Chapter 252: Strange Bird

“Senior Zhang Xuan…”

Seeing the two turn to leave, Yun Tao quickly stepped forward.

“We’re heading to the Beast Hall, so we won’t delay you from continuing to capture savage beasts. Farewell!” Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

They were merely strangers who met by chance. They hadn't left earlier for fear of disturbing the other party and spoiling their plans. Now that the Golden-Bodied Iron-Armored Leopard had been subdued, that reason no longer stood, and there was no need to remain there.

“Continue capturing…”

Yun Tao felt like crying.

There was a time limit for the beast tamer assessment. He had almost used up all his time chasing this Golden-Bodied Iron-Armored Leopard. Even if he were to look for another one now, he would have to find one first. Moreover, even if he did, it would be like before—the formation wouldn’t work. Let alone taming it, it was questionable if he would even survive.

“Senior, may I ask you something?”

Pushing aside the frustration in his heart, Yun Tao clasped his fists.

“Hm?” Zhang Xuan looked over.

“Just now… how did you know there was a problem with my formation and that it couldn’t trap the Golden-Bodied Iron-Armored Leopard?” Yun Tao asked.

Not just him, everyone else also focused their gaze on Zhang Xuan, even Shen Biru’s eyes sparkled. From his words and actions, it seemed this fellow knew nothing about formations, yet he had seen the problem at a glance, which was hard to believe.

“It’s simple!” Zhang Xuan didn’t hide anything. He turned and said, “The Green Wood Confinement Formation uses green wood as its formation flags and requires wood element to sustain it. The place you chose, with its dense vegetation, indeed meets the conditions for the formation’s setup, and you didn’t make any mistakes in its arrangement. Unfortunately, there’s one thing you didn’t notice!”

“Please enlighten me, Senior!”

After thinking carefully for a long time and not finding any issues, Yun Tao couldn’t help but ask.

“This mountain range under our feet!” Zhang Xuan looked up at the mountains, his expression relaxed.

“Mountain range?”

Yun Tao was even more confused. What was wrong with this mountain range? He had set up this Green Wood Confinement Formation before, and there were no problems. It was difficult for even a Channel Opening realm expert, let alone a Meridian Opening realm expert, to break it.

“This mountain range extends north and south, appearing stable and grand. The air currents flow in, sinking without rising lightly. In some areas with less soil, the vegetation shows a withered yellow color, and the cross-sections of the rocks have a faint reddish tint…”

Zhang Xuan sat on the Golden-Bodied Iron-Armored Leopard’s back and casually pointed, “From these, it can be seen that there must be an iron mine beneath this mountain range! Among the Five Elements, wood counters earth, and metal counters wood. A confinement formation countered by the metal element, how could it exert its maximum power?”

“This…”

Yun Tao’s entire body trembled. He had heard his teacher say before that setting up formations not only required strict adherence to the formation diagram but, more importantly, required utilizing the surrounding environment, the grand forces of heaven and earth, and even the sun, moon, and stars could be incorporated. He had thought it was nonsense, never dreaming that it was actually true!

To deduce the possible presence of an iron mine below and its influence on the Green Wood Confinement Formation simply from the rock cross-sections and the mountain range’s direction… what kind of insight was this? Even a three-star formation master would find it difficult to do! And he had just been acting pretentious in front of such a person, asking if he could understand… Yun Tao felt his face burning with pain.

Not only was he shocked, Shen Biru, who was also sitting on the Golden-Bodied Iron-Armored Leopard’s back, twitched her lips and was almost dizzy. *Brother, weren’t you clueless just now, not even knowing what a formation was? How, in the blink of an eye, did you notice things like iron mines, rock faults, and air currents? Do you have to be so unbelievable?* It was laughable that she had just thought he was talking nonsense because he didn’t understand.

“This guy…”

Thinking back to their previous interactions, she was filled with helplessness. This guy really couldn’t be measured by common sense, otherwise, she would surely be crushed to death by him sooner or later.

“That’s all for now. If there’s nothing else, farewell!”

After explaining the formation problem, Zhang Xuan waved his hand, said no more, and prepared to leave again.

“It’s definitely too late to capture a savage beast now. I’d like to return to the Beast Hall with Senior, if that’s alright?”

Since the assessment was ruined, he simply let go and decided to befriend this person. Regardless of his strength, his method of making the savage beast breakthrough, or his research into formations, this Senior Zhang Xuan was too mysterious and worth making every effort to befriend.

“Suit yourself. The Golden-Bodied Iron-Armored Leopard is very fast. Follow if you can keep up!”

Although this guy liked to show off, he was genuinely capable and a beast taming apprentice. With him along, they should be able to find a better flying savage beast, which would make his journey to Tianwu Kingdom smoother. However, the Golden-Bodied Iron-Armored Leopard’s back was already a bit crowded with two people; it definitely couldn’t accommodate more.

“Thank you, Senior!” Hearing his agreement, Yun Tao breathed a sigh of relief and quickly nodded.

“Let’s go!”

Ignoring the others, Zhang Xuan stirred his mind, and the Golden-Bodied Iron-Armored Leopard immediately sped forward. Before its breakthrough, the Golden-Bodied Iron-Armored Leopard was already extremely fast. Now, it was as swift as a galloping horse. Even with the complex mountain forest terrain, it showed no signs of slowing down.

Yun Tao and the others could keep up at first, but after a while, as their True Qi was rapidly consumed, their faces turned pale, and they were almost spitting blood from exhaustion.

“Let’s rest!”

After nearly an hour of travel, seeing that they were truly exhausted, Zhang Xuan and Shen Biru jumped off the Golden-Bodied Iron-Armored Leopard’s back to rest. Normally, walking to the Beast Hall would take a day and a night. With this beast, they would arrive in at most another hour, so there was no rush.

“Senior!”

Knowing that Zhang Xuan had stopped to accommodate him, Yun Tao breathed a sigh of relief. After a short meditation, feeling recovered, he stepped forward, his attitude respectful.

“You were assessing to become a beast tamer. I subdued the Golden-Bodied Iron-Armored Leopard, so does that mean you can’t pass?”

Along the way, Zhang Xuan had figured it out. The other party had chased the Golden-Bodied Iron-Armored Leopard for over ten days, only for him to inadvertently benefit. A savage beast was a minor matter, but the other party’s beast tamer assessment would likely be failed.

“This…” Yun Tao’s face showed embarrassment. “If Senior hadn’t subdued the Golden-Bodied Iron-Armored Leopard, a few of us might have died. Compared to our lives, failing the assessment is nothing!”

Zhang Xuan nodded. This guy, though a bit arrogant, was quite reasonable. The Green Wood Confinement Formation couldn’t hold the Iron-Armored Leopard. If he hadn’t been present at that time, Yun Tao and his Meridian Opening realm subordinates would surely have died. Although he had subdued the beast, he had also saved their lives.

“What are the steps for the beast tamer assessment?”

After half a day of traveling, he realized that having a savage beast as a mount saved a lot of effort. If he could easily pass a beast tamer assessment, it would be much more convenient for long journeys in the future. If Yun Tao knew this thought, he would surely be depressed to death. He had spent many years studying and interacting with savage beasts daily to pass the beast tamer assessment, yet he hadn’t succeeded. This guy, on the other hand, just felt that traveling was tiring and wanted to learn.

“First, you must become a beast tamer apprentice. The apprentice assessment has two parts: a theoretical test and savage beast identification. Only after passing these do you qualify for the official beast tamer assessment, which also has two steps: first, gaining the savage beast’s approval. Second, subduing a true savage beast.” Yun Tao explained.

“Gaining the savage beast’s approval?”

“Yes, it means the assessor must spend an hour alone with five savage beasts and gain their approval, preventing them from attacking. If you can’t do it, it means you don’t understand savage beasts! As for subduing a savage beast, there’s also a requirement: it must be one level higher in strength than yourself.” Yun Tao clarified, “Otherwise, if one’s strength is too low, they could simply use brute force to subdue the beast, which wouldn’t highlight the beast tamer’s skills.”

Zhang Xuan nodded. Simply put, the beast tamer assessment was somewhat similar to the alchemist assessment. Both apprentice assessments required theoretical knowledge, while becoming an official member required practical application. For the latter, it was refining a Grade-1 pill; for a beast tamer, it was subduing a savage beast stronger than oneself. No wonder this guy had been chasing this Golden-Bodied Iron-Armored Leopard. He was at the peak of the Dingli realm, and the leopard was exactly one level higher than him. If he succeeded, he would pass.

“Subduing a savage beast has a time limit, not exceeding half a month. I spent over ten days just searching for this Golden-Bodied Iron-Armored Leopard. It’s obviously impossible to find another one now! Besides, what if I encounter one even fiercer than it? I might even die…”

Yun Tao was also quite pragmatic. He had only survived this time because of this young man. He might not be so lucky next time. It seemed that if he wanted to attempt the assessment again, he would need to prepare more thoroughly and ensure nothing could go wrong. Otherwise, if he failed the beast tamer assessment and lost his life, it would truly be too late to cry. Every year, a considerable number of apprentices died at the hands of savage beasts during the beast tamer assessment.

“It’s good that you understand. However… I did hinder your progress. How about this: if you still want to subdue a savage beast, I can help!” Zhang Xuan said. He mainly wanted to see how someone with lower strength than a savage beast could subdue it. From the Golden-Bodied Iron-Armored Leopard, he knew that if the savage beast wasn’t willing to concede, a contract would be difficult to establish, let alone taming it. Even if he didn’t become a beast tamer in the future, subduing savage beasts would be inevitable for quick travel. He couldn’t always expect to encounter beasts that were exactly one level weaker than him and easily subdued! What if he encountered a strong one? This was an opportunity to observe how Yun Tao did it and secretly learn. Of course, he couldn’t say this directly, or his hard-earned “senior” image would instantly crumble. Through the matter with Master Yang, he knew that sometimes acting like a “senior” made everything much easier. However, if he didn’t act well, he could very likely be beaten to death, so he needed to handle it carefully.

“Senior… you’re going to help me?”

Hearing his words, Yun Tao immediately trembled with excitement. He had seen Senior Zhang Xuan’s strength. If he took action, he could easily capture a Meridian Opening realm savage beast. Once captured, there would be a way to subdue it.

“Mm!” Zhang Xuan nodded, appearing profound and unfathomable.

“That’s wonderful! With Senior’s help, I’ll definitely succeed…” Yun Tao clenched his fists, his eyes red with excitement.

“Don’t get excited yet. Even if I act, can we find a suitable savage beast?” Zhang Xuan asked.

“Savage beast…”

Yun Tao’s face immediately turned bitter. He was right. It had taken over ten days to find one Meridian Opening realm Golden-Bodied Iron-Armored Leopard. If they couldn’t find a suitable one, even if the other party agreed to help, it would be useless.

“Your Highness, have you forgotten about that one?” a subordinate stepped forward.

“Which one?” Yun Tao was puzzled.

“The one that comes over to cause trouble every day…” the subordinate said.

“That guy?” Yun Tao remembered something, a look of embarrassment on his face.

“It’s too late to look for other savage beasts now. If we can capture and subdue that one, it would also count as passing the assessment. Once you become a beast tamer, you can take your time to subdue other beasts later!” the subordinate continued.

“This…” Yun Tao hesitated, then looked at Zhang Xuan, “Senior, there is indeed a savage beast that might require your help.”

“Oh?” Zhang Xuan looked over.

“It’s… a strange bird!” Yun Tao said.

“A flying savage beast?”

Yun Tao was at the peak of the Meridian Opening realm. Since this beast was stronger than him, it must also be at the Meridian Opening realm. And it was a bird. Was he trying to subdue a flying savage beast? They had encountered flying savage beasts on their journey, soaring thousands of meters in the sky. Even if they wanted to catch one, they couldn’t.

“It’s not really a flying savage beast. It’s small, only a bit… larger than a palm!” Yun Tao blushed.

“Palm-sized?” Zhang Xuan was stunned. He knew from Shen Biru that flying savage beasts were usually several meters long, with wingspans of two or three meters, large enough to carry people and soar through the skies. Palm-sized… indeed, it couldn’t be considered a flying savage beast, just a type of bird.

“Yes, but although this guy is small, it’s a real savage beast, and its strength has reached the early Meridian Opening realm, slightly stronger than me… It’s not a combat type, so it’s not my match, but its speed is extremely fast; I can’t catch it at all!” Yun Tao explained in detail.

“Small and fast? Even if you want to subdue it, it might be hard to find!” Zhang Xuan frowned. It was already hard to find large, slow savage beasts. How could they find a palm-sized, extremely fast flying savage beast hidden anywhere in the vast mountains? And it flew in the sky, able to fly freely… subduing it would probably be even harder than the Golden-Bodied Iron-Armored Leopard.

Hearing this, Yun Tao looked a bit embarrassed. “We definitely can’t find it. However, this guy has been bothering us for the past few days, so even if we don’t look for it, it will surely come.”

“Bothering?”

Zhang Xuan was puzzled. Although he didn’t know much about savage beasts, they were naturally wary of humans. Usually, if they found they couldn’t win, they would hide as far away as possible. How could this one come to bother them every day?

“Well… I raided its nest, and this guy was furious, so it comes every day…”

Soon, Yun Tao recounted the entire story. After listening, Zhang Xuan shook his head, caught between laughter and tears. This strange bird liked to eat wild honey from the mountains. Yun Tao, unaware, accidentally discovered its nest and the honey stored inside, so he took everything. The bird had stored that honey for who knows how many years. Discovering it had been stolen, it became furious and chased after them. However, it was small and not good at fighting, so it was no match for Yun Tao and his subordinates. Unable to reclaim its honey, it would follow them daily and come at fixed times to cause trouble. This had been going on for seven or eight days now, and by his calculation, it should be coming again soon today.

“It seems this guy is quite persistent…” Zhang Xuan chuckled softly, hearing about the feud between the man and the bird.

“How does it cause trouble?” Shen Biru on the side couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity. Since it came at fixed times to cause trouble, why couldn’t these many Meridian Opening realm experts find a way to catch it?

“It…” Yun Tao’s face turned as red as an apple. “Ahem, it defecates on me when it flies directly above me…”

“Ah?”

Zhang Xuan and Shen Biru exchanged glances, almost bursting into laughter. They had to admit, this bird was truly peculiar.

“Every time, it pretty much lands on me. After it’s done, it flies about dozens of meters away, full of provocation. When we chase it, it flies away again. It does this for one or two hours every day…”

To be honest, Yun Tao was exasperated by this strange bird. He had only stolen its honey, yet it pestered him daily, almost driving him crazy. If he weren’t trying to pass the beast tamer assessment, he would have considered not mentioning it, as it was truly too embarrassing. The dignified Seventh Prince of Hanwu Kingdom was being used as a toilet by a strange bird daily, whenever it felt the urge… Just thinking about it made him feel exasperated.

“Then why don’t you just return the honey?” Shen Biru covered her red lips.

“I did return it, but this guy… still comes to cause trouble every day… It’s too fast; arrows can’t even hit it. I was thinking of dealing with it properly after I finished taming the other beast. Since the Golden-Bodied Iron-Armored Leopard can’t be tamed, if I can catch and subdue it, that would also count as passing the assessment!” Yun Tao paused here, then hesitated, “It’s just… this guy is too fast; even arrows struggle to catch up. Wanting to catch it by hand… is simply too difficult. Senior, do you have a method?”

“I don’t even know what this guy looks like or how fast it is. If you ask me now, what method could I have?” Zhang Xuan shook his head. He had never even seen this strange bird; how could he possibly have a way to catch it?

“Oh, right! Didn’t he say that this strange bird always flies about thirty meters ahead to provoke whenever it causes trouble? It doesn’t fly away then. You can completely rely on your movement technique to dart over and catch it!” Shen Biru remembered something and looked at Zhang Xuan. She had seen Wang Ying use her movement technique, and her speed was like instant movement. No matter how fast this flying bird was, it shouldn’t be a problem for Teacher Zhang.

“Hmm, that’s something to consider…” Zhang Xuan nodded. As his cultivation reached the Tongxuan realm, the distance and number of times he could use the Heaven’s Path Movement Technique had increased again. Previously, at full power, he could dart out twenty meters in a tenth of a breath. Now, in a tenth of a breath, he could dart forty meters. Moreover, the number of uses had also increased from one to two. Of course, this was when using it at full power. If he used the simplified version like Wang Ying, with his True Qi reserves, twenty to thirty uses would be no problem. However, the speed would be significantly reduced. The full version could dart forty meters in a tenth of a breath, while the simplified version was only three or four meters in a tenth of a breath. Moreover, the physical load was much smaller, which was why Wang Ying could use it five or six times continuously during her fight with Du Lei before feeling exhausted. Even so, it was still formidable. Three or four meters in a tenth of a breath means thirty or forty meters in a full breath. Many people might not even react before being hit. Even if this flying bird was very fast, it was only at the Meridian Opening realm. Compared to the Heaven’s Path Movement Technique, it must be far inferior.

“Rely on movement technique? I’m afraid that won’t work…” Yun Tao overheard their conversation and couldn’t help but shake his head. Their Hanwu Kingdom’s most advanced movement technique, the Turtle-Step Heavenly Sound, was fast, but it was still far behind this strange bird. What’s more, human energy was limited. This Senior Zhang Xuan specialized in power attacks, so he probably had weaknesses in speed. Even if he knew a powerful movement technique, it would be difficult to catch the strange bird. Besides, he was from Tianxuan Kingdom; what kind of powerful movement technique could he know? As far as Yun Tao knew, the most advanced Phantom Nine Palace Steps in that kingdom were nothing special, far worse than the Turtle-Step Heavenly Sound, not even in the same league. If the latter couldn’t catch it, let alone the former.

Thinking this, Yun Tao continued, “This strange bird is very alert. It always stops within its reaction range, so arrows can’t hit it. Trying to catch it with bare hands is basically impossible. I was thinking, like before, if we could set a trap or something, perhaps… there might be a chance!”

“We’ve set traps before, but none of them ever succeeded!” a subordinate added.

Hearing this, Yun Tao nodded helplessly, rubbing his temples. “Yes, we’ve set traps before, but they failed several times. This strange bird also knows we’re prepared and won’t fall for it…”

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Before he finished speaking, he heard the whistling of wind in the air. It sounded like something was falling from the sky, heading straight for Yun Tao’s head.

“It’s here!”

Hearing the wind, Yun Tao’s face darkened. He knew it must be that strange bird again. Without time to look up, his body swayed, and he darted to one side.

Splatter!

However… after only a few steps, he felt a foul smell, and his body was covered in thin white spots. He didn’t need to look to know he had been hit again! Feeling the strong stench on his body, Yun Tao wanted to cry without tears. He turned his head and realized that only a small stone had fallen where he had just been standing. The strange bird seemed to have known he would dodge and deliberately threw the stone to create a diversion, hitting him successfully.

“This guy can even predict movements?” Zhang Xuan was stunned, having witnessed the scene. He had only heard before that this strange bird was extremely vengeful, but he didn’t expect it to be so intelligent. It seemed completely different from the reckless Golden-Bodied Iron-Armored Leopard.

He looked up and saw a small bird appear in his line of sight, just as the other party had described, only slightly larger than a palm. Its entire body was black, resembling a crow, and it carried a sharp aura, similar to a Meridian Opening realm expert. Savage beasts varied in size; there were large ones like the Golden-Bodied Iron-Armored Leopard, and naturally, there were small ones too.

After defecating on Yun Tao, the strange bird seemed very pleased. It let out two “caw-caw” calls, then flew about thirty meters away from the group. Its dark eyes stared over, seemingly full of mockery.

“Damn it…”

Having been soiled by the bird again, Yun Tao was angry, but mostly frustrated. He hadn’t even come up with a plan, and the bird was already here. Catching it now was definitely impossible.

As he was agonizing over what to do next, his vision blurred, and a figure suddenly appeared in front of the strange bird. A thumb and forefinger gently pinched it. The bird, which flew like lightning, had no time to react before it landed in the other person’s palm.

“This… is a movement technique? How is that possible?” Yun Tao froze.