It Seems to Be a Treasure, Ugh—

Just as the words left her mouth, a long, sharp, and prolonged cry suddenly rang out in the mountains, piercing through the entire sky.

Streamers of light surged in the sky as the cultivators grew restless. She looked at the continuously surging crowd of cultivators.

She noticed that most of the Liuyun Sect disciples were at the very front of the crowd, but Liu Qingqing and the others were not among them.

The seven-colored glow grew increasingly intense, slowly swallowing the previous layer of crimson clouds.

Suddenly, a powerful pressure radiated from the mountaintop. Spirit beasts everywhere let out screeches, some even showing signs of breaking free from their masters' restraints to prostrate themselves on the ground.

Someone cried out in a loud voice, “The divine beast has been born!”

Everyone scrambled to take to the air, rushing toward the mountaintop.

“Chi Li, how come I didn't feel this kind of pressure from you guys?”

Jiang Lu took two steps back, watching the crowd fly into the air.

“Master, isn't that because our power is sealed? Once we reach Tier Five, our strength will be completely unsealed. We'll still be suppressed by the Heavenly Dao of this world, though, since we don't belong to the cultivation world after all.”

“I see. Then I'll have to rely on you to protect me in the future.”

Jiang Lu rubbed their heads.

“Rest assured, Master! Once we regain our strength, no demon beast in the cultivation world will be a match for us. We'll be able to swagger wherever we please.”

Cang Chen added. It possessed this level of confidence.

If the dragon race and phoenix race were to be thrashed by the demon beasts and spirit beasts of the lower realm, where would they put their dignity?

“Oh no, retreat quickly!”

A scream rang out, and the restless cultivators came to a halt. Jiang Lu abruptly turned her head to look at the sky. The cultivators' gazes converged on midair, where the cultivator at the very front was covered in wounds that emitted a scorching heat.

“This—”

The cultivators were pale with fright, stopping in their tracks, not daring to step forward.

The long cry echoed once more, and a sky full of blue-gold light suddenly exploded in midair. A phantom of the Qingluan spanned across the sea of clouds, its wingspan blocking out the glowing sunset.

Its feathers were like green glazed glass, its tail feathers trailed a thousand golden patterns, and its eyes burned with stellar fire.

A clear cry shook the surging clouds as an invisible pressure spread in all directions. Even though it was merely a remnant soul's phantom, it still carried the majestic, awe-inspiring power of a divine bird looking down upon the nine heavens.

“It's the divine beast Qingluan!”

“It's a divine beast!”

“It really is a divine beast!”

“...”

Exclamations of surprise rang out one after another as everyone stared in astonishment at the phantom in the sky.

“Hahaha! The divine beast Qingluan is mine!”

“Get lost! It's mine!”

“You're courting death—”

“...”

Covetousness filled the eyes of the cultivators, each of them determined to claim it.

They scrambled toward the phantom. Spells filled the air, and spiritual energy of various colors collided, producing deafening rumbles.

Waves of fluctuations rippled through the air, frightening the surrounding demon beasts into fleeing.

“Master, do you really not want it?”

Chi Li and Cang Chen sat on Jiang Lu's shoulders, one on each side, munching on spiritual fruits. This tiny bit of pressure had no effect on them whatsoever.

“Just watch. This is Liu Qingqing's opportunity; we can't steal it. Even if this one is snatched away, the Heavenly Dao will just grant her another opportunity.”

Jiang Lu took a bite of her spiritual fruit.

(￣～￣) Munch!

(￣～￣) Munch!

(￣～￣) Munch!

So sweet~

“Come on, let's go around the back and look for treasure.”

She tossed the pit of the spiritual fruit into her space. The pit could grow into another spiritual tree, which made it a good item. She would leave it for Ling Xi to handle.

One person and three beasts stealthily bypassed the crowd of cultivators, heading deep into Mount Qi. The birth of a divine beast would surely be accompanied by natural treasures.

Taking advantage of everyone's attention being drawn to the phantom, she took the lead.

Meanwhile, deep within Mount Qi—

A small black beast wore half an eggshell on its head while its claws held the other half, stuffing it into its mouth with grunts.

Before long, the entire eggshell had entered its belly.

The two purple-gold patterns on its face flashed, and it patted the two small horns on its head.

Crawling out of the cave, it clung to a boulder with both paws, quietly watching the scene in the sky.

Drool continuously dripped from the corner of its mouth. Suddenly hearing a sound in the distance, it immediately curled up and hid behind the boulder.

As the sound drew closer, it saw a human figure accompanied by three spirit beasts—beasts just like itself.

It blinked, its round eyes filled with confusion.

What were they doing?

Why were they entering the cave it had just come out of?

“Master, it's right here. I sense the aura of a treasure.”

Mengbao pointed at a nearby cave. Rubble lay collapsed in front of the entrance, which had clearly been pushed open not long ago.

Jiang Lu led them inside. The black figure's ears twitched, and its eyes rolled as it followed behind.

It hid behind a rock and watched their movements.

“Master, it's the aura of a divine beast.”

Chi Li said to Jiang Lu. Although it wasn't certain if it was the Qingluan's aura, only a divine beast could possess it.

It seemed the Qingluan had already left this cave, and it was unknown where it had gone. A Qingluan hatchling required a vast amount of natural treasures to grow.

In all likelihood, Liu Qingqing's future treasures would end up in its mouth.

Jiang Lu scanned the surroundings. To hatch it, the surrounding spiritual energy had probably been completely exhausted, and the surrounding spirit stones had all shattered.

“Mengbao, did you make a mistake? There's nothing here,” Cang Chen asked after patrolling the area and finding nothing.

Hearing this, Mengbao grew somewhat flustered.

It quickly crawled out of the pouch. It had clearly sensed the aura of a treasure here, so how could it suddenly be gone?

It scrambled down and sniffed around the area.

Finally, it spotted a dusty, gray orb.

It grabbed it, brought it to its nose, and sniffed. As it sniffed, it began to gag.

It seems... to be... a treasure... gag—

Showing its disgust, it carried the orb and paced around the cave twice. Finding nothing else, it brought the orb to Jiang Lu.

The orb emitted a dark aura and had a strange smell.

Jiang Lu wrapped it in spiritual energy and brought it to her nose to sniff.

This smell was very strange, yet strangely familiar.

Jiang Lu's eyes widened. She loosened her grip, letting the orb fall to the ground with a look of pure disgust.

This was no treasure at all; it was clearly a spirit beast's dung!

Seeing Jiang Lu's reaction, the black figure covered its mouth with both paws, its eyes narrowing as it let out a snicker.

“Who's there?!”

Hearing the sound, Jiang Lu immediately swept her divine sense across the surroundings, a dangerous look flashing in her eyes.

The black figure froze. Before it could even wipe the smile off its face, it nearly fell backward.

“Are you going to come out on your own, or do I have to make you? Don't blame me for being impolite!”

Jiang Lu's warning voice rang out once more.

Chi Li and Cang Chen also looked around warily.

The black figure stiffened, lowering its paws from its mouth, its ears drooping slightly.

Then, taking tiny, shuffling steps, it emerged from behind the boulder.

Sensing a fluctuation in the aura over there, Jiang Lu tightly gripped Qianming, which flashed with a sharp, fierce sword light.