CHAPTER 33 (PART 2)

“Fellow Daoist Yu,” she said earnestly, her previously unthreatening face now serious, “let me offer you a piece of advice: don’t try to have your black tiger charge over to take me hostage.”

“Otherwise… if the tiger gets hurt, we’ll all be heartbroken.”

She subtly raised a hand behind her.

She did it for quite a while before anyone noticed, but finally, only Jiang Yuan seemed to understand. With a cold face, he controlled his flying sword to lift her up.

Finally, Yu Youyou was standing tall!

From the perspective of the Southern Region cultivators, Yu Youyou slowly rose into view, stopping once her upper body was visible.

She wore a polite, appropriate smile—but in her hands, supported by spiritual power, was a pile of spikeballs.

Yu Youyou’s gaze subtly shifted toward the five medical cultivators behind Yu Yayi. “I imagine you Fellow Daoists from Returning Spring Gate have already recognized these.”

The Returning Spring Gate disciples: “…”

Sorry, they didn’t recognize them at all.

The Forest of Eternity was simply too vast. Every time, the random teleportation dropped them in a different location, and the special spirit plants within were as numerous as the stars.

As medical cultivators, the disciples of Returning Spring Gate naturally only memorized medicinal herbs. The spikeball plant, which had no healing value whatsoever, wasn’t part of their required knowledge.

Not every sect was like the Pill Cauldron Sect, which had a tradition of recording every single plant they encountered, generation after generation.

Nor was everyone like Yu Youyou and Qi Nanfeng—obsessed with memorizing every “useless plant” they might never see again in their lifetimes.

The moment Yu Youyou saw the awkward flicker of confusion pass across their faces, she understood instantly.

You don’t know? Even better.

She decided to do a little brainwashing for the Southern Region cultivators.

“This plant is called the Thunderburst Spikeball. Its barbs are exceptionally hard—easily capable of piercing the flesh of spirit beasts and humans alike. Once embedded in flesh, they parasitize the host body.” At this point, Yu Youyou looked toward the grimacing Southern Region crowd and smiled slightly. “I believe many of you have already experienced this firsthand.”

Of course they had—plenty of them still had spikeballs stuck in their heads.

Yu Youyou continued spinning her tale, “But its most terrifying feature isn’t that. As the name Thunderburst Spikeball suggests… its true power lies in its thunderburst.”

The cultivators of the Southern Region were already frowning deeply. However, no matter how they examined the spiked balls on the ground, aside from being excessively sharp, there didn’t seem to be anything unusual about them.

Yu Yayi raised his hand, intending to use spiritual energy to pick up a spiked ball from the grass and inspect it.

“Stop! Don’t touch it with spiritual energy!”

Yu Youyou pressed her lips together, her expression becoming cautious as she even took two steps back, clearly harboring deep wariness. “These objects are harmless when touched normally, but once catalyzed with spiritual energy, they’ll unleash an extremely powerful thunder explosion!”

Yu Yayi’s hand halted as expected, though it was clear from his face that he still held some doubts.

Why had he never heard of such a formidable spiritual plant before?

“You don’t believe me, do you?” Yu Youyou sighed, retrieving a spiked ball from her storage pouch, spiritual energy beginning to flow from her hand. “Fellow Daoist Yu, please watch closely!”

Under the refinement of her fire-type spiritual energy, the spikes on the ball began to soften, showing signs of imminent collapse.

Then Yu Youyou forcefully hurled the ball into an empty patch of grass in the distance!

At the same time, she shouted, “Explosion is art!”

“Boom!”

That patch of grass erupted in sparks and lightning, forcibly blasted into a scorched black mess!

Hidden within that area, Yu Changan, hand on his sword, let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Earlier, he and another sword cultivator had been told by Yu Youyou to suppress their presence and hide there. She even told him to unleash his sword aura at full strength once he heard that strange phrase.

Strange indeed—how did Junior Sister Yu know that he had just learned a new move, Thunderclap Sword Qi? And when it collided with Senior Sister Zhang’s fire-type sword aura, it really did look exactly like a thunder explosion.

Of course, Yu Youyou wasn’t going to tell him that in the original story, he and his elder sister had used that very move to kill a Golden Core–stage mutated beast.

“Hiss—!”

All the Southern Region cultivators sucked in a breath. Just one thunder-exploding spiked ball was that fierce—what would happen if the thousands beneath their feet were all triggered by spiritual energy at once…?

They instantly recalled the scene from the last Four Regions Tournament, where Southern Region cultivators had razed a section of forest flat using attack talismans.

Thunder-exploding spiked balls—utterly terrifying. The creatures of the Eternal Forest truly were rich in variety and frightening in nature!

Yu Yayi’s brows furrowed tightly, but he remained silent.

As expected of the widely experienced Young Sect Master—not so easily deceived. But he clearly believed at least a little, as he discreetly plucked the spiked ball off of Treading Snow’s back and quietly tossed it far away.

On the opposite side, Yu Youyou’s expression grew even paler, a bitter smile forming on her face.

“Our Eastern Region has had bad luck for over a century. This time, fortune finally turned, and we stumbled upon these treasures as soon as we arrived—only to immediately run into our Southern Region Daoist friends.”

She cupped her hands in a respectful gesture, her expression becoming increasingly sincere. “Our Pill Cauldron Sect still keeps those immortal cranes gifted by your esteemed sect. I’d say we count as friendly sects. Moreover, the Eastern and Southern Regions have always had no grudges between us. As the bottom-ranked team, we only hope to complete the tournament smoothly and have no desire to compete with the Southern Region for first place.”

Word by word, the young girl spoke with utmost sincerity: “So throwing these things was actually a show of goodwill!”

The Southern Region cultivators: “……”

You were hiding in the grass, pelting us with these things until our heads were bleeding—and you call that a show of goodwill?

Yu Youyou began explaining.

“You must understand—if we truly triggered all these thousands of thunder-exploding spiked balls at once, you wouldn’t even have time to crush a teleportation talisman. You’d all perish on the spot!”

The Southern Region cultivators: “……” That… does sound kind of true?

Yu Youyou went on, “But we had no intention of igniting them with spiritual energy. After all, we’re all human cultivators—perhaps in the future we’ll stand side by side guarding the Eternal Forest. We would never stoop as low as the shameless Northern Region and harm fellow Daoists!”

The young girl’s voice had turned choked with emotion.

The Southern Region cultivators were instantly reminded of the tragedy three years ago. The Eastern Region really did seem kind of pitiful.

However, Yu Yayi still remained highly guarded. “So what is it that you people want, exactly?”

“We’re willing to gift you these thunder-exploding spiked balls and also teach you how to activate them with spiritual energy,” Yu Youyou said, then changed the subject: “But, the Eastern Region is lacking in resources. We humbly ask that you provide us with a few high-grade defensive garments in exchange.”

So that’s what this was about. You were eyeing our magic gear this whole time—this was a stick-up!

The Southern Region cultivators suddenly understood everything and couldn’t help but feel disdain for the Eastern Region.

Had they gone mad with poverty? Didn’t they know these thunder-exploding spiked balls were worth far more than some defensive garments?

Hmph. Clearly, they’d never experienced the joy of hurling hundreds of explosive attack talismans at a beast. Bunch of poor wretches.

But strangely, upon hearing this request, Yu Yayi’s suspicions completely vanished.

If the Eastern Region had asked for nothing, that would be suspicious. The fact that they did ask made everything feel normal.

Still, he wasn’t a fool with more money than sense and wouldn’t let them fleece him easily. “High-grade artifacts are extremely valuable. We didn’t bring many with us. At most, I can give you three.”

Yu Youyou, who originally only planned to extort three items: “……”

Help! What do I do when the fat sheep is too cooperative?!

Guess I’ll fleece him harder!

Yu Youyou immediately put on a pure and innocent smile and began reasoning with the fat sheep.

“Fellow Daoist Yu, think about it—if we were to ignite the thunder-exploding spiked balls under your feet right now, wouldn’t the Southern Region set a new record by being the first to get eliminated on the very first day of the tournament? Just ten magic garments, in exchange for a pile of deadly weapons and the start of a friendship between our two regions—why not?”

…

Those outside couldn’t hear what was being said. They only saw Yu Youyou and Yu Yayi standing face to face, speaking.

Even after a long time, neither side attacked. Occasionally, Yu Youyou would raise her hand and gesture a number.

At this point, even the Nascent Soul–stage elders atop the viewing platforms were confused.

True Master Su of the Hanging Gourd Sect gradually frowned. “What are they doing? The Eastern Region has always been foolish and inflexible. At such a close distance, if they took that little girl hostage, the ones behind her would surely lose morale, and the Southern Region could take them down with ease.”

Elder Gu of the Returning Spring Sect was even more baffled. “Huh? Those are just ordinary spiked balls. Treading Snow is a top-grade spirit beast with hopes of advancing to Nascent Soul. Even though it’s currently only peak Foundation Establishment, its physical body is far superior to most cultivators—it’s not afraid of some spiked balls. Same goes for the others. They could just charge forward at worst and get pricked a few times. Big deal.”

It’s impossible that the entire Southern Territory is just afraid of pain, right?

Southern Territory cultivators: No, we’re afraid these things might suddenly explode!

Right now, not only were the onlookers outside the Forest of Ten Thousand Ages awaiting the start of this great battle, but the entire cultivation world was also rapidly transmitting and sharing the latest updates.

And under the watchful eyes of all…

Five disciples from the Beast Taming Sect took off their high-grade defensive robes and tossed them to Yu Youyou.

“???”

Everyone was dumbfounded. Beast Taming Sect, what are you doing? Do you feel so sorry for this little girl that you’ve decided to start a charity project?!

Yu Youyou caught the five robes and casually threw them behind her, then made a hand signal.

The shield cultivators immediately stood up with their shields, covering the sword cultivators and alchemists as they quickly retreated in another direction.

Only Jiang Yuan, flying on his sword with Yu Youyou, stayed at the rear—because she still had to teach the Southern cultivators how to activate the Thunderburst Spiked Balls.

Yu Youyou cupped her hands seriously and said, “Southern cultivators are indeed trustworthy. In that case, I can’t deceive you. I’ll now teach you the incantation to activate the Thunderburst Spiked Balls. Just channel spiritual energy into them while reciting the chant.”

There really were quite a few techniques in the cultivation world that came with chants—even alchemy had them.

Then, on the spot, she recited part of the periodic table of chemical elements. Afraid they wouldn’t remember, she recited it twice more.

Yu Youyou was so fluent that the Southern cultivators’ last traces of doubt were completely dispelled.

They didn’t stop her and instead watched with ease as Jiang Yuan carried the earnest and warm-hearted girl away on his sword.

When she waved goodbye, they even waved back.

“To flawlessly recite such an obscure and complex chant three times—she must be telling the truth.” Yu Yayi, worthy of being the young sect master, even noticed this detail.

If Yu Youyou had made any mistakes while reciting it, there would’ve definitely been something fishy, and he would’ve ordered Treading Snow to strike without hesitation.

He picked up a Thunderburst Spiked Ball and toyed with it in his hand, a smile slowly forming in his eyes. Good—this year, our Southern Territory will once again relive the glory of three years ago.

The Eastern Territory has been at the bottom for a hundred years—not without reason. Such a heaven-defying treasure, and they traded it away just for five high-grade artifacts.

Utterly foolish!

Yu Yayi raised his hand and issued an order, “All cultivators, listen up! We’ll camp here tonight. Everyone must memorize the incantation and learn to skillfully activate the Thunderburst Spiked Balls!”

Excited Southern cultivators: “Yes!”

Meanwhile…

The sand-sculpture bunch from the Eastern Territory ran faster than wild dogs. The shield cultivators didn’t even bother to hold up their shields, just carried the three alchemists and bolted.

Yu Youyou, perched on Kuang Langsheng’s shoulder, frantically urged them—

“Run faster!”

“If those idiots realize it’s fake, we’re all dead meat!”