Chapter 45: Spatial Treasure and Basecamp
"That reminds me.", Zhang Baichi spoke up and turned to Yu Hao. "What happened to the other Demonbeast?"
"Of course, we killed it.", Yu Hao spoke naturally and shrugged. Quite a few eyes were on him, including some of the woman from the Willow Tree Pavilion.
Under their stares, Yu Hao finally cracked a smile and took a step back. "Without the help of the ladies from the Willow Tree Pavilion, we wouldn't have won that easily, though."
"I see. Good job.", Zhang Baichi nodded with a smile and looked into the distance where the second fight took place. In the center of the battlefield, he noticed an indiscernible mound. "What did you do with the corpse?"
Yu Hao looked confused, not understanding the question. "What do you mean?"
Zhang Baichi sighed and stood up. "What do I mean? The corpses of Demonbeasts are a heap of alchemical materials and crafting materials. And the beasts here even have the blood of dragons. What do you think I mean?"
"You… you want to take it with us?", Yu Hao asked, incredulous. Zhang Baichi nodded, to which Yu Hao sneered. "Have you seen the size of that thing? How do you want to take it with us?"
"How do you think I took the other one with me?", Zhang Baichi asked.
This was a risky move; Not only did he not know of the spatial treasures that always appeared in novels were real, nor did he know how any of those treasures would even look.
For a moment, Yu Hao seemed stumped by the question, but Lu Zheng, and Xiao Xueling from the Willow Tree Pavilion reacted with shock. "You have a spatial treasure?!"
"I was already wondering where the first corpse went… No wonder…", Xiao Xueling muttered with an excited expression.
The others' eyes brightened as well. Spatial treasures existed, but they were incredible rare and unbelievably expensive. Even as prodigal disciples of powerful sects, they wouldn't dare do dream of possessing one of their own.
All the treasures that they even knew of were relics from ancient times, created by experts far beyond the strength of the experts of today's era.
Many of them speculated that their sects, as overlords within the cultivator's community in the Grand Mo Kingdom, would have such spatial treasures.
"For the Sect Master to have given that treasure to you…. He really must have high hopes for this year's expedition!", Yun Ye spoke, flabbergasted, but also just as excited as the rest.
"Of course. Since all of us are here and were even cooperating with Miss Xiao and the other ladies from the Willow Tree Pavilion, our results have to be extraordinary.", Zhang Baichi nodded with a smile.
Fortunately, he had won this gamble, and no one called his lie.
Yu Hao curiously looked Zhang Baichi up and down. "What kind of treasure is it, though? Can you show us?"
The others' eyes sparkled as well. Zhang Baichi looked at them and hesitated. 'Spatial treasures are that special, huh? I need to be careful.'
He smiled wryly and shook his head. "Master gave it to me, but I can't show you. He asked me to hide it on my body and repeatedly reminded me to be extremely careful not to lose it."
"Oh, I see… Well, it makes sense. And since it's the Sect Masters order, there's nothing we can do about it.", Yu Hao shrugged and accepted the excuse without second thought.
Zhang Baichi definitely needs the second corpse as well. He couldn't sell it to the system since he had already made the lie about collecting it for the sect. He needed a cover for the other corpse, after all.
They quickly went over to the sight of battle in the distance and Zhang Baichi collected the Mutated Cloudwolf's corpse into his inventory, decisively ignoring the System's offer of another 40 Points.
'Hey, system. Do you have any clue where all these Demonbeasts with dragon bloodlines come from?', Zhang Baichi asked in his head while cleaning up the battlefield with the others.
[Ding! Since these Demonbeasts possess the bloodline of a True Dragon, it is most likely that a True Dragon has once lived in these lands and spread its bloodline. Another possibility is that a True Dragon has died here. In that case, its blood would have transformed the lands and Demonbeasts.]
'So, it must be related to real True Dragons one way or another, huh?', Zhang Baichi mused. 'Can you locate the source?'
[Ding! Locating the source is possible but will take a very long time due to insufficient information.]
'Just tell me to gather clues directly, then.' Zhang Baichi rolled his eyes, stood up straight and stretched his back.
The battlefield was cleaned up and the traces of battle were mostly covered up. Like this, it shouldn't be easy for others to track them.
They had been in this Mystic Realm for a few hours already, but just as Lu Zheng said, it was impossible to tell the time here, since the sun was artificial and fixed in place.
"Hey, Lu Zheng. What do you think how much time we have left before sunset?", Zhang Baichi questioned.
Lu Zheng shook his head and had no answer. Zhang Baichi looked around the other disciples, but no one could make a real guess.
In the end, his gaze fell onto Xiao Xueling, who looked thoughtful and carefully answered. "It's hard to tell, but I would guess that its around noon."
Everyone's eyes fell on her and Zhang Baichi beckoned for her to continue. "From what I've heard from our senior disciples and my mother, the three sects' disciples would usually enter during the morning. There are a few variations on the exact times, but generally speaking, it's always morning."
"So we probably have another 6 hours of daylight. That's good.", Zhang Baichi nodded.
He looked at the Dragon Peak barely discernible in the distance. "We've all landed in the north, which is quite lucky. The Broad Wisdom Sect would most likely be far away, right?"
"Yes. It's very unusual for groups from the different sects to meet during the one month's time. However, since they might be targeting us, we can expect to meet them sooner or later.", Xiao Xueling answered.
"Then let's head to the Dragon Peak. It's a point everyone knows, and everyone can easily find at any time. If we make camp there, we should be able to defend it easily, right?", Zhang Baichi glanced at Lu Zheng.
The latter nodded. "The Dragon Peak is a single, tall mountain, but there's many crevasses and natural obstacles near it. We can easily make a fortified camp there."
"What about the Demon Beasts?", Xiao Xueling asked with concern. Lu Zheng hesitated and spoke with uncertainty. "The Demonbeasts don't seem to be interested in the Dragon Peak at all. There were a few strangles here and there the last time, but the Dragon Peak isn't the territory of any known Demonbeast around here."
"Isn't that quite suspicious?", Zhang Baichi raised an eyebrow. "For such a central location, you would expect there to be many Demonbeasts. It's a prime territory, even if just for avian Demonbeasts."
"Do you think there is a reason why no Demonbeast claimed it as its territory?", Xiao Xueling asked.
Zhang Baichi shook his head. "Rather than it not being anyone's territory, I think no one draws near exactly because the territory already has an owner. Or maybe it had an owner in the past and that still deters the other Demonebasts."
It seemed dangerous to head to the Dragon Peak, but the location was definitely suspicious. With Zhang Baichi's mission, he had to check it out.
Moreover, great risks did usually go hand in hand with great opportunities.
Thus, everyone agreed to try their luck at the Dragon Peak.
With their speed, travelling a hundred miles to the Dragon Peak took around four hours.
They travelled through the wastelands like steppe for most of the time and eventually reached a rocky and mountainous but fertile grassland; The central sector of the Beastwilds Mystic Realm.
Luckily, no more Demonbeasts crossed their way during their travels.
Zhang Baichi casually asked Xiao Xueling how they met the Mutated Cloudwolf, but the lacklustre answer was blaming their bad luck. Still, he had a sneaking suspicion that they didn't tell him everything as a few of the young woman seemed rather on edge about the question.
They drew close to the Dragon Peak, so Zhang Baichi decided to keep his suspicions to himself. As long as they didn't harm the group from the Fleeting Storm Sword Sect, he wouldn't mind if they kept some secrets.
An hour later, they had found a suitable hideout to serve as their basecamp half a kilometre away from the Dragon Peak, surrounded by tall grass and rock formations creating a natural shelter.
When they were done, Zhang Baichi grabbed Yu Hao and forced the latter to scout the area with him, drawing closer to the Dragon Peak.
After they were out of sight and earshot, Yu Hao stopped and sat down on a small rock, looking at Zhang Baichi with a serious expression. "Why did you drag me out here? Is something wrong?"
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