25 Jul 2017
Hearing Yang Chen’s words, Shi Shanshan couldn’t help but curiously ask:
“What kind of spirit beast is so easy to breed? Is it possible for me to take a look?”
Since the two people were publicly acknowledged to be dao companions, so naturally will not call each other as senior apprentice brother or senior apprentice sister or fellow daoist and just addressed each other informally.
Yang Chen also sensed that travelling without speaking would be too difficult, Cold Plum Fairy Shi rarely took the initiative to speak, so Yang Chen also didn’t intend to brush her away and directly took out Heavenly Roar from Medicine Garden and released him within the Flying Shuttle.
Heavenly Roar was greedily licking the low grade flying sword when he was pulled out from Medicine Garden. When he suddenly discovered he was in an unfamiliar location, he subconsciously bit the flying sword and looked vigilantly at the two people. Seeing Yang Chen, he delightedly ran towards him and started intimately rubbing himself against Yang Chen’s leg.
Shi Shanshan was stunned. Initially, she had believed that the spirit pet of someone like Yang Chen would certainly be an unique and formidable beast, but she didn’t expect that it would be such a cute little puppy. She couldn’t endure it any longer and started giggling. Once a smile bloomed on her snow white face, the sensation she exuded was indescribably breathtaking.
Heavenly Roar seemed to sense that Shi Shanshan was laughing at him. He started whimpering at her, opening his small beady eyes. He then angrily growled at Shi Shanshan. Once Yang Chen held him to his bosom and caressed him gently, he started to calm down and make crooning sounds; he then began to lick his flying sword again.
“Sorry!”
After Shi Shanshan laughed, she immediately sensed that it was inappropriate of her. As her control over her mental state was good, she quickly composed herself and returned to normal.
“No problem.”
Yang Chen shrugged his shoulders with an indifferent expression. When he had informed Gao Yue and Gongsun Ling about Heavenly Roar, they had also laughed, so he didn’t think that Shi Shanshan laughing at this moment was inappropriate.
“Forgive me for speaking bluntly.”
After observing Heavenly Roar for a long time, Shi Shanshan couldn’t find anything extraordinary about him and earnestly said:
“But your spirit pet doesn’t seem very outstanding. You spent your only chance to select a spirit beast companion to be it’s master, isn’t it a waste?”
“If he had been that outstanding, then he would already have been discovered by others before being discovered by me.”
Yang Chen smiled but didn’t dispute her, he hadn’t found Heavenly Roar based on previous life’s memories. Rather, Heavenly Roar was treasure he had found using his insight, like an antique lover that had picked up a great antique, so he couldn’t help but feel proud of himself:
“If you knew his origin, you would certainly not be thinking like that.”
“Then I request you to enlighten me.”
Shi Shanshan’s eyes shone brightly. She was a cultivator and also knew that Yang Chen had extensive knowledge and experience, after taking a good look at Heavenly Roar again, she was puzzled and asked him.
“For the time being, you should not ask about this. Even if I told you, you wouldn’t believe.”
Yang Chen shook his head while smiling and returned Heavenly Roar back to the Medicine Garden. In reality, Heavenly Roar had already started revealing some characteristics from Yang Chen’s memories, but his outward appearance was still ordinary, making people unable to believe his origins.
Seeing that Yang Chen didn’t intend to speak no matter what, Shi Shanshan also didn’t insist and changed the topic:
“What kind of thing can allow a spirit pet to upgrade?”
“It’s nothing great. Just the Heavenly Roar Dog of the Immortal World had left behind a drop of blood essence in the mortal world.”
Yang Chen said nonchalantly, without caring for how shocking the answer was.
“Heavenly Roar Dog’s blood essence?”
Shi Shanshan said with great alarm. Although she didn’t know much, she had definitely heard about Yang Erlang’s Heavenly Roar Dog. There were many legends about him. When Yang Chen unexpectedly mentioned that there was a drop of Heavenly Roar Dog’s blood essence here, Shi Shanshan immediately thought of the little pup from a moment ago:
“How is it possible? Could it be that your spirit pet is a descendent of a Heavenly Roar Dog?”
“No!”
Yang Chen shook his head to refute and immediately continued:
“However, you can think about it as you like, and I will also not refute you for the time being, and in any case, you should treat him as he is!”
What kind of reply is this? Shi Shanshan was bewildered. He would not refute and treat him like he is? Then in the end is he or is he not a descendent of a Heavenly Roar Dog?
“Believe me, you are an orthodox dao sect cultivator, you most certainly do not want to know what it is.”
Looking at Shi Shanshan’s confused face, Yang Chen couldn’t help but remind her:
“You need not indulge in flights of fancy.”
Even though he said these things, Shi Shanshan still wrinkled her brows, trying to guess what Heavenly Roar was. But regardless of how much she racked her brain, she couldn’t imagine what kind of ferocious spirit pet he was. After observing him and pondering for a long time, with his appearance, only Heavenly Roar Dog came to her mind.
As for why Yang Chen knew that Heavenly Roar Dog’s blood essence was there, Shi Shanshan didn’t ask much. Yang Chen had a reputation of reading many random books, so it didn’t need to be said that he must have found it within some book by chance.
Yang Chen also hadn’t expected that this reputation, which he had let out casually, had saved him many misunderstandings. Even when he did something strange, other people wouldn’t doubt him and would rather take the initiative to find the reasons and sources.
Meng Qi Mountain was still very far away. Even using the Flying Shuttle, it still would take one full month of travel to reach. During this long time, the two people riding in the Flying Shuttle exchanged some words from time to time, but for most of the time, they cultivated silently. Occasionally, they would taste Yang Chen’s fresh tea prepared on the spot.
However, every time the tea was cooked, Shi Shanshan tactfully took charge. Moreover, with each time, Shi Shanshan began to resemble a virtuous wife more and more; carrying the tea water respectfully with both hands for Yang Chen. In the beginning, Yang Chen was unused to this, but Shi Shanshan insisted that this was woman’s work. Yang Chen couldn’t change her mind, so he could only slowly adapt.
With Meng Qi Mountain within sight, Yang Chen and Shi Shanshan also did some preparation. After finding a suitable region, Yang Chen put away the Flying Shuttle and landed.
After observing the surroundings for a good while, Shi Shanshan turned to Yang Chen and asked:
“Where should we go now? Where did you say that blood essence was?”
The information about Heavenly Roar Dog leaving behind something was only a few words. It was clearly at some hidden valley at the Meng Qi, but there is no clear sign of where the hidden valley is.
“It must be at some hidden valley, but there is no specific location. We would have to spend time to search.”
Holding the Bright Ray Sword in one hand, Yang Chen released his spiritual awareness and began to investigate everything.
“If only you had a better solution!”
Shi Shanshan wasn’t in favor of Yang Chen’s plan of searching region by region, but she had already followed Yang Chen, so it wouldn’t be appropriate to return. She could only follow after Yang Chen, taking one step and checking.
Not waiting for Yang Chen to remind her, Shi Shanshan had already taken out her flying sword. However, she didn’t clenched her flying sword in her hand; rather, it spun around her body rapidly. Together with it, a faintly discernible armour also appeared. With this, her battle preparation was done.
Looking at Shi Shanshan naturally get into a fighting stance, Yang Chen recalled that in his previous life, Shi Shanshan hadn’t gotten the fame of Cold Plum Fairy just because of her cold face. Rather, she earned her reputation because of her real world battle experience. Having such a companion would save him the worry of needing to show any consideration for her during battle.
Both of them had completed their preparations in a timely and proper manner. Just when they had started walking after being fully armed, not far away, they saw a demon beast suddenly incline its head to look at them. Seeing two people, the spirit beast loudly roared, and its saliva was immediately thrown towards the two people.
Sou Sou Sou
With three successive sounds, Shi Shanshan’s flying sword flickered three time continuously on the body of the demon beast in the sky. As the body of the demon beast fell in front Yang Chen from the sky, with one ferocious slash, Yang Chen chopped the already seriously injured demon beast into two pieces.
Even though they were cooperating for the first time, their mutual understanding seemed to be perfect. There were no unnecessary movement, and the demon beast was taken care of very efficiently. Both of them hadn’t expected this. Neither of them had previously seen the other person fight, but now, after seeing for the first time, both were full of praise in their hearts for the other.
Although this place was close to the Demon Beast Plains, the demon beasts here were not very formidable, With Shi Shanshan’s JieDan stage strength, they advanced forward effortlessly. Furthermore with Yang Chen, the killing god, things were even easier.
Within less than two hours, the two of them had already killed three demon beasts. Each beast seemed to be at foundation stage. Their inner dan still hadn’t solidified. Yang Chen would always conveniently remove the most useful part, but for Shi Shanshan, she refused to do so.
Fairy Shi was clear as ice and clean as jade. She was more or less obsessed with cleanliness. Seeing the blood dripping from the parts cut off from the demon beasts disgusted her.
Yang Chen also recalled this habit of Shi Shanshan from his previous life, so he also didn’t insist on her doing it. Rather, he did it himself. Moreover, when they reached a place near water and rested, he took these things out and washed them clean when she was not near.
Although the Meng Qi mountain was not very huge, it still had a radius of several hundred miles. There were several hundred valleys, so finding the valley where Heavenly Roar Dog’s blood essence was located was not an easy task. Yang Chen had already planned ahead. It would take at least three to five years, since they would have to search all the valleys one by one. Thus, he was not very anxious.
There were many demon beasts, always jumping out when least expected, so the both of them remained extremely alert, especially Yang Chen. He was sensitive towards killing intent, and the demon beasts here didn’t know how to conceal their presence. They were always discovered by Yang Chen in advance.
While they had searched three or four valleys, both of them had already killed more than ten demon beasts. Both of them gained even deeper understanding towards the other person’s cultivation and techniques,further increasing their coordination.
Shi Shanshan was a pretty good fighting partner for Yang Chen. She was an expert who had matured through fighting and was different from an academic like Gongsun Ling. She had ample experience and knew what kind of techniques should be used against which enemy. She also understood when to attack and when to defend. She wasn’t hesitant and soft hearted when dealing the final blow and was therefore extremely compatible.
Both of them were extremely well coordinated and attacked one after the other in full swing. From start to end, those demon beasts didn’t have the slightest chance to retaliate under the unending successive attacks of the both of them and were killed immediately.
While killing so many demon beasts, both of them felt that it was too easy. Their attacks were incisive, dodging was also prompt, not in the least obstructing the attack line of the other companion. After killing the demon beast, when they beheaded it, they would always give each other a knowing smile.
He had a few memories of Shi Shanshan smiling, from his past life. After Yang Chen and Shi Shanshan had come here this time, he had already seen her smile several times. Thinking about it, Shi Shanshan also did not have it easy. She was such a beautiful woman, but she always wore an ice cold expression. Smiling several times was also an effective means of releasing pressure.
Yang Chen checked all the valleys one by one carefully. The blood essence left behind by Heavenly Roar before ascending was certainly not anything ordinary. There would certainly be formidable spirit power fluctuations. He found nothing extraordinary in these valleys which he had already inspected.
Luckily, Yang Chen had already discussed his intentions with Shi Shanshan, so neither of them were anxious and rather kept searching one valley after another trying to find it.
Continuously searching more than a hundred valleys consumed fully three montbhs. During this time, they had killed several hundred demon beasts, but they couldn’t find a single sign of Heavenly Roar Dog’s blood essence.
“Could it be that you have made a mistake?”
Shi Shanshan also became doubtful, even after searching for so long, they couldn’t find any sign of it.
“No, certainly not!”
Yang Chen thought about it. Heavenly Roar Dog shouldn’t have lied under those circumstances, so he firmly shook his head and said:
“Hidden valley, where could it be?”
“Hidden valley?”
When Shi Shanshan heard these words, a light suddenly passed her eyes and she immediately asked:
“The valleys that we searched, were they hidden?”
Being reminded by Shi Shanshan, Yang Chen suddenly realized. Indeed, all the valleys these two had searched all clearly stood out. How can they be said be to be hidden?
Seemingly, even a person like Yang Chen could also be negligent and hadn’t carefully given thought about the region. Yang Chen was extremely grateful towards Shi Shanshan’s warning. Following this, both of them began to search for valleys which couldn’t be seen easily.
There were many hidden valleys, with probably several kinds of circumstances. One of the possibilities was that the entrance to the valley was hidden. After several thousand years, it was also not possible for them to be discovered by the demon beasts roaming here. Another possibility was that an expert may have hidden the valley from view using spell formations or some magic tools. Regarding the valley where Heavenly Roar Dog’s blood essence was present, this was the most likely case.
With this new line of reasoning, their goal became even clearer. With just one glance at a valley, they could determine which ones could be ignored. They were specially searching for a region with a large scale spell formation.
Regardless of how hidden a spell formation was, under the probing of Yang Chen’s formidable spiritual awareness threads, as long as it was within a range of several feet, Yang Chen would definitely discover some clues. Shi Shanshan didn’t have such formidable spiritual awareness, so she could only follow after Yang Chen, searching through the whole journey.
Hard work indeed pays off, after changing their goal this time, in less than two months, Yang Chen discovered marks of a spirit formation hidden extremely well. There were spirit power fluctuations in a crack between a large stone and mountain rock. The crack was not very large, and its insiders were covered with thorn and bushes. Even the demon beasts couldn’t squeeze in so easily.
After approaching it, Yang Che carefully checked it and even used some things to inspect it properly. Only after confirming that it was an illusion spell did he take the lead and enter the hidden illusion formation.
Just as he entered, Yang Chen saw a huge valley. It really was a hidden valley in accordance with Heavenly Roar Dog’s words. Before he could express his astonishment, Shi Shanshan followed behind him, seeing the huge valley, she was endlessly surprised.
The inside of the valley was quite warm. All kind of trees and flowers grew luxuriously inside it. Just one thing was odd. There were no large animals inside and only had some small insects.
The most astonishing thing was not this fact but rather the plants growing inside. With just one glance, Yang Chen surprisingly discovered several unique legendary herbs. Moreover, from their shapes, it was clear that their maturity had reached at least ten thousand years.