The Great Violetwing Beast was capable of flying at an incredible speed. The distance of a thousand li was covered swiftly.
In the meandering Hongyuan Mountain Range, a towering mountain was shrouded amidst clouds. The sun rays falling on it refracted to form a brilliant myriad of colors. Accompanied with the rich spiritual energy on the grounds and the occasional calls of beasts and fowls, it felt like a heavenly realm.
“So this is the Cloudmist Ridge!” Recalling Luo Qiqi’s introduction, Zhang Xuan stared at it with a grave expression.
Even before reaching, he could already feel the concentrated spiritual energy spilling from it, as if a natural Spirit Gathering Formation had been erected on the mountain. Without a doubt, such a blessed land would have countless powerful spirit beasts and saint beasts on it.
“I need to speed up!”
Knowing that Wei Changfeng might be in danger at this very moment, Zhang Xuan urged the Great Violetwing Beast forward. However, as they reached the foot of the mountain, the Great Violetwing Beast seemed to have felt some kind of fearsome aura which rendered it unwilling to advance forward regardless of what he said. Thus, he could only have it wait at the bottom of the mountain while he ventured up alone.
“Eye of Insight!”
Activating the Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps, Zhang Xuan scanned his surroundings carefully as he advanced forward to search for Wei Changfeng’s trail.
The Cloudmist Ridge might only be a portion of Hongyuan Mountain Range, but nevertheless, it still extended over several hundred kilometers. On top of that, visibility here was also impaired by the clouds drifting in the area. If Zhang Xuan were to search randomly, it would be unlikely for him to find the other party even if he were given a year.
By then, the other party would have been long dead.
“Hm? I can’t find his trail?”
After scanning the region, Zhang Xuan was unable to find anything at all, and his eyebrows shot up.
Logically speaking, considering that Wei Changfeng had only set off a day earlier than him, he should be able to pick up his trail through the Eye of Insight easily. Yet, to be unable to find anything at all… what was happening?
“Wei Changfeng must have intentionally erased his trail…” After a moment of thought, the truth dawned on Zhang Xuan.
Considering that he was venturing into a land filled with saint beasts, if he were to leave behind any trail, the enemy could use it to track him, and he would be placed in an extremely dangerous position.
Realizing this, Wei Changfeng must have intentionally erased his trail so as to avoid the attention of the saint beasts.
“How do I find him now?” Zhang Xuan frowned.
He thought that he would be able to find the other party’s trail easily with the Eye of Insight, but given the current circumstances, how was he to save Wei Changfeng?
If he were to search aimlessly, it was more likely that he would get lost before he could even find Wei Changfeng.
“Right!” Just as Zhang Xuan was conflicted, a thought suddenly appeared in his mind, and he took out the football-sized object from his storage ring.
Myriad Anthive Nest!
In terms of finding something, there was nothing more efficient than this fellow!
Hu!
The Myriad Anthive Queen appeared before Zhang Xuan. Over the past few days, it seemed to have become much thinner, and its body was distorted like a fried dough biscuit.
“What happened to you?” Seeing its state, Zhang Xuan was taken aback.
On the other hand, the Myriad Anthive Queen’s eyes flew around the place in fury.
Don’t you know very well what happened to me?
You forcefully stuffed the Byzantium Helios Beast into my nest, leaving me to squeeze with that huge fellow. If it wasn’t for the blessing of the heavens, I might have already been squeezed to death!
But as frustrated as the Myriad Anthive Queen was, she didn’t dare to complain to Zhang Xuan.
“Alright, the reason why I brought you out is to have you scout the Cloudmist Ridge for me. I want to find a person!” Knowing that this wasn’t the time to be concerned with the state of the Myriad Anthive Queen, Zhang Xuan instructed.
The Myriad Anthive Queen nodded, and opening its mouth, it breathed out a round ball.
Weng weng weng!
The ball grew larger and larger before abruptly bursting, and countless Myriad Anthive Ants burst forth from it, infiltrating the surroundings inconspicuously.
“Master, there is no sign of any humans in the area!”
A few minutes later, the Myriad Anthive Queen reported.
“No sign?” Zhang Xuan frowned. “Search the area further up the mountain. At the same time, keep a lookout for the saint beasts as well. The moment you find any, report it to me immediately!”
There might be many saint beasts in the area, but it was highly likely that they had segmented the mountain amongst them. As long as they could find the saint beast in charge of the territory they were treading through and avoid it, they should be able to avoid danger.
“Yes!” the Myriad Anthive Queen nodded.
Using its unique ability, it relayed the orders to the Myriad Anthive Ants.
“Let’s advance up the mountain!”
Soon, after the Myriad Anthive Queen was done analyzing the beasts in the area, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.
The strongest beast at the foot of the mountain was only at Ethereal Treading realm. There was no saint beast yet.
With this intelligence, Zhang Xuan advanced up the mountain with the Myriad Anthive Queen using the safe path found by the Myriad Anthive Ants.
“Master, there seem to be some traces of a fight ahead…”
After advancing some distance, the Myriad Anthive Queen suddenly sent a telepathic message over.
“Are there any corpses?” Zhang Xuan asked.
“There is no human corpse there!” Knowing what Zhang Xuan was worried about, the Myriad Anthive Queen replied.
“Bring me over,” Zhang Xuan said grimly.
“Alright!”
The Myriad Anthive Queen pointed the direction where the battle had occurred, and Zhang Xuan flew over discreetly. Soon, he arrived in an area where marks of battle could be seen.
Activating the Eye of Insight, he scanned the surroundings carefully.
The battle happened around ten to twelve hours ago…
On top of those three Virescent Sound Beasts, I can also see traces of a human from the battle marks in the surroundings, Even though these Virescent Sound Beasts aren’t too strong, possessing only the cultivation of Perfect Harmonization realm, they possess exceptionally sharp noses. Most likely, they must have caught the scent of the human and followed it here, resulting in the eventual fight.
Two of them were struck dead in a single blow, but the final one managed to let out a howl in his moment of death. Alarmed, the human smashed its head swiftly in order to silence it. However, even though the Virescent Beast had only managed to let out a momentary shout, its sharp voice should have attracted the attention of plenty of spirit beasts.
Soon, Zhang Xuan finished analyzing the details of the battle swiftly. Most likely, the human was Wei Changfeng.
Even though the battle had ended swiftly, it had still ended up leaving a disturbance in the spiritual energy in the area. This was no different from having one’s location exposed.
Having alarmed the saint beasts and spirit beasts in the area, the danger faced from venturing further in was greater than ever.
He went in that direction!
As Zhang Xuan analyzed the scene carefully, a gleam flashed across his eyes as he found a trail left behind by Wei Changfeng while he was escaping, and he hurriedly followed it.
Most likely, Wei Changfeng must have known that it was no longer of any use to hide his trail with his general location revealed. He would be easily uncovered if the beasts were to comb the area. Under such circumstances, rather than wasting his time on clearing his trail, he decided that it would be better for him to escape as far as he could.
However, it must be said that Wei Changfeng was truly an intelligent person. Knowing that it was only a matter of time before the beasts caught up with him, he chose to take the narrow path up the mountain.
Treading on the narrow path, the spirit beasts and saint beasts would be unable to exploit their numerical advantage against him. On top of that, the massive bodies of the beasts would hinder them on this narrow path, limiting the prowess they could exert.
But naturally, there was a huge flaw in this course of action too. He might still be able to hold his ground at the start, but as his strength depletes battle after battle, he would find himself with nowhere to escape to, as though a noose was slowly tightening on his neck.
Proceeding onward, Zhang Xuan saw quite a few dead spirit beasts along the path.
Perfect Harmonization realm, Ethereal Treading realm, Chrysalis realm…
As the strength of the spirit beasts rose, the battles grew more and more intense. A distance later, Zhang Xuan finally stumbled upon a Half-Saint beast’s carcass.
It was a Darkface Steel Bear, and it was killed by a saber slashing through its head.
A Half-Saint has already appeared even though I haven’t reached the middle point of the ridge yet… and the beasts will only grow stronger the further up the mountain we proceed…, Zhang Xuan thought grimly.
The more kills Wei Changfeng made, the more beasts he would attract. Even though he was a Saint realm expert, he would eventually reach the limit of his stamina.
I should make haste!
With an ominous feeling weighing on his heart, Zhang Xuan hurried forward. Perhaps all of the spirit beasts and saint beasts had been attracted by Wei Changfeng, or maybe the Myriad Anthive Queen’s information network was truly that effective, he had managed to steer clear of any beasts in his way forward.
However, the deeper he ventured, the more intense his eyelid twitched.
Soon, Zhang Xuan stopped at a battlefield.
The surrounding fauna and flora had been completely tramped by the shockwave of battle. There was a massive depression that extended for over several hundred meters. In the depression, one could see a dense concentration of narrow slash marks and huge smash marks.
All in all, it was a complete upheaval.
There are three Nascent Saint realm Blacktail Fox!
With the Eye of Insight, Zhang Xuan swiftly analyzed the surroundings, and his face darkened.
Even though Nascent Saint realm Blacktail Foxes were no match for Wei Changfeng, they were known to be cunning and their expertise at conducting surprise assault. Based on the marks of battle, it seemed like Wei Changfeng had suffered considerable injuries in the fight as well.
Zhang Xuan casually bent down and picked up a tattered piece of cloth on the ground. It was stained crimson with blood.
This happened two hours ago…, Zhang Xuan clenched his fists tightly.
Knowing that he was getting closer and closer to Wei Changfeng, he continued rushing ahead.
Not too long later, he stumbled upon another battlefield.
It was an even more intense battle this time. Two Saint realm beasts were lying on the floor, devoid of life. One of them had an arm hanging from the tip of its mouth, and until this point, fresh blood was still spilling from the end of the arm.
It’s Wei Changfeng’s arm!, Zhang Xuan widened his eyes as he recognized the arm before him.
Assaulted by Saint realm beasts and having an arm torn off him, even if Wei Changfeng managed to slaughter his opponent, it was unlikely for him to be able to proceed much further with all the injuries he had suffered in the battle.
With a brief glance at the surroundings, he also realized that the ground was deeply stained with a human’s blood. With such injuries, Wei Changfeng would die very soon if he wasn’t treated.
That fellow… Does he really need to go that far? Even if we fail to obtain the Cloudmist Flower, we can always find another alternative together…, Zhang Xuan sighed deeply in lamentation.
Encountering saint beasts with strength comparable to his, Wei Changfeng must have known that it was nigh impossible for him to pass them. Even if he did, it wasn’t a guarantee that he would find the Cloudmist Flower, and it was impossible for him to return with the Cloudmist Flower in hand either.
A person as smart as him should have known it was futile and suicidal for him to proceed on!
Hurrying ahead, he advanced yet another several hundred meters and saw a saber stabbed deeply onto the cliff face along the path. The saber was dripping with blood, probably from the deceased saint beast encountered earlier.
Through the various marks of battle, Zhang Xuan could tell that Wei Changfeng’s weapon was a Spirit pinnacle saber. Astonished, he hurried forward to pull the saber out.
It’s broken?
Upon pulling it out, Zhang Xuan realized that the saber was already snapped into two. It seemed to have been cleanly sliced apart by some kind of unbelievably sharp weapon, and the entire patch in the surroundings was dyed red as well.
For a Saint realm expert to have its Spirit pinnacle weapon snapped in battle, just what did Wei Changfeng encounter?
Taking a swift scan of the surroundings, Zhang Xuan suddenly rushed forward, bent down, and picked up a clump of thick hair from the ground.
This is the hair of a… Saint realm 1-dan pinnacle Ancient Ape?, Zhang Xuan’s face darkened as if the underside of a pot.
Wei Changfeng’s cultivation was only at Saint realm 1-dan intermediate stage. Given his current fighting prowess, it would be difficult for him to match even a Saint realm 1-dan intermediate stage saint beast, not to mention a Saint realm 1-dan pinnacle Ancient Ape…
He is in true danger this time around. It’ll be difficult for him to survive…, Zhang Xuan thought worriedly as he rushed ahead.
As long as Wei Changfeng gave up at this point, he might still stand a chance at escaping. Just what was it that made him push on despite sustaining such severe injuries?
