Chapter 17

    After playing chase until he satisfied, he dragged the Cloud Tiger and the thin man back home.

    "Little bird, I'm back!" The handsome young man held the Moon Mushroom tightly as he ran to his small house, where a large, fiery red peacock lay breathing weakly on a bed he had carefully prepared for it.

    If Liu Yi You were there, she would have asked, "Where's the little bird?"

    A bird almost as big as her, a seven-year-old child, being called a "little bird"?

    The young man took out the pill that Liu Yi You had given him with one hand, still holding the Moon Mushroom in the other.

    "Which one do you want to eat first?" He turned his head left and right, looking back and forth between his hands, blinking.

    Meanwhile, after traveling at high speed for more than half a month, Liu Yi You and her group arrived at the Guardian's Tomb. The atmosphere around the tomb was strangely peculiar.

    "This tomb... looks familiar," Liu Yi You murmured.

    The tomb resembled the abandoned tomb near Lu Long City, which had become a place of cultivation for the Liu and Zhuang families. The difference was that the abandoned tomb was filled with traps and formations, whereas this tomb was open.

    Anyone could enter and leave freely.

    Ta Gui led the way expertly, each of Liu Yi You's spirit beasts holding an herb in their mouths. Throughout the journey, they had been eating constantly.

    "This way, master," Ta Gui directed.

    Over the years, there had been too little food on the ground for Ta Gui, making it weaker and weaker. Now, being able to eat its fill, it felt revitalized.

    However, the occasional tremors in the ground persisted.

    Ta Gui was confident that if Xiao Gui helped it reinforce the power on the Guardian's Altar, the signs of collapse would cease, and the world would return to normal.

    The altar looked just like the one where Liu Yi You had been struck by lightning. Seeing it made her eyelid twitch several times.

    Given this, Liu Yi You didn't hesitate. She expected there to be many treasures here, but when she scanned the area, she found nothing of value. "Ta Gui, shouldn't there be treasures here?"

    Ta Gui tilted its head, looking confused. "What treasures?"

    "You know, like the Azura wings or weapons," Liu Yi You explained.

    "There used to be weapons and items placed beside the altar," Ta Gui nodded vigorously.

    "Then where did they go?" Liu Yi You asked excitedly.

    "Several decades ago, when I went out to find food, I forgot to activate the formation. When I returned, it was gone. I searched for many years but eventually gave up," Ta Gui said, his face falling.

    "What was it?" Liu Yi You asked.

    "A gourd. It was a gourd that contained wine," Ta Gui replied.

    Liu Yi You and Liu Tan couldn't stop their lips from twitching at the mention of the wine gourd, which was now with Liu Fuzhen.

    Grandfather and granddaughter exchanged glances. ‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking?’

    Liu Yi You pressed her lips into a thin line and nodded silently. ‘I think it is. It must be.’

    The little girl turned to Ta Gui, her eyes sparkling. "So this means the other two continents also have such treasures?"

    Ta Gui nodded. "Each Guardian Beast must protect a different treasure."

    Because the treasure it was supposed to guard had gone missing, Ta Gui had been searching for it all this time, always believing that the tremors were caused by its missing treasure. However, it never mentioned this to Liu Yi You, so she hadn't made the connection.

    Unable to find the gourd, Ta Gui's only hope now was Xiao Gui. It had no idea that the treasure it was seeking had been in the hands of the Liu family for a long time.

    "Come on, get up there," Ta Gui commanded.

    Xiao Gui looked around wistfully before obediently climbing onto the altar as instructed. It then released a massive burst of Qi energy before weakening and falling asleep.

    Seeing this, Liu Yi You felt sorry for it and put it back in the fish tank.

    "Hey, stinky kid, you let the turtle in, why can't I go in?" Mao Tong protested.

    Liu Yi You glanced at the worm coldly. "Xiao Gui didn't burn my herb garden."

    "Hmph!"

    Liu Yi You didn't argue further with Mao Tong. She turned to Ta Gui, who was looking at her longingly.

    It wanted to go inside too.

    "So, Ta Gui, does this mean the tremors will stop now?" Liu Yi You asked.

    Ta Gui nodded vigorously but hadn't even stopped nodding when...

    Rumbleeeee!

    The ground shook violently once again, making Ta Gui's face fall.

    "What happened?" Ta Gui was dismayed.

    The signs of collapse didn't stop, meaning that with or without Xiao Gui, it made no difference. Liu Yi You, who had originally planned to explore, was now bewildered by this strange occurrence.

    "It would be good if we had the gourd back," Ta Gui said, lowering its head in despair.

    Hearing this, Liu Yi You frowned. She called Tong Tian, then quickly warped back to the Liu family mansion to ask her father for the wine gourd and returned to the tomb.

    Seeing the wine gourd, Ta Gui's eyes widened. "How did it end up with your master?"

    "I don't know. I only know it's been with us for a long time. Try placing it back where it belongs," Liu Yi You suggested.

    Ta Gui accepted the gourd happily and placed it where it belonged. After setting it down, Ta Gui activated some kind of formation and smiled broadly with joy.

    "Now everything will be fine..."

    Rumbleeeeeeeeeee!

    The ground shook again, more violently than ever before.

    "What does this mean?" Liu Yi You frowned.

Ta Gui was at a loss. It could only shake its head, as it didn't know either.

    Liu Yi You frowned deeply. She had originally planned to go on a trip and hadn't expected the world to encounter such problems. According to her understanding, the guardian beasts should be a dragon, a phoenix, a tiger, and a turtle. But now the dragon was missing, the turtle was with her, and she would have to search for the tiger and the phoenix next.

    "So where are the tiger and the phoenix?" Liu Yi You asked.

    Ta Gui looked up at her. "Tiger?"

    "The celestial guardian beast."

    "We don’t have a tiger. We have a dragon, a turtle, a phoenix, and a qilin," Ta Gui said, looking confused.

    "Then let’s go find the phoenix and the qilin," Liu Tan said, turning to Ta Gui.

    Liu Yi You nodded in agreement and then turned to Ta Gui. "Do you know where any of the immortal beasts are?"

    "I only know where the qilin is," Ta Gui said.

    "Then let's go find the qilin," Liu Yi You decided, wasting no time in preparing for the journey.

    They traveled to the Fei Zhou Continent to find the qilin without any preparations, simply flying there in their flying ship. Along the way, Liu Yi You occasionally caught and ate spirit beasts from the Qi sea.

    It took them nearly a year to reach the Fei Zhou Continent.

    When they finally set foot on the Fei Zhou Continent, they couldn't help but feel relieved. Traveling by flying ship for so long had been extremely tedious.

    Rumbleeeee!

    The ground continued to tremble periodically. Every half month, there was a continuous tremor lasting two hours.

    "It seems to be getting more frequent, doesn’t it, Grandfather?" Liu Yi You asked. Liu Tan nodded but said nothing.

    What had once been a comfortable situation was now becoming unsettling. Stress was affecting both the people and the spirit beasts.

    "Lead the way, Ta Gui," Liu Yi You instructed.

    The old turtle chewed on a Silver Scale Leaf in its mouth, nodded, and led the way without complaint.

    They boarded the flying ship again and headed straight for the heart of Fei Zhou Continent.

    However, after such a long journey in the flying ship, Liu Yi You and Liu Tan couldn’t resist stopping to rest when they saw a city.

    They landed the flying ship in the forest outside the city and used the auspicious cloud and Asura wings to fly to the city gates, as it was customary for cities to prohibit flying within their boundaries to avoid causing chaos.

    Liu Yi You and Liu Tan concealed their cultivation levels as usual; they didn’t want to attract attention. However, with the frequent tremors, people were avoiding travel. Seeing a young man and a girl walking hand in hand, dressed like the children of a noble family, made them immediately stand out.

    "Grandfather, this city has very few things for sale," Liu Yi You said, frowning.

    Liu Tan nodded. "Very few indeed."

    They agreed to stay at an inn, wanting a peaceful night's sleep.

    But on their way to the inn, they came across a shop selling a variety of strange plants. Although they weren’t Qi plants or herbs, Liu Yi You decided to buy and store them in the Underwater Palace, leaving Xiao Gui to handle them.

    The next morning, Liu Yi You and Liu Tan left the inn to continue their journey. This time, they didn't stop anywhere else because, with the ongoing tremors, the cities weren’t bustling as usual.

    "It's over there," Ta Gui pointed to a mountain peak.

    When Liu Yi You scanned the area, she found a large tomb filled with traps and mechanisms. Naturally, Liu Yi You was able to disable them and pass through smoothly until they reached the center of the tomb.

    The Qi energy in this tomb was as dense as in the abandoned tomb Liu Yi You had found in the Qing Yun Continent. In the center was an altar and a pedestal, similar to the one that had held the Asura wings, but this time, it held a diadem.

    Liu Yi You and Mao Tong vividly remembered their previous experience when they attempted to take something from an altar. At that time, Liu Yi You had been struck by lightning, leaving her hair frizzed for a month. This time, history had to change.

    Liu Yi You pouted, exchanging glances with Mao Tong. She was trying to figure out how to get the item from the altar into her hands.

    But she knew, Mao Tong knew, and Ta Gui knew.

    However, Liu Tan... didn't know.

    Before Liu Yi You realized it, Liu Tan had walked up to the altar, picked up the diadem, and placed it on his head.

    "Grandpaaaaa!" Liu Yi You cried out in shock, her face turning pale as she stepped forward to pull Liu Tan away.

    Liu Tan, now wearing the diadem, turned to look at Liu Yi You, his face marked with confusion. But it was too late.

    BAMMMM!

    A bolt of lightning struck down mercilessly.

    However, Liu Tan remained unharmed. He looked around, bewildered.

    The little girl, the worm, and the turtle didn't fare so well.

    Liu Yi You's hair stood on end in all directions, her face covered in red marks resembling lightning bolts. The worm and the turtle looked just as bad as their mistress, with smoke even rising from their mouths.

    "Uh..." Liu Tan blinked at his granddaughter and the two spirit beasts. Should he say something?

    Liu Yi You wanted to cry but had no tears.

    There was nothing she could do... the lightning had already struck.

    BAMMMMM!

    Liu Yi You pressed her lips together. If she guessed correctly, it would strike at least three times.

    BAMMMM!

    When the lightning finally ceased, Liu Yi You remained standing in place. Why was it that when she tried to take something, she was struck by lightning, but now that her grandfather had taken it, he wasn't struck?

    This world is unfair.

    Liu Tan, unaware of his little granddaughter's thoughts, walked over to her with concern.

    "Are you alright?"

    The little girl pressed her lips together and shook her head. She wanted to say she was in pain and numb all over, but she didn't dare to voice it. Instead, she swallowed her pain and forced a weak smile.

    "I’m fine, Grandfather."

    Liu Tan silently admired his granddaughter. Look at this, old man Mian, my granddaughter is much better than yours.

    If Liu Yi You knew, she would have shouted loudly that she didn't want to be this good.

    Suddenly, a voice echoed throughout the area.

    "Who dares to cause trouble in my home?"