Translator: Zen Translations Editor: Zen Translations
The Ten Thousand Beast Heavens was a place with an extremely complicated terrain, set in the mountainous regions of the north with various tall rolling mountains. Most important was the two lines of mountains that crossed the north of the WanShou Empire, of which there was one intersection of the two which was actually crossed with another mountain line, forming a triangular basin.
Compared to the rest of the icy snow of the north, this particular triangular basin was at a much higher temperature than the rest of the surroundings; in fact, many vegetation that only grew in temperate climates could be found there. This unique basin was actually rather huge, and with such a suitable climate for living in, and over hundreds and thousands of years, more and more powerful Heavenly Beasts were either attracted here or grew strong here. As such, this triangular basin was known as the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens.
The Ten Thousand Beast Heavens was a rich land abundant with natural resources all of types, with some of the greatest Heavenly Beasts, alone or in groups, living there. The Ten Thousand Beast Heavens truly lived up to its name as the most dangerous place in the Boundless Mainland.
However, perhaps not many people in the entire mainland would have heard of this Ten Thousand Beast Heavens, but if they were to speak of the Heavenly Snow Mountain, everyone had heard of it.
Amongst the Five Great Saint Lands, in terms of individual power, the strongest definitely belonged to the Heavenly Snow Mountain. And the Heavenly Snow Mountain was actually situated right deep in the middle of the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens, one of the snowy peaks there. It could be said that the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens was like a guardian zone to the Heavenly Snow Mountain, while the Heavenly Snow Mountain ruled over this most dangerous area in the entire mainland.
As such, there was a saying that the Heavenly Jewel Island was easy to enter compared to the Heavenly Snow Mountain.
The Heavenly Snow Mountain could be said to be formed slowly over thousands and tens of thousands of years as the strongest Heavenly Beasts in the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens gathered and grew, gaining the power of human form and after much fighting, slowly gathering together to form the Heavenly Snow Mountain. The Divine Heavenly Spirit Tigers were not just the rulers of the Heavenly Snow Mountain, but also of the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens.
This was also why the other Great Saint Lands were so afraid of the Heavenly Snow Mountain, as they could command all the powerful Heavenly Beasts within the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens. If the Five Great Saint Lands actually fought in the wars of the land, and the Heavenly Snow Mountain activated the Heavenly Beasts to join their armies, it would be a catastrophe for the entire mainland.
Although the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens was extremely dangerous, since it held some of the most powerful and rarest Heavenly Beasts in the world, it still had an unbelievable draw to Heavenly Jewel Masters. Everything else aside, if they could beat a wild Heavenly Beast and bring it close to death and Skill Stores from it, the success rate would be much higher than in a Skill Storing Palace. Furthermore, there were many treasures to be found in the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens, and even the Heavenly Cores of the Heavenly Beasts were priceless treasures; no matter as medicines or in creating Consolidating Equipment Ink.
It could be said that as long as one entered the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens, if he survived to leave, he would definitely earn an unbelievable profit. As long as one had the luck, who knew if he might even be able to pick up a Heavenly Core from the ground. After all, the number of Heavenly Beasts in the entire Ten Thousand Beast Heavens was just insanely high.
As such, every year, the number of Jewel Masters entering the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens was crazy high. Of course, the number that survived was extremely minimal.
The Heavenly Snow Mountain did not have a strict control over the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens. As such, as long as they did not enter the restricted core area of the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens, it would be unlikely they met any members from the Heavenly Snow Mountain. Even so, the powerful Heavenly Beasts of the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens was still an enormous deterrent force, and the deeper regions of the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens was considered a restricted zone, and no ordinary tribes could enter without permission.
Crossing the vast borders, Zhou Weiqing’s party of six finally entered the WanShou Empire. If they were to claim they were not nervous, it would have been a lie. After all, to all of them this empire was a totally new world, alien to them.
The WanShou Empire did not have any cities, as they did not need such things. After moving along the road for two days, they finally saw the first small tribe.
As compared to the ZhongTian Empire’s borders where their arrangement was filled with preparation against their enemies, as long as it wasn’t the time to attack, the WanShou Empire did not even have any armies stationed at the borders. The various tribes would return to their tribal lands and do as they please. In history, none of the human empires had ever even thought of attacking them.
After all, what benefit would there be in attacking the WanShou Empire? The climate there was so cold that it was nearly impossible to live in, not to mention there wasn’t much to rob easily as all the important treasures and ores were all deep within the WanShou Empire territory. Once they sent armies deep within, the result could be imagined. The WanShou Empire was so huge, and even if a million strong army attacked them, they would likely not be able to return.
“Should we stop to rest a while?” Lin TianAo asked Zhou Weiqing.
“We’ll stop to rest a while.” However, the one who replied was not Zhou Weiqing, but Zhan LingTian, still riding tall on his Ghost Demon Horse. His tone was that of a command, and he did not even look at the others, instead giving a hand signal to Shangguan Fei’er as he moved towards the tribe ahead.
“Who does he think he is? Our leader?” Ma Qun gave an angry, exasperated humph.
Zhou Weiqing smiled faintly and said: “Let him be.”
Ma Qun asked in a low tone: “Boss, you aren’t afraid of that fellow right?”
Zhou Weiqing said: “You don’t need to try sow discord, I know what I’m doing. Come on, after rushing for two days, it’s time for us to rest.” It was already evening time, and so far up north, that meant the temperature was even lower than the usual chill.
Very quickly, the party had advanced to the front of the tribe. It was not very large, with almost fifty stout large tents occupying a flat land. Right beside the tents, there was a small stream, clearly the main reason why they had chosen to camp here.
Many of the WanShou Empire tribes were nomadic in nature, and clearly this was just a temporary settlement for this particular tribe.
When Zhan LingTian reached the tribe, he jumped off his mount. At that point, two stout men walked out from the tribal encampment.
Zhou Weiqing had only seen the wolfman tribe members before, and in comparison, these two stout men were even taller and larger than the wolfmen. Another obvious difference was that they had a pair of horns on their head, looking rather strange.
Seeing the party of humans approach their camp, the two stout men did not appear to be surprised. One of them walked forward to greet them, saying: “Human guests, do you want to have a rest in one of our tents before continuing on your journey? We have delicious deer milk and cheese.”
The rest of the party dismounted, and Zhan LingTian said proudly: “Give us a few clean tents, we will rest here today.”
The expressions of the two stout, horned men changed, and the one on the left said: “I’m sorry, we do not have too many extra tents, and we can only spare one. Ten gold coins a night, with food and drink included.”
Zhan LingTian’s expression changed as well as he snapped out: “Asshole, you want us all to stay in a single tent?” His was used to being arrogant in the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, and all the younger disciples all listened to him, and it was not easy to change such a lofty attitude.”
“You dare to insult us?” A ferocious light flashed in the eyes of the stout man on the left. With a quick step forward, his powerful body appearing before Zhan LingTian.
Zhan LingTian was considered extremely tall and well built by human standards, but in contrast to that stout man, he was at least half a head shorter. In that instant, his large hands struck out towards Zhan LingTian.
How could Zhan LingTian possibly let his attack succeed. With a cold humph, his leg kicked out like lightning towards the stout man.
“Stop, keep your cool.” Zhou Weiqing’s voice rang out right at that point. With a muffled crashing sound, Zhan LingTian’s foot smashed against Zhou Weiqing’s right foot, which he had barely managed to get up in time.
Although the horned stout man was not successfully kicked, the shockwaves from the clash of the two legs actually knocked him back. Clearly, if he had been kicked by Zhan LingTian, he would have probably died by now.
“What are you doing?!” Zhan LingTian glared angrily at Zhou Weiqing. At this point, he had withdrawn his leg. With his cultivation level, he was shocked to find that his leg was actually feeling numb after his kick had been blocked by Zhou Weiqing’s leg.
On the other hand, Zhou Weiqing’s surprise was even greater. After all, he had been using his Demonic Right Leg, the strongest part of his entire body. Although he had not used his Demonic Change State, Zhan LingTian had also not released his Heavenly Jewels. It could be said that both legs just now had been just purely a clash between their bodies and physical strength. Yet, in such a clash, Zhou Weiqing’s leg had almost been knocked away. Just from that alone, he could tell how powerful Zhan LingTian’s body was. No wonder Fei’er had said that this fellow’s overall power was even greater than her.
Zhou Weiqing did not show any of his inner thoughts, instead giving Zhan LingTian a significant look, saying: “Bro Zhan, how can we pick a fight here? Are you going to fight every tribe we come across? Don’t forget our ultimate goal.” As he said that, he turned to the two stout men and smiled faintly, saying: “Two big bros, I’m sorry, my bro here has no other meaning, he just has a bad temper. One tent is fine. In such a weather, it is good to have a place to rest. As an apology and a sign of good faith, we will pay double to rest here, twenty gold coins. Is that okay?”
No matter how simple the WanShou Empire citizens were, they could easily tell that these youths in front of them were no ordinary folk. Furthermore, Zhou Weiqing was paying extra, and they did not say anything more and brought the party into the encampment, finding a large tent for them.
As soon as they entered the tent, before the party could seat down, Zhan LingTian strode right in front of Zhou Weiqing, saying angrily: “I’m warning you, don’t try and interfere with my business again. Otherwise, don’t blame me if I take it out on you instead.”
After saying that, he stalked off to the deepest part of the tent and sat down there.
Lin TianAo, Crow and Ma Qun subconsciously turned to look at Zhou Weiqing. In their eyes, this Zhan LingTian was just too arrogant, and even they could barely tolerate it.
Zhou Weiqing shook his head at them, signalling for them not to take action. He walked to the side and sat down as well, the faint smile still on his face.
Shangguan Fei’er looked on coolly from the side. She could not understand what Zhou Weiqing was thinking. That rascal was never one to take a disadvantage easily like that. Previously in the Lustre Spatial Realm, he had already dared to break Zhan LingTian’s bones despite all odds. Now, with so many of them outnumbering Zhan LingTian, what was there to be afraid of? He must have some plot or scheme against Zhan LingTian… She thought to herself.
Naturally, Zhou Weiqing had a plot against him. With such a powerful thug like Zhan LingTian, how could Zhou Weiqing not want to make use of his talents fully. He would tolerate it for now, but although our dear Little Fatty was smiling so naturally, this young little rascal was definitely a petty person who would bear a grudge for a long time!
