Chapter 858: Chance Encounter with the Ancestor

As far as the eye could see, a vibrant red bamboo forest stretched out, filled with reddish spirit bamboo as thick as an adult's arm.

Wang Ruyan sat cross-legged on the ground, her slender fingers rapidly sweeping across the zither strings. A series of low notes rang out, sending streaks of blue sound waves flying. Not far in front of her, an entirely white giant silkworm spewed a large cloud of white cold mist from its mouth, attacking a strange beast with a tiger's head and an ape's body.

Beneath a reddish spirit bamboo, a crimson Ganoderma lucidum, entirely red with golden patterns on its surface, emitted an unusual fragrance.

This was a thousand-year-old spiritual herb, the Crimson Gold Ganoderma, which could be used to refine fourth-tier fire-attribute elixirs.

The tiger-headed ape-bodied beast was a mid-grade third-tier demon beast. It spewed a hazy green hurricane from its mouth, shattering the white cold mist. Beating its chest with its two ape arms, a violent gale erupted around its body as it lunged towards Wang Ruyan.

As streaks of blue sound waves struck the ape-tiger beast, it felt as if it had crashed into an invisible wall of light, unable to advance.

A cold glint flashed in Wang Ruyan's eyes as her slender fingers rapidly danced across the zither strings. The music grew loud, giving one the sensation of being on a battlefield.

The ape-tiger beast felt its blood and qi surging, and its heart pounded as if it would burst from its chest. Sensing trouble, a cluster of green wind appeared beneath its feet, and it attempted to flee.

A loud "whoosh" sound pierced the air as the Azure-Eyed Cold Silkworm spewed a thick strand of silk, entangling the ape-tiger beast's right leg. The silk spun rapidly around the surrounding spirit bamboo.

The ape-tiger beast let out an enraged tiger's roar, sending a hazy green sound wave directly towards Wang Ruyan. Its two ape arms clawed at the silk, intending to tear it apart.

Boom! The green sound wave collided with the blue sound wave, cancelling each other out and releasing a powerful shockwave.

The ape-tiger beast also tore through the silk and fled into the distance. However, an area of over ten zhang in radius was already surrounded by densely packed white silk, resembling a giant ice cocoon.

It roared loudly, a series of crackling bone sounds emanating from its body, as it crashed into the white silk.

It felt as if it had slammed into a wall of bronze and iron, unable to break through the silk. It pulled and tore with force, but could not tear through the massive amount of silk in a short time. It opened its mouth and spewed several ten-foot-long green wind blades, which struck the silk, leaving only faint white marks.

A low zither note rang out, and an invisible sound wave rapidly swept over the ape-tiger beast's body. Its pupils dilated, and it spewed a large mouthful of vital blood before collapsing onto the ground, its eyes filled with disbelief.

Wang Ruyan looked towards a certain patch of void, her tone cold. "Friend, have you not had enough of watching for so long?"

Having consumed a True Soul Fruit, her divine sense was comparable to that of a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Her eyes turned cold. She propped up her Golden Lotus Zither, and her fingers rapidly swept across the strings as she waved it towards a certain patch of void.

A piercing zither note rang out, and dozens of ten-foot-long giant wind blades flew forth, heading straight for that patch of void.

A yellow light flashed, and a tall, thin, stout old man appeared. He hastily summoned a yellow command flag, releasing a yellow gale that protected his entire body. Dozens of giant wind blades struck the yellow gale and were sent flying back.

Wang Ruyan's willow brows furrowed slightly. She lightly tapped the ground with her right foot and soared into the air, her fingers rapidly sweeping across the zither strings. A large swath of giant wind blades flew out, striking the ground.

Boom! A large, ten-foot-deep trench appeared on the ground, and a yellow giant python with a waist as thick as a bucket emerged from underground.

The yellow-robed old man frowned upon seeing this scene. He was at the sixth layer of Core Formation and possessed a mid-grade third-tier earth-attribute spirit beast, which was why he had planned to ambush Wang Ruyan, kill her, and seize her treasures.

"You seek death."

Wang Ruyan's expression turned cold. She flipped her slender hand, and a hazy green talisman flew out, transforming into a tall, green-robed young man—the Azure Essence Talisman Soldier.

The green-robed young man stomped his right foot on the ground. The weeds on the ground grew wildly, rapidly entwining the yellow giant python's body.

The Azure-Eyed Cold Silkworm spewed a large cloud of white cold mist, accurately striking the yellow giant python. A thick layer of ice rapidly appeared on the yellow giant python's body.

A small mountain-sized red brick descended from the sky, fiercely smashing onto the yellow giant python.

The ground shook violently, and the yellow giant python was utterly annihilated.

The cultivation world of the South Sea was chaotic. Having experienced many battles with Wang Changsheng, Wang Ruyan had abundant combat experience and was precise in seizing combat opportunities.

The yellow-robed old man was dumbfounded. His spirit beast, cultivated for many years, had been killed so quickly by the opponent. Fear appeared in his eyes as he realized he had encountered a formidable opponent. His body merged into the yellow gale, transforming into a streak of yellow light and fleeing through the air.

The zither music roared loudly, sending streaks of giant wind blades shooting out directly towards the yellow-robed old man.

The red giant brick soared into the air, smashing fiercely towards the yellow-robed old man, leaving a heavy rumbling sound in its wake.

Numerous green spirit patterns lit up on the Azure Essence Talisman Soldier's body. It stomped its right foot heavily on the ground, causing the weeds to grow wildly to dozens of zhang in height, rapidly weaving into a green long spear. The spear struck the yellow-robed old man from the front, sandwiching him from front and back.

The yellow-robed old man hastily summoned a yellow shield, which expanded more than ten times in size and spun around him. He slapped his right hand towards the void ahead, and numerous yellow lights surged forth, transforming into a ten-foot-sized yellow giant palm that slammed towards the green long spear.

Boom! The yellow-robed old man blocked Wang Ruyan's attack. A desolate flute melody rang out, as if a woman were weeping.

The weeds on the ground grew wildly, rapidly weaving into a giant green sphere that enclosed the yellow-robed old man.

The Azure Essence Talisman Soldier held a green long spear, while the Azure-Eyed Cold Silkworm spewed a thin strand of white silk from its mouth, striking towards the yellow-robed old man.

The yellow-robed old man became flustered as he controlled his magic treasures to fend off the Azure Essence Talisman Soldier's attacks while also dodging the Azure-Eyed Cold Silkworm's assaults.

The Azure Essence Talisman Soldier's recovery ability was extremely strong; flying knives struck its body, leaving foot-long blade marks, but after a flash of green light, it returned to normal.

After a short while, an extremely mournful flute melody rang out. The yellow-robed old man's vision blurred, and he suddenly found himself in a bloody space, with blood aura soaring into the sky and corpses strewn everywhere.

"Oh no, an illusion!"

The yellow-robed old man only felt a chill on his neck, and then knew nothing more.

Wang Ruyan put away her flute magic treasure, had the Azure Essence Talisman Soldier collect the yellow-robed old man's belongings, harvested the Crimson Gold Ganoderma, and stored the ape-tiger beast's corpse in her spirit beast bead.

After completing all of this, she walked deeper into the bamboo forest.

After a short while, she emerged from the bamboo forest to find a huge lake before her. To the left of the lake stood a mountain several thousand zhang high.

A deafening roar came from the mountain. Immediately after, a blue light flew out from a cave halfway up the mountain, followed closely by a streak of crimson fire.

Wang Ruyan extended her divine sense, discovering the blue light was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, while the crimson fire was a third-tier demon beast.

She did not know the situation of the secret realm, but perhaps this Foundation Establishment cultivator did.

She summoned the Azure Essence Talisman Soldier. The Talisman Soldier stomped its right foot heavily on the ground, causing numerous weeds to grow wildly and block the crimson fire.

Seizing this opportunity, Wang Ruyan flipped her slender hand, and a blue light flew out, entangling the other blue light like lightning and drawing it back to her side.

This was a tall, blue-robed young man—Wang Rongmiao.

Wang Rongmiao's eyes were filled with terror. Seeing Wang Ruyan, he was slightly stunned, but quickly reacted and respectfully said, "This grandson, Wang Rongmiao, greets Old Ancestor. Old Ancestor, I am Rongmiao, descendant of Wang Changxing."

Wang Ruyan was slightly surprised. She scrutinized Wang Rongmiao from head to toe and asked, puzzled, "Is that you, Rongmiao? What are you doing here?"

The Wang family did not have many Foundation Establishment cultivators in the East Barren, and Wang Rongmiao was one of them. Wang Ruyan had seen a portrait of Wang Rongmiao at Wang Tianqi's place.

Wang Rongmiao had seen Wang Ruyan's portrait when he was very young. After Wang Ruyan formed her Core, her appearance had not changed much, so Wang Rongmiao recognized her at a glance.