“Sigh, I have been wanting to die for a long time now. If this thing can kill me, I’ll be more than glad to do it,” Little Chick said as it flapped its wings.
The previous time it transmogrified, it had retained its chick head for some reason. If the spatial vortex could kill it somehow, it might just be able to pull off a full transmogrification.
“Un…” Zhang Xuan nodded.
He would be lying if he said that he was not worried, but when he recalled how Little Chick could come back to life even after it had been blasted to bits, he decided to let things be.
Hu!
Flapping its little wings, Little Chick dived right into the spatial vortex. In an instant, its body began warping like a reflection in a distortion mirror. Its small golden body bloated up to the point that it resembled the fire phoenix that he had seen on the Phoenix Resonance Stone.
“Wait a moment, could it be that… Little Chick is from the Phoenix Tribe?”
Such a thought suddenly arose in Zhang Xuan’s head.
There were not many legendary beasts in the world, and there were even fewer of those whose bloodline was so powerful that they could not fully transmogrify even after becoming a God King. If that was the case, how powerful a beast was Little Chick?
Was it a Conferred God King… or a God Monarch?
“It can’t be that it is actually the Deathless Monarch, can it?” Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes in shock.
In the first place, it was weird that the Deathless Monarch, known for its ability to defy death, had passed away just like that.
He recalled the first time he met Little Chick. He had still been on the Master Teacher Continent, and Little Chick had still been a mere gourd. It had grown swiftly through absorbing his Heaven’s Path zhenqi.
While in the Azure, when they were before the tomb of the Deathless Monarch, Little Chick had mentioned that he wanted to devour the skeleton that was guarding the grave.
Furthermore, when Little Chick revived after it was killed by Kong shi’s clone, there had been a sudden outpour of air of degeneration from the City of Collapsed Space to fuel its growth, and how it was able to absorb the concentrated air of degeneration with ease as well…
Other than that, there was also a feeling of familiarity when he saw the massive feather propping up Spirit Origin Royal City, as well as Little Chick mentioning how it found this abyss familiar…
Most importantly of all, Conferred God King Qi Meng had addressed him as a God Monarch back when he was at the Lucid Lunar Lake. Most likely, it was due to Little Chick’s blood seeping into it.
Due to absorbing Little Chick’s blood, his body had also gained a portion of the Deathless Monarch’s undying attribute, allowing him to swiftly recover regardless of the severity of his injuries.
“Did I really take a God Monarch as my tamed beast?”
The more Zhang Xuan thought about this matter, the more his face twitched in horror.
During his time in the Firmament, he had come to learn about just how highly respected the God Monarchs were. Even Kong shi had to receive the recognition of the other nine God Monarchs if he wanted to become one.
A mere high-tier Celestial God like him had taken in a God Monarch as his tamed beast. For the time being, Little Chick had not recovered its memories, so it was not able to say anything about it. But once it remembered its past, would it try to kill him to erase this humiliating history?
“But this doesn’t fully make sense. Ruoxin, as the Spirit God of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe, should be the successor of the Deathless Monarch, and she met Little Chick as the Dongxu Gourd while we were still on the Master Teacher Continent. Thus, she should have recognized it and made a move…”
According to what he had heard so far, this was the first time that a God Monarch had died, so it was understandable how no one was certain what had become of the Deathless Monarch. However, as the successor of the Deathless Monarch, Luo Ruoxin should have been able to recognize the Deathless Monarch even if it was in a very different state.
Of course, everything was just his conjecture at this point, so he could not say for sure.
Even God Monarchs were bound to have their enemies. If someone found the Death Monarch in a severely weakened state, there was a good chance that it might be killed before it was able to grow back to its peak.
Luo Ruoxin might have chosen to intentionally turn a blind eye to it in order to conceal it from the eyes of the others.
“Forget it, what’s the point of thinking about it now?” Zhang Xuan muttered to himself. “The mystery should unravel itself once I meet Ruoxin tomorrow at Spirit God Palace…”
Casting aside his miscellaneous thoughts, he turned his attention back to the spatial vortex and saw the little yellow chick having a great battle with the Grass of God King.
This herb, being able to survive in a spatial vortex and help cultivators reach God King realm, was not weak at all. While its fighting prowess was not on par with that of a God King, it would be wise not to underestimate it.
It was just unfortunate that Little Chick happened to be a God King, and a considerably powerful one at that. Soon enough, it defeated the Grass of God King, and holding onto it with its beak, it swam back up to where Zhang Xuan was.
Its body remained distorted even after it left the spatial vortex, but this degree of damage was not enough to pose a threat to it. It passed the herbs over to Zhang Xuan before diving into his dantian and returning to sleep.
All in all, there were four stalks.
There should have been five of them, but Little Chick had eaten one while it was fighting, only to realize that it tasted horrible. So, it had left the rest of them to Zhang Xuan.
Zhang Xuan took out a jade container and stored the herbs inside it before sealing it off with his zhenqi. Heaving a sigh of relief, he quickly flew back to the top of the abyss.
He had used the Library of Heaven’s Path to check the medicinal herbs when he received them, and it was exactly as he thought. They were indeed the Grass of God King, and they had the effect of increasing one’s chances of becoming a God King by fifty percent.
Furthermore, the effects could be further enhanced if the herb’s medicinal properties were complemented with other medicinal herbs.
With this, as long as he could come up with a God King realm cultivation technique for his Pathos of Heaven, he should be able to make a breakthrough easily.
“Teacher, are you fine?”
Upon returned to the place where he had parted with Feng Jiuge, he saw the young man looking at him worriedly.
Zhang Xuan nodded. “Let’s head out first before talking.”
They had proceeded down slowly in case they encountered any danger, but there was no such worry now that they were heading upward instead. In less than an hour, they were already back on the surface.
Zhang Xuan called for the aerial celestial beast, and the two of them returned to the Inferno Phoenix Clan.
“I found the reason your cultivation plummeted, and you can rest assured that you will not face the same problem in the future,” Zhang Xuan said with a smile. “I also managed to find the Grass of God King that you spoke of. I’ll have it forged into a pill and give you one. So, make sure to cultivate diligently so that you can become a God King soon!”
“You managed to find the Grass of God King?” Feng Jiuge exclaimed in shock.
He had been a little skeptical about the existence of the Grass of God King when he went down the abyss as well, but who could have known that it really existed and that his teacher would even manage to procure some of it!
Not only so, his teacher was going to give some of it to him…
His eyes reddened once more as he gazed at Zhang Xuan with gratitude.
Zhang Xuan shuddered a little when he saw Feng Jiuge looking at him with such sparkling eyes yet again. He quickly glanced away as he said, “Focus on your cultivation for the rest of the day. I’ll be heading out for a while, and I should be back in time for tomorrow’s tournament.”
There was still half a day before the tournament, which should be plenty of time for him to get the Grass of God King forged into pills. With those pills, he would be able to make a breakthrough as long as he could come up with a corresponding God King realm cultivation technique.
Of course, the problem was that a pill that increased one’s chances of making a breakthrough to God King was not easy to forge. It would be highly testing on one’s skills as an apothecary, and the first person that came to Zhang Xuan’s mind was none other than… Fu Jiangchen!
Fu Jiangchen was reputed to be the number one apothecary of the Firmament, and he was a powerful God King as well. It should be safe to entrust the Grass of God King into his hands.
Most importantly of all, he had interacted with Fu Jiangchen, and he felt that the latter was a trustworthy person.
Otherwise, if news regarding the Grass of God King leaked, it would surely cause an even larger uproar than the Breakthrough Pill. After all, each God King was an invaluable asset to any clan in the Firmament, and this included clans with Conferred God Kings.
He would surely face yet another wave of even more powerful assassins once that happened.
“Teacher, stay safe…” Feng Jiuge clasped his fist.
Zhang Xuan nodded in response. He strictly instructed Feng Jiuge not to tell anyone about the Grass of God King before riding the aerial celestial beast all the way to the Great Displacement Teleportation Formation.
Through such a convenient tool of travel, he should have more than enough time to head to the Sky of Linglong to look for Fu Jiangchen, have his pill forged, and make it back within half a day.
