A Sensational Piece of News

(Wangyou)

Though he had guessed almost exactly right long ago, Ba Dao was still a little dazed when he heard Chu Xiaotian admit it himself. He had seen those people with his own eyes, and he wouldn't have stood a chance against any one of them. Yet this boy, who had once seemed incapable of cultivating, now had the strength to kill every last one of them. The contrast was simply too great for Ba Dao to accept.

"Hall Master Ba Dao, these are some high- and mid-grade Human-Rank cultivation techniques and battle arts I got from those people. Take them; they should be useful to your martial hall." Seeing Ba Dao's dazed expression, Chu Xiaotian smiled faintly and changed the subject. He took out the techniques he had obtained from Huang Xiang's group and handed them to Ba Dao.

At the words "high-grade Human-Rank," Ba Dao's eyes immediately lit up. But then he remembered that these techniques had belonged to the Huang Family, and he hesitated. They were valuable, but also a hot potato. If anyone found out, the Mad Blade Martial Hall would be finished. If he hadn't known Chu Xiaotian had no reason to frame him, he would have suspected that was exactly what Chu Xiaotian was doing. Then he thought it over: people in Yufeng Prefecture couldn't be allowed to find out, but there was no such restriction elsewhere. He could take the techniques to another prefecture and trade them for something. Then there'd be no problem at all. With that in mind, he thanked Chu Xiaotian without further hesitation and accepted the generous gift without ceremony.

He knew Chu Xiaotian must have even more advanced techniques and simply didn't care for these. After all, Chu Xiaotian had gained such strength in such a short time—something Human-Rank techniques could never achieve. Earth-Rank techniques probably couldn't do it either; only Heaven-Rank techniques could. Even so, Ba Dao's gratitude toward Chu Xiaotian was entirely genuine. High-grade Human-Rank techniques might be no better than trash in Chu Xiaotian's eyes, but if he wanted to buy them, he would need at least eighty or a hundred thousand low-grade Spirit Stones. Chu Xiaotian didn't know their value; otherwise, he would surely have kept one or two to trade for Spirit Stones. Eighty or a hundred thousand low-grade Spirit Stones was no small sum.

After putting away the techniques and battle arts, Ba Dao told Chu Xiaotian and Xia Xue about the changes in town.

It turned out that eleven experts sent by the Huang Family to investigate Huang Nian's death had also died near Greenwood Town. This time, the Huang Family was truly enraged. They sent thirty experts, ranging from the Pi-Hai Realm to the peak of the Huayuan Realm, to investigate what had really happened. After carefully searching the area, they concluded that their people hadn't died in Greenwood Town, but in the Endless Forest nearby. Nor had they been killed by demonic beasts. Judging from the scene, an expert had likely slain them, so they set out to find the true culprit. They didn't find the killer, but nearby they discovered a Spirit Beast about to give birth. The Huang Family was ecstatic.

Spirit Beasts were extraordinary creatures. Unlike demonic beasts, they possessed intelligence no less than that of humans, as well as memories passed down from their ancient ancestors. These traits gave them a terrifying cultivation speed and made them stronger than both demonic beasts and humans. Most importantly, with their ancient memories and the insights of countless ancestors, they almost never encountered cultivation bottlenecks. As long as they had enough spiritual energy, they could reach a realm ordinary people could scarcely imagine in a short time.

For a human to reach the Heaven-Reaching Realm without a fortuitous encounter, a stroke of luck, and all kinds of treasures was practically impossible in a lifetime. Even with all those advantages, it would still take a thousand years or more. A Spirit Beast, by contrast, could reach the Heaven-Reaching Realm in just three or four hundred years, so long as it had enough spiritual energy. Anyone could see what an enormous difference that was.

That was why everyone on Lianyue Continent wanted a Spirit Beast, especially the great families, whose obsession with them bordered on fanaticism. If a family possessed a Spirit Beast, it could rise to become one of the continent's super families in just a few hundred years. Even founding an empire would be easy. After all, the reason the current five great empires had endured for so long was that each had a Heaven-Reaching expert guarding it.

Yet, since ancient times, only a handful of families had ever obtained a Spirit Beast. Even the five great empires were not known to possess one as a guardian sacred beast. Spirit Beasts were too rare and too difficult to tame. Unless one was captured just after birth, before it opened its eyes, it would never accept you as its master—even if it had to kill itself. Such was the pride of a Spirit Beast, blessed with inherited memories and an awakened intellect.

Spirit Beasts were as intelligent as humans and understood human intentions perfectly. Their young were just as precious to them. So when giving birth, they always chose a deeply hidden place and gathered every force they could muster to protect it. During that time, any living creature that entered the area would be killed to ensure the young's safety.

The Spirit Beast the Huang Family had encountered was a sixth-rank Purple Flame Tiger, whose realm was equivalent to that of a Ningshen expert. But in terms of its actual strength, even a Chedi Realm powerhouse would have had trouble dealing with it. Under normal circumstances, the Huang Family would have fled as far as they could from such a Spirit Beast, even if they had been blinded by greed. But this time was different. The Purple Flame Tiger was about to give birth, and its strength had plummeted. It was also gravely wounded, with scarcely a fraction of its power remaining. When the Huang Family found it, it was lying in a valley, a broad pool of blood beneath it and a massive wound in its abdomen. It looked as though it could die at any moment.

Even so, it was still terrifyingly strong—far beyond anything the Huang Family's people could match. One blast of flame from its mouth burned eight of their experts to death. If the others hadn't run fast enough, they would all have perished there.

The Huang Family was both furious and delighted. They were furious because they seemed to have been cursed with bad luck lately, losing one direct descendant after another. But they were delighted by the Spirit Beast's condition. The Purple Flame Tiger hadn't pursued them, proving its injuries were so severe that it had no strength to chase after such weak creatures. This was their chance. Given its current state, it might die as soon as it gave birth. Then they could capture the cub. After a century or so of nurturing it, their family would have a powerhouse equivalent to the Chedi Realm. Give them another two or three hundred years, and breaking away from the Great Xia Dynasty to establish their own nation would be as easy as saying the word.

The Huang Family was in an uproar, wild with excitement. They issued the strictest order of secrecy: anyone who let a word slip would be punished under family law, and even their parents and siblings would not be spared. At the same time, they sent messengers back to the family overnight, asking them to dispatch more experts in case the Spirit Beast survived the birth, so they could finish it off.

The whole affair seemed airtight. The Huang Family had lost many people in Greenwood Town, so sending experts there was perfectly normal. Their mistake was getting too excited and too cautious. They sent nearly their entire family toward Greenwood Town in several groups. Though they moved with the utmost secrecy, sharp-eyed people still picked up on the clues. They quietly followed in their wake and learned the whole truth.

Now, though the news wasn't known to everyone, all of Yufeng Prefecture was in an uproar. Word spread that a dying Spirit Beast was about to give birth near Greenwood Town. Anyone with even a little strength rushed there. Even those who knew their chances were slim came in the hope of getting lucky.

Greenwood Town had shed its usual desolation and become bustling with activity. There were so many people that the town's two little inns—which normally couldn't fill even ten beds between them—couldn't accommodate them all. In the end, many had no choice but to pitch tents in the woods outside town and make do. Some went straight into the forest near the Spirit Beast, camping not far from the Huang Family and waiting for a chance to act.

The Huang Family was beside itself with frustration. At first, they had been the only ones who knew, and the Spirit Beast would undoubtedly have been theirs. They could have kept their heads down, built up their strength, and then soared to greatness. But the news had leaked, ruining all their wonderful plans. It was anyone's guess who would end up with the Spirit Beast. For now, everyone coming was from Yufeng Prefecture, and their strength wasn't anything special, so the Huang Family could still hold them off.

But if the news spread beyond Yufeng Prefecture and experts from other cities came, then the Huang Family wouldn't be able to stop them, even if they wanted to. They might dominate Yufeng Prefecture, but across the Great Xia Dynasty they were only a minor family. Their only hope was for the Spirit Beast to give birth soon. If they could capture the cub as soon as it was born, before it opened its eyes, everything would be settled. No matter how unwilling the others were, they would have no way to stop the Huang Family from rising.

Of course, the great families might also wipe them out before they could grow, leaving the empire with one fewer rival. That was precisely why the Huang Family had to obtain the Spirit Beast cub as soon as possible, then hide the entire family before the other families had a chance to strike. But no matter how impatient they were, they had confirmed that the Spirit Beast wouldn't give birth for another day. The Huang Family had no choice but to wait. At the same time, they stationed experts along the only approach, keeping everyone else at least a mile from their camp.

After hearing Ba Dao's account, Chu Xiaotian was tempted. A Spirit Beast! If he could get one, he would have a super-powered bodyguard at his side. Who would dare provoke him after that? Even Xia Xue grew excited when she heard the news, her eyes flashing with light as they blinked adorably. (Wangyou)