Chapter 538 - 537: The Spirit Peak Is a Little...

Chapter 538: Chapter 537: The Spirit Peak Is a Little...

A Heaven-Burning Spirit Beast?

Jiang Zuo had encountered a few, but none could put up a real fight.

He’d once thought they were formidable, judging by the name, but they turned out to be disappointingly ordinary.

However, the Spiritual Control Sect definitely didn’t have a Heaven-Burning Spirit Beast back then.

The Jinling Loach asked, "Did that Heaven-Burning Spirit Beast’s Cultivation drop drastically? How much does it have left?"

Their batch of Spirit Beasts had all been put under a Seal. As a rule, their Cultivation would fall, and how much it fell depended entirely on how well their masters had treated them.

The Jinling Loach remembered that their sealing had been inexplicable; they had been put under the Seal with almost no prior knowledge.

Furthermore, they were all treated equally, which is to say, poorly. An incredibly powerful Seal was suppressing them.

It was mainly Chaos who had dragged them all down.

Not even Yongxi had received any preferential treatment.

That’s why no one felt it was unfair.

If anyone did, it would have been that damn Yongxi.

The Stone Tablet wrote: I haven’t been up there, so I don’t know what it’s like, but it shouldn’t be weak.

After all, I’ve barely weakened, so the one on top probably isn’t much weaker either.

The Jinling Loach frowned. It wasn’t sure if the power it had preserved was enough, but it had to stop the beast no matter what.

If that failed, protecting the Spiritual Control Sect would be an acceptable alternative.

Just then, a few more words appeared on the Stone Tablet: Senior, would you be interested in answering a question?

Jiang Zuo said expressionlessly, "Not interested."

Of course, the Stone Tablet didn’t dare say another word.

’But why?’

The Stone Tablet couldn’t understand it itself, but the sheer force of presence emanating from Jiang Zuo truly left it too terrified to resist.

It was countless times more overwhelming than its master’s or anyone else’s.

’I did my best. It’s not my fault I couldn’t get him to answer the question. The world is what’s wrong here.’

’Why would someone like him ever come here?’

The Stone Tablet was very fast. In just a short while, Jiang Zuo and his companions arrived at Spirit Peak.

The moment the Stone Tablet set Jiang Zuo down, it immediately took its leave. It clearly wasn’t going to stay a second longer than it had to.

Jiang Zuo paid it no mind. The moment he arrived, he began to survey Spirit Peak.

To Jiang Zuo’s surprise, Spirit Peak was rather... ordinary.

There were no swirling energies or dazzling vistas here—just a small pond and a single thatched cottage.

The ground held nothing strange or special either; it was just an ordinary lawn, still glistening with traces of dew.

The Jinling Loach was taken aback. "This is Spirit Peak?"

This was nothing like what it had imagined. The reality was a far cry from its expectations; it had pictured a commanding view, looking down on all the mountains below.

Jiang Zuo walked to the edge of the pond and saw that there were fish swimming inside.

’For fish to have survived here after so many years... that’s impressive.’

’So, does someone live here?’

Just then, Jiang Zuo heard a sound—CREAK. It was the door of the cottage.

The cottage door then swung open.

A middle-aged man walked out.

His clothes were in tatters. Though he looked to be middle-aged, he gave off the distinct impression of an Old Beggar.

The moment it saw him, the Jinling Loach cried out, "It’s him! The Old Beggar. Isn’t he dead?"

"He isn’t human," Jiang Zuo said, watching the man.

The Jinling Loach was puzzled. To its eyes, the man looked perfectly human.

"It’s just a flesh-and-blood puppet. And this body is on the verge of fading away," Jiang Zuo said.

This body was likely left behind by an ancestor of the Spiritual Control Sect. It was once incredibly powerful, but with the passage of time, it doesn’t have much longer.

It would vanish before long.

The Old Beggar’s eyes were unfocused. He mechanically tended to the grass, then fed the fish.

Finally, he took out a fishing rod and sat quietly by the pond, fishing.

"What is he doing?" the Jinling Loach asked.

The Jinling Loach truly couldn’t understand. An idyllic cottage was one thing, but why leave a puppet here to tend to it?

And fishing right after feeding them? Could he even catch anything?

If he did, would he eat it?

Jiang Zuo shook his head. He didn’t understand either. ’Probably just a simple pleasure from his life before,’ he thought.

’Or maybe it’s just part of its programming.’

However, the Old Beggar was carrying something.

It was probably the legacy of the Spiritual Control Sect, or something similar.

Jiang Zuo had no intention of taking it, since Ximen Chuihuo would be up soon.

"Let’s go find the Heaven-Burning Spirit Beast," Jiang Zuo said, turning away from the pond.

The area was actually quite large. The path Ximen Chuihuo was taking up should be just behind the cottage.

Jiang Zuo could sense a powerful energy in that direction as well.

It definitely belonged to the Heaven-Burning Spirit Beast.

"It’s strong, but I’m still confident I can beat it," the Jinling Loach said, sensing it as well.

Besides, it could sense that its opponent’s power had also been greatly diminished.

In a real fight, it was eighty percent confident it would win.

It might only be a Jinling Loach, but it had a wealth of combat experience and a knack for killing its enemies on the battlefield.

’Then again,’ it thought, ’the Heaven-Burning Spirit Beast is no slouch either.’

"Loach, are you nervous?" Duan Qiao asked, hopping onto the Jinling Loach’s head.

The Jinling Loach, having no patience for Duan Qiao, flung her off with a sweep of its tail.

It had been wanting to do that to the little girl for a long time.

Duan Qiao was thrown aside and simply lay there quietly.

Yep, she wasn’t getting up.

’Much more comfortable this way.’

Sweet Potato glanced at Jiang Zuo, then at Duan Qiao, before jumping down while clutching an apple and running straight over to her.

Jiang Zuo was speechless. ’So they both ran off just to get away from me.’

’Duan Qiao, I can understand. But even Sweet Potato ran away. Am I really that scary?’

’I’ve been reborn, after all. The gap between us should be immense, theoretically speaking.’

He didn’t pay it much mind, though. It was all the same whether they were with him or not, as long as he had a signal.

The Jinling Loach glanced at Duan Qiao and was surprised to see her smiling happily.

’Is that girl an idiot?’

’I hit her, and she’s smiling.’

Then it looked up and saw the strange smile on Jiang Zuo’s face.

A shiver ran down its spine. Something felt very dangerous.

It quickly realized it had been used by that little girl. To them, the cruelest punishment was having to stay by Jiang Zuo’s side.

Especially on his shoulder.

The Jinling Loach was furious. It had been tricked!

’But that tail sweep felt so satisfying. What a contradiction.’

’I guess you can’t have your cake and eat it too. Nothing is ever perfect.’

Jiang Zuo wasn’t one to waste time on such useless thoughts. He headed directly toward the Heaven-Burning Spirit Beast, not at all worried that it might be too strong.

Because the Jinling Loach was there.

The power it had preserved wasn’t something only it could use.

Others might not be able to, but it would be easy for Jiang Zuo to seize it.

As long as he had an equivalent power source, even ten times the number of Heaven-Burning Spirit Beasts wouldn’t be enough for him to suppress.

————

Ximen Chuihuo, who was still making his way up, was startled to see the Stone Tablet appear again.

The sight of it gave Ximen Chuihuo a headache.

He was fresh out of edgy, domineering lines to say.

Even casting aside all his dignity had been useless.

To Ximen Chuihuo’s surprise, however, the Stone Tablet shot directly in front of him, displaying a line of text: No time to explain. Get on first, we’ll talk later.

Ximen Chuihuo wasn’t an idiot; he knew what the Stone Tablet meant. ’It’s going to carry me up?’

Well, that was just fine by him.