"Father, sacrifice yourself for your son this once," Yang Tao said, ignoring Lin Xiao Tian and turning to the apostle.
"My belongings, can you give them to me now?"
"Haha, fine, I'll give them to you now, but only half. The other half, I'll give to you when I get the demon core shard."
The apostle finished speaking and produced a blood-red crystal.
Dragon's breath emanated from the crystal.
Lin Xiao Tian recognized it at a glance.
"Dragon's blood!"
"Father, do you see? This is what you told us about during our herbal medicine class, dragon's blood. By absorbing it, my body will undergo a qualitative transformation. In time, I will surely surpass Lin Jing and bring glory to the Yang family."
Lin Xiao Tian suddenly felt a sense of amusement.
"For this, you conspired with this monster to harm me?"
While dragon's blood was precious, the dragon's blood before him was from the lowest tier of red dragons, and its purity was very low. Such a level could at most help ordinary cultivators reach the Foundation Establishment stage.
As for the herbs he obtained in Black Mountain, even a single hundred-thousand-year-old herb was countless times more precious than this dragon's blood.
"Father, I wouldn't dare to aim too high. This is far more precious than your thousand-year-old herbs."
Lin Xiao Tian sighed, wanting to speak but stopping himself.
After obtaining the dragon's blood crystal, Yang Tao left the Kunlun Valley, with the black dog pack leading the way.
"Haha, your son is a clever one. He knows who to cooperate with," the apostle said with a smile, looking at Lin Xiao Tian.
"Would you be so kind? You didn't tamper with the dragon's blood, did you?"
"There's no need to tamper. As I said, we are partners."
Lin Xiao Tian was astonished.
"When did you become so kind?"
The apostle smiled.
His smile looked incredibly terrifying in the moonlight.
"Kindness?"
"That is a low-grade trait of your human race."
"We beasts fight only for profit."
"Your son plans to extensively develop the Kunlun Valley, hunt the demon beasts within, and will also provide me with fresh humans. Such a good deal, why would I choose to deceive him?"
Lin Xiao Tian was taken aback.
He knew how Taotie grew.
This type of demon beast fed on humans.
Although most humans were ordinary and their nutritional value was not as high as demon beasts, for Taotie, eating humans provided special bonuses.
Just as a little white snake needed to bathe in the lightning of a thunder pool, Taotie needed to eat humans.
Lin Xiao Tian hadn't expected Yang Tao to agree to such a thing. What was the difference between this and murder?
"I have another question: how do you know Yang Tao won't deceive you?" Lin Xiao Tian asked.
"You know we feed on humans, and in reality, we also consume their thoughts. When he came to me to discuss cooperation, he hadn't even reached the Qi Refining stage. Capturing the thoughts of such a person was too easy for me," the apostle said confidently.
But Lin Xiao Tian felt a heavy oppression in his heart.
The apostle had no reason to lie to him.
Lin Xiao Tian couldn't detect any issues with the dragon's blood earlier.
This meant that Yang Tao might genuinely have thought this way.
All along, he had only been responsible for teaching them his skills, while matters of conduct and character were generally left to their mother.
Perhaps it was his negligence!
That was why Yang Tao would now risk Lin Xiao Tian for power.
Lin Xiao Tian took a deep breath, then shook his hands and stood up from the ground.
"Hoo... it's really cold here. After so many years, your thoughts haven't improved at all. Compared to those demon beasts, you've at least seen the world. Don't you want to treat yourself better?"
The apostle was completely stunned.
Why could Lin Xiao Tian move freely?
He had just restrained him with a talisman!
That talisman could restrain even a Core Formation stage cultivator, let alone a severely injured Lin Xiao Tian?
"You... how...?"
"When did you start stuttering? I'm tired. I'm going back. I'll keep the demon core shard for you for now. I'll put it in Black Mountain, and you can come and get it then. No need to trouble those brats."
Lin Xiao Tian said this and prepared to leave.
"Cat-ch! him!" the apostle roared.
All the demon beasts around surrounded Lin Xiao Tian.
Among them were more than a dozen apostles, each with the strength of the Foundation Establishment stage.
The great mountain goats were the first to charge at Lin Xiao Tian. Lin Xiao Tian had never understood what kind of demon beasts they were before. Now he realized they had no souls. They were likely some kind of inanimate objects forcibly revived and then pieced together to form their current bodies.
The goats' strength was at the fifth or sixth level of Qi Refining.
They took a step forward with formidable momentum.
But it was only one step.
The next moment, all the goats dissipated like dust.
Lin Xiao Tian scanned his surroundings.
"It seems I have new gains today?"
Watching Lin Xiao Tian's actions, the apostle's eyes widened.
"Your strength cannot achieve this, unless... unless you've broken through to... Core Formation?"
Lin Xiao Tian lightly wagged his index finger.
"Then why can you do this? What you just used was your domain, wasn't it?"
The apostle, inexplicably, showed a trace of anger at Lin Xiao Tian's denial. In his opinion, Lin Xiao Tian was really too boastful.
But Lin Xiao Tian still shook his head.
"You've narrowed your path, old friend. I am now in the Nascent Soul stage."
Lin Xiao Tian's casually spoken words struck the apostle like a bolt of lightning.
"Nascent... Soul stage?"
Lin Xiao Tian cast a cold glance at him.
The next moment, the apostle who had just spoken vanished into thin air.
A glowing crystal fell into Lin Xiao Tian's hand. It was the apostle's demon core shard.
He had originally intended to manipulate Lin Xiao Tian, but now he had been killed by Lin Xiao Tian.
Looking at the other apostles around him, Lin Xiao Tian only felt pity for them.
"Don't... don't be rash. We were wrong today. Please, you must not..."
Lin Xiao Tian made him disappear on the spot.
He was begging for mercy, couldn't he be more honest?
The other apostles exchanged glances. Without hesitation, they all chose the same answer: to flee.
But how could a few Foundation Establishment stage demon beasts escape from a Nascent Soul stage cultivator?
Lin Xiao Tian merely willed it, and the fleeing apostles were forcibly sucked back.
In the night sky, more than a dozen apostles spun around, and then with a flash of light, they instantly vanished.
Demon core shards fell into Lin Xiao Tian's hands one by one.
From the depths of the valley, a roar echoed.
It could be heard that it was truly furious.
But Lin Xiao Tian was not afraid at all.
"This is the second time. You'd better understand that my patience has limits. Next time, I can't guarantee your demon core shard will be safe."
As soon as Lin Xiao Tian finished speaking, the valley fell silent.