Forsaken Continent, Hall of G.o.ds. A tall silhouette flickered within a dim hall illuminated by only candlelights. Amidst the dim illumination, it was impossible to make out the appearance of the tall silhouette clearly.
A black-robed figure kneeled on the ground and greeted, "Master."
"What is it?" an emotionless voice sounded from the tall silhouette.
"Sect Leader Han Jianqiu of the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion has stepped down, pa.s.sing his position on to Zhang Xuan... Do we still proceed on with our initial plan?" the black-robed figure asked.
"He pa.s.sed down his position?" the tall silhouette harrumphed coldly. "Interesting. Does he think that I"ll back down because of that? Pay that matter no heed. Capture that person as soon as he appears, understood?"
"But..." the black-robed figure hesitated. "If we were to touch a leader of the Six Sects, I fear that we might turn everyone against us..."
Peng!
Before he could even finish his words, he was sent flying backward. His body crashed into the ground, and fresh blood seeped from the corners of his lips. This single impact had caused his face to pale.
"Did I ask you to teach me what to do?" the tall figure narrowed his eyes coldly.
"I dare not to..." the black-robed man kowtowed again and again, knocking his forehead on the stone-cold floor in seek of redemption.
"That better be the case. I"ll repeat myself just once more. No matter what, I want him to be presented before me alive. If anything were to go wrong, I"ll rip the skin off your fles.h.!.+" the tall silhouette waved his hand.
Hu!
As if an extinguished candle flame, he vanished on the spot.
The black-robed figure struggled to his feet. He wiped away the cold sweat trickling down his cheeks before quickly backing out of the room.
...
Wuhai City.
The disguised Zhang Xuan walked into Wuhai Market with widened strides.
After leaving the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion, he flew using the G.o.ds" Sword Intent for roughly ten minutes straight till he finally arrived here. As such, he was still unaware of the news that Han Jianqiu had pa.s.sed down the position of the sect leader on to him.
"Is there anything you require?" the receptionist asked with a smile.
"I would like to rent an aerial beast," Zhang Xuan replied with a cold voice.
He was currently disguised as a suave middle-aged man in his late thirties. He had a clean face and towering frame, but he emanated an aura of coldness that seemed to push others away from him.
To be honest, the Ascendant Cloud Mountain was not too far away from here, and it would only be a ten minutes journey with his flight ability. However, this was the place the Hall of G.o.ds noticed and attempted to a.s.sa.s.sinate him.
In this world where only High Immortals were capable of flight, it would be simply too conspicuous if he were to fly right over to his destination.
Even when he was making his way to Wuhai City, he had made sure to fly close to the ground, under the cover of the lush greenery, even though he knew that it would slow down his speed significantly.
It might have been safer for him to travel by foot instead then, but he thought that the Hall of G.o.ds might have placed sentries around the perimeter of the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion, so he felt that it would be better for him to leave the area as quickly as possible back then.
"This way please," the receptionist nodded.
Wuhai Market didn"t just deal with the sales of artifacts and the sort. It also offered its customers transportation service as well.
Following behind the receptionist, Zhang Xuan was soon led to the stables where the aerial beasts were kept. There was a ma.s.sive ■兽（Beast)" character at the entrance.
Soon, an old man walked over and greeted Zhang Xuan, "Pa.s.senger, where will you be heading to?"
"Ascendant Cloud Mountain."
"That will be ten Ethereal Coins!"
Very well."
With a wave of Zhang Xuan"s hands, ten Ethereal Coins were delivered right into the hands of the old man. He had made sure to secretly exchange his Sword Pavilion Coins to Ethereal Coins as soon as he arrived at Wuhai City. He knew that he would stand out if he were to trade using Sword Pavilion Coins here even though it was an accepted currency,
The old man"s eyes immediately lit up upon seeing the money. He walked into the stables where the aerial beasts were kept and led one out.
"Let"s go!"
The two of them got onto the back of the aerial beast, and before long, they were well on their way to Ascendant Cloud Mountain.
Zhang Xuan took a look around him and saw that there were several other pa.s.sengers riding on aerial beasts around him as well. Knowing that he wouldn"t stand out amongst the crowd, he heaved a sigh of relief.
Following that, he turned his sights upon the young lad driving the aerial beast and noticed that there was an emblem pinned in front of his chest. There was a (Beast)" character on the emblem, similar to what he saw at the entrance of the stables.
Thus, he asked, "You are from the Myriad Beasts Hall?"
"I"m a menial disciple from the Myriad Beasts Hall. I"m getting ahead in my age, and it doesn"t seem like I"m making too much progress in my cultivation either. So, the sect dispatched me here so that I can make a living for myself," the old man replied.
You were the one who tamed this aerial beast?" Zhang Xuan asked.
The disciples of the Myriad Beasts Hall were skilled in everything that was related to the beasts, and this included driving aerial beasts as well. Transportation was an extremely lucrative business on the Forsaken Continent since most cultivators here were incapable of flight.
Naturally, the Myriad Beasts Hall would capitalize on this to their advantage. As the facts would have it, a substantial amount of their income came from the sales of aerial beasts and transportation services provided by their disciples all over the Forsaken Continent.
Most small businesses wouldn"t even earn ten Ethereal Coins within a month, but this was the cost for a to-and-fro trip to the nearby Ascendant Cloud Mountain.
"Of course not. How can someone of my cultivation possibly tame such a formidable aerial beast? The Wuhai Market bought it from the Myriad Beasts Hall. I"m just the person driving it around," the old man replied.
Zhang Xuan continued on to ask a few more questions, but perhaps because the old man was just a menial disciple, it turned out that he didn"t know too much about the more in-depth details of beast taming. The only skill that he had really grasped in his time there was how to drive aerial beasts around.
Seeing that he was getting nowhere, Zhang Xuan eventually gave up.
As one of the Six Sects, the Myriad Beasts Hall was a ma.s.sive organization with at least ten thousand inner and core disciples. Given so, there must be a hulking number of menial disciples under them.
It was inevitable that the sect would be unable to devote too much time and effort to nurturing their menial disciples as well, so the things that they could learn were severely limited.
As the atmosphere between the two of them lightened up through their chatting, the old man advised, "Customer, where do you wish to land? The Ascendant Cloud Mountain is filled with many ferocious beasts, so I suggest for you not to proceed too deeply in. Otherwise, it might prove to be very dangerous..."
"Are you familiar with the Ascendant Cloud Mountain?" Zhang Xuan asked curiously.
"I"ve been there a few times," the old man replied. "That place is really a playground for the beasts. The last time I was here, I explored its depths in hopes of taming a beast myself, but it nearly cost me my life…After that, I have never dared to come here anymore."
As someone who had once aspired to be a beast tamer, he still wished to have a tamed beast of his own. It was just a pity that his strength was too weak, and he hadn"t properly learned the means of a beast tamer yet. Thus, it was simply too difficult for him to succeed.
"Shall we strike a deal? If you share some useful intel with me regarding the Ascendant Cloud Mountain, I can help you tame a beast," Zhang Xuan suggested with a smile.
"Oh?" The old man was slightly surprised by Zhang Xuan"s offer. "Are you a core disciple of the Myriad Beasts Hall?"
"It doesn"t really matter who I am, right?" Zhang Xuan replied. "I have my own means. Don"t worry, I won"t lie to you."
"I see..."
Considering how casually Zhang Xuan had pa.s.sed him ten Ethereal Coins previously, it did seem like the middle-aged man was from an extraordinary background. Besides, even if the middle-aged man reneged on his words, he didn"t have much to lose anyway.
"Amongst the beast tamers, the Ascendant Cloud Mountain is also known as the Four Beasts Mountain. It"s a dangerous area which even beast tamers would be wary to enter, and the main reason behind that is because it"s the territory of four powerful immortal beasts."
"Four powerful immortal beasts?"
"Indeed. These four immortal beasts have reached Heavenly High Immortal realm realm, and the strongest of them is a Serpentine Dragon. It"s a real Serpentine Dragon and not just mere offshoots of the Dragon Tribe that possess just a sliver of the Dragon Bloodline!"
Hearing those words, Zhang Xuan"s eyes lit up a little.
There were several beasts he had tamed back at the Master Teacher Continent which had the word "Dragon" in its name, but they were simply faraway distant relatives which possessed a hint of the Dragon Bloodline. Serpentine Dragons were not Pureblooded Dragons, but they could already be considered as a member of the Dragon Tribe.
As a true Serpentine Dragon, its fighting prowess definitely exceeded that of ordinary immortal beasts.
"What about the others?" Zhang Xuan asked.
"The second strongest is a Nine-headed Fiery Phoenix, carrying the Phoenix Bloodline within it. The last two are namely a Seven-tailed Swordfang Tiger and a White-eared Fox."
The old man paused for a moment at this point before carrying on, "Speaking of which, it"s indeed a little weird. Even though the White-eared Fox is the weakest of the four immortal beasts, for some reason, even the strongest Serpentine Dragon heeds its words. The Myriad Beasts Sect have tried to tame the Serpentine Dragon several times, but each time, their plans were foiled by the schemes of the White-eared Fox, leaving them no choice but to leave in defeat."
"White-eared Fox?" Zhang Xuan nodded contemplatively.