The Huanyu Empire Beast Hall's Beast Lodge was established in the midst of the mountain forest. Countless spirit beasts lived leisurely in the area. Even though many of them were natural enemies of one another, they were still able to live harmoniously with one another after being tamed.
While walking to their destination, Han Chong asked, "Hongyuan Empire is more than a million kilometers away from here. How much time do you have for your journey?"
Zhang Xuan calculated for a moment before replying.
"Of course, the faster the better. It would be best if we can arrive within twenty days."
It had been nine days since Hong shi and the others had departed. If they wanted to catch up, they would have to shorten the month's journey to about twenty days.
"Twenty days?" Han Chong suddenly stopped and frowned. "If you wish to arrive at Hongyuan Empire within twenty days, you will require a Transcendent Mortal 7-dan spirit beast at the very least!"
Long journeys were very different from short journeys. Even if a spirit beast could cover a hundred thousand kilometers in a day at maximum, the journey could still easily stretch on for a month. After all, it would be impossible for the spirit beast to maintain its full speed throughout the entire journey, and it would also need to rest and recuperate as well.
Also, cultivation realm didn't necessary translate to speed either. Different aerial spirit beasts had different strengths, and there were plenty of powerful spirit beasts who had a slow flight speed.
Nevertheless, the minimum requirement for any aerial spirit beast to reach Hongyuan Empire in twenty days was for it to be a Transcendent Mortal 7-dan spirit beast.
Zhang Xuan nodded.
He was a beast tamer as well, and he had a deep understanding of spirit beasts. He could also roughly gauge the traveling times of different aerial spirit beasts.
"Only 5-star pinnacle beast tamers are able to tame such a spirit beast. Alright, I'll bring you to the Elder Hall to take a look then…"
Han Chong frowned.
If it was just a Transcendent Mortal 5-dan spirit beast, Han Chong would surely be able to rent it for Zhang Xuan easily. However, as Transcendent Mortal 7-dan spirit beasts were extremely hard to tame, even for a 5-star beast tamer, their quantity was severely limited. As such, this matter would necessitate the approval of the Elder Hall.
"The Elder Hall? Will this be too troublesome?" Zhang Xuan asked.
"It's fine. My teacher happens to be a 5-star pinnacle beast tamer… If he learns that you are a 4-star beast tamer and a grandmaster physician at such a young age, he will surely be delighted to help you!"
Han Chong smiled.
While they were speaking, they circled around the mountain forest and arrived at a log house.
The entire residence was extremely simplistic in design, constructed using only wood and mud. It contrasted starkly to the extravagant infrastructures around the Beast Hall.
Pushing open the door of the log house, they saw cages of all sizes placed all around the vast living room. Savages beast and spirit beasts were housed in those cages, and they varied in terms of size and species. Making a quick estimation, there were around eighty cages in here.
"These are…"
Upon seeing all of these cages, Zhang Xuan was bewildered.
This should be the living quarters of the teacher whom Han Chong spoke of. However, most of the beasts in the cages possessed low cultivation, and there were even a few beneath Zongshi realm.
A 5-star pinnacle beast tamer, a Transcendent Mortal 8-dan expert, could easily flick a savage beast of that tier to death, so there should be no reason for him to rear them.
"Oh, my teacher is…"
Realizing the doubts Zhang Xuan was harboring, Han Chong was just about to explain when 'jiya!', a spirited old man suddenly walked into the room.
The old man's hair and beard were both white, and he carried a book in his hands. Seemingly oblivious to the crowd in his log house, he continued walking forward while muttering something under his breath. His face slowly lit up with excitement along with his mutterings, as if he had deciphered a mystery.
"Teacher…"
Han Chong stepped forward and addressed him.
"Don't interrupt me. We'll talk after I'm done!"
Not even sparing a glance to Han Chong, the old man waved his hands and walked up to a cage.
Inside the cage were eight Zhizun realm Scarlet Coated Hamsters.
These hamsters were small in size, but their ability to burrow was astonishing. There were even some who specially groomed them to have them dig out some space underground to construct an underground chamber.
But of course, considering how the old man had them locked in a cage, that probably wasn't his motive.
Seeing his teacher pay little regard to him, Han Chong turned to the trio in embarrassment.
"Teacher has always been like this. As long as he is in the midst of his research, he will ignore everything in his surroundings…"
"No worries!"
Zhang Xuan smiled.
Even though he had to get to Hongyuan Empire as soon as possible, he had this bit of time to spare. On top of that, he was also curious about what the old man was up to.
Ignoring the crowd, the old man flipped a few pages on the book, and on a certain page, he suddenly stopped. As though he had finally found what he was looking for, his eyes lit up in agitation. He immediately turned his sight to the Scarlet Coated Hamsters, took in a deep breath, and shouted, "Boreohu lomesen…"
Along with the chanting of the old man, the Scarlet Coated Hamsters widened their eyes and began to puke, as if they had heard something extremely disgusting.
"They are vomiting? This isn't right!"
The old man scratched his head as he flipped the pages of the book once more. "My pronunciation must be off. I should try again!
"Boreohu lomesen…"
Hu hu hu!
The eyes of the Scarlet Coated Hamsters suddenly rolled upward, and their legs began to spasm. Two of them tried to get away, but they ended up knocking against the bars of the cage and fainted.
"This…"
Everyone widened their eyes in shock.
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Even Zhang Xuan was astonished by the sight.
What did the old man say to disgust the Scarlet Coated Hamsters so much that they would rather knock themselves out than to listen to it for a moment longer?
Suddenly realizing something, Luo Qiqi turned to Han Chong and asked, "Is this… Beast Language?"
Even though she wasn't a beast tamer, her occupation as a master teacher required her to have a degree of understanding of all occupations, and she did once read about the Ancient Beast Language before.
It was said to have been compiled by Kong shi himself, but with the passing of time, it gradually disappeared from the world. Even though the heritage was still existent, it was grasped in the hands of a small minority, and it was never passed down to outsiders.
Could it be that Han Chong's teacher had already learned the language, and was currently experimenting with it?
Just that, why would his words cause such an extreme reaction in the Scarlet Coated Hamsters to make them vomit like that?
"My teacher is in the midst of studying the Beast Language, and there has been some success in his research already…"
Han Chong nodded.
"Success?" Zhang Xuan and the others were speechless.
Making a savage beast puke, and you call that success?
One punch can easily do the same!
"Cough cough!" Hearing the conversation and seeing the reaction of the crowd, the old man was a little embarrassed. Closing his book and tidying his appearance, he turned around and said, "Han Chong, didn't I instruct you to study yourself? Do you have something for me?"
"Reporting to teacher, Zhang shi over here is my benefactor, and he wishes to rent a Transcendent Mortal 8-dan spirit beast to travel to Hongyuan Empire!" Han Chong quickly replied.
"Transcendent Mortal 8-dan?"
The old man frowned. "There are only three aerial spirit beasts of this caliber in the entire Beast Hall. Two of them were rented by the Huanyu royal family while the last one has just returned from a long journey and is exhausted. I'm afraid that there aren't any available at the moment! Besides, even though I am an elder, I don't have the absolute say in such matters. Dispatching a Transcendent Mortal 8-dan aerial spirit beast requires the approval of the Elder Conference and the hall master!"
"This…"
Han Chong's face reddened in embarrassment.
The management of the Huanyu Empire Beast Hall was much stricter than the Myriad Kingdom Alliance branch. Transcendent Mortal 8-dan spirit beasts were the strongest beings throughout the entire empire, so they wouldn't be given any work unless truly required. Furthermore, the approval of the Elder Conference was required to dispatch them.
Back then, when Han Chong was the hall master of the Myriad Kingdom Alliance Beast Hall, he could move any spirit beasts with just a single word. He thought that his teacher, as one of the top leaders of the Beast Hall, would possess such authority here, but from the looks of it, the matter wasn't as simple as it seemed.
"Then… are there any Transcendent Mortal 7-dan spirit beasts available?"
Even though Transcendent Mortal 7-dan aerial spirit beasts were slightly slower, it was still within an acceptable range for Zhang Xuan.
"There is a total of fourteen Transcendent Mortal 7-dan spirit beasts in our guild, but they are all the tamed beasts of elders, and only five of them are capable of flight. If you wish to rent one, you will need an elder to drive it personally, so it won't be easy either."
The old man shook his head. "Furthermore, most of the Transcendent Mortal 7-dan aerial spirit beasts aren't suited for traveling long distances, so I fear that they won't be much faster than most of the Transcendent Mortal 6-dan spirit beasts!"
Most of the spirit beasts in the Beast Hall were tamed by the beast tamers collectively or groomed by an apprentice of a low ranked beast tamer. These spirit beasts were often up for rent to the public.
On the other hand, there were also private spirit beasts, which were the tamed beasts that accompanied their tamers' side. Most of them were more suited than battle, so while they could cover short distances swiftly, it was difficult for them to persevere for long distances.
On top of that, most of the Transcendent Mortal 7-dan spirit beasts in the Beast Hall were land-bound, and those capable of flight could only do it in short spurts. There were simply too few aerial spirit beasts who were capable of covering long distances such as that between Huanyu Empire and Hongyuan Empire.
"Is there no other solution?" Han Chong asked anxiously.
Zhang shi had helped him a lot, and it wasn't easy for him to obtain a chance to repay the debt. He felt embarrassed that he had boasted earlier that it wouldn't be a problem only to let the other party down a few moments later.
"There is no other way around it…"
The old man shook his head firmly. At that moment, he suddenly recalled something and said, "Unless… you manage to convince that spirit beast to help! If you can do it, you can probably reach Hongyuan Empire in less than ten days!"
"That spirit beast?"
Han Chong seemed to understand which spirit beast the old man was referring to, and he shook his head with a bitter smile. But at this moment, he suddenly recalled the various miraculous feats the young man had achieved with the Demon Cinque Beast, and his eyes suddenly lit up. "That's right! Teacher, even though we might have been unable to persuade it, perhaps Zhang shi… might be able to succeed!"
Seeing his student getting so agitated, the old man frowned. He glanced at Zhang Xuan doubtfully and asked, "Him?"
He didn't mean to look down on Zhang Xuan, but the latter seemed to only be in his early twenties. At this age, even if he was talented, he could only be a 2-star beast tamer at best. With such limited capability, what could he possibly achieve?
After all, not even the hall master had been able to deal with that fellow.
"Even though Zhang shi is young, he is a true 4-star beast tamer. He was the one who tamed the Demon Cinque Beast, which I failed to do even after three years of effort!" Han Chong quickly explained. "Furthermore… it seems that Zhang shi knows a bit of Beast Language as well, and… it seems to be more effective than teacher's…"
"Beast Language? You are well-versed in the Ancient Beast Language?"
The old man was taken aback, and the doubt in his eyes deepened.
The heritage of the Ancient Beast Language had disappeared many millenniums before, and those who managed to lay their hands on it were all the top beast tamers on the continent. However, all of them viewed what they knew as their greatest treasure and were unwilling to share it with the public, so how could such a young fellow possibly know the Ancient Beast Language?"
"I… studied it for a while." Zhang Xuan nodded.
"Studied it for a while? I have been researching it for more than fifty years, and I barely managed to scratch the surface. What is the use in studying it for a while?"
Hearing the other party's words, disappointment flashed across the old man's face. Just as he was about to continue speaking, he suddenly saw the young man before him inhale deeply before opening his mouth.
"Moo!"
Huala!
All of the spirit beasts and savage beasts in the room immediately crouched on the floor, trembling in fear. On the other hand, the old man also felt his entire body jolt upon hearing that sound. His vision went dark, and he fell onto the floor, convulsing ceaselessly.