Ye Feng felt thoroughly embarrassed, and even Li Qingchan blushed at the patrons' rowdy jeering.
With hands on her hips, she snapped angrily, "Laugh, laugh, what's so funny? A bunch of old bastards who've been running up tabs with me for ages—isn't it about time you paid up?"
The moment she said that, everyone quietly bowed their heads and drank. Most of the people sitting there were drinking on credit, after all. On ordinary days, opportunities to slay an immortal in the Immortal Burial Realm were exceptionally rare.
Once the room quieted down, they thought back to the recent battle and realized that something had felt off the entire time...
During the carnage, quite a few mortal enemies who couldn't stand the sight of each other had been abruptly teleported onto the very same battlefield. Yet after that forced teleportation, their coordination had unleashed astonishing lethality!
As the drinking patrons exchanged casual glances, they clearly grasped the truth. Before long, they recalled that during the clash, under the protection of Ye Feng and his companions, two people had remained seated cross-legged on the battlefield throughout.
One was a fellow who used inscribed talismans, seemingly named Gu Li. And behind Gu Li sat that chubby youth, clacking away on an abacus!
Those two immediately drew everyone's retrospective attention.
The first to react was the man sitting at the table beside Ye Feng's group. Though he bore a scar across his face, his features were delicate and handsome, and he wore an ornate blue-and-white robe.
"Fellow Daoists, I am Kong Ming. May I ask if you know that chubby brother from the Third Domain battlefield earlier?"
Cao Yan looked at Kong Ming and could distinctly feel the surging fluctuations of primal energy radiating from him.
Kong Ming had brought his own wine jug, immediately pouring a full cup for each of the three.
Ye Feng replied in a soft voice, "That is my fifth brother, Tang Ru."
Kong Ming's brows furrowed slightly, then his eyes suddenly lit up. Glancing around, he leaned in and transmitted his voice in a whisper. "Could he be a diviner of the Yin-Yang School?"
Ye Feng neither confirmed nor denied it. After all, as Tang Ru appeared more frequently, this secret could never be hidden for long.
A sharp gleam flashed in Kong Ming's eyes, and he gave them a thumbs-up. "This big brother toasts you little brothers a cup. If that boy hadn't sent me a voice transmission during the slaughter to watch out for the man a hundred zhang away, I'd probably be lying dead right now. I don't see him here today, so please pass along my thanks when you see him."
With that, Kong Ming drained his cup in one gulp.
It was obvious that the man was truly grateful to Tang Ru.
However, Ye Feng and his companions wore blank looks; they had no idea Tang Ru had done so much on the battlefield! In truth, Tang Ru wouldn't have been able to achieve such a feat alone. It had also been possible thanks to Gu Li opening his mind completely and letting Tang Ru direct his divine sense.
After finishing his drink, Kong Ming stood up, flicked his wrist, and actually produced a pill shimmering with iridescent light from his storage ring!
The pill was only the size of a fingernail, but a rich, dense medicinal fragrance instantly flooded the entire tavern!
He placed the pill into a jade casket forged from purple gold crystal, sealed it, and handed it to Ye Feng with a soft remark. "This is an Immortal Realm pill. I hope it can be of help to Brother Tang."
Cao Yan swallowed hard. This thing was far too precious...
An Immortal Realm pill! Even one of the lowest grade was far superior to pills from the Human Spirit Realm. Not to mention, the power contained within it clearly favored the enhancement of divine sense. If Tang Ru had the aid of this pill, once he raised his cultivation to the peak of the Body Integration Realm, breaking through to the Mahayana realm would likely be effortless!
Moreover, the value of such a pill simply could not be measured in spirit stones. Even using points, one would probably have to slay four or five immortals to save up enough!
Kong Ming's companion couldn't help standing up and hissing, "Have you lost your mind? You're just giving away such an invaluable pill like that?!"
Kong Ming gave a carefree smile, turning to his companion. "You don't understand. If that chubby brother can break through to the Mahayana realm, it's equivalent to our Third Domain battlefield gaining another Yushan among the Eight Generals! Just like this time—we killed dozens of descended immortals, yet our casualties weren't even half of theirs. The talisman drawer Gu Li deserves thirty percent of the credit, but seventy percent belongs to that Body Integration Realm chubby brother!"
Kong Ming made no effort to conceal his words, and his voice could be heard throughout nearly the entire tavern. Many patrons nodded slightly in strong agreement with Kong Ming's assessment.
He brushed his companion's hand aside and thrust the jade casket firmly into Ye Feng's hands. "With him around, the odds of all of us surviving will be much higher!"
Kong Ming smiled at Ye Feng and said softly, "A modest token of my gratitude. Next time he comes, I'll treat him to drinks."
Ye Feng stood up, cupped his fists, and said in a grave voice, "I will certainly convey Senior's kind intentions!"
Only at this moment did the crowd truly appreciate how terrifying Tang Ru's capabilities were. Skirmishes between a few individuals might depend on personal prowess. But once a skirmish turned into a battlefield... Tang Ru's impact was magnified infinitely!
Meanwhile, in a room within the backyard of the White Jade Tower.
With his hair resembling a disheveled bird's nest, Gu Li sat racked with deep thought. The entire room was filled with the spiritual radiance of dense, shimmering talisman runes. Pale-faced, Gu Li hadn't even bothered to recover his energy before plunging into profound bewilderment.
"The Forced Conception Talisman seems entirely feasible to me! But... how could the intimacy between a man and a woman be performed by one person alone?"
Suddenly, as if struck by an epiphany, Gu Li froze completely, and the surrounding spiritual light shattered into fragments. With an incredulous look in his eyes, he muttered, "If that's the case... wouldn't men be able to get pregnant too????? Holy crap! This... this, this..."
"Hmm... the Forced Conception Talisman..."
"Could I approach it from the cultivator themself? Rely on the power of inscribed talismans to forcibly sever a portion of the cultivator's own three souls and seven spirits. Without damaging the cultivator, assemble the infant's three souls and seven spirits. But... how to keep it pure and untainted, detached from the cultivator's own essence? Right! Eldest Brother still has leftover Profound Origin Sacred Soul Pills!! No... I need to go discuss alchemy with Third Brother."
Gu Li bolted out of the room like a madman, but when he turned, he saw the Four Heavenly King Towers. As if guided by some uncanny instinct, he flew toward the Talisman Tower. He planned to consult the senior masters there to see if his idea was viable.
One incense stick of time later...
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Several terrifying auras comparable to the half-step Tribulation Transcendence realm erupted from the Talisman Tower. Three white-haired elders flew out in a furious rush. One of the old men hurled a shoe into the distance!
"Where did this little bastard come from?! A Forced Conception Talisman?? I'll... beat you to death, you treasonous wretch!!"
"A disgrace! A disgrace to the talisman Dao!!!"
"Do you even realize what you're saying?! Female cultivators impregnating themselves?! Men getting pregnant too??!!"
Gu Li bolted while stiffening his neck to shout back, "What's wrong with that?! Children only need flesh, blood, and a soul anyway—does it matter who gives birth? Just think about it! For someone with a Dao age of seven or eight thousand years, wouldn't it be wonderful to have a child on their own? And for female cultivators with stubborn ailments who can't conceive, this is a blessing!"
Hearing that, one short old man puffed his beard and glared in fury, nearly having a fit.
A while later...
Sporting two black eyes, Gu Li happened to run into Ye Feng and the others returning.
"What happened to you?" Ye Feng held back a laugh; it was rare to see Gu Li in such a miserable state.
Gu Li rolled his eyes and grumbled irritably, "Don't even mention it. I went to the Heavenly King Tower today, ran into three pedantic old men, and got beaten black and blue by all three of them."
Ye Feng asked in mild surprise, "Pedantic? What do you mean?"
"Because of... the Forced Conception Talisman..."
"Mm... you deserved the beating."
"Second Brother, listen to me."
"I'm not listening."
Yet the more pushback he faced, the firmer Gu Li became in his conviction. Little did anyone know what kind of bloody storm Gu Li's Forced Conception Talisman would stir up across the Immortal Realm in the days to come.
Chapter 1187