Chapter 39: Spirit Beast Uproar
For the Tang Clan to be willing to pay such a large price, the Spirit Beast they wanted to seal was doubtlessly not a Rank 5 Spirit Beast. The highest ranked Spirit Beast in this mountain was only Rank 6, and that was the equivalent to a human Martial King.
There existed only one Rank 6 Spirit Beast within Seven Horn Mountain, namely the king of Seven Horn Mountain—Six-Tailed Spirit Fox.
The Spirit Fox was a special Spirit Beast. This kind of Spirit beast could cultivate and evolve. The Two-Tailed Spirit Fox that Xiao Chen had encountered in the outskirts was the result of a Spirit Fox progressing in its cultivation.
However, the conditions for the Spirit Fox to evolve were very harsh. Within this massive Seven Horn Mountain, the number of Spirit Foxes that could evolve till they were Rank 5 Spirit Beasts only numbered about a hundred. As for the Rank 6 Six-Tailed Spirit Fox, there was only a single one in the entirety of Seven Horn Mountain.
This Six-Tailed Spirit Fox was the Tang Clan’s target. However, what led Xiao Chen to feel strange was that the strength of the Six-Tailed Spirit Fox was similar to that of an Inferior Grade Martial King. Why was the Tang Clan so confident in dealing with it?
Could it be that, like the Xiao Clan, they also had a hidden Martial Saint Expert? When he thought of this, then it was not completely impossible, but Xiao Chen kept feeling that something was amiss.
Xiao Yulan smiled gently, “You are not the only person to think of this. My Grandfather, the Third Elder, and the others had thought of this too. As long as they are able to capture the Six-Tailed Spirit Fox, then it would be the same to them having acquired another Martial King expert.”
“Furthermore, the Six-Tailed Spirit Fox has a long lifespan. It is sufficient enough to ensure that the position of the Tang Clan within Mohe City will not suffer any threat for the next hundred years.”
When they made the connection between this operation and the Promise of Ten Years that is to take place three months later, it was no wonder that the First Elder and the rest would choose to seal the mountain after the Tang Clan tried to capture the Spirit Beast from under their noses.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
All of a sudden, the loud roars of Spirit Beasts emerged from within Seven Horn Mountain. Those roars were as loud as thunder, shaking even the ground. Endless stomping sounds came from the direction of the disturbance.
This encampment was located between the outskirts of Seven Horn Mountain and the core area. Originally, the First Elder and the others set up base in this location for convenient entry. That was the biggest contributing reason why they choose to set up the encampment here.
At this moment, the roars of the Spirit Beasts echoed continuously in deafening fashion. It almost seemed as though a huge army was marching past, and the ground felt as though it was about to split apart at any moment.
“What’s going on?”
“Why are there so many Spirit Beasts roaring?”
“The Spirit Beasts are in an uproar!”
The originally orderly encampment turned chaotic within moments. The guards kept shouting out in panic, and there was no longer any semblance of order present.
Xiao Chen immediately spread out his Spiritual Sense, moving in all directions like a ripple. He discovered that there was nothing special going on within 800 meters of him.
With just a thought, he completely withdrew his Spiritual Sense and then sent it out again using another method, in the shape of a laser beam.
This was a method that Xiao Chen had discovered by accident. If he sent it out like a laser beam, then his sensory range would roughly double. Its disadvantage was that it would not provide a comprehensive view of everything. In order for him to get a 360 degrees view, he would have to keep moving this line of Spiritual Sense while simultaneously expanding a lot of his mental strength.
In an instant, Xiao Chen could see everything clearly within a straight line of 1500 meters. This allowed him to finally get an overview of the situation. There was a large group of all sorts of Spirit Beasts currently rushing down the mountain.
Rank 3 Scarlet Moon Tiger, Rank 4 Demonic Scorpion, Evil Wind Rat, and all sorts of other Spirit Beasts seemed to be under some sort of command, frantically rushing down the mountain. They would arrive at this location within five minutes.
“What’s going on? Everyone be quiet.” The First Elder had come out from the hall and shouted out when he saw the situation outside.
The First Elder was, after all, the First Elder. When everyone saw him appear, a calm settled over the chaos in the camp. After a while, a Xiao Clan disciple came rushing in from outside.
“First Elder, things don’t look good. Those Spirit Beast in the core area seem to have all gone crazy. They are all heading down the mountain and will arrive here soon!”
Xiao Qiang seemed direly shocked by this. They had never experienced the Spirit Beasts on Seven Horn Mountain going collectively berserk before, after all. “Elder Liu, what do you think?”
Liu Fengyin did not look startled as he replied indifferently. “This could be a result of them making a move earlier. As for why all these Spirit Beasts have gone crazy, I do not know either.”
Xiao Qiang muttered to himself irresolutely before telling the Third Elder: “Xiao Tian, bring the disciples that are below the Martial Master realm down the mountain immediately. Elder Liu and I will bring a few Martial Grand Masters to go investigate the situation.”
“First Elder, what about the matter that I have discussed with you earlier? What is your decision?” Liu Fenglin said, still with a nonchalant expression.
He was the only one here that was able to remain this calm. As a Martial Saint, even if all of the Spirit Beasts within Seven Horn Mountain were to pile up against him, he would be able to retreat safely.
“Regarding the Spirit Blood Jade? I have to find out Xiao Chen’s intentions first.” Xiao Qiang replied. Seeing Xiao Yulan walk over, he asked, “Have you seen Xiao Chen?”
“He left. He said that he had something to do and would go down the mountain himself first. He said that we do not have to bother about him.”
“What?! He left!” Liu Fenglin cried out, a look of anger flashing in his eyes.
Xiao Chen had left three minutes ago because he had discovered something interesting with his Spiritual Sense. It might even be the reason for why the Spirit Beasts were in such an uproar.
……
Within the forest in Seven Horn Mountain, there was a group of people speaking with an anxious expression on their face. Amongst them, there was a blue-clothed person who stood out; this person was that mysterious Martial Saint that Xiao Chen had met in the Thunder Emperor’s cave.
As for the rest, they were the disciples of Mohe City’s Tang Clan. Tang Yuan was also present there, but his complexion was currently extremely pale. Right now, he was trembling with fear and holding on to an infantile Spirit Beast, daring not to even breathe deeply.
“Sir Leng, what should we do now?” The Tang Clan First Elder, Tang Feng, asked nervously. That group of Spirit Beasts was chasing them relentlessly. If they could not think of any other ideas, then aside from that blue-clothed person, the rest of them would die here.
The blue-clothed person looked at the infantile Spirit Beast in Tang Yuan’s embrace and said indifferently: “Elder Tang, I have already accomplished the matter of obtaining this Spirit Beast. Although there were some unforeseen accidents, the responsibility does not lie with me. I believe that my agreement with your Tang Clan still stands?”
Tang Feng’s face twitched as he looked furiously at Tang Yuan. When the nearby Tang Yuan felt his gaze, he immediately lowered his head.
The Tang Clan had prepared many years for this Six-Tailed Spirit Fox, long before the Six-Tailed Spirit Fox had given birth.
After childbirth, the Six-Tailed Spirit Fox would typically exhaust a great deal of energy and turn frail, suffering a drop in strength to the Martial Saint level. This was a rare opportunity for the Tang Clan.
Coincidentally, this blue-clothed man appeared before the Tang clan and came to an agreement with him. The blue-clothed man would deal with the Six-Tailed Spirit Fox, whereas the Tang Clan would purchase a Spirit Blood Jade in an auction in the Great Tang Nation and seal it.
Who would’ve thought that Tang Yuan and his group would ultimately lose the Spirit Blood Jade when all the proceedings were in order and awaiting execution?.
This lead Tang Feng to be very livid. After thoroughly scolding Tang Yuan, he decided to put everything on the line and deployed their clan’s death-sworn soldiers to retrieve the Spirit Blood Jade.
When the appointed time had arrived, the death-sworn soldiers did not return. Tang Feng guessed that they had failed and exposed everything. He could wait no longer, thus, after the blue-clothed person lured away the Six-Tailed Spirit Fox, he sent in people to covertly steal its infant.
Sensing that its infant had been taken, the Six-Tailed Spirit Fox actually turned violent. Using the influence it had sown upon the other beasts throughout its time as the local hegemon like a beacon, all the Spirit Beasts in Seven Horn Mountain turned berserk, frantically chasing after the Tang Clan members.
While escaping, scores of Tang Clan disciples had either perished or gotten injured. The originally large and strong group was now left with a few dozen people. Their only hope now lay with this blue-clothed person.
Recollecting his thoughts, Tang Feng said urgently: “Senior Leng, of course, you did not go back on your part of the agreement, the Tang Clan will definitely keep their end of the deal. However, how do we leave the mountain now?”
The blue-clothed person smiled indifferently, “How timely, there is a Rank 4 Spirit Beast, three Rank 5 Spirit Beasts, and countless Rank 3 Spirit Beasts heading in this direction.”
Hearing these words, the originally anxious Tang Clan members turned even more terrified. Along the way, they had already been risking their lives. However, their efforts were all spent in vain should they be surrounded by a large group of Spirit Beasts of such caliber.
“Senior Leng, What… what do you mean by this?” Tang Feng trembled.
The blue clothed person smiled casually, “Elder Tang, don't be nervous. Since I came here with you, naturally, I can guarantee that you can leave here alive. Just think, in this situation, who would be more worried than us?”
Tang Feng thought for a moment before his eyes gleamed as he piped up joyously: “You mean… the Xiao Clan…”
“That's right, given that such a large commotion occurred, the Xiao Clan would definitely send someone over to check. However, the Spirit Beasts have all already turned berserk. They will not be able to reason things out and will kill anyone they see. With the Xiao Clan holding them back for us, escaping would be easy.”
“The biggest problem now is the little Spirit Fox in Young Master Tang’s arms. The Six-Tailed Spirit Fox is able to vaguely sense the position of this Spirit Fox. As long as we bring this Spirit Fox with us, then it would be difficult for us to escape this situation.”
Looking at the little Spirit Fox, Tang Feng felt a headache incoming. This little thing was like a bringer of death. After hearing the blue-clothed person’s explanation, a sense of release overcame him as he asked: “Senior Leng, do you mean for us to release this little Spirit Fox?”
“We can’t release it!” Before the blue-clothed person said anything, Tang Feng said loudly.
If everything had gone accordingly, they would’ve immediately added a powerful force to their roster after sealing the Six-Tailed Spirit Fox. Now that they had only obtained said fox’s infant, it would take a long time for it to reach a similar stage.
However, after sacrificing so many people and spending so much effort, they would have lost everything and gained nothing if they just released the little Spirit Fox.
The blue-clothed person smiled gently, “I do not intend to let this little Spirit Fox go. What I mean to say is that if one person is to flee with the Spirit Fox while the Xiao Clan is forced to block them for us, escape should be fairly simple for the rest of us. Time is short, Elder Tang, so make your decision quick.”
Tang Feng thought very quickly, quickly agreeing with the thoughts of the blue-clothed person. His only issue was deciding who to send.
Firstly, the blue-clothed person was ruled out. Not to mention even agreeing to it, Tang Feng could not feel assurance in handing the little Spirit Fox to him. Once he’s gone, he could easily fabricate an excuse and claim he had lost it, in which none of them could do anything to him.
This time, he ruled himself out as well. Luring away the Six-Tailed Spirit Fox, while it sounded simple, could easily be the end of him if he was not careful. They had already lost so many men here, and Tang Feng was now very cautious and did not want anything to happen to himself.
From the looks of things, the only person he could choose was Tang Yuan, who had already committed a huge mistake. Having made up his mind, Tang Feng proceeded to dole out his order: “You lot! Follow the First Young Master and bring the little Spirit Fox down the mountain immediately. If Tang Yuan loses this little Spirit Fox… I believe I don't have to tell you how the Clan Head will deal with you.”