Vengeance for His Parents, Roars of Beasts

The Magical Beast Mountain Range lay east of Wutan City. Not long after leaving the city, Zhou Changqing officially entered the outskirts of the mountains.

Rolling slopes and dense trees filled the landscape, interspersed with green grass, fresh flowers, strange rocks, and trailing vines. Fresh natural air washed over him, carrying traces of earthy musk and the scent of decaying leaves and vegetation.

Night fell.

Somewhere in the forest, Zhou Changqing cleared away the stones and weeds on the ground, lit a fire, and sat beside it to eat his dry rations.

The firelight fell across his rather fair face, bathing it in red.

Chewing on a slightly hardened flatbread, Zhou Changqing stared blankly into the flames, lost in thought.

I wonder if those two beasts are still in the same place, or if they're already dead. Hopefully, this trip won't be fruitless.

As the thought flashed through his mind, Zhou Changqing looked toward the depths of the mountains. For the first time, a savage, murderous fury appeared on his face, which had already shed most of its boyishness.

He took a deep breath, and his expression returned to calm, though the killing intent deep in his eyes did not completely fade.

As he had told Ya Fei and Xiao Yan, he was not leaving Wutan City solely because he had killed Jia Lie Ao and the others and feared that old bastards like Jia Lie Bi would throw caution to the wind and attack him personally.

His main reason was that he had something to do elsewhere.

The Jia Lie Family's attempt to surround and kill him had merely prompted him to leave earlier.

Otherwise, he could have simply holed up in the Mittel Auction House to cultivate, then settled the score after breaking through to Da Dou Shi.

Or he could have stayed under Mittel's protection until Jia Nan Academy arrived to recruit students in just over two months, then gone to the academy.

What could Jia Lie Bi and his forces have done to him then?

Yet he had chosen to leave at this ideal moment to join Jia Nan Academy and obtain better cultivation resources.

He did so to avenge his parents!

Back when his strength had been unable to advance even an inch, he might have waited for this opportunity, gone to Jia Nan Academy to obtain a cultivation method, and returned for vengeance once his cultivation had borne fruit.

But after joining Jia Nan Academy, returning would not be so easy.

Unless, like Xiao Yu, he happened to catch Jia Nan Academy recruiting in the region around the Jia Ma Empire, he would have no opportunity to request leave and cross the Black-Corner Region with the recruitment party to return to the empire.

Otherwise, for a mere Three-Star Dou Zhe like Xiao Yu, crossing the Black-Corner Region alone to return to the Jia Ma Empire would be quite dangerous, even if she was a student of Jia Nan Academy.

After all, no matter how formidable Jia Nan Academy's reputation was, there was no guarantee she would not encounter some lust-addled fools too blind to recognize danger along the way.

As for why Xiao Yu had reached Wutan City more than four months ahead of the recruitment party, it was naturally because the party was not only visiting the Jia Ma Empire. It also had to stop and recruit in other empires along the route.

Once she entered the relatively safe northwestern region, her status as a Jia Nan Academy student ensured smooth passage. Thus, she had left the party early and returned to the Jia Ma Empire aboard flying transports operated by major merchant associations.

Without an opportunity like that, Zhou Changqing would likely need quite some time before he could return to the Jia Ma Empire after joining Jia Nan Academy. A year or two was certain.

That was assuming he could obtain a cultivation method above Yellow Tier High Grade at Jia Nan Academy and cultivate faster. Otherwise, it would take even longer.

But now, thanks to Xiao Yan, his cultivation method was no longer holding him back, and he had successfully developed weapon refining, so there was no need to keep waiting.

Now, he did not want to wait even another moment!

For the past seven years, he had wanted to do this every waking moment!

In any case, he was no longer particularly short on resources, and his current cultivation methods and combat skills were sufficient for the Dou Shi and Da Dou Shi realms.

With his current income, cultivation methods and combat skills at Black Tier Middle Grade or below were no longer things he could only gaze at from afar. He simply had to forge more Magic Core Armaments.

Even if he went to Jia Nan Academy, he would not obtain higher-grade cultivation methods and combat skills anytime soon. He would still have to compete for them, step by step.

To him, Jia Nan Academy was no longer a necessary choice.

After finishing his rations, Zhou Changqing stopped dwelling on it and sat cross-legged to cultivate.

Finding the two beasts that had killed his parents years ago in the Magical Beast Mountain Range would not be easy.

During the search, he would improve his strength as much as he could, giving himself greater confidence when the time came.

Zhou Changqing had begun preparing long ago to avenge his parents someday.

Not only had he learned the approximate location of the incident from the mercenary who had come to inform him of his parents' deaths.

He had also paid to seek out mercenaries who had survived the incident, asked them to describe the two beasts' distinguishing features and appearances, and hired an artist to draw them.

Only with those two things did he have a chance of finding the beasts from back then.

After all, given magical beasts' habits, they generally would not abandon or leave their territories unless they faced a major crisis or were driven out by a stronger magical beast.

That was precisely why Yun Yun had been able to locate the Amethyst Winged Lion King so accurately in the original story.

Holding the map he had bought of the Magical Beast Mountain Range near Wutan City, Zhou Changqing hurried at full speed toward the approximate location where his parents had died.

Then he began searching the surrounding area.

Several days later.

The outskirts of the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Dark clouds covered the sky, and faint thunder rumbled as rain threatened to fall. The light was dim.

In the forest, a figure darted swiftly between the trees, covering a hundred meters in just a few breaths.

Looking up at the sky, Zhou Changqing finally stopped. He took supplies from his Storage Ring and began pitching a tent where he stood to shelter from the rain.

He had entered the area marked on the map two days earlier.

Unfortunately, although he had encountered plenty of magical beasts over those two days, they had all been first- or second-rank beasts, not the targets he sought.

Still, this was within his expectations.

After all, so many years had passed, and third-rank magical beasts had sizable territories. Even with an approximate search area and drawings, finding those two beasts from back then was easier said than done.

But no matter how large the area was, it still had limits. If he searched bit by bit, he would eventually encounter them, unless those two beasts had already left or died.

In that case, he could only wait until his strength reached extraordinary heights, then use his powerful perception to search the entire Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Even if he could not find them, he would wipe those two beasts' species from the Magical Beast Mountain Range!

Rumble!

Whoosh...

At last, more and more dark clouds gathered overhead. The moisture within them reached its limit, and after a thunderous crack, fat raindrops hammered down!

Inside the tent, Zhou Changqing ignored the patter of rain against the canvas and began cultivating.

Over the past few days, he had spent almost all his time cultivating whenever he was not searching.

Although he could not cultivate for as long as he had in Wutan City, he had still successfully broken through to Five-Star Dou Master the day before.

Awooo!

Roar!

Just as Zhou Changqing was concentrating on his cultivation.

Two magical beasts' cries rang out from afar, mingling with the rain!

"Wolf-type and leopard-type magical beasts?!!"

Hearing those two piercing roars, Zhou Changqing instantly opened his eyes, a gleam flashing through them!

The two beasts that had killed his parents had belonged to precisely those two types!

I don't know if they're those two beasts. No, whether they are or not, I have to take a look!

With that thought, Zhou Changqing ignored the downpour, packed away his tent, and sprinted through the rain toward the source of the cries!

Better to kill the wrong ones than let the right ones escape.

No matter how slim the chance, he had to confirm it!

What if it was them?

(End of chapter)