<h4>Chapter 480 Greed</h4>


    Wu Long took the spatial ring off of Do Bishui with a pondering expression, then lowering the spear to allow the body to fall into the water below.


    "Heh! Finally! A Profound Grade spatial ring. Though using it would get into Gu Zhen''s eyes so I have to slightly change it''s appearance"


    Wu Long looked at the ring in his left hand for a bit, before shifting his eyes to the spear.


    "Haa~ to think the Void Shattering Spear, a technique which in my hands could truly shatter the void once upon a time would struggle shattering a me shield set up by an exhausted third-rate alchemist..."


    Wu Long shook his head, shaking off blood from the spear and inspecting the spear de which had a tiny crack in it.


    "Haa, truly... even if I held back it still couldn''t bear this technique"


    He thenmented the durability of his weapon which did not allow him to use almost any of the techniques he disyed to their full potential.


    His figure floated down after flying for a bit to the side as a beauty jumped into his hands, carefully wrapping hers around him.


    "Haha, don''t worry Ziyan. I might have used a lot of Spiritual Qi and got a few scratches but I am in no danger"


    He chuckled as her worry was apparent in the way she gripped onto his clothes. She raised her eyes to look into his, slightly rxing as she saw a familiar reassuring gaze.


    The others were looking at him in utter silence, still unable to process what had just happened.


    Hua Ziyan could feel his condition through their bond so she was worried long before she could even see him.


    His Spiritual Qi rapidly depleted, and his general state became a lot worse since he umted damage from lightning which was still not fine-tuned, and there was a strain on his body from using speed and strength beyond the means of his current tempering.


    The sheer amount of water he controlled required massive amounts of Spiritual Qi and the techniques he used did so as well.


    Particrly, the Spiritual Qi Beast Wing Flying Technique which he used to fly had a nasty consumption of Spiritual Qi reserves, proportional to the strength he could exert in his strikes since there was no footing to give power to his attacks.


    He was also using a formation at the same time, which added to the mental strain since he was manipting a lot of things at once with fine control to each of them, and then used his Spear Intent''s Domain which was a massive mental burden.


    To top it all off there were injuries. They were trivial, a few burns from the fire wave and steambined with lightning, as well as a small wound on his forearm where a firence grazed him. But coupled with all the previous factors still had an impact on his overall condition.


    "Whew~ we should move away as this disturbance was very conspicuous, and since the auras intimidating any Demonic Beasts mostly disappeared this ce could quite soon be filled with vulture types"


    Wu Long lightly exhaled. He needed a bit of time to readjust, but they could not stay here so he took the group away.


    "Should we start thinking about going back? Even though there is still a lot of time..."


    Xue Bing carefully spoke up as the others nodded.


    "Hmm, I was thinking so as well, we still have most of the day and the whole night, but it is better to be on the safe side"


    Wu Long nodded as they moved.


    "Haa~... such a pity we only have a day... we only saw a small part~..."


    One of the Core Disciples, who seemed to be the youngest of the group, noted with a slightment.


    "Feiyan, we are here by the grace of Daoist Wu, or are you implying you can handle it if anything happens? Be grateful for what you have seen and received"


    Xue Bing turned to the girl with her icy eyes, and even though her tone was as emotionless and monotone as always the one addressed immediately paled.


    "I-I am sorry, I didn''t meant to-..."


    "Hahaha, there is no need to apologize, Fairy An Feiyan.


    Forgive my meddling, Prime Disciple Xue, but it is an understandablement. I am sure that she did not mean any disrespect or to offend anyone"


    Wu Long lightlyughed, as the girl widened her eyes seeing that he remembered her name even though they only briefly introduced themselves when they were leaving the mountain.


    "But Prime Disciple Xue''s thought about caution, as well as having appreciation for what one has is correct as well"


    He then added to give credit to Xue Bing''s thoughtfulness.


    "Remember, the universe is vast and there is no way for us to be everywhere at the same time to witness it all. There will be many times when you will see many doors open but could only enter one, the other doors are for other people.


    Sometime there will be someone else who explores a ce you have not been, just like you are exploring a ce someone else missed in the distant past.


    It is important to be able to let go and acknowledge that one cannot always have everything"


    Wu Long turned his eyes to Hua Ziyan whose cheeks slightly reddened as she realized that he knew that the thought of the youngdy before was something all of them had at least in the back of their heads.


    They were aware he was the sole reason they could explore thisnd safely, and wishing to explore more would not only be incredibly dangerous and selfish, but also would mean that they would rely more on his generosity.


    However, there was no denying that thend they were in now was a treasure trove enough to make even that old man in the Seven Profound Realms marvel at the riches, let alone young cultivators in their early twenties.


    "Hmm, well it is true, Grand Elder Qu always said that greed is a vice"


    One other Core Disciple sighed,ing to terms with her own feeling ofment.


    "Heh, on that I would disagree.


    While excessive and uncontroble greed which blinds one is certainly something that would bring about the downfall of anyone gued by it, there is nothing wrong with normal greed.


    Greed is a motivator, and a driving force. It is also one of our basic desires. If one can be the master of their own greed it is incredibly useful as well"


    Wu Long lightly snorted at the dogmatic assertion.


    "Isn''t that contradictory with what you said before?"


    Xue Bing gently furrowed her elegant eyebrows in thought.


    "Haha, it is. But as I said before most simple things are contradictory.


    You can simply think of the ability to appreciate what one has, letting go of unobtained possibilities, with stillness and greed for something more as movement.


    As I said before, either extreme can be deadly while a right bnce is the key to a fulfilling life"


    He nodded with a wide smile and a lightheartedugh.


    "And on that note, since we are going back anyway, I propose we circle around and go there through a different route. That way we can still explore a little more while moving toward the exit point"


    As Xue Bing sank into thoughts from his words before, Wu Long made a mischievous smile and looked back at the surprised faces.


    "Haha, says someone who has been leading us on a circling route since we left that ce"


    Hua Ziyan chuckled as she noticed that the direction in which he led the group was almost perpendicr to their previous course. So the shortest route to the mountain was now through a yet unexplorednd.


    Wu Long made a wry smile, shrugging his shoulders in admission of guilt for that while the Core Disciples behind started giggling.