Chapter 4565 — There's Something Ahead

"Stop—there seems to be something ahead!" the ghost thing suddenly spoke up.

"Really?!" Wei Zhao was startled and hastily brought the spirit bird to a halt, his heart caught between unease and excitement. After more than two days of dull, dead silence, that initial fear had long since been replaced by anticipation; now he was practically itching to run into something.

"Of course it's real. But it's too far off right now—even with my divine sense I can only vaguely perceive that something exists, and I can say for certain it's alive. I just can't tell yet whether it's a spirit beast or a human cultivator," the ghost thing said after a moment's thought.

"What? How could there be a human cultivator in a place like this?" Wei Zhao was taken aback. Deep down he had assumed that whatever existed here had to be a spirit beast—something like the flood dragon mentioned earlier. How would a human cultivator turn up here out of nowhere...

"Tch! What grounds does a brat like you have to say that? Aren't you yourself a living, breathing human cultivator?" The ghost thing snorted, curling its lip. "Sure, I said freaks like you with all five elemental attributes are hard to find anywhere under heaven, but there's always a bigger fish. One or two of them turning up is nothing strange."

"Fine, it's not impossible, I suppose. Then Senior, please probe carefully right now—is it a spirit beast or a human cultivator?" Wei Zhao could only swallow his pride and smile bitterly.

"Simple enough. Have the spirit bird move a little further forward, but not too close—ideally close enough that I can probe it while it can't probe me." The ghost thing gave its instructions. It was utterly confident in its own divine sense; even if the other party really was some flood dragon, it could not possibly sense farther than he could. So long as the distance was properly controlled, this would be no difficult feat.

"All right." Wei Zhao at once urged the spirit bird onward, though this time he slowed it greatly, inching forward almost bit by bit. Any more than that and the other side might notice.

This went on for a while, and Wei Zhao and the spirit bird—who had not been all that nervous to begin with—found themselves scared stiff by the eerie atmosphere, their hair standing on end. Man and beast alike: it is the unknown that terrifies most. Had a flood dragon been plainly visible ahead, they would not have been half so tense.

A moment later, the ghost thing, for some reason, suddenly gave a soft "Hm?" of surprise. Wei Zhao's nerves snapped taut and he hurriedly asked, "What is it?"

"Now this is truly strange—why does this aura feel a little familiar?" the ghost thing muttered in some amazement.

"Familiar? Could it really be that flood dragon, then?" Wei Zhao guessed. As he saw it, the only thing whose aura the ghost thing would find familiar was likely a kinsman of its own kind, a flood dragon. He had thought those so-called sightings were just the five-element killing qi misread by others—who would have guessed the matter was real after all.

"Not clear." The ghost thing paused a moment. "This feeling shouldn't be as simple as a kinsman. But I can confirm the one opposite us is indeed of dragonkind—whether it's a flood dragon specifically, that I can't say."

"How can that be? With your divine sense, Senior, you should be able to see it clearly, no?" Wei Zhao asked, puzzled. In theory, what divine sense perceived was far sharper than the ordinary five senses; that other things could not be made out was normal enough, but whether the other party was a flood dragon ought to be obvious at a glance.

"You brat, you make it sound far too easy. Back when the Old Sect of the Western Mountains was chasing you, I could shield myself from his divine sense. Turn that around and put it on any other being—naturally they too have ways to shield themselves from my divine sense. It's just extremely difficult, not so easily done," the ghost thing said with a bitter smile.

"Then you mean your divine sense has been blocked by it. Has it already noticed us?" Wei Zhao was instantly alarmed. To be discovered before they had even figured out what the other party was—that was hardly good news.

"That much, no. But once one reaches a certain level, whether human cultivator or spirit beast, one habitually projects a divine-sense barrier to ward off others' prying. If that barrier is strong enough, then even with my abilities it's hard to pierce it from a distance. At best I can sense the general aura, but the specifics are hard to make out—unless I simply break through the other's barrier outright, and that would be beating the grass and startling the snake," the ghost thing explained, schooling Wei Zhao in the basics.

"I see. So what do we do now?" Wei Zhao asked. From the ghost thing's tone alone he could tell the other party was no simple character—perhaps even a top-tier spirit beast. To provoke such a being in a place like this was asking for trouble, plain and simple; quite possibly they would not even be able to flee.

"If you've got the guts, brat, then keep going forward. I'm quite interested in this thing myself. But let me say the ugly part first: even if this thing is a fellow of dragonkind, whether it'll do me any favors is far from certain, and I may not be able to keep you safe. So think it through before you answer. To be on the safe side, we could just turn back the way we came—it can't sense us yet, after all," the ghost thing said, perfectly at ease, leaving the choice to Wei Zhao himself.

Curiosity not only killed the cat, it killed men as well—Wei Zhao could hardly fail to understand that. After a moment's thought he decided: "Let's keep going forward and take a look. If I don't figure out what that thing is, I won't be able to stay here with any peace of mind. Cultivation above all abhors a restless heart; if I don't settle this, I'll have no choice but to give up this rare cultivation treasure land. So one way or another, I have to give it a try."

"Heh heh, good that you've got that much resolve. I thought you'd turn into a shrinking turtle, brat—oh, no, I mean an ostrich with its head buried in the sand, all front and no backside!" the ghost thing laughed.

"Ostrich..." Wei Zhao was left speechless, silently cursing to himself. This ghost thing had made one trip to the mortal world, and instead of finding the bloodline of the king of spirit beasts, it had picked up a whole pile of new vocabulary. Reduced to a state like this and still in the mood to learn such things—truly a crippled body with an indomitable spirit.

Having made his decision, Wei Zhao at once led the spirit bird onward, still inching forward as slowly as before. Though he had resolved to find out just what kind of divinity the other party was, the ideal outcome was still to keep from being noticed for as long as possible—only that way could safety be assured.

"No need to be so tense. Since the other side has a divine-sense barrier, we can naturally use one too. Unless its primordial spirit is stronger than mine, we're bound to see its true face first. And once we get close enough, its divine-sense barrier will be useless against me—I have a way to break through it without a whisper or a trace, provided the distance isn't too great." The ghost thing was full of confidence on this point; after all, this was its specialty. (To be continued) R752