Free Web NovelChapter 140: Chapter 140: Hengyuan
「Three days later.」
The sun blazed overhead.
Bai Mo left the shop, carrying a bundle.
Wei An saw him off.
"I’ve checked the almanac. Today is a great day for travel!"
Bai Mo told him to stop and go back.
"Take care of yourself, and don’t fall behind on your Pill Book studies."
"I’m off."
When he arrived at a certain spot in the city, he saw an enormous building.
It seemed to have been built on a plot of land pieced together by demolishing several adjacent merchant guilds.
The front resembled an inn and served as a reception area.
Many Cultivators came and went, looking around with their heads tilted up.
In all its years, this was the first time a business offering Spirit Beasts for transportation had appeared in Immortal Arrival City, and many Cultivators found it novel.
Raising Spirit Beasts was also a profound discipline.
One couldn’t look down on the heritage of Beast Taming Peak just because its disciples were mostly people whose cultivation paths had been cut short.
Bai Mo walked inside.
A Cultivator with a welcoming smile approached him. Just as the man was about to speak, Bai Mo said,
"I’m looking for Brother Shui."
There was only one Brother Shui here, and the Cultivator was instantly surprised.
"Oh, a fellow sect member! Please, follow me!"
Shui Ziming and Qin Yu were waiting in the courtyard out back.
"Our junior brother is here," Shui Ziming said with a smile as he turned to look.
Bai Mo quickly took two steps forward.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Senior Brother!"
Beside Shui Ziming, a colossal creature was crouched, feigning sleep.
It had a yellow body and long feathers. Even lying down, it was taller than a person. Only its beak and the top of its head had a patch of red.
As Bai Mo drew closer, he could feel waves of heat radiating from its massive body and was secretly alarmed.
"Senior Brother, are we traveling on this creature?"
Shui Ziming nodded.
"That’s right. But let’s wait a bit. Other disciples are coming too."
Liu Tong and the others had already returned. Those traveling with them now were disciples from the city who were rotating back to the sect.
While they waited, Bai Mo looked up and studied the giant bird. It had tough feathers and massive talons. Even with its wings folded, he could tell they were wide.
The skin on its talons was already ossified; it was clearly an old bird.
There were several more such birds in the courtyard, though of different breeds. The rest were various four-legged beasts, all strong and powerful.
Qin Yu was like a furnace, the potency of the Fire Marrow Pill he had taken continuously radiating from him.
He patted the bird’s beak and explained,
"This species is called Hengyuan. They don’t have good tempers."
"The reason we delayed our departure until today is because its older brother threw a tantrum, injured several Spirit Beasts, and caused a huge mess."
Qin Yu sighed as he spoke.
"I don’t know what the disciples from Beast Taming Peak did wrong this time to piss them off."
Logically, such a foul-tempered Spirit Beast shouldn’t be suitable for transportation.
However, the Hengyuan Bird had a broad body and immense strength. It flew both steadily and swiftly. After much consideration, Beast Taming Peak decided to bring them anyway.
In just a few words, Qin Yu had clearly explained the Hengyuan’s origins.
He was about to comment further when he saw the bird’s eye crack open, its massive eyeball swiveling.
Greatly startled, Qin Yu tapped his foot and leaped away.
The moment he landed, he felt a twinge of regret.
’Senior Brother is right here. What am I afraid of?’
’How embarrassing!’
A disciple from Beast Taming Peak walked over to the Hengyuan Bird’s head, stroking and examining it for a long moment before letting out a sigh of relief.
"Senior Brothers, which one of you is carrying feed? You’ve caught my darling’s attention."
Qin Yu immediately looked at Bai Mo.
Both he and his senior brother had storage artifacts, so their belongings were hidden away.
Only Bai Mo was carrying his bag with him.
Bai Mo paused, then realized what was happening and pulled a cloth pouch from his robes.
"It must be this."
With that, he took out a yellow-and-green pill.
The eyes of the Beast Taming Peak disciple lit up. Having spent years finding all sorts of ways to serve Spirit Beasts, he was naturally no stranger to this kind of pill.
"Is this a Feeding Pill?"
"It looks much better than the Feeding Pills we make ourselves!"
"I heard a while ago that there was a Pill Master in Immortal Arrival City who was one of our sect-mates. That must be you, Junior Brother!"
Bai Mo smiled.
"Since the Hengyuan Spirit Beast has taken a liking to my pill, I’ll give it to him. Consider it a reward for the journey ahead."
The Beast Taming Peak disciple chuckled.
He took the Feeding Pill, waved it in front of the massive eye, and seeing it react, he lifted the bird’s beak and tossed the pill inside.
The Hengyuan’s throat moved slightly as the Feeding Pill slid down into its stomach.
Seeing it close its eye, the Beast Taming Peak disciple nodded and said,
"Looks like the old fellow is satisfied. You all should have a pleasant trip."
After so many years, the disciples had long since figured out the old bird’s temperament.
Qin Yu, however, looked at Bai Mo with shock and suspicion.
"You dabble in Feeding Pills too?"
"Rumor has it that it’s disgraceful for Pill Masters to make these things..."
Bai Mo looked astonished.
"There’s such a saying?"
After a moment’s thought, Bai Mo shook his head.
"Whoever said that was probably an outsider, or perhaps a third-rate practitioner of the Alchemy Dao."
"The Alchemy Dao is so profound, with many intersecting and overlapping branches. How can one be ranked higher or lower than another?"
Hearing this, Qin Yu felt it made sense. He nodded and asked in a low voice,
"Did you prepare these Feeding Pills to bribe the sect’s Spirit Beasts and get their cheek pouches?"
Bai Mo spread his hands in a helpless gesture.
"I can’t always be carrying a bundle around. Since I’m here, I might as well give it a try."
...
The three of them didn’t wait long. In less than an hour, the other disciples who were returning had all gathered.
Everyone leaped onto the Hengyuan’s back.
The bird, now well-rested, rose to its feet. It let out a sharp cry and suddenly beat its wings, kicking up a great cloud of dust.
The roars of beasts and cries of birds were endless in their ears.
As the fierce wind struck his face, Bai Mo instinctively closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, he saw the buildings of Immortal Arrival City rapidly receding. Faintly, he could even hear a few angry curses from the Cultivators below.
The feathers on the giant Hengyuan Bird’s back fanned out, perfectly blocking the headwind.
A disciple beside him let out a joyful cheer, seeming very pleased.
The giant Hengyuan Bird was still gaining altitude. Bai Mo only had to lean over to overlook the mountains and rivers below.
And yet, the bird flew with extreme stability. With a slight flap of its wings, it soared away gracefully.
Even though this was Bai Mo’s first time riding it, he felt no discomfort.
Finding the experience quite novel, Bai Mo turned his head and shouted to Qin Yu beside him,
"Where is the sect gate? Is it near Celestial Mountain City?"
Qin Yu tilted his head, concentrating hard to make out Bai Mo’s words.
After a long moment, he finally deciphered Bai Mo’s question from the jumbled words amidst the whistling wind.
He opened his mouth and yelled back,
"Not near Celestial Mountain City! It’s still a long way off!"
"You’ll know when we get there!"
The astral winds howled. Before they could even take in the magnificent scenery, the Hengyuan was already far away.
「About three days later.」
It landed atop a towering rock pillar, set everyone down, and flew off on its own.
The disciples hurriedly set about preparing food, not daring to delay for a moment.
They had all brought Demon Beast meat. They threw out a few pieces of Spirit Wood to start a fire, and the meat was cooked in no time.
One disciple respectfully offered a portion to Shui Ziming. Only after he reluctantly accepted it did the others begin to share the Demon Beast meat.
Qin Yu’s mouth was slick with grease as he ate.
"When you’re traveling, everyone has to pitch in. It’s tradition."
Seeing how happily he was eating, Bai Mo couldn’t help but remind him,
"The potency of the Fire Marrow Pill is still radiating. If you consume too much miscellaneous fire qi, it could easily contaminate the pill’s yang energy..."
Qin Yu immediately froze, his hand stopping mid-air. He couldn’t help but look at Shui Ziming with a troubled expression.
He had rushed and struggled to barely catch up with his cultivation progress; he didn’t dare to be reckless now.
Shui Ziming shook his head.
"I have some dry rations here..."
Once everyone had eaten their fill, the giant Hengyuan Bird flew back, its talons stained with thick blood and what looked like scraps of flesh.
Everyone pretended not to notice, leaped onto its back, and soared into the sky.
