Chapter 244

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Main Character:

Shen Yao

It is a wolf pack commonly seen on the grassland, but among them is one that is exceptionally tall and sturdy, with a small protrusion on its body — that is a bei.

The ancient saying "wolves and bei colluding in villainy" describes precisely this scene before us: wolves are fierce, bei are cunning, and when the two cooperate they are invincible.

Everyone on the carriage has experienced all kinds of crises; what mountain forest ferocious beasts have they not seen? This pack of grassland wolves is nothing out of the ordinary.

But the trouble lies in the fact that among this pack of grassland wolves there is a mutated Wolf King.

Shen Yao gazed coolly ahead, and on her body still sat a bei Wolf King.

The Wolf King towered several times higher than ordinary grassland wolves; standing upright, its wolf head reached the height of a person.

Shen Yao did not look back. "I will deal with the Wolf King; the wolf pack is yours. Chengzhou, cover me."

As her words fell, Shen Yao flicked her arm and her whole person flew out light as the wind.

Ren Chengzhou gripped the folding fan in his hand tightly, instructed Ren Yangyao and the other two to be careful, then followed close behind, drifting down at Shen Yao's side and drawing his sword to defend.

"Awoo——"

The wolf howl rang out, and the originally motionless pack tore forward with four claws each, their figures agile as they pounced at the crowd ahead.

In barely an instant the two sides faced each other head-on, trading fierce blows back and forth.

Shen Yao wielded her sword, simultaneously coordinating with the densely arrayed techniques on the sword body; the Wolf King's methods were far simpler — it only knew to bite, claw, and gnaw, yet because it could not touch Shen Yao its efforts appeared futile.

The bei on the Wolf King's body was not idle either; an occasional sharp cry could actually take effect on the spiritual level.

Pity it was still too immature; to Shen Yao it caused no harm whatsoever, and the others, being farther away, were also within controllable range.

Swish swish swish——

The long sword left its sheath, like a swimming dragon or dancing snake; silver Sword Light hacked the Wolf King's originally splendid fur into a pockmarked mess, even drawing blood occasionally, forcing it to retreat step by step.

Compared to humans, wild beasts have meager attack methods; they are not as intelligent as humans.

This pack of grassland wolves thrived on the grassland because they started on the same starting line; the Wolf King mutated, and with a bei assisting in strategy, other wild beasts could not defeat them whether one-on-one or in a group brawl.

Over time, it would not be excessive for the wolf pack to dominate this stretch of grassland.

This time, Shen Yao and her group were stronger and more fierce in combat power than the wolf pack, causing the wolves' usual tactics to lose all effect.

Awoo!!!

The Wolf King, covered in wounds, finally fell to the ground unwillingly; the bei on the wolf's body turned and fled, but was pinned in place by a flying sword from Ren Chengzhou.

At the moment of death the bei let out a piercing shriek, as if wanting to perish together with those who had injured it; Shen Yao saw through it in time and with a single hand severed the bei's head, putting a stop to the disturbance.

Hu

Shen Yao turned her head to look at the others; the result was satisfactory — the entire attacking wolf pack lay dead, sprawled haphazardly on the ground.

She called the servants to clean up this pack of wolves as soon as possible, including digging pits to bury the wolf corpses; the bloody scent would attract other carnivorous wild beasts on the grassland.

Ren Yangyao ran over, taking small steps to the Wolf King's corpse to observe a few moments. "Mother, this Wolf King's eyes are somewhat strange."

Shen Yao said, "The Wolf King mutated; its eyes underwent demonic transformation."

During their battle this Wolf King had even secretly used its innate ability — an illusion technique that could trap people inside.

It was useless against Shen Yao, but ordinary people could not withstand it; this illusion technique was similar to that bei's cry, both acting on a person's spirit.

Those whose Spiritual Sense Sea is not high would be very easily controlled by them.

"The Wolf King's corpse can be kept for consumption; the eyes are materials for artifact refinement."

Having spoken, Shen Yao called a servant to bring a dagger, cleanly and neatly processed the corpses of the Wolf King and the bei, then led the three children back to the carriage to rest.

By the time the others had cleaned up the battle traces around them more or less, the carriage followed the direction from which the wind blew and continued forward.

The bloody scent at the tip of her nose had long since vanished; Shen Yao moved to wipe the sword body gleaming with cold silver light, while the system in her mind kept watch on the surroundings.

After that pack of grassland wolves, Shen Yao and her group encountered other wild beasts one after another.

Some large, some small; some tall, some short — but without exception, the further forward they went, the more obvious the traces of mutation and demonic transformation became.

Although Shen Yao's clothes were clean and white, the bloody aura coiling around her could not be suppressed.

Ren Chengzhou was not much better off compared to her; as the main combat force this time, the two of them had not been in such a sorry state for a long while.

"Have a sip of water; it seems we really have found the Illusion Spirit Land."

If it were not the legendary Illusion Spirit Land, there would not be such a grand lineup at all.

Those mutated and demonically transformed wild beasts gathered in groups, throwing themselves forward wave after wave to block them.

Shen Yao held the teacup, moistened her throat, then turned her head and leaned on Ren Chengzhou's shoulder.

Ren Yangyao and the three children had already gone to the rear carriage compartment to close their eyes and rest; after all they were children — no matter how high their martial force, endurance was an issue.

Along this journey Shen Yao and Ren Chengzhou had intentionally honed the three children's abilities, bringing them along to participate in many matters; now their progress was good — the three little ones could proficiently apply what they had learned, and counted as the backbone of the team.

"Rumors speak of divine strangeness, but judging by the current situation, the Illusion Spirit Land is probably even more important than we imagined."

Wild beasts inherently prefer to come and go alone; yet now, in order to block them, they would actually gather in groups — such an Illusion Spirit Land surely does not merely contain treasures on the level of Ling Cao.

……

Dawn's faint light; when the first ray of sunlight fell upon the earth, illuminating the entire grassland, Shen Yao and her group were in the midst of dealing with this herd of horses that attacked them with reckless abandon.

Tall, fine horses of elegant bearing; Shen Yao observed their form and could not bear to kill them.

So she simply used a roundabout method to subdue them, keeping them by her side to raise as mounts.

Just right — her space still had a Spirit Beast Bag, a finished product bought from the Beast Taming Sect back when she was in the Cultivation World.

These already demonically transformed horses seemed to possess some of the Treading Cloud Horse's aura; if raised well, they could serve as transport once they reached the Cultivation World.

Shen Yao deeply understood the principle of "eating the mountain empty," so whenever she could gather things to her side she would never stand on ceremony — whether gold, silver, and vulgar objects or common herbs and spiritual herbs, as long as they were useful she took them all.

"Yang Zuo, stay farther away from those demonic horses; they haven't been thoroughly tamed yet."

Shen Yao reminded the three children that they could watch the herd of demonic horses from afar, but must not approach and touch them with their hands; wild horses are hard to tame to begin with, let alone after they have undergone mutation and demonic transformation.

Shen Yao planned to properly work on the demonic horses' temperament when they left, and conveniently use some beast-taming methods common in the cultivation world to domesticate them.

Handled well, this herd of demonic horses could still bring her a generous return.

Ren Yangzuo gazed at the tall, fine horses before him, their bodies pure white without a speck of mixed color, especially that coat like brocade satin; just looking at it made one's heart yearn.

Even though he was still just a little bean, this did not affect his ambition in the slightest.

Rubbing his own chubby little palm, Ren Yangzuo ran patter-patter to Shen Yao's side and loudly declared that he would definitely make the demonic horses acknowledge him.

Beasts possess spirit; demonic beasts already possess the ability to communicate with humans.

Especially horses, which are inherently intelligent; in daily companionship they can understand human commands.

Without striking a blow to Ren Yangzuo's ideals, Shen Yao raised her head and glanced around.

Someone was injured in this accident, not severely, but continuing forward would be very dangerous.

Shen Yao and Ren Chengzhou's attention was on the most dangerous batch of wild beasts; after that they still had to care for the three children; everyone else could only be put on the back burner.

Moreover, the Illusion Spirit Land lay ahead; accompanying the appearance of treasures is crisis.

Rubbing Ren Yangzuo's little head, she had him obediently go stay with his brothers, while she discussed a round with Ren Chengzhou at her side and decided to leave more people behind, and conveniently guarantee the safety of this herd of demonic horses.

Ren Chengzhou naturally would not refuse; it was just a pity that the previous people had returned to the capital one after another, and although the remaining ones were trusted confidants, their numbers were few.

Otherwise, if everyone acted, they would all be a portion of help to some degree.

In the end, those continuing forward were Shen Yao's family of five plus two guards whose martial force was not insignificant.

They had all protected Ren Chengzhou since childhood; their lives and fortunes were tied to Ren Chengzhou alone.

This time they came along also to protect the three young masters; even though the martial force displayed by the young masters might well be stronger than theirs.

Not riding in a carriage, the seven chose to walk; all the way along the green grass reaching up to the lower calf, Shen Yao did not forget to urge the System to do some proper business.

As long as she didn't ask, the other party wouldn't open its mouth; not self-aware in the slightest.

"Host, you've killed your way here; those with ability couldn't stop you, and the rest, cowardly and fearful, have already fled—what need is there for it to remind you of anything."

The Illusion Spirit Land produced such a herd of demonic wild beasts—truly not the slightest use at all.

The System muttered all sorts, but still sincerely reported the surrounding situation to Shen Yao truthfully.

Compared to the harvest they were about to obtain, the danger could be ignored.

Before long, they arrived at the Illusion Spirit Land mentioned by the herdsmen.

It was a sunken broken cliff; beneath the cliff grew a dense forest different from the outside.

"Be careful!"

Shen Yao called out a warning to the two guards who had unwittingly fallen into the illusion realm.

Among the seven of them, only the two guards cultivated normal techniques, unlike their family of five; therefore the spirit vein fluctuations overflowing outward from the Illusion Spirit Land would affect them.

"Wangye, the bottom of the broken cliff is dangerous; better let us two subordinates go scout the path."

The two guards felt lingering fear in their hearts, but among the seven their status was the lowest; for a place with such obvious danger, they absolutely could not let the master risk himself.

Ren Chengzhou waved his hand, "No need; we'll go down together and take a look."

Shen Yao's call just now also reminded Ren Chengzhou; the broken cliff ahead must not be underestimated.

"Wangye, this subordinate—"

The two guards still wanted to persuade further, but were directly cut off by Ren Chengzhou waving his hand.

"Let's go."

Ren Chengzhou took the lead; seeing this, the two guards hurriedly chased after him.

Shen Yao chose to bring up the rear, with Ren Yangyao and the three children following in front.

Long before the action, the three of Ren Yangyao already wore the protection talismans obtained from Wuming Guan on their persons; even because of the appearance of these protection talismans, Ren Chengzhou discovered his own cultivation talent specialty.

It was actually talisman crafting!

Now the protection talismans they carried were all from Ren Chengzhou's own hand.

However, due to the paper and brush issue, the protection talismans Ren Chengzhou drew did not have effects matching the genuine articles from Wuming Guan, but they couldn't withstand the quantity advantage on Ren Chengzhou's side; pasting a batch on their bodies was still very useful.

See, don't look at the seven of them appearing nothing special from the outside, but inside they had quite a few good things to protect themselves, especially on Shen Yao's side; if not for being mindful of certain things, she alone could have handled the Illusion Spirit Land.

Creak, creak—

Feet treading on the soft sandy land, Shen Yao carefully avoided the low shrubs.

Ren Chengzhou walking in front had already slowed down; the two guards beside him also fainted.

It was fainting without any warning; no one around had anticipated it, except Shen Yao.

But fainting was fine too; there was no danger around, the two guards didn't know the inside information, and for both sides there was no harm.

Ren Yangyao was dazed, shaking his head trying his best to stay sober; who knew the more he shook the sleepier he got, even his father's back turned into two.

No good, no good, this won't do!

He used all his strength to shout "Father," not knowing his voice was only a tiny bit louder than a mosquito's hum.

It seemed that once people descended the broken cliff, their movements would unknowingly slow down; even though their family of five didn't faint, they were still affected.

Jingle, jingle—

A bell sound rang by his ear; Ren Yangyao was like someone drinking a refreshing bowl of mung bean soup on a scorching summer day, his whole person reviving from inside out.

"Mother, Father."

Shen Yao, who had been trailing behind, had already come to the front and stood together with Ren Chengzhou.

Ren Yangyao blinked his eyes; the two brothers beside him scratched their heads in bewilderment.

"Mother, I was just so sleepy a moment ago," Ren Yangzuo spoke, even describing that he saw a fairy, only the distance was too far, so he couldn't see clearly.

Otherwise he would definitely have compared her with the immortal who transmitted the method when he was two years old; both are gods, who knows, they might even know each other.

"Mother, this place is too dangerous, let's go back," Ren Yangjue said, a little afraid of dying, clutching Shen Yao's hem and decisively burying himself.

Shen Yao smiled, but before she could speak, Ren Chengzhou added a sentence telling them to stay where they were.

Going back now doesn't mean safety, but staying where they are definitely means no danger.

Below the Broken Cliff there are some special features, including some sleeping wild beasts near the edge, enough to show that this place treats humans and beasts alike.

"Keep the talisman paper I left you; shake the bell when you encounter danger."

Shen Yao cleared the surroundings clean, and Ren Chengzhou moved the two unconscious people over.

"All right, wait for Father and Mother to return," Shen Yao said with a smiling squint, then turned around and continued forward with Ren Chengzhou.

The closer they got to the center of the Dense Forest, the taller and sturdier the trees on both sides of them grew.

The traces behind them had long been buried in the thickets of the Dense Forest; looking back, they saw nothing but green everywhere.

Who would have thought that deep in the Grassland there would be a Broken Cliff, with lush trees below it.

The two people exchanged a glance, secretly rousing their spirits to deal with trouble that might appear at any time.

They had already walked for quite a while and still hadn't found the Core of the Illusion Spirit Land; Shen Yao watched Ren Chengzhou rouse his spirits with effort, secretly speculating that the treasures nurtured here might surprise her greatly.

When the view before them brightened and their vision opened up, Shen Yao saw a small tree, emerald green like jade, as if made of jade.

Beside her, Ren Chengzhou finally collapsed powerlessly, and Shen Yao caught him and gently laid him to one side.

Shen Yao walked up to the small tree herself. "Is this... the Dragon Pattern Treasure Tree?"

It was still a precious Wood Attribute Dragon Pattern Treasure Tree!