Chapter 324 - 274: Golden winged Roc, Thirty-Six Territories of Yun Province (Double - , Part 2)
Because people with similarly keen spiritual power can sense they’re being spied on, and nobody would be pleased with that.
Therefore, Song Changming merely observed with his eyesight for a brief moment, roughly judging that this woman was also an Innate Martial Artist.
Judging from the aura, energy fluctuations, and the comparison of Essence, Qi, and Spirit, she was not much weaker than General Chu Wantong beside her, possibly even stronger.
Looking at her mount, the Golden-winged Roc was even more extraordinary.
He did not know how the other party acquired it, but on this Golden-winged Roc, he felt a strong sense of threat.
This was a feeling that neither the woman nor General Chu Wantong could impart to him!
"The Golden-winged Roc, also documented in mythical chronicles, is said to be much more formidable than the Mountain-moving Rat..."
Following behind, Li Jinyu, taking advantage of the interval in the father-daughter conversation, also looked at the giant, golden bird and murmured in awe.
"I didn’t expect that just a few days after arriving in the Ancient Abyss Country, I’ve encountered two beasts from ancient books!"
As he spoke, the Golden-winged Roc, after examining the corpse of the Mountain-moving Rat, swallowed it in two or three bites.
It did so with a satisfied look, making Dahuang, the big yellow dog behind Song Changming, very envious.
Unfortunately, it also knew it was no match for the big golden bird, so it couldn’t do anything about its craving.
After Meng Shuxuan finished talking with her parents, she turned around, noticing that the Golden-winged Roc had already eaten the Mountain-moving Rat and was looking at her innocently.
Meng Shuxuan’s delicate face stiffened slightly, then she looked at Song Changming apologetically.
"I wasn’t paying attention, truly sorry for eating your Mountain-moving Rat. Here is a bit of compensation, I hope you’ll forgive us..."
Saying this, she took out a small brocade bag and handed it to Song Changming to show her apology.
In her view, the Mountain-moving Rat killed by Song Changming naturally belonged to him.
"It’s nothing, just a fierce beast’s corpse." Song Changming, seeing the others’ sincere attitude, simply waved it off.
He’s not someone who is overly nitpicky and could get more fierce beast corpses by hunting again.
This Ancient Abyss Country is teeming with fierce and demon beasts, and their numbers are already in abundance.
"No, please accept it." Meng Shuxuan approached seriously and insisted on offering the brocade bag.
It was clear that this girl had a strong sense of principle; this compensation had to be given.
Seeing this, Song Changming did not refuse and accepted it calmly.
The brocade bag contained ten beautiful crystal stones emitting a milky white glow, each about two times larger than a thumbnail.
Just a glance and Song Changming saw the extraordinary nature of these stones.
They contained exceedingly pure Spiritual Qi, which would be immensely beneficial if used to aid in cultivating Innate Qi Aura.
"Parents, Feng City is not far ahead. Just in case, I will patrol above with Xiaojin and escort you into the city before leaving." Meng Shuxuan then told her parents.
"Thank you, Xuan’Er." Meng Jianli nodded.
"Sister, sister, I also want to fly high." The little girl holding her mother’s hand suddenly leaped into Meng Shuxuan’s arms, acting spoiled.
"Xiaorou, come back at once." Meng Mu said immediately.
The little girl had quickly forgotten about her earlier fright, recovering in no time.
"No way, Mom..." The little girl clung tighter to her sister’s clothing.
"Mom, I’ll take her with me; it’ll be fine." Meng Shuxuan rubbed her little sister’s head and spoke softly.
With that, Meng Shuxuan lifted the little girl and leaped onto the back of the Golden-winged Roc.
Amid a chorus of bell-like childish laughter, the Golden-winged Roc spread its wings and soared into the sky, roaring through the air and flying dozens of miles away.
"This child, she’s going to be spoiled rotten..." Meng Mu shook her head and returned to the carriage.
"Where is Young Hero Song headed?" After the Golden-winged Roc flew away, Meng Jianli asked Song Changming.
Having heard Meng Shuxuan mention Feng City, Song Changming hesitated briefly and said he was also heading there.
"In that case, why not travel together?" Meng Jianli immediately suggested, unsurprised by Song Changming’s destination.
After all, Feng City is the closest from here, and most outsiders coming here are heading to Feng City.
"Alright." Song Changming agreed directly; truthfully, he had this intention.
Much of his knowledge of the Ancient Abyss Country remained in the ancient texts from millennia ago.
A thousand years is a long time, enough for many earth-shattering changes, and much outdated information is naturally unusable.
He still lacked a fair amount of understanding about the current Ancient Abyss Country.
Having met Meng Jianli and company, he naturally intended to gather more information on the journey.
Li Jinyu and the others understood Song Changming’s thoughts, quietly following beside him.
Meng Jianli, seeing Song Changming accept, quickly invited Song Changming and the others to share his carriage.
The team soon set out.
"Where is Young Hero Song from? I wonder about your teacher. At such a young age, entering the Innate Realm with such strength, you must be a martial genius."
Meng Jianli’s attention was all on Song Changming, showing no particular interest in Su Qingqing and Song Ping’an beside him, and even less for Li Jinyu, who had no martial arts cultivation.
"I’m not from an eminent sect. My teacher is a free spirit and left instructions not to mention his name." Song Changming made up an identity to brush off Meng Jianli’s inquiry.
For now, he did not want to recklessly reveal that he came from the other side of the Abyss, fearing it might cause unnecessary trouble.
Meng Jianli understood and didn’t press the matter further.
Following the opened topic, Song Changming conversed with Meng Jianli about the current Ancient Abyss Country.
They were in one of the Nine Provinces, situated in the very southern Yun Province.
Yun Province is vast, incredibly vast.
It is divided into thirty-six regions; each region has a main city and several dozen subsidiary cities.
Meng Jianli was newly appointed as the new City Lord of Feng City in Yunzhou Cui Bai Dao.
Feng City was not the main city of Cui Bai Dao, just a subsidiary city, relatively closer to the southern Red Earth Continent.
Because the previous Feng City Lord was killed by the Demon Race, Meng Jianli’s trip felt like a mission undertaken in crisis.
Clearly, the local demons did not intend to let this new City Lord go, planning an ambush to eliminate him.
The Flower Raccoons were a coordinated attack, not ad-hoc or impulsive.
Unfortunately, just as they were about to succeed, Song Changming’s timely appearance resolved the crisis.
In fact, even without Song Changming, Meng Jianli’s daughter, who apprenticed at Celestial Star Pavilion, would have arrived and most likely resolved it.
Familiar with each other, Song Changming thought for a moment and directly asked.
"City Lord Meng, do you know about the Corpse Refining Sect?"
"Are we talking about the Corpse Refining Sect among the Thirty-Six Grotto Heavens of Nanzhou?" Meng Jianli asked in return.
"The Thirty-Six Grotto Heavens of the Southern Border, huh." Song Changming considered it.
"As for the Corpse Refining Sect, the only one I could think of is that. However, in such a vast world, similarly named sects exist, so if it’s within Yun Province or nearby, it should be that one." Meng Jianli explained.
"Why, does Young Hero Song have some grievances with the Corpse Refining Sect?"
He’s adept at reading people, gleaning something from Song Changming’s tone.
"There are indeed some issues." Song Changming nodded, not continuing further.
The matter of his elder brother being made into a refined corpse required further investigation on his part.
"The Corpse Refining Sect was previously unknown, just a small sect within Yun Province, and was not originally called Corpse Refining Sect. It only rose after its sect leader acquired some eldritch techniques, refining human puppets, making it successful.
Later, during the internal strife among the Thirty-Six Grotto Heavens of the Southern Border, one sect was annihilated, leaving a vacancy that allowed the Corpse Refining Sect to settle in and grow.
In terms of evil deeds, Corpse Refining Sect members often desecrate graves and refine human corpses, notorious across the cities of Yun Province, universally despised.
If not for their current formidable sect strength, they might have been eradicated long ago...
Meng Jianli explained the rise of the Corpse Refining Sect, knowing a lot about the affairs within Yun Province as an official.
...