Chapter 122: The Death Row Prisoner’s Wail

Yang Yan first summoned the household guards and gave them brief instructions.

Soon after, Yang Su’s body was carried away, and outside the drafty room, an array of vigilant guards quickly took their positions.

Their task now was to stand guard until the old clan elder awoke.

Meanwhile, Ye Tian followed Yang Yan as they headed toward the back mountain.

The entire back mountain had only a single narrow path leading to the summit, so narrow that two people could barely walk side by side.

As night gradually fell, the aging Yang Yan struggled to lead the way. Halfway up, however, he suddenly stopped.

“Something’s not right!”

Yang Yan’s expression turned grave as he pointed to the ground. “I didn’t send anyone up the mountain today, so why are these footprints so fresh?”

Hearing this, Ye Tian shrugged.

How should I know? You’d better ask yourself.

“There must have been someone here recently!” After some thought, Yang Yan’s heart tightened with worry as he considered the worst possibility.

“There’s nothing of value on the back mountain—they must be after the Spirit Spring!”

“Doctor Ye, we need to hurry!”

Without hesitation, despite his age and weakness, Yang Yan broke into a swift run. Ye Tian raised an eyebrow, stepped forward, and blocked his path.

“Get on my back and guide me.”

“Well…” The fifty-year-old man felt awkward. “The path is steep and nearly ten miles long. Are you sure you can carry me?”

Ye Tian frowned. “Enough talk. Get on.”

Without another word, he hoisted Yang Yan onto his back and began trotting up the mountain with long, powerful strides.

Each step covered nearly ten feet!

At first glance, his speed surpassed even the mountain-dwelling antelopes.

“Slow down, slow down!”

Sweat poured down Yang Yan’s face as the scenery flew past. He’d always known Ye Tian was skilled in medicine, but never imagined he was also so proficient in martial arts.

With such physical prowess, he must be at least a grandmaster-level expert.

Of course, if he knew Ye Tian had reached the late Beidou Realm at the age of twenty-five, he might have fainted on the spot.

In the entire Phoenix City, only Yang Su, his father, had the highest martial cultivation, currently at the early Mount Tai Realm.

Having never encountered a true expert, Yang Yan couldn’t gauge Ye Tian’s real strength.

What normally took most people an hour to climb—seven or eight miles of mountain path—Ye Tian breezed through in about ten minutes, carrying a man on his back as if on flat ground.

---

“Doctor Ye, Young Master Ye, what stamina!”

Seeing Ye Tian’s calm and unlabored breathing, Yang Yan couldn’t help but admire him. Just lying on his back was exhausting for the older man.

When their feet finally touched the summit, Yang Yan breathed a sigh of relief. Once composed, he pointed to a man-made stone cave ahead.

“This is the Spirit Spring.”

“But it’s strange—there are no signs of anyone entering or leaving the cave.”

“Let’s go in.” Ye Tian was too eager to waste time with talk.

He had come a long way just for these elusive two words: Spirit Spring. If he didn’t see it for himself soon, he feared he might lose control.

Seeing Ye Tian’s urgency, Yang Yan stopped hesitating. He quickly stepped forward, produced a bent nail, and inserted it into a small hole on the stone door.

After some fiddling, the stone cave entrance rumbled loudly, splitting open to either side!

Was this a “self-moving stone” mechanism?

This ancient locking technique piqued Ye Tian’s curiosity even further.

Such craftsmanship, originating from ancient artisans, was usually reserved for royal tomb gates.

Once the royal mausoleum was sealed after the burial of a royal descendant, the outer gate would be tightly closed. At that moment, the self-moving stone would tilt inward, locking the door firmly from the inside.

No amount of force could open it from outside.

Only by using a specially crafted bent nail to pry open the stone from the crevice could the door be unlocked.

With such an ancient technique, there must be treasures inside, preserved through the ages!

The stone gate fully opened, Yang Yan entered first, looking around carefully before finally relaxing.

He pulled out a fire striker, lit it, and then ignited the oil lamps on either side of the cave.

Then he said, “Young Master Ye, please proceed.”

“Just take off your clothes and soak around the Spirit Spring for about half an hour. You’ll see clear effects.”

“If you come every day, your cultivation will improve significantly within a year!”

Yang Yan said confidently.

“Good.”

Suppressing his excitement, Ye Tian quickly moved deeper into the cave.

In the dim space, a crystal-clear pool appeared, its surface still and calm. Perhaps due to the light, the water had a faint pink hue.

Without hesitation, Ye Tian stripped off his clothes and plunged in.

---

The water was not as freezing as he had imagined.

Strangely, the pool was slightly warm—though not quite a hot spring, it was warmer than water exposed to the sun all day.

This was unusual...

As he pondered, a faint heat seeped through his pores, warming his body from within.

A contented moan echoed inside the cave.

“It really works!”

Feeling the changes within, Ye Tian was pleasantly surprised.

The strange “heat” entering his body was catalyzing his true qi, causing a slow but steady transformation!

After just a short while, his true qi seemed denser and more solid.

But the most obvious change was in his spiritual core.

The so-called spiritual core is the heart and mind.

After soaking in the spring, his senses sharpened noticeably. He could sense the innate energy in his dantian and the air more clearly than ever before!

This was a state he could not reach during the Spirit Refining Void phase!

With this enhanced state, practicing breath control for no more than half a month should allow him to break through the Spirit Refining Void stage and achieve Void Fusion!

That is, the fusion of the Golden Core with the Dao, becoming a true Golden Core Daoist!

At that point, he would be a half-step Earth Immortal, with internal alchemy power rivaling even a Martial King first rank!

If he could surpass the Golden Core Realm in the future, all these so-called Martial King elites, no matter how high their rank, would be mere dogs and cats!

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“Wuuu—”

Just as Ye Tian was reveling in his bodily changes and preparing to cultivate on the spot, a long, mournful bellow echoed beside his ear.

So sorrowful, so desolate...

Simply hearing the sound filled Ye Tian’s heart with profound sadness.

It was as if listening to the cry of a prisoner unjustly locked away for decades, never seeing sunlight, wailing in his final moments.

What on earth was happening?

Ye Tian suddenly sprang from the water, eyes wide with suspicion as he stared at the center of the pool.