit quickly shrank back into a small old man and tried to roll away. The pale-faced scholar took one look and thought, "Not bad, a tree spirit that can transform into a human?" Intrigued, he raised his foot and kicked the old pine tree spirit, sending it tumbling a long way with a "plop."

"You're sick!" The old pine tree spirit, its back broken from the fall, couldn't help but curse. It thought that since the old pine tree spirit had kicked it so far, the old pine tree spirit wouldn't be able to catch it, especially with Lingyi and the gorilla there. But little did it know how narrow-minded the white-faced scholar was. When he heard the old pine tree spirit cursing him, he suddenly moved in front of the old pine tree spirit and threw out a cloud of white powder.

"You...?" Before he could finish speaking, the old pine tree spirit collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Just as the pale-faced scholar was about to reach out and snatch the old pine tree spirit, Lingyi flicked its tail and preemptively wrapped the old pine tree spirit around. Although he had never taken the old pine tree spirit seriously and had never even said a word to it, he disapproved of the pale-faced scholar's actions.

A look of displeasure flashed across the pale-faced scholar's face. He wanted to stop him? Hmph, he reached into his pocket to grab the powder again.

"Beast!" The gorilla suddenly leaped over, grabbed the pale-faced scholar, and threw him out, scattering the white powder from its hand all over the ground with a "whoosh."

Just then, the eagle swooped down on the old pine tree spirit on Lingyi's tail with lightning speed. Only then did Lingyi realize he had made a mistake. He hurriedly turned to look at the old pine tree spirit, and as expected, its face had turned black. He had saved the old pine tree spirit, but he had also poisoned it. Immediately, Lingyi breathed a puff of mist at the old pine tree spirit.

"Hiss." The eagle's claws suddenly lashed out, and Lingyi immediately ducked forward, using his body to shield the old pine tree spirit.

"Hiss." It was the sound of snakeskin being torn off; Lingyi felt a splitting pain. Dude, why are you attacking me?

The pale-faced scholar, thrown out by the gorilla, didn't go back in. He'd only emerged from the "Darkness" because he couldn't find the antidote. However, he seemed to have just realized something. He'd noticed the old pine spirit's poisoning, Lingyi's bright red tail, and the eagle's frenzied attacks. The pale-faced scholar decided to cut off Lingyi's tail—yes, he had to. Instantly, a wicked plan flashed through his mind, and a cruel, contemptuous smile curled at the corner of his lips.

The pale-faced scholar returned to "Darkness Without Sunshine" once more, and when he reappeared, he was carrying a flask of old wine. The aroma of the wine was so strong that it attracted the attention of the gorilla who was intently watching the fight.

Without a second thought, the gorilla leaped over, snatched the medicine, and began gulping it down. Lingyi noticed, and by the time he lashed out with his tail, the gorilla had already taken several mouthfuls and was swaying precariously.

"Hmph, once this troublesome fool is poisoned, everything else will be much easier." Although the pale-faced scholar hadn't fully recovered his energy, he didn't take the injured snake and the poisoned eagle seriously. Thinking of the people in the cave, he knew he had to act quickly.

Just as the gorilla was about to fall, he suddenly threw a powder at it. Then, the gorilla pounced on Ling Yi and Cangying, who were locked in a fierce struggle, as if possessed. As for the old man, Ling Yi had already swept him behind a large rock.

Lingyi had been injured and hadn't had time to recuperate or rest, while the eagle had been in a state of frenzied excitement and was already exhausted. So, the gorilla's ferocious attack captured the two of them in less than twenty moves. The pale-faced scholar then threw out a cloud of powder, and the gorilla obediently dragged the two of them and followed the pale-faced scholar into the "Darkness Without Sunlight".

After poisoning the gorilla, Lingyi, and the eagle until they were unconscious, the pale-faced scholar threw them into two deep caves. "Darkness Without Sunlight" was not only filled with poison powder but also had many caves. Afterward, he checked on the others in the other caves to make sure they were all safe. Then, he began preparing to cut off Lingyi's tail. This tail represented the pinnacle of his poison-making efforts, something he had dedicated his entire life to mastering. He was determined to cut it off and soak it thoroughly in venom. Ideally, the severed tail would continue to move.

The pale-faced scholar was so excited by his sudden inspiration that his head trembled. He smiled sinisterly, thinking: "Brother King, I never expected that you would personally bring me this treasure ten thousand years later, along with Sister Yan. I will make you witness firsthand how you suffer from the poison."

Inside the cave, Lingyi was bound hand and foot. The pale-faced scholar still dared not underestimate Lingyi's abilities. He knew that if that wretched monkey hadn't been there, he wouldn't have succeeded so easily. He pulled out a long sword and brought over a large tray. He measured it, then decided the tray was too small. He found several more trays and placed them down one after another, but finally shook his head. The trays were too small. This way, he could only cut Lingyi's tail off piece by piece, but the resulting poison wouldn't be concentrated enough for extraction. It would be best to throw the whole tail into a large bucket.

Suddenly, the pale-faced scholar remembered that there was one in the White Stone Courtyard, but it had been destroyed. He wondered if the large barrel was damaged. After careful consideration, the pale-faced scholar still dared not act rashly, after all, those who had fainted here were not insignificant people.

After much deliberation, the pale-faced scholar went to the winery and retrieved several large buckets used for carrying water, but he was still unsatisfied. Then, a brilliant idea struck him: soak his tail in a large wine jar! He was pleased; he was even elated by his own thought. However, being a reserved man, he kept his emotions deeply hidden. So, the pale-faced scholar ran out of the wine cellar, split open a jar, and surprisingly, the broken edge was perfectly straight—a testament to his skill. Now that the jar was broken, what to do with the wine? The pale-faced scholar filled several large buckets, then filled plates and dishes, and still had a considerable amount left. Finally, he had to make a crucial decision—one that matters not trivialities—to pour it away.

The pale-faced scholar poured out the wine jar and refilled it with water, adding medicinal powder to the water. Finally satisfied, he picked up his sword again and went to find Ling Yi to cut off his tail.