Chương 217: Meeting Hua Liuli again

"The Yihua clan…" Long Feng stared at the distant manor with a bright glint in his eyes. The previous holy land which he revered was currently just a distance away. He couldn't conceal the smile on his face. They drew closer to the clan and soon, the Manor was within clear sight. The large walls that surrounded the clan could only be entered through a single gate. Two rows of armored guards stood at each side of the gate, their fierce aura enough to stop anyone from afar.

"Impressive! Each of these guards is a spirit realm warrior!" Long Feng inhaled sharply. Although there weren't anyone beyond rank five spirit realm, it was still a shocking sight to have spirit realm warriors as guards. The dozens of dark scaled wild horses galloped through the gates and officially stepped into the Yihua clan. The guards glanced at the group but didn't move to stop them.

"The natural energies suddenly doubled past the gate!" Long Feng observed. The central province itself already had the densest natural energies in the continent. And yet it doubles just past the gates of the Yihua clan. And it would most likely get denser the deeper you go in.

"The Yihua clan is situated above the core veins of this continent. Although it doesn't compare to a spirit vein, we can occasional harvest Yin and Yang spirit crystals from it." Hua Yao explained after seeing the curiosity on some of their faces.

"Outsiders normally aren't welcome to the Yihua clan. You were all allowed in because you came with me. But you can't stay for long. The clan's higher-ups are already aware of your presence. I will lead you straight to the Treasury and then you will be escorted back after that" Hua Yao turned to the ten youths and smiled. The Yihua clan's people dispersed, including the three geniuses. They were already home, and having grown up here, they naturally knew where to go. They didn't need to follow Hua Yao.

Long Feng looked around, staring at the beautiful palaces and majestic buildings that stood proudly, each with it's own unique aura.

"So this is where Hua Liuli grew up! It's truly perfect for cultivating. I hope we meet Liuli here. Haven't seen her in a while""Let's go" Hua Yao led the seven youths through the various buildings. Some people would occasionally walk past them and give them curious glances. But with Hua Yao leading them, no one actually dared to question their identities. A few minutes later, Hua Yao paused before a large palace surrounded by armored grim faced guards. Each of them seemed even stronger than the guards by the gate.

Above the palace entrance, a plaque bearing the words 'Treasury' let the youths know that this was their destination.

"Halt and state your purpose here!" One of the guards roared in a deep voice and stepped forward, his aura pouring out of his body. The seven youths had to take a few steps back to leave the range of his aura. Hua Yao wasn't bothered though and took a step forward.

"Orders of the great elders. Make way!" He threw a golden jade token at the leading guard and spoke with a commanding tone. The guard stepped back under Hua Yao's aura and then quickly bowed when he saw the jade token. This token was the symbol of one of the great elders and seeing it was equal to standing before the great elder himself. No one in the Yihua clan dared to go against a great elder.

"I see. You can take out seven things only, of any kind. And you all have an hour to leave!" The guard rose from his bow and stepped back, making way for them to pass. Long Feng and the others followed behind Hua Yao and walked Into the palace. Yan jian stood by the entrance, watching them with some envy. Several shelves appeared in their line of sight.

Some bookshelves contained bamboo scrolls or jade tokens for storing skills, some contained various weapons with varying auras, from Yin armaments to Incomplete Spirit armaments and true spirit armaments. Some weapons even came infinitely close to reaching the imperial armament grade. These weapons were the peak grade spirit armaments. And some shelves contained different other things like mysterious objects, broken equipments, treasures and more.

"Wow. There's so much! The gathered aura of everything here can suppress even a peak spirit realm warrior!" A rank two spirit realm youth muttered in shock.

"You have an hour to pick anything. Choose wisely" Hua Yao warned before he walked to the side and sat down, closing his eyes to rest.

"One hour! Let's hurry up!" Lan yanyue was the first to rush out and began to read through the various martial skills. Some went for weapons, martial skills or the treasures and miscellaneous stuffs. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Li Yue'er chose the weapons shelves and began to search for a suitable spirit armament.

"I have the Origin Spirit Sword so I'm not in need of a new weapon. But my skills aren't enough. I'll get a peak spirit Martial skill. That's should directly raise my strength!" Long Feng quickly decided and rushed to the martial skills shelves. He began to read through the hundreds of martial skills he could see.

"Body tearing fist, Yang rank, able to tear the flesh of the opponent with a fist… not my style""Bone shattering palm, shatters the bones of opponent without injuring the skin… too scary""Ocean subduing palm, low spirit rank…I don't cultivate the water Dao""Unparalleled Sword… I don't need a sword skill""Too low ranked""Too soft""Too weak""Mid spirit rank… I don't cultivate fire" Long Feng skimmed through the introduction of several martial skills and couldn't find one that perfectly suited him.

"Subduing Divine Platform, high rank spirit skill…" Long Feng stared at this jade slip for a minute longer before he dropped it "Too hard. I don't have much time" Many people would cough up blood out of rage if they heard what he just said. This was a high rank spirit skill! Below imperial skills and peak spirit skills, it was the strongest! Even his three waves demon annihilation was just a low ranked spirit skill!

"Which manual is this? Heaven Ripping finger, peak rank spirit skill! If I don't get anything better, I'll take you" Long Feng decided. Mentally noting the heaven ripping finger skill, he moved on.

"Too female like""Don't need movement skill""Too savage""Hm? Blood seal technique? Peak spirit skill. Gather the blood of slain opponents and form blood seals with great power!" Long Feng stared at this technique with a frown. It reminded him of the Limitless blood assassin. He didn't like it. And he also didn't even cultivate the blood Dao. He put the skill down and moved away.

"Earth shattering palm… slightly earth Dao related""Hundred roaring fists, superimposing the power of a hundred fists into one great power… not my style" He picked up a different scroll and his mind was instantly drawn to the description.

"Spirit Seal technique. Peak spirit ranked. Create spirit seals that can be used on various things; strengthening attacks, increasing defense, speed, and sealing opponents…" He was truly impressed by this skill. It was very practical and flexible, useful in different situations.

"I'm almost out of time. Spirit Seal technique or the heaven ripping finger?" Long Feng paused with a frown, trying to decide which of the two was the best for him. If he was to choose based on practical uses, the Spirit Seal technique was the better choice. But right now, the three waves demon annihilation wasn't enough to satisfy his offense again. He needed a new attack method, preferably a demonic skill, but the Yihua clan didn't seem to possess such.

The heaven ripping finger was a pure attack skill that surpassed the three waves demon annihilation by far.

"If I choose the spirit Seal technique, it would mean I am giving up on focusing purely on offense and speed. I will be able to enhance my defense too with the seals, but…" he paused and glanced at the description of the heaven ripping finger.

"This one will raise my offensive skills. If I had this heaven ripping finger, I'd have been able to break that turtle's thick shell back at the competition." At the end, when the one hour was almost over, he made his choice. When the time was up, Hua Yao opened his eyes and slow up"Your time is up. You should all immediately pick your choice and let's leave!" Everyone quickly took the skill or weapon of their choice.

Long Feng also dropped the Spirit Seal technique scroll and took the jade slip containing the heaven ripping finger.

"I won't abandon my focus. I'll hone my offense and speed such that no defense would survive my attacks! What's that old saying, the best defense of offense right? That's what I'll do!" He decisively made his choice and left the Treasury with the heaven ripping finger skill in his hand. Outside the palace, the guards searched everyone to confirm that no one took more than required out of the Treasury. After showing the heaven ripping finger skill, Long Feng was allowed to pass.

"Long Feng, that heaven ripping finger is a good choice. The attack power can compare to some imperial skills if mastered!" Hua Yao glanced at Long Feng and applauded. Yan jian began to pester Long Feng untill he took out the jade slip and showed it to him. Even now, Long Feng still found it hard to believe that the Yihua clan could give out several peak spirit skills, weapons and treasures. Did they do this every hundred continent meeting? How has they not run out?

Li Yue'er took a peak spirit armament, an ice pearl that could take different forms and strengthen her ice Dao greatly. Lan yanyue had taken a peak spirit skill that raised her defense. After all, her arrow skills made it such that her defense was her weakness. The soul cultivator youth seemed to have casually taken a low rank spirit skill. Anyone could see that he wasn't particularly interested in the rewards.

"Good. I'll lead you all back to the gates and some people will escort you all out of this territory" Hua Yao nodded once everyone was done. He led them back along the path they followed earlier back to the gates. By the gates, a group of people stood with a few dark scaled wild horses nearby. They were obviously the group that would escort these youths out of this territory. Right before they left, Hua Yao called out"Long Feng!" Long Feng instantly paused and turned around "Yes senior?"

"Wait a bit. Someone wants to meet you." Hua Yao explained. A frown instantly appeared on Long Feng's face as he became cautious. Hua Yao seemed to see through Long Feng's caution and soothed"Don't worry. It's the guest elder of the Yihua clan. I can assure you that he means you no harm. This could even be an opportunity for you" Hearing that, Long Feng lowered his caution a bit. But then…

"What of my friends senior? Can they also wait?" He asked. Hua Yao glanced at Li Yue'er and Yan jian who had both paused too and shook his head.

"I'm sorry but they can't stay. You're invited by the guest Elder so I can lead you to him but I don't think he'll be pleased if I bring anyone else along. The guest elder is quite… eccentric" Long Feng frowned again but then decided to trust Hua Yao. After all, if the Yihua clan wanted to harm him, they didn't have to waste so much time. Hua Yao alone could do the job. Thinking of this, he calmed down and explained the situation to Yan jian and Li Yue'er. Both of them expressed their worries.

"Don't worry. It's fine. Wait for me in the city we just left. If I don't return soon, you can head over to the Long clan and wait""Alright. Hurry up! And stay safe!" Yan jian grinned and jumped onto the back of a dark scaled wild horse. Li Yue'er exchanged glanced with Long Feng then nodded before following the group and leaving the Yihua clan. Now, Long Feng was left alone beside Hua Yao.

"The guest Elder doesn't live within the Yihua clan but somewhere else. It's not far though. Come, I'll take you there!" Hua Yao smiled at Long Feng and prepared to lift him Into the air with his energy. But then his expression suddenly changed. A frown appeared on his face and his expression tightened.

"Senior! Did something happen?" Long Feng immediately went into full caution mode, looking around while preparing to run if needed.

"No, it's nothing serious. Just that… someone else wants to see you before we go to the guest Elder!" Hua Yao recovered and explained with a complicated expression.

"Someone else? May I ask who?" Long Feng caught the complex look on Hua Yao's face and he cautiously asked. He was really beginning to feel that something was wrong. How did he draw the attention of these figures? And both the guest Elder and this new person seemed to be people above even Hua Yao from his expression.

"Don't worry. You'll know when you see them. Come on. It won't take long" Hua Yao sighed and said, unwilling to explain any more. Long Feng had a bad feeling in his heart, but he had no option than to follow behind Hua Yao. It wasn't like he could run away could he? He would be caught before he left the Clan's gates. This time, they went to a large palace right beside the massive Manor from before. This palace gave off a solemn aura and majesty that couldn't be defied.

It's design also stood out among all the other Palaces around.

"Go in. They're waiting for you" Hua Yao gestured to the palace. Long Feng glanced at Hua Yao, then at the palace and took a deep breath before moving forward and stepping through the open palace doors. The solemn atmosphere thickened in the palace. He walked along the long narrow hallway till he reached a large door at the end. Sighing, he walked over and pushed open the door. When he stepped past the door, he paused, flinching at the several gazes that paused on him. But one was particularly familiar.

"Big brother Long Feng!" A soft voice filled with excitement echoed out, breaking the silence.

"Liuli?" Long Feng stared at Hua Liuli who was also in the large room with pleasant surprise in his eyes.