I tamed beasts and achieved immortality in the world of cultivation.

Chapter 131 Reunion with an Old Friend [Please Subscribe!]

Chen Qing's gaze swept over the three leading Lingyun Sect disciples, and suddenly stopped on the face of one of them.

The man was in his early thirties, with fair skin and gentle features. He held a long, cyan sword, the blade crackling with faint lightning. Although Chen Qing had never seen him in person, his face was familiar—

Back when he was in the Mission Hall, he had seen this person's portrait from Meng Yuanbai.

"So it was Song Yu, my 'good senior brother,' what a coincidence."

Chen Qing thought to himself.

Five years ago, when Song Yu left Qinghe Lake, his cultivation level had just reached the ninth level of Qi Refining.

Judging from his powerful aura, he has already reached the tenth level of Qi Refining, indicating that he has worked hard over the past five years. Judging from his posture, he is likely accumulating contribution points as a Spirit Suppressor, paving the way for his future Foundation Building.

Just then, a rustling sound came from behind the hill.

Chen Qing turned his head and saw that ten little monkeys and ten little wolves had arrived from all directions and were squatting behind him, all looking at him expectantly. The little monkey in the lead, "Wen Chang," had his hands on his hips, his little face full of the smug look of "we've arrived."

Without saying much, Chen Qing put the ten little monkeys into his beast-taming space with a thought.

He then turned around and ordered the ten red-crowned cranes under Dan Yu's command and the ten little silver moon wolves under Yin Yue's command: "Dan Qing, lead the flock of cranes to fly higher and search for the golden tiger cubs within a radius of fifty miles."

"Silver Wolf, you lead the pack to search the ground. The Golden Tiger has a strong scent, so follow the direction the Tiger King came from; you'll most likely find the lair."

Danqing took the lead and soared into the sky, followed closely by nine red-crowned cranes, which transformed into ten white shadows and disappeared into the clouds in the blink of an eye.

The ten little silver moon wolves sniffed each other, swayed their tails gently, and silently dispersed into the forest in different directions.

Chen Qing withdrew his gaze, sat cross-legged on the hill, and prepared to wait patiently.

however.

Before he could even sit down properly, the Blood Spirit Token in his arms suddenly felt hot.

Chen Qing flipped his hand and pulled out the token. A dim point of light appeared on the token, rapidly approaching from behind. The blood energy of the point of light was not strong, only about the third level of Qi Refining.

"We've been discovered?"

Chen Qing's mind raced.

He had already cultivated the "Hidden Spirit Technique" to the second level of perfection, and was not far from the third level. Even if a Foundation Establishment cultivator came, they might not be able to detect him without careful investigation.

But the light spot came straight at him, with the exact same direction, clearly indicating that it had already locked onto his location.

"Walk."

Chen Qing made a quick decision and was about to board the Qingfeng Boat to leave when his gaze suddenly sharpened.

Three more figures appeared in that direction.

All three were wearing the blue disciple robes of the Lingyun Sect. The one in the lead was as strong as a bear, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and ran with great speed. The one on the left was tall and thin, like a walking bamboo pole. The one on the right had a round face and was slightly chubby. He was panting heavily and muttering something under his breath.

Chen Qing paused, his lips twitched, and then a smile appeared on his face. The newcomers were none other than three old acquaintances: Song Yang, Fang Yuan, and Shi Xiuyuan.

"Junior Brother Chen!"

Song Yang spotted Chen Qing from afar. He rushed over in a few strides and slapped Chen Qing on the shoulder, almost making him stumble. "It really is you! I thought that spirit-seeking rat had gone mad and was sniffing some random cultivator!"

"Senior Brother Song, your strength has improved quite a bit." Chen Qing rubbed his shoulder with a wry smile, then cupped his hands to Fang Yuan and Shi Xiuyuan, "Senior Brother Fang, Senior Brother Shi, it's been a long time."

"Junior Brother Chen!" Fang Yuan climbed the hill, panting heavily. His round face was covered in sweat, but he smiled so much that his eyes narrowed into slits.

Shi Xiuyuan followed closely behind, a rare smile appearing on his face, and nodded to Chen Qing.

Chen Qing smiled and asked, "What brings you three senior brothers here?"

Song Yang glared at him and said matter-of-factly, "Junior Brother Chen's presence is our reason for being here."

Chen Qing was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter.

This Myriad Beasts Secret Realm is a treasure trove for finding contracted spirit beasts, so it's perfectly normal for disciples of the Beast Taming Peak to come here. The recent encounter with Su Wanwan is a case in point.

Song Yang and his two companions were already at the seventh level of Qi Refining back then. After not seeing each other for several years, they naturally had to make plans for Foundation Establishment.

After laughing, Chen Qing asked curiously, "But there's something I don't understand—I'm sure I concealed my aura quite well, so how did my three senior brothers discover me?"

Fang Yuan chuckled, but didn't answer. He simply raised his hand and gestured.

The soil at Chen Qing's feet suddenly shifted, and a palm-sized gray rat crawled out of the ground and up Fang Yuan's trouser leg to his palm. The rat was all gray except for a silvery-white spot on its nose, and it kept twitching in Chen Qing's direction.

"This is a Spirit-Seeking Rat." Fang Yuan proudly introduced the rat, "Don't underestimate it just because it's only a low-grade first-level cultivator. It's extremely sensitive to the aura and blood energy of cultivators. It was this rat that smelled your scent, which is why we came here."

The Spirit-Seeking Mouse.

Chen Qing's gaze fell on the inconspicuous gray rat, and he couldn't help but recall that back in Lin Yuan County, the Lin family of Qingxi Valley had also kept a similar spirit rat, which could smell the blood aura on the cultivators of the Qian Kingdom from half a street away.

It is unknown whether Lin Jingyuan listened to his advice and left Linyuan County five years ago.

"The study of spirit beasts is indeed profound and extensive."

Chen Qing sighed sincerely.

His "Hidden Spirit Technique" could fool even Foundation Establishment cultivators if they weren't paying attention, but it couldn't fool a low-grade first-level mouse.

Everything in the world is interconnected and mutually restraining. Some supernatural abilities do not rely on cultivation but on the natural law of one thing subduing another. This Spirit-Seeking Rat's combat power is approximately zero, but this one innate ability is more effective than ten late-stage Qi Refining fighters.

As Chen Qing was secretly marveling, Song Yang suddenly leaned closer, looked him up and down, and clicked his tongue in amazement: "Junior Brother Chen, the aura on your body—you've reached the eighth level of Qi Refining? Your cultivation is quite fast, you've even caught up with me."

Chen Qing smiled slightly and did not deny it.

Upon seeing that it was Song Yang and the other two, he did not unleash the full power of the "Hidden Spirit Technique," but only suppressed his aura to around the eighth level of Qi Refining.

In a few years, he will need to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage; his breakthrough in cultivation will be impossible to hide.

Now that he hasn't seen Song Yang and the others for many years, he can easily get by with a casual excuse about "having some kind of opportunity," so he doesn't need to be as careful as he was at Beast Taming Peak.

"After running around so much, you're bound to make some progress," Chen Qing said casually. "As for my three senior brothers, they haven't been idle these past few years either."

"Opportunity is also a skill." Song Yang waved his hand, and indeed did not delve into it further.

Chen Qing's gaze swept over the three people, silently making a judgment—

Song Yang is at the eighth level of Qi Refining, with a steady and solid aura; Shi Xiuyuan and Fang Yuan are both at the ninth level of Qi Refining, but their auras are not yet very stable, obviously indicating that they have only recently broken through.

Fang Yuan and Shi Xiu entered the Beast Taming Peak ten years earlier than Chen Qing. Now they are around forty years old. If everything goes smoothly, they are expected to reach the Foundation Establishment stage around the age of fifty, just like Zhou Ruoqing did back then.

Although Song Yang was slightly slower, the result was still close.

Thinking of this, Chen Qing felt a slight unease and a sense of concern arose in his heart.

He differed from Song Yang and the other two in that he did not use the "Symbiotic Spirit Contract" of Beast Taming Peak, but rather the system's built-in contract method.

If it's time to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage in the future, Silver Moon will be fine, but the fourth spirit beast will be difficult. You can't raise it to the first-grade high-quality in less than five years after the contract, can you?

It seems we need to make some preparations to cover it up in advance.

However, this matter was not urgent, so Chen Qing put his mind to it for the time being.

Fang Yuan, Song Yang, and Shi Xiuyuan had reached the edge of the hill, looking down at the ongoing melee on the wasteland. Amidst the interplay of spiritual light and deafening roars of beasts, the demon beast army led by the Golden Tiger King and the three formations of Lingyun Sect disciples remained locked in a stalemate, with no clear victor for the time being.

Shi Xiuyuan squinted for a moment, then suddenly said, "The Golden Tiger King's cubs aren't here."

Song Yang nodded: "That tiger king is very cunning; it's impossible for him to keep his cubs with him."

Shi Xiuyuan turned to look at Fang Yuan, his gaze falling on the spirit-seeking rat in his palm: "Fatty Fang, isn't your rat supposed to have a keen nose? Can it follow the tiger king's scent to find its lair?"

Fang Yuan flew into a rage: "Shi Zhugan, I'm saying this for the hundred and eighth time—I call this roundness, not fat!"

Chen Qing: "————"

Song Yang:

"

Shi Xiuyuan looked at him expressionlessly.

Fang Yuan chuckled at the three men's stares, cleared his throat, and said seriously, "Ahem, but—you, you bamboo pole, may have a sharp tongue, but you're not stupid. My spirit-finding rat may not be of high rank, but when it comes to tracking skills, there's no one else like it on the entire Beast Taming Peak. You see, it's no ordinary spirit rat; I obtained it by chance in a secret realm years ago, and it's been with me for five or six years without ever failing."

After saying that, Fang Yuan made a hand seal with his right hand, and spiritual light flashed between his five fingers.

He made a grasping motion towards the battlefield below, and from the chaotic spiritual light and beast roars, he managed to glean a faint golden aura. The aura was as thin as a thread, yet it faintly exuded a domineering pressure—it was the residual blood aura of the Golden Tiger King.

Fang Yuan gently tapped the pale golden light on the nose of the spirit-seeking rat, and the light entered that point of silvery white.

The spirit-seeking mouse trembled, its two little ears stood up straight, its nose twitched wildly, and it made a rapid "squeak" sound.

After a while, its eyes suddenly lit up, and it jumped off Fang Yuan's palm. As soon as its four paws touched the ground, it ran off in the southeast direction.

"I've got it!" Fang Yuan slapped his thigh.

Chen Qing was overjoyed and immediately boarded the Green Wind Boat.

Song Yang gave a shout and summoned his own flying artifact, with Shi Xiuyuan and Fang Yuan following closely behind. The four of them transformed into four streaks of light, closely following the sallow little mouse, and sped off in the southeast direction.