Chapter 56: Spiritual Beasts

Even though she already knew the panda cub could control the ice spirit ore vein for a whole day, when Li Yang witnessed the entire process of the ore vein slowly rising from the ground, she couldn’t help but show a dumbfounded expression.

Everywhere, ice spirit ore, all refined over hundreds of years, of superior quality.

Even Qi Buli didn’t know that what he saw was only a small part of the ore vein exposed on the surface; most of the ice spirit ore was underground.

The ore vein was connected to the ground. The Wanjian Sect couldn’t directly put the entire vein into a pouch; they needed to dig it out from the ground and then disperse it before they could transport it.

Therefore, even though they had found the ice spirit ore vein earlier and had been digging for a while, they hadn’t harvested much.

Qi Buli had just left the snowy mountain when he heard a commotion.

Everyone looked back and saw the ice spirit ore vein rising from the ground again, higher and higher, more than double the height of what he had seen before. The entire mountain was a glittering sight.

Qi Buli’s face visibly turned green.

The Wanjian Sect had worked hard as gold miners for a while, but when they came to the Yufeng Sect, the whole style changed.

They didn’t even have to dig. Because of Li Yang and Qiu Qiu’s contract, the panda cub hummed and swayed its head, and the entire ice spirit ore vein dispersed from both sides.  Visible ice crystals fell from above, slowly forming small mountains in front of them that could be easily put into pouches.

Li Yang held Qiu Qiu up, examining it carefully, from head to toe, before asking: “How did you do that?”

The little panda had just eaten its fill and was now being held high, flapping its little paws in a flying pose, having a great time.

Lou Qi thought for a moment, then hesitantly said: “Have you ever heard of it? Legend says there’s a kind of spirit beast, born without parents, formed by the convergence of the surrounding spiritual treasures and spiritual energy.”

Li Yang had never heard of such a thing. According to Lou Qi, such beasts were rare. In reality, they looked no different from ordinary beasts, but they were born with great opportunities, and some could even surpass divine beasts in certain aspects.

Li Yang spun the panda cub around for a closer look: “So, Qiu Qiu is a beast formed from the spiritual energy of this icy wasteland?”

Lou Qi nodded: “That’s the only explanation for now.”

Perhaps part of its body was formed from the ice spirit ore, so it naturally had the ability to control this icy wasteland.

The little ball was dizzy from being spun around and rubbed against Li Yang’s arm.

Suddenly, it felt itself lifted, and Lou Qi was holding it up. It panicked and kicked its little legs.

Lou Qi frowned: “This kind of beast has outstanding abilities, but it also has its drawbacks. It has been eating spiritual treasures since birth. If there are no conditions to raise it, it should be quite difficult to grow up.”

He glanced at Li Yang, then threw Qiu Qiu back: “You raise it slowly. It should be useful when it grows up.”

Li Yang took back the little ball, patted its head, and gestured for it to find an arm to hang on to.

The girl suddenly leaned close to Lou Qi, her eyes sparkling slightly: “Master Brother, I found out you know so much.”

What he just said, that spiritual treasures could actually transform into beasts, was knowledge she, as a divine beast, didn’t even know.

Lou Qi’s eyelashes trembled slightly, his gaze shifting from her to another direction, his expressionless as he instructed: “We should go find Bai Yu and Lin Ya.”

Li Yang: “Okay.”

When they left the icy wasteland, the sky darkened again.

Ning Shiyan followed behind the group, carefully observing everyone’s expressions. After much hesitation and a little fear, he quietly took out a bright night pearl from his bosom.

However, the night pearl had both advantages and disadvantages. While it provided light, it also attracted enemies and beasts.

In that short distance, they experienced quite a bit.

First, they encountered the Dan Wang Sect and the Wanjian Sect.

Qi Buli expressed that he didn’t want to speak to them or even look at them, walking away with a gloomy aura of failed property seizure.

Meng Zhang stopped them: “Have you seen Feng Yao?”

Li Yang shook her head: “No.”

A beast pounced from a side path. Zhuang Churan punched it to death. Seeing that it had a lot of meat, he gave it to Li Yang.

After walking a few more steps, several young men who looked like casual cultivators came and asked: “Excuse me, have you seen a green-robed sword cultivator, this tall, this fat?”

Li Yang: “No.”

Another beast pounced from the right-hand path. Zhuang Churan kicked it to death, ignoring it since it had no meat.

A few steps further, people from the Taixu Sect arrived: “Have you seen our Master Brother?”

Li Yang: “…No.”

Yet another beast swooped down from the sky, baring its teeth at them. Zhuang Churan drew his sword with a flourish, splitting the beast in two.

By the time they encountered the third beast, the surroundings were dark, illuminated only by Ning Shiyan’s night pearl, which shone brightly.

Feeling responsible for the trouble the bright light had attracted the beasts he hesitated for a moment before putting the night pearl back into his pouch.

“Thump!”

Zhuang Churan threw the beast carcass in front of Li Yang and said to the boy: “Take it out, or we won’t be able to see the path.”

Ning Shiyan was stunned, momentarily unable to react.

Li Yang quickly put the beast carcass away: “Fifth Senior Brother, it’s better if you hold the night pearl; Third Senior Brother and Fourth Senior Brother can find us by looking for the brightest spot at night.”

Actually, they didn’t need much light to find them; cultivators had some night vision ability.

Ning Shiyan knew Li Yang and Zhuang Churan were looking out for him, his heart filled with warmth.

Lou Qi turned around, calmly extending his hand: “Take out the night pearls, one each, to prevent you from falling behind.”

The boy’s eyes brightened, and he obediently took out his night pearl.

Four people, four night pearls; he had many more in his pouch.

Qiu Qiu came out of Li Yang’s arms, tilted its head, and bared its teeth at Ning Shiyan.

The boy was startled by its fierce yet cute expression and tentatively offered it a night pearl.

The little panda caught it with both paws and played with it happily.

Li Yang patted its head: “You can’t eat it, you know.”

It hummed.

It wasn’t a fool; it wouldn’t eat a pearl

In the boundless darkness, only they, halfway up the mountain, shone with a brilliant, dazzling light.

Perhaps the light was too dazzling.

Along the way, Li Yang collected quite a bit, stuffing beast after beast into her space, muttering softly: “Why are so many people missing…?”

Lin Ya’s disappearance was normal; the others were quite unusual.

Lou Qi looked towards the horizon and suddenly stopped.

A bright sword light pierced the darkness and slashed down.

The sword light seemed to shatter something invisible around them.

Bai Yu, with Lin Ya, flew towards the night pearls halfway up the mountain.

“It’s Third Senior Brother; they’re back!”

Li Yang raised her hand to wave.

However, what followed were several missing sword cultivators, along with Tai Xu Sect’s Luo Qingyang, trailing behind the two.

And behind them were countless beasts, their eyes glowing with demonic light, bursting through the illusion.

Li Yang was completely stunned.

Bai Yu passed by them: “AAAAAHHHH Run!”