Chapter 23

"Chase that ground-stomping bear?"

Su Baozhang was so startled that he almost shouted out loud, saying, "How could we possibly be a match for it? Brother Junshan, we can't risk our lives for just a high-quality immortal spirit!"

Su Baozhang followed Yang Junshan, who was heading in the direction the giant bear had left, towards the back of the hill, but he kept trying to dissuade him.

Yang Junshan whispered with a smile, "Brother Baozhang, don't worry. Do I look like someone who doesn't know my limits?"

Without waiting for Su Baozhang to respond, Yang Junshan continued, "I bet when we get there, we'll just be cleaning up the mess!"

Seeing Su Baozhang's puzzled expression, Yang Junshan urged, "Earlier, a few people shattered their protective talismans. The Mountain Guardians of the Heaven-Shaking Sect must be on their way. Hurry up, we don't want them to find us. Once we get there, you'll understand!"

Not long after Yang Junshan and Su Baozhang left, a beam of light descended from the sky, and Xiong Manshan's towering figure appeared above the group of young people who were dismembering the purple-skinned striped pig.

Zhang Yueming and the others hurriedly came forward to pay their respects. Xiong Manshan grunted in acknowledgment, glanced at the purple-skinned striped pig that had almost been dismembered by the young people, and nodded in satisfaction, saying, "Not bad. You really did slay this purple-skinned striped pig. I suppose you've already obtained the purple cloud skin!"

Zhang Yueming replied respectfully, "It's all thanks to the sect's favor and the protection of the elders. I was fortunate to have this opportunity!"

Hearing this, Xiong Manshan's satisfaction with Zhang Yueming increased even more. Moreover, since this person was favored by the sect, his cultivation would surely rise rapidly in the future, and he might even be of use to Xiong Manshan. Therefore, he made an effort to put on a relatively gentle expression and said, "Since you've passed the sect's test, you and the few young people who shattered their protective talismans can now leave the hunt."

The three young people who had shattered their talismans turned pale. They had been following Zhang Yueming to hunt fierce beasts but had not yet obtained any immortal spirits. The thought of having to wait another three years to participate in the next hunt filled them with despair. However, these were the rules of the Heaven-Shaking Sect's immortal spirit hunting grounds, and they could not be easily broken.

Zhang Yueming's expression changed, and he quickly said, "Elder, could you please wait a moment?"

If it were anyone else, Xiong Manshan would have already slapped them for their impertinence. However, since he wanted to show favor to this future star of the sect, he was willing to accommodate his additional requests.

Zhang Yueming quickly walked over to the skinned and boned purple-skinned striped pig, cut off the fattest pieces of meat and bone, and handed them to the three young people, saying, "Brothers, you helped me obtain the immortal spirit but at the cost of your own opportunities. I feel guilty. These bones and meat are the most valuable parts of the fierce beast, aside from the immortal spirit. Please take them as a token of my gratitude."

Zhang Yueming paused, his expression becoming even more sincere, and said, "Brothers, rest assured. Although I have already obtained the immortal spirit, I will not leave the hunting grounds. I will assist you in finding immortal spirits. If I have any extra, I will bring them out of the hunting grounds and give them to you!"

If the three young people had any resentment about losing their hunting opportunities by helping Zhang Yueming, they were now filled with gratitude. The other young people who were still following him also looked at him with admiration.

Seeing Zhang Yueming's actions, Xiong Manshan became even more convinced that this young man would become a great talent in the future. His gaze towards Zhang Yueming became even more gentle. Hearing that Zhang Yueming intended to stay in the hunting grounds to hunt immortal spirits, he casually asked, "Since you're staying, do you have a target to track?"

Zhang Yueming replied respectfully, "Yes, earlier, we encountered a mountain tiger while hunting the purple-skinned striped pig, ... "

"What? You encountered that beast?"

Xiong Manshan's face turned red with anger, but he quickly realized something and immediately calmed down, saying with a hint of understanding, "So, the three of you shattered your protective talismans not because of the purple-skinned striped pig, but because of that mountain tiger?"

Zhang Yueming, not knowing why Xiong Manshan had such an expression, still replied respectfully, "Yes!"

Xiong Manshan frowned, his expression showing some hesitation, and said, "What's the point of chasing that big cat? It's dangerous for you young people, and there's no guarantee you'll obtain an immortal spirit."

The Mountain Guardians were all high-level martial realm cultivators from the Heaven-Shaking Sect. They were either well-versed or extremely familiar with the distribution of immortal spirits in the hunting grounds. Fierce beasts like the purple-skinned striped pig, the ground-stomping bear, and the mountain tiger were well-known to them.

Although Xiong Manshan, bound by the rules of the Heaven-Shaking Sect, could not reveal information to the young people entering the hunting grounds, his previous hints were already quite obvious. As a predetermined inner sect disciple of the Heaven-Shaking Sect, if there were any immortal spirits in the hunting grounds better than the purple cloud skin, they would certainly have been left for him!

There was only one reason: neither the ground-stomping bear nor the mountain tiger had an immortal spirit in their bodies!

How could Zhang Yueming not understand the implications in Xiong Manshan's words? However, after a brief hesitation, he said, "I understand your good intentions, Elder. Even if this beast does not have an immortal spirit, its meat, skin, and bones are still valuable to us. Moreover, this beast has already been injured by my firebird talisman. If we don't finish it off, wouldn't it be a waste of my firebird talisman and the efforts of my companions?"

Xiong Manshan grunted, smacked his lips, and said, "If that's the case, you can do as you please. I won't say more. I believe the items you have should be enough to deal with that beast. You three, come here. You no longer have the right to stay in the hunting grounds."

...

Yang Junshan and Su Baozhang followed the tracks of the ground-stomping bear, moving quickly. Su Baozhang's brows had been furrowed since they left the pile of rocks. After a while, he finally couldn't help but ask Yang Junshan, "Brother Junshan, you said that fierce beasts like the mountain tiger and the ground-stomping bear are among the top in the Hundred Sparrow Mountain hunting grounds. The Mountain Guardians of the Heaven-Shaking Sect should have noticed them long ago. How is it that after two rounds of the immortal spirit hunt, these two beasts are still alive? This seems a bit unusual. Could it be that these two beasts are as lucky as the mountain-crashing ox?"

Yang Junshan, without turning his head, said, "It's not that these two beasts are lucky. The Mountain Guardians of the Heaven-Shaking Sect don't believe that these two beasts have immortal spirits. The cultivators who hunted immortal spirits in the first two rounds were all insiders. They probably knew this and wouldn't waste their efforts on these two beasts."

Su Baozhang stopped in his tracks, saying, "No immortal spirits? That doesn't make sense. I saw clearly that the mountain tiger, if it didn't have an immortal tiger bone, how could it break through the flames after being heavily injured by the firebird talisman?"

Yang Junshan chuckled, "The problem is that only you and I were standing high enough to see the mountain tiger in the sea of fire. Zhang Yueming and the others didn't know."

Su Baozhang, puzzled, asked, "How could they hide it from the martial realm cultivators of the Heaven-Shaking Sect?"

Yang Junshan smiled mysteriously, "Just now, didn't you think that the giant bear looked like it had some intelligence? Perhaps this mountain tiger is the same. These intelligent fierce beasts might have some innate ability to conceal their immortal spirits!"

The two of them crossed the ridge, and in the distance, they heard a low roar. Looking ahead, they saw a large open area in the forest on the other side of the ridge. The surrounding trees and grass were broken and scattered on the ground. Two massive fierce beasts were engaged in a fierce and deadly battle: the mountain tiger and the ground-stomping bear.

The battle between these two beasts was extremely brutal. Almost every time they clashed, blood splattered. However, they rarely roared, and when they did, it was abnormally low. If not for crossing the ridge, they might not have heard it at all.

The mountain tiger's body was completely stained red, its left hind leg completely broken. It was barely standing on three legs, having been heavily injured earlier. The ground-stomping bear was also covered in black and red, with several wounds bleeding from its chest and abdomen. A deep gash ran from its forehead to its jaw, and one of its eyes was gushing blood, the eyeball long gone.

Su Baozhang watched the two beasts in shock, muttering, "How did we end up here? Wasn't the mountain tiger heading west?"

Yang Junshan, as if he had expected this, said solemnly, "Clearly, the mountain tiger's escape route from Zhang Yueming and the others was a deliberate misdirection. This big cat actually wanted to leave in the direction of this valley. Unfortunately, it was ambushed by the ground-stomping bear and is now at the end of its strength, about to die under the bear's claws."

Su Baozhang, puzzled, asked, "An ambush? You mean this ground-stomping bear was deliberately here. How did it know the mountain tiger would come this way?"

Yang Junshan smiled and asked in return, "This bear can even understand music. Why can't it know the mountain tiger's movements in advance?"

Su Baozhang opened his mouth but couldn't find a way to argue. He shook his head, still looking somewhat disbelieving, and asked, "What do we do now?"

Yang Junshan smiled, "What else? We'll be the yellow bird in the fable. This time, we're the yellow bird!"

As Yang Junshan spoke, Su Baozhang's expression suddenly changed. Yang Junshan was taken aback and followed his gaze. He saw Zhang Yueming and a few other young people tracking the mountain tiger's trail in the grass about two to three miles to the west of the valley. Although they were heading in the wrong direction, what caught Yang Junshan's attention was the colorful butterfly dancing above Zhang Yueming's head.

A butterfly talisman! Zhang Yueming actually had such a talisman!

With this talisman, even if Zhang Yueming and the others temporarily went in the wrong direction, as long as the mountain tiger had passed, the talisman butterfly would eventually track it down, it would just take more time.

"We need to act quickly!" Yang Junshan said, already taking the three-stone carved bow from his back.

...