We're Beast Tamers!

Li Zhengjun had intended to return straight to his cave abode, gather a few things, and set off for the Yuyu Realm to hand over the Frozen Water spiritual item.

To his surprise, he had barely pushed open the hall doors when he saw Li Dongping waiting beneath the covered walkway, his expression somewhat grave.

The head of the household had just married. Li Dongping should not have looked like that.

"Dongping, what happened?"

Li Dongping first paid his respects, then said:

"My lord, I have been keeping a covert watch on Ye Xiufan these past days. Everything was normal before, with nothing unusual to report. But two days before your wedding, I detected an extremely faint fluctuation of Spiritual Qi during a routine patrol by the river outside the capital."

"At first, I thought Ye Xiufan had caused it, but after tracking it closely several times, I found that the fluctuation did not entirely coincide with his movements."

"Then, last night, while you were in the bridal chamber, Yuankai and I took turns keeping watch. We both sensed that presence creeping silently to the edge of the capital's protective grand formation. It lingered nearby for about a quarter of an hour before withdrawing. With that, we can be certain it came from outside."

During the days of Li Zhengjun's wedding, the whole kingdom had joined in the celebrations, but Li Yuankai and Li Dongping had not dared relax for a moment.

The two had discussed it privately and entrusted the wedding arrangements to Li Chenxuan, letting the other Li Household disciples enjoy the festivities and unwind. Meanwhile, one of them watched for warnings from the formation, while the other kept a close eye on Ye Xiufan.

It had only been a precaution, but unexpectedly, they had actually uncovered a problem.

Li Zhengjun frowned slightly and said:

"Neither you nor Yuankai could find the source. It seems the newcomer's cultivation is either higher than yours, or he possesses extremely sophisticated concealment methods. Come, take me to have a look."

He had now formed the Jade Capital Wheel, and his Spiritual Sense had just awakened. His grandfather had once refined his body with nine Immortal Foundation spiritual items, leaving his spiritual platform exceptionally clear. Coupled with the Divine Sense tempering effects of the Double Radiance Bright Yang Wheel-Nurturing Scripture, his Divine Sense was now actually no weaker than that of a cultivator at Embryonic Breathing Perfection.

The two rode the wind together and reached the river outside the capital in moments.

After the wedding, the Spirit Root holders had not wanted to waste a moment and had thrown themselves back into cultivation.

In their spare time, they gathered spiritual items on a large scale throughout the Ning Kingdom. Spirit Root holders and those martial artists could be seen everywhere.

Some organizations had also appeared among the populace. They recruited local braves and wandering heroes to make a living gathering spiritual items, earning pots and bowls filled to the brim.

Yet with so many people coming and going, those with ulterior motives also had an opportunity to exploit.

Li Zhengjun had just arrived at the river outside the capital and had yet to question Li Yuankai when his Divine Sense caught a faint trace of a presence.

The presence was extremely faint, scarcely distinguishable from the ordinary things around it. Had his Divine Sense not been exceptional, he would have had trouble detecting it.

He carefully followed the presence back to its source and discovered that it was a waterbird hidden among the reeds.

The bird was slightly smaller than a pigeon, grayish-brown all over, with dull plumage. It looked almost identical to an ordinary wild duck and was resting among a flock of them.

The waterbird's eyes, however, were not vacant like those of an ordinary wild duck. Like a human, it was watching the Li Household's Spirit Root holders cultivating across the river intently.

Seeing that the household head had said nothing, Li Yuankai knew he must be searching for the source of the presence and dared not disturb him.

Besides the waterbird, Li Zhengjun also paused for a moment over an old locust tree farther away.

The tree's branches and leaves were lush, and an owl was concealed in its crown.

An owl should have been sleeping soundly with its eyes closed during the day, but this one was forcing itself to stay alert. Its yellow eyes were wide open, likewise staring fixedly across the river.

"No wonder Yuankai and Dongping couldn't find them."

Understanding dawned on Li Zhengjun, and he surmised:

These two aren't ordinary Demon Beasts. Judging by how spiritual power circulates within them, they should be spirit beasts raised by a cultivator with Essence Blood. Some kind of Secret Method for concealing their presence has also been applied to them, making them extremely difficult to detect. This isn't a technique a Rogue Cultivator could possess.

His face remained impassive, but he had already sent a covert Divine Sense transmission, informing Li Yuankai and Li Dongping about the two spirit beasts.

"The sources of those presences are two reconnaissance spirit beasts. They have little fighting strength themselves and are nothing to worry about. What really matters is the beast-taming cultivator hiding nearby. He doesn't dare approach the capital, so he's most likely controlling the spirit beasts from somewhere far away. I've sensed everything within ten li, but I haven't found any trace of him yet."

The two men were startled. It was the first time they had received a Divine Sense transmission from their lord, but when they remembered that he had already formed the Jade Capital, they understood.

They exchanged a glance and said nothing more, merely nodding almost imperceptibly.

To avoid beating the grass and startling the snake, they continued attending to their respective tasks, keeping everything as usual.

Only when the sun sank toward the western hills and the dusk deepened did Li Zhengjun's voice finally sound in their seas of consciousness again.

"Follow me."

By the riverbank, perhaps because the waterbird could not see well at night, or perhaps because it had finished gathering the day's intelligence and needed to return to report to its master, it finally moved. It slipped soundlessly out of the flock of wild ducks and skimmed low over the tips of the reeds before vanishing from sight.

Li Zhengjun and the other two used Law Artifacts to conceal their presences and silently kept a firm lock on the bird with their Divine Sense.

Northwest of the capital, the terrain gradually rose and fell. Low hills replaced the once-flat fields, and farther ahead, mountains slowly emerged from the night like enormous ink-dark beasts.

At the same time, faint, muffled cries of pain came from a cave somewhere.

An old man hung by iron chains against the cave's stone wall, his arms raised above his head and the skin of his wrists torn open where the chains had cut into them.

Had Li Zhengjun been there, he would surely have recognized the old man. He was Guo Pingjiang, the old Grandmaster who, apart from Fang Yuan, had been the first to step forward and answer the Li Household's call in the imperial palace that day.

Before Guo Pingjiang stood two cultivators dressed in green robes, both watching him with smiles on their faces.

"You old thing, you really do have a hard mouth."

The tall cultivator played with a short knife, fresh beads of blood still clinging to its blade.

"You're just a mortal the Li Household casually recruited. They may not even be sincere about passing a Cultivation Method on to you, so why risk your life for them? Tell us everything about the Li Household's origins and how many cultivators they have, and you can walk out alive. You'll even get a reward of spirit crystals. Even a fool would know which way to choose in that bargain, but look at you, holding out for a whole day and night. Why bother?"

The old Grandmaster slowly raised his head, a mocking smile pulling at the corners of his mouth, which were covered in bloody foam.

He opened his mouth, exposing bloodstained teeth, and rebuked them:

"Household head Li saved me from a Devil Cultivator and rescued the people of my Ning Kingdom from fire and flood. To me, Guo Pingjiang, his grace was that of giving me a new life. I am but a martial man. If I cannot repay that great kindness in life, then in death I will not become a disloyal, unrighteous wretch. You petty rats hiding in the shadows, household head Li will find you sooner or later!"

The two cultivators laughed as though they had heard a joke.

"You old thing, we might as well broaden your horizons before you die. We're not the bullshit Rogue Cultivators you've met. We're beast tamers!"

"Do you know what a beast tamer is? We don't need to go anywhere near the capital ourselves. We can control spirit beasts from a hundred li away and learn what's happening there. The Li Household is just a small Lineage that fled disaster and settled here. They could rack their brains and still never guess where we're hiding."

"Unless he has the Divine Sense of someone in the Foundation Establishment Realm. But if he really were a great Foundation Establishment cultivator, why would he lower himself to stay on Jade Wave Island, where spiritual power is so scarce?"

The other, shorter cultivator laughed too, then turned to the tall cultivator and said respectfully:

"Senior brother Sun, judging by the time, the Reed-Hidden Sandpiper should already be on its way back. Once it arrives, we'll compile the intelligence on Jade Wave Island and send it back to the Lineage, so they can make preparations early."

The man addressed as senior brother Sun was named Sun Xing. Though he was only at the Qi Refinement Fourth Layer, he had a rare [Reed-Hidden Sandpiper] that excelled at covert observation, so the Lineage had entrusted him with the important task of scouting Jade Wave Island.

Sun Xing nodded at his words, looking rather pleased with himself.

"We already investigated Gold-Bearing Mountain and confirmed that the tiger demon is there. The Lineage must already be gathering people after receiving our intelligence. They'll set out before we even send this report about the Li Household. If we can uncover more about the Li Household before our clansmen arrive, your name and mine will be at the very top of the list of merits for this trip."

The shorter cultivator's heart bloomed with joy. His name was Wan Xun, and he was an inconspicuous member of a collateral branch of the Lineage. When he had first received the assignment to scout Jade Wave Island, he had secretly groaned, thinking he had been banished to a poor and remote backwater.

Who could have imagined that the island had both a tiger demon and cultivators from outside, with each piece of intelligence worth more than the last? This was absolutely a plum assignment, a lucrative post!

The more he thought about it, the more pleased he became. He edged up to Sun Xing and fawned:

"Following senior brother Sun is truly my good fortune! Once we return to the Lineage, I'll be sure to report your accomplishments to the elders. How many in the entire Lineage can match your judgment and methods?"

Sun Xing was quite pleased to hear it and gave a restrained nod.

Just then, a faint flutter of wings came from the cave entrance. The grayish-brown Reed-Hidden Sandpiper flew silently inside and landed steadily on Sun Xing's shoulder.

Sun Xing reached up to stroke its feathers and waved a hand without looking back.

"All right, my bird is back. There's no use keeping this old man anymore. Kill him."