Chapter 3899 — Out of the Sky

Though the Ghost-Eyed Golden Eagle had temporarily lost his trail, it would surely keep searching for him for some time to come. So Wei Zhao had no intention of regrouping with Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai now; acting alone was, in fact, safer for all of them.

In this spirit beast trial, most newcomers would have given anything to walk away with a free spirit pet. Someone like Qiao Hongcai had lost his head the instant he saw a Ghost-Eyed Golden Eagle cub. Wei Zhao, however, did not set much store by it.

After all, the Jade Pendant space was home to that elderly spirit beast, Gui Dongxi. If Wei Zhao were to use a spirit pet talisman—such a callous thing—to claim a spirit pet right under the old fellow's nose, that would be a bit hard to justify.

What was more, such low-grade spirit pet talismans could only subdue spirit beasts below the Heaven rank, and beasts of that caliber hardly caught Wei Zhao's eye. Even seeing the Ghost-Eyed Golden Eagle cub moments ago had stirred nothing in him.

Of course, if it were a heaven-defying spirit beast cub with kingly bloodline, that would be another matter entirely. In that case, Wei Zhao might not even need to lift a finger—Gui Dongxi himself would perk up at the prize and eagerly lure it over for him.

But this was only the outer reaches of the rear mountain. The odds of a heaven-defying spirit beast appearing here were negligible—next to zero.

And in Wei Zhao's view, the greatest boon of this spirit beast trial was not the spirit pet at all, but the chance to linger for a full month in the rear mountain's outer reaches. To him, that was the real prize.

The Threefold Pavilion kept the rear mountain under strict control. Newcomers like Wei Zhao could not set foot there under ordinary circumstances, save for opportunities like this newcomer trial. And this rear mountain was, as far as he knew, the only place where the Heart-Eating Linglong Grass could be found.

With the Heart-Eating Linglong Grass, he could refine Foundation Establishment Golden Pills; with Foundation Establishment Golden Pills, he could advance quickly. That was what Wei Zhao valued most right now.

True, the Jade Pendant space already held two stalks of Heart-Eating Linglong Grass, but such things were always better in abundance. If he could find a few more stalks in the rear mountain's outer reaches this time, the trip would not have been in vain.

Beyond that, the rear mountain was rich in resources—a natural treasure trove for any cultivator. Even in the outer reaches, anyone who cared to look could find countless priceless heavenly materials and earthly treasures: not only all manner of spirit herbs and spirit beasts, but also rare wonders seldom seen in the outside world.

The last newcomer trial had lasted only three days. Wei Zhao had managed to snatch a stalk of Heart-Eating Linglong Grass, but had no time to look around properly. This time he had a full month—enough, if he put his mind to it, to make a complete circuit of the rear mountain's outer reaches.

Such an opportunity Wei Zhao naturally meant to seize with both hands. Otherwise, he would be doing a disservice to the Jade Pendant space he carried—a mobile warehouse bestowed by heaven itself, was it not?

Yet what Wei Zhao never expected was that before he could even begin his sweep, he would run into an old acquaintance in the vast outer reaches of the rear mountain.

When a dark shadow fell over his head, Wei Zhao thought the Ghost-Eyed Golden Eagle had found him. Instead, it was a flying spirit beast from the rear mountain hall—one person and one beast descending from the sky. It was Shangguan Lan'er and her little Curly Bear!

He watched Shangguan Lan'er and the little Curly Bear drop from the sky and land before him. Even Wei Zhao's sturdy nerves gave a violent start. "You—what are you doing here?"

"How rude! You don't even call me little senior sister when you see me!" Shangguan Lan'er jabbed a finger at Wei Zhao's forehead, fuming.

"Huh?" Wei Zhao blinked. She was still fussing over details like that at a time like this... Seeing how thoroughly put out she looked, he could only humor her. "Fine. Little senior sister."

"That's better!" Shangguan Lan'er's anger vanished at once. She rose on tiptoe and patted Wei Zhao's shoulder with exaggerated gravity. The little Curly Bear copied her, clambering onto Wei Zhao's neck and insisting on performing the same gesture—a sight that left one unable to keep from laughing.

Wei Zhao looked at the mistress and her pet, caught between laughter and tears, and shrugged. "Now will you tell me why you suddenly turned up here?"

Under normal circumstances, no one could enter or leave the rear mountain without the rear mountain hall's permission. Given Shangguan Lan'er's formidable background, an exception might conceivably be made for her—but how could the hall's elders possibly let her come in alone?

After all, dragging along the little Curly Bear, a spirit pet with no fighting capacity to speak of, Shangguan Lan'er was hardly equipped to handle the perilous outer reaches of the rear mountain. If the hall's elders let her in on their own authority and something went wrong, how would they ever answer to Shangguan Tianxia?

What puzzled Wei Zhao even more was this: in the vast outer reaches of the rear mountain, finding a single person was no easy feat. How did Shangguan Lan'er know he was here?

"Hehe, your senior sister came here for important business, of course. And since you've got nothing better to do, little junior brother, you may as well keep me company on a mission in the rear mountain." Shangguan Lan'er grinned.

"A mission? What mission?" Wei Zhao was more baffled than ever. As he understood it, a young lady like Shangguan Lan'er would never care about mission rewards—she could have all the cultivation resources she wanted. Why would she need to run missions at all?

And she had come alone, no less, to carry out a mission in this perilous rear mountain. With her strength barely at the peak of early Foundation Establishment, and with a dead weight like the little Curly Bear in tow, wasn't this a bit reckless?

"Listen, little junior brother—Grandpa gave me a mission a few days ago: design a weapon myself and gather the materials for forging it. I've already worked out the design, but I'm still short a few materials, and the most crucial one can only be found here in the rear mountain. So your senior sister came over." Shangguan Lan'er spoke with perfect seriousness.

"I see." Wei Zhao nodded in sudden understanding.

To his mind, this was likely Shangguan Tianxia's way of giving the young lady a bit of tempering. Otherwise, sheltered forever within the tiny domain of the Soaring Heaven Pavilion, no matter how diligently she cultivated, she would probably never truly grow. And besides, this little senior sister before him did not look like the diligent cultivating type in the least.

"I was a little scared coming here on my own, but I didn't want to ask Xu Lingchong and those annoying types for help. And it just so happened that you and the others were here for the newcomer trial, so I came straight to find you. Well? Your senior sister's clever, isn't she?" Shangguan Lan'er said smugly.

Wei Zhao could not help laughing, then asked in puzzlement, "Come to think of it—how did you actually find me?" (To be continued...)