Eternal Beast Taming Family

You're right.

Chu Shengyuan nodded in agreement, "So before we fully understand the situation, we need to follow their lead and figure out what lies behind them."

Nan Li seemed to understand the subtext in Chu Shengyuan's words.

"Fine, do whatever you want. I'm just here for fun anyway."

After calming down the surrounding customers, Liu Yuhuan walked over to Chu Shengyuan and Nan Li.

"Thank you for helping me out, young master and young lady."

Few people in the Chu family know Nan Li's true identity; they only know that the girl claims to be Young Master Yuan's fiancée.

"No need to thank me. This matter arose because of us. Manager Liu, we'll need you to do more work here."

Liu Yuhuan laughed heartily, "No need to trouble yourself, no need to trouble yourself. It's crowded and chaotic here, young master and young lady, why don't you go upstairs and rest?"

Chu Shengyuan nodded and followed Nan Li upstairs.

When they reached the fourth floor, they saw Chu Qinhui standing by the window in the corridor, gazing down at the viewpoint in a daze.

Chu Shengyuan sensed something was amiss and asked softly, "Father, what are you looking at?"

Chu Qinhui withdrew his gaze and fell on the two people who were walking up the stairs. A very faint smile appeared on the corner of his lips.

"Xiao Yuan, you're back. Let's go have a meal together."

With that, he turned and walked toward the restaurant on the fourth floor.

Chu Shengyuan scratched his head, sensing that his father's mood was a bit off. After thinking for a long time without any conclusion, he could only blame it on the stress of returning to his old home and seeing old friends.

……

Qixia Mountain.

Chu Shengfan's teacher, Yang Qingxue, left Qixia Mountain after Wu Yuan recovered from his injuries, earlier than when Zhou Ye left with his senior brother.

This was the third day since his father and grandfather left, and the second day since Chu Shengfan arrived at the Qixia Town government office to handle affairs.

Because the land had just been divided up and various recruitment tasks were being planned, there were a lot of things to do in the town during this period.

Furthermore, the Chu family planned the construction of a new town and dispatched patrol teams to survey the surrounding environment beyond the boundary membrane and the distribution of source beasts.

So almost everyone in the town has something to do, and people are in a hurry, but the town is full of vitality and energy.

Not only Chu Shengfan, but Xiao Muchu has also been staying in the town government hall for quite some time.

Xiao Muchu dared to swear that even when he was in the county government, he had never been this busy.

Who would have thought that such a small town of only tens of thousands of people would have so many things to handle? Wanting to slack off...

But seeing that even a child like Chu Shengfan was handling things diligently, even if he had the thick skin, he couldn't bring himself to slack off.

With his tasks completed, Chu Shengfan looked at the map of the area outside the Qixia Town boundary, which had been recently collected by the patrol team.

Perhaps due to the lingering pressure from the battle between the domain-level source beasts, it is difficult to see source beasts active in a vast area surrounding Qixia Town.

If there are any, they are mostly mortal-level source beasts that lack intelligence and are rather ignorant.

None of the higher-ranking source beasts dared to approach the lower-ranking ones in the vicinity.

Overall, the area surrounding Qixia Town is a safe zone.

However, this situation is accompanied by a hidden worry: the residual aura from the battle between the domain-level source beasts may attract nearby or passing high-level beings.

After looking around for a while, Chu Shengfan stood up and said to Xiao Muchu, who was in the same office and had finally found a moment to enjoy tea:

"Magistrate Xiao, if you are not busy, would you please accompany me for a stroll around the area?"

Xiao Muchu paused slightly in the teacup he was holding, then smiled and said:

"Qixia Town is so small, what's there to see? A simple sweep of my divine sense is enough to take in all the details."

Chu Shengfan shook his head slightly, "I'm not talking about inside the boundary membrane, but outside it. This concerns the future resource sources of Qixia Town, so it's best to go and inspect it with your own eyes."

Xiao Muchu now understood what Chu Shengfan meant. He put down the teacup he had already brought to his lips and let out a very faint sigh.

"Alright, let's go out and take a look."

A few minutes later, Chu Shengfan and Xiao Muchu appeared outside the boundary membrane.

Today's weather is extremely sunny, and the land, which had become barren due to the snake tide, is now beginning to show signs of green.

If the residents of Qixia Town were to retreat into the boundary membrane, it would probably not be long before this place turned into a dense jungle.

In the world of Source Beasts, the destructive power of various skills is terrifying, but their tenacious vitality is equally astonishing.

The two flew at a low altitude of about 20 meters above the ground, observing their surroundings and talking in hushed tones.

"I've heard that Senior Xiao was also a student at Thousand Spirits Academy?"

Xiao Muchu smiled slightly and said, "I studied there for a while, but my talent wasn't outstanding. After barely breaking through to the Domain Rank, I graduated from there."

"Senior Xiao is too modest. Even in the Thousand Spirits Academy, students who can break through to the Domain Rank are extremely rare."

"I've only been lucky; my path of cultivation and advancement probably ends here. But you, the true disciples and virtuous students of this academy..."

That truly represents a promising future; even among those at the same domain level, it's beyond our reach.

Seeing the faint sense of loss on Xiao Muchu's face as she spoke, Chu Shengfan recalled that although Wu Yuan and Xiao Muchu were both at the initial stage of the Domain Rank.

However, Wu Yuan was able to hold his own against the "Nine Abyss Lord," who was at the upper level of the Domain Rank, for a few moves.

Xiao Muchu could only barely hold on before losing her ability to fight.

Furthermore, Chu Shengfan's teacher, Yang Qingxue, was at the same level as "Nine Abyss Lord," yet she was able to easily subdue him.

The difference that Xiao Muchu mentioned probably lies in this. Thinking this, Chu Shengfan suddenly became hesitant to entrust the safety of Qixia Town to Xiao Muchu.

After flying forward for nearly several tens of kilometers, the surrounding terrain gradually began to change.

The trees gradually grew taller, and one could vaguely see the villages that once belonged to the Paper Kite County hidden beneath them.

Chu Shengfan looked at the trees, which were already nearly two meters tall.

"These trees seem to be growing at an abnormal rate. Even with the abundance of energy outside the boundary, they shouldn't be growing this fast."

Xiao Muchu glanced around, as if confirming something, and explained softly,

"About ten miles ahead, there is a high-level spirit-rank tree-like source beast called the Myriad Vine Spirit Root."

These trees must have been influenced by it to grow so rapidly and vigorously.

"Ten Thousand Vine Spirit Roots"

Chu Shengfan repeated the name, searching his memory for information about the source beast.

Source Beast: Myriad Vine Spirit Root (Spirit Rank)

Rank: Spirit Rank

Qualifications: ...

Attribute Tendency: Wood

state:……

Skill: 1. Root of the Body: The root of the Myriad Vine Spirit is a section of tree root hidden in the dense forest, concealed among all the trees, making it extremely difficult to find.

2. Ten Thousand Vines: Vines spread out from its body, forming a dense jungle. Each vine has a certain combat ability. The strongest main vines, after fully maturing, have combat abilities at the upper level of the Spirit rank.

3. Chensheng Leaf: The leaves that grow on the main vine of Wanteng Linggen, and have the miraculous medicinal effect of reconnecting severed limbs.

4. Vine-like Python: The vines can transform into agile pythons to move around, bite, and attack.

5. Derivation: Consumes a certain amount of energy to quickly promote the growth of some ordinary plants, and can absorb some of their life force from their bodies.

6. Withering and Flourishing: Withering and flourishing once a year, the myriad vines and spiritual roots cause the dense forest they have cultivated to wither instantly, temporarily enhancing their combat abilities.

It doesn't have any particularly special skills, such as whipping with vines, and it can only occupy a stable position, so it's not very popular in the contract market.

However, because of the resource-type output of "Tatsumi-no-Yaku" (辰生叶), some powerful families will also plant some to harvest resources.

Chu Shengfan commented, "This spiritual plant is bolder than the other source beasts."

Xiao Muchu shook her head slightly, "You can't be timid. This kind of spiritual plant grows wherever the wind blows, so you can only seize every opportunity to grow vigorously."

Now that no other source beasts are bothering it, it's actually a good opportunity for it.

Chu Shengfan seemed to understand something and nodded slightly. The two of them swept through the dense forest and headed towards the even more ancient forest behind it.

"This is the Moonfall Forest, the territory of the Moonfeathered Bird. However, that guy is always good at assessing the situation, so he probably moved away a long time ago."

Xiao Muchu seemed to be an old acquaintance of the "Moon Feathered Bird," and when he talked about it, his tone was full of complaints.

"Further beyond that is the Cold Howling Ice Valley, but it collapsed after the Huo family went there once, revealing the great river behind it. Now it has become a tributary of the great river."

The two passed through the "Sunken Moon Forest" and found that there were not many source beasts in the forest. The few they saw were mostly snakes, which seemed to be remnants of the last great battle and had hidden here.

Ignoring the source beasts in the forest, the two went straight to the other side of the forest.

We saw the icy valley that had been submerged and covered by the river.

The water rippled and swept across the edge of the forest, as if the river was slowly eroding the forest floor.

Beneath the surface of the water, one might see torpedo-like creatures of various appearances swimming among them, some with different wings, and others with fierce, bone-bladed creatures.

The source beasts in the water are not amphibious or the like, and the contract masters in the Jingyuan Dynasty rarely make contracts with them.

Perhaps only within the territory under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Sea True King's Mansion would fish and water-related source beasts be more prevalent.

It's quite puzzling that a princess with a fire attribute would be born in the royal palace of the "Tianyuan Sea".

Looking at this scene, so different from other places, with its magnificent expanse of blue waves, Chu Shengfan asked, somewhat lost in thought.

"Senior Xiao, do you know the name of this river?"

Xiao Muchu smiled and answered somewhat uncertainly, "I've heard some people say that this place is called Tongtian, and its origin comes from the heavens."

However, within our Jingyuan Dynasty's territory, it is called the Canglan River, where countless Origin Beasts of the King Rank exist, making it impossible for us to easily encounter them.

These river creatures generally don't venture beyond the river's boundaries, but we should still avoid getting too close; just observe them from a distance.

If one were to enter that border, the source beasts there would attack in packs, and even a master of the Derivation Rank wouldn't fare well.

Chu Shengfan took a deep look at the river and recorded its information.

The two then changed direction and went to the outer perimeter of what is now Qixia Town.

"Sinking Moon Forest" is located east of Qixia Town, and "Canglan River" is located east of "Sinking Moon Forest".

To the north of Qixia Town lies the "Hidden Snake Swamp of Mist," which triggered the last calamity; to the west is the "Magnetic Suspended Heavenly Mountain"; and to the south is the "Hundred-Faced Wasteland."

The original Zhiyao County was also surrounded by these four places, but now it has been replaced by Qixia Town.

Although these four places are mentioned directly, Qixia Town is only relatively close to "Chenyue Forest". The other three places are so far away that it's like looking at a mountain and running to your death.

There are many empty spaces in the middle, and source beasts occasionally appear. There are no special resources, and they are not too dangerous for contract masters above the spirit level.

Although the original Paper Hawk County had lived in the other three locations besides "Sinking Moon Forest" for generations, they did not know much about them.

All that is known is that those who went to explore "Magnetic Suspension Mountain" and "Mist-Hidden Snake Swamp" have never returned. The first person to return was Qiao Yinjiao, but he brought enormous trouble with him.

However, quite a few people who went to the "Hundred-Faced Wasteland" actually succeeded or returned from time to time. However, those who returned all contracted a disease that left even Domain-level Contract Masters helpless.

On their faces, an indelible growth of nutrients slowly forms, like painted masks. They utter incomprehensible nonsense, then willingly return to the wasteland.

Over time, no one dared to go to that wasteland anymore. All the resources of the entire Paper Hawk County depended on a vast "Sinking Moon Forest" and foreign caravans.

Not all caravans possess spatial source beasts; these caravans, including the Treasure Pavilion, all come from the "Hundred-Faced Wasteland."

Although the "Hundred-Faced Wasteland" is said to be cursed, as long as one flies over it at a certain height above the ground, one will not encounter any danger. This is also the only passage from Paper Hawk County to other places.

On the surface, Paper Hawk County really does seem like a besieged, desperate place.

Chu Shengfan followed Xiao Muchu's footsteps and first arrived at the "Magnetic Suspension Mountain".

Even from a distance, one could see a mountain range stretching for countless miles, its boundaries invisible even from Chu Shengfan's current perspective as a high-level Spirit Rank Contract Master.

There were no spiritual plants or crops on the mountain, nor any trace of the movement of any source beasts, making it seem like a true wasteland.

However, this mountain has another peculiar feature: its base is several hundred meters above the ground, quietly suspended in the air.

Even a Domain-level Contract Master couldn't imagine what kind of earth-shattering power it would take to suspend this endless mountain range in mid-air, and keep it suspended for thousands of years.

Xiao Muchu looked at the mountain range with a somewhat silent expression. Even though he had seen it many times, he could still feel the shock in his heart just by looking at it from afar.

As Chu Shengfan stared at the mountain range, his mind calmed down. It seemed that the world should be so magnificent and vast, and not limited to what he could see with his common sense.

A faint spiritual aura rippled around Chu Shengfan. Xiao Muchu immediately turned around to look back. He opened his mouth in surprise but did not make a sound to disturb him.

As someone who had been through it all, Xiao Muchu knew that this was a sign that he was about to break through to the Domain Rank.