Chapter 702: Reuniting with Chief Han

"You... you can fly?"

Seeing the person and the beast fall heavily below, creating a mushroom cloud, their fates unknown, Yu Fei'er's eyes widened. She stared at the young man in front of her as if seeing a ghost. Isn't flying a privilege reserved for Saint realm experts? You're only at the Harmonizing Spirit Realm; how did you do that?

"Qi Qi, you knew about this before?"

Remembering Luo Qi Qi's fearless demeanor from earlier, Yu Fei'er finally reacted and couldn't help but ask.

"Back in that underground palace, Teacher Zhang used this trick to save me..."

Luo Qi Qi said, then couldn't help but look over, full of curiosity: "Teacher, how can you fly?"

She had wanted to ask this question for a long time but never had the chance. Being able to fly before reaching the Saint realm would undoubtedly cause a massive stir and bring endless trouble if the news got out.

"Oh, it's a magical artifact given to me by my teacher. It's not actually flying, just a short glide. And it has flaws; it consumes a lot of zhenqi, so I can't sustain it for long!" Zhang Xuan, sticking to his usual tactic of attributing inexplicable things to "Teacher Yang Xuan," continued.

"A magical artifact? Teacher Yang is truly amazing!"

Hearing that it was another one of Teacher Yang's methods, both of them looked envious. To have such a powerful teacher who is also willing to bestow so many treasures upon his students, Teacher Yang truly values him.

"This item is quite rare, so I hope you two won't spread the word, to avoid trouble!" Seeing that he had attributed it to "Teacher Yang," the two indeed stopped asking further questions. Zhang Xuan smiled.

"Don't worry!"

Luo Qi Qi and Yu Fei'er nodded simultaneously. Since it involved a renowned master of Teacher Yang's caliber, they wouldn't dare to speak of it even if asked. Besides, if they spoke out, Teacher Zhang would certainly be in trouble, and they wouldn't do that.

As the three spoke, they slowly descended from the air. Zhang Xuan exhaled a breath of turbid air. With his current cultivation, flying alone for half an hour wouldn't be a problem. However, using zhenqi to hold onto two people and fly together was quite strenuous. Fortunately, it was just a descent, not prolonged flight. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to last long and would have plummeted headfirst like Qin Zhong did just now.

"That guy... he won't be dead, will he?" Luo Qi Qi couldn't help but ask.

In the nearby large pit, a person and a beast lay sprawled. The beast was somewhat conscious, but the person, already injured from before, couldn't bear the combined old and new injuries from such a high fall and had directly fainted.

"Qin Zhong is a Bridge Heaven Realm expert; it's only a little over a thousand meters. It's not that easy to fall to one's death!" Zhang Xuan shook his head. Even when Teacher Feng and others were besieged and fell from over a thousand meters, they didn't die. Even if this guy was severely injured by the puppets earlier, as a young hall master with various magical artifacts, how could he be in serious trouble? At most, he'd be heavily injured; dying isn't that simple.

"He's fainted, but you're still conscious. Why aren't you taking us to the Beast Hall quickly?"

After explaining, Zhang Xuan looked at the Greenleaf Dragon-Winged Beast lying sprawled nearby. At this moment, the massive creature was also injured but not unconscious. It glanced over, trembling.

"Roar!"

Hearing this, despite its fear, it struggled to stand up and came forward. Possessing dragon bloodline, it had a natural reverence for Zhang Xuan's dragon language. Naturally, it obediently followed instructions now.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The three leaped onto the beast's back, no longer paying attention to Qin Zhong, who was still unconscious and dazed in the pit. They flew straight towards the Beast Hall. A lesson was enough for such an arrogant fellow. This incident would surely be enough for him to remember for a lifetime and never dare to utter nonsense again.

They had already flown a considerable distance earlier. At this point, the Greenleaf Dragon-Winged Beast exerted all its strength and, before long, they arrived at the Beast Hall. The Beast Hall of the Illusory Feather Empire was clearly grander than any they had seen before. Countless spirit beasts flew in the sky, their calls echoing everywhere, giving the impression of a bustling town even before they arrived.

Still several hundred meters from the Beast Hall, Zhang Xuan, Luo Qi Qi, and the others dismounted from the beast's back. This beast was the tamed pet of the opposing young hall master. If they were to ride it directly into the hall, it would certainly cause a lot of trouble, and explaining themselves would be a waste of breath. It was better to avoid unnecessary complications.

As for why they didn't just ride this beast directly to the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy, that was even simpler. The Hongyuan Empire was over a million kilometers away. Although this Greenleaf Dragon-Winged Beast was at the Harmonizing Spirit Realm, it would take at least a month and a half to fly there. If it took that long, they'd miss everything! With less than a month until school started, the Beast Hall of the Illusory Feather Empire surely had higher-level spirit beasts available.

Entering the Beast Hall's main hall, the three were immediately taken aback by the crowded masses. The Illusory Feather Empire was vast, and countless people came to the Beast Hall every day to borrow spirit beasts. There were more than a dozen rows, each with hundreds of people, forming a dense, dark mass. Some people had even started queuing days, or even one or two months, in advance.

"The number of spirit and savage beasts in the Beast Hall is limited. Only a portion can be dispatched each day. Therefore, no matter how many people queue, not everyone can get a spot!" Seeing the congested flow of people before her, Luo Qi Qi gave a wry smile. The Beast Hall had a limited number of beast tamers and spirit beasts, so it was naturally impossible for everyone to ride. People had to queue daily to obtain a spot, and those who didn't get one had to wait for the next day, the day after, or even longer!

"Yes, in the Hongyuan Empire's Beast Hall, some people queue for one or two months and still don't get a spot. Even if the Illusory Feather Empire has slightly fewer people, if we really queue, it would probably take at least ten days or half a month!" Yu Fei'er nodded. Every empire had countless professionals and experts, yet there were few Beast Halls. Traveling long distances on spirit beasts had always been a major, persistent problem, causing headaches and proving difficult to resolve.

"If Ye Qian were here, it would be great. He's familiar with the people here, so borrowing a spirit beast would be easier, and we might not even need to queue!" Luo Qi Qi said with a wry smile.

"If he were here, why would we even come here? The imperial family should have spirit beasts; he could just bring some over, wouldn't that be simpler?" Yu Fei'er nodded. When it came to spirit beasts, the Beast Hall naturally had the most and the highest-level ones. However, the Illusory Feather Imperial Family also possessed many flying spirit beasts; Teacher Hong and others had departed on an imperial flying boat back then. If Ye Qian were present, using his status as crown prince, he could easily borrow one or two powerful ones, saving them the trouble of searching here.

With so many people, finding a suitable spirit beast would be too much trouble.

"Forget it. Borrowing spirit beasts from the empire involves incredibly complex and troublesome procedures, and we'd owe favors. It's better to just state our identities and go directly to the Beast Hall Master!" Luo Qi Qi said. By normal standards, with Yu Fei'er's status, even without Ye Qian, borrowing a few spirit beasts from Ye Wentian would be extremely easy. However, as a princess of the Hongyuan Empire and a master teacher, if she were to ask, she would certainly incur a debt of gratitude. It was more straightforward to simply lease them from the Beast Hall.

For leasing from the Beast Hall, others needed to queue and wait, but master teachers didn't—that was their privilege! Furthermore, they had both reached the five-star level, so they could easily approach the Hall Master or the person in charge to find a good beast tamer and spirit beast.

"Let's go then!"

After speaking, no longer hesitating, she took a few steps forward. Luo Qi Qi suddenly remembered something, stopped, and looked at the young man nearby: "Teacher Zhang, you're a beast tamer. Do you know anyone here?"

"This is my first time here, so how could I know anyone!" Zhang Xuan shook his head. It was his first time even in the capital of the Illusory Feather Empire, and he hadn't been out much since arriving. Where would he find someone he knew?

"That's right..."

Remembering that Teacher Zhang had arrived even later than them, even as a beast tamer, it was impossible for him to know anyone here.

"Alright!"

With a sigh, Luo Qi Qi looked around, just about to ask someone where to find the person in charge, when she heard a voice filled with surprise.

"Teacher Zhang... why are you here?"

Turning to look, she saw an elder excitedly walking over.

"Hall Master Han?"

Zhang Xuan's eyes landed on the elder, and he was momentarily stunned. It was none other than Han Chong, the Hall Master of the Myriad Kingdoms City Beast Hall, whom he had met when subduing the Demonic Moon Beast! How was he here?

"Thanks to Teacher Zhang's treatment, I was able to defeat Luo Ming during the competition and gained the opportunity to further my studies in the Illusory Feather Empire..." Han Chong was full of smiles. He had previously suffered from hidden injuries and was determined to tame the Demonic Moon Beast to surpass his rival. Then he met Zhang Xuan, who not only saved him but also helped heal his hidden injuries, allowing him to break through in one go. This was how he got the chance to enter a higher-level Beast Hall to learn more advanced beast taming knowledge. One could say Zhang Xuan was his benefactor. Without Teacher Zhang, he wouldn't be where he was today!

He had thought it would be difficult to meet this super genius again, but unexpectedly, he encountered him here.

"It was your own strength that was great; I merely lent a hand!" After hearing the explanation, Zhang Xuan finally understood. He had indeed heard him mention it back then; if it weren't for this opportunity, he wouldn't have spent three whole years trying to subdue the Demonic Moon Beast.

"Teacher Zhang, you're too kind!" The two exchanged a few pleasantries before Han Chong finally asked, "Teacher Zhang, did you come here to test for a five-star beast tamer qualification, or...?"

"Oh, we plan to go to the Hongyuan Empire and would like to borrow a spirit beast with good endurance and speed!" Zhang Xuan smiled: "I wonder if Hall Master Han could help us find one?"

"That's simple. I'll take you to the beast enclosure!" Hearing it was such a small matter, Han Chong quickly nodded. Although he came from the Myriad Kingdoms City branch, having been a hall master previously, his status was still not low. Helping them find a spirit beast was nothing.

"Then many thanks, Hall Master Han!" Zhang Xuan chuckled.

"Teacher Zhang, there's no need to be so polite. Also, please don't call me Hall Master anymore. Here, I'm just an ordinary four-star beast tamer! You can just call me Beast Tamer Han." Han Chong shook his head. In the Myriad Kingdoms City branch, he was the Hall Master, but here, there were many people of higher rank than him. He could only be considered an ordinary beast tamer, albeit with a slightly higher status. Calling him "Hall Master" again would be overstepping.

"Alright!"

Zhang Xuan nodded and followed closely behind him, walking towards the beast enclosure where the Beast Hall kept its spirit beasts. Seeing him, immediately after saying he knew no one, leave chatting and laughing with a four-star beast tamer, Yu Fei'er and Luo Qi Qi exchanged glances, their eyes rolling. "You call this 'not knowing anyone'?" He's kidding us! Why does Teacher Zhang sometimes seem so noble and righteous, and other times so unreliable?