"Thank you for teaching me everything!" Lu Yang said respectfully.
"You're welcome. Your father took me in back then, and this is what I owe him!" Aba Luolou said with a slight smile before disappearing into the vastness of the world.
After the training, Lu Yang felt his body and mind had been elevated. Every pore, every cell seemed to be expanding wildly, as if boosting Lu Yang's cultivation.
Lu Yang had never experienced such an exhilarating feeling in actual combat. He settled his mind, sat cross-legged, and continuously replayed all the recent details in his mind.
...
Watching his son's continuous improvement, Lu Tianfeng, sitting in his office, let out a deep sigh of relief.
"Yang'er, your burden is heavy, so you must work hard!"
"It's a pity about my animals, but for your better improvement, I've reluctantly given them up!" Lu Tianfeng said with a wry smile.
All the beasts here were raised by Lu Tianfeng with spiritual herbs and elixirs. From a young age, they had been fed with these, naturally imbuing their bodies with spiritual energy. Given enough time, developing their intelligence was not impossible. Just like Lu Tianfeng's favorite fierce tiger, its intelligence had already begun to develop slightly. Even with this small amount, it was already a match for ordinary martial arts experts. However, to temper Lu Yang this time, all these beasts would be consumed by him. Although Lu Tianfeng felt heartbroken, he valued his son more than anything.
By the time Lu Yang finished his contemplation, his stomach began to growl. Lu Yang roasted and ate the remaining hound meat, having finished almost an entire hound.
"It seems I need to go hunting again, otherwise I'll starve to death here!" Lu Yang said, then walked into the primeval forest bare-handed.
The primeval forest was vast. In its very center, there was a pool about a hundred meters wide, filled with dark water.
"Why is this water black?" Lu Yang looked at the black pool with some surprise, not understanding how the water had turned black.
Lu Yang observed for a long time without finding anything unusual. He then began to examine the surroundings of the pool. Suddenly, a small flower on the edge of the pool caught his attention.
"This... this is actually a Life Force Flower?" Seeing this small flower, Lu Yang was extremely excited. The Life Force Flower was a miraculous medicinal herb capable of regenerating bones and bringing the dead back to life. It was said that only one plant grew every thousand years, making it exceptionally precious. He never expected to find one growing here. He wondered if his father had deliberately planted it, or if he had stumbled upon it by chance.
With the Life Force Flower, treating a disease like cancer would be incredibly simple. The medicinal properties of the Life Force Flower could expel all toxins from the body. Although this Life Force Flower didn't look large, if Lu Yang utilized it properly, its medicinal properties could be used to produce tens of thousands of elixirs, enough to save countless lives.
Thinking of this, Lu Yang became extremely excited. He immediately ran over to see how much the Life Force Flower had grown and when it could be harvested for medicinal use.
However, as Lu Yang took a few steps, the entire black pool began to tremble violently. The water in the black pool seemed to boil, emitting large bubbles.
"What's happening?" Lu Yang looked at all this, utterly bewildered.
"This is bad, something is coming out!" Seeing a black object emerge from the pool, Lu Yang immediately leaped to the side. Then he witnessed a scene he would never forget. A black triangular head, as thick as a bucket, leaped out of the pool. Its body then supported its head, which continuously grew taller, reaching ten meters high. Its entire body was covered in black scales, looking exceptionally terrifying.
"A black giant snake? Such a terrifying giant snake?" Lu Yang exclaimed. "Its body alone stands over ten meters tall. If its entire body were to emerge from the water, how long would it be?" Lu Yang looked at the giant snake before him, feeling a mix of fear and excitement.
The giant snake also looked down at Lu Yang, viewing him as nothing more than an ant that could be crushed with a mere twitch of its body.
"Hiss..." The giant snake flicked its tongue towards Lu Yang, as if marking its territory. A pale green liquid dripped from the snake's mouth, spraying directly towards Lu Yang.
"Bad! This is the snake's venom!" Seeing the pale green liquid spraying towards him, Lu Yang immediately used the Yuan Ji Shu (Monkey Strike Technique), escaping like lightning and leaping to another open space. The area that was just hit by the snake's venom withered instantly, showing how terrifying the snake's poison was.
Seeing Lu Yang dodge its attack, the giant snake became instantly enraged. Its eyes, like copper bells, stared fixedly at Lu Yang, as if gazing at its prey.
"Swish!" The giant snake moved abruptly, lunging towards Lu Yang with extreme speed, its body coiling like a spring and moving with incredible swiftness. Lu Yang hadn't expected such a heavy-looking snake to move so ferociously; it was simply unbelievable. But there was no time for Lu Yang to ponder this. He immediately used the Yuan Ji Shu again, leaping to another spot and dodging the snake's second attack.
"Fortunately, I learned the Yuan Ji Shu yesterday, otherwise dealing with this giant snake would be very difficult!" Lu Yang silently thanked Aba Luolou once again.
Meanwhile, in a secret location within Youdu Prison, a man in uniform frantically found Lu Tianfeng.
"King Yama, something bad has happened! Your son has gone to the Black Water Pool, and has awakened the Terrifying Earth Dragon!" the man said to Lu Tianfeng.
"What? The Terrifying Earth Dragon is awake? How is that possible? It wasn't supposed to awaken for another ten years! How could it wake up now?" Lu Tianfeng asked, his face filled with shock.
"I don't know. We thought your son was just going to take a look, so we didn't interfere. We just didn't expect that as soon as your son stepped into the Black Water Pool, the pool would start bubbling violently, and then that Terrifying Earth Dragon emerged from it!" the man explained again.
"Alright, I understand. Immediately summon the other four Kings, and let's all go to the Black Water Pool. This time, we might be able to kill the Terrifying Earth Dragon!" Lu Tianfeng said coldly, his expression grim.
"Yes!" The man agreed and instantly left the scene.
"Yang'er, this time you might be in trouble. I hope this turns out to be a blessing in disguise!" Lu Tianfeng thought to himself, then headed towards the Black Water Pool.
The other four Kings were Qin Guang Wang, Chu Jiang Wang, Song Di Wang, and Bian Cheng Wang, who were stationed in Youdu Prison. Originally, there were ten people guarding Youdu Prison, known as the Ten Kings of Yama. Lu Tianfeng was of a higher rank than them, referred to as King Yama, not Yama King, because the other six had bravely sacrificed themselves during missions, leaving only these four Kings, hence the change to Four Kings.