Chapter 142: The Imperial Sect's Only Seedling

In the afternoon.

Chen Shu sat among three Sword Pigs, eyes closed in Daily Cultivation.

The transporter had not yet returned.

Today's harvest: seven Sword Pigs.

During this time, he encountered a few small ones, but Chen Shu gave them up, fearing it would be too much trouble for Brother Jiang to move them.

At noon, he even had a friction with three people; both sides were ambushing the same Sword Pig, and just as Chen Shu's Thunder Method flew over and struck the Sword Pig, the other side's arrow hit the Sword Pig's neck almost simultaneously, so the two sides had a dispute over the ownership of this Sword Pig.

Seeing that he was young, the other side spoke arrogantly, wanting to use their momentum to bully him.

Chen Shu also flexed his muscles, showed off his cannonball-like Tracer Technique, and then tricked them into believing he was a Personal Disciple of the Spirit Sect; in the end, they took out 15,000 in cash to give to Chen Shu, and then dragged that Sword Pig away.

The price of that Sword Pig was about twenty-something thousand.

Now, there was still a straight-line distance of seven or eight kilometers to the edge of the Forbidden Land, and it already took Brother Jiang three hours to move a trip of Sword Pigs; these three were enough for him to move until late at night.

Chen Shu stopped hunting as well.

Come to think of it, these seven Sword Pigs were actually not the harvest of a single day, just the harvest of one morning.

Arriving at this place, the number of Sword Pigs was more dense, and he had already found the pattern of the Sword Pigs' appearances and the knack for finding them using the Heavenly Eye Technique; now he was even confident he could catch over a dozen a day, but he was afraid Brother Jiang couldn't move them all, so he simply stopped catching them.

He turned to focus on his cultivation.

He would finish today's portion of cultivation first, so he could go to the Forbidden Land to enjoy the moon at night.

Last night, he ran with all his might toward the edge of the Forbidden Land, and his clothes were torn; fortunately, he had brought a few identical ones, but the harvest was only that little bit—discovering that the moonlight at the edge of the Forbidden Land seemed clearer than outside, and other than that, he found nothing.

Today, being closer to the Forbidden Land, it would be more convenient.

Chen Shu planned to wait until he found the Full Moon See, or after the search failed, to catch a pile of Sword Pigs deep in Qingshan Ridge, pack them into the Crystal, and then find a suitable opportunity and place on the outskirts of Qingshan Ridge to release them, tricking Brother Jiang into thinking he had uncovered a massive Sword Pig den, letting him move them out slowly to see just how strong his stamina really was.

"Hoo..."

Daily Cultivation complete.

"Hm?"

Chen Shu's gaze flicked toward the distance.

A Sword Pig ran past over there.

Chen Shu twitched the corner of his mouth, too lazy to pay it any mind.

Just at this moment, a faint, indistinct singing reached his ears; the voice was unfamiliar, but the tune was very familiar.

"Still remember you said home is the only castle"

"Running along with the rice-scented river"

"Smiling slightly..."

It was a very youthful and energetic female voice.

Hearing this tune, Chen Shu couldn't help but reveal a smile; it was a knowing smile, and at the same time, he uncontrollably filled in the next line in his heart, but he didn't hear that line from the voice drifting in on the wind.

"?"

Forgot the lyrics?

Chen Shu stood up and patted his cold backside, activated the Warning Array and Defense Array, and out of boredom, decided to follow the sound to take a look.

It wasn't far anyway.

Just after taking two steps, he heard this voice again:

"Forgot the lyrics."

"Hehe..."

"Aiya, don't be angry!"

"Let me think!"

Chen Shu walked closer and closer, and the sound also became closer and closer.

When he saw the scene from between the towering ancient trees, he subconsciously stopped his steps—

It was a giant beast several meters tall—

The giant beast had a strong and sturdy build with red manes; just looking at the body, it resembled a large feline, but the build was more slender. Its whole body was covered in scales, the dark scales reflecting colorful light in the sunlight, and the fur on its body was also multicolored, like certain animals in the animal kingdom during courtship.

It had two red horns on its head, and the tail behind it was split into three.

If you looked closely, you would find that its body was not that solid; it was slightly illusory.

But you had to look closely to notice.

This was undoubtedly a creature that did not exist on Earth.

More importantly, Chen Shu had seen it before.

At the same time, standing in front of this giant beast was a petite girl, looking up and making eye contact with the giant beast, her hands clasped and shaking constantly, as if begging for something.

Chen Shu had also seen this girl before.

At the beginning of this month, at the Ordinary Group Martial Body Arena competition, that girl from the Life Academy used a Spirit Contract technique of the Imperial Sect, which was once thought to have lost its inheritance a thousand years ago, and won the championship of the Ordinary Group Arena competition.

Someone posted her video online, and it became quite a hit on the internet for the next few days, its popularity even exceeding that of the former student Ning.

Later, he heard that scholars who studied the Cultivation System specifically ran to Yujing to communicate with her, wanting to pick up the Imperial Sect inheritance, and he also heard gossip from Brother Meng that the national Sect and School Management Department was highly concerned about this.

In short, this girl was quite popular right now.

Popular in school, and popular outside of school too.

A low roar interrupted Chen Shu's deep thought; when he reacted, that giant beast had already turned its head, looking straight in his direction.

That girl also turned her head to look over.

"Emmm..."

Chen Shu pursed his lips and took two steps back.

This thing was not something a Sword Pig could compare to.

But he couldn't help himself and whistled at the other party.

"Roar!"

However, the giant beast's aggression seemed exceptionally strong; its pair of huge eyes narrowed slightly, and it instantly pounced toward him, its four massive claws kicking up fallen leaves that had piled up for who knows how many years, almost burying the girl alive.

Chen Shu was stunned for a moment and instantly pushed out a palm.

"Bang!"

The massive impact force collided solidly with the giant beast charging at full speed, and one could only see dust rising all around and fallen leaves flying everywhere.

Defense Spell operating at full power.

A Defense Barrier was instantly deployed.

Two crimson rays of light flew toward the front one after another, dragging long tails and setting off ear-piercing shrieks.

"Boom!"

The suddenly exploding shockwave stirred up the fallen leaves once again, blocking the line of sight.

Chen Shu's eyes bloomed with light, directly discarding his normal vision to lock onto that mass of highly condensed Spirit Power, while simultaneously shouting loudly: "Classmate Yan, according to the laws of Yiguo, committing murder with a beast is a serious crime, and intentionally harming someone will also result in paying damages and going to jail..."

"Roar!!"

A huge roar sounded, shattering the eardrums.

But the other party seemed not to approach him again.

Only then did Chen Shu deactivate his Spirit Eye.

His vision returned to normal.

This Spell seems a bit lacking; I must buy a new one another day, or improve it myself—at the very least, it should be able to overlap with my real-world vision.

Chen Shu pursed his lips, only to see that the girl had already run to the front of the giant beast, looking up and shouting: "What are you doing? That's a person! If you beat him to death, I'll have to go to jail for at least a few decades; who will sing for you then?

"Besides, he seems to know me!"

The giant beast remained silent and did not make a sound, only coldly staring at Chen Shu.

Seeing this, the girl finally breathed a sigh of relief and trotted to Chen Shu's side, her attitude very good as she bowed repeatedly:

"Sorry, classmate!

"Excuse me!

"Its personality is just very irritable; I usually don't dare to bring it out much. This time, being deep in the forest, I thought there wouldn't be anyone around... but its personality isn't usually this irritable; it's all because I made it angry just now."

"That was too scary." Chen Shu twitched the corners of his mouth and glanced at the giant beast again; this thing looked even more terrifying up close.

"Hahaha... but it won't hurt people; it has high intelligence, no worse than us humans, it just wanted to scare you." The girl gave a dry laugh, and while laughing, she bowed deeply again, "Sorry!"

"Give me some money."

"H-how much?"

"Just give what you think is appropriate."

"Okay! I'll transfer it to you once we get out!"

"Easy, easy."

"By the way, you know me?"

"I am also from Yujing Academy." Chen Shu finally revealed a smile, "What was your name again?"

"Yan Keling, the 'Yan' from strict (yán), the 'Ke' from demanding (kē), and the 'Ling' from three-foot white silk (líng)." Yan Keling said as such, "And you?"

"Chen Shu, the 'Chen' from ear (chén), the 'Shu' from comfortable (shū)." Chen Shu said, "So it's that 'Yan'; I thought it was the 'Yan' from appearance (yán)... but your way of introducing yourself is quite interesting."

"Haha, hello Classmate Chen." Yan Keling smiled embarrassedly, "Did you come here to participate in the Hunting Festival?"

"Yes, you too?"

"Something like that."

"Something like that?"

"Yeah, earning some living expenses."

"Me too."

"Classmate Chen, what year are you in?"

"You?"

"Freshman."

"I'm a sophomore."

"Hello, Senior."

"Hello, Junior." Chen Shu felt no psychological burden and praised, "It's very rare for you to be this powerful as a freshman."

"I'm very weak; it's all because it's powerful." Yan Keling put on a posture of mutual commercial flattery, "Senior, you are the one who is powerful; you were actually able to fight it."

"Couldn't fight it, couldn't fight it..."

Chen Shu glanced at the giant beast again and accidentally met its gaze, feeling a bit chilled.

Previously in the Arena competition, Yan Keling's opponent was also a Fourth Stage, and a Fourth Stage amateur Martial Cultivator quite skilled in combat at that, but they were defeated without any ability to fight back in front of this giant beast projection, which showed its ferocity.

Chen Shu was well-versed in history and naturally had heard of the Imperial Sect—

The Imperial Sect claimed to be able to manipulate all things, but the only thing they could show off was this "Divine Contract Secret Technique."

In ancient texts, Imperial Sect Cultivators could often establish connections with unknown, distant existences, and after establishing a certain emotional foundation, they could use a special Secret Technique to project them into this realm.

With the help of the projection power of these mysterious existences, ordinary Cultivators of the same stage found it difficult to rival them, and thus they were once glorious.

However, a thousand years ago, the Imperial Sect suddenly declined.

The reason is unknown.

It is said that the Spirit Contract method became ineffective.

Or perhaps it was lost for some reason.

A thousand years of time can smooth over many things; the heritage of the Imperial Sect has long since fallen into disarray, to the point that before Yan Keling appeared, many people believed the effects, power, and principles of the Imperial Sect's Spirit Contract were fraudulent, because this thing was too mysterious and could not be replicated even with modern technology.

But the facts now undoubtedly show that the glory of the Imperial Sect is real, and the Spirit Contract is also real.

It is unknown where the giant beast before them originated, but what can be known is that its own status definitely far exceeds the Fourth Stage; it is only because it projected into this realm that it can only use the Spirit Power of Yan Keling's Spirit Sea, and thus its rank is restricted.

Yet it is still not something an ordinary Fourth Stage can compare to.

Chen Shu is also not certain if he can control it, but if it were on the Arena, there should be no problem.

Yan Keling is its greatest weakness.

Perhaps before long, Chen Shu will be able to see her in the group—it is also possible she has already been in the group, just not speaking and having turned off notifications, but this possibility is relatively lower.

"Junior Sister."

"What is it, Senior Brother?"

"Leave a social media ID, we'll add each other when we go out."

"Okay, okay."