The disappointment in He Yimingâs eyes didnât contain a trace of pretense, nor did he try to gloss it over in the slightest.
As Xie Grace saw He Yimingâs expression, he suddenly thought of a certain matter. However, as he carefully a.n.a.lyzed He Yimingâs age, he immediately discarded it.
Even he wouldnât dare believe that He Yimingâs Internal Energy had already attained the tenth layer.
He faced upwards and chuckled, âBrother He, donât tell me even these two long-armed racc.o.o.ns canât appease you?â
He Yiming shrugged. He indeed didnât feel too excited. However, he also knew that being able to locate two long-armed rac.o.o.ns was already extraordinary. As for a five-hundred-year-old beast, the possibility of finding such a beast was almost zero. One could say that such a beast could only be met, not sought.
âMr. Xie, since your family has already located these two spiritual beasts, why not go hunt them?â He Yiming sincerely asked.
If He family could hunt a hundred-year-old gold-crowned python relying on their strength, hunting two spirits beast with two hundred years of age couldnât even be considered as an accomplishment for Xie family who possessed several times more strength.
Xie Grace faintly started. Only after he saw He Yimingâs water-like clear eyes, did he confirm that the latter had not been mocking him just now.
He bitterly laughed before saying, âBrother He, you have surely never seen a spirit beast before.â
He Yiming faintly raised his eyes, âHow can you tell?â
âIf you had, you wouldnât be saying such words,â Xie Grace bitterly smiled, âNot only spirit beasts are extremely powerful, their movements are extremely nimble. These two racc.o.o.ns further have extremely hard skin and tough bones. Even a tenth layer expert shouldnât be thinking of inflicting a injury on its body.â
He Yiming recalled that when He family had hunted the gold-crowned python, they had not engaged in a direct confrontation with it and had rather poisoned its prey. Then they had intercepted it and had still almost lost.
A single spirit beast was so troublesome by itself, what about two?
He eventually grasped the counterpartâs line of thinking. Even such a big family might not necessarily be able to easily deal with spiritual beasts.
Seeing the thoughtful expression on He Yimingâs face, Xie Grace further said, âExcept for a powerful cultivator who had attained the Xiantian realm, no one can claim to hunt spirit beast with complete certainty. If you come across a spirit beast, whether you hunt the beast or it hunts you, n.o.body knows.â
He Yimingâs brows faintly creased, âA powerful cultivator of Xiantian realmâŚ.does your n.o.ble clan have the a.s.sistance of such a person?â
Xie Graceâs smile eventually stiffened a bit. He forced out a laugh said, âA powerful Xiantian cultivator⌠how can you find such a person so easily?â
He Yiming immediately understood that Xie family didnât have a Xiantian cultivator watching over them.
âThen, what do you have in mind?â He Yiming curiously asked, âDonât tell me you will continue to delay it like this?â
When he spoke these words, complexions of Xie Mingjin and the attendants worsened. However, Xie Grace still revealed a smile and helplessly said, âOur Xie family has three peak mountain experts who have attained the tenth layerâs peak. However, we still have no certainty in taking on two long-armed racc.o.o.ns. However, if we can obtain help from another tenth layer expertâs a.s.sistance, we might be able to try our hand.â
He Yiming blinked his eyes, admiring the former inwardly. This person had already seen through his depths. However, he still couldnât guess how the former had accomplished this feat when none among his grandfather, Xu Yinjie, Lin Taoli and so onâŚ.had been able to discern that his Internal Energy was the tenth layer.
Xie Grace suddenly cupped his hands slightly and said, âBrother He, although our Xie family is not the number one family of the Fire Crow country, we are still one of the four big influential families. Currently, our familyâs leader is my elder brother Xie Nuanhang.
He Yiming immediately guessed formerâs intentions, âSo he is also trying to recruit me like Lin TaoliâŚâ
Faintly waving his hand, He Yiming puzzledly said, âMr. Xie, I truly donât understand, with your ident.i.ty, why are you so courteous to this youngster. It surely couldnât be because I treated you with bear meat, right?â
Inwardly, he added, âI truly canât tell who treated whom, though.â
This was the question Xie Mingjin and the rest had been asking inwardly all along. Why a person like Xie Grace, who counted as one of the three top experts of Xie family, would attach so much importance to a random, strange youngster.
Xie Graceâs face gravened, âSince brother He has asked, this Xie will speak in clear words.â
He pointed at the fox bear on the ground, âThis ought to be brother Heâs masterpiece.â
He Yiming faintly nodded. The answer to this question was evident, concealing it would be useless.
âI saw the fox bearâs corpse. It was a single strike, and the cut was smooth and round. Clearly, the head was cut off in one strike without even a possibility of struggle,â Xie Grace took in a deep breath before continuing, âAlthough a fox bear is not too troublesome of a beast, its movements are exceedingly quick. To cut off its neck in one strike, and do it so cleanly, Iâm afraid even I might not be able to do it this cleanly. Moreover, I can see this ma.s.sive blade here. To use such a blade so swiftly, brother He must have already grasped the essence of the way of blade. Am I right?â
He Yiming faintly smiled. He might not necessarily have comprehended the true essence of the way. However, heâd a.s.similated [Splitting Mountain Thirty-Six Forms] into the way of blade. One could see a hint of the seventh form in his blade strikes. So saying that heâd already grasped the true essence should barely be plausible.
Xie Grace continued, âApart from blade techniques, I couldnât see through your Internal Energy cultivation either. If I canât see through, then your Internal Energy cultivation should have at least attained the eighth layer, orâŚ.â He momentarily paused, âNinth layer?â
This time, the complexions Xie Mingjin and the rest eventually transformed. They simultaneously s.h.i.+fted their incredulous gazes onto He Yimingâs body.
This person actually possesses eight layer, or ninth layer Internal Energy? Has the lord made some mistake?
He Yiming admiringly smiled and said, âEven if itâs eight layer or ninth layer, what does it matter? Xie family has three tenth layer experts.â
Xie Grace astoundedly smiled and said, âTo me, brother Heâs most prominent feature is not your current cultivation.â His face suddenly turned dignified, âIf I havenât seen wrongly, little brotherâs age must be currently below eighteen years. If you possess such strength before the age of eighteen, your future prospects are simply boundless. Therefore, this Xie had acted so presumptuously. Please pardon me.â
Xie Mingjin and the rest eventually understood why the old man had offered such respect to the counterpart. If this youngster truly possessed such a strength and had an age below eighteen years, not to mention softening their tone a bit, even if they had to marry off a girl from the family in order to attract him, it would be all worth it.
He bitterly smiled. He didnât expect that even this much of display would lead to such trouble, and people would try to recruit him from so far away.
He shook his head and was about to decline when he heard, âLittle brother, our Xie clan carries a legacy of thousands of years, and our connections are also quite deep. I know your objective behind hunting spiritual beasts.â
He Yiming faintly started before involuntarily tensing up.
Xie Grace promptly waved his hand and said, âBrother He, donât misunderstand. The information about spiritual beastsâ inner pellet being converted into golden pellets is known even to influential families with legacies of a few hundred years. Frankly, our Xie family has inherited a few golden pellets. If brother joins Xie family, after a few years, our family would definitely not be stingy in offering a golden pellet to you.â
He Yimingâs brows slightly jumped but he didnât reply. Making such a promise to a person heâd just seenâŚ.this indeed felt a bit too unexpected.
At the same time, He Yiming also felt quite astonished. He naturally understood the worth of a golden pellet. He felt somewhat touched by the counterpartâs sincerity, âMr. Xie, I am a cultivator. All I have learned is the teachings of my family. As such, I can only turn down your kindness.â
Xie Grace didnât seem to have become angry. On the contrary, he laughed, âBrother He, as far as I know, Tian Luo countryâs five influential families donât include He family, and it doesnât have a reputed expert with surname He either. Although my Xie family is humble, we have some fame in the northwest. If I were to meet your elders, I believe they will also comply with my request.â
He Yiming had truly started to admire this man somewhat. Within this short time period, this man had already guessed so many things. Not all the men possessed such ability. Furthermore, with his ident.i.ty of a tenth layer expert, he presented himself with such humility, one couldnât help but admire him.
If it had been an ordinary youngster, he would have already been moved by him, and a youngster from a small family would have already joined the big, influential family to acquire more opportunities.
A pity, He Yimingâs situation was rather unique. How could he put someone in his eyes if not a Xiantian expert?
He faintly cupped his hands and was about to politely decline when his ears suddenly twitched. His expression had not transformed before his vision, like two knives, turned to his right.
He Yimingâs actions aroused everybodyâs attention, and all s.h.i.+fted their vision to that direction.
With a burst, leaves of trees trembled before a completely black, two meters long, human-like hand slowly came out.
One look at this arm, the complexions of Xie Grace and the rest transformed, and Xie Mingjin further blurted, âLong-armed rac.o.o.n!â