Chapter 377: Dou Zong?! Seventh-Grade Magical Beasts?!
"The characteristics basically match... but why... is the Luo Tian Locking Spirit Disk showing no response?"
Under the starry night, the gray-robed elder stood on the quiet city wall, watching the seven shooting stars that flashed across the night sky. His brows, weathered with the passage of time, furrowed slightly.
Drip. Drip.
As the gray-robed elder sank into contemplation, the super-grade mysterious tool, the Luo Tian Locking Spirit Disk, suddenly flickered lightly in his hand. He gently turned the compass, and as it rotated, the mysterious patterns on the disk rearranged in multiple layers. Finally, a stream of light flashed, and a projection the size of a fist appeared on the ancient compass, glowing with a cold, ethereal light!
"The tide is about to begin. The Heavenly Spirit Rhythm Array has no flaws. If we miss this node, the next tide will only come in two hundred and forty-seven years," the ethereal projection stood silently on the rotating compass, speaking in a flat tone without lifting its head.
"The spiritual hub's observation results are out. This tide will be 21% weaker than the one a thousand years ago, and 19% weaker than the one five hundred years ago. We don't have much time left."
"...Understood." The gray-robed elder nodded slightly toward the ethereal projection on the compass. The cycle of the 'tide' was shortening, and the time left for them was becoming increasingly limited.
The compass spun lightly, and the ethereal projection slowly dissipated. The gray-robed elder looked toward the direction of the Beast Mountain Range, his bright eyes gleaming softly as they flickered.
The shortening of the 'tide' cycle should be a good thing for them, as it allowed them to complete major tasks during the high and low points of the 'tide' that normally required a long wait. However, the accelerated decline in the intensity of the 'tide' was a terrifying matter.
It was like a surfer at the beach, able to ride farther on the first massive wave. After that, the following waves would only diminish gradually.
In this world, almost no forces could observe the changes in this 'tide.' Only the force that the gray-robed elder belonged to had been observing the 'tide' for thousands of years!
There is a saying that ignorance is bliss, and at least for the gray-robed elder and his companions, they did not have this luxury.
"Unless..." The gray-robed elder's eyes flickered slightly, and then he took a step forward from the city wall. His foot seemed to push away the space beneath him, and the space around him appeared as if it were liquid, parting to let him through. The gray-robed elder's figure then melted into the space and disappeared!
"It needs further verification."
Buzz!
In the silent night sky above the Beast Mountain Range, seven shooting stars flashed by. The first was a brilliantly dazzling red light, and the entire group flew through the air centered around Jiang Lin, resembling a flock of geese in formation. Beside Jiang Lin were Xiao Yan and Gu He, while Hai Bo Dong, Yun Yun, and the other four Dou Huang experts formed the outer perimeter to protect the three in the center, who were the weakest.
After all, if anything happened to Jiang Lin, Xiao Yan, or Gu He, it would be a heavy blow to the Jia Ma Empire. Of course, Xiao Yan should have been in the 'child's seat,' but Hai Bo Dong, Jaxing Tian, and the others all knew that Xiao Yan was not simple. In their minds, Xiao Yan's importance in the alchemy field was not much less than that of Dan King Gu He.
"By the way, Brother Lin, last time when we beat that little lion so badly, did his mother just let it go?" Xiao Yan couldn't help but ask as he looked at the dark forest below, flying above the Beast Mountain Range.
"At first, she might have been a little unwilling, but in the end, it's a win-win cooperation. As long as there's enough benefit, the Lion King isn't that rigid," Jiang Lin said as he looked down at the quickly passing Qing Shan Town, then glanced toward the depths of the Beast Mountain Range. As expected, once again, strong Beast Clan members above the seventh grade were casting their gaze toward them.
However, this was very normal. After all, with the power Jiang Lin was carrying, he could easily shake up the Beast Mountain Range, which, on the surface, only had a sixth-grade magical beast.
Those powerful gazes seemed to carry faint traces of soul intent, and this subtle soul intent or soul fluctuation could just be detected by Jiang Lin's spiritual perception. Among the three realms of shape, qi, and intent, the final realm of intent made Jiang Lin particularly sensitive to these strange fluctuations.
In theory, the three realms of spiritual perception were three passive domains. The largest was the shape domain. Jiang Lin, at his current level, could easily extend his shape domain to over ten kilometers, about 10,000 meters. The intent domain, in contrast, had the smallest range. However, there was something special about the intent domain—its 'sphere,' formed by the domain, was like reactive armor around Jiang Lin. The range might only be a couple hundred meters, but if someone outside of it had malice toward Jiang Lin from tens of kilometers away, Jiang Lin would get a 'premonition,' much like a fighter jet receiving a radar warning when a missile locks on.
Of course, the premise was that the opponent couldn't be too strong, or Jiang Lin would experience 'cognitive shielding.'
"As long as you can provide enough benefits, cooperation and mutual gain are…" Jiang Lin had originally intended to teach Xiao Yan about his experience with organizing forces, but his voice suddenly trailed off, and his flying speed slowed down. Eventually, he stopped completely in mid-air.
"Brother Lin, what's wrong?" Xiao Yan's sudden halt caused the entire team to stop, and everyone turned to look back at Jiang Lin, who had stopped behind them, his expression serious as his gaze was fixed ahead.
Jaxing Tian and the others frowned. Instinctively, they turned to follow Jiang Lin's gaze and looked ahead. Then they saw, ten kilometers away, an indistinct figure that had suddenly appeared in the previously empty night sky!
What made Jaxing Tian and the others break into a cold sweat was that this indistinct figure was standing in mid-air without any wings, calmly floating in the void!
A Dou Zong expert!!!
Seventh-grade magical beast?!!
In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through Jaxing Tian and the others' minds. However, they still stood in front of Jiang Lin, vigilantly watching the indistinct figure ten kilometers away.
"I am Jaxing Tian, a guardian of the Jia Ma Empire. I do not know why this senior is blocking the way?" Jaxing Tian understood that if it was a blessing, they wouldn't need to dodge it, but if it was a calamity, they couldn't avoid it. Protecting someone in front of a potential Dou Zong was like a fool's dream. So, seeing that the seemingly Dou Zong senior did not show any hostility, Jaxing Tian quickly introduced himself to avoid conflict.
"I am Fama, president of the Jia Ma Alchemist Guild. It's an honor to meet you, senior."
"I am Yun Yun, sect leader of Yun Lan Sect. It's an honor to meet you, senior."
In an instant, both Fama and Yun Yun stepped forward to introduce themselves, hoping to de-escalate the situation.
(END CHAPTER)
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