Crossing Over: The Strongest Mage

"No!" Lin Feng shouted.

"Good! I believe you. Now, tell me, are you the strongest among the four of you?" Yan Huo asked again.

"No! The eldest is the strongest. He's reached the late stage of the Transformation of Dan," Lin Feng answered honestly.

"Late stage of the Transformation of Dan! What about your master? What is his cultivation level? Why have they stayed in Long Mountain all this time? What are they doing up there? Answer truthfully. I already know some things, and if I find you lying, you'd better watch out for your legs," Yan Huo said, his voice filled with menace.

"We don't know the exact cultivation level of our master. He has never shown it. They've been staying on Long Mountain because there's something sealed there. For more than a hundred years, they've been focused on breaking the seal on that thing. Every ten years, they come out to rest for about a month," Lin Feng replied.

"Seems like what Master Chongyang said is right. That thing is indeed sealed by your master, but what is it that's worth guarding for more than a century? Heh! I'll have to see it for myself when I get the chance," Yan Huo thought to himself.

"When did your master leave seclusion?" Yan Huo asked.

"Not even twenty days ago," Lin Feng answered. In order to survive, he didn't care anymore.

"Just as long as I live to get back, if I don't destroy your Liu family, I'll never take the name Lin," Lin Feng cursed inwardly.

"Thanks for your answers. Now you can go join your brother," Yan Huo sneered.

"You! You said you wouldn't kill me!" Lin Feng said, horrified.

Yan Huo gave an evil grin. "Hmph! Did I say that? Sorry, I forgot."

With a single sword strike, Yan Huo severed Lin Feng's head. The *Snow Condensation* flying sword didn't even touch a drop of blood. "You killed so many, and now you want me to spare your life? Dream on!" Yan Huo spat.

As Yan Huo finished speaking, he turned to his surroundings. "I told you I'd never leave those who kill others alive."

"Sigh! You're something else, little brother. You could have killed them head-on with your strength, but you had to toy with them like this. Look at them—neither of them died peacefully," Fox White said, emerging from the stone tower, shaking his head with a smile at the two corpses.

"You're one to talk, Brother. You were hiding behind, pretending to be the expert," Yan Huo replied with a smile.

"Tch! Who told you to be such a freak? If they had realized your cultivation from the start, they wouldn't have died," Fox White said.

"True, true. If they had known, they would have run away, and maybe even brought a whole bunch of reinforcements. By then, Master's cave wouldn't be safe anymore," Yan Huo responded.

"I'm too lazy to argue with you, hehe! Let me see what treasures they have on them," Fox White laughed, his eyes gleaming with interest at the thought of loot.

Fox White slyly added, "Let's make a deal. You can have the spirit tools and such, but the gold and silver treasures will belong to me."

"Why? I killed them all," Yan Huo said, not willing to let Fox White take all the loot.

"Spirit tools go to you? Who doesn't know that spirit tools, once bonded with their owner's blood, can't be taken unless the original owner removes the seal? Heh! You think you can trick me?" Yan Huo replied with a knowing smirk, probably because he had spent so much time with Fox White that he understood the tricks all too well.

"Who killed them? If I wasn't pretending to be the expert from behind, would you have easily captured him like that? And besides, what did you just call me? You called me 'Brother,' didn't you? Respect your elders, little one!" Fox White retorted, arguing loudly.

Yan Huo just shook his head with a grin. "Fine, fine. You've got a deal. But you know how it goes—I don't share the important stuff!"

"Yes! You're my senior brother! In the future, if we ever encounter any enemies, I, the little junior brother, will definitely leave a few enemies for you, hehe! After all, you're my senior brother!" Yan Huo laughed along.

"Alright! I give up, I give up! Spirit tools to you, and gold and silver treasures we'll split half and half. How about that?" Fox White said, no longer in a low mood when it came to dividing spoils. He silently cursed, "I don't know who taught him this. My silly junior brother is getting smarter and more materialistic by the day."

"Everything is up to you, senior brother," Yan Huo replied, satisfied. In truth, Yan Huo wasn't really interested in the gold and silver; he was just teasing Fox White for fun. Fox White flipped through Jiang Hu's body, but found nothing. Disappointed, he moved on to Lin Feng's corpse.

"Ha! Junior brother, look what I found!" Fox White exclaimed excitedly, pulling out a palm-sized embroidered pouch from Lin Feng's body.

"Senior brother, what is it?" Yan Huo, seeing Fox White so happy, knew the pouch must be something good.

"Ha! You don't know about this, do you? This pouch is called a 'Qiankun Pouch.' Its function is similar to your spatial ring, but the material is different, and its storage capacity is much smaller. It's usually used by low-level cultivators. I've only heard of it before, but I didn't expect to find one on this continent! Haha! And it has one advantage: it doesn't require blood to bind it to its owner, so I can use it too!" Fox White explained, grinning widely.

"Really? Then congratulations, senior brother," Yan Huo said, smiling slightly. But inwardly, he thought, *At least now I don't have to let him use my ring to store wine and meat. A small blessing.*

"Let me take a look, see what's inside." Fox White, trying to control his excitement, started pulling things out of the Qiankun Pouch. Two low-grade flying swords, hundreds of vials, and several hundred books on medicinal herbs... With each item, Fox White grew more disappointed. Just when he was about to give up, a dozen shiny, translucent stones with varying colors tumbled out of the pouch.

At the sight of these stones, Fox White's eyes immediately gleamed with greed, his previous disappointment vanishing in an instant.

"Oh!!!" Fox White excitedly picked up one of the colorful stones and examined it closely. Then he jumped in the air, shouting, "It's Yuanling Stones! Yuanling Stones! Hahaha!"

"Yuanling Stones?" Yan Huo had never heard of such a stone before.

"Senior brother! Hey! Senior brother! What are Yuanling Stones?" Yan Huo asked, curious.

"Oh, junior brother, you don't know? Yuanling Stones are treasures in the cultivation world! A low-grade Yuanling Stone is worth about one thousand taels of silver. A middle-grade Yuanling Stone is equivalent to one hundred low-grade Yuanling Stones, and an upper-grade Yuanling Stone is worth one hundred middle-grade Yuanling Stones. The value of a top-grade Yuanling Stone is even higher, being worth one hundred upper-grade Yuanling Stones. While there aren't any top-grade Yuanling Stones here, there is an upper-grade one, three middle-grade ones, and ten low-grade ones. Haha!" Fox White laughed wildly.

"That's not much money, though!" Yan Huo said, uninterested.

"You're wrong! The value of Yuanling Stones isn't just measured in terms of money," Fox White said, shaking his head. "The reason why Yuanling Stones are so valuable in the cultivation world is that they can be used not only to refine spirit tools, but more importantly, they can replenish a cultivator's true energy directly. For example, when your true energy is exhausted, as long as you have Yuanling Stones, your true energy can be replenished in a very short time."

Fox White's face was filled with excitement as he continued, "These Yuanling Stones are worth far more than their weight in gold because they can provide instant power to a cultivator, allowing them to recover quickly. They're considered invaluable treasures, especially for those in the early stages of cultivation!"

Yan Huo listened intently, his eyes now shining with interest. "So, this is something truly valuable."

"Exactly!" Fox White grinned. "Imagine how many people would pay a fortune for a single Yuanling Stone in the cultivation world. If we sell these, we'll be set for a long time!"

Yan Huo nodded, but his thoughts were already racing. "These Yuanling Stones could be useful... but our immediate priority should still be dealing with the people from Long Mountain and whatever they are guarding there. These stones could come in handy when we face them."

As they continued discussing the value of the Yuanling Stones, their minds were already shifting toward the next challenge ahead: figuring out how to deal with the unknown danger that Long Mountain posed. But for now, they were content with their newfound treasure.