A Sensational Piece of News

Although he had already guessed as much, Ba Dao still felt a sense of stupor upon hearing Chu Xiaotian confirm it himself. He had seen those experts before, and he knew he was no match for any one of them. Yet, this youth, whom he had previously considered incapable of cultivation, now possessed the strength to slaughter them all. The contrast was simply too stark for him to accept.

"Ba Dao Hall Master, I obtained these human-grade high and middle-tier cultivation techniques and combat skills from those people. Please, accept them; they should be of some help to your martial hall." Seeing the dazed look on Ba Dao's face, Chu Xiaotian smiled slightly, changed the subject, and took out the techniques he had acquired from Huang Xiang and his group, handing them over to the hall master.

At the mention of "human-grade high-tier," Ba Dao's eyes lit up, but the thought that these belonged to the Huang Family made him hesitate. The techniques were excellent, but they were a hot potato; if word got out, the Mad Blade Martial Hall would cease to exist. If he didn't know that Chu Xiaotian had no reason to frame him, he would have suspected a trap. However, he realized that while he couldn't let it be known in Yufeng Prefecture, there were no such restrictions elsewhere. He could easily take these techniques to another prefecture and trade them, and then there would be no trouble at all. With that thought, he stopped hesitating, thanked Chu Xiaotian, and accepted the generous gift without further ado.

He knew that Chu Xiaotian must possess even higher-tier techniques, which was why he looked down on these. After all, for Chu Xiaotian to reach such a level of strength in such a short time, human-grade techniques—or even earth-grade ones—wouldn't suffice; only heaven-grade techniques could achieve that. Even so, his gratitude toward Chu Xiaotian was entirely genuine. A human-grade high-tier technique might be trash in Chu Xiaotian's eyes, but if one were to buy it, no one would sell it for less than a hundred thousand low-grade Spirit Stones. Chu Xiaotian was unaware of this value; otherwise, he would have kept one or two to trade for stones. A hundred thousand low-grade Spirit Stones was no small sum.

After securing the techniques and combat skills, Ba Dao began to tell Chu Xiaotian about the changes in town.

It turned out that after eleven more experts sent by the Huang Family to investigate the death of Huang Nian perished in Greenwood Town, the family was truly enraged. They dispatched thirty experts—ranging from the Pi-Hai Realm to the peak of the Huayuan Realm—to uncover the truth. After a thorough investigation, they concluded that the Huang family members had not died in Greenwood Town, but in the Endless Forest nearby. Furthermore, they weren't killed by a Spirit Beast; based on the scene, it was the work of a powerful expert. While they failed to find the killer, they did discover a Spirit Beast near the area that was about to give birth. This discovery sent the Huang Family into a frenzy.

Spirit Beasts were extraordinary creatures. Beyond possessing intelligence that rivaled humans, their greatest distinction from ordinary beasts was the memory inherited from their ancient ancestors. These memories allowed for terrifying cultivation speeds and power far exceeding that of ordinary beasts or humans. Most importantly, with their ancient memories and the insights of countless predecessors, they almost never encountered cultivation bottlenecks. As long as they had sufficient spiritual energy, they could reach levels of power unimaginable to ordinary people in a very short time.

For a human to reach the Heaven-Reaching Realm, they would need incredible luck, opportunities, and treasures; even then, it would take centuries, if not a millennium. A Spirit Beast, however, could reach the Heaven-Reaching Realm in a mere three to four hundred years, provided it had enough spiritual energy. The disparity was obvious to anyone.

Consequently, everyone on the Lianyue Continent coveted such creatures, especially the great families, whose obsession with Spirit Beasts bordered on the fanatical. If a family possessed a Spirit Beast, they could leap to become a super-family of the entire continent within a few hundred years, or even establish an empire with ease. After all, the current five great empires remained prosperous precisely because each was backed by an expert in the Heaven-Reaching Realm.

However, since ancient times, the number of families that had successfully obtained a Spirit Beast could be counted on one hand. Even the five great empires were not known to possess a Spirit Beast as a guardian creature. Spirit Beasts were too rare and too difficult to tame. Unless one captured them at birth so that the creature's first sight was of its captor, it would rather commit suicide than submit. Such was the dignity of a Spirit Beast, whose intelligence was fully awakened by its inherited memories.

Because Spirit Beasts possessed human-like intelligence, they were well aware of human intentions, and their cubs were equally precious to them. Thus, when giving birth, they would choose a highly concealed location and use every ounce of their power to guard it. During this period, any living creature that entered their territory would be slaughtered to ensure the safety of the cub.

The Spirit Beast the Huang Family encountered was a sixth-rank Purple Flame Tiger, equivalent in realm to a Ningshen Realm expert. Yet, its true combat power was such that even a Chedi Realm powerhouse would struggle against it. Under normal circumstances, even if the Huang family members were blinded by greed, they would have fled as far as possible. But this time was different: the Purple Flame Tiger was not only weakened by its impending labor but also severely wounded, with less than a fraction of its strength remaining. When the Huang family found it, it was lying in a valley, surrounded by a pool of blood, with a massive wound on its abdomen, gasping for breath as if it might die at any moment.

Even so, its ferocity was staggering, far beyond what the Huang family could handle. A single breath of flame from the beast incinerated eight of their experts instantly. If the others hadn't fled quickly, they likely would have all perished there.

The Huang family was both furious and overjoyed. They were furious because their direct descendants had been dying one after another lately, but they were overjoyed by the state of the Spirit Beast. The fact that the Purple Flame Tiger did not pursue them proved that its injuries were critical and it had no energy left to hunt down weaklings. This was their chance. Once the tiger gave birth, it would likely die, allowing them to capture the cub. After a hundred years of cultivation, their family would possess a powerhouse equivalent to the Chedi Realm, and in two or three hundred years, they could easily break away from the Great Xia Dynasty and form their own nation.

The Huang family was in an uproar. They issued a top-level gag order: anyone who leaked a word would be dealt with by family law, with no mercy shown even to parents or siblings. Simultaneously, they sent messengers back to their clan overnight, demanding more experts to ensure they could deliver the finishing blow should the beast survive the birth.

The plan seemed flawless. It was perfectly normal for them to send experts to Greenwood Town after so many of their kin had died there. However, their mistake was being too excited and too cautious; they had mobilized almost their entire family in several waves toward the town. Though they were extremely discreet, they were still caught by observant eyes, and the truth was soon laid bare.

Now, while not everyone knew, the entire Yufeng Prefecture was buzzing with the news. The word that a dying Spirit Beast was about to give birth near Greenwood Town spread like wildfire. Anyone with even a shred of strength rushed toward the town, clinging to a glimmer of hope despite the long odds.

Greenwood Town, once desolate, became bustling. Because there were so many people, the town's two small inns—which usually struggled to find ten guests—couldn't accommodate the influx. Many were forced to pitch tents in the forests outside the town. Others ventured directly into the woods near the Spirit Beast, trailing the Huang family in wait for an opportunity.

The Huang family was now beyond frustrated. Originally, they were the only ones who knew, and the beast would have been theirs to secure their rise to power. They never expected the news to leak. Now, their beautiful plan was in ruins, and it was hard to say who would ultimately claim the beast. The people currently arriving were from Yufeng Prefecture, and since their strength wasn't overwhelming, the Huang family could still hold them off.

But if the news spread beyond Yufeng Prefecture and experts from other cities arrived, they would be powerless to stop them. After all, while they dominated Yufeng Prefecture, they were merely a small family in the context of the entire Great Xia Dynasty. Their only hope now was for the beast to give birth quickly. If they could capture the cub the moment it opened its eyes, everything would be settled. No matter how unwilling others were, they would have no way to stop the Huang family's rise.

Of course, there was also the risk that other great families might strike to wipe them out before they could grow, preventing the emergence of a new rival. This only made them more desperate to secure the cub and hide their family before others could intervene. Yet, no matter how urgent they were, confirmation showed that the birth would not happen for another day. The Huang family had no choice but to wait, while simultaneously stationing experts on all approach routes to prevent anyone from coming within a mile of their camp.

Listening to Ba Dao, Chu Xiaotian felt a stir of excitement. A Spirit Beast! If he could obtain one, it would be like having a super-powered bodyguard by his side. From then on, who in this world would dare to provoke him lightly? Even Xia Xue, upon hearing the news, became animated, her eyes sparkling with a light that was incredibly adorable.