Poverty

Chapter 1922 The Old Man Riding a Donkey

Li Yanchu had already fled far away.

Neither Ancestor Tianyuan nor Ancestor Yinxuan pursued him, which puzzled him. He then put away the golden lotus he had been holding in his sleeve.

With his cultivation level, he is still far from being able to contend with the two patriarchs.

It was precisely because the Golden Lotus continuously provided primordial Dao Qi that Li Yanchu was able to fight against beings at the primordial realm.

Now that the battle was over, Li Yanchu's tense nerves relaxed, and he gradually felt extremely weak.

Although the primordial Dao Qi was within his body, using this power in such an excessive way was extremely dangerous for Li Yanchu.

Moreover, some of the supernatural powers of those old guys at the Primordial Dao Realm had entered his body. Although they were refined, now that the great battle was over, the Golden Lotus no longer mobilized Primordial Dao Qi to him, which made Li Yanchu feel very uncomfortable.

"Fellow Daoist Lian, now that I'm no longer being hunted down, will you stop providing me with primordial Dao Qi?"

Li Yanchu tried to activate it several times, but the golden lotus remained calm and unmoved. Li Yanchu sensed something was wrong and found a place to hide, where he began to refine his injuries.

This terrifying power was about to burst Li Yanchu apart. Without the support of primordial Dao Qi, the difference was too great. Li Yanchu was at the Dao King realm, seemingly only one step away from the primordial realm, but in reality, the difference was enormous.

Even now, just refining these powers is proving extremely difficult for him.

However, his cultivation was too high and his comprehension was amazing. Gradually, he healed the Dao injuries on his body one by one, and Li Yanchu's expression also eased a lot.

"It just so happens that these Dao injuries remaining in my body allow me to analyze the mysteries of the primordial Dao Qi more clearly," Li Yanchu thought to himself.

The next moment he took out the golden lotus.

This golden lotus was born after the destruction of the old earth, and it contains an unknown amount of primordial Dao energy.

Now that Li Yanchu has extracted a lot of it, and seeing that the color of the golden lotus has dimmed a bit, Li Yanchu thought to himself, "Won't I kill this thing again?"

As he was examining the scene, he suddenly saw an old man riding a donkey. He was travel-worn, his face weathered, and a large hole had been ripped open in his chest, which was being blazed by heavenly fire.

In addition, he had many new injuries, which were clearly different from the old ones, and he looked quite disheveled. However, his demeanor was still unmatched.

The old man on the donkey rushed over, and when he saw Li Yanchu, he was panting heavily, almost unable to breathe: "Bastard, bastard!"

He pointed at Li Yanchu and started cursing.

Li Yanchu's heart sank, knowing that these were visitors from the Dark Forbidden Zone.

Faced with the other party's unwarranted insults, Li Yanchu retorted without hesitation: "The old man has lost his mind, coming over here to spout nonsense!"

The old man riding the donkey was so angry that his beard stood on end. He said coldly, "You sent your future self to the forbidden zone to stop me, just to steal the golden lotus I planted. You damned thing!"

Li Yanchu was somewhat surprised: "What did you say?"

The old man's words contained such a wealth of unusual information that it was difficult for anyone to accept them all at once.

The old man riding the donkey said, "If you hadn't sent your future into the forbidden zone and caused such a ruckus, I would have recovered by now."

He then saw Jinlian's dim appearance and screamed, "Damn it, give Jinlian back to me!"

He suddenly reached out and attacked Li Yanchu.

With the support of the Golden Lotus, Li Yanchu could barely match a Primordial Dao Realm expert. Although he had no chance of winning, he could still hold his own for a while.

But now, without Jinlian's support, Li Yanchu was already struggling to fight the old man, and was punched in the chest by the old man.

He took away Jinlian in a very clever way.

In an instant, countless scenes of the birth and death of universes appeared before Li Yanchu's eyes, and a sense of vicissitude arose in his heart.

In the blink of an eye, the old man had already taken away the golden lotus.

Looking at Jinlian, the old man said, "At least half of the original Dao Qi inside has been lost."

He was filled with grief and indignation at this moment.

"Half of the original Dao Qi!"

Li Yanchu said, "Why do you say that this golden lotus was planted by you? What a joke! It was clearly born after the destruction of the Old Earth Universe."

The old man riding the donkey angrily said, "I orchestrated the destruction of the Old Earth Universe so that I could finally collect this golden lotus. Otherwise, do you think such a vast universe with such a short lifespan could have been accomplished by those juniors?"

Li Yanchu frowned deeply: "Were you secretly manipulating all of this?"

The old man riding the donkey said, "Not bad! It's a pity I was out of my depth. I didn't expect you to be so ruthless and cunning, and to come back from the future to steal my opportunity."

Li Yanchu said, "I bet my future self beat you up pretty badly."

The old man riding the donkey was even more enraged upon hearing this: "You, in the future, wreaked havoc in the Dark Forbidden Zone, causing rivers of blood to flow. Now you have stolen my opportunity. I must kill you to vent my hatred!"

At this moment, he waved his hand and a beam of divine light shot towards Li Yanchu.

Li Yanchu's heart sank.

With his current cultivation level, he was far inferior to this old man, whose cultivation was even stronger than that of Ancestor Yin Xuan and Ancestor Tian Yuan, whom he had met before.

As the golden light descended, Li Yanchu unleashed the Hunyuan Bu Er technique, slashing down with his hand. Despite his full power, he was still no match for the old man and was tightly bound by a golden light from him.

The old man took a deep breath and said, "Killing you like this is too easy for you. I'm going to take you to the Dark Forbidden Zone and extract the primordial Dao Qi from your body."

At this moment, Li Yanchu's limbs were weak and sore. He never expected to be defeated by the old man in a single move.

Previously, he was able to fight against the two patriarchs, but now he has become their prisoner.

However, Li Yanchu remained very calm and said, "The primordial Dao Qi has been absorbed and digested by me. If you have the ability, then refine it and see if you can make up for your deficiency."

These words struck a chord with the old man.
The old man cursed, "If it weren't for you, you bastard, disrupting my entire plan, I wouldn't be where I am today."

They captured Li Yanchu and rode away on a donkey, carrying him away.

This donkey was extremely powerful; as it took a step and ran, the entire void trembled and twisted.

Li Yanchu had never been to the Dark Forbidden Zone before, but now he had been captured by this old man and was being forced to go there.

The donkey was extremely fast, and by the time Li Yanchu arrived at the Dark Forbidden Zone, his limbs were still weak.

He looked at that terrifying universe, which was extremely oppressive, with cosmic debris piled up and jagged, strange mountains everywhere.

The place was filled with a deathly stillness, but after walking for a while, Li Yanchu suddenly saw some places that looked like a fairyland, with birds singing and flowers blooming, spring in full bloom, and vibrant life everywhere.

The scenery along the Great Road is incredibly diverse, numbering in the tens of thousands, dazzling the eye. These places exist deep within the dark forbidden zones, offering endless visual delight.

The light emanating from these places also illuminated some enormous stone statues within the dark forbidden zone. Li Yanchu looked around and gasped in shock.

“If these huge stone statues are all at the Primordial Realm like Ancestor Yin Xuan, then there are far too many Primordial Realm experts here.” Li Yanchu felt a chill run down his spine: “Countless Primordial Realm experts have been born throughout history. It’s understandable that they would die of old age here now.”

Throughout the journey, Li Yanchu had been curious: were the deaths of so many Primal Realm experts really just a matter of time?
Or perhaps some unpredictable change occurred back then.

Li Yanchu was deeply shocked when the old man led him into the dark forbidden zone.

After calming down, Li Yanchu said with a smile from behind, "It wasn't a wasted trip at all, it was really worth it. This place looks really lively."

The old man riding the donkey, carrying Li Yanchu, sneered, "You're quite an interesting kid. I'm starting to like you. Aren't you afraid of death?"

Li Yanchu said, "Of course I'm scared to death. If I could beat you, I'd be carrying you right now. But what can I do if I can't?"

The old man was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this, then thought to himself, "If you beg for mercy from me, I might spare you."

Li Yanchu said, "Do you believe that? Go tell a three-year-old."

The old man laughed heartily: "Interesting, very interesting! Are young people these days so tough?"

When the old man smiled, he seemed more like a wise and venerable elder than a terrifying mastermind plotting to destroy the entire Old Earth Universe.

Several beams of light appeared ahead, and the old man riding the donkey stopped, saying, "So it's Fellow Daoist Tianyuan and Fellow Daoist Yin Xuan. It's been a long time. How have you two been?"

Li Yanchu raised his head and looked at the two people in front of him: Ancestor Tianyuan and Ancestor Yinxuan, with a young man standing beside them.

They had been smiling and were about to reply when their expressions changed drastically upon seeing Li Yanchu.

Master Tianyuan exclaimed in surprise, "How could it be this kid?"

The old man riding the donkey said, "I saw him outside and brought him in."

Master Tianyuan said with a smile, "Very good. I have some grudge against him. Why don't you hand him over to me to deal with?"

Master Yin Xuan hurriedly said, "I also have some grudge against him, so please leave him to me, fellow Daoist."

The old man riding the donkey said, "Fellow Daoists, there's no need for further words. I also have some grudge against him. It seems you two are on your way to keep an appointment with the Peacock Emperor. In that case, let's meet again another time."

He waved and left.

Ancestor Tianyuan and Ancestor Yinxuan opened their mouths but said nothing, clearly showing some apprehension towards the old man riding the donkey.

Master Tianyuan sighed, "I never expected that he would end up getting the person."

Master Yin Xuan said, "It seems that the opportunity of the Golden Lotus will definitely fall into his hands."

Only the young man remained unmoved, truly appearing unfazed by the world's turmoil.

Huang Ming smiled and said, "Seniors, our teacher is waiting. Shall we go ahead?"

After regaining their senses, the two followed the young man, Huang Ming, to the Peacock Emperor.

.........

Li Yanchu said to the old man riding the donkey, "It seems that you people are all in cahoots, and I don't know why those two look a little afraid of you."

The old man riding the donkey laughed, "Oh, it's normal that they're afraid of me. They're too badly crippled; they wouldn't be a match for me in a real fight. With their level of cultivation, they dare to covet my Golden Lotus? Aren't they just asking for a beating?"

Li Yanchu said, "You're just venting. If I were you, I would slap them both across the face if they dared to say those things."

The old man riding the donkey said, "Do you think I don't want to?"

Then his face darkened, and a murderous glint appeared in his eyes. "If you hadn't absorbed half of the Dao Qi from my Golden Lotus, what harm would it have done if I went up and slapped them both across the face?"

Li Yanchu chuckled.

The old man riding the donkey led Li Yanchu to a fairyland and put him down.

Li Yanchu was tightly bound, his waist and knees ached, and he could not stand steadily.

After the old man on the donkey brought him here, he didn't bother with him anymore. In his eyes, Li Yanchu was a dying man and his human medicine.

The old man riding the donkey waved his sleeve, and the golden light on Li Yanchu disappeared instantly, but Li Yanchu was still drowsy and his waist and knees were sore.

The old man riding the donkey said, "I need to refine half of the Dao Qi in the Golden Lotus first. You just stay here obediently and don't run around. If you get caught, even I can't protect you."

Since he dared to bring Li Yanchu into the Dark Forbidden Zone, wasn't he afraid that if Li Yanchu got into trouble and fell into someone else's hands, it would be a hundred times worse than if she fell into his hands?

Furthermore, after he used his great supernatural powers to imprison Li Yanchu's cultivation, Li Yanchu was unable to escape.

Upon hearing this, Li Yanchu said, "You don't have any disciples or anything here. Find a few beautiful maids to serve me. My legs are so weak right now."

The old man riding the donkey sneered, "What are you thinking?"

Li Yanchu said with dissatisfaction, "I've met the Supreme Saint Heavenly Venerable. At least he had several disciples. How come you only have a donkey?"

The old man riding the donkey sneered, but the donkey spoke in human language: "So what if I have a donkey? Do you look down on donkeys?"

Li Yanchu said in astonishment, "You're not just for show. I thought you were a transformation of supernatural powers. Can a donkey really cultivate to this level?"

The donkey said with dissatisfaction, "How dare a prisoner question my strength!"

Li Yanchu said, "If you really are a donkey, that would be fine. I'm afraid you're some great person who was forced to become like this, yet you're happy with it, which is heartbreaking."

Upon hearing this, the donkey fell silent and turned its head away, refusing to look at Li Yanchu again.

Li Yanchu said, "Did I really hit the nail on the head? That's really pitiful. You could have turned into something else, like a dragon, a phoenix, or a qilin, which would have been more majestic. Turning into a donkey... oh dear, what can I say?"

The donkey took a deep breath, its chest heaving, and looked earnestly at the old man riding it, saying, "Can I kill him?"

The old man riding the donkey said, "Of course not. This kid is sarcastic and ill-intentioned. He might be seeking death, but I will not let him die. I will refine him into a human elixir."

The donkey could only glare fiercely at Li Yanchu.

The old man rode away on his blue donkey, leaving Li Yanchu alone in this fairyland.

There are many innate spiritual treasures and cosmic spiritual roots here, but they are only used as decorations.

Li Yanchu came to a peach tree, picked a peach, wiped it on his clothes, and started eating it. It was sweet and delicious.

There were also jujube trees and apricot trees here, but Li Yanchu didn't care about them.

The peach tree branches drooped down, and he could easily pick one. He always had to work harder on the apricot and jujube trees, but after eating the peaches, he had some strength left. Although he couldn't use his magic, he was agile and quickly climbed the tree, picking a full bag of peaches and apricots.

He actually spent several days there, eating when he was hungry and sleeping when he was thirsty, quite at ease, not at all like a prisoner, but more like a guest invited to someone's door.

This state of mind even impressed the old man riding the donkey who was secretly observing him.
"Where did you catch this thing?"