“Tch, those Righteous Path dogs have sharp noses. They reacted in such a short time.”
“It’s not incomprehensible. Aside from those fools from the Heavenly Way Sect, the other Saint Sects have some brains. After seeing several villages where we beat them to the punch, they were bound to realize something was wrong.”
Somewhere in a branch of the northern mountain range, several demonic cultivators dressed in black were gathered, discussing recent events.
They were the demonic cultivators sent into the mountains to deceive and kill those children, but a few days ago, they found their plans obstructed.
The Righteous Path cultivators had become alert, and members of the Dao Protection Bureau were rushing toward this area, having likely discovered their plot.
They did not hesitate much, choosing directly to avoid the brunt of the confrontation.
Things had reached a point where they had already achieved their goals; they didn’t mind leaving the remaining minor cultivators to the Righteous Path.
“One person didn’t come back. Could he have fallen into the hands of the Righteous Path?”
“It doesn’t matter. He was just an unlucky ghost sent to his death. Even if he fell into their hands, he can’t reveal anything useful.”
Facing the possible loss of a companion, these demonic cultivators had no intention of staging a rescue. Instead, their mindset was, “If he’s dead, he’s dead; there are as many of these disposables as we need.”
Demonic cultivators were cold-blooded. Unless your value was enough for them to take a risk, don’t expect them to care about sect fellowship.
Furthermore… this operation to sabotage the Immortal Ascension Assembly was the same as always, involving several demonic sects.
That unlucky fellow wasn’t familiar with the other demonic cultivators here, so naturally, no one thought of saving him.
“Forget that waste. How is the production of the things we want progressing?”
“The progress is delightful. It will definitely give the Righteous Path a massive surprise, hehe.”
“The affected area is actually this large? The Demonic Path really is capable of anything.”
A few days were enough for the Righteous Path to react in time to the events in the mountains.
Since this matter seemed related to the upcoming Immortal Ascension Assembly, the Righteous Path reacted even faster than usual.
Two days after Hua Jian caught the black-clothed cultivator, the first wave of reinforcements from the Dao Protection Bureau arrived and took over everything.
Another two days later, they learned from the Dao Protection Bureau the number of villages affected this time.
In nearly a hundred settlements across the mountain range, more than half had been reached by the Demonic Path first.
Except for the two girls rescued by Hua Jian and the others, all the other children had vanished into thin air.
The Dao Protection Bureau even used divination methods, but the results were unsatisfactory. The life stars of those children were dim; they were essentially beyond saving.
Aside from the black-clothed cultivator Hua Jian’s group was lucky enough to catch, the other demonic cultivators had discovered the Righteous Path’s movements early and retreated from the area without hesitation, leaving the Bureau with nothing but empty air.
The Dao Protection Bureau searched the mountains for a while, only to realize with frustration that those demonic cultivators had already left the region. Their trip had been in vain.
“Ultimately, it was discovered too late. The Demonic Path’s plan was likely mostly complete, which is why they retreated so readily,” Hua Jian said with a bored expression, looking at the map Ling Long had brought out.
She felt the matter had ended somewhat anticlimactically. She thought it would be a massive conspiracy, but after taking down just one trashy Spirit King, it was over?
That didn’t seem reasonable!
She could only think that this was a prologue mission to a major event. They had to progress through the tasks slowly to discover the connection between this incident and the grand plot later on.
“Yeah, the mountains are basically under martial law now. The route you chose is no longer passable,” Shiqi added from the side, resting her chin on her hand.
To investigate this incident, the Dao Protection Bureau had surrounded this mountain branch for searches, which completely ruined Ling Long’s original travel plan.
They could no longer continue south along the mountain range to Immortal Ascension City.
“That’s not a problem. We can leave the mountains and take the normal route…” Ling Long didn’t insist on the mountain path. Since the original way was blocked, they would simply change routes.
The main roads outside the mountains were much easier to travel than mountain paths, and there were cities along the way to serve as resting points. The living conditions were much better than in the mountains.
“Speaking of which, how long until the Immortal Ascension Assembly begins? We’ve been delayed quite a bit on the way. Will we make it?”
“There are still several months. The Immortal Ascension Assembly is usually held at the start of spring, and it’s only late autumn now. We can even spend a winter in Immortal Ascension City.” Ling Long indicated that time was plenty; she had left a margin when making the plan.
After they arrived at Immortal Ascension City, they would still have to live there for a while before the assembly started.
“Wow, months? I thought it was starting soon.” Shiqi’s eyes widened; this was the first she had heard of it.
“That’s right. Because of the assembly’s importance, young cultivators aspiring to join the Saint Sects almost always arrive at Immortal Ascension City in advance. Some even live there for several years to adapt to the environment.”
Ling Long explained that this was nothing; to join a Saint Sect, cultivators would use every method available.
Arriving a few months early would actually put them in the late group.
Immortal Ascension City was definitely one of the most prosperous cities in the entire Central Continent, gathering the most promising young geniuses from across the world.
“Linlang Pavilion also has a branch in Immortal Ascension City, but their secret realm there isn’t for cultivators to find spiritual items. Instead, it provides a combat arena where cultivators can fully display their strength.” Ling Long continued to introduce information about the city.
If Linlang Pavilion’s secret realms in other places used treasures to lure people into traps, the one in Immortal Ascension City was an outright scam.
The secret realm in Immortal Ascension City produced zero resources; it was just for cultivators to fight each other.
Yet the entrance fee was actually more expensive than realms that produced resources, making people curse them as unscrupulous merchants.
“Got it, it’s an arena,” Hua Jian said, not at all surprised by Linlang Pavilion’s business sense. This kind of thing was aimed at fleecing people. “So, are we walking there slowly, or flying all the way?”
Hua Jian wasn’t quite sure how far it was from here to Immortal Ascension City. The Central Continent was simply too vast, large enough to turn any normal person into a lost wanderer.
Hua Jian only knew the path from her hometown to Bright Moon City and then north to North Sky City, and even that knowledge wasn’t complete.
As for Immortal Ascension City, that part of the map was completely dark.
Only Ling Long likely had a revealed map, so the job of planning the route could only fall to her.
“I’m fine with anything. I don’t know the way anyway.” Shiqi slumped onto the table, showing her useless side.
Hua Jian had at least revealed some of the map, but Shiqi had revealed none. Currently, she was completely in the dark, just following others.
Regarding the change of route, she didn’t have much of a concept of it, only knowing they would eventually reach the city.
As long as they could get there, any problems on the road could be dealt with then. Having lived in the wild for so long, she wasn’t afraid of the main road.
Since Shiqi and Hua Jian had no objections, Ling Long made the decision to change the route.
As for whether to walk or fly, she could only choose walking.
Because there was a significant problem in their trio: Shiqi didn’t know how to use a flying spiritual tool.
Not only did she not know how to use one, but she also didn’t own one. They couldn’t just buy a flying spiritual tool for her on the spot; they were very expensive!
“We just need to buy three spiritual horses once we’re out of the mountains. They won’t be too slow.” Ling Long said.
The wolves Hua Jian had tamed certainly couldn’t be taken out. Such aggressive spiritual beasts could be killed by cultivators without reason unless a contract had been signed with a human.
After all, if you walk a dog without a leash, the dog might bite someone to death, but if a spiritual beast isn’t leashed and goes wild, more than one person will die.
And spiritual beast contracts couldn’t be signed infinitely. Generally, cultivators only signed with beasts they liked.
After obtaining a new contracted beast, some would choose to dissolve the contract with the old one and release it back into the forest.
Of course, those were the kind-hearted cultivators; the malicious ones would just kill the beast once it was no longer useful.
Hua Jian wasn’t that malicious, but she already had many spiritual beast companions; there was no need to parade around with so many wolves.
The potential of these wolves had reached its limit, unlike A-Meng and the spirit cat which had promising futures. So, it was better to let them stay in the mountains.
“Speaking of which, should I sign a contract with the spirit cat too?” Hua Jian tilted her head to look at the little white cat curled up on her lap, purring softly. She reached out and scratched its head.
Signing a contract meant she had ownership of the spirit cat. When facing certain situations later, she would have a reason to explain.
For example, if some arrogant young master tried to snatch her cat to give to someone else, she could show the contract and tell the villain that this cat belonged to her, and no one could take it.
If the other party got angry and attacked, that would suit Hua Jian perfectly; she would just punch them down.
With the contract in hand, reason was on her side, and no one could take it away.
“This is Chai Xianyun’s cat, right?” Ling Long looked conflicted.
She and Hua Jian both knew the owner of this spirit cat should be Chai Xianyun, who was currently working hard on her family’s succession battle in North Sky City.
Hua Jian doing this seemed like taking someone else’s beloved pet.
Furthermore, the spirit cat had indeed been bought by Chai Xianyun with real money.
If they didn’t know, they could explain it away, but doing this while knowing the truth seemed a bit wrong.
“Watch your wording. It’s the cat she didn’t want.” Hua Jian corrected Ling Long very seriously. The cat had indeed belonged to Chai Xianyun before, but after she abandoned it, the spirit cat regained its free status.
The current spirit cat was different from the one at the beginning. It was free now, and it had freely chosen to stay by Hua Jian’s side!
The cat was willing itself; why should anyone else care?
“If you won’t help me, I’ll find the Venerable to learn the contract technique. She’ll definitely help me.” Hua Jian huffed.
Ling Long wasn’t her only choice. A common spell like the contract technique was something she could easily learn from Venerable Fenghua.
She believed Venerable Fenghua wouldn’t refuse such a small request.
Hearing Hua Jian say this, Ling Long sighed helplessly. She had to admit that what Hua Jian said was true.
Chai Xianyun had indeed effectively given up ownership of the Frostflower Spirit Cat. Although it was forced, that was the fact.
Hua Jian had essentially won over the spirit cat again, so contracting it wasn’t really a mistake.
“You also have to ask if the spirit cat is willing to sign with you. With this little fellow’s pride, would it be willing to be your pet?” Shiqi raised her head from her arms, asking with a hint of jealousy.
She really envied Hua Jian’s constitution that attracted the affection of spiritual beasts. She wanted to raise a little white cat like this too.
Unfortunately, if she didn’t carry a bit of Hua Jian’s scent, this proud little white cat wouldn’t even look at her.
“Watch your wording. Not a pet, a companion,” Hua Jian coughed, indicating she wasn’t that stupid.
There were many types of contracts with spiritual beasts. Pet-type contracts were entirely biased toward humans; only spiritual beasts with no other options would be willing to sign such an unequal contract.
In contrast, a companion contract was much better. The spiritual beast’s rights were guaranteed.
Generally, cultivators from the Myriad Beasts Sect would sign this type of contract with the beasts they raised.
As for the contract between Hua Jian and A-Meng… no one would even recognize that thing. Although it was a contract, it was as good as none.
Its only use was to allow communication between human and beast, but now Hua Jian and A-Meng didn’t need that method to communicate at all.
The Dream-Illusion Butterfly and the Dream-Illusion Flower inherently had the ability to communicate with each other; did they need this broken contract’s help?
“I don’t think it will refuse.” Hua Jian scratched the little white cat’s chin, waking it from its light nap.
To ensure the cat didn’t misunderstand her meaning, Hua Jian used the most direct method to communicate with it.
After connecting their souls, Hua Jian explained her thoughts to the cat, telling it that if they didn’t sign a contract, the cat wouldn’t be able to follow her to the outside world.
And there were many benefits to signing the contract. For instance, the cat could play outside as it pleased and live a life without worrying about food or shelter.
The cat was a bit hesitant at first, but after thinking hard for a while, it finally gave Hua Jian an affirmative answer.
Its thinking process was very cat-like, which Hua Jian couldn’t understand.
In short, after a series of mental storms, the cat accepted Hua Jian’s contract invitation.
“Done. Ling Long, do you know how to perform a companion contract?” Hua Jian withdrew the vine connected to the cat and turned to look at Ling Long.
Used as a contract tool, Ling Long gave a helpless look. “Of course I do. This is very basic stuff. You should find a chance to learn it too.”
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