Sovereign of the Three Realms

Another three days passed. During these three days, Jiang Chen sensed at least twenty to thirty spirit creatures making their way south in a great hurry.

These were only the ones that he could sense and didn’t even include those far off in the distance.

“Something huge must have happened in the south. However, our chances increase as these spirit creatures leave. According to my judgment, there are definitely female spirit creatures in the suckling period amongst them. If I’m sensing this correctly, there’s are definitely baby spirit animals ahead. All that remains to be seen is when this woman can find them!”

Jiang Chen wasn’t as optimistic as Dan Fei. No matter how she urged him on, he neither quickened nor slowed his pace, journeying onwards by his own tempo.

On the afternoon of the sixth day, Dan Fei finally made a discovery.

“Jiang Chen, I’m willing to bet that there are baby spirit animals in the valley ahead.”

“Are you sure?”

Dan Fei’s tone was a bit agitated, “I’m sure. I’ve conducted many years of research in this area. I know how to determine if there are baby spirit animals present.”

Jiang Chen’s nose twitched slightly as he nodded, “There are indeed a few traces of the scent unique to suckling young in the air. However, how do you know if it isn’t a spirit animal who happens to be feeding her young passing by here?”

“There’s a difference between simply passing by and long term residence.”

“If a spirit animal is passing by, then there will only be one scent trail. However, long term residence will result in a more even distribution. This is only one of the points. Look at the surrounding spirit herbs and these flowers and grass, they all bear the teeth marks of young spirit animals who have nibbled on them.”

“In addition, baby spirit animals have a unique scent. This is also different from a mother’s scent.”

Dan Fei lightly clenched her feminine fist, saying excitedly, “Jiang Chen, I can guarantee that there is a baby spirit animal here. I finally see the hope of success this time!”

“Don’t have your head turned with success!” Jiang Chen doused her with a timely bucket of metaphorical cold water. “Even if there are baby spirit animals here, how can you ascertain that their mother has left? How can you promise that there are no other companions here protecting them?”

“Remember, the violent nature that explodes out of any spirit animal when it discovers that its young is being threatened is incredibly difficult to contend with. We need to win through intelligence and not through fighting fire with fire.”

Finally, the two of them discussed briefly and decided that Jiang Chen should go scout ahead first, fix onto the baby spirit animal’s general location and then steal it afterwards.

The Psychic’s Head divine art that Jiang Chen was practicing naturally had a way to withdraw a body’s aura into the seven senses and then send it outwards.

There was another cave within the mountain valley.

Grotesque rocks dotted the somewhat steep terrain around the outside of the cave. However, this was no great problem for practitioners.

After Jiang Chen observed the scene for a while, he used Psychic’s Head to sense things. A slight solemness crept into his heart.

“There are indeed baby spirit animals present, and there’s four of them!”

Jiang Chen’s heartbeat sped up involuntarily as immediately afterwards, he then felt another strong presence.

“This is bad, there really is a guardian there. I knew that it couldn’t be that easy to steal baby spirit animals.” Jiang Chen muttered inwardly but was in no hurry to make his move.

He returned to where Dan Fei was waiting and outlined the situation for her.

“Four babies? That many?” Dan Fei’s eyes lit up.

“Don’t be happy just yet. Apart from the four baby animals, there’s still another spirit animal that’s the equivalent of a human third level spirit realm practitioner. Do you think you can handle it?”

“Well…” Dan Fei’s slender eyebrows knit together slightly. This was a thorny problem. “Since the other spirit creatures have gone to the south, why hasn’t this one?”

“You’re asking me, but who should I ask?”

Dan Fei was silent for a moment, “This sort of situation is also within the scope of my plans. Given the protection of an adult spirit creature, we need to find a way to draw it out. We’ll lure the tiger out of the mountains, or in other words, we’ll entice it to leave its vantage point and then steal the baby spirit animals.”

“Luring the enemy out is something that’s easier said than done.” Jiang Chen smiled. “If we don’t execute it properly, we could very well pay the price with our lives.”

“Don’t talk about such unlucky nonsense!” Dan Fei hectored lightly. “Jiang Chen, I have a medicine which the lordmaster himself put together that can make spirit animals fall asleep and lose their attacking abilities for a short amount of time. If we can make the guardian spirit animal sleep for a short period of time, we won’t be without a chance.”

“How long can this be maintained?” Jiang Chen asked.

“Roughly fifteen minutes!” Dan Fei thought briefly before replying.

“Fifteen minutes? That’s way too short. We won’t have gotten far in fifteen minutes. The spirit creature will easily find us by sensing and following the presence of the babies.”

Dan Fei smiled. “Don’t you worry, I have a way to conceal the presence of the baby spirit creatures if we get them, so that the adult one won’t be able to follow us through their presence.”

Jiang Chen still shook his head. He understood that old tutor Ye Chonglou might have the ability to do so, but there were no absolutes in the affairs of the world. Sure, one could cover the presence of the baby spirit animals, but how far away could they get in fifteen minutes? Once the spirit animals utilized the strength around them and all embarked instantly to engage in a carpet bombing style search, it’d still be very easy to find the two.

Although fifteen minutes wasn’t a short amount of time, but they really may not be able to make it out.

“Jiang Chen, are you a man or not? Don’t you men say that wealth comes from danger and risk? We’re just taking a larger risk to obtain four spirit animals. If we can do that, no matter how much prey all of the rest of them have hunted, we’re still first place for sure after we leave.”

Piles and mountains of ordinary creature cores were still less convincing than a core of a spirit creature.

Ten spirit creature cores were still less valuable than one living spirit creatures.

This was reality. A mortal rank was less than a spirit rank, and of the spirit rank, a live spirit animal was preferable to a dead one.

Who would know if you were the one who’d killed it if the spirit creature was dead? Who knew if it wasn’t the spirit rank creature which had died of natural causes at the end of a long life?

It was different if it was alive. As everyone knew, it may not be that difficult to kill a spirit creature, but it would be greatly difficult to capture one alive.

“No need to blather on. Your plan is too risky, I’m not agreeing to it. Unless you destroy me, I’m absolutely not agreeing to this plan.”

“Then do you have a better plan?” Dan Fei laughed coldly. “Jiang Chen, although you know a little bit of the way of spirit animals, but the lordmaster and I have conducted research for many years in this area. We’re definitely much more professional and knowledgeable than you are. Don’t forget that you’re the assistant I hired. I’m the one who should be calling the shots!”

“Heh heh, I’m not agreeing to this even if you say a thousand or ten thousand words. You will have no way of executing this risky plan if I don’t nod my head.”

Jiang Chen was truly a man of his word. Although Dan Fei was a bit of a distance away from him, he would get up and follow her as soon as her body left his vision.

Dan Fei was so mad that she stomped her feet. “Jiang Chen, if… if you’re so afraid, then you go back first.”

“It’s a bit late to tell me to leave now, isn’t it? At any rate, the lordmaster will rip me apart if anything happens to you.”

Dan Fei’s delicate brows knit together with an audible click and she could only sulk by herself.

With the advent of night, Dan Fei’s anger didn’t show any sign of dissipating. Jiang Chen paid no attention to her small temper tantrum and sat cross legged, entering a meditative state.

Ever since he had entered the world of the maze realm, Jiang Chen had passed every day in a state of high alert. As he perceived the mysteriousness of the maze realm, the strength of his heart increased quickly.

In particular, with this general situation, the secret art of the Psychic’s Heart had advanced to the third level.

Dan Fei wrapped herself in her blanket as if she’d already fallen asleep but after two hours, her eyes that were as bright as the stars suddenly opened slightly. Her lashes fluttered slightly as she looked in Jiang Chen’s direction.

Her jade hand below the blanket was holding a small jade bottle. She lightly uncapped it and dumped out a continuous stream of white powder.

This white powder slowly spread with the scent of some ordinary flowers and grass.

After a while, Dan Fei squirmed out from the blanket and strode in front of Jiang Chen, pushing his head lightly twice. A proud smile was revealed in the curve of her lips. “Damned brat, let’s see how you’ll stop me now? You’re still a bit far off from contending with your sister.”

She flung the blanket onto Jiang Chen, “When I come back, maybe you’ll still be deep in the throes of sleep!”

Dan Fei was more than a little proud of herself as her slender legs strode forward, making for the direction of the cave.

After taking two steps, a mischievous notion suddenly traveled through her mind. She smiled strangely and returned to where Jiang Chen was. Grabbing a piece of charcoal that had been partially burnt, she drew a stroke left and right of Jiang Chen’s lips, giving him a mustache.

“Heh heh, the look isn’t complete just yet.” She added another three strokes across and one stroke down as she muttered to herself, writing a large 王 character (The first character of the phrase of 王八, which can be translated to “son of a b*tch”.).

After that, she threw the piece of charcoal away randomly and dusted off her jade hands. “Alright Jiang Chen, you’ll see how your sister gets the baby spirit animals! Save yourself the effort of puffing yourself up in front of me and acting like you’re all that!”

Dan Fei was just as Jiang Chen had said. When it came to baby spirit animals — she would turn into a complete madwoman.

One had to say, although Dan Fei was a woman, she had some guts. Although she hadn’t succeeded in capturing a baby spirit animal in the two times that she’d experienced the trials of the maze realm, it had cultivated a side of her that was full of courage.

She quickly came to the edge of that cave.

A long, thin bamboo pipe appeared in her hand like magic. There was a slot on the top of the bamboo pipe — a mechanism that could be manually triggered.

Dan Fei poured a bottle of “Mind Enchantment Powder” into the bamboo pipe. She then took out another bottle and poured it in as well, as if deathly afraid that it wouldn’t be enough.

She closed the slot again after pouring in the powder. Pulling on the pipe with her right hand, she extended it by a few centimeters. All of the powder was now evenly dispersed in the front of the pipe.

Dan Fei put the pipe up to her mouth and snuck into the cave step by step.

She also knew that even if the guardian was asleep, its spirit energy wouldn’t be completely retracted. It’d certainly still be relatively alert.

Therefore, she was quite cautious and didn’t dare let up her guard in the slightest.

The bamboo pipe dangled out of her cherry lips as she crept, step by step, into the cave.

“Roar!!” A violent roar suddenly resounded in the cave before a wind of blood and gore assaulted her directly. It was the adult spirit creature bounding out of the cave.

Whoosh.

Dan Fei’s small mouth exhaled as a breath infused with the scent of orchids sent the powder spraying out of the bamboo pipe. It formed a powdery arc as it shot towards the spirit creature pouncing on her.

As she made this dangerous and risky move, Dan Fei’s body rolled, burrowing into lower ground on the side and avoiding this furious blow from the spirit creature.

Bam!

The spirit creature’s claws had gouged out a deep pit where she had been standing.

The spirit creature was about to pounce downwards as it roared, but the medicinal effects of the powder took effect in that moment. The spirit creature wavered as it couldn’t keep its footing and then fell down.