“Alright, we shall meet at the Heaven Anchoring Boulder then!” Hall Master Kong chuckled softly before leaving the area.
The others also departed the room one after another.
After leaving the Ethereal Hall, Du Qingyuan swiftly regained her consciousness. Standing on the boat, she looked at Han Jianqiu and clasped her fist. “Elder Han, I have to return to my sect to select a suitable group of cultivators. Farewell!”
She had hoped to meet Zhang Xuan there, but the matter concerning the Azure Bridge was more important. In any case, the latter was bound to be there for the descent of the Azure Bridge, so there was no need to rush the matter.
“Farewell!” Han Jianqiu nodded.
“This boy over here, Wu Chen, is a close friend of Sect Leader Zhang. I’ll have to trouble you to take care of him well,” Du Qingyuan said with a smile.
Following which, she drove her boat toward the north, and in just a moment, it had already vanished from view.
“You are acquainted with our sect leader?” Han Jianqiu looked at the adolescent youth before him doubtfully.
Wu Chen nodded in response.
“I see. Come with me then,” Han Jianqiu said.
With a wave of his hand, he propped the adolescent youth into the sky, and they flew back into the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion together.
Zhang Xuan was not in the sect at the moment, so they had to find a way to inform him of this important news.
Just that… how could they do so?
It had been several days since Zhang Xuan had left for Starchaser Palace, so he could be anywhere. He was out of range of their Communication Jade Tokens, so their hope was to reach him through the Ethereal Hall.
But what if he never entered the Ethereal Hall and missed the information that they were trying to relay to him?
Since he’s heading to the Ocean of Exiled Stars, he should be able to catch wind of the news there, Han Jianqiu thought.
He did not know where Zhang Xuan was exactly at the moment, but as long as the latter was heading to the Ocean of Exiled Stars, that would simplify matters.
As long as one of them headed there in advance, they should be able to reach him via the Communication Jade Token once they were in range.
Having decided on a course of action, Han Jianqiu immediately returned to the sect to choose the candidates that would be heading over to the Heaven Anchor Boulder.
The greatest restriction to entering the Azure Bridge was that one’s cultivation must not exceed Heavenly High Immortal. In other words, Semi-Divinity realm experts were forbidden from passing through the Azure Bridge!
Furthermore, one’s age must not be beyond one hundred.
These two tight restrictions effectively eliminated a huge chunk of the top experts in the Six Sects. Even in the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion, there were not many suitable candidates.
Han Jianqiu quickly browsed through the list of candidates and nominated a few as potential substitutes should they fail to find Zhang Xuan. Then, together with Wu Chen and a few others, they got onto an aerial immortal beast and began making their way over to the Ocean of Exiled Stars.
…
The same sight was also happening in the Myriad Beasts Hall.
Their hall master had gone missing, and they could not get in touch with the other party. Thus, they could only gather a search party to look for him.
…
Exhaling a deep breath, Zhang Xuan rose to his feet.
After a great deal of hard work, he had finally managed to forge the three Heavenly High Immortal realm cultivators from the Hall of Gods into Soulless Metal Humanoids. However, due to the limitation of his soul cultivation, the final product was incomplete, so the strength of the Soulless Metal Humanoids was still rather lacking.
Nevertheless, with these three additional Soulless Metal Humanoids, as long as the Hall of Gods did not dispatch Semi-Divinity realm experts for him, it would not be easy for them to take him down.
Just as Zhang Xuan was walking out of the room, Little Chick suddenly waddled up to him.
“Master, I was thinking very very deeply earlier, and I think I know what my ability is!”
Little Chick flapped its tiny wings arduously as it tried to get onto Zhang Xuan’s shoulder. It looked at Zhang Xuan with beady eyes filled with confidence.
“What’s your ability?” Zhang Xuan asked.
“I can eat.” Little Chick cocked its head proudly. “If you can bring me another Semi-Divinity artifact, I’ll be able to devour it whole…”
“…” Zhang Xuan clutched his chest.
He had always been the one to anger others, but ever since he met this darned chick, he felt as if his blood pressure had been shooting up.
Just what did he do so wrong for the heavens to bring such a dastardly fellow to his side?
If it had been any other ordinary immortal beast, he would have long tossed the other party away. But what could he do? This chick happened to be a legendary beast that made a good pot of nourishing chicken soup when boiled…
Thinking back, if not for this fellow’s help in devouring his enemies’ weapons, he might have just lost his life to those experts from the Hall of Gods. In a sense, he did owe his life to this little yellow chick.
Fine! I’ll tolerate you for now!
“Other than eating, do you have any other offensive abilities? I remember how you were able to knock the Nine-headed Fiery Phoenix into submission back when you were still a gourd. Do you have any powerful moves similar to that?” Zhang Xuan asked.
“Ah, I don’t think I can do that anymore. The only reason I was able to knock that bird out is because the gourd I was sealed in was exceptionally tough. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had trouble trying to break free from it… Wait, I swallowed the flames that bird vomited out back then, right? I think that I might still be able to do that,” Little Chick said.
“Oh? You are still able to devour flames?” Zhang Xuan nodded slightly.
He tapped his tamed beast sack and summoned the Nine-headed Fiery Phoenix.
“Nine-headed Fiery Phoenix, use flamethrower on Little Chick!” Zhang Xuan ordered.
“Yes, Master!”
Devastating flames blasted forth from the nine heads of the Nine-headed Fiery Phoenix, and they converged on the little yellow chick on the floor, drowning it in searing heat.
It took quite a few minutes before the flames were finally put out.
A little ashen ball could be seen lying amid the black ashes. Vaguely, one could smell the scent of delectable meat from it.
“Ah?” Zhang Xuan’s eyelids twitched wildly.
Was that chick… well done?
Did the other party not just say that it was still able to devour flames?
Why was it so easily cooked then?
Not to mention, its flesh smelled incredibly fragrant. It caused saliva to drip from the edges of his mouth…
“Master, I didn’t know that it would be so weak…” The Nine-headed Fiery Phoenix jolted in fright.
Considering how this little yellow chick had come out of the gourd, the Nine-headed Fiery Phoenix had expected the other party to be an incredibly powerful beast despite its seemingly innocent exterior. Yet, who could have known that it would start giving off such a delicious scent once it was seared?
It really had no intention of cooking its master’s tamed beast!
“I didn’t know either…” Zhang Xuan sighed helplessly.
He stretched his hand over to check if the little yellow chick was still alive. If it had really lost its life, even though it did smell quite delicious, he would just bury it out of respect for it although it would be a waste of food…
Right as Zhang Xuan’s finger touched the charred chick, the sound of a ceramic shattering echoed in the room.
Kacha! Kacha!
Cracks appeared on the charred exterior. Whoosh! A yellow silhouette popped out from within.
This time, the little yellow chick seemed to have grown a little rounder than before. Not only so, it was starting to emanate a slight aura.
It flapped its wings and rose into the air without any difficulty. With smooth movements, it landed on Zhang Xuan’s shoulder.
“You… have you reached the Heavenly High Immortal realm?” Zhang Xuan was stunned.
After being seared by the Nine-headed Fiery Phoenix, this little yellow chick had grown from a powerless chick to a Heavenly High Immortal realm chick!
It had reached the same level as the Nine-headed Fiery Phoenix!
“Indeed!” Little Chick nodded gleefully.
“So, the key to unlocking you is torching you with flames? Got it. Let’s continue then!”
With eyes glowing with excitement, Zhang Xuan instructed the Nine-headed Fiery Phoenix to continue breathing flames on the little yellow chick.
But not too long later, they stopped.
It seemed like Little Chick’s cultivation would only advance on the first encounter with the flame. Anything more than that would be ineffective.
“Forget it. It’s good enough that you are at the Heavenly High Immortal realm and that you are able to devour weapons,” Zhang Xuan said.
He continued testing it, and to his horror, it turned out that the little yellow chick’s fighting prowess was really no different from before. Despite being a High Immortal, with its small wings and claws, it might not even be a match for a True Immortal. Seeing this, he could only shake his head and sigh deeply.
In any case, it was already good enough that Little Chick was able to devour weapons. This ability could work wonders during battle. There was no need for him to greedily wish for more.
Thus, he placed Little Chick back into his dantian and the Nine-headed Fiery Phoenix back into the tamed beast sack before leaving the room.
He walked over to the receptionist of the Ethereal Hall and said, “I would like to rent an aerial immortal beast. May I know where I should head to?”
His Serpentine Dragon was already plastered with a tag that said ‘I am the tamed beast of the Myriad Beasts Hall’s hall master’, so there was no way he could bring the other party out too carelessly. On the other hand, ordinary immortal beasts were simply too slow.
Thinking back, he should have tamed a few more aerial immortal beasts back when he was still at the Ascendant Cloud Mountain!
Back then, he did not think that there was a need to take so many beasts along with him, but it seemed like it was always best to prepare spares.
“You wish to rent an aerial immortal beast? There aren’t too many of them even in our Biyuan City, and most of them fly a specific route… May I know where you wish to go?” the receptionist asked with a polite smile.
“I intend to head north to the Ocean of Exiled Stars,” Zhang Xuan replied.
“North?” The receptionist frowned a little. “It’s uncommon for people to head to the Ocean of Exiled Stars, so there aren’t too many aerial immortal beasts heading there. Let me check for you…”
Following which, she lowered her head and swiftly flipped through a book. A moment later, she said with a smile, “There’ll be a Lesser True Immortal realm aerial immortal beast heading to the Ocean of Exiled Stars three days from now. It’ll only take a month for you to arrive at your destination.”
“A month?” Zhang Xuan frowned. “Is there no faster aerial immortal beast than that?”
He was not willing to waste so much time traveling.
The Hall of Gods had already noticed him, and there was no knowing when the next assassination attempt would be. He had to head to the Starchaser Palace as soon as possible to gather the soul cultivation technique manuals required for him to achieve a breakthrough.
If he could ride on the Serpentine Dragon, it would only take seven days at most for him to arrive at his destination! A month was simply too long!
Hearing those words, the receptionist shook her head and said, “I’m afraid that there aren’t any other alternatives. The locals living in the Ocean of Exiled Stars aren’t too welcoming toward outsiders, so it’s rare for anyone to head there. Furthermore, the flight services of aerial immortal beasts are expensive, so there aren’t too many riders…”
Most powerhouses had their own tamed beasts to ride on, and those who had reached the High Immortal realm were able to fly on their own. There was no need for them to ride on aerial immortal beasts.
Besides, those form the Ocean of Exiled Stars were hostile toward outsiders. Only large cities like Biyuan City would have a flight route there.
“How much would it cost if I individually rented a High Immortal realm beast to head toward the Ocean of Exiled Stars?” Zhang Xuan asked.
“This…” The receptionist did not have a response to Zhang Xuan’s question. “I have never come across that query before. I’ll check with our elder for you.”
She turned around and left.
Not too long later, she returned with an elder behind her.
“Sir, are you heading toward the Ocean of Exiled Stars?” the elder asked.
Zhang Xuan nodded. “Do you have any High Immortal realm beasts for rent?”
“There aren’t any High Immortal realm beasts for rent, but I have just heard that those from the Sevenstar Pavilion intend to head to the Ocean of Exiled Stars as well. They will be setting off tomorrow, and the tamed beast they are riding on will allow them to reach their destination within five days!” the elder replied with a smile.
“Five days?” Zhang Xuan was slightly stunned.
That was even faster than the Serpentine Dragon!
Most likely, the immortal beast was at the Heavenly High Immortal realm as well.
“Indeed,” the elder replied with a nod.
“I’ll have to trouble you to explain how I can share a ride with them.” Zhang Xuan clasped his fist.
The speed of the immortal beast was ideal for him. However, this also meant that the identities of those who were going to ride on the immortal beast were anything but ordinary. He would likely have to fork out a heavy price for the ride.
“Even though the Sevenstar Pavilion is one of the Six Sects, they are still a business at heart. As long as you are able to offer them something that moves them, everything is negotiable,” the elder replied with a smile.
The Sevenstar Pavilion operated in a manner that was very different from that of the other sects. For most sects, hierarchy and rules were of the utmost importance, but in the Sevenstar Pavilion, money was the crux to getting things done.
In fact, there were those who dumped a huge portion of money in order to become one of their core disciples.
“This…”
Hearing that money could solve all problems, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief. But soon after, a frown emerged on his forehead.
It did not seem like he had much money left!
Should I sneak into the Sevenstar Pavilion and challenge all of the core disciples and elders first? Zhang Xuan wondered.
