At the entrance of Qing Shan Town, a handsome young man carrying a massive black ruler utterly disproportionate to his build stepped into the town. He was none other than Xiao Yan, who had passed the Jia Nan Academy assessment and taken a year-long leave to venture out for training.
After entering the town, quite a few passersby cast curious glances at his peculiar appearance. Xiao Yan paid them no mind, walking slowly along the commercial street while casually observing the shops on either side out of the corner of his eye.
After proceeding for some distance, he stopped in front of a medicinal shop called Thousand Medicine House. After pondering briefly, he lifted his foot and walked inside.
Not long after, when Xiao Yan emerged from Thousand Medicine House and returned to the main street, an almost uncontrollable smile lingered at the corners of his lips. It was no wonder he was in such a good mood—he had just picked up a huge bargain at Thousand Medicine House, buying one of the main ingredients needed to refine the Blood Lotus Pill, the Blood Lotus Essence, at the price of Yellow Lotus Essence.
Seeing that the sky was growing dark, Xiao Yan quickly found an inn and checked in. After putting down the giant ruler, he hastily separated the Blood Lotus Essence from the pile of Yellow Lotus Essence and stored it in a precious jade box.
"With this, once I find an Ice Spirit Blazing Grass and a Fourth-Rank ice-attribute magic core, I'll be able to refine the Blood Lotus Pill. Hopefully, getting the Ice Spirit Blazing Grass will be just as easy," Xiao Yan said happily as he lay on the bed, imagining the future.
"Heh heh, kid, you're dreaming big. Getting lucky like that once is already rare, and you still want it to happen a second time?" Yao Lao floated out from the Bone Flame Ring, teasing as he looked at the disciple he had carefully chosen. Though his words were playful, his heart was quite satisfied with Xiao Yan's luck.
Then Yao Lao's expression turned serious as he asked in a deep voice, "You must have heard some news today, right? The Magic Beast Mountain Range has been very dangerous lately. What are you planning to do?"
Hearing this, Xiao Yan rolled over and sat up, replying, "From what I heard from the mercenaries today, there have been frequent magic beast riots in the mountain range recently, even triggering small-scale beast tides. Because of that, no one plans to take missions for the time being—they're waiting to see how things develop. My original plan of entering the mountains with a mercenary squad won't work."
After a brief pause, Xiao Yan looked at Yao Lao seriously and said in a firm voice, "But I've still decided to enter the Magic Beast Mountain Range alone. I came out to train in the first place, and danger is naturally part of training. If I back down just because of a little danger, then this trip would be meaningless and I might as well forget about defeating Nalan Yanran in the three-year agreement."
"Hahaha, that's the spirit my disciple should have. Get some rest early today—tomorrow, we enter the Magic Beast Mountain Range," Yao Lao said with a gratified laugh, looking at Xiao Yan with satisfaction. In this Dou Qi Continent, if one dared not even face danger, how could one ever become a strong expert? Xiao Yan was still unpolished jade, but he was already beginning to reveal the mindset of a true powerhouse. Yao Lao firmly believed that under his guidance, this disciple would grow into an outstanding expert.
At this very moment, the person responsible for the recent magic beast riots and small-scale beast tides was sitting atop a cliff within the Magic Beast Mountain Range, raising a cup and gazing at the bright moon in the sky. Not far away, a massive silver-furred giant wolf lay obediently on the ground, its eyes filled with fear as it looked at the green-robed youth who had brazenly occupied its usual spot for howling at the moon, daring to feel anger but not to voice it.
This person was naturally Lin Yuan. Ever since breaking through to Eight-Star Dou King some time ago, Lin Yuan had left the valley and begun a journey of cultivation through constant battle.
Using heavenly treasures and his Natal Blood Pill to temper his physical body, and relying on intense combat to hone his Dou Qi and battle intent, he had, during this period, swept through the nearby Magic Beast Mountain Range from south to north and from east to west. Many Fifth-Rank and Sixth-Rank magic beasts had been beaten by him at least once. This was precisely the reason behind the recent frequent magic beast riots and small-scale beast tides.
However, Lin Yuan had not engaged in excessive slaughter. With the Hundred Beasts Refining Spirit Art having reached great completion, he no longer had much need for magic beast essence blood. As long as the beasts showed some sense, they were generally spared.
After this period of tempering, Lin Yuan's cultivation after breaking through to Eight-Star Dou King had been fully consolidated. His Dou Qi was extremely solid, and his physique had also improved slightly.
After drinking a cup of fruit wine brewed from spiritual fruits, Lin Yuan dispersed the green Dou Qi cup formed from condensed Dou Qi. He then took out a highly detailed map of the Magic Beast Mountain Range near Qing Shan Town from his storage ring. It was the most detailed map of the surrounding area, specially commissioned by Thousand Medicine House. He studied several possible routes Yao Lao and Xiao Yan might take when entering the mountains, confirming the key nodes marked on the map.
Afterward, Lin Yuan extended his arm and spoke to a delicate purple "jade ring" on it, saying, "Zi Yu, send a message to Qing'er. Tell her I won't be returning for the next few days. Have her help control some low-level vassals to focus on monitoring Areas Three, Five, Six, Nine, Eleven, and Fourteen marked on the map. If the target I mentioned is discovered, notify me immediately."
As soon as Lin Yuan finished speaking, the purple jade ring on his arm began to writhe and transform. A slender little snake, only about two inches long, appeared before him. Its entire body was covered in fine purple, jade-like scales, its eyes lively and intelligent. On its head was an exquisite three-petaled mark, making it look like a delicate purple jade carving.
It was none other than a Fourth-Rank magical beast—the Purple Jade Scale Snake. This was an extremely rare Fourth-Rank magical beast: weak, timid, and low in combat strength, yet possessing exceptionally high intelligence. It was more than capable of serving as an intermediary for communication between Lin Yuan and Qing Lin. It was for this very reason that Lin Yuan had deliberately chosen it and kept it by his side. Recalling that this Purple Jade Scale Snake's true body was over two zhang long, yet it could be reduced to such a tiny size by the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils, Lin Yuan could not help but once again marvel from the depths of his heart at the profundity of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils. Worthy indeed of being known as the number one wondrous pupil under heaven.
Upon hearing Lin Yuan's words, the Purple Jade Scale Snake immediately transmitted the message to Qing Lin. Qing Lin, who was in the midst of cultivation, received the message and promptly relayed orders to several dozen of her low-level snakes, instructing them to head to several designated areas to keep watch. If a young man carrying a black massive ruler on his back passed through any of those areas, they were to immediately send word.
After conveying the orders to her dependents through her thoughts, Qing Lin's eyes revealed a hint of excitement, and a satisfied smile appeared on her face. Although her current strength was still not great—only that of a three-star Dou Practitioner, she was already able to begin helping Young Master. This filled her with excitement.
After the Purple Jade Scale Snake transmitted the message back, it looked at Lin Yuan ingratiatingly. Lin Yuan chuckled softly, took out a jade bottle, and poured a single drop of diluted Core Quenching Tempering Milk into its mouth. Instantly, a look of contentment appeared in the Purple Jade Scale Snake's eyes as it transformed once more into a jade bangle and wrapped itself around Lin Yuan's wrist.
Gazing at the moonlight, Lin Yuan thought of the process by which he had, over this period of time, built a surveillance network through Qing Lin. A trace of satisfaction could not help but surface in his eyes.
The starting point of this matter was Lin Yuan's realization of an overlooked blind spot. Since Qing Lin could communicate with the snake-type magical beasts she had subdued, and the method of communication was an extremely mysterious form of mental transmission—something that even soul power could not detect—then the distance over which this communication could occur became a crucial factor. After Qing Lin broke through to Dou Practitioner, Lin Yuan brought her along to conduct a series of tests, discovering that Qing Lin could communicate with her dependents even when they were very far away. This discovery delighted Lin Yuan immensely, as it meant that Qing Lin was capable of remote command. (This is not fabricated— in the original work, when the Double-Headed Flame Spirit Snake led Xiao Yan to search for the Green Lotus Core Flame, it was able to transmit messages to Qing Lin remotely even while submerged in the magma sea.)
Thus, under his design, an intelligence and command network centered around Qing Lin was successfully established. Lin Yuan named it the Heavenly Canopy Network. Within this network, Lin Yuan issued orders to Qing Lin, Qing Lin issued commands to her dependents—effectively allowing Lin Yuan to command large numbers of magical beasts through Qing Lin. This was of immense value to Lin Yuan at present and possessed enormous potential for future development. He already had many plans for it.
This time, using the network to search for Xiao Yan was its first real combat test. Based on Lin Yuan's judgment, Xiao Yan would be entering the Magical Beast Mountain Range within these next few days.
"Don't disappoint me."
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