After forming a contract with the Myriad Anthive Queen, a mental connection was forged between both of their souls. Through this connection, Zhang Xuan gained a level of understanding toward the Anthive Nest.
Immersing his consciousness into the Anthive Nest to take a look, Zhang Xuan's eyes began twitching uncontrollably.
This football-size hive was indeed capable of housing lifeforms, however… the diameter of the area inside was only around two meters. At the very most, it could only store his body and the Anthive Queen simultaneously, nothing more than that.
Zhang Xuan's initial thought had been to store the Great Violetwing Beast inside as well and form a huge spirit beast army who would follow him wherever he went. However, from the way things currently looked… it seemed like this was destined to remain as nothing more than a dream!
'There are varying tiers to the Myriad Anthive Queens. The one which I have tamed is the weakest of the lot, so the hive it built is slightly on the weaker end as well. Unless I induce a Bloodline Evolution in it and raise its cultivation, its hive will only remain the same size forever…'
Soon, Zhang Xuan understood the reason behind this matter.
The Myriad Anthive Queen he'd tamed was the weakest among its peers. Due to the limit of its strength, the hive that it had built could only house itself. If Zhang Xuan wanted a larger nest, he would have to find a way to raise the Myriad Anthive Queen's cultivation.
It was no wonder the Myriad Anthive Queen was able to remain safe on this mountain! In the eyes of a true expert, the functionality of such a hive was severely limited, and thus was not worth the effort!
'What the heck is this…'
Zhang Xuan had thought that he'd stumbled on a gold mountain, but to think it would be rocks that were lying beneath the golden exterior. He could only smile bitterly to himself.
"There are disturbances in the spiritual energy inside. Let's hurry in to take a look…"
At that moment, a voice sounded outside the cavern. Following which, anxious footsteps could be heard. It seemed like Brother Yu and Senior Feng had noticed that something was amiss, and they were on their way in!
Battling against the Transcendent Mortal 7-dan Myriad Anthive Queen, there was no way that Zhang Xuan could conceal his aura. Considering the disturbance of spiritual energy in the surroundings and the loud crashing noise from the spirit beast crashing into the wall, how could they not have realized that something was amiss?
"Let's take a look first!"
A deep frown emerged on Zhang Xuan's face.
He immediately had the Myriad Anthive Queen enter the Anthive Nest before placing the Anthive Nest into the storage ring.
Even though the Anthive Nest was a spatial artifact, it possessed certain unique properties that allowed it to be stored within a storage ring.
Otherwise, if Zhang Xuan were to be carrying a football-sized object everywhere he went, even the most foolish of people would know that there was something wrong with it.
Hu!
After all was done, just as Zhang Xuan was about to leave, the footsteps seemed to have arrived at the entrance of the cavern. Following which, a Night Illumination Pearl was suddenly tossed in, lighting up the surroundings.
'This is bad!'
Not expecting the other party to have reached him so quickly, Zhang Xuan swiftly flicked his fingers.
Peng!
The Night Illumination Pearl which had just been tossed in immediately exploded, and the light was swiftly swallowed by darkness. Knowing that there was no time to be lost, Zhang Xuan stepped forcefully against the ground.
Peng!
Executing the Heaven's Path Movement Art, Zhang Xuan's figure suddenly vanished. Before Brother Yu and Senior Feng could process what was going on, a swift blur flashed across their eyes.
"Someone is here…"
Astonished, the duo hurriedly put up their guards. However, the other party didn't seem to have any intention of fighting them. In the blink of an eye, the other party had already disappeared from view.
"Who was it…"
Brother Yu hurriedly gave chase. However, when he dashed out of the forest in the valley, there was no one in sight at all.
"The spirit beast… is missing?"
After which, he returned to the cavern to comb the area. However, there was no spirit beast in sight either. Brother Yu and Senior Feng traded glances with one another. They would have to be a fool if they still couldn't understand what was going on!
"Damn it… To think that the spirit beast which I knocked out with great difficulty was stolen! Who in the world is that b*stard?" Brother Yu bellowed furiously.
From his point of view, he had already crippled the spirit beast through his Beastscale Incense, but a b*stard had sneaked in to kill and loot his prey.
Otherwise, how could there be signs of battle but not a single Perfect Harmonization realm spirit beast in sight?
To think that the spirit beast he'd spent so much Beastscale Incense on would end up as a gift for another. It was fortunate that he didn't explode on the spot.
…
Outside the valley, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.
'That was a close call…'
It was fortunate that he had slipped out in time, or else his reputation could have been tarnished if the other party had insisted that he'd stolen his possession.
It was fortunate he'd moved swiftly to destroy the Night Illumination Pearl, thus turning the cavern completely dark. Otherwise, given the eye of discernment of the duo, they would have surely been able to recognize him.
After ensuring that he was a safe distance away and that there was no one around, Zhang Xuan flicked his wrist and released the Anthive Queen.
There were still some doubts that he had to clarify with it.
"Why did you offer your services to the spirit beasts to deal with the master teachers?"
Based on Zhang Xuan's understanding, the Myriad Anthive Queen was a callous being. Furthermore, it had no ties with the spirit beasts here, so why would it help them deal with the freshmen?
Wasn't this just bringing itself unnecessary trouble?
"It's… the Byzantium Helios Beast who forced me to do so!" the Anthive Queen replied.
"Byzantium Helios Beast?" Zhang Xuan frowned.
Having collected and assimilated in countless books from the Beast Halls that he had visited, he had gained knowledge of most savage beasts and spirit beasts in the world. However, never had he heard of the Byzantium Helios Beast.
What in the world was that?
"That's right! The Byzantium Helios Beast came by a few days ago, and he commanded me to offer help to the spirit beasts. On top of that, he even gathered all of the spirit beasts together and rallied them to unite against the humans…"
The Anthive Queen revealed the truth of the incident.
"You are saying that a Byzantium Helios Beast organized all of the spirit beasts across the entire Leiyuan Peak a few days ago so as to deal with the freshmen during the entrance examination?" Zhang Xuan asked with a grim expression.
If the Byzantium Helios Beast truly intended to protect these spirit beasts, it could have commanded them to leave instead, especially considering that the warning came several days ago. The time interval was more than sufficient for them escape to a safe distance away!
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Yet, it chose to rally the spirit beasts against the humans…
Could it be that the Byzantium Helios Beast… intended to deal with the budding stars of the Master Teacher Pavilion here?
With a grave expression on his face, Zhang Xuan asked, "How strong is the Byzantium Helios Beast?"
"I have no idea; I am unable to gauge the depths of its strength. The only thing I know is that I am no match for him at all…" The Anthive Queen shook its head. "Right, the Byzantium Helios Beast is currently at the very top of Leiyuan Peak. It is still personally overlooking the entire situation and issuing commands!"
"At the top of Leiyuan Peak?"
Zhang Xuan was bewildered. What was the background of the Byzantium Helios Beast? Why would he rally the spirit beasts to fight against humans?
"Yes!" The Anthive Queen nodded.
After asking a few more questions, Zhang Xuan managed to get a clearer glimpse of the picture. However, this only served to deepen his doubts.
The spirit beasts across Leiyuan Peak were indeed captured and released here by Elder Mo. However, a few days ago, the Byzantium Helios Beast appeared from nowhere and rallied the spirit beasts to cooperate with one another to deal with the humans.
So as to not become the sacrificial tool for the humans, those spirit beasts immediately agreed to cooperate with it.
Due to the unique capabilities of the Myriad Anthive Queen, it was given the role of gathering intelligence. On the other hand, the Byzantium Helios Beast was serving as the commander of the entire operation, issuing instructions to the spirit beasts to gather and encircle the master teachers so as to destroy them.
Returning the Anthive Queen to the hive, Zhang Xuan stroked his lower jaw and fell into deep thought.
'If we allow the Byzantium Helios Beast to continue issuing instructions to the spirit beasts, many examinees will surely be killed…'
Everyone participated in this entrance examination understanding that there was a clear risk of death, but there was a huge difference if someone was pulling the strings from behind the scenes to deal with the master teachers.
While it was a huge pity to see so many genius master teachers fall here, what Zhang Xuan was even more furious about was being played for a fool by a spirit beast.
"Allow me to see what kind of incredible being the Byzantium Helios Beast is!"
For a mere spirit beast to disregard Elder Mo and the Master Teacher Academy and tamper with the entrance examinations, intending to do the examinees harm, Zhang Xuan was interested to see what kind of incredible existence the other party would be.
Thus, turning his gaze toward the peak, Zhang Xuan began making his way up.
Leiyuan Peak was over 10,000 meters tall. The area beyond the halfway mark was cloaked with a deep layer of snow, and the terrain was treacherously steep. Without half a day of arduous effort, it should have been impossible for anyone to reach the peak.
However, through the Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps, it took Zhang Xuan a mere ten minutes of flight to reach his destination.
The area at the top of the peak was rather vast, spanning several li. A white layer of snow cloaked the bare peak, creating a natural mirror which threatened to sear one's eyes through the reflected sun rays.
With Zhang Xuan's cultivation, he couldn't possibly be harmed by mere sun rays. Nevertheless, the endless white snow in sight was extremely taxing on the eyes. Thus, Zhang Xuan activated his Eye of Insight and began scanning the area.
Without understanding the true strength of the Byzantium Helios Beast, Zhang Xuan knew better than to act recklessly. Thus, he switched to a set of white clothes to blend in with his surroundings before slowly advancing while keeping his body close to the ground.
'There are spirit beast footprints ahead!'
After a moment of flight, Zhang Xuan soon noticed a set of massive footprints heading in a specific direction.
These footprints were roughly half a meter large, and they were deeply depressed in the thick layer of snow. This indicated that the owner of the footprints possessed an exceptionally large and heavy body.
'What spirit beast is this?'
Zhang Xuan frowned, perplexed.
These footprints were somewhat similar to a human, but there were some differing features, the main one being the size. Having read many books regarding beast taming, Zhang Xuan was confident in his knowledge regarding savage beasts and spirit beasts. Even rare beings like the Myriad Anthive Queen weren't beyond him. Yet, the footprints before him felt extremely foreign.
'Nevertheless, through the footprints, I will be able to track it down. My answer will lie at the end of this trail…'
Knowing that the mystery would be resolved at the end of the trail of footprints, Zhang Xuan hurried forward.
After a moment of flight, a massive straw cottage came into view. The footsteps disappeared at the doorstep of the straw cottage.
'A straw cottage? Could it be that… someone is living here?'
Spirit beasts usually resided in caves and such. Since there was a straw cottage here, did it mean that this was the residence of a human? And for the massive footprints which led to the straw cottage, did it mean that the spirit beast was actually a tamed beast of this human?
If that was the case, what motives did that human have?
'Or perhaps… could it be an Otherworldly Demon? This would explain the motive behind rallying the spirit beasts against the master teachers,' Zhang Xuan thought grimly.
If one had to name a race which bore deep hostility toward the master teachers, the Otherworldly Demons were surely the first to come to mind. Considering how the Byzantium Helios Beast had commanded the spirit beasts to deal with the master teachers, there was indeed a real possibility that Otherworldly Demons were pulling the strings!
Otherwise, why would anyone build a straw cottage on the top of this desolate snow mountain and live here?
At this moment, all of the pieces of the puzzle seemed to snap together.
'I should take a look first…'
With such thoughts in mind, Zhang Xuan slowly approached while holding his breath so as to prevent his aura from leaking out.
As expected, he soon noticed a massive spirit beast lying within the straw cottage through the opened doors. Its massive eyes were lightly shut, making it difficult to tell whether it was awake or asleep.
'Is this the Byzantium Helios Beast that the Myriad Anthive Queen spoke about? There's no spirit beast in mind that matches its description…'
The massive spirit beast in front of him was covered in a slightly grayish fur, reminiscent of a massive ape. It was a species which Zhang Xuan had never heard of, and this made him frown in frustration.
If it was a species unknown to him, there would be no record of the other party's strength, personality, and ability either.
A foreign spirit beast whose cultivation exceeded Transcendent Mortal 7-dan. Even for Zhang Xuan, this was a fearsome power to reckon with.
Hu hu hu!
Just as Zhang Xuan was about to approach to scout the situation, the sound of wind suddenly echoed from afar. An aerial spirit beast slowly flew over from the distance.
This fellow carried an astonishing aura that exerted an immense pressure even from a distance away.
A Transcendent Mortal 7-dan spirit beast.
"It must be in cahoots with the Byzantium Helios Beast!"
Seeing how that huge fellow rushed in without concealing its aura, and how the Byzantium Helios Beat didn't seem to pay the matter any heed either, Zhang Xuan could tell that the two were well-acquainted with one another. Thus, he slowly lowered himself to the ground and hid amidst the snow.
His movements were extremely light, and his clothes camouflaged with the surroundings as well. Even with the aerial view of that flying Transcendent Mortal 7-dan spirit beast, it still failed to notice him.