Zhang Jingmo discovered Zhu Yan by chance.

He had already forgotten which lifetime it was. He went down the mountain alone to practice in Pingrui Prefecture and stayed in a shop. While Zhang Jingmo was living there, the shop owner lost his only six-year-old son.

The shop owner had finally had this only seedling, and losing him for no reason was naturally heartbreaking. He even stopped doing business.

Zhang Jingmo had a good impression of this shop owner, so he lent a hand and calculated a hexagram. However, the hexagram indicated that the child had already met with misfortune. He didn't have the heart to tell the shop owner, so he could only quietly leave and change to another inn. Just a few days after this incident, an unusual phenomenon occurred in Pingrui Prefecture. The sky was filled with fiery clouds, clearly indicating that a rare treasure had emerged. Zhang Jingmo was already close by, so he went to investigate.

That was the first time in that lifetime that Zhang Jingmo saw Zhu Yan and Tianfeng's group. The unsuspecting Tianfeng, after picking the Fire Lotus, discovered the Zhu Yan deep within it.

Zhu Yan was still in a deep slumber, which naturally gave Tianfeng time to prepare. He set up a restriction, and also sent a message to his sect, asking them to send out another group to make ample preparations for capturing the Zhu Yan.

Afterwards, the Zhu Yan was awakened from its slumber, but in its weakened state, it was unable to escape Tianfeng's Five Finger Mountain and was quickly subdued by Tianfeng.

As a bystander, Zhang Jingmo watched the entire process from start to finish and kept this matter in mind.

In the next few lifetimes, Zhang Jingmo turned his mind to this matter. He came up with a method to both cripple Tianfeng and exhaust the Zhu Yan.

The Yin Monkey was naturally Zhang Jingmo's handiwork. He cast a spell on the Yin Monkey to turn it into the six-year-old son of the shop owner, and then watched as the inexperienced Lu Zhuxun took the Yin Monkey away.

Tianfeng never expected anyone to scheme against him and had not set up any defenses against a six-year-old child. As a result, he was tainted by the Yin Monkey's aura. Not only did he lose the opportunity to seek help from his sect, but he was also forced into a desperate and perilous situation by Zhu Yan.

Seeing that the time was ripe, the masked Zhang Jingmo directly appeared and took the old man's life with one sword.

Seeing this, Tianfeng's eyes bulged with rage. He shouted, "You thief, how dare you scheme against me, Tianfeng! Do you know who I am?"

Zhang Jingmo didn't reply. He simply held his long sword still dripping with fresh blood and attacked Tianfeng.

Tianfeng was already under constant attack by Zhu Yan, and now he also had to split his attention to face Zhang Jingmo's interception. His appearance became increasingly wretched, and he faced one perilous situation after another.

Zhang Jingmo's moves were ruthless, all aimed at the most fatal weaknesses, clearly with no intention of sparing Tianfeng's life.

Seeing that he was no match, a vicious look flashed in Tianfeng's eyes. He suddenly stopped moving, raised his head, and let out a long, piercing howl. Zhu Yan, who had already been hit in the back by the old man's lance, also showed a dispirited expression upon hearing that long howl, and the flames on its body instantly weakened by a few degrees.

However, Zhang Jingmo was already prepared. He had previously fought with Tianfeng, and at that time, he had been caught off guard and injured quite badly by this move of Tianfeng's. But now he had experience. Seeing Tianfeng preparing to risk his life, he instantly retreated and used spiritual energy to envelop his entire body.

After the long howl, Tianfeng spat out several mouthfuls of fresh blood, and his face seemed to have aged by several years. He glared at Zhang Jingmo with vicious and malicious eyes.

Tianfeng said, "If I don't die today, I will surely take your life in the future!"

The mocking smile at the corner of Zhang Jingmo's mouth grew even stronger. He said, "You little brat, today I want to see if you still have the life to return to Kuchan Valley."

Hearing this, Tianfeng's expression changed. He said, "Who exactly are you?"

Zhang Jingmo laughed and said, "Seeing that your life will not last long today, let me clarify it for you. I am the person your elder brother sent to take your life. You couldn't possibly think that within Kuchan Valley, there is truly any brotherly affection?"

Upon hearing this, Tianfeng's face turned even paler. He said tremblingly, "Tianlu?"

However, Zhang Jingmo did not speak and attacked Tianfeng again.

Zhu Yan was also badly injured by Tianfeng's desperate move. Seeing Tianfeng and Zhang Jingmo entangled in battle, it actually did not step forward. It tilted its head, and a cunning look appeared in its lively eyes.

While attacking Tianfeng, Zhang Jingmo also paid attention to Zhu Yan's expression. Seeing its beak slightly open, he instantly disappeared and left Tianfeng dozens of feet away.

Just at the moment Zhang Jingmo flew away, Zhu Yan spat out a mouthful of flames towards where they were fighting. Tianfeng had not yet reacted when he let out a miserable cry and turned into ashes.

Seeing this, Zhang Jingmo laughed out loud, "What Tianfeng the Great, truly stupid beyond belief!" After saying that, he turned around to face Zhu Yan, not looking at the ashes again.

However, he seemed to have completely failed to notice that at the moment he turned around, a faint point of light floated out from the ashes, swaying as it drifted into the distance.

At this time, Zhang Jingmo was staring at Zhu Yan. He silently counted numbers in his heart, waiting until he was sure he could no longer see that point of light before saying to Zhu Yan, "Little thing, do you still want to fight me?"

The one called little thing, Zhu Yan, let out a cry, flapped its wings that had weakened flames, and spat out a mouthful of fire at Zhang Jingmo.

Zhang Jingmo easily dodged it. He flew into the air and quickly found the long lance that the old man had stabbed into Zhu Yan's back.

Who knows what material that long lance was made of. Pierced into Zhu Yan's body, it was not refined, but instead firmly stuck in its body. Judging from its appearance, it seemed to be sucking Zhu Yan's blood.

Seeing that Zhu Yan still had no intention of giving up, Zhang Jingmo was not in a hurry. He just teased and harassed Zhu Yan, not letting it find food to replenish its strength.

Zhu Yan also noticed something amiss. Although it had just awakened its intelligence, its instincts were very keen. It quickly discovered that Zhang Jingmo was deliberately stalling for time, while it was powerless to remove the long lance stuck in its back, and could only let the lance continue to suck its blood.

Zhu Yan's blood was the essence. After fighting with Zhang Jingmo for a while, it sensed Zhang Jingmo's intentions and actually turned around to escape.

How could Zhang Jingmo give it this opportunity? Seeing Zhu Yan twist its body, he took out a talisman from his Sumeru Ring and stuck it on Zhu Yan. Zhu Yan couldn't dodge in time and was caught by the talisman. It couldn't beat Zhang Jingmo in a fight and couldn't escape either. Its eyes revealed a pitiful look as it let out a screech and shrank back to the size of a palm.

Seeing this, Zhang Jingmo knew the time had come. He stepped forward and reached out his hand towards Zhu Yan.

Zhu Yan was now about the same size as a small sparrow, with that long spear still stuck in its back, also shrunken. Seeing Zhang Jingmo reaching out to it, a faint golden light flashed in its bean-sized eyes. With another screech, it flew onto Zhang Jingmo's palm.

Zhang Jingmo had already infused his palm with spiritual energy to avoid being hurt by Zhu Yan's flames. He was in no hurry to remove the spear from its back. Instead, he silently recited an incantation, bit his index finger, and dripped three drops of essence blood onto Zhu Yan's forehead.

After the blood dripped onto it, Zhu Yan's expression became even more dejected. It let out a few chirps and pecked at Zhang Jingmo's hand several times, clearly unhappy that Zhang Jingmo had lowered its power.

Zhang Jingmo helplessly tapped its head. "You'll become stronger in the future."

Zhu Yan chirped, though it was unclear what it meant.

Only after Zhu Yan submitted did Zhang Jingmo remove the spear from its back. Without even looking at it, he tossed it directly into the Sumeru ring. Zhu Yan was already red like flames, but against Zhang Jingmo's fair palm, it appeared even more exquisite and petite. It stretched out its head and nuzzled Zhang Jingmo's palm, then let out a couple pitiful cries, apparently wanting food.

Zhang Jingmo knew very well what Zhu Yan liked to eat. He took out a small blue bottle from his sleeve and retrieved a few black pills from it, placing them in front of Zhu Yan.

Zhu Yan chirped happily and pecked up the pills.

These pills were refined by Zhang Jingmo using Yin monkeys - perfect for feeding Zhu Yan. Naturally, when refining them, he wouldn't be as unguarded as Tianfeng's group, so he wasn't tainted by the Yin monkeys' aura.

Zhu Yan ate over a dozen pills before it was satisfied. The wound on its back had stopped bleeding, but it seemed it would still take some time to heal.

After all, it was a wound inflicted by a Golden Core cultivator going all-out. Not hitting any vital points was already quite good.

Zhang Jingmo applied medicine to Zhu Yan's wound. After sitting there and adjusting his breath for a while, he took Zhu Yan and rapidly departed.

With Zhu Yan's emergence, auspicious red clouds would naturally appear in the sky, easily attracting a large number of cultivators. Zhang Jingmo didn't want to clash with these people. After all, he had already obtained what he wanted.

Half a day after Zhang Jingmo left the place, a group of cultivators wearing Kuchan Valley robes arrived at the site where Tianfeng had been turned to ashes. Among them, an outstanding woman with a frosty expression revealed a gloomy look upon seeing Tianfeng's ashes. She directly unleashed her spiritual energy and killed a trembling person beside her.

After killing that person, the coldness on the woman's face lessened slightly. Her thin lips parted. "Go find him for me!"

The disciples around all lowered their heads and acknowledged.

The woman bent down, took out a small box from her bosom, and carefully scooped up Tianfeng's ashes into the box. She said, "Little brother, don't be afraid. Your sister is here to avenge you."

Her demeanor was mournful, completely different from the merciless killer she was just now. After she put all the ashes into the small box, she suddenly seemed to think of something. She raised her head and shouted, "Tianfeng's spirit pearl is still intact! He's still alive! Spare that thief for now and search the nearby mountains and forests. We must find his spirit pearl!"

The Kuchan Valley disciples all breathed sighs of relief, thinking they had saved their lives this time.

Seeing this, the woman's voice turned icy cold. "If you can't find it, you can all go be buried with him."

The disciples all promised to do as told.