Chapter Forty-Nine: Passing on the Teachings

Yang Fan gazed at the massive corpse before him. Perhaps, for Shi Jianqiang, this was the ultimate form of indestructible protection.

After finishing the fruit, he tossed the pit aside. Though he remained vigilant, he leapt lightly onto Shi Jianqiang’s shoulder. The giant shifted his neck uncomfortably, but made no move to shake him off.

Yang Fan couldn’t help but smile and gestured toward the plaza in front of the palace.

Shi Jianqiang walked as he spoke, a hint of excitement in his voice, rambling on endlessly. Unfortunately, he didn’t have much to say. He repeated the same things about the situation here, and how the relentless rumbling from above disturbed his sleep and drove him nearly mad.

“What abilities have you mastered?” Yang Fan’s curiosity was piqued, and he asked.

“As long as I’m standing on the ground, I can sense things from very far away. I noticed those stone diggers long ago,” Shi Jianqiang replied.

On the ruined plaza, Yang Fan finally grasped just how enormous the reclining rock giant truly was.

It was terrifying.

Even in death, the giant’s presence exuded an overwhelming sense of dread.

A hole gaped in its chest — perhaps the fatal wound that had ended its life.

“This palace is terrifying. There are many places I don’t dare approach!” Shi Jianqiang led him toward the palace, where a chilling aura seeped out, making Yang Fan’s soul tremble, filling him with a powerful sense of impending danger.

“Look, that’s the monk’s corpse. What a miserable death,” Shi Jianqiang suddenly pointed inside the palace.

Through the broken walls, Yang Fan could see a monk lying in front of a corridor, half his body cleaved away. His bald head shone, and bronze-colored bones gleamed from the wound, giving an impression of unbreakable strength.

Nearby lay a creature with devilish horns, its body untouched by decay despite the countless ages that had passed.

And a patch of skin, human-like in appearance, seemed to twitch slightly as if sensing his gaze.

“It moved! It moved again!” Shi Jianqiang exclaimed in fright.

“You’re really not scared? What if it charges out?” Yang Fan felt a chill run down his spine. He tried extending his earth sense, but it was distorted, revealing nothing.

“If it comes out, I’ll fight it. If I can’t kill it, I still won’t be afraid,” Shi Jianqiang grunted. “Things have come out before, but none dared attack me.”

“Why?”

“My father must be protecting me!” Shi Jianqiang said with conviction.

Yang Fan was speechless. In his heart, he guessed Shi Jianqiang’s father was probably some kind of palace guardian, and that as his son, Shi Jianqiang enjoyed the palace’s protection as well.

He spotted a shadow in one of the palace rooms.

Just a shadow.

It flickered and drifted, vague and indistinct.

“Every time I see it, I get scared,” Shi Jianqiang admitted, his voice tinged with fear.

“You have no recollection of what it is?” Yang Fan’s own heart trembled. It defied all logic.

“I have no idea!” Shi Jianqiang shook his head. “Whenever I go into the palace to pick spirit fruit, I avoid it.”

“You can enter?” Yang Fan asked in surprise.

“Of course! But only a few areas are accessible to me. Once, I took a wrong turn and most of my leg was erased.”

Erased?

Yang Fan’s breath caught.

He cast a deep glance, then decided to pay it no more heed. Best to avoid such things if possible. Now it was time to think about escape.

Yang Fan searched the area with his earth sense; apart from the underground river, he found no other exit.

What now?

Two problems confronted him.

Survival: There was no shortage of spirit fruit in the palace, so food was not an immediate concern. If that ran out, there were always fish in the underground river.

Escape: That was the real challenge.

“I’ll have to use both ‘Stone Splitting’ and ‘Earth Surge’ arts, and dig with the Dragon Scale Blade as well.”

A last-resort solution.

He asked Shi Jianqiang to bring a few more fruits, then sat down on a boulder to eat. “Don’t you need to eat?” he asked.

“No,” Shi Jianqiang replied, shaking his head. “All I need is sleep. While sleeping, I naturally absorb earth energy and grow. But sometimes I like to taste things—just to savor the flavor, though there’s not much to try.”

“That’s quite a talent,” Yang Fan remarked.

“If I had to eat like a human, I’d have starved long ago. By the way, what should I call you?” Shi Jianqiang asked cautiously.

“My name is Yang Fan. Just call me Big Brother Yang,” Yang Fan said, narrowing his eyes and extending his earth sense around them.

“Big Brother Yang!” Shi Jianqiang was delighted. “What’s it like outside? Is it big? Is it fun?”

“It’s very big—mountains, rivers, villages, towns, tens of thousands of people, countless fierce beasts, and more,” Yang Fan described simply. “There are also powerful humans—warriors who can shatter mountains with a single palm, swordsmen who ride their blades through the sky, supremes who can traverse the world in a single thought, and ancestors who pluck stars and seize the moon.”

“So powerful?” Shi Jianqiang’s eyes went wide with shock.

“Indeed,” Yang Fan nodded.

Shi Jianqiang fell silent. After a long time, he said, “It’s better here. No worries at all.”

Yang Fan smiled.

He closed his eyes to rest, reflecting on all that had happened.

He had slain Cao Kaijin in the valley without issue. He’d killed many guards in the mine—no mistakes there, just a bit careless.

Only upon entering the cavern did he err; upon finding Yang Dasen, he should have left immediately with him.

Alas!

Too sentimental at the time.

That moment of hesitation had led to this predicament.

As he thought, his heartbeat gradually slowed and his breathing grew lighter, as if falling asleep.

Shi Jianqiang sat quietly nearby, his massive body like a wall. He seemed used to the silence, showing no discomfort.

Suddenly, Shi Jianqiang looked over at Yang Fan, his eyes glinting with hesitation. Finally, he shrank his neck, lay down on the ground, and fell soundly asleep.

Yang Fan’s eyelids twitched as he withdrew his earth sense.

After a while, he cracked open one eye, then closed it again, finally sinking into true slumber.

When he awoke, Shi Jianqiang was still sleeping deeply. Yang Fan went to the edge of the underground river, took off his clothes, grabbed the Dragon Scale Blade, and jumped in.

The darkness posed no obstacle to him.

“Shi Jianqiang can also see in the dark,” Yang Fan realized.

Though the palace was bathed in light, making the underground cavern less gloomy, their earlier battle had occurred much farther away.

The darkness hadn’t hindered Shi Jianqiang at all.

Shaking his head, Yang Fan dove deeper.

He reached a narrow passage, barely twenty centimeters wide, slick and smoothed by the constant flow of water. Drawing his Dragon Scale Blade, he began to cut.

Though the blade was sharp and his strength considerable, the work was still arduous, and there was little room to exert force.

“Stone Splitting!”

With a light stroke, the Dragon Scale Blade opened a long fissure. In a few quick motions, he separated a rectangular block of stone and carefully dragged it back the way he came.

This was the real challenge—not just digging, but hauling the stone out.

After excavating several meters, Yang Fan paused and caught seven or eight fish, each about a pound in weight.

“Jianqiang, fetch me some dried vines or wood!” Yang Fan called out.

He saw Shi Jianqiang was awake.

“Coming!” Shi Jianqiang replied.

After some simple preparations, Yang Fan returned to the small plaza. Good—Shi Jianqiang had already gathered plenty of dead branches. Whether from the palace or the surroundings, there was no shortage of such things.

He started a fire by rubbing wood together. Smoke curled upward, and flames leapt to life.

Yang Fan began to roast the fish.

“Is that tasty?” Shi Jianqiang asked, staring at the roasting fish.

“Without any spices, the flavor probably won’t be great,” Yang Fan replied. “But you can try some in a bit.”

Shi Jianqiang nodded eagerly.

Soon the fish was ready, and Yang Fan tossed one to Shi Jianqiang.

“You eat first, big brother!” Shi Jianqiang offered.

“Go ahead, I’ll have another,” Yang Fan said.

“Thank you, big brother!” Shi Jianqiang replied happily. He carefully pinched the little fish and put it in his mouth, only for it to get stuck between his teeth.

“These things are too small!” he said helplessly.

Yang Fan couldn’t help but laugh.

He tasted a piece himself; it was delicious, not at all fishy. Warm energy spread through his body, leaving him comfortable and satisfied.

Once full, he began his training.

He focused on the Three Slashes of the Overlord, while also practicing the Wind-Chasing Step.

“Big brother, can I learn from you?” Shi Jianqiang asked eagerly.

“Of course!” Yang Fan considered, then decided to teach him the Wild Ox Fist first.

Amazingly, in just one day, Shi Jianqiang had already reached a basic level of mastery.

Boom—

With a single punch, he shattered a stone slab five or six meters wide.

The sight left Yang Fan speechless.

Only much later would he truly understand what kind of monster he had created.