Chapter 193 - 147: Setting Out

Chapter 193: Chapter 147: Setting Out

"I’ll be careful."

Zhao Zuo unfastened a hidden clasp at his waist, keeping his Sky-Breaking Saber ready for instant use. He also took the Black Flame Saber from his Storage Bag and hung it at his side.

About ten minutes later, the rugged mountain path disappeared completely.

"The map." Shen Yunjiao held out her hand to Zhao Zuo for the map that led to the small town.

’So that’s where it is.’ After a brief glance, Shen Yunjiao put the map into her own Storage Bag. She was far better suited to hold the map than Zhao Zuo, who had zero wilderness survival experience.

"I estimate... we can reach the target area in about thirteen days. We’ll make it in time for the duel on September fourth."

"That’s good." Zhao Zuo nodded, pleased.

Shen Yunjiao, however, just shook her head. Sometimes she really couldn’t understand Zhao Zuo’s way of thinking. ’Take this trip, for instance... It seems completely pointless to me. And very stupid.’

"Let’s cover our scent with this powder first," Shen Yunjiao said. She took a packet of Beast-Repelling Powder from her Storage Bag, poured some on herself and rubbed it in, then handed a portion to Zhao Zuo.

The powder was made from herbs that carnivorous Demon Beasts hated. Apparently, to a Demon Beast’s sense of smell, the two of them now resembled a pile of rotting vegetables. And within this forest, herbivorous Demon Beasts would naturally have no interest in rotting vegetables.

"Let’s go." Shen Yunjiao activated a Light Body Talisman. Channeling Mana into her legs, she leaped onto a branch ten meters away. Then, she began jumping rapidly from branch to branch, covering several hundred meters in moments.

Zhao Zuo followed suit, activating his own Light Body Talisman and channeling Mana into his legs to keep up.

Four hours passed in the blink of an eye. At first, Zhao Zuo found it novel, breathing the air of what felt like freedom. But after running for four hours with no change in the surrounding scenery, he finally began to understand just how vast and majestic the Yunlan Mountain Range on the map truly was.

Besides, he was getting tired of the unchanging scenery.

WHOOSH. Shen Yunjiao suddenly appeared beside Zhao Zuo.

"This is your first time away from the Moyun Mountain area. What do you think?" Shen Yunjiao asked, a hint of curiosity in her voice.

"The Yunlan Mountain Range is vaster than I ever imagined," Zhao Zuo said with a sigh.

They found a high point and stopped, climbing steadily toward the treetops. Finally, they emerged at the very top. Zhao Zuo lightly stepped onto a slender branch with the tip of his right foot. Mana circulated through his body, miraculously allowing the fragile branch to support his weight.

Facing the gentle breeze, Zhao Zuo gazed out at an endless, jade-green ocean.

He let out a slow breath...

A look of enjoyment appeared in his eyes as he took a deep breath of the crisp, clean air.

Everything for miles around was reflected in his eyes, visible in perfect clarity.

The two hadn’t climbed up just to breathe the fresh air, but to get their bearings. Even with the guidance of a map imbued with spirituality, it was easy to get lost in the vast, landmark-less ocean of trees. They needed a high vantage point to reorient themselves.

"Let’s go."

After about three minutes, Shen Yunjiao confirmed their direction and leaped down from the branch. They changed course slightly and continued on. Compared to Zhao Zuo, who was practically in a tourist-like trance, Shen Yunjiao was far more focused, her eyes constantly scanning the ground.

Occasionally, she would leap down from the branches to completely absorb a Spiritual Medicine hidden amongst the wild grass. Zhao Zuo was getting a firsthand look at the sheer power of the Taotie Secret Technique. It allowed her to fearlessly devour any animal or plant that possessed Spirit—even highly poisonous grasses.

SWISH. Shen Yunjiao jumped down from a branch again, and Zhao Zuo immediately followed. He found her staring intently at a pile of still-moist dung, her expression incredibly serious.

"A high-level One-Tier herbivorous Demon Beast," Shen Yunjiao sighed. "Too bad I can’t track it." She could feel the Taotie Giant Beast stirring within her; it still needed a great deal of Spirit to be fed.

At first, Zhao Zuo had thought the Yunlan Mountain Range would be a paradise for Demon Beasts, and that finding one to hunt would be simple. But after entering the mountains, he realized he had been far too naive.

Demon Beasts were mobile, and the forest was seemingly endless. So while there were many of them, you couldn’t just expect to run into one whenever you wanted. The only exception was if a Demon Beast was actively hunting, but the pair was coated in a scent that repelled carnivorous ones.

"Let me try." Zhao Zuo took the Tracking Insect out of his Spirit Beast pouch. The little creature had done nothing but eat and drink for free since he’d gotten it. Today, it was finally time for it to earn its keep.

He slowly brought the Tracking Insect closer to the pile of dung and infused it with Mana.

The dormant Tracking Insect was awakened by the Mana. As one of the Spiritual Insects of Heaven and Earth, it possessed a sliver of spirituality and quickly understood why Zhao Zuo had roused it.

Immediately, the Tracking Insect opened its tiny mouth and absorbed a faint, clear wisp of energy from the droppings.

Zhao Zuo felt the Tracking Insect in his hand gradually stiffen. A cyan line of spiritual energy appeared on its body, thick at one end and thin at the other. The thin end pointed in a specific direction.

"Let’s go."

A look of delight crossed Shen Yunjiao’s face. She slapped a Light Body Talisman on herself and took off in the direction the Tracking Insect indicated, moving at top speed.

Roughly twenty minutes passed as they moved through the canopy, constantly changing direction to follow the spiritual line on the Tracking Insect. As expected, their quarry was on the move.

Zhao Zuo glanced down at the Tracking Insect in his hand. ’It’s like a living, breathing locator,’ he thought. ’This world is truly amazing.’

The view ahead gradually opened up, and they finally spotted the Demon Beast they were tracking. It was a colossal, cyan bull, standing over five meters tall and more than twenty meters long.

It was strolling leisurely. With each breath, a plume of white steam billowed from its nostrils, laced with the faint crackle of golden lightning. As it moved, some of the wild grass in its path seemed to be electrically scorched, turning yellow and brittle before crumbling to dust in the breeze.

It would occasionally flick its five-meter-long tail. The tip ended in a round, purple sphere that looked fluffy and almost cute... but arcs of lightning would periodically form and vanish across its surface. This wasn’t an attempt to swat insects.

It seemed to be absorbing energy from its surroundings, storing it within its body in preparation for an attack.

"A Thunder Bull," Shen Yunjiao whispered. They stopped about three hundred meters away from the enormous Demon Beast to observe it, a distance Shen Yunjiao deemed safe.

A Thunder Bull that had survived this long in the Yunlan Mountain Range had naturally been through many battles. It might have looked relaxed, but it was actually quite wary of its surroundings.

Shen Yunjiao estimated its zone of alertness was a circle about a hundred meters in diameter.

Zhao Zuo wasn’t thinking about that. His mind immediately went to the records on the Thunder Bull in the Scripture Pavilion.

It was a high-level One-Tier Demon Beast that fed on wild grass, but preferred Spirit Grass containing Thunder Element energy. Its power was at the very peak of One-Tier Demon Beasts, and it had an extremely violent temperament. Once a fight began, it would not stop until one of them was dead.

Even if an enemy retreated, it would chase them relentlessly, not stopping until it had crushed its target beneath its iron hooves.

This trait made it an extremely difficult beast to deal with. Coupled with its massive size, it was also very difficult to hunt, which explained how it could wander the Yunlan Mountain Range so freely.

"We can take it," Zhao Zuo said. The beast looked terrifying, but it actually had a major weakness: its fighting style was relatively one-dimensional.

It had no sharp claws or fangs; its only methods of attack were to gore with its horns or trample with its hooves.

As long as he and Shen Yunjiao were careful, they should be able to avoid both attacks.

But... the real danger was its ability to control Thunder. That was its truly fatal power.

"Alright." Shen Yunjiao nodded.

The pair slowly approached their target, doing their best to conceal their auras and killing intent.

Revealing their killing intent before the hunt began would surely ruin their plan.

...

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