Chapter 258 - 251: Offering Allegiance and an Unexpected Discovery

Chapter 258: Chapter 251: Offering Allegiance and an Unexpected Discovery

’A Star Dust Bird? And a fourth-rank one at that?’

Jiang Zuo’s spirits lifted when he heard this.

Protecting animals is everyone’s responsibility.

A Star Dust Bird’s life is still a life. He absolutely could not let human Cultivators, for their own selfish desires, hunt the Star Dust Birds to extinction!

Even if it meant offending some human Cultivators, he wouldn’t hesitate!

Jiang Zuo used the Bone Shrinking Technique, which he rarely employed, to slightly alter his physique.

Under the power of his formidable Divine Sense and Body Freedom Technique, Jiang Zuo’s face changed as well. Even if Luo Taidong were here, he would never be able to recognize him.

With a flicker of his form, Jiang Zuo flew toward the sound.

A while later, Jiang Zuo saw several Cultivators up ahead chasing a silver-white Star Dust Bird.

A fourth-rank Star Dust Bird was quite large, comparable in size to a common Seated Mountain Eagle.

The Star Dust Bird was not skilled in combat. Under the pursuit of these few human Cultivators, the fourth-rank bird could only flee in a panic.

However, the Star Dust Bird’s vision was extraordinary.

As it flew horizontally past Jiang Zuo, in its panic, it suddenly caught sight of his fleeting figure.

Taking a closer look, a trace of doubt appeared in the Star Dust Bird’s eyes. Then, it gritted its teeth and made a sharp turn, flying toward Jiang Zuo.

Jiang Zuo saw this and was a little surprised.

He simply stood his ground and watched as the Star Dust Bird landed abruptly beside him, looking at him with a mixture of doubt and expectation.

The Star Dust Bird’s eyes were beautiful, like stardust flashing through the night sky.

"Not bad. You truly are fated with me."

"Don’t resist. I’ll send you to a safe place."

As Jiang Zuo spoke, he reached out to touch the Star Dust Bird’s head.

Although the Star Dust Bird was a bit apprehensive, at this point, it had no other choice.

The several Cultivators had already caught up. They witnessed the Star Dust Bird land beside Jiang Zuo with their own eyes and were quite astonished.

Star Dust Birds were not naturally afraid of humans, but due to long-term hunting by the human race, they had long since learned to flee from a great distance at the sight of them.

They had also laid in ambush for many days before finally locating this Star Dust Bird.

’Why would this Star Dust Bird voluntarily land next to this person?’

Before they could figure it out, they saw the fourth-rank Star Dust Bird vanish into thin air.

’Was it put into a Beast Bag?’

’How is that possible?’

’This fourth-rank Star Dust Bird was still able to move freely!’

’Did this person do something to the Star Dust Bird?’

"You there, fellow Daoist! That Star Dust Bird is our quarry. Please return it to us!"

There were four pursuing Cultivators in total. After landing, they glared at Jiang Zuo like tigers eyeing their prey. One of them, a mid-stage Three Flowers Realm Cultivator, spoke to Jiang Zuo in a cold voice.

In their eyes, there was no way Jiang Zuo hadn’t seen them chasing the Star Dust Bird.

Yet Jiang Zuo had taken the Star Dust Bird anyway, which was a clear sign he didn’t respect them. Naturally, they didn’t need to be polite to him either.

If not for the fear of provoking some powerful figure, they would have attacked long ago.

"Fellow Daoists, one can eat the wrong food, but one cannot speak careless words. That Star Dust Bird is actually my Spirit Beast. I’ve already let it slide that you were trying to kill my Spirit Beast, but now you dare to try and snatch it from me right to my face?"

Jiang Zuo glanced at the group and said coldly.

He wasn’t lying; the Star Dust Bird was now his Spirit Beast.

"Nonsense! Do you think we’re easy to bully? We ambushed that Star Dust Bird for days before we found it! Since when did it become your Spirit Beast?"

Hearing this, the group flew into a rage.

This person not only wanted to steal the Star Dust Bird but also tried to make a false counter-accusation.

He was going too far!

"Seeing is believing. I’ll let you confirm for yourselves whether or not it is my Spirit Beast."

Jiang Zuo said, and with a thought, he summoned the Star Dust Bird.

Although the Star Dust Bird had only been inside the Pet Beast Spirit Garden for a short while, it was already deeply shocked by what it had seen.

Now that it was out, it no longer feared these human Cultivators in the slightest. Furthermore, its favorability toward Jiang Zuo had skyrocketed in an instant.

After being summoned, it shot the four men a defiant glare, then, as if having found its backer, it rubbed against Jiang Zuo, looking for all the world like they were close companions.

"Well? Do you believe me now?"

Jiang Zuo watched the four men with a faint smile.

The four men stared at this scene, dumbfounded, unable to believe their eyes.

But the Star Dust Bird’s behavior was definitely that of a Spirit Beast.

"I’ve got it! This person must be a Demon Beast in disguise, here to rescue the Star Dust Bird! Otherwise, there’s no explaining how the bird could submit to him in such a short time!"

one of the Cultivators suddenly blurted out.

"Oh? So you’re saying you want to kill me and take the Star Dust Bird?"

Jiang Zuo looked over, his expression unchanging.

Hearing this, the four Cultivators didn’t dare to respond for a moment.

The four of them consisted of two mid-stage Three Flowers Realm cultivators and two late-stage Divine Body Realm cultivators.

Normally, ganging up on an early-stage Three Flowers Realm Cultivator would be a piece of cake.

However, Jiang Zuo’s fearless and utterly confident demeanor made the four of them hesitate to act rashly.

"Fellow Daoists, please be patient."

But just then, a voice came from behind a tree.

An old man walked out from behind it.

"Clan Leader Kong!"

The old man knew the four men. As soon as he appeared, the other four cupped their fists in greeting.

"This old one is Kong Yunlou, the Clan Leader of the nearby Kong Family."

"These four fellow Daoists were hired by my Kong Family to capture this fourth-rank Star Dust Bird."

"My Kong Family has been waiting in this forest for nearly a year for this Star Dust Bird. As for its whereabouts, they were discovered decades ago."

"I can say with certainty that before today, this Star Dust Bird was not your Spirit Beast, fellow Daoist."

"I can only say that you are truly skilled, fellow Daoist, to be able to tame a fourth-rank Spirit Beast in such a short time."

"If it were just my Kong Family wanting to capture this bird, and we failed, being beaten to it by you, fellow Daoist, then that would be that."

"However, I must inform you, fellow Daoist, that it is not my Kong Family who wants this fourth-rank Star Dust Bird. Rather, its capture was specifically requested by Elder Zhu, Zhu Yanlong of the Zhu Family."

"The Zhu Family’s most outstanding genius of the younger generation, Zhu Fengyu, will soon be Crossing the Tribulation to break through to the Dao Fruit Realm and is in urgent need of a fourth-rank Star Dust Bird’s feathers to refine a Tribulation-Crossing Spiritual Artifact."

"My Kong Family was given a direct order that we must capture this fourth-rank Star Dust Bird."

Kong Yunlou said in a grave voice, looking at Jiang Zuo.

The Zhu Family has always been the largest clan in the vicinity of the Endless Sea Forest.

Although not a sect, many small sects are not even as powerful as the Zhu Family.

Zhu Yanlong’s Cultivation is at the mid-stage of the Dao Fruit Realm. As long as he doesn’t provoke a great Cultivator of the Manifestation Realm, his life is almost never in danger in this world.

In the last two or three hundred years, the Zhu Family has also produced a rare cultivation genius.

Not yet three hundred years old, but already at the late stage of the Three Flowers Realm, and about to reach Perfection.

Barring any accidents, they have a very high chance of advancing to the Dao Fruit Realm.

A single Cultivation Clan will have two Dao Fruit Realm Cultivators.

For the nearby Cultivation Clans, the Zhu Family was already an existence not to be provoked.

Now, even more so, no one dared to defy the Zhu Family’s orders.

Otherwise, once the Zhu Family had two Dao Fruit masters in its ranks, if they wanted to annihilate any of the surrounding families, all they would need is an excuse, and that family would be finished.

The Kong Family, having been given such an order by the Zhu Family, could only pinch their noses and accept it.

But capturing a fourth-rank Star Dust Bird was by no means an easy task.

With the deadline approaching, the Kong Family had no choice but to seek help from nearby Cultivators, offering a hefty reward to whoever could capture a fourth-rank Star Bird.

They thought the matter was settled, but unexpectedly, a young man of unknown identity who looked like trouble had appeared.

"Refining a Tribulation-Crossing Spiritual Artifact... in that case, the Zhu Family must have captured quite a few Star Dust Birds already, haven’t they?"

A Spiritual Artifact refined from Star Dust Bird feathers wouldn’t be very effective in resisting a Thunder Tribulation.

If the Zhu Family wanted to maximize its effect, they would most likely refine it into a Blood Artifact.

A Blood Artifact is created by adding the blood of the corresponding material’s Demon Beast during the refining process.

A Spiritual Artifact refined this way would have a greatly reduced lifespan and could only be used a few times.

But for Crossing the Tribulation, such concerns were irrelevant.

"That’s right. The Zhu Family has captured and raised dozens of Star Dust Birds over the years."

Kong Yunlou said patiently.

If they failed to capture a fourth-rank Star Dust Bird, the Zhu Family was prepared to make do with those dozens of birds.

"Excellent. How about this? I won’t make things difficult for you, Clan Leader Kong. Take me to the Zhu Family. I’ll inform them of this matter and make a deal with them. That way, you, Clan Leader Kong, will be absolved of all responsibility."

Hearing that the Zhu Family had dozens of Star Dust Birds, Jiang Zuo immediately decided to pay them a visit.

If he had to find so many on his own, heaven knows how long it would take.

"Very well. May I ask for your name, fellow Daoist?"

Kong Yunlou agreed without a second thought.

Although he was also a Three Flowers Realm Cultivator, and with the other four, they far outnumbered Jiang Zuo...

...seeing Jiang Zuo’s calm demeanor, he felt completely unnerved.

As long as he could absolve himself of responsibility in this matter, Kong Yunlou dared not ask for more.

"This humble Daoist’s surname is Wu, and my given name is the single word Hai."

Jiang Zuo said, thinking to himself that he really seemed to be fated with the word "Hai," having it in yet another name.

Kong Yunlou did not suspect a thing.

Besides, as long as he brought the man to the Zhu Family, the name was completely unimportant.

Under Kong Yunlou’s guidance, Jiang Zuo walked out of the Endless Sea Forest in just a day.

After another day or so, Kong Yunlou led Jiang Zuo to a large, magnificent complex of buildings.

Before they even landed, Jiang Zuo hovered in the air, his eyes narrowing as he looked down upon the vast complex below.

’This is truly a pleasant surprise.’

The moment he drew near, he faintly sensed a stir from his Pet Beast Spirit Garden.

Within the complex of buildings before him, there was actually a material suitable for building a Spirit Garden miracle!