As Qing Yi and Xuan Hao made their way deeper into the stable under the guidance of the short old man, Xuan Hao noticed that the strength of the demon beasts that they passed by had slowly increased.
At first, most of them were only around the Qi Condensation Realm, but by now, most of the demon beasts were at the Foundation Establishment Realm, there was even a few who had reached the Core Formation Realm.
But even then, there was still not a single flying demon beast!
"Ah, here it is!" Coming to a sudden stop in front of a large gate, the short old man pulled out a small key and placed it into the keyhole and slowly turned.
Creak~
The giant gate slowly creaked opened as the short old man made his way into the open field behind it.
Yes, behind the gate was a small open field, surrounded by the walls of the stable. The stable itself was apparently a giant circular building with a hole in the middle of it.
Inside the small field at the centre of the stable, Xuan Hao and Qing Yi saw several demon beasts running around freely, both weak and strong demon beasts.
But what caught both of their attention was the flying beasts that were sitting around the field relaxing with a few disciples tending to them.
Seeing this, Xuan Hao smiled wryly.
Who tamed who…? From the looks of the disciples happily tending to the flying demon beasts every need, Xuan Hao really wondered whether there was a similar profession like the beast tamer for humans for the demon beasts.
At least the flying demon beasts were master human tamers…
"Ah, this is the stables tenders, they are normally disciples who love demon beast and are trying their best to become future beast tamers. In the past I worked hard as a stable tender as well before reaching my current position." Seeing Xuan Hao look towards the disciples tending to the flying demon beasts, the short old man misunderstood something and explained happily with a smile on his lips.
"I see… what about flying demon beasts, which one would you recommend?" Not wanting to continue the conversation any longer, Xuan Hao tried to steer the conversation back to the flying demon beasts.
"Hm… I think I would recommend the Shadow Hawk over there! It's relatively strong at the Core Formation Realm and also has more than enough space for both you and your disciple to sit." Thinking about it for a moment, the short old man turned around and pointed in the direction of a giant hawk with a wingspan of at least 10 meters.
The giant shadow hawk was currently being fed a few pieces of raw meat by the nearby serva- stable tenders and relaxingly laid on the ground while a few stable tenders were gently massaging its wings at the same time.
The shade of a nearby tree created a perfect shade for the giant shadow hawk as it had the time of its life.
"…" Xuan Hao and Qing Yi both turned to look at the relaxing shadow hawk and then turned to look at the still smiling short old man.
Looking around the field, Xuan Hao saw that all the flying demon beasts were like the shadow hawk, lazily relaxing under the shade of a tree while being catered to by the stable tenders.
"Sure, we will just use the shadow hawk if its fine with you." Not seeing any better option around, Xuan Hao agreed with the short old man and the group made their way to the shadow hawk.
"Ah, Lord Shadow, these two are the Core Elder Xuan and his disciple Qing Yi! Both of them will be requiring your services for the next few days if that is alright?" Doing a full ninety-degree bow, the short old man started addressing the shadow hawk in an honorific way and looked like a small servant addressing his lord.
"…" Both Qing Yi and Xuan Hao had their mouth open as they starred speechlessly at the short old man.
Beast Tamer… This short old man was supposed to be the best beast tamer that the Flying Sword Sect had… Xuan Hao and Qing Yi would most likely never look at beast tamers the same way ever again, this short old man had ruined the reputation of all beast tamers out there…
Screech!
A low screeching voice came out from the shadow hawk as it stared disdainfully at the short old man.
"Ah! Yes, yes, Lord Shadow! I got just what you want here!" Signalling for some of the stable tenders, soon they came over with a bunch of low-grade spirit stones, the short old man instructed them to place the spirit stones in front of the shadow hawk before moving back.
Screech?
Letting out as somewhat questioning screech, the old man soon came up to the pile of spirit stones and added a few extra to it.
Screech~
Happily looking at the spirit stone, the shadow hawk quickly swooped down a gulped all of them down in one go.
"Okay, Lord Shadow says he is satisfied with the offering and will accompany you over the next few days!" Seeing the satisfied shadow hawk, the old man conveyed that the shadow hawk would accompany them.
"…" Xuan Hao and Qing Yi both felt a little speechless as they watched a huge amount of spirit stone get swallowed up by the shadow hawk.
Such a large amount of spirit stones would be enough to speed up the cultivation of over 100 disciples below the Core Formation Realm over a month…
"What are you wating for, Lord Shadow is ready for you now, just jump on his back and give him a direction to go in!" Seeing that Xuan Hao and Qing Yi still hadn't moved, the short old man quickly hurried them to get onto the back of the shadow hawk.
"…" Not saying anything, both Qing Yi and Xuan Hao quietly made their way onto the back of the shadow hawk and fastened themselves on its back as it slowly flew out of the field and into the sky.
Looking down on the short old man below excitedly waving at them, Xuan Hao instructed for the shadow hawk to fly in the direction of the Bright Sun City.
Screech!
Qing Yi, who earlier was filled with excitement upon getting to fly, not long had any of that past excitement left.
The short old man had ruined any and all respect she had for beast tamers.
Now all she could think about was how many spirit stones they wasted each day on feeding demon beasts…
"Master… Are all Beast Tamers like that…?"
"Some things are better left unknown…" Not knowing how to answer the question, Xuan Hao looked off to the side as the scenery quickly passed by.
When he returned to the sect, he would have to have a chat with the Sect Master about how many spirit stones they dedicated to the Beast Tamers…