They were four immortal-path cultivators, all at Essence Transformation.
One of them, a tall, strongly built man, asked, “A Wu, what did you find?”
A short youth answered, “Countless people come and go from Borderguard City every day to serve on temporary attachment. But a pair of martial brothers with one at Essence Transformation and the other at Golden Core is quite unusual. Besides, Perfected Slaughter Sword has an unmistakable bearing, and quite a few people have heard of his reputation. A little investigation was enough to discover something.”
The other two young cultivators joined the conversation.
“I’ve confirmed that a pair of martial brothers with very different temperaments did indeed come here half a year ago.”
“They separated immediately after arriving, and the junior brother attached himself to the Qianwu Squad.”
The short youth added, “Considering the Qianwu Squad’s growing reputation over the past six months, there must be something unusual going on.”
After hearing all three present their deductions, the tall man laughed darkly. “Then Xu Ziqing must be cultivating alone on the plains. All we need do is find him, and we can take care of him without anyone knowing.”
The short youth spoke again. “If we follow the Qianwu Squad, we’re likely to learn his whereabouts.”
The tall man pondered briefly before shaking his head. “Precisely because the Qianwu Squad has attracted so much attention recently, it would be unwise to follow them. If the military noticed us, the consequences would be troublesome.”
The other two said, “We can search with our spiritual senses. We are bound to find him!”
The tall man made the final decision. “Then it’s settled! We absolutely cannot fail the mission Second Senior Brother entrusted to us! But Perfected Slaughter Sword has already gone deep into the plains. We must remain cautious.”
The other three agreed. “Exactly. Third Martial Uncle has taken several of our martial uncles to seek out Perfected Slaughter Sword. We cannot fall behind them!”
Having decided on their plan, the four registered separately for temporary attachment and offered benefits to the relevant people to smooth the arrangements. In the end, they were permitted to remain together and entered the plains as one group.
Beneath a sky filled with mist, a two-horned savage beast with black horns thrashed on the ground. An eagle with black feathers and golden plumage swooped down. Its sharp talons seized the creature’s back, ripping through the hide and tearing away a great strip of flesh.
The beast shrieked repeatedly and bucked with all its strength. But the eagle dug its talons in deeper. With a wet pop, it crushed part of the spine, drove its claws straight into the creature’s body, and tore out a bright-red inner core while the beast was still alive.
The savage beast collapsed. The eagle flew up with bloody talons, crying delightedly.
It had scarcely started flying forward when a red vine silently darted toward it. The eagle immediately retreated. The vine pierced the newly dead beast with a whoosh and began pulsing rhythmically as it drank blood.
Not far away stood a green-robed youth, quietly smiling with a little snow-white fox in his arms.
His aura was tranquil, yet beneath that serenity lay the vibrant vitality of myriad growing trees.
The young fox affectionately rubbed against the back of his hand, then lifted its head and gave the eagle a tender little cry.
The eagle circled once above them before opening its talons and dropping the inner core it held.
A white blur shot forward, caught the core in its mouth, and swallowed it with a tilt of its head.
The green-robed youth was, of course, Xu Ziqing, who had spent the past half year roaming the Savage Beast Plains.
He had not only been cultivating diligently himself but had also brought Chonghua out to train. Although Hu Xue’er was still very young, he sometimes allowed the Heavenly Fox out as well, letting her relax when conditions were comparatively safe.
Something that amused Xu Ziqing was that although Chonghua and Rongjin had followed him for many years, Rongjin still possessed the intelligence of a small child and had lately become increasingly hostile toward the eagle.
Chonghua loved to act affectionately. Because Rongjin kept it away, it could no longer cuddle freely with Xu Ziqing and felt terribly wronged. But after Hu Xue’er joined them, the eagle unexpectedly took on the role of an elder brother and became close to her.
After swallowing the core Chonghua had given her, Hu Xue’er leapt back into Xu Ziqing’s arms and contentedly enjoyed his stroking. Though young, she already possessed the innate cunning of a fox, and winning affection through coaxing and sweet behavior came effortlessly to her.
Xu Ziqing’s affection for Chonghua and Rongjin had long been deep, whereas his feelings toward Hu Xue’er had initially been weaker. But over these past months, the young fox’s gentle, lovable nature had gradually won more of his genuine affection.
Rongjin finished draining the two-horned beast and quickly crawled back, once again wrapping itself around its “mommy’s” waist.
With this hunt concluded, Xu Ziqing grew stern. He put both Chonghua and Hu Xue’er away. Now it was time for his own training.
After half a year on the plains, the terrain had grown familiar to Xu Ziqing, however strange it had seemed at first.
His figure shimmered and transformed into a streak of green light, moving freely through the endless wild grass.
Among so many plants, he had practiced his Wood-Escape Art to a high degree of proficiency. His technique for concealing his aura had likewise become freely controllable, something he could now activate or dismiss at will.
A hundred li ahead stood a beast den occupying some ten li of wilderness. Countless jagged rocks had formed a natural lair, home to many herds of savage beasts large and small. They acknowledged a four-horned beast as their leader, making this perhaps the strongest savage-beast power near the outer regions.
Such a force might amount to little across the entire Savage Beast Plains, but in these surroundings it was extraordinarily powerful.
Two months after entering the plains, Xu Ziqing had encountered a herd of five hundred two-horned beasts. Even after releasing Rongjin, several golden-horned two-horned beasts had escaped injured, before the vine could consume them.
By following the scent of blood afterward, he had discovered this place.
Ever since, Xu Ziqing had kept an eye on the den. Ordinarily he concealed himself outside and waited until a herd went out to hunt. He would then follow its aura to some remote location, where he could fight the beasts or release Rongjin to feed.
Perhaps the beasts possessed too little intelligence, or perhaps the creatures that died were of little importance to the den. In any case, the den had shown no violent response throughout this period.
Today Xu Ziqing did as usual, hiding among wild grass half as tall as a person outside the den and watching without blinking the entrance formed between two enormous rocks.
Two three-horned beasts lay on either side of the entrance. Each was chewing a human leg, blood running between its fangs and filling the air with a nauseating stench. Their arrogance was unmistakable.
They were clearly guarding the entrance.
Xu Ziqing suppressed his anger and allowed no trace of his presence to escape.
After so long on the plains, the sight of savage beasts eating people no longer disrupted his state of mind. It had simply convinced him more firmly that humans and these beasts could never coexist and that not the slightest mercy could be shown to them.
Even so, he would not rush out and slaughter these two beasts.
After waiting about an hour, he heard a long howl from within the den.
A two-horned beast with golden horns emerged, a cultivator hanging from its mouth. Two rows of fangs were sunk deep in the victim’s chest, leaving a long trail of blood as the beast dragged him along.
Half of each of the man’s arms and thighs was gone, and he had lost much of his flesh. With the beast’s teeth buried near his heart, his entire body was convulsing. He plainly could not survive.
Xu Ziqing slowly clenched his fists and forced down a fresh surge of anger.
Once this herd had traveled far enough, he would destroy every last one of them!
But although Xu Ziqing restrained himself, someone else could not.
Just as his attention wavered for an instant, a gust of force swept in from the distance.
A woman’s voice rang out in furious rebuke. “You damned beasts!”
Several rustles of clothing followed as two young male cultivators hurried forward alongside the woman.
They carried flying swords that were lower-grade spiritual artifacts, and all three possessed at least Foundation Establishment-level power. Their faces were filled with indignation and anger.
Seeing them, Xu Ziqing frowned inwardly.
All three carried a trace of arrogance in their faces and a certain inexperience in their expressions. They resembled people newly arrived for their first training expedition, excessively confident in their cultivation.
They could not endure seeing a beast eat a person and immediately shouted a challenge. Their intentions were good, but their actions were far too reckless.
Xu Ziqing grew anxious.
They were plainly only at middle Foundation Establishment. How dared they provoke the savage beasts in their own den? Did they believe that being able to kill one golden-horned two-horned beast made them invincible? Even with his Essence Transformation cultivation, Xu Ziqing did not dare attract the attention of the four-horned beast inside, whose power rivaled Golden Core.
What was he to do now?
The three had no notion of Xu Ziqing’s worries. As he had guessed, they were outside cultivators who had come to train with elders from their sect.
The young woman in particular was the daughter of an elder. Halfway through the journey, she had persuaded her two senior brothers to slip away with her and privately visit the Savage Beast Plains.
Because their sect possessed some influence, their temporary-attachment registration had gone smoothly. After entering the plains, they occasionally encountered one- or two-horned beasts and found them relatively easy to defeat. Naturally their original caution diminished.
Their confidence grew, and they ventured deeper. Along the way, they saw several clashes between savage beasts and martial artists and sometimes rescued those under attack, receiving much gratitude in return.
Gradually they began to think even more highly of themselves.
Later they rescued a severely injured martial artist who had barely escaped from the beast den. Hearing his account, they disregarded his warnings and boasted that they would rescue all his companions.
That was how they had slowly found their way here.
But on arriving, they saw a savage beast eating a person alive. Naturally they shouted in anger and prepared to fight!
The woman reached the scene first. She formed a sword-finger gesture and commanded, “Go!”
A short, icy-blue flying sword, as long as a child’s arm, shot straight forward and slashed toward the golden-horned beast’s head.
The beast tossed its head, flinging the martial artist’s corpse away. Then it bent its forelegs and sprang sideways in a blur.
The flying sword was fast, yet did not even graze it.
The woman snorted. “Again! Let’s see where you can dodge now!”
Her ice-blue sword turned sharply at her command and struck toward the beast’s eyes, as though she wanted to blind it.
Xu Ziqing’s face grew graver.
The woman’s actions showed that she had not even learned where a savage beast’s weaknesses lay. She was also consuming true essence extravagantly. If this continued, she might not have enough strength left to flee.
The other two male cultivators were scarcely better. As the woman attacked, two more flying swords sped forward to surround the beast alongside the blue sword.
Yet they were facing only a two-horned golden-horned beast whose strength was slightly below Foundation Establishment. Why should three middle Foundation Establishment cultivators need to attack it together?
The more Xu Ziqing watched, the heavier his heart became.