Chapter 703: You Can Speak Beast Language?

The Beast Hall's animal zone in the Mirage Feather Empire is built within a vast mountain forest. Countless spirit beasts live there, feeling at ease. Many, even natural predators, can coexist peacefully under the taming of beast tamers, without conflict.

“The Hongyuan Empire is over a million kilometers from here,” Han Chong said as he walked forward. “How many days do you plan to take to get there?”

“As fast as possible, of course,” Zhang Xuan replied after a quick calculation. “Ideally, around twenty days!”

Master Hong and the others had already departed nine days ago, traveling on a flying boat belonging to the Mirage Feather Imperial family. To catch up, they would have to cut a month-long journey down to twenty days.

Even if a spirit beast could fly 200,000 to 300,000 kilometers a day, a distance of over a million kilometers couldn’t be covered in ten days. Rest and adjustments would be needed along the way.

“Twenty days?” Han Chong stopped, his brows furrowed. “To reach the Hongyuan Empire in such a short time, you’d probably need spirit beasts at Transcendent Mortal 7-dan or 8-dan at least!”

Spirit beasts vary in species and speed. Some at Transcendent Mortal 7-dan possess the speed of an 8-dan or even 9-dan, while others, despite their strength, are considerably slower.

Regardless, reaching the Hongyuan Empire in twenty days would be impossible without a Transcendent Mortal 7-dan or 8-dan spirit beast.

Zhang Xuan nodded. As a beast tamer, he had extensive knowledge of spirit beasts and could also estimate travel times.

“Spirit beasts of that caliber can only be tamed by five-star beast tamers, or even peak five-star ones,” Han Chong’s eyebrows furrowed. “In that case, I’ll take you to the Elder Council to see…”

If it were Transcendent Mortal 4-dan or 5-dan spirit beasts, he could easily borrow them based on his connections. However, 7-dan and 8-dan beasts are difficult even for five-star beast tamers to tame, and they are few in number. They would likely need to seek help from the Beast Hall’s Elder Council.

“The Elder Council? Won’t that be too much trouble?” Zhang Xuan asked, looking at him.

“Not troublesome at all. My teacher is a peak five-star beast tamer,” Han Chong smiled slightly. “If he knew you were a four-star beast tamer at such a young age, and also a grandmaster of medicine, he would certainly be delighted!”

As the four of them spoke, they walked around a patch of forest and arrived at a small, unassuming courtyard made of wood and earth. It looked very simple, lacking the extravagance of the buildings outside.

Pushing open the door and stepping inside, they found the spacious courtyard filled with various cages. Each one held a different animal, some spirit beasts, some savage beasts, varying in size. There were seventy to eighty cages in total, densely packed.

“These…” Zhang Xuan was full of curiosity upon seeing the cages.

This was presumably where Han Chong’s teacher lived. The animals in the cages were not high-level; there were even many savage beasts below the Grandmaster realm. These creatures could be flicked to death with a finger. What would a dignified peak five-star beast tamer and Transcendent Mortal 8-dan expert want with such animals?

“Oh, my teacher is currently…” Han Chong, knowing Zhang Xuan’s confusion, was about to explain when he heard the front door creak open. A spry old man walked out.

The old man, with white beard and hair, held a book. He seemed not to notice the group, muttering to himself as he walked. The more he mumbled, the more excited his face became, as if he had discovered some profound truth, his eyes sparkling.

“Teacher…” Han Chong stepped forward.

“Don’t disturb me! Talk to me after I’m done!” The old man waved his hand without even glancing at them, then walked with his book to a cage.

This cage contained seven or eight Supreme-ranked red-haired hamsters. These hamsters are not large but are exceptionally good at burrowing. Some people specifically raise them for digging basements or constructing underground palaces. However, it was clear this old man was not keeping them for that purpose.

“My teacher is like this; once he gets engrossed in his research, he ignores everything else…” Han Chong smiled wryly at the trio, seeing his teacher disregard him.

“No worries,” Zhang Xuan said with a faint smile.

Although he was eager to go to the Hongyuan Empire, he wasn’t in such a rush that he couldn’t wait a moment. The old man, holding a book and surrounded by so many cages, piqued even Zhang Xuan’s curiosity.

Ignoring the onlookers, the old man flipped through several pages in his book. Finally finding something, his eyes gleamed. He stared intently at the red-haired hamsters in the cage, took a deep breath, clenched his teeth, and shouted.

“Bona Hula Mixian…” As the sound echoed, the red-haired hamsters’ eyes widened simultaneously, as if they had heard something incredibly disgusting, and they instantly vomited.

“Vomited? That’s not right?” The old man scratched his head and flipped through a few more pages. “Perhaps my pronunciation was off. Let’s try again!”

“Bona Hula Mixian…” *Gasp, gasp, gasp!* The red-haired hamsters rolled their eyes and collapsed onto the ground, their legs twitching uncontrollably, their eyes turning white. Two of them tried to escape but slammed headfirst into the cage bars and immediately fell unconscious.

“This…” Everyone’s eyes widened simultaneously. Even Zhang Xuan’s eyes darted around in astonishment.

What did this old man just say that was so repulsive it terrified the red-haired hamsters to this extent? They’d rather knock themselves unconscious on the spot than stay another moment?

“Is that… Beast Language?” Luo Qiqi asked Han Chong, recalling something.

Although she wasn't a beast tamer, as a master teacher, she was well-informed and had heard of Ancient Beast Language. It was said to have been personally compiled by Master Kong, but most of it had been lost to time. Even if someone knew it, it was kept by a select few and never passed on. Could it be that Han Chong’s teacher had learned it and was conducting experiments? But experimenting with Beast Language was one thing; what could he have possibly said to make these hamsters vomit like that?

“My teacher is studying Beast Language, and he’s already made some progress…” Han Chong nodded.

“Progress?” Zhang Xuan and the others were speechless. Making animals vomit was progress? “I can make them vomit by hitting them!”

“Ahem!” Hearing their conversation and seeing their expressions, the old man’s face flushed with embarrassment. He closed his book, straightened his clothes, and turned around. “Han Chong, didn’t I tell you to study by yourself? What do you need me for?”

“Reporting, Teacher, this Master Zhang is my benefactor, and he wishes to borrow a Transcendent Mortal 8-dan spirit beast to travel to the Hongyuan Empire!” Han Chong quickly explained.

“Transcendent Mortal 8-dan?” The old man frowned. “There are only three flying spirit beasts of that caliber in the entire Beast Hall. Two of them were borrowed by the Mirage Feather Imperial family last time! The last one just returned from a long journey and is utterly exhausted, so it likely can’t be deployed! Furthermore, even as an elder, I don’t have the final say in borrowing a spirit beast of that level. It requires an Elder Council meeting, and even the Hall Master’s approval!”

“This…” Han Chong’s face showed a hint of awkwardness.

The Beast Hall of the Mirage Feather Empire was clearly more strictly managed than that of Myriad Kingdom City. Transcendent Mortal 8-dan spirit beasts were among the peak powerhouses in the entire empire and were generally not deployed for missions. Even if they were, it required the Elder Council’s approval. When Han Chong was the Hall Master of the Myriad Kingdom City’s Beast Hall, he could deploy any spirit beast with a single word. He had assumed his teacher, being one of the top elders, would have similar authority, but it now seemed it wasn’t that simple.

“Then… are there any Transcendent Mortal 7-dan spirit beasts available?” Since using an 8-dan beast was so complicated, a 7-dan one, though slower, would still be acceptable.

“Our guild has a total of fourteen 7-dan spirit beasts, all of which are private beast pets belonging to the elders. Only five of them can fly, and borrowing them would require the elder themselves to pilot them, making it extremely difficult!” The old man shook his head. “Furthermore, most of these spirit beasts are not suited for long-distance flights. Traveling to the Hongyuan Empire… they probably wouldn’t be much faster than some 6-dan spirit beasts!”

The Beast Hall’s spirit beasts come in two types: leased and private. Leased spirit beasts are usually tamed collectively by beast tamers and then reared by apprentices or lower-ranked beast tamers for rental. Private ones are beast pets, typically combat companions. These spirit beasts are extremely fast over short distances, suitable for battle, but long-distance flight is challenging. Although the Beast Hall has many Transcendent Mortal 7-dan spirit beasts, almost all are land-based. Even if they can fly, it's only for short distances. Very few spirit beasts can manage a long journey to a place like the Hongyuan Empire.

“So there’s no way?” Han Chong’s face flushed red. Master Zhang had helped him so much, and now that he finally had a request, Han Chong couldn’t fulfill it. It was truly embarrassing.

“No way…” The old man shook his head, then suddenly remembered something. “Unless… you can communicate with that one and persuade it! If you can do that, traveling to the Hongyuan Empire might not even take ten days!”

“That one?” Han Chong thought of something, shaking his head with a bitter smile, just about to speak when he suddenly remembered the young man’s extraordinary abilities beside him. His eyes lit up. “Right, Teacher, we probably can’t persuade it, but Master Zhang… he might be able to!”

Seeing his student so excited, the old man frowned, glancing at Zhang Xuan with a look of skepticism. “Him? Really?”

It wasn’t that he lacked faith; the other person looked to be only around twenty years old. At that age, even if talented, they would at most be a one-star or two-star beast tamer. What could someone of that strength possibly do? That was a creature even the Hall Master couldn’t handle.

“Don’t let Master Zhang’s young age deceive you; he’s a genuine four-star beast tamer! The Demonic Sun Beast, which I couldn’t tame back then, was tamed by him!” Han Chong quickly explained, then remembered something else. “And… Master Zhang seems to know Beast Language too. Apparently… it’s even more effective than yours, Teacher!”

“Beast Language? You know Ancient Beast Language?” The old man was stunned, his eyes filled with doubt.

Ancient Beast Language had been lost for tens of thousands of years. Those who mastered it were peak beast tamers who hoarded the knowledge, unwilling to reveal it. How could such a young man possibly know it?

“I… learned a little, read a few books!” Zhang Xuan nodded.

“A little? I’ve studied for over fifty years and only have a superficial understanding. What good is knowing just a little?” Hearing that the other party had only learned a little, the old man showed disappointment and waved his hand, about to continue speaking. Then, he saw the young man in front of him take a deep breath and suddenly open his mouth.

“Hum!” *Clatter!* All the spirit beasts and savage beasts in the courtyard instantly collapsed to the ground, trembling. The old man also felt his whole body shake, his vision darkened, and he stumbled to the ground, convulsing uncontrollably.