Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Chapter 413 Dolan Grassland, the Multi-Winged Tribe [Please Subscribe]

How could it be her!

At the western entrance of Tianyuan Immortal City, Zhou Chun looked at the female cultivator in front of him wearing a bamboo hat that covered her face and cursed his bad luck in his heart.

Although the female cultivator concealed her face with a bamboo hat, changed her height and figure, and masked the smell of medicinal pills on her body with a peculiar fragrance, Zhou Chun still easily recognized her.

She was one of the cultivators Zhou Chun least wanted to see in Tianyuan Immortal City—the alchemy master Luo Qingni!

The reason Zhou Chun was able to recognize her so easily was because of the reaction of the wood spirit in his spirit beast pouch.

He already knew that Luo Qingni's cultivation technique must be a top-tier wood-element technique, and that it was extremely attractive to wood spirits.

If Luo Qingni had discovered the wood spirit in the first place, she probably wouldn't have needed to do anything; the wood spirit might have been willing to follow her.

As an alchemist, Luo Qingni is obviously extremely sensitive to magical energy and such things.

It had only been two years since Zhou Chun had entrusted her with refining pills, and the "Dragon Transformation Pill" was a rare and unorthodox elixir. It would be difficult for her not to be deeply impressed by Zhou Chun.

Therefore, upon meeting him up close, she quickly recognized his true identity through the magical aura emanating from him.

And she didn't hide this fact, quickly and quietly sending a telepathic message to Zhou Chun: "I didn't expect Fellow Daoist Xu to have also accepted this mission. Should I call you Fellow Daoist Xu, or Fellow Daoist Zhang?"

How could Zhou Chun not hear the mockery in those words?

By now, Luo Qingni must know that neither Xu Fu nor Zhang Liang are his real names.

It would be a lie to say he wasn't panicked at that moment.

With outsiders present, he dared not show anything unusual. He could only smile and introduce himself to the others as Yan Qiyang introduced him, while secretly replying with a wry smile, "I never expected that Master Luo was the true initiator of this mission!"

If I had known it would be like this, he would never have accepted this mission.

But now that things have come to this, it's clearly too late for him to regret it.

If he were to withdraw from the mission now, offending Yan Qiyang and Master Luo would be a minor matter. However, if Master Luo were to use this to confirm that he had already cultivated a third-tier dragon and leak the information, that would be a matter of life and death.

It can be said that he is now in a dilemma.

Just as he was considering whether to feign compliance and then flee once he left the city, Luo Qingni seemed to have guessed his worries.

Suddenly, he spoke up, "Fellow Daoist Zhang, are you worried that I might reveal the matter of the 'Dragon Transformation Pill'? You don't need to worry about that at all. I can swear an oath to my inner demons that I will absolutely not tell any third party other than you and me about the 'Dragon Transformation Pill'!"

Hearing this, Zhou Chun was also taken aback, not expecting that she would be willing to do this.

After a moment's hesitation, he replied in a deep voice, "Master Luo, you flatter me. I believe that with your status and position, you would not do something that would damage your own reputation."

At this point, he also stated his position, saying, "It's quite a coincidence. Since my employer for this trip is Master Luo, I, Zhang, will do my best to complete the task to repay Master Luo's previous kindness in refining elixirs!"

"Then thank you for your trust, Fellow Daoist Zhang."

Seeing that she had achieved her goal, Luo Qingni stopped there and agreed with a smile.

Not long after, Zhou Chun and his group of five Purple Mansion stage cultivators left the Immortal City from the west entrance of Tianyuan Immortal City, and then rode together on a second-tier high-grade demon beast, the "Six-Winged Flying Lizard," towards the direction of the Dolan Grassland.

Among the five cultivators at the Purple Mansion stage, Yan Qiyang and Luo Qingni, who used the alias "Meng Qingqing," were both at the late Purple Mansion stage and were also the employers of this trip.

Zhou Chun and the other two Purple Mansion stage cultivators were all employed cultivators.

The two people were a man and a woman. The male cultivator was an unkempt middle-aged man who reeked of alcohol and had a yellow gourd hanging from his waist. He would pick up the gourd every now and then and take a sip.

His name was Lu Chong, and he called himself "The Recluse of Wine". He was a cultivator at the mid-stage of the Purple Mansion realm.

The female cultivator's name was Xiao Jinlian. She had a graceful figure and excellent looks, truly living up to the name "Jinlian" (Golden Lotus). Like Zhou Chun, she was at the early stage of the Purple Mansion realm.

The "Six-Winged Flying Lizard" that the five of them were riding together was Yan Qiyang's mount, and nominally Yan Qiyang was the leader.

Therefore, after setting off, Yan Qiyang explained the details of the mission to Zhou Chun and the other two.

"For this escort mission, the three of you only need to escort the two of us to the shore of Muli Lake on the Dolan Grassland. Once we arrive, I will give you the reward."

"What I need to explain to you three is that in order to conserve our magical power and maintain our condition, neither I nor you will take action easily. Therefore, if we encounter any monster attacks or multi-winged mages on the road, we will have to rely on you three to deal with them."

"Of course, the route that Yan and I chose has already avoided those large 'Multi-Winged Clan' tribes and some dangerous places as much as possible. Unless we are extremely unlucky, we should not encounter any fourth-tier beings!"

Having said that, Yan Qiyang glanced at Zhou Chun and the other two and asked, "That's the general situation. Do you three have any further questions?"

After hearing his words, Zhou Chun and the other two looked at each other and then shook their heads to indicate that there was no problem.

"Alright, since all three of you have no objections, then it's settled."

Yan Qiyang nodded in satisfaction, and the rules were thus established.

The five of them didn't talk much along the way, and kept traveling in silence.

Once the "Six-Winged Flying Lizard" is tired from flying, Yan Qiyang will have everyone land and rest, waiting for the "Six-Winged Flying Lizard" to recover before setting off again.

Although this method takes some time, it undoubtedly maximizes the conservation of the five people's mana.

Not everyone possesses a spirit crystal, nor is everyone like Zhou Chun, who has a purification jar that allows him to meditate and cultivate in the wild to restore his magical power.

When ordinary cultivators go out, they completely entrust the task of traveling to their spirit beasts, just like they are doing now.

Otherwise, the spirit beasts used for transportation in the cultivation world wouldn't sell so well and command such high prices.

Tianyuan Immortal City is not particularly far from the Dolan Grassland; the straight-line distance is less than three thousand miles.

The "Six-Winged Flying Lizard" took a short break before carrying Zhou Chun and the others directly to the top of the Dolan Grassland.

Although it is called Dolan Grassland, Dolan Grassland is not just grassland.

In fact, the Dolan Grassland is a vast area with a variety of terrains including mountains, lakes, and rivers.

It's just that the grasslands cover most of the area, hence the name Dolan Grassland.

The view of the Dolan Grassland from the air is undoubtedly spectacular.

The undulating grassy slopes stretched out in a line, like waves on the sea, only this time they were a bluish-green.

The flat grassland stretches as far as the eye can see, dotted with herds of cattle, sheep, and horses, as well as flocks of birds.

At the border between the Great Zhou Kingdom and the Duolan Grassland, there are still many human herders grazing their livestock.

However, in order not to anger the "Multi-Winged Clan," the rulers of the grasslands, human cultivators would deliberately control the grazing lands of these herders, preventing them from venturing too far into the grasslands.

Zhou Chun and his group's flight route was carefully selected by Yan Qiyang to avoid the large tribes of the "multi-winged race" as much as possible.

However, after venturing hundreds of miles into the grasslands, Zhou Chun quickly spotted living members of the "Multi-Winged Tribe".

The "Winged Tribe" is an alien race whose members are all born with wings, just like their name suggests, and are naturally able to glide and fly.

They are roughly humanoid, with slightly shorter legs and claws on their feet, resembling wolf claws.

Meanwhile, the people of the Multiwinged Tribe have long faces, hooked noses, pointed chins, small eye sockets, narrow pupils, and small ears. Their pupils are usually sky blue, but can also be emerald green or silver-white.

They also have relatively abundant body hair, probably to help them stay warm and protected from the wind while flying.

Compared to their short legs, their hands seem rather long, and they only have four fingers.

The most distinctive feature of the "Winged Tribe" is clearly their wings.

Ordinary "multi-winged creatures" generally have a pair of feathered wings, with the wings being mostly black, gray, cyan, white, blue, and red, and occasionally mixed with other colors.

These ordinary "multi-winged races" are just like ordinary humans, and their lifespan is even shorter than that of humans, only about fifty or sixty years.

However, if a newly born "multi-winged race" member has four wings, he/she possesses the aptitude of a mage and can become a mage similar to a cultivator.

Above the four wings, there are also six-winged and eight-winged ones. The number of wings represents the level of a mage's aptitude in the "multi-winged race".

The mage lineage of the "Multi-Winged Clan" is extremely complete, with orderly inheritance from the first to the fifth level. From low to high, they are low-level mage, intermediate mage, advanced mage, grand mage, and holy mage. Each level is further divided into three sub-levels: initial, intermediate, and advanced.

They also make magical artifacts and talismans, tame demonic beasts, cultivate spiritual herbs, know how to set up magic arrays, and even refine potions.

It is precisely because they have a complete cultivation system similar to that of immortal cultivators that the "Multi-Winged Clan" has become the overlord of the Dolan Grassland and one of the few powerful alien races in this world that coexists with humans.

It is said that if it weren't for the pressure from the human race, the "Winged Tribe" might have wiped out the "Tattooed Tribe," the alien race on the other side of the Dolan Plains, long ago.

It's hard to say whether a "multi-winged" mage or a human cultivator of the same level is stronger.

Because both sides possess both genius and mediocrity.

However, compared to human cultivators, the advantage of "multi-winged" mages lies in their innate ability to fly, and their flying speed is not slow, which gives them a significant advantage in the first and second stages.

However, their disadvantage is equally obvious: their lifespan is still shorter than that of human cultivators.

The lifespan of a low-level mage is limited to eighty years, that of a mid-level mage is one hundred and fifty years, that of a high-level mage is three hundred years, and that of a grand mage is said to be six or seven hundred years.

This is significantly inferior to that of human cultivators of the same level.

Like human cultivators, the mages of the "Multi-Winged Race" also live in places where spiritual energy gathers, and do not live among ordinary "Multi-Winged Race" mortals.

However, the mortals and mages of the "Multi-Winged Tribe" are more closely connected. Both the mage community and the mortals exist in the form of tribes, sharing the same tribal name. Mortal tribes usually live around the mage tribes in order to obtain the protection of the mages.

On this day, after flying until it was exhausted, the "Six-Winged Flying Lizard" landed in a forest to rest under Yan Qiyang's command.

The "Multi-Winged Tribe" members can all fly, so it's a good idea to avoid their sight and rest in a lush forest.

Moreover, forests are definitely places that the "multi-winged tribe" would never want to set foot in, as their wings are easily caught on tree branches in the forest.

However, the "Winged Clan" mages also know the art of beast taming, and can tame monsters for hunting and riding.

After Zhou Chun and his group rested in the forest for about two hours, several "Winged Clan" mages who had entered the forest with their pets to hunt monsters arrived near them. One of the demonic wolves, with its keen sense of smell, even caught a whiff of the scent emanating from the "Six-Winged Flying Lizard".

Thus, the group was naturally exposed to the "multi-winged" mages.

To be honest, this encounter was something neither side wanted to happen.

When the five "Multi-Winged Clan" mages found Zhou Chun and his group with their pets, they were shocked to discover that each of the five human cultivators here was equivalent to a high-level mage, while none of them were high-level mages.

As for Zhou Chun and the others, they only wanted to reach Muli Lake safely, and naturally did not want to encounter the "Multi-Winged Tribe" mage on the grassland.

But now that they've run into each other, they have no choice but to kill each other to silence them.

"Kill them!"

With Yan Qiyang's command, Zhou Chun, Lu Chong, and Xiao Jinlian attacked simultaneously, launching a massacre against the five intermediate-level "Multi-Winged Clan" mages.

Zhou Chun didn't need any other means. With the "Golden Rainbow Sword," he easily pierced through the defensive spells hastily cast by the two "Multi-Winged Clan" mages, killing them with his sword.

Lu Chong casually flicked out two crimson fire snakes, easily burning the two "multi-winged" mages to ashes.

The last "Multi-Winged Clan" mage had his head pierced by a flying needle magic weapon from Xiao Jinlian.

The group then attacked in succession, killing all the pets brought by the "multi-winged" mages.

"Fellow Daoist Yan, what should we do now?"

After silencing the witnesses, Lu Chong, the "Wine Hermit," abandoned his previous lazy demeanor and looked at Yan Qiyang with a serious expression, asking what to do next.

Judging from his expression, it seems that killing him to silence him is not the end of the matter.

Zhou Chun noticed this and frowned slightly as he looked at Yan Qiyang.

A shadow of gloom flashed across Yan Qiyang's face, and he sighed softly, "Alas, it seems Fellow Daoist Lu also knows the legend of the 'Vengeful Blood Eagle'!"

"That's not just a legend. I, Lu, personally experienced being hunted down, and a friend of many years died on this very grassland!"

Lu Chong pursed his lips and said in a melancholy tone.

"I see. Then let Fellow Daoist Lu tell Fellow Daoist Zhang and Fellow Daoist Xiao about the 'Vengeful Blood Eagle'."

Yan Qiyang nodded and handed over the task of popularizing science to Lu Chong.

Upon hearing this, Lu Chong did not refuse and immediately began to recount his past experiences to Zhou Chun and the other person with a complicated expression.

It turns out that he and two other friends ventured deep into the Dolan Grassland in search of treasure. After they worked together to kill a third-tier monster, they were attacked by two high-level "Multi-Winged Clan" mages.

Later in the battle, they outnumbered the enemy to two, gained a significant advantage, and even killed a high-ranking mage from the "Multi-Winged Clan".

But little did they know that this would lead to a huge disaster!

In some large tribes of the "Multi-Winged Clan," a special ghostly creature called the "Vengeful Blood Eagle" is consecrated, and all the intermediate-level mages and above in the tribe are required to offer their life essence to this creature.

If a mage who has nourished the "Vengeful Blood Eagle" with his life essence were to die unexpectedly, the "Vengeful Blood Eagle" would quickly sense it and point out the direction in which the person had fallen.

Some "Vengeful Blood Eagles" that have been refined to be extremely powerful will even create clones to hunt down the killers.

Lu Chong and his group were once pursued by a "Multi-Winged Clan" archmage who was accompanied by the "Revenge Blood Eagle" clone. As a result, the murderous Purple Mansion stage cultivator was caught up and killed.

After hearing Lu Chong's story, Yan Qiyang spoke up, saying, "We don't know which tribe these young members of the 'Multi-Winged Clan' come from, but if their tribe truly possesses the 'Vengeful Blood Eagle,' they should already know about their demise. We should immediately leave this place and depart from this tribe's territory as soon as possible!"

"Fellow Daoist Yan, do you mean everything will be fine as long as we leave the territory of this 'Multi-Winged Clan' tribe?"

Zhou Chun suddenly interrupted, asking with a curious expression.

Upon hearing this, Yan Qiyang shook his head and said, "That's not necessarily true. However, the relationships between the various tribes of the 'Multi-Winged Clan' are not entirely harmonious. If we leave this tribe's territory, they shouldn't send a Grand Mage to other tribes' territories to hunt us down for the sake of a few junior mid-level mages!"

After saying this, he looked at everyone and said, "From now on, I, Yan, will give you all a ride!"

Then he reached out and patted the storage bag at his waist, and a dark blue flying boat appeared in his hand. He threw the flying boat into the air, and the original one-foot-long flying boat instantly transformed into a two-zhang-long flying boat, which was more than enough to accommodate five people.

"A third-tier flying magical artifact!"

Zhou Chun looked at the dark blue flying boat in mid-air, a look of surprise flashing in his eyes.

Generally speaking, cultivators rarely use flying artifacts after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.

The reason for this is twofold: firstly, controlling a magical artifact still consumes magical power and spiritual consciousness, so it is safer to use a spirit beast for transportation; secondly, second-tier flying magical artifacts are more expensive and rarer than other magical artifacts.

In terms of value, a second-tier low-grade flying magic weapon might be more expensive than a second-tier high-grade attack magic weapon.

The dark blue flying boat artifact that Yan Qiyang has released is an extremely rare third-grade low-level flying artifact, whose value is far greater than that of a third-grade high-level artifact like the "Golden Rainbow Sword".

This made Zhou Chun even more curious about Yan Qiyang's background.

Despite their curiosity, neither he, nor Lu Chong, nor Xiao Jinlian, said much after their initial surprise and boarded the flying boat.

It must be said that there's a reason why flying magical artifacts are so expensive.

Although it was only a third-tier low-grade flying magic artifact, the cyan-black flying boat was several times faster than the flying speed of a typical late-stage Purple Mansion cultivator, even with five people on board.

Zhou Chun estimated that his escape speed when using the "Flowing Golden Rainbow" secret technique at full power would probably be only slightly faster than this.

But he simply wouldn't believe it if you said that a third-tier flying artifact didn't have any additional acceleration abilities.

About two hours after Zhou Chun and his group left the forest, a giant blue eagle suddenly descended over the forest and quickly landed at the spot where several "multi-winged" mages had fallen.

Then a male and a female "multi-winged" mage landed on the eagle's back, with the male mage having six wings on his back!

"It smells like human cultivators. Chaha and the others all died at the hands of human cultivators!"

In the forest, the male "Multi-Winged Clan" mage's hooked nose twitched a few times before he angrily announced his discovery.

Then he quickly added, "To be able to so easily silence Chaha and the others, those human cultivators must be high-level mages at the Purple Mansion stage. I sensed the presence of at least three of them!"

Upon hearing this, the female mage immediately added, "It's not surprising that they are human cultivators. What's surprising is that there seem to be more human cultivators lately. I heard a few days ago that a great battle took place in the Silver Lake tribe, in which a high-level mage perished. Moreover, even the Silver Lake tribe's 'Vengeful Blood Eagle' lost track of its pursuer!"

After saying that, he added with a hint of regret, "It's a pity that Chaha and the others are of too low a status to warrant the 'Vengeful Blood Eagle's' avatar being mobilized. Otherwise, we might have been able to use the Blood Eagle's avatar to track down these people!"

Upon hearing this, the male mage roared angrily, "These human cultivators are truly despicable! Instead of staying on their own turf, they're always plundering our holy race's resources from the grasslands. Once I advance to Grand Mage, I will definitely raid their kingdoms in return!"

Unlike him, the female mage was not easily angered. She simply shook her head and said, "Let's go. We should go back and report the situation here to the Grand Mage, and see if we should join forces with the Silver Lake Tribe to wipe out these audacious human cultivators!"

"Ina, you're right. We should go back and ask the Archmage and the Silver Lake Tribe to join forces to exterminate those human cultivators and use their flesh and souls to feed the Holy Eagle!"

The male monk's eyes lit up, and he immediately nodded and applauded.

Then the two rode the giant blue eagle away from the forest.

On the other side, after Yan Qiyang had driven the flying boat carrying Zhou Chun and the others for over a thousand miles in one go, he stopped to rest again.

This time, the group learned from their mistake and set up an array to conceal their presence and movements after stopping, in order to prevent being found by any monsters with sensitive noses again.

After resting for a while, the five of them changed into "six-winged flying lizards" and set off again.

And so, over the next ten days or so, the group flew intermittently, covering a distance of about 20,000 li (approximately 10,000 kilometers).

This was not because they had penetrated so deeply into the Dolan Grassland, but because they had to detour to avoid the territories of some large "multi-winged" tribes along the way.

During this time, Zhou Chun, Lu Chong, and Xiao Jinlian also took action several times, repelling and killing many demonic beasts and "multi-winged" mages who blocked their way.

On this day, the group of five arrived at a vast expanse of water.

Looking down from high above, one sees a vast expanse of water stretching out before them, like a sea with no visible shore. The lake ripples under the sunlight, displaying a pristine, silvery-white hue.

This is Muli Lake, a very famous lake on the Duolan Grassland, and it is also the end point of Zhou Chun and his team's escort mission.

"Alright, we have arrived at Muli Lake. The mission of the three of you is now complete. This is your reward for this mission. Please accept it."

On the shore of the lake, Yan Qiyang had the "Six-Winged Flying Lizard" land. Without saying much, he took out three "Essence-Boosting Pills" in jade bottles and handed them to Zhou Chun and the other two for them to inspect.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Chun and the other two opened the jade bottles, took out the pills, and examined them. After confirming that the pills were effective in promoting their cultivation, they put them away with satisfied expressions.

Immediately, Lu Chong, the "Wine Hermit," spoke first: "Fellow Daoist Yan is so generous. Then I, Lu, will take my leave first. Fellow Daoists, please take care. We'll meet again in Tianyuan Immortal City!"

After saying this, he clasped his hands in a salute to everyone and then transformed into a streak of fiery red light and departed.

Clearly, this escort mission was just something he picked up along the way; he must have had other plans after arriving on the Dolan Grassland.

Seeing this, Xiao Jinlian immediately added, "I also have some things to do, so I won't accompany you fellow Daoists. Please take care!"

After saying that, he released a giant black bird from his spirit beast pouch and rode away quickly on this second-tier low-grade demon beast.

After watching the two escorting cultivators leave one after the other, Yan Qiyang's gaze naturally fell on Zhou Chun.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Chun's eyes quickly flickered, and he cupped his hands in farewell, saying, "I also have other matters to attend to, so I will take my leave now."

Then he transformed into a golden streak of light and left the lakeside.

After watching Zhou Chun disappear from sight, Yan Qiyang turned to Luo Qingni and said, "Fellow Daoist Luo, let's set off too."

Upon hearing this, Luo Qingni did not reply, but simply nodded slightly, which was taken as an agreement.

Then she raised her hand and patted the spirit beast pouch at her waist, and a giant, bluish-black tortoise-like demon beast was released and landed on the lake.

Then she and Yan Qiyang leaped onto the turtle's back, and the giant turtle carried them quickly underwater, disappearing from sight in no time.

On the other side, after flying for nearly a hundred miles, Zhou Chun landed on the grassland.

He then patted the spirit beast pouch at his waist and released the wood spirit to keep watch.

The Dolan Grassland is covered with lush grass, which can be considered the home ground of the Wood Spirit. Here, it can communicate with plants and trees and freely use the Wood Escape Technique.

After the wood spirit conveyed the message that everything was safe, Zhou Chun raised his hand, revealing a talisman he was holding.

This talisman was secretly given to him by Luo Qingni halfway through the journey. She told him that he could take the talisman and wait around Muli Lake. If the talisman was activated, he could go with the talisman to find her.

Zhou Chun never asked Luo Qingni why she came to Muli Lake on the Duolan Grassland with Yan Qiyang.

But he knew that for Luo Qingni, a master alchemist, to risk her life, what the two were plotting must be extraordinary.

Luo Qingni handed him the talisman halfway there and gave him those instructions, which clearly showed that she did not completely trust Yan Qiyang and intended to leave herself a backup plan.

"But what makes her think I'll follow her lead?"

Zhou Chun stared at the talisman in his hand with a strange expression, his eyes flickering uncertainly.

(End of this chapter)