Inside the pavilion.
The chess match continued for a while.
First game: Ye Wangchuan narrowly defeated Li Luo.
Li Luo shook her head, not caring much.
After all, he was from a prestigious family, so he must have learned some chess.
She was just a bit rusty.
Second game: Ye Wangchuan narrowly defeated Li Luo again.
Li Luo began to grow impatient, her composure cracking.
So close… just so close!!
If she had changed her strategy, she definitely could have won!
Third game: Ye Wangchuan narrowly lost to Li Luo.
Li Luo was overjoyed. Haha! Finally, a win!
But why didn’t Ye Wangchuan provide any villain emotional points?
Did he not care about winning or losing?
Fourth game: Ye Wangchuan narrowly defeated Li Luo once more.
Li Luo’s frustration boiled over again.
Damn it! If only she hadn’t made that mistake a few moves ago…
At the very least, she needed to win back what she had lost!
Fifth game: Ye Wangchuan made an accidental mistake—and utterly crushed Li Luo.
Li Luo: “…”
“Ye Wangchuan, were you deliberately letting me win by a narrow margin?”
As Li Luo handed the third cultivation pill to Ye Wangchuan,
her remaining villain emotional points dropped to 290.
And finally, Li Luo figured something out.
“I’m done playing…” Li Luo said, biting her lip.
“Come on, one more game. If I lose, I’ll give you three cultivation pills,” Ye Wangchuan said, holding up three fingers.
“No… I’m… I’m done!” Li Luo stammered, decisively standing up and leaving.
Ugh!
Ye Wangchuan, not only is he good at chess,
but he can also control the game!!!
If he hadn’t made that mistake in the fifth game and crushed her, she would’ve been tempted to play a few more rounds!
Seeing Li Luo’s aggrieved expression, Ye Wangchuan chuckled softly and stood up.
He patted Li Luo’s shoulder and comforted her.
“Actually, I lost that game on purpose too.”
“Shut up!!!!!”
And so, the chess game came to an end.
Later.
The two wandered around other parts of the Longevity Palace.
Slacking off, gazing at the moon, admiring flowers.
These romantic scenes…
None of that happened!
The entire time, Li Luo was thinking about how to squeeze out more villain emotional points.
Ye Wangchuan, on the other hand, was thinking about how to squeeze out more pills.
The two aimlessly wandered around together.
Then, Ye Wangchuan suddenly asked,
“Want to go outside for a walk?”
“Huh? Won’t there be wild beasts?”
Li Luo looked up, puzzled.
Ye Wangchuan shook his head and explained,
“This spiritual mountain is where Master Fang Que resides. She must regularly clear out the dangerous beasts.”
“Uh, I don’t think she’s that diligent…”
Li Luo muttered a few words but didn’t refuse.
She figured she’d be staying on this spiritual mountain for a while, so it wouldn’t hurt to familiarize herself with the area.
She tiptoed toward the gates of the Longevity Palace.
Standing in place,
Ye Wangchuan watched Li Luo’s bouncing figure, a faint smile on his lips.
He pulled out a talisman from his pocket and examined it.
On the talisman were four large characters:
“Beast Control Talisman.”
As the name suggested, this talisman was used to control wild beasts.
Previously, the Third Elder of the Ye Family had used this talisman to control the giant turtle.
Ye Wangchuan had specifically requested this talisman from the Third Elder.
As for what Ye Wangchuan planned to do with it…
He was going to use it to squeeze more treasures out of Li Luo.
In the wilderness.
The two walked and stopped, wandering for half an hour.
They saw many rare treasures and friendly animals.
By now, Li Luo’s legs were sore.
After all, she hadn’t even reached the first level of cultivation yet—she was just a little girl with poor physical stamina.
“Ye Wangchuan, carry me,” Li Luo said.
“If you’re tired, go back to your room and sleep,” Ye Wangchuan replied dismissively.
“It’s too far to the Longevity Palace. I’ll give you one cultivation pill,” Li Luo offered.
“One Foundation Building Pill,” Ye Wangchuan countered.
“So expensive! Your back is more costly than a mansion for a day!” Li Luo cursed.
But her legs were indeed sore.
Li Luo looked around, planning to find a rock to sit on and rest.
Hmph, I’m not giving you a Foundation Building Pill!
If Ye Wangchuan squeezes another pill out of me,
I’ll write my name backward!
As Li Luo searched for a rock to rest on,
on the other side,
Ye Wangchuan chuckled softly.
Her legs are sore? Perfect timing.
With that thought, Ye Wangchuan stealthily reached into his pocket.
He then pricked his finger and smeared the blood on the Beast Control Talisman.
As the blood touched the talisman,
in the bushes, a bear was peacefully sleeping.
The next moment, a talisman on the bear’s body lit up.
…
On a rock.
Li Luo sat on the rock, swinging her legs, waiting for her stamina to recover.
Ye Wangchuan stood nearby, leaning on his spear stuck in the ground.
It seemed like the night would pass uneventfully.
But then—
“ROAR!!!”
A deafening roar erupted from the bushes beside Li Luo.
The sound was terrifying, enough to send chills down one’s spine.
Ye Wangchuan was startled!
He immediately reacted, kicking Li Luo aside and pulling his spear in front of him!
Clang—!
A metallic clang rang out!
Along with it came a tremendous force slamming into the spear!
The force pushed Ye Wangchuan back four meters, his feet carving deep grooves into the dirt before he finally stopped.
Only then did Ye Wangchuan and Li Luo see the source of the roar.
It was a creature resembling a polar bear.
But it was much larger, standing at a towering three and a half meters!
It weighed at least one and a half tons!
Its fur wasn’t soft and fluffy but instead resembled countless steel needles densely covering its body.
It was as if it was naturally armored in steel.
Thus, it was known as the Armored Bear!
To Ye Zhentian, Old Man Li, or even Ye Bai, this Armored Bear might have been easy to defeat.
But unfortunately, the only ones present were Ye Wangchuan and Li Luo.
Ye Wangchuan’s eyes narrowed.
This Armored Bear was at least at the late first level of human cultivation.
With that in mind, Ye Wangchuan spoke gravely to Li Luo behind him.
“Li Luo, go find Master Fang Que.”
“Got it!”
Li Luo scrambled to her feet, not wasting any time.
A massive, silver-spiked polar bear had just appeared in front of her—she knew she couldn’t fight it.
Rather than staying and being a burden to Ye Wangchuan, it was better to go get help.
The moment they finished speaking, the Armored Bear attacked again.
“ROAR—!!!”
The Armored Bear plunged its claws into the ground, pulling out a half-meter-wide chunk of dirt and hurling it at Ye Wangchuan.
Whoosh—!
Ye Wangchuan swiftly swung his spear, shattering the dirt chunk.
As the dirt broke apart, a cloud of dust formed, slightly obscuring his vision.
Ye Wangchuan focused intently, and when he saw a flash of silver through the dust, he immediately stepped back!
Boom—!
The Armored Bear, having just thrown the dirt, charged to where Ye Wangchuan had been standing and slammed its fists down with immense force!
The ground trembled, cracks spreading everywhere!
This Armored Bear had a certain level of intelligence!
It knew to use the dust as cover to launch a surprise attack!
If not for Ye Wangchuan’s sharp instincts, he would’ve taken that hit head-on.