Immortal Venerable of the Beast Race
Chapter 224 - 143 Western Desert Zhou Family_1

Chapter 224: 143 Western Desert Zhou Family_1

Half a month quickly passed, Shen Long and Ice Silkworm True Person frequently attended gatherings hosted by Core Formation Cultivators of the Wang Family, making many acquaintances among them. They exchanged cultivation insights and listened to stories and amusing anecdotes from other lands, greatly broadening their horizons.

Shen Long benefited greatly, and his identity as an alchemist spread, but since he hadn’t yet produced top-grade elixirs, he didn’t attract much attention from the other Core Formation Cultivators.

Shen Long and Ice Silkworm True Person were skilled in the art of Insect Repelling and Controlling Beast Taming. The Core Formation Cultivators who came to the Wang Family to attend Wang Tianhua’s birthday celebration all raised Spirit Beasts. They humbly sought advice on this art, and both Ice Silkworm True Person and Shen Long patiently answered their questions, thereby expanding their social circle.

One day, more than forty Core Formation Cultivators gathered in a stone pavilion at Red Plum Garden to discuss the Dao over tea.

"Taoist Friend Wang, Wang Tianhua’s birthday celebration is about to commence. Why hasn’t the Zhou Family arrived yet?"

Shangguan Yunjie wondered.

"Yes! Tomorrow is Senior Wang’s birthday. Could the Zhou Family have had something come up preventing them from coming?"

Song Ming asked curiously.

"I am not too sure myself, perhaps something delayed them,"

Wang Yuesen said vaguely.

He was also unclear about what had happened. The Wang Family had sent out invitations early, and the Zhou Family had promised to send representatives. Logically, they should have arrived by now, but there was still no sign of them. The higher-ups of the Wang Family were baffled.

If the Zhou Family had something that prevented them from attending, they should have informed the Wang Family, but there had been no message at all.

"Could it be that something happened to the representatives sent by the Zhou Family? To get from the Western Desert Cultivation Realm to the Donghua Cultivation Realm, one has to cross the Hengduan Mountain Range, and I’ve heard that a fifth-order Monster Beast appeared there once,"

Shangguan Yunjie said.

"That was over a thousand years ago. There are quite a few fourth-order Monster Beasts, but currently, there have been no reports of fifth-order Monster Beasts,"

Ice Silkworm True Person added.

The Hengduan Mountain Range, located at the border of the Donghua Cultivation Realm and the Western Desert Cultivation Realm, spanned a million miles with tall mountains and dense forests, rich with Monster Beast resources, and had once been home to a fifth-order Monster Beast.

"Soul Transformation Cultivators live for over two thousand years, and the lifespans of fifth-order Monster Beasts generally exceed those of Soul Transformation Cultivators. That fifth-order Monster Beast might still be in the Hengduan Mountains. I’ve heard that some Nascent Soul Cultivators who entered the mountains in recent years have mysteriously disappeared,"

Song Ming said.

"Grand Master Xuan’s friend ventured into the Hengduan Mountains to search for Spiritual Medicine and went missing without a trace,"

Qi Mei said.

Wang Yuesen took out a Law Disk that flickered with green light and imbued a spell into it, his face revealing joy as he said, "The Zhou family has arrived. I’ll have them come over!"

He gestured over the green Law Disk for a moment and then put it away.

"It seems we misunderstood. Perhaps they were just delayed on the road,"

Ye Hongyao said.

"I have long heard of the great name of the Zhou Family from the Western Desert. Today, at last, we shall meet the descendants of the Zhou Family,"

Song Ming said with a smile.

Before long, a tall and thin young man in yellow garments and a young girl in a yellow dress with delicate features walked in.

The young man in yellow had handsome features and a face like white jade, while the girl in the yellow dress had an elegant figure and a touch of heroism between her brows.

"I am Zhou Yuheng, and I greet all the Taoist friends here,"

"My younger sister, Zhou Yuyan, greets all the Taoist friends,"

the young man in yellow and the girl in the yellow dress introduced themselves, sharing their names.

Shen Long and the others introduced themselves in turn, making acquaintances.

"Taoist Friend Zhou, Fairy Zhou, you’ve finally arrived. Please have a seat,"

Wang Yuesen said with a slight smile, inviting them to sit down.

"Taoist Friend Zhou, why have you only just arrived? We thought something had happened to you. Thankfully, you’re safe,"

Wang Yuesen asked curiously.

"When we passed through the Hengduan Mountains, we discovered a third-order Monster Beast with a Purity of Bloodline reaching three. The Hualong Ancestor personally took action. It was quite difficult to capture this beast; we also encountered some fourth-order Monster Beasts, which delayed us for a while,"

Zhou Yuheng explained.

"A third-order Monster Beast with its Purity of Bloodline reaching three! Your fortune is not small indeed!"

Wang Yuesen exclaimed, his face full of envy.

"Taoist Elder Zhou personally took action and it was not easy to capture this beast? Are third-order Monster Beasts that formidable?"

Qi Mei asked, puzzled.

"The main issue was the fourth-order Monster Beasts blocking the way. After we dealt with the fourth-order Monster Beasts, we were able to subdue it. If it weren’t for discovering its Purity of Bloodline reaching three, even the Hualong Ancestor himself would not have taken action, and we would have arrived sooner,"

Zhou Yuyan explained.

"Taoist Zhou, Fairy Zhou, how did you discover that the Purity of Bloodline of that third-order Monster Beast was three? Did you use a treasure to examine every third-order Monster Beast you encountered?"

Qi Mei asked, full of curiosity.

"We noticed it just when two Core Formation Cultivators were trying to kill it, and both were killed by the beast in return. That’s when we used a treasure to check and confirm its Purity of Bloodline was three,"

Zhou Yuheng explained.

The cultivators suddenly understood; that made sense.

"With such powerful Divine Skills already at the third order, advancing to the fourth order would be even more incredible."

The Ice Flood Dragon Fairy said, her face full of envy.

"It’s not easy to cultivate it to the fourth order. Taking Madam Wang’s auspicious words to heart, I hope it can advance to the fourth order,"

Zhou Yuheng said.

"By the way, Taoist Zhou, when you passed through the Hengduan Mountains, didn’t you encounter any powerful fourth-order Monster Beasts? I’ve heard that in recent years, some Nascent Soul Cultivators who entered the Hengduan Mountains disappeared without a trace,"

Song Ming said.

"We did encounter a mutated fourth-order Rift Valley Rhinoceros. Luckily, it mastered the Stealth Mystique and was difficult to detect, not one of the major Divine Skills; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so easy for us to get away."

Zhou Yuheng said.

"A mutated fourth-order Rift Valley Rhinoceros, that is indeed rare,"

Qi Mei said.

"It is indeed rare. We were fortunate not to have encountered the mutated Strong Golden-Backed Ape. It has a Divine Skill that can temporarily strip cultivators of their mana. The three immortals of the Western Desert joined forces to hunt fourth-order Monster Beasts in the Hengduan Mountains but were completely wiped out by a mutated fourth-order Strong Golden-Backed Ape. The Qiansha Reverend’s Nascent Soul was the only thing that escaped that calamity, and they have yet to recover their cultivation,"

Zhou Yuheng explained with a serious expression as he finished.

"A mutated fourth-order Strong Golden-Backed Ape that can make cultivators temporarily lose their mana? That’s incredible,"

Shen Long exclaimed in surprise.

For high-level cultivators fighting with spells, a small mistake could determine the outcome of a battle.

"Yes! There are quite a few mutated demon beasts and Demon Insects in the Hengduan Mountains. However, the direction of the beast’s mutation is uncontrollable; that Strong Golden-Backed Ape is rather special, not every Mutated Spirit Beast or Mutated Spirit Insect can master major Divine Skills,"

Zhou Yuheng said.

"That’s also true, but the potential of Mutated Spirit Beasts is still very high. Take the Rift Valley Rhinoceros as an example; it just didn’t master a major Divine Skill at the fourth order. Perhaps upon advancing to fifth order, it might master one. There are quite a few such cases. It’s not like Mutant Demon Beasts master Divine Skills right away; they’re just more likely than ordinary Monster Beasts to master them,"

Ice Silkworm True Person slowly said.

Ordinary Monster Beasts gaining a major realm would have fixed Divine Skills, but Mutant Monster Beasts gaining a major realm would have unpredictable Divine Skills.

Shen Long agreed deeply, wondering what Divine Skills the mutated Iron Tail Scorpion would master upon reaching the third order.

After chatting for nearly half an hour, the cultivators went back to rest.