novelraw Chapter 454: The Auspicious Beast King’s Imprint
Chapter 454: The Auspicious Beast King’s Imprint
One’s own child is to be cherished. Ancestor Sui Bian could speak ill of Yu Zhao, but no outsider was allowed a single word against her.
Ancestor Sui Bian thrust his chest forward and barked: “Bring them—bring all those Auspicious Beasts along, and let me see who dares say no.”
His strength gave him plenty of authority among this crowd; besides, they truly needed to rely on Yu Zhao to get out alive, so they swallowed their words and kept quiet.
Yu Zhao gave Ancestor Sui Bian a grateful smile, then said to the Auspicious Beasts: “Your mission is complete. You may leave.”
The Auspicious Beasts all looked to their leader, the Auspicious Beast King. It was more than twice the size of an ordinary Auspicious Beast, its coat a deeper shade, and wisdom flickered in its bestial eyes. Yu Zhao believed it could understand her.
The Auspicious Beast King seemed to weigh her proposal, lids half lowered, unmoving. Behind them, however, the ground was collapsing at terrifying speed. Blood-stained soil, broken corpses, and shards of Magical Treasures all plunged into a bottomless void, as if a huge mouth were devouring the continent.
The Cultivators’ scalps prickled; they no longer dared question Yu Zhao’s rapport with the Auspicious Beasts and only wished to urge them to leave faster. At last, just as the crowd was on the verge of crying and begging, the Auspicious Beast King rose to its feet. The other Auspicious Beasts stood with it. The king took four light steps, then sprang to Yu Zhao’s side and, to everyone’s shock, knelt before her in invitation. Those horns, sharp enough to pierce a Cultivator’s body, gleamed before Yu Zhao, yet she was certain it would not harm her.
“Ancestor?” Yu Zhao called, and when Ancestor Sui Bian answered and turned, he saw her make an inviting gesture. Only then did he realize what she meant and wave his hands again and again: “No, no, you go.”
The Ancestor did not have nearly her courage.
Yu Zhao whispered in the Auspicious Beast King’s ear; the king gave a low hum, and a second, sturdy Auspicious Beast came forward, kneeling in front of Ancestor Sui Bian. Unable to refuse such courtesy, the Ancestor climbed onto the Extreme Beast, trembling. For fear of those twin horns, he even sucked in his belly, looking markedly constrained.Only then did Yu Zhao seat herself upon the Auspicious Beast King. The king threw back its head with a long, ringing cry, then wind gathered underfoot as it sprinted toward the death rifts, a vast Auspicious Beast herd surging behind it and a cluster of conflicted Cultivators trailing after. Those Cultivators wanted to try riding, but the Auspicious Beasts ignored them; approach too closely and the beasts simply kicked at them. They could only jog along, grimacing. The one boon was that they no longer needed to keep their eyes glued to Yu Zhao and Ancestor Sui Bian for direction; they only had to follow the nearest Auspicious Beast.
At first Ancestor Sui Bian half-squinted, one hand in Hand Seal Casting and the other pressed to his storage belt, body stiff as a board. As time passed he gradually relaxed, and his familiar grin returned. He missed his friend, Old Black Daoist, with a sudden ache: [I’m riding an Auspicious Beast! How many people have ever done this? I have! Hahaha!]
Along the way, Yu Zhao tried to communicate with the Auspicious Beast King. No matter what she said, the king did not respond. Only when she mentioned the scene she had seen in illusion did its expression shift ever so slightly, yet in the end it still said nothing.
To Cultivators, the death rifts were lethally dangerous; to the Auspicious Beasts, they meant nothing at all. Like Yu Zhao, they could foresee danger and skirt every obstacle with perfect precision. Yu Zhao also noticed that when they leapt, strange spatial ripples flared around them, extending their traveling distance—much like a Cultivator’s Instant Shift. After several failed attempts at conversation, she turned her focus to the spatial ability they were using and quietly began to Comprehend Space.
The Auspicious Beast King seemed to have eyes that could see into the heart. Noticing Yu Zhao’s intent to learn, it generously draped the Power of Space over her and led her to experience its mysteries for herself.
In Yu Zhao’s vision, space became a viscous liquid, currents blending and folding into odd, twisted shapes. She felt like a grain of sand, drifting slowly down the river of space. After an unknown while, the river seemed to awaken, transforming into weird lines that joined one to another, sketching out arcane patterns. As those patterns took shape, a vast power surged forth, crashed into Yu Zhao’s Sea of Consciousness, and branded itself deeply there.
Yu Zhao’s body jolted. When she came back to herself, they were already at the lip of a great land-shard.
They had escaped the death rifts.
Voices rose in a cheer: “We’re out! We’re out!” “Another life spared—Young Master is incredible!” “Buddha preserve us! Heavenly Venerable preserve us!”
Amid the jubilation, Yu Zhao leapt down from the Auspicious Beast King’s back. She asked softly: “Are you leaving?”
The Auspicious Beast King nodded, then closed its eyes and lowered its head. Yu Zhao’s heart stirred; she closed her eyes too and touched her brow to its. An Antler Imprint rapidly condensed in her Sea of Consciousness.
“Goodbye,” she whispered.
The king vaulted into the sky. The rest of the Auspicious Beasts pounded after it, shrinking to specks and vanishing at the horizon.
Ancestor Sui Bian had already scrambled down the moment the beasts stopped. Though the ride had been delightful, there was still a thread of fear; for the first time, the feel of solid ground underfoot seemed exquisitely sweet.
He was about to ask Yu Zhao what had just happened when he felt a burning gaze from behind. [This is bad.] He hurriedly stepped in front of Yu Zhao, pointed at the crowd, and shouted: “What are you trying to do? Crossing the river and tearing down the bridge, is that it?” He kept a calm face, but regret churned inside him: [Should’ve made those Auspicious Beasts take you lot away with us. Great—now we’re surrounded. Hard to run. Two fists can’t beat four hands.]
The people facing Yu Zhao and the Ancestor felt complicated. They did not understand Yu Zhao’s relationship with those Exotic Beasts, but they could not deny that she had saved them. If they struck at her now, wouldn’t that be repaying kindness with enmity?
“Senior and Fellow Daoist saved my life,” Bei Ming Yan said, stepping forward. “This is my Bei Ming Clan token. If there is ever anything you need of the Bei Ming Clan, please come to us.” She respectfully placed two snowflake-shaped tokens into Ancestor Sui Bian’s and Yu Zhao’s hands, sincerity clear in her manner.
Dong Fang Yue clenched her fists, then stepped out and said in a voice as soft as a mosquito’s: “And my Dong Fang—”
“Dong Fang Yu thanks Senior and Fellow Daoist for your aid,” said a well-mannered man, cutting in smoothly. “From this day on, the Dong Fang Clan will honor you both as honored guests.”