Chapter 29: Identity Exposed

Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Identity Exposed

Lu Ping’s perception swept over the beast pen. A look of satisfaction appeared in his eyes as he smiled and said, "A Tier One High-grade Spirit Beast, the Wind Flame Tiger, and a Tier One Middle-grade Spirit Beast, the Grass Flower Monkey. Not bad..."

Qingqu bowed and said, "Please, my lord, take them."

Lu Ping nodded. Spiritual Power surged within him, and with a wave of his hand, two chains formed from Spiritual Power shot into the beast pen.

A massive tiger with fur as red as flames and a monkey no bigger than his palm with grass-green fur were captured by the chains and pulled out.

With a mere thought, Lu Ping stored the two Spirit Beasts in the Spirit Beast Bag at his waist.

The Jade Ship rose into the air and headed toward the next beast pen.

Qingqu watched the Jade Ship with a complicated expression, then sighed. He didn’t enter the beast pen, but returned directly to his wooden hut.

Afterward, as Lu Ping collected the Spirit Beasts from one pen after another, his mood gradually brightened.

Coupled with Jin Fang’s deliberate efforts to maintain a lively atmosphere, things felt quite cheerful for a while.

But as the Flying Ship reached the center of Beast Valley and passed one empty pen after another, Lu Ping’s expression began to sour. By the time they neared the end of the valley, his face was as black as the bottom of a pot.

Sweat beaded on Jin Fang’s forehead, and his face was deathly pale.

At this point, how could he not know that Tan Hu had screwed him over?

Based on what he’d seen along the way, he roughly estimated that Beast Valley had lost at least half its people—perhaps even more.

When the Jade Ship was not far from Li Changsheng’s beast pen, it suddenly stopped.

Lu Ping was silent for a long time before he spoke. "So this is what you meant by ’a little over two hundred casualties’?"

"Th-this... I..." Jin Fang opened his mouth to try and explain, but the truth was right before his eyes. In the end, he simply lowered his head and said no more.

Tan Hu remained silent, his head bowed as he stared at the deck of the ship.

Lu Ping glanced at the two of them but said nothing, urging the Jade Ship toward the final beast pen.

Li Changsheng had seen the Jade Ship long before. He wondered why it had stopped, but after a moment’s thought, he pushed it to the back of his mind. It had nothing to do with him.

Another matter, however, was of vital importance to his future.

’Should I take the gamble?’

’If this works, I can finally escape my status as a Beast Slave. And if it doesn’t... it’s not like I’ll necessarily die.’

Li Changsheng’s expression flickered as he glanced intermittently toward the roof of his beast pen.

Bathed in sunlight, a dense swarm of Red-winged Blood Bamboos clung to the top of the pen.

Ever since yesterday, when he had absorbed that strange plant from the Blood Wolf’s back, he’d noticed a change in his Spirit Vein.

If the speed at which his Spirit Vein absorbed Spiritual Qi was a one before, it was now a two.

Moreover, he discovered that his Spiritual Power was no longer as plain as it once was; it now contained a special kind of energy.

Recalling Mu Feng’s words, Li Changsheng figured that absorbing that hot current must have caused his Spirit Vein to develop an attribute, albeit a very faint and indistinct one.

His goal in revealing the Red-winged Blood Bamboos was to attract the attention of a Cyan Yang Sect Steward and use it to escape his status as a Beast Slave.

Now that Li Changsheng had an attributed Spirit Vein, he wasn’t afraid of exposing his Golden Finger.

While he was lost in thought, the Jade Ship had arrived above him at some point.

Li Changsheng snapped back to reality and called out respectfully, "Greetings, my lords."

Lu Ping and the others were in a foul mood; they had no mind to pay attention to a mere Beast Slave.

Liu Feng, however, who was not implicated in the matter, gave him a curious glance.

Lu Ping’s perception swept over the area. He was just about to conjure the Spiritual Power chains when he seemed to notice something, letting out a soft "Hm?"

He glanced at Li Changsheng, and with a wave of his hand, a thread of condensed Spiritual Power flew to the roof of the beast pen.

A single Red-winged Blood Bamboo was bound by the spiritual thread and brought before him.

Lu Ping’s perception extended into the Red-winged Blood Bamboo’s body. To his senses, the insect’s Spiritual Qi was weak, but its physical durability was quite good, comparable to a Low-grade Spirit Beast.

Most importantly, he detected the mark of a magic technique within the insect.

Lu Ping scanned Li Changsheng with his perception again. After retracting it, he glanced at the dense swarm of insects on the pen’s roof, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

With a wave of his hand, he released the Red-winged Blood Bamboo. He watched it slowly land on Li Changsheng’s shoulder, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"What is your name? How long have you been in Beast Valley?"

Li Changsheng’s heart leaped with joy. He replied respectfully, "Replying to you, my lord, my name is Li Changsheng. I have been in Beast Valley for one year."

"One year..."

Lu Ping’s expression softened slightly. He then asked, "What kind of insect control magic do you cultivate?"

Aboard the Jade Ship, Jin Fang and Tan Hu glanced over in confusion before looking away, their thoughts already consumed with how they would deal with the sect’s plans for territorial expansion.

Liu Feng glanced at the insects on the pen, then back at Li Changsheng, his gaze filled with confusion.

He clearly didn’t understand the significance of a mere second-level Qi Cultivation disciple controlling so many insects.

In response to the question, Li Changsheng answered without any concealment, "Replying to you, my lord, I cultivate the First-rank top-grade magic, ’Insect Seal.’"

Lu Ping’s eyes lit up when he heard this. "Really?" he said.

Without waiting for an answer, he took a step forward, landing beside Li Changsheng and placing a hand on his shoulder.

A cool stream of energy flowed into his body, circled once, and then flowed back out.

Lu Ping withdrew his Spiritual Power, looking at him with a peculiar expression.

The look made Li Changsheng’s skin crawl.

Lu Ping spoke. "A fragmented technique?"

Li Changsheng paused for a moment, then immediately understood what he meant. He scratched his head in embarrassment. "I bought it from a senior martial brother for one Spirit Stone. I just tried practicing it, and I didn’t expect to succeed."

Hearing this, Lu Ping’s expression grew even more peculiar. Of course, he knew who was selling those techniques, and he was well aware of their quality.

To call them ’fragmented’ techniques was putting it nicely; in reality, they were just garbage.

Lu Ping collected his thoughts. He looked at the somewhat bashful young man before him, feeling undecided.

He knew what kind of people ended up in Beast Valley. To put it nicely, they were outer sect disciples, but in truth, they were nothing more than Beast Slaves.

And yet, this young man before him, though his attributed Spirit Vein was weak, possessed a remarkably strong soul.

Especially considering he was only at the second level of Qi Cultivation, yet could control so many insects without going mad.

That point alone was enough to prove that his soul was incredibly resilient—he was a genius in the art of insect control.

He hesitated for a few breaths.

Lu Ping smiled. "Do you want to cultivate somewhere else?"

"I do."

A conflicted look crossed Li Changsheng’s face for a moment before he gave a slight nod.

"Good."

Lu Ping chuckled, took a step back onto the Jade Ship, and used his Spiritual Power to retrieve the ten cubs from the beast pen, storing them in his Spirit Beast Bag.

He looked down at the young man, then at the insects on the pen. After a moment’s thought, Lu Ping took a Spirit Beast Bag from his robes and tossed it to Li Changsheng.

"This is a Low-grade Spirit Beast Bag. It’s enough to hold your spirit beasts and your spirit insects."

"Get your things in order. I’ll come back for you after I’ve finished collecting the rest of the Spirit Beasts."

Without giving Li Changsheng a chance to reply, the Flying Ship sped away.

Not until the Jade Ship had flown far into the distance did the corners of Li Changsheng’s mouth slowly curl upward. He turned and walked toward his wooden hut.

「Aboard the Jade Ship.」

Liu Feng asked in confusion, "Martial Uncle Lu, are you planning to take that person back to the sect?"

Jin Fang and Tan Hu were like a pair of quails, keeping their heads down and remaining silent.

Lu Ping nodded and smiled. "His talent for insect control is quite good, and he possesses an attributed Spirit Vein. It’s a waste to have him raising Spirit Beasts here."

"However, I never said I was taking him *to the sect*."