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

Chen Qing and Yang Ming rode side by side on their horses, heading north along the winding mountain road.

The dragon-scale horse was extremely fast. It had traveled sixty or seventy miles in just half an hour after leaving Half Moon Lake. The mountains on both sides gradually became higher, the forests became denser, and the population became increasingly sparse. Often, it would take several miles to see a single house.

Chen Qing sat upright on his horse, his gaze sweeping across the mountains and forests on both sides, silently memorizing the terrain.

This area is close to the border between Linyuan County and Zhengdong Mingyuan County. Thirty miles further northeast lies the territory of Chiyan Mountain.

As they were traveling, Yang Ming suddenly pulled on the reins.

"Whoa—"

The dragon-scaled horse neighed and stopped.

Yang Ming dismounted, rubbed his lower back, and said with a wry smile, "Junior Brother Chen, I really can't go on anymore. It's already taken me two or three days to travel from Jueyuan County to your Half Moon Lake, and now we've traveled such a long distance. My back aches, my legs are blistered. Shall we take a break?"

Chen Qing was not surprised to hear this.

Between Jueyuan County and Linyuan County lies Mingyuan County, which would take two days to reach by riding a dragon-scaled horse. Yang Ming's pot-bellied figure didn't look like someone who could travel long distances. It's already quite impressive that he's managed to hold on this long.

Chen Qing nodded, dismounted, and glanced around.

This is a valley surrounded by mountains on all sides, with ancient trees standing tall and blocking out the sun. The ground is covered with a thick layer of dead leaves, which rustle underfoot. The valley is unusually quiet; there are no birdsong, no animal roars, and not even the sound of the wind. Only occasionally can you hear a few dead leaves falling from the branches and swirling in the forest.

Chen Qing frowned slightly.

Such a desolate mountain forest is quite rare, but after thinking about it again, he didn't pay too much attention to it.

Red Rock Mountain is already remote and close to Blood Spirit Abyss, with few people around for miles. This valley is sandwiched between two mountains, so the wind doesn't blow through and birds and beasts don't want to roost there, so it's normal that it's quiet.

Without much thought, Chen Qing tied the dragon-scaled horse to an old tree by the roadside, casually took out a pot of water from his storage bag, unscrewed the cap, and took a couple of sips.

Yang Ming dismounted, stretched his limbs, and suddenly reached into his robes, taking out a palm-sized green bag.

Chen Qing's gaze sharpened.

A spirit beast pouch?

Yang Ming noticed Chen Qing's gaze and smiled as he weighed the spirit beast pouch in his hand: "Junior Brother Chen, you may not know this, but I also participated in the Beast Taming Peak Meridian Entering Test back then."

He sighed, his tone tinged with reminiscence: "Unfortunately, my aptitude is truly mediocre. I have no confidence that I can reach the Qi Refining Perfection stage in my lifetime, and if I am held back by spirit beasts, I'm afraid I'll really die of old age at the Qi Refining stage. After much thought, I've decided to give up."

"However..." Yang Ming changed the subject, patting the spirit beast pouch in his hand, "If you can't afford a contracted spirit beast, you can still keep an ordinary spirit beast for transportation and guarding the house."

After saying that, he untied the bag, and a flash of blood appeared, and a dark red wolf shadow appeared out of thin air beside him.

Chen Qing stared intently—

The wolf was about five feet tall, with long limbs and a lithe body. Its fur was dark red, as if it had been soaked in blood. Its pair of eerie green eyes coldly scanned the surroundings before finally looking at Chen Qing, revealing a hint of ferocity.

Silver Moon Wolf?

Chen Qing raised an eyebrow slightly, examined it carefully for a moment, and then felt it didn't quite look like it.

The Silver Moon Wolf was entirely silver-gray, with fur as smooth as moonlight, and a cool and elegant temperament. But the one in front of us was dark red, with rough and messy fur, and exuded a fierce aura. It looked like a ferocious beast that had crawled out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood.

Seeing the doubt in Chen Qing's eyes, Yang Ming smiled and explained, "This is a variant of the Silver Moon Wolf, which I call the Blood Moon Wolf. It was discovered near the Blood Spirit Abyss years ago. For some reason, this little guy was driven out by the Silver Moon Wolf pack and fled into the Blood Spirit Abyss. It was tainted by the blood energy there and ended up looking like this."

He reached out and touched the Blood Moon Wolf's head. Although the wolf was still staring at Chen Qing, it did not move away. Its body was slightly tense, and its whimpering was a little lower. It was clear that there was a subtle subordinate relationship between it and Yang Ming.

Yang Ming patted the wolf's head and laughed, "Your current cultivation level is at the mid-grade of the first rank. Although you can't compare to the orthodox spirit beasts of Beast Taming Peak, you're more than enough to be my helper."

Upon hearing this, Chen Qing couldn't help but sigh, "The Blood Spirit Abyss is indeed a secret realm. The things inside are incredibly diverse, and even spirit beasts can be corrupted into this state."

"Who says otherwise?" Yang Ming nodded with a smile.

Chen Qing withdrew his gaze, patted the spirit beast pouch at his waist, and Qingtian and Danyu appeared beside him.

As soon as Qingtian landed, it stretched and yawned, its fluffy little face full of excitement as it looked around curiously. Danyu, on the other hand, elegantly shook its wings, its black bean-like eyes sweeping over the area before it looked away and began to preen the feathers under its wings with its long beak.

Chen Qing took out a piece of beast meat from his storage bag and handed it to Qingtian. He then grabbed a handful of spirit grains and placed them in front of Dan Yu. After thinking for a moment, he took out another piece of beast meat from his bag, walked to the Blood Moon Wolf, and gently tossed it to it.

"Give me one too."

The Blood Moon Wolf twitched its nose twice, lowered its head to sniff the piece of meat, but did not eat it immediately. Instead, it looked up at Yang Ming, and its tail unconsciously tucked between its legs.

Yang Ming nodded with a smile.

The Blood Moon Wolf then lowered its head, picked up the beast meat, and swallowed it in a few bites.

After finishing its meal, it looked up at Chen Qing, the ferocity in its eyes seeming to fade slightly, revealing a hint of affection.

Chen Qing smiled slightly, looked away, turned around and walked back to Qingtian and Danyu, sat down cross-legged, took out the water bottle and took two more sips.

Qingtian, his mouth greasy as he devoured the beast meat, moved closer to Chen Qing as he sat down, sending a muffled thought: "Chen Qing, this place is so quiet, not even a bird chirping."

"Hmm." Chen Qing responded, screwed on the kettle lid, and glanced casually at the Blood Moon Wolf.

That one glance froze him in place.

Blood Moon Wolf (Mutant)

[Realm Level: First Tier, High Grade]

[Potential: Tier 2, Low Grade]

[Bloodline: Normal (Mutated - Blood Infiltrated)]

[Status: Doubt, Fear, Conflict, Murder Intent (rapidly changing)]

[Note: Due to the combined effects of being tainted by blood and enslaved by its master, the creature's intelligence is severely damaged, resulting in a violent temperament. It is absolutely obedient to its master and harbors intense hostility towards strangers. At this moment, due to the host's animalistic affinity, it experiences an instinctive yearning that clashes violently with its master's commands.]

Chen Qing's pupils suddenly contracted.

First-grade superior quality!

Yang Ming had clearly stated that this was a mid-grade first-tier wolf, but the system showed that this Blood Moon Wolf had clearly reached the high-grade first-tier level, equivalent to the late stage of Qi Refining!

But that's not the worst part; the worst part is the status bar!

Doubt, fear, confusion, murderous intent... four emotions flashed and changed rapidly before my eyes, like a revolving lantern.

Chen Qing's heart skipped a beat, and a chill shot from his tailbone straight to the top of his head. Without the slightest hesitation, he frantically circulated his spiritual power and instantly unleashed the Flowing Wind Escape technique, transforming into a blur as he darted to the side.

At the same time, a thought exploded in his mind—

"Qingtian! Danyu! Watch out!"

With half a piece of beast meat still in his mouth, Qingtian's fur stood on end upon hearing this, and his spiritual power erupted. He threw away the beast meat, pushed off the ground with his short legs, and rolled to block Chen Qing's side.

Niwa reacted even faster.

Almost at the same instant Chen Qing's thoughts reached her, she suddenly spread her wings, pure white spiritual flames swirling around the tips of her feathers, her beady black eyes fixed on the Blood Moon Wolf, and let out a sharp cry—

"Hey——!"

And at that very instant—

"Bang!"

Behind Chen Qing, a fierce attack slammed into the spot where he had just been standing, sending dirt flying and creating a crater the size of a large bowl. Three spirit turtle shields appeared around him, one of which was flashing with intense spiritual light and covered with cracks, having blocked the attack for him.

Chen Qing suddenly turned around.

Yang Ming had somehow circled behind him, still in the posture of striking out with his palm, the aftershocks of the surging spiritual energy still lingering in his palm.

Seeing that his attack had been blocked, Yang Ming was slightly taken aback. He then withdrew his hand, slowly straightened his clothes, and the kind and honest smile on his face gradually disappeared, replaced by a coldness and amusement that Chen Qing had never seen before.

"Oh?"

Yang Ming raised an eyebrow slightly, his tone tinged with surprise, "I didn't expect Junior Brother Chen to be so vigilant. I underestimated you."

Chen Qing's face was ashen. With a thought, Qingtian and Danyu had already moved to his side, standing on either side in a triangular formation, facing Yang Ming from afar.

Yang Ming wasn't in a hurry to make a move. He simply stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping over Chen Qing. Suddenly, he sighed, his tone full of regret: "I didn't want to go through all this trouble, but unfortunately... Junior Brother, you're too vigilant."

He shook his head, looked at the Blood Moon Wolf, and said calmly, "Make your move."

The Blood Moon Wolf trembled.

In its deep green eyes, the gentleness and longing born from Chen Qing's affinity were rapidly fading, and its entanglement and struggle were gradually disintegrating.

Instead, an increasingly intense killing intent filled the air!

[New book recommendation period, please vote, fellow readers!]