"I don't know why, but I feel a strong connection with Brother Xu as soon as I see him, and I can't help but want to get closer."
The naive laughter made what might have been an ambiguous statement sound sincere.
"Ha ha, Junior Brother Niu is joking."
Could it be that I also have the aura of a novel's protagonist?
This thought crossed Xu Feng's mind.
At this moment, dozens of lights, heading towards the Purple Gold Vein, had already gathered in the sky.
Facing the sunset, these colorful lights seemed exceptionally picturesque.
"The Purple Gold Vein is close to the territory of the Xuanyin Sect; we will definitely be attacked here."
"Brother Xu, when the time comes, let's stick together as a team to keep an eye out for each other," Niu Yibao said, his expression slightly shifting as he looked at the sun reddening the sky.
"Sounds good, I had the same thought."
As they got closer to the Purple Gold Vein, a small Immortal City appeared before the two of them.
Behind that small Immortal City lay the vast Purple Gold Vein.
Just upon approaching, the little Golden Armored Spirit Turtle in Xu Feng's arms became excited.
It stretched its little head out from its neck and looked longingly at the Purple Gold Vein.
"Do you eat Spiritual Ore too?"
"Then why that expression? Settle down, and I'll make a nest for you from the Purple Gold Spirit Ore later."
In front of the gates of the small Immortal City, a Divinity Transformation Stage supervisor was waiting.
"Outer Disciple Xu Feng reporting."
"Outer Disciple Niu Yibao reporting."
Upon reaching the supervisor, both of them spoke in unison.
"It's been recorded; someone will assign detailed tasks after you enter the Immortal City."
"Ah, when it rains it pours," the supervisor sighed, waving his hand.
Led by the instructions, the two arrived at a large courtyard.
By that time, more than ten Outer Disciples had already gathered.
Xu Feng glanced around and suddenly spotted a familiar figure.
At that moment, the familiar figure also turned to look at Xu Feng, their eyes meeting.
"Hehe~" Xu Feng grinned, surprised to encounter Little Green Tea here.
But Little Green Tea just furrowed her brow slightly and looked away, ignoring the surroundings.
"There are a total of 100 rooms in this courtyard; you all can find an empty room to settle down in. Once everyone is here, we'll assign guard duties," said a Nascent Soul Stage supervisor who had come into the courtyard.
"Understood, senior."
Xu Feng and Niu Yibao picked adjacent rooms and each went to rest.
Activating the protective Array, Xu Feng took his turtle son into the Mountain and Sea Divine Beast World.
At that moment, the Golden Armored Spirit Turtle arrived in a land abundant with Spiritual Medicine.
Surrounded by various millennium-old Spiritual Medicines, the Golden Armored Spirit Turtle was dazzled.
"That four-thousand-year-old Ice Spirit Fruit is not for you."
"That Earth Emperor Flower over there is what you're having today," instructed Xu Feng.
After being freed around millennium-old Spiritual Medicines, Xu Feng began to focus on his turtle son's nutritional intake.
Eating various millennium-old Spiritual Medicines according to the five elements in sequence.
The Golden Armored Spirit Turtle arrived at the Earth Emperor Flower, gently plucked the whole plant, and skillfully put it into its mouth, entering the Breathing state.
"You refine it here first; I'm going to check out other places."
With that, Xu Feng's Divine Thought flew towards the direction of the White Apes.
In the center of a giant stone structure, there was a small square where over a hundred White Apes were excitedly howling around a bonfire.
The huge wolf body on the fire sizzled and oozed oil.
Seeing this scene, akin to one enjoyed after a victorious battle, Xu Feng laughed.
The Battle Formation he taught those White Apes must have worked.
The White Ape in the square sensed the arrival of Xu Feng's Divine Thought, halted its revelry, and all turned to look at the elderly White Ape seated in the main seat.
The elderly White Ape stood up from the stone chair, raising both hands high into the air.
Xu Feng knew he was expressing his gratitude.
After speaking for a bit, the elderly White Ape went to the stone house and brought out a large chunk of golden Spiritual Ore, indicating it was a gift for him.
Looking at the Spiritual Ore stone emitting a sharp golden aura, Xu Feng thought of his turtle son.
"Place this Spiritual Ore at the entrance to the village; my Spiritual Beast will come and fetch it."
The elderly White Ape nodded and summoned a strong White Ape to move the Spiritual Ore.
Meanwhile, Xu Feng called for the Golden Armored Spirit Turtle.
"This thing, Xiao Jin will certainly like it, although we can't take it out, keeping it close and making a nest on it for breathing would be nice," Xu Feng mused as he looked at the golden Spiritual Ore.
Not long after, the Golden Armored Spirit Turtle arrived outside the White Ape stone house village.
In the end, without needing Xu Feng's instructions, it immediately went over to the golden Spiritual Ore.
Its big eyes were fixated, revealing endless affection in its gaze.
"You like it, huh? Find a place to make a nest, and put this Spiritual Ore in your nest," Xu Feng said with a chuckle.
"Let me quickly find you a nest, this one's doable."
Then Xu Feng took his turtle son to that place abundant with Spiritual Medicine by the water and mountains.
At the foot of a mountain, the Golden Armored Spirit Turtle settled into a nest.
At the moment, the Golden Armored Spirit Turtle was cradling the golden Spiritual Ore and started licking it obsessively.
This scene left Xu Feng stunned.
But then he was completely shocked when he saw a tongue imprint on the spot licked by the Golden Armored Spirit Turtle.
He hadn't expected his turtle son's tongue to be so powerful.
The Spiritual Ore was licked layer by layer.
"It seems I need to fetch you more Spiritual Ore as well as Spiritual Medicine in the future," Xu Feng said joyfully watching his turtle son madly licking the Spiritual Ore.
"You take your time licking here, call me directly if there's any danger." Xu Feng then left.
In a pavilion inside the courtyard, Xu Feng and Niu Yibao were enjoying tea and playing chess.
"This time the Outer Disciples guarding the Purple Gold Ore are all very strong."
"There are three disciples with the strength to be ranked in the top 100," Niu Yibao said.
"Top 100 disciples? Who ranked them?" Xu Feng asked curiously.
"A few Outer Disciples in the Affairs Hall specifically do this ranking, based on the Outer Disciples' battle achievements and the risk level of their missions."
"Although it's not very accurate, it has significant referential value. Those who make it onto the list are all quite formidable."
"Like Xu Senior Brother who is wholly devoted to cultivation and comprehending the Dao, probably wouldn't pay attention to such rankings," Niu Yibao said with a smile.
At this, Xu Feng actually became interested.
"Can you tell me about the top 10?"
"Ranked first is Zhou Longkai, from the Body Refining Lineage."
"The second is Yun Tianyang, who skillfully uses Fire Attribute Immortal Spiritual Divine Power."
"The third is known as Commander of Hundred Beasts, born with two Immortal Beast cubs."
"The fourth is Xu Ming, whose mastery in Sword Dao Divine Power is phenomenal."
He continued until he had named the top ten, then Niu Yibao picked up his teacup and downed it in one gulp.
"Most of them are descendants of noble families, only the one ranked tenth, Qian Shuirou, comes from a commoner family," Niu Yibao explained.
"That's impressive," Xu Feng remarked admiringly.
Xu Feng, who had been cultivating from a young age, knew how difficult it was to cultivate without resources from the start.
With his talent, without family support, cultivating to the Golden Core Stage would take at least a hundred years.
Even if a Golden Core emerged after 100 years, it wouldn't compare to the quality of those noble descendants who only took about a decade to form theirs.