Immortal Venerable of the Beast Race
Chapter 479 - 387 Seeking Opportunity_1

Chapter 479: 387 Seeking Opportunity_1

The Fire Qilin Mountain Range is located in the central part of the Southern Border and stretches for millions of miles, boasting a large number of volcanoes. It is named after the fifth-tier Fire Qilin Beast that once appeared there.

A Blue Flying Boat flew in from the distant horizon and stopped with a flash.

Shen Long stood on the Blue Flying Boat, holding a red Beast Hide in his hand that clearly read "Fire Qilin Mountain Range" in large characters.

Shen Long had inquired from Shangguan Yulong about places in the Southern Border with numerous volcanoes, with Fire Qilin Mountain Range being the top recommendation.

The Fire Qilin Mountain Range had a rich resource of Monster Beasts, and quite a few Nascent Soul Cultivators had perished here. Unlike Myriad Flame Valley, the space in Fire Qilin Mountain Range was stable without natural restrictions, although it was home to a larger number of fire-element Monster Beasts.

Shen Long planned to explore the Fire Qilin Mountain Range to see if he could find a great opportunity.

With a flick of his sleeve, an Iron Tail Scorpion, a Hundred Eyes Cicada, and a Fire Qilin Beast flew out from the Spirit Beast Bracelet. The Iron Tail Scorpion burrowed underground, and the Hundred Eyes Cicada landed on the back of the Fire Qilin Beast.

He pinched a spell, and the Blue Flying Boat descended to the ground.

Shen Long stowed away the Blue Flying Boat and jumped onto the back of the Fire Qilin Beast, which headed deeper into the Fire Qilin Mountain Range at a leisurely pace.

Half a month later, they reached an open area with red soil, and red Fire Clouds floated high in the sky.

Shen Long sat on the back of the Fire Qilin Beast, with the Hundred Eyes Cicada in front of him, as the Fire Qilin Beast walked forward.

Suddenly, the Fire Qilin Beast opened its gaping mouth and spewed a thick beam of red flame, heading straight for a spot on the ground.

With a flash of Spiritual Light, a giant red lizard with a spiked ridge on its back appeared.

The red lizard emitted a strange hiss and released a red sonic wave, crushing the incoming red flame.

A strong gravitational force generated on the ground locked it in place, as a thick tail stinger emerged from the soil and shook violently, releasing a barrage of yellow lines that continually struck the red lizard’s head. The red lizard fell down, breathless.

Shen Long summoned the Soul Refining Bowl, collecting the Spirit Soul of the red lizard. The Iron Tail Scorpion emerged from underground, sprayed a yellow halo of light over the corpse of the red lizard, rolled it into its mouth, swallowed it, and burrowed back into the ground.

The Hundred Eyes Cicada’s eyes radiated blinding golden light, enabling it to see far distances and detect hidden Monster Beasts or Cultivators.

"Keep moving forward!"

Shen Long instructed.

The Fire Qilin Beast continued onward as the Iron Tail Scorpion moved stealthily underground.

...

Two months later, at a steep mountain peak with a huge cave at its base, a loud explosion echoed from within the cave.

The noise soon dissipated.

At the end of the cave, in a cavern spanning about an acre, an enormous red Demon Ape lay on the ground, its head bloodied and lifeless.

In the lower left corner of the cavern, a ten-foot-tall red fruit tree grew, with dozens of oval red fruits hanging on its branches.

Shen Long stood under the fruit tree, with the Fire Qilin Beast and the Hundred Eyes Cicada by his side.

"Chiyang Fruit!"

Shen Long nodded. The Chiyang Fruit, which took a growth cycle of 1,500 years, had Essence Advancing Spiritual Power and was the main ingredient for concocting the Chiyang Jade Elixir.

Nascent Soul Cultivators who practiced fire-element cultivation methods could save a period of arduous training by consuming the Chiyang Jade Elixir. The Fire Qilin Beast and the Gold-Winged Fire Ant Queen would greatly benefit in their advancement from consuming Chiyang Fruit.

Shen Long carefully plucked the Chiyang Fruits and stored them in the Storage Bracelet. He then summoned the Qinglian Vase and transplanted the Chiyang Fruit tree.

Shen Long collected the corpse of the Red Giant Ape and walked out of the cave.

Not far from the cave, there was a narrow valley. Shen Long jumped onto the back of the Fire Qilin Beast, while the Hundred Eyes Cicada’s eyes glowed with a dazzling golden light.

The Fire Qilin Beast emitted a deep roar and walked into the valley.

...

A year later, they arrived at a vast red plain with an oppressively high temperature, where the space was distorted, and the sky was filled with large red Fire Clouds, making the entire world seem to be painted in shades of red.

Shen Long sat on the back of the Fire Qilin Beast, with the Hundred Eyes Cicada perched on the beast’s head, as they moved forward.

Shen Long held a map in his hand, drawing a route on it.

Having spent over a year in the Fire Qilin Mountain Range, he had slain multiple fourth-tier Monster Beasts and gathered some Spiritual Medicine and Spirit Fruits but had not found any significant opportunities. The information provided by Tianji Hermit was too scarce.

Shen Long frowned as a giant red Fire Cloud flew towards him at a high speed.

The Hundred Eyes Cicada issued a piercing chirp, warning Shen Long.

With a flick of his wrist, tens of thousands of Spirit Ants flew out. The Gold-Winged Fire Ant Queen was now at the middle stage of the fourth tier, and its twelve Four-Winged Fire Ants had all advanced to the fourth tier, making a total of thirteen fourth-tier Spirit Ants.

Shen Long was cultivating the Gold-Winged Fire Ant Queen and the twelve Four-Winged Fire Ants with a focus on an elite path.

The Gold-Winged Fire Ant Queen emitted a sharp, piercing hiss; tens of thousands of Gold-Winged Fire Ants clustered around it, forming a gold spear over ten yards long, charging towards the red Fire Cloud.

The twelve Four-Winged Fire Ants fused into one, transforming into a several-yard-long red giant blade, slicing towards the red Fire Cloud.

The red Fire Cloud twisted and churned, splitting into two, turning into a red fire sword and a red fire spear to meet the assault.

Clashing metallic sounds rang out as fire flashed in all directions, with the red fire sword and red fire spear instantly shattering, revealing tens of thousands of Four-Winged Fire Ants, including five fourth-tier Four-Winged Fire Ants, with the Four-Winged Fire Ant Queen being at the middle stage of the fourth tier.

Compared to the Gold-Winged Fire Ants, the Four-Winged Fire Ants have stronger defenses. The twelve Four-Winged Fire Ants that Shen Long raised had even stronger defenses, matching those of regular Four-Winged Fire Ants.

The golden fire spears and red giant blades rampaged through the swarm of Four-Winged Fire Ants, causing a large number of them to fall from the sky.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the majority of the Four-Winged Fire Ants were dead or injured, and the Four-Winged Fire Ant Queen was pierced through by a golden spear. The demonic fire sprayed by the Gold-Winged Fire Ant Queen was much more formidable than that of the Four-Winged Fire Ant Queen.

Once the Four-Winged Fire Ant Queen died, the remaining ants scattered and fled.

Shen Long formed a spell with his hands, and the golden spears and red giant blades dissolved, turning into hundreds of thousands of spirit ants that pursued the fleeing Four-Winged Fire Ants.

The fourth-ranked Four-Winged Fire Ants were no match for the mutated ones and were soon annihilated, leaving no Four-Winged Fire Ants behind.

The twelve Four-Winged Fire Ants consumed the bodies of higher-ranked Four-Winged Fire Ants, the regular Gold-Winged Fire Ants fed on the lower-ranked ones, and Shen Long collected the spirit souls of the higher-ranked Four-Winged Fire Ants, planning to use them to feed the Nine-Headed Ghost Pigeon.

Shen Long formed another spell, and the hundreds of thousands of spirit ants flew back into the Spirit Beast Bracelet.

The Fire Qilin Beast continued walking forward, its pace unhurried.

...

One and a half years later, deep in the Fire Qilin Mountain Range, a narrow valley stretched out, with uneven stone walls on both sides. The Fire Qilin Beast walked towards the front, its speed still not fast.

Shen Long sat on the back of the Fire Qilin Beast, his brow slightly furrowed.

The Fire Qilin Mountain Range was too vast, and with his strength alone, he had no idea how long it would take to search the entire area.

The Hundred Eyes Cicada made a cheerful chirping sound, as if it had discovered something.

"Eh, an ancient cultivator’s cave dwelling? What a coincidence?"

Shen Long was overjoyed, and with a light pat on the Fire Qilin Beast, its limbs burst into a mass of red flames, transforming into a streak of red firelight that shot through the air at great speed.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the Fire Qilin Beast landed on top of a steep peak.

Shen Long’s right fist glowed red, and with a punch, a giant red fist flashed out, striking a spot on the ground, causing the earth to explode and reveal a red light barrier.

With his current physical strength, he could destroy a mountain with a single punch, unless there were prohibitive enchantments.

Shen Long’s face showed delight, thankful for the Hundred Eyes Cicada; otherwise, he would not have discovered it.

The Fire Qilin Beast exhaled a thick stream of red flames onto the red light barrier, and after a short while, the flames dissipated.

"Fire-Avoiding!"

Shen Long nodded, jumped down to the ground, and as his body made "crackling" noises, large amounts of red dragon scales grew on his skin. He punched again, hitting the red light barrier.

The red light barrier shattered like fragile paper, revealing a huge entrance.

Shen Long turned over his right hand, and the Purple Pupil Bead appeared in his grasp. He infused it with mana, causing the bead to emit a blinding purple light. Shen Long could clearly see inside the cave.

He strode into the cave, his divine sense fully extended, his face full of caution.

After walking for more than twenty steps, he reached the end and entered a cave about an acre in size. In the middle of the cave was a human skeleton with its left skeletal hand wearing a red storage bracelet. Most of the skeleton was blackened, indicating that the person had been poisoned.

Shen Long scrutinized every corner of the cave with his divine sense, but found nothing unusual.

He opened his mouth, and a ball of blue flame flew out, transforming into a massive Green Fire Phoenix. With a gentle flap of its wings, it struck the human skeleton, engulfing it in blue flames. The skeleton turned to nothingness, leaving only the red storage bracelet behind.

The Qinglian True Flame had devoured a fourth-rank Spirit Flame, greatly increasing its power; Shen Long now could refine a furnace of fourth-rank elixirs in just one day, thus greatly improving his alchemy efficiency.

Shen Long gestured with one hand, and the red storage bracelet flew towards him. He scanned it with his divine sense, and his face lit up with joy. Inside, there were two spiritual treasures, more than two million spirit stones, and various materials for artifact refining and alchemy.

"This doesn’t count as a great opportunity, does it?"

Shen Long muttered to himself. If two spiritual treasures were considered a great opportunity, that would be rather disappointing.

The Hundred Eyes Cicada issued another piercing chirp, having discovered something else.

"Eh, it’s Fairy Chu!"

Shen Long exclaimed softly, not expecting to encounter Chu Buyu here.

About a hundred miles away, in an open area, Chu Buyu was attacking a thick-bodied Red Fire Python. Upon closer inspection, the python was not solid, but ethereal.

A fourth-rank Spirit Flame!

A flying knife surrounded by golden arcs shot out, cutting the Red Fire Python in two, turning it into a swath of red flames. The red flames slowly gathered and reformed into a Red Fire Python.

The golden flying knife circled and swept across the body of the Red Fire Python again, dispersing it into red flames.

This time, before the red flames could coalesce into a Red Fire Python, a golden glow descended from the sky, covering the red flames and sweeping them into a glittering jade bottle.

Chu Buyu beckoned with one hand, and the golden jade bottle flew into her sleeve.

A streak of red light flew from a distance, stopping in a flash; it was Shen Long, who was seated on the back of the Fire Qilin Beast.

"Eh, Taoist Friend Shen, what a coincidence!"

Chu Buyu looked at Shen Long, somewhat surprised.