Chapter 2806 — The Five Fierce Mountains

The moment it spotted Wei Zhao, it hurtled straight at him, and his heart gave a violent start! This was a bat of mid Mystic-rank strength—but fortunately, the Heavenly Thunder Pig was a spirit beast at the peak of the late Mystic rank.

"Oink, oink!" The Heavenly Thunder Pig said something or other to the black bat.

"Wooo..." The black bat visibly faltered at the sight of the Heavenly Thunder Pig, plainly taken aback—unable to fathom why it would be keeping company with a human cultivator.

"Oink, oink!" The Heavenly Thunder Pig began negotiating with the black bat once more.

The two spirit beasts exchanged a few more words, and then the black bat turned and flew off. The Heavenly Thunder Pig, however, addressed Wei Zhao: "Oink, oink..."

Then it pointed downward, meaning for Wei Zhao to leave this place.

"What's going on?" Wei Zhao jumped down with the Heavenly Thunder Pig in his arms and returned to the ground.

The Heavenly Thunder Pig wrote in the dirt: "That black bat meant to attack you. I used my strength to command it away by force, but if we run into a higher-grade flying spirit beast, there will be nothing I can do. I fear that black bat has gone back to summon more of its kind, so we had best get out of here at once."

"That works." Wei Zhao nodded, and could not help a bitter smile. This place belonged to the world of spirit beasts—how utterly insignificant was a human cultivator here? He wondered how Zhao Qitan and the others were faring.

"Oink, oink..." The Heavenly Thunder Pig began writing on the ground again.

"Oh? You're saying there's good treasure over there?" Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback. The Heavenly Thunder Pig had written a line in the dirt: There's treasure over there!

"Oink, oink!" The Heavenly Thunder Pig nodded.

Seeing what the Heavenly Thunder Pig had written, Wei Zhao hesitated. The purpose of his coming here was merely to gather spirit herbs in exchange for third-grade pills, and along the way to look after Zhao Qitan. But now the Heavenly Thunder Pig said there was treasure here. To be honest, reason told him not to go.

Yet having come all this way, Wei Zhao truly could not bring himself to leave without at least seeing what it was.

"That treasure—it would be very useful to me?" Wei Zhao asked after a moment's hesitation.

"Oink, oink!" The Heavenly Thunder Pig nodded.

"Then let's go take a look!" Wei Zhao gritted his teeth. "But if we come across any of the herbs required for the trial along the way, you help me find them too!"

"Oink, oink!" The Heavenly Thunder Pig nodded, indicating there was no problem.

And so the man and the pig set off in the direction the Heavenly Thunder Pig had indicated. In any case, Wei Zhao had no idea which way the safe location marked on the map lay for the moment—the terrain had not yet been confirmed—so he might as well go first to the place the Heavenly Thunder Pig had spoken of and have a look.

The Heavenly Thunder Pig had keen senses; whenever there were spirit beasts in the distance, it would always warn Wei Zhao. Wei Zhao was in no hurry—he would simply find the nearest safe spot and hide. The journey was nerve-racking but not truly dangerous. What vexed Wei Zhao, however, was that along the whole way he had not obtained a single spirit herb!

There were indeed spirit herbs, but they all grew by lakesides, marshes, and the like—places that were invariably the lairs of spirit beasts. Wei Zhao could not avoid them fast enough; how could he possibly go pick them himself? Having come to the trial grounds, Wei Zhao finally understood why the Xuan Dan Sect's trial offered such lavish rewards.

Even with the Heavenly Thunder Pig at his side, it was like this for him. Those without a Heavenly Thunder Pig would likely find every step here a struggle. No wonder only a handful survived; never mind those who actually obtained spirit herbs.

The whole way, Wei Zhao walked with his heart in his throat. After all, even facing a Heaven-rank expert, he might not be afraid now—if he could not beat them, could he not run? But spirit beasts were different. Some spirit beasts were frightfully fast, and Wei Zhao simply could not outrun them. That black bat earlier, for instance—its speed was comparable to an airplane's; it was before his eyes in the blink of an eye. Against such speed, Wei Zhao had no way to contend at all.

Yet for some reason, though Wei Zhao had walked and stopped and encountered no few spirit beasts before, on this final stretch there were none at all. What puzzled Wei Zhao was that there was not even a single spirit beast—it was simply incomprehensible!

"Why are there no spirit beasts around here anymore?" Wei Zhao gave the Heavenly Thunder Pig a strange look.

"Oink, oink..." The Heavenly Thunder Pig shook its head, indicating there truly were none.

"All right..." Wei Zhao pressed on, but his heart was full of vigilance. After all, when something is out of the ordinary, there is sure to be something sinister behind it. What lay ahead, there was really no telling!

Otherwise, why had there been so many spirit beasts before, and none at all once they reached this area?

After another stretch of travel, the way ahead came to an end. Before them stood a range of rolling green mountains, stretching far into the distance—where they ended, none could say—but they barred Wei Zhao's path.

"There's no road ahead. Where exactly is the treasure?" Wei Zhao stood at the foot of the mountain, gazing at the vast mountain range, and asked the Heavenly Thunder Pig.

"Oink, oink..." The Heavenly Thunder Pig pointed a claw toward the mountains above.

"You mean the treasure is up on the mountain?" Wei Zhao asked.

The Heavenly Thunder Pig nodded.

"Up on the mountain... let me first make certain what this place is." As he spoke, Wei Zhao took the trial map from his pocket. He had walked so much of the way already that he had some understanding of the general terrain, and the rolling green mountain range before him was all the more a landmark.

Quickly, Wei Zhao located his own position and the mountain range before him on the map!

"The Five Fierce Mountains?" Wei Zhao was startled, and his expression changed at once—for this Five Fierce Mountains range was marked on the map as a place of extreme danger!

Yet the jade pendant had given no warning, which proved the danger was not nearby. This map was a miniature version; the places marked on it might well be dangers several kilometers, dozens of kilometers, or even hundreds of kilometers away—not necessarily right before his eyes.

"Heavenly Thunder Pig, I've confirmed where we are now, but the map says this place is extremely dangerous. What do you make of it?" As he spoke, Wei Zhao held the map up before the Heavenly Thunder Pig's eyes.

The Heavenly Thunder Pig looked at the map Wei Zhao held out, then at the vast mountain range, and seemed somewhat at a loss. Clearly it sensed no danger either. But then, the Heavenly Thunder Pig's peculiar gift lay in seeking treasure across a thousand li; its sense for danger was far weaker. At most it could sense the presence of its own kind, and only at close range—at a distance, it could not.

To go or not to go? Wei Zhao was caught in indecision. The map clearly marked this as a place of extreme danger, but if he did not go, he would not be reconciled. He had come all this way; the treasure the Heavenly Thunder Pig spoke of was useful to him; to turn back empty-handed like this would be too much of a regret. (To be continued.)

For the fastest updates and ad-free reading, please visit.