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Upon seeing this person clearly, the first image that popped into Ye Yiming's mind was:

Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, wielding his golden staff and shouting at a demon, "Hey! Where do you think you're going, monster!"

You couldn't blame Ye Yiming for such a thought because this person's appearance was just... too abstract!

This dark figure, well, maybe a person! His face vaguely resembled a ghost's, with a huge, asymmetrical mouth full of black and yellow rotten teeth. His upturned nose seemed to lack any middle cartilage, making it look like he had only one nostril. His eyes were even more peculiar—one was as small as a soybean, while the other was as large as a cow's eye, glaring roundly at Ye Yiming.

If this were Earth, Ye Yiming would have screamed, "Mom!" and exclaimed, "How on earth do you look so thrilling and creative? Your mom must have watched a ton of sci-fi movies while pregnant to achieve such a special effect!"

The 'strange person' stood in front of Ye Yiming and Ye Qi after leaping out of the bushes, scratched the few hairs on his scabby head, extended his right hand covered in psoriasis, shook the bizarre wooden stick in his hand, and spoke.

"Eat sasi wok, eat shushu wok zai, yo shang chi lu go, liu xia mai lu cai!"

Hearing the 'strange person's' words, Ye Yiming was even more shocked.

What the hell! Is this even human language? Could this thing really be a failed transformation of some monster?

But considering its barely mid-level warrior aura, it seemed unlikely.

While Ye Yiming was puzzled about the identity of the dark figure, Ye Qi, who had just reacted, stuttered.

"You... Young Master... What... what did it just say?"

Ye Qi couldn't find the words to describe the dark figure in front of him and ultimately used 'it.'

After thinking for a while, Ye Yiming hesitantly said, "It probably said, 'This mountain is mine, this tree is mine, if you want to pass through, leave a toll.'"

What? A robbery?

Hearing Ye Yiming's words, Ye Qi was furious, no longer caring about the strange appearance, and shouted, "Who are you? How dare you block the way of people from the Duke's household? Do you have a death wish?"

The dark figure seemed to frown (Ye Yiming thought so, if it really had eyebrows) and angrily said, "My name is Niu Biyang, nicknamed Niu Er! I am the boss here, leave the toll."

Though the dark figure's speech was unclear, his name was quite clear, leaving Ye Yiming speechless.

Niu Biyang? Niu Er? Bull**er?

What a peculiar name. What outrageous act did this person commit to deserve such a name from his parents?

Ha! So he really is a robber! How bold!

Ye Qi burst into laughter and was about to teach this 'Bull**er' a lesson when Da Hei appeared out of nowhere, rushed in, and knocked Niu Biyang down the mountain.

Niu Biyang rolled all the way down to the foot of the mountain and fainted. A kind-hearted herb gatherer saw him and tried to help, but the sight of Niu Biyang's already shocking face, made even more grotesque by the fall, scared the herb gatherer to death.

To be so terrifying that he could scare people to death with his looks, Niu Biyang was probably the only one.

However, Niu Biyang was quite lucky; although he didn't die from the fall, his legs were broken. When he finally woke up a day later, he crawled out of Baiyun Mountain and lived as a beggar from then on.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

But these are all later stories.

After the farce with Niu Biyang, Ye Yiming and Ye Qi were only slightly startled and quickly resumed their herb-gathering journey.

This time, Ye Yiming had an idea: to take out a bunch of herbs from his Immortal Spirit Ring and cut off small pieces for Da Hei to taste.

Having come to Baiyun Mountain once, Ye Yiming didn't just want to gather herbs for refining Tempering Pills. If possible, he wanted to gather as many as he could.

Ye Yiming's idea seemed great. With Da Hei's efforts, he quickly found a lot of herbs. Da Hei's diligence was soon rewarded with several pills, making him even more excited.

At one point, Ye Yiming discovered a thousand-year-old ginseng under Da Hei's feet and was amazed at Da Hei's ability to find herbs.

"Good job, Da Hei!"

After carefully digging up the ginseng, Ye Yiming tossed a mid-grade super warrior pill to Da Hei, feeling a bit sentimental.

Wow! Who knew my Da Hei could find herbs? Truly worthy of being a super divine beast!

"Woof!"

Da Hei suddenly barked a few times as if he had found something and ran off. Ye Yiming and Ye Qi quickly followed.

After running for a short distance, they found Da Hei fighting several wild boars.

It looked like this was the territory of a wild boar herd. Ye Yiming and Ye Qi were now at an altitude of a thousand meters, so the wild boars here were not ordinary.

Wild boars were low-level demonic beasts, the most common low-level herd demonic beasts in Baiyun Mountain. The highest level a mature wild boar demonic beast could reach was that of a high-level warrior.

Receiving feedback from his detection skill, Ye Yiming had a thought.

These wild boars are perfect for me, a newly minted human-level warrior, who doesn't know how to use my own power yet and lacks actual combat experience. This is a great opportunity to practice!

With this idea, Ye Yiming spoke to Ye Qi, who, instead of stopping him, looked at him with approval and said, "Young Master, you're right. Actually, even if you didn't mention it, I would have found a chance for you to have some combat practice here in Baiyun Mountain. After all, there's less than a month left before your duel with Wu Yaoguang. I'm not worried about your cultivation, but..."

Ye Qi glanced at Da Hei playing with the wild boars and then turned back to Ye Yiming, smiling, "But when it comes to combat experience, Young Master, you might not even compare to Da Hei!"

This...

Ye Yiming was speechless but couldn't refute it. After all, Ye Qi was right; his combat experience was probably less than Da Hei's.

"Don't be discouraged, Young Master. You've never been exposed to this before. It's not too late to start now. In fact, during this Baiyun Mountain trip, the Duke specifically instructed me to give you some combat opportunities to accumulate experience. This shows that the Duke thinks highly of you!"

Ye Qi was counting on Ye Yiming to help him break through to the sky-level warrior realm, so he didn't dare to say too much. However, considering Ye Yiming's recent performance, Ye Qi thought it wouldn't be too difficult.

I didn't expect Grandpa to have arranged this for me. I thought he only agreed to this trip for herb gathering! He even planned combat opportunities for me!

Feeling the warmth of his grandfather's care, Ye Yiming was even more determined not to disappoint him. He vowed to win the upcoming duel with Wu Yaoguang with an overwhelming victory to live up to his grandfather's expectations.

With this resolve, Ye Yiming didn't hesitate and called out to Da Hei, who was still playing with the wild boars, "Da Hei, stop playing and kill those wild boars. Come back quickly!"

Da Hei barked fiercely, revealing his savage side, and quickly killed the wild boars, then ran back to Ye Yiming, wagging his tail, looking nothing like his previous fierce self.

Seeing the wild boars lying in pools of blood, Ye Yiming sighed.

No wonder he's a super divine beast! With just human-level cultivation, his mere presence suppressed the five wild boars into submission and then killed them effortlessly.

This was why Ye Yiming didn't use the wild boars for combat practice. They had lost their fighting spirit, and what experience could he gain from that?

Ye Yiming's approach made Ye Qi nod approvingly, admiring Ye Yiming's wisdom.

After a while, Ye Qi asked, "Young Master, are you ready?"

Ye Yiming nodded confidently, "Don't worry, Uncle Ye Qi. I'm ready now. Just tell me what to do."

Ye Qi nodded, "Alright, let's start now. We'll begin with these wild boars."

Ye Yiming agreed, thinking it made sense. You can't rush things; you must learn to walk before you can run!

Seeing Ye Yiming eager to go, Ye Qi quickly reminded, "Young Master, don't rush. With your experience, it's best to start with one wild boar and gradually increase the number."

"Alright, Uncle Ye Qi, I understand."

Though Ye Qi's words seemed to underestimate him, Ye Yiming knew he was just speaking the truth.

Ye Yiming knew. Although he was now at the early stage of human-level cultivation, facing wild demonic beasts, even those at the high-level warrior stage, a slight mistake could lead to big trouble.

His actual combat experience was zero! Even though he had fought Wu Yaolin and Wu Yaoguang, it was over in one move.

What experience could he gain from that? It only showed him how powerful peak earth-level warriors were. The experience gain was minimal!

Now was his first step in real combat. Ye Yiming must stay cautious.

Taking a deep breath, Ye Yiming looked at the five wild boar demonic beasts lying in a pool of blood, picking out a mid-level warrior wild boar demonic beast, and then...

Ye Yiming dashed over, launching his first actual combat attempt!