Entering the Mountains

Above Zhanmeng, dozens of powerful figures swooped down and swept through the surviving exotic beasts.

The exotic beasts surrounding Ten Mile Village were no older than a thousand years. Against this powerful army, they stood no chance.

In a short time, every exotic beast in Ten Mile Village had been slain, and their true blood harvested.

Liu Chengfeng and Jiang Yu hadn't even joined the fight before it was over.

"This must be one of the Three Retinues of the Grandmaster Mansion. I wonder who's leading them."

Seeing such a powerful force, Jiang Yu breathed a sigh of relief.

"Brother, the Grandmaster Mansion is here. The Qiuchi Kingdom is going to sweep away the exotic beasts."

The Grandmaster Mansion was known as the guardian of the Qiuchi Kingdom, and its strength was formidable.

With the exotic beasts running amok, the Qiuchi Kingdom had sent this powerful force to sweep them away.

"Into the mountains—"

The Grandmaster Mansion's army didn't stop to camp in Ten Mile Village. They pursued the fleeing exotic beasts straight into Little Meng Mountain.

The Grandmaster Mansion's forces weren't just there to quell the chaos caused by the exotic beasts; they had also come to harvest their true blood.

When they saw thousand-year-old exotic beasts fleeing and knew they had the upper hand, how could they let the opportunity slip by? They immediately gave chase.

After the Grandmaster Mansion's forces entered the mountains, other powerful figures followed. They were experts from the various sects of the Qiuchi Kingdom.

Some rode mounts into the mountains, while others flew in on flying swords.

The more powerful sects arrived in flying boats, bringing dozens of disciples into Little Meng Mountain.

"So many people have come."

"Exotic beast true blood is in high demand. With the beasts running wild and the Grandmaster Mansion leading the way, the other sects want to fish in troubled waters and slaughter some exotic beasts too."

The true blood of thousand-year-old exotic beasts was extremely valuable. Countless cultivators dreamed of obtaining it.

Experts with the Blood Sea Divine Treasury couldn't kill thousand-year-old exotic beasts, but with enough experts of the Treasure Mountain Divine Treasury, even those beasts would be harvested.

Hearing this, Liu Chengfeng nodded. Before now, the only exotic beast in Little Meng Mountain was Ah Yuan, who had lived for four thousand years.

Now that other thousand-year-old exotic beasts had appeared, every cultivator with the strength to hunt them wanted to do so.

"Look, that's the Ascending Wu Clan's flying boat. An elder is leading them in person. Seems like they all want to hunt thousand-year-old exotic beasts."

Amid a rumble, a flying boat passed over the sky above the Wu Dao Sect.

It was larger than any of the flying boats they had seen before, and precious light shimmered across it.

A group of powerful figures stood aboard the flying boat. At their head was an old man dressed in black, his body like a night leopard.

"The Ascending Wu Clan's Second Elder."

As the flying boat entered Little Meng Mountain, Liu Chengfeng spotted the Second Elder, along with Zhao Jinnian at his side.

The instant he saw Zhao Jinnian, Liu Chengfeng's eyes turned cold, and killing intent showed on his face.

"The Ascending Wu Clan is here. Our elders will definitely come too. They won't miss such a good chance to harvest true blood."

Jiang Yu was excited. "Let's wait for our elders, then enter the mountains together."

"No. I'm going in now."

"Now? Why the rush?"

"To kill that evil slave."

Once Liu Chengfeng made up his mind, he immediately gathered his things.

He told Zhou Yinfeng to take the tenant farmers into the city and not stay in Ten Mile Village. It was no longer safe there.

"I'll go with you."

Jiang Yu couldn't let Liu Chengfeng take such a risk alone. He was a loyal friend.

"You little fool, heading into the mountains again?"

Just as Liu Chengfeng and Jiang Yu stepped outside, their martial aunt, Ye Huijian, appeared out of nowhere.

"That's right. I'm going to kill that evil slave."

Liu Chengfeng was already used to his elusive martial aunt.

"Go, then. Just don't forget what matters."

Ye Huijian didn't say what the important matter was, but Liu Chengfeng thought she knew he was searching for the Source of the Origin God.

"Take this for now. Don't use it unless you have no other choice."

Ye Huijian pressed a Short Spear into Liu Chengfeng's hand. It felt heavy and cold, and he couldn't tell what material it was made from.

"How do I use it?"

The Short Spear wasn't sharp. Liu Chengfeng didn't feel it was much of a weapon.

"Just think of your martial aunt."

Ye Huijian winked and laughed sweetly, then left.

Liu Chengfeng put away the Short Spear and entered the mountains with Jiang Yu.

Once they entered Little Meng Mountain, they found it even more chaotic than they had imagined.

There weren't just battles between cultivators and exotic beasts; the beasts were fighting among themselves too.

Little Meng Mountain was vast, with countless peaks, ravines, and valleys. Yet after entering, Liu Chengfeng and the others came upon several fierce battles.

Some cultivators had set out to hunt a thousand-year-old exotic beast, only to find that the beasts were traveling in groups. Three thousand-year-old beasts slaughtered them all.

One fairly powerful sect had finally managed to kill a thousand-year-old exotic beast.

But then a beast that had lived for two thousand years suddenly appeared. It drove the sect fleeing all over the mountain, leaving many dead and wounded.

Little Meng Mountain was no longer peaceful. The roar of battle shook the mountains, and screams rose one after another.

Strangest of all, some exotic beasts were fighting viciously over territory.

Liu Chengfeng realized that the exotic beasts flooding the area weren't all on the same side.

"Why are there so many thousand-year-old exotic beasts in Little Meng Mountain? I'd think I'd wandered into Cloud Mist Marsh."

They had seen countless exotic beasts along the way, including plenty that were a thousand years old. Jiang Yu was astonished.

Liu Chengfeng also suspected that all the exotic beasts from outside had come for the God Tomb.

Before this, apart from Ah Yuan, the four-thousand-year-old exotic beast, they had never seen a thousand-year-old beast.

Liu Chengfeng hadn't come for exotic beast true blood. He was here to kill Zhao Jinnian, and he tracked the Ascending Wu Clan's movements along the way.

The Ascending Wu Clan had flown in on a flying boat, leaving few traces behind.

Liu Chengfeng activated the Heavenly Mound and communicated with the plants, trees, wild beasts, and even exotic beasts of Little Meng Mountain.

After learning where the Ascending Wu Clan had gone, he followed their trail.

The Ascending Wu Clan was powerful. As they fought their way through the mountains, they had already killed two treasured beasts that were over a thousand years old, along with countless others.

"Brother, what are you doing?"

Liu Chengfeng kept communicating with the trees and birds, searching for clues about the Ascending Wu Clan. To Jiang Yu, his behavior seemed bizarre.

"Communicating with every blade of grass and tree."

"Seriously? Don't try to fool an honest young man like me."

Jiang Yu thought Liu Chengfeng was exaggerating, but his tracking was so precise that he couldn't help believing him a little.

The Ascending Wu Clan's flying boat was fast, but they weren't in a hurry. Liu Chengfeng followed their trail, drawing closer and closer to them.

Before he could catch up with the Ascending Wu Clan, however, he ran into the Cloud Rising Sect's group.

"Isn't that Jiang Yu? What are you doing here?"

The Cloud Rising Sect had also arrived by flying boat, bringing more than a dozen experts, including three elders.

The leader was the Fourth Elder.

The Fourth Elder was tall and broad as a pagoda. His blood and energy surged, his bones rang, and even though he hadn't moved, a gale of pressure swept over them. His strength was formidable.

Besides the Fourth Elder, the other two elders were also built like treasured mountains, giving off an indestructible air.

Apart from the three elders, the others were second-generation disciples of the Cloud Rising Sect, all senior in rank to Jiang Yu, the eldest disciple of the third generation.

Jiang Yu hurriedly introduced Liu Chengfeng to the elders and disciples of the Cloud Rising Sect.

"So you're the little guest elder the sect master mentioned."

After hearing about Liu Chengfeng, the Fourth Elder shook his head and said, "The Ascending Wu Clan went south. Quite a few of their experts came this time."

The Fourth Elder's implication was clear: Zhao Jinnian was under the Ascending Wu Clan's protection, so killing him wouldn't be easy.

Liu Chengfeng said nothing. No matter how many people the Ascending Wu Clan had brought, he was going to kill Zhao Jinnian.

"Where's the sect master?"

Jiang Yu was surprised not to see Nangong Renshe, and Liu Chengfeng was puzzled too.

Nangong Renshe should have been among the first to enter Little Meng Mountain.

"We found traces of a Flame Ox but couldn't locate it, so we split up with the sect master to search."

It turned out that the Cloud Rising Sect wanted to hunt a Flame Ox and take its true blood for the Fourth Elder, but they hadn't managed to catch up with it.

"A Flame Ox? I know about that."

Liu Chengfeng knew the Flame Ox the Fourth Elder and the others meant. It was one of the three powerful treasured beasts that had surrounded Ah Yuan.

"Really? Take us to it. We'll kill it and take its true blood. If you distinguish yourself, the sect will reward you."

"Good. Let's kill it first."

Liu Chengfeng agreed readily.

He activated the Celestial Body in his mind, sensed Little Meng Mountain, surveyed the land, and pinpointed the Flame Ox's location.

Liu Chengfeng led everyone from the Cloud Rising Sect to find the Flame Ox.

After coming to Little Meng Mountain, the Flame Ox, like the other two treasured beasts, had kept moving from place to place. It seemed they were searching for something.

When Liu Chengfeng found it, the Flame Ox was staying in a valley.

The moment they spotted the Flame Ox from afar, the Fourth Elder had the flying boat descend and hide behind a mountain.

"You've got to be kidding me. The information was wrong. This—this isn't a treasured beast that's lived for two thousand years. It's nearly four thousand years old!"

The Fourth Elder's face changed with fright. The other elders and experts took a sneaky look and were all badly startled too.

The Flame Ox in the valley stood twenty to thirty meters tall, and its pair of horns looked like three-meter-long broadswords.

Cracks ran through the horns, with flowing magma visible inside. They were scorching hot; even one drop could burn up the trees.

"A treasured beast nearing four thousand years old. We can't beat it."

Seeing the Flame Ox in the valley, the Fourth Elder and the others were at a loss.

"You didn't know?"

Liu Chengfeng was at a loss for words. He'd thought the Fourth Elder and the others knew.

If the treasured beast weren't nearly four thousand years old, how could it have chased Ah Yuan, who had lived for over four thousand years, into a desperate flight?

"Call the sect master. We might still have a chance."

The Fourth Elder and the others discussed it. With their strength, there was no way they could kill the Flame Ox.

They could join forces to kill treasured beasts under three thousand years old.

Against a four-thousand-year-old beast, they would only be throwing their lives away.

"We don't even know where the sect master is. He won't get here any time soon."

Even if the Fourth Elder wanted to call for help, there wasn't enough time.

"Find something that can counter it and weaken it."

Watching the Flame Ox, Liu Chengfeng came up with an idea.

"What could counter a four-thousand-year-old treasured beast? Only a stronger treasured beast. We should retreat."

Seeing the Flame Ox in the valley, one of the elders grew uneasy. If the four-thousand-year-old beast charged out, they wouldn't survive.

"Let's wait a little longer and see if the sect master can get here in time."

"We'll go pick some fruit, then come back to kill it."

Using the Celestial Body to sense his surroundings, Liu Chengfeng knew where to find what he was looking for.

The Fourth Elder and the others didn't believe him. They were sure no fruit could counter the Flame Ox.

Liu Chengfeng took Jiang Yu to pick fruit. The Fourth Elder still couldn't bring himself to leave, so he stayed hidden behind the mountain and waited.

The Fourth Elder and the others had still underestimated the four-thousand-year-old Flame Ox.

They hadn't gone looking for trouble with it, but the Flame Ox had found them.

The moment it spotted the Fourth Elder and the others, it went berserk and attacked them.

With a loud MOO!, the Flame Ox charged at the Fourth Elder and the others. In the blink of an eye, it had thundered out of the valley and up the mountain.

As it charged, BOOM! BOOM! Trees toppled in its path. It smashed a trail through the forest and barreled straight toward the Fourth Elder and the others.