Entering the Mountains

Dozens of experts charged down from above Zhanmeng, sweeping through the surviving exotic beasts in a single wave.

The strongest exotic beasts surrounding Ten Mile Village only possessed a thousand years of lifespan; facing this powerful army, they were no match at all.

In a short amount of time, the exotic beasts in Ten Mile Village were all slaughtered and their true blood harvested.

Liu Chengfeng and Jiang Yu had not even made a move yet, and the battle was already over.

"I fear this is one of the Three Retinues of the Grandmaster Mansion. I wonder who has come."

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

"Brother, the Grandmaster Mansion has arrived. The Qiuchi Kingdom is going to purge the exotic beasts."

The Grandmaster Mansion, known as the guardians of the Qiuchi Kingdom, possessed formidable strength.

With the exotic beast unrest breaking out, the Qiuchi Kingdom had dispatched this powerful force to purge them.

"Enter the mountain—"

The army from the Grandmaster Mansion did not stop or station themselves in Ten Mile Village; they chased the fleeing beasts and charged into Little Meng Mountain.

The Grandmaster Mansion's team had not come merely to quell the beast unrest; they were also here to harvest the true blood of the exotic beasts.

Seeing thousand-year exotic beasts fleeing, they knew their strength held the upper hand, so how could they miss the chance? They immediately gave chase.

After the Grandmaster Mansion's team entered the mountain, other experts followed, all of them from various sects within the Qiuchi Kingdom.

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

The more powerful sects brought dozens of disciples into Little Meng Mountain aboard flying ships.

"So many people have come."

"The true blood of exotic beasts is highly sought after. With the beast unrest and the Grandmaster Mansion leading the way, other sects want to fish in troubled waters and slaughter the beasts."

The true blood of a thousand-year exotic beast is extremely expensive; many god-cultivators dream of obtaining it.

While an expert at the Blood Sea Divine Treasury might not be able to kill a thousand-year beast, if enough experts from the Treasure Mountain Divine Treasury gather, even a thousand-year beast can be harvested.

Liu Chengfeng nodded upon hearing this. Before this, the only beast in Little Meng Mountain with four thousand years of lifespan had been Ah Yuan.

Now that other thousand-year beasts had emerged, every capable god-cultivator wanted to hunt them.

"Look, that is the flying ship of the Ascending Wu Clan. An elder is leading the team personally; it seems everyone wants to hunt the thousand-year beasts."

Amidst a low roar, a flying ship soared over the sky of the Wu Dao Sect.

This flying ship was larger than any that had passed before, shimmering with precious light.

Standing upon the ship was a group of experts, led by an old man in black robes whose body was as lithe as a night leopard.

"The Second Elder of the Ascending Wu Clan."

As the flying ship entered Little Meng Mountain, Liu Chengfeng spotted the Second Elder, as well as Zhao Jinnian by his side.

The moment he saw Zhao Jinnian, Liu Chengfeng's eyes turned cold, revealing a murderous intent.

"The Ascending Wu Clan has arrived, so our elders will surely come as well. They will never miss such a good opportunity to harvest true blood."

Jiang Yu was excited and said to Liu Chengfeng, "Let's wait for our elders to arrive and enter the mountain together."

"No, I am going in now."

"Now? Why the rush?"

"To kill a wicked slave."

Having made his decision, Liu Chengfeng immediately began to pack his things.

He instructed Zhou Yinfeng to take the tenant farmers into the city and not to stay in Ten Mile Village, as it was no longer safe here.

"I'll go with you."

Jiang Yu could not let Liu Chengfeng take risks alone; he was a man of great loyalty.

"Silly boy, heading into the mountains again?"

As soon as Liu Chengfeng and Jiang Yu stepped out the door, their martial aunt Ye Huijian appeared.

"That's right, I'm going to kill a wicked slave."

Liu Chengfeng was already accustomed to his martial aunt's elusive nature.

"If you want to go, then go, but don't forget the main task."

Ye Huijian did not explicitly state what the main task was, but Liu Chengfeng felt she knew about his search for the Source of the Origin God.

"I'll lend this to you for now. Don't use it unless it's an absolute last resort."

Ye Huijian shoved a short spear into Liu Chengfeng's hand. It felt heavy and cold to the touch, and he could not tell what material it was forged from.

"How do I use it?"

The short spear was not sharp, and Liu Chengfeng felt it did not resemble a weapon at all.

"Just think of your martial aunt."

Ye Huijian winked, let out a playful laugh, and then walked away.

Liu Chengfeng put away his short spear and entered the mountain with Jiang Yu.

Upon entering Little Meng Mountain, they discovered that the mountain was even more chaotic than they had imagined.

Within Little Meng Mountain, there was not only the slaughter between god-cultivators and exotic beasts, but also chaotic brawls between the exotic beasts themselves.

Although Little Meng Mountain was vast, filled with numerous peaks, ridges, and valleys, Liu Chengfeng and his companion encountered several major battles shortly after entering.

Some god-cultivators had originally intended to hunt a thousand-year exotic beast, but they hadn't expected the beasts to be traveling in packs; three thousand-year exotic beasts had slaughtered them all.

There was a sect with considerable strength that had finally managed to kill a thousand-year exotic beast.

Yet, a two-thousand-year-old exotic beast suddenly appeared, forcing the sect to flee across the mountains, suffering heavy casualties.

The current Little Meng Mountain had long since lost its former tranquility; the sounds of battle roared, and screams rose one after another.

Most strangely, some exotic beasts were actually fighting fiercely over territory.

Liu Chengfeng realized that with so many exotic beasts arriving from the outside, they were not all on the same side.

"Little Meng Mountain, why are there so many thousand-year exotic beasts? I thought I had walked into Cloud Mist Marsh."

Along the way, seeing so many exotic beasts, including quite a few thousand-year ones, left Jiang Yu astonished.

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

Before this, aside from Ah Yuan, the four-thousand-year exotic beast, one could never see a thousand-year exotic beast at all.

Liu Chengfeng had not come for the true blood of exotic beasts; he had come to kill Zhao Jinnian, and he was tracking the trail of the Ascending Wu Clan.

The Ascending Wu Clan had arrived by flying boat, leaving behind few traces.

Liu Chengfeng activated Heavenly Mound to communicate with the flora, wild animals, and even the exotic beasts of Little Meng Mountain.

Having learned the whereabouts of the Ascending Wu Clan, he pursued them all the way.

The Ascending Wu Clan possessed formidable strength; as they fought their way through, they had actually killed two treasure beasts over a thousand years old, not to mention countless other exotic beasts.

"Brother, what are you doing?"

Liu Chengfeng had been communicating with trees and birds along the way to find clues about the Ascending Wu Clan, and to Jiang Yu, his behavior seemed extremely strange.

"Communicating with every blade of grass and every tree."

"Really? Don't lie to an honest young man like me."

Jiang Yu felt that Liu Chengfeng's words were a bit exaggerated, but since his tracking was so precise, he remained half-doubting.

Although the Ascending Wu Clan's flying boat was fast, they were not simply traveling, so as Liu Chengfeng pursued them, he grew closer and closer to the Ascending Wu Clan.

However, before he could catch up to the Ascending Wu Clan, he encountered a team from the Cloud Rising Sect.

"Isn't that Jiang Yu? Why are you here?"

The Cloud Rising Sect's team had also arrived by flying boat; they had brought over a dozen experts, including three elders.

Leading the team was the Fourth Elder.

The Fourth Elder was tall and sturdy, like a pagoda, with surging blood energy and bones that hummed; even without moving, he exerted a powerful, gale-like pressure.

Besides the Fourth Elder, the other two also possessed bodies like treasure mountains, giving one a sense of being indestructible.

Apart from the three elders, the others were second-generation disciples of the Cloud Rising Sect, all of whom held higher seniority than Jiang Yu, the first disciple of the third generation.

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

"So, this is the little guest elder the sect master mentioned."

After learning about Liu Chengfeng, the Fourth Elder shook his head and spoke.

"The Ascending Wu Clan has headed south; they have brought quite a few experts this time."

The implication of the Fourth Elder's words was that with Zhao Jinnian under the protection of the Ascending Wu Clan, killing him would not be easy.

Liu Chengfeng did not say much; regardless of how many people the Ascending Wu Clan had brought, he was determined to kill Zhao Jinnian.

"Where is the sect master?"

Not seeing Nangong Renshe, Jiang Yu could not help but be surprised, and Liu Chengfeng was also puzzled.

Nangong Renshe should have been one of the first people to enter Little Meng Mountain.

"We discovered the trail of a Flame Ox, but we couldn't find it, so we split up from the sect master to search."

It turned out that the Cloud Rising Sect wanted to hunt a Flame Ox to obtain its true blood for the Fourth Elder's use, but they had failed to catch up to it.

"A Flame Ox? I actually know about that."

Liu Chengfeng knew of the Flame Ox the Fourth Elder and the others were talking about; among the three powerful treasure beasts that had besieged Ah Yuan, one of them was a Flame Ox.

After entering Little Meng Mountain, Liu Chengfeng had been searching along the way and knew the whereabouts of these three treasure beasts, but he had come solely to kill Zhao Jinnian.

"Really? Take us there, kill it, and take the true blood. If you perform a meritorious service, the sect will reward you."

"Fine, let's kill it first."

Liu Chengfeng readily agreed.

He activated the Celestial Body in his mind, sensing Little Meng Mountain and observing the heavens and earth, locking onto the location of the Flame Ox.

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

Since this treasure beast arrived at Little Meng Mountain, it had been moving erratically, much like the other two treasure beasts, as if they were searching for something.

When Liu Chengfeng finally located it, the Flame Ox was lingering in a valley.

Seeing the Flame Ox from afar, the Fourth Elder was so terrified that he immediately ordered the flying boat to descend and hide behind a mountain peak.

"Are you kidding me? The intel is wrong! This—this isn't a two-thousand-year-old treasure beast; this is a beast nearing four thousand years of age!"

The Fourth Elder's face drained of color, and the other elders and experts, upon taking a stealthy peek, were also shocked out of their wits.

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

There were cracks in the horns, revealing flowing magma within; it was incredibly scorching, and a single drop hitting the ground could incinerate trees entirely.

"A treasure beast nearing four thousand years of age—we can't defeat it."

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

"Didn't you all know?"

Liu Chengfeng was somewhat speechless; he had assumed the Fourth Elder and the others were aware.

If it weren't a treasure beast nearing four thousand years of age, would it have been able to hunt down and force Ah Yuan, who possessed over four thousand years of longevity, to flee for his life?

"We need to get the sect master here; perhaps then we'll have a chance."

The Fourth Elder and the others deliberated, realizing that with their current strength, it was impossible to kill this Flame Ox.

Against a treasure beast under three thousand years of age, the few of them, as experts of the Treasure Mountain Divine Treasury, could have joined forces to kill it.

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

"The sect master's whereabouts are unknown, and he won't be able to make it here in a moment's notice."

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

"We need to find something to restrain it, to weaken it."

Watching the Flame Ox, an idea began to form in Liu Chengfeng's mind.

"What could possibly restrain a four-thousand-year-old treasure beast? Unless it's an even more powerful beast. Otherwise, we should just retreat."

Seeing the Flame Ox in the valley, some elders felt uneasy; if this four-thousand-year-old beast were to charge out, their lives would be forfeit.

"Wait a little longer and see if the sect master can make it."

"We're going to go pick some fruit and come back to kill it."

Through his Celestial Body perception, Liu Chengfeng knew exactly where the item he was looking for was located.

The Fourth Elder and the others didn't believe him at all, as no fruit existed that could restrain a Flame Ox.

Liu Chengfeng pulled Jiang Yu along to pick the fruit, and the Fourth Elder, unwilling to give up, had no choice but to hide behind the mountain and wait.

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

They hadn't gone to look for trouble with the Flame Ox, but the Flame Ox had discovered them.

The moment it spotted the Fourth Elder and his group, the Flame Ox flew into a rage and immediately launched an attack.

With a thunderous "moo," the Flame Ox charged wildly toward the Fourth Elder and the others, crossing from the valley to the mountain peak in the blink of an eye.

As it charged, it knocked down numerous trees amidst a series of deafening crashes, forcibly carving a path through the terrain as it sprinted directly toward the Fourth Elder and his group.