Chapter 283: Top Excellent Youths
Zhao Li was stunned for a moment, anger swelled on his face. “Are you thinking of taking the credit all for yourself? I’m telling you. This beast is caught by everyone here, everyone here has...”
“Roar...” Before he could even finish, the Concealed Rock Beast suddenly roared at him, spitting saliva all over his face. If you try to be noisy again, I will eat you!
“Meow~~” Stroke my head, stroke it again!
Zhao Li paled from fright, that roar had shook even the depths of his heart. He hurriedly leapt a few steps back. “You... Didn’t you tame it?”
“So you understood that I was the one who tamed it as well?” Zhu Yao rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t you!”
Zhao Li shut his mouth, his face was a mix of green and white.
The Qin girly sighed. She had no choice but to mediate in this situation. “This... junior-martial sister Yu. This demonic beast was tamed by you. I wonder what you’re planning to do with this... spiritual beast.”
Zhu Yao turned to look at the beastie which was beginning to act cute and roll towards her. She really had no idea. She took a few steps forward, and asked with a soft voice. “Beastie, are you willing to sign a contract with human practitioners?”
“Meow?” Beastie stopped its rolling, and with a tilted head, it looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“When you sign a contract with someone, you will forever be together with that person.”
“Meow, beastie likes you!” It playfully rolled around. “Beastie wants to be together with you, together, together...”
“Not me, I’m talking about other human practitioners.”
“Others?” It was startled for a moment. “I only want to slap others away, slap, slap...”
“...” Alright, it seemed like it wasn’t willing.
In the end, she was the only one under the effects of the World Favourable Impression. She was unable to guarantee that it wouldn’t chomp down on the person contracting it if she were to bring it back.
Zhu Yao turned to look at the others. “I have decided. I’m going to release it.”
“What!?” Zhao Li leapt up again. “You’re crazy! This is a fourth rank demonic beast! Even if you’re unwilling to sell it, once we leave, what are we going to do if this demonic beast heads out to harm the nearby residents again!?”
“Harm?” Zhu Yao coldly smiled, as she threw that trident mystic artifact onto the ground in front of him. “This demonic beast was in such a crazed state because a practitioner used this mystic artifact, wanting to capture it alive. However, the capture was a failure, and this mystic artifact was left in its mouth. Because the artifact hurt it too much, it continued to cause a commotion. In the end, this blame falls on us human practitioners, doesn’t it?” Just who is harming who here? “I can guarantee that after it’s released, it will no longer appear at the edge of the forest again.”
When Zhao Li realized that he was unable to refute, he choked out. “These matters are related to us... We are here on a mission. We have to bring it back, no matter if it’s dead or alive. If this mission ends up being evaluated as a failure, wouldn’t we have worked for nothing?”
“I can explain to the Sect Master.” Little Bai took a step forward and said. “Senior-martial brother can rest assured about this matter. When that time comes, someone from the sect will naturally come to investigate.”
“That sure sounds nice, but the spirit stones we could have gotten is flying off just like that.” Zhao Li was still a little dissatisfied.
Zhu Yao said. “At the very most, I can forfeit my part of the reward.” In any case, she was presently a tycoon. A random brick on Skybond Peak was worth a hundred times more than these people, you know?
“I don’t want mine either.” Little Bai immediately followed up.
“I don’t need mine either.” Unexpectedly, Ye Qingcang stood out as well, shooting her with a smile of gratitude.
This time, Zhao Li was truly speechless. Seeing that everyone no longer had any other opinions to voice, Group Leader Qin ended the conversation as such.
Zhu Yao spoke with the Concealed Rock Beast for a long while, before it unwillingly returned to the cave, promising that it would no longer leave the cave.
The group had initially planned to return to the sect, but the sky was already dark. However, because their present location was close to Loz Forest, there were occasional appearances of heretic practitioners, so everyone decided to stay the night at the nearby practitioner city. They would return to the sect in the early morning the next day.
Zhu Yao was indeed a little tired. After bidding Little Bai and the rest good night, she began to meditate and recover. However, in the middle of the night, she suddenly sensed a familiar suppressive presence, and woke up. She searched around, but the surroundings were calm and quiet, without a single anomaly to be seen.
However, she felt that something was amiss, her heart feeling a little strange. Opening the door, she happened to bump into Little Bai and Ye Qingcang who had coincidentally left their rooms as well. Just as she was about to greet them, the furious roar of a beast reverberated from the outside. In the quiet night, it was exceptionally clear to hear.
Zhu Yao’s heart skipped a beat, as if something was tugging it.
The rest of the group came out of their rooms as well. Evidently, they had all heard that noise.
“Grandma, this roar is?” Little Bai looked at with a stunned look.
“It’s that Concealed Rock Beast from the afternoon!” Zhu Yao grew even more worried. That roar was filled with despair and fury, which was completely different the roars in the afternoon that were mostly from irritation.
“Where’s senior-martial brother Zhao Li?” Ye Qingcang asked. Only then did the group realize that they were missing a single person.
“Not good!” Group Leader Qin cried out.
Zhu Yao had already stepped on her sword, flying hastily towards the cave they were at in the afternoon, and her heart continued to sink. She had underestimated the greed of the human heart. A few Foundation disciples dared to challenge a fourth rank demonic beast, so naturally, they would naturally dare to return to this place to reap even larger rewards.
The suppressive aura in the air grew even more intense. From afar, she could already see the surging fiery lights in the direction of the cave. Within it was a mix of the screams of a demonic beast and the cries of human practitioners. Even though she was still quite a distance away, she could already smell the piercing stench of blood in the air.
Though she was already mentally prepared, when she saw the scene, Zhu Yao was still stunned by what she saw. The place was filled with blood, and even the entire wall of rocks was painted in blood red. That Concealed Rock Beast was trapped in a corner of the wall by dozens of practitioners, its body was now lacking several of the rocks that initially covered it, revealing the bloody flesh and white bones within.
It seemed to have already fallen into a certain state of craze and had completely lost its reason. Its eyes were bloodshot, and its claws were furiously scratching the ground. However, it continued to stand in its original spot, allowing those practitioners to throw various mystic arts on it. It did not take a single step away, tightly protecting the item behind it.
Behind it was a Voice Recording Stone, and floating above it was an image. It was the image of an old woman in azure robes.
Zhu Yao simply felt a bell ringing in her mind, as endless rage surged within her heart and soul, blazing to the point where her entire body began to tremble.
They had actually made use of an illusion of her to lure that beastie out!
“Hurry, this demonic beast can’t hold on any longer. Hurry and capture it!” Amidst the human practitioners, a familiar voice loudly rang out.
A contract formation rose into the air and flew towards the demonic beast. The contract runes were drawn in black lines. This was... a death contract! According to rumours, it was a malicious formation used to forcefully capture demonic beasts. If a demonic beast dare to resist even the slightest bit, the formation would immediately swallow the demonic beast’s inner core, causing it to die from the shattering of its core. Even if the capture was successful, the demonic beast would forcefully drop a rank.
Zhu Yao’s heart clenched. She crazily drove the flying sword under her legs. Before she had even arrived before them, she had already summoned her own sword intent and threw an attack at the death contract formation. The cry of a lightning phoenix reverberated, and it directly scattered the formation. The long cry then disappeared into the horizon.
“Beastie.” Zhu Yao presently wished that she could turn around and give Zhao Li a good thrashing, but had to first summon back the Concealed Rock Beast’s consciousness.
However, that injured beastie could no longer hear her.
“It’s you!” Seeing that this incident was exposed, Zhao Li’s expression changed. A hint of fluster flashed on his face. Just as he was about to speak, the Concealed Rock Beast suddenly released a long roar, its entire body began to emit out a red glow. The surrounding metal and earth spiritual energy began to crazily pour into its body. An immense pressure suddenly came swirling forth, and all of the practitioners were losing their balance.
“This is...” Zhao Li was stunned.
“That demonic beast is trying to make a forced breakthrough!” A practitioner cried out in fear.
At this moment, Group Leader Qin and the rest had arrived as well, and they were similarly stunned at the present situation. She turned to glare at Zhao Li at the side. “Junior-martial brother Zhao, how can you go back on your words? You actually took advantage of the night and called wandering practitioners over.”
“I never promised to let go of this demonic beast.” Zhao Li snorted. “The ones who promised that are you guys. Furthermore, this demonic beast has already gone insane. In this sort of situation, we have no choice but to kill it before it ranks up, otherwise, not a single one of us will be able to escape. I’m doing this for you...”
Boom!
Before he could even finish, Zhu Yao immediately threw a bolt of heavenly lightning on him.
Zhao Li simply felt his entire body aching in pain, and his skin was instantly charred black. His Dantian was in immense pain, and the spiritual energy within scattered in an instant, causing him to kneel onto the ground. He could not help but puke out a mouthful of blood, as he looked towards Zhu Yao in fear. “You... How... How dare you?”
“Why won’t I dare?” Zhu Yao looked at him coldly as she slowly continued. “Zhao Li, seeing you, I understand what true shamelessness is! Someone like you basically don’t deserve to cultivate. From this day forth, you are no longer a disciple of Ness Cesary Sect.”
Zhao Li’s expression paled, and after sensing it carefully, he realized he was no longer able to gather spiritual energy within his body. The cultivation in his body was rapidly falling. “You... How can you destroy my spirit veins? I’m a disciple of Main Peak, what rights do you have to do so?”
“What rights?” Zhu Yao stared at him straight in the eyes, and slowly said. “My rights as your ancestral grand-martial aunt, Ness Cesary Sect Master’s senior-martial aunt, and the owner of Skybond Peak! Even with my cultivation at the middle stages of Foundation, I can still blow you into bits with just a mere second!”
She once again summoned her own sword intent. A gigantic lightning phoenix suddenly appeared in the air. It flapped its immensely broad wings, and several thousands of lightning streaks struck devastatingly onto the ground.
Everyone present was dumbfounded by this scene. Though they weren’t unable to discern that it was sword intent, just by looking at those streaks of lightning, their hearts could not help but turn cold. Was... Was this really the strength of a mere mid-stage Foundation practitioner?
Zhao Li was completely stunned. Being glared at by that lightning phoenix, his body instinctively shivered. He basically did not clearly hear what she said at all.
Zhu Yao swept her eyes at the dozens of practitioners gathered by Zhao Li, and slowly spoke. “You guys, is there anything you guys want to say?”
The practitioners exchanged glances, and a short moment later, a late-stage Foundation practitioner walked out with a shivering body. “We do not dare to intervene in a mission of Ness Cesary Sect. We have merely been misguided by this person. Since your group already has ideas on dealing with this demonic beast, then we will first take our leave.”
After saying that, the crowd of wandering practitioners left without a trace, none dared to give Zhao Li another glance.
“Junior-ma... Grand-martial aunt.” The Qin girly took a step forward. Even now, she still could not believe that this elderly was the rumoured grand-martial aunt in Skybond Peak. However, seeing the expression of the elite disciple Bai Zhiyuan, she understood that Zhu Yao was not lying. “I wonder how should we deal with the demonic beast now?”
This demonic beast had clearly lost its reason, and if it were to make a forced breakthrough now, it would most certainly lose control and self-destruct. When that time comes, the people within a ten kilometers radius would not be able to escape from the blast.
“I will try stopping its breakthrough. You guys hurry and leave this place.” Zhu Yao did not speak any further. She took a deep breath, and instantly controlled the sword intent such that it flew towards the demonic beast that had already been completely surrounded in a red glow. Turning into a white gaseous body, it enveloped the entire demonic beast.
The Qin girly and Profiteer hesitated for a moment, before grabbing onto Zhao Li who had already completely lost his cultivation, and flew off on their swords.
While Zhu Yao suppressed the demonic beast’s crazed aura, she split out a strip of spiritual energy to seep into its mind and summon his consciousness. Unfortunately, the other party was a fourth rank demonic beast, and did not have high spiritual intellect in the first place. Adding that it was at the brink of life and death just a few moments ago, wanting to wake it up was extremely difficult. Zhu Yao worked hard for a long while, and she was losing focus really quickly.
She hated this body which merely carried cultivation at the Foundation level. If her cultivation was even a little bit higher, or was able to expand her divine sense, then it wouldn’t have been this difficult.
Suddenly, a gush of spiritual energy entered her body from her back. Zhu Yao turned to take a look. “The hell, little tyrant, didn’t I tell you to hurry and leave!”
“Grandma, how can I possibly leave you here alone.” Little tyrant said with a righteous look. “Furthermore, if anything were to happen to you, Sect Master will definitely blame me for it.”
“Then why are you here?” Zhu Yao glared at Ye Qingcang at the side.
Ye Qingcang smiled, and said with a serious look. “I have yet to thank granny for saving my life in the afternoon?”
“So?”
“So I can’t leave grandma here alone.” Little tyrant’s face was firm.
“And I have to pay this debt of gratitude.” Ye Qingcang’s face was determined.
The two exchanged glances, and smiled at each other. They were truly a pair of righteously good youths, and they would definitely be able to obtain the Young Pioneers Award based on their top-tier excellence. In regards to such excellent youths, Zhu Yao naturally felt moved with all her heart... like hell!
-Flips table!- The hell, you two staying back here is even worse, alright? At the very least, if she was alone, she could still make a gamble. Even if it was impossible, she could still swap avatars. Now that there were two additional children dragging her down, she no longer had the chance to disconnect, you know?
Top-tier your granny, excellent your grandma!
“Please hurry and scram for me, alright? Stop causing a mess.”
“We won’t leave!” The two young pioneers heavily nodded.
The hell!
Zhu Yao wanted to pinch the two of them to death.
The Concealed Rock Beast’s aura began to grow rampant. The barrier created by Zhu Yao’s sword intent was suddenly broken through, and a ray of fiery light blasted out. Her sword intent was completely shattered. Zhu Yao simply felt an intense pain in the depths of her Dantian, as she puke out a mouthful of blood.
“Grandma!”
“Granny!”
The two young pioneers cried out the same time.
“The hell are you guys calling out for? Run!” Zhu Yao picked the two youths up, and was just about to flee on her flying sword.
That red glow however suddenly grew even brighter, and it looked as if it was about explode towards the surroundings. Crap, they’re doomed!
“Pea~~~”
Suddenly, a green light flashed from her body. A little green ball flew out and grew in size. In a blink of an eye, it hard already turned into a gigantic pea! It took up an entire half of the sky, and immediately after, that round pea let out an ‘ah’ sound. Like Pacman, with an ‘ahm’ sound, it swallowed the rampaging demonic beast.
The three people present: “...”
The entire silent was silent.
Who could tell them what just happened?