Chapter 71 - 69: Tier 5 Relic
After Great Black’s condition stabilized, Jiang Zuo checked on him and saw that the bloodline enhancement could be continued.
However, the cost of a third bloodline enhancement was enormous.
The enhancement required 300 Beast Soul Power for a base success rate of only 5%. It would take the blood of a Tier 2 Mutated Spirit Beast to significantly increase the chance of success.
Knowing the third enhancement was out of reach for the time being, Jiang Zuo spent another 10 Beast Soul Power to enhance Great Black’s Physique once.
A single Physique Attribute enhancement didn’t seem to offer much of a boost to Great Black, though it did increase his lifespan by ten years.
The second Physique enhancement was similar to the second bloodline enhancement, but required the flesh and blood of a Spirit Beast to increase the success rate.
These two enhancements used up 60 Beast Soul Power.
Fortunately, the gecko corpse was still replenishing his Beast Soul Power; otherwise, Jiang Zuo would have felt the sting of the expense.
Jiang Zuo spent some time modifying a Cultivation Technique for Great Black’s Muscle Training stage.
It took Great Black half a year to reach Great Success in Muscle Training.
Jiang Zuo was also cultivating, but he felt that a natural breakthrough to the Inner Breath stage was still a long way off.
Another half a year passed in a flash.
One afternoon, Xia Shiyuan rushed over with a hurried expression, carrying an exquisite wooden box.
"Commander Xia, what brings you here?"
Jiang Zuo asked politely.
He had interacted with Xia Shiyuan quite a bit over the years, but the commander had never asked for anything. This time, it seemed he was in trouble.
"There is indeed a matter that requires your help, Zhao."
Xia Shiyuan nodded. Knowing Jiang Zuo’s personality, he didn’t beat around the bush and got straight to the point.
With Grand General Hong Yangtai guarding Celestial Gate Pass, there had been a long-standing stalemate with the Daze Dynasty. Typically, the Daze Dynasty would only launch one major, Grandmaster-led offensive per year.
When that happened, Hong Yangtai would lead his troops into battle. If he were to let the Daze Dynasty wreak havoc unchecked, Celestial Gate Pass wouldn’t hold for long.
During these times, Hong Yangtai would face the opposing Grandmaster while their armies clashed.
Most of the time, the battle would end with some casualties on both sides, and then the gongs would sound for a retreat.
Once the war entered this stalemate, such was the basic routine at the border pass.
Otherwise, no one could afford the cost of years of intense, continuous attacks.
But this very afternoon, something unexpected happened during one of these routine clashes.
The Daze Dynasty’s Grandmaster, Mu Yedong, had quietly mastered Dark Force. During his clash with General Hong Yangtai, he caught him completely off guard, suddenly unleashing his power and severely wounding him.
Inner Breath Grandmasters are divided into three stages: Mingjin, Dark Force, and Huajin.
Both commanders, Hong Yangtai and Mu Yedong, had previously been Mingjin Grandmasters.
A Mingjin Grandmaster can only cover the surface of their body with Inner Breath, but a Dark Force Grandmaster can project it outward to coat their weapon.
Caught completely unprepared, Hong Yangtai fell victim to Mu Yedong’s surprise attack.
If not for Hong Yangtai’s immense combat experience and one of his commanders sacrificing himself to save him, the general might very well have died on the battlefield today.
"General Hong has retreated to Celestial Gate Pass to recover, but it’s highly likely that tonight, Mu Yedong will lead a group of Martial Dao experts to raid the pass and assassinate the general."
"A message arrived from Celestial Gate Pass by carrier pigeon, ordering me to lead reinforcements. The Garrison Army has already broken camp and is on its way, but ordinary soldiers will be of little use. To stop Mu Yedong, we need Martial Dao experts."
"In the area around Lizhou, you’re the only one with such capabilities, Zhao. That’s why I’ve come to ask for your help."
"That shop in the city that sells trinkets made from the bones of birds and beasts—that’s connected to you, isn’t it, Zhao? I’d heard before that the shop was acquiring items from birds and beasts that showed unusual properties. I know a wealthy man in the city who owns an ancestral treasure, and I’ve borrowed it for you to see."
"If you are willing to help, this treasure can be your reward. Or, I can arrange for other compensation after the fact."
With that, Xia Shiyuan opened the exquisite wooden box.
Inside, a long, fiery red feather lay upon a strip of embroidered velvet.
However, the feather was marred by several scorch marks.
"This feather was left behind by some unknown bird. We have no idea how it got these scorch marks. In fact, if you put it in a fire, it won’t burn or show any new marks at all, no matter how hot it gets!"
Xia Shiyuan explained, picking up the fiery feather.
Jiang Zuo stared at the fiery feather, thought for a moment, and asked, "Why would this Mu Yedong wait until night to attack? With General Hong seriously injured, wouldn’t now be the best time to strike?"
Jiang Zuo was unfamiliar with the siege tactics of this world, so he needed to get a clear picture first.
"A Grandmaster may be powerful, but even they would be overwhelmed and killed by an army of thousands. Mu Yedong can bring a few of his Meridian Passage subordinates at most; any more men wouldn’t be able to cross Celestial Gate Mountain. If he were to attack during the day, even with General Hong injured, we could leverage the defenses of Celestial Gate Pass, the terrain, and the sheer numbers of our army to wear him down. Mu Yedong himself would be the one most likely to die."
"Mu Yedong can only attack at night, using the cover of darkness. He will most likely launch a smoke attack to obscure the vision of the soldiers within the pass, preventing them from seeing figures in the distance. Then he will look for an opportunity to assassinate General Hong."
"If you go, Zhao, you just need to help us repel the initial assault. Once Mu Yedong realizes the difficulty, he will retreat and won’t dare to linger."
Xia Shiyuan explained patiently.
"A smoke attack? What if they add sedatives to the smoke and use a knockout gas?"
Jiang Zuo couldn’t help asking.
’Theoretically, in the modern world, you’d need chemical agents to lace thick smoke with a sedative; it would be very difficult to achieve with natural substances. But this world has Cultivation, and its mortal realm is one of high martial arts, a far cry from the modern world.’
"There’s no sedative that powerful," Xia Shiyuan explained, shaking his head. "When they launch a smoke attack, they burn smoke-producing materials from a great distance. Even if the smoke contains some toxins, at most it will only cause some mild discomfort. Covering your mouth and nose with a damp cloth is enough to defend against it. If smoke attacks could be laced with a drug that powerful, no border pass in the world would be defensible."
"If I go help, how long will I be needed?"
Jiang Zuo asked with a nod.
"Three days! After three days, reinforcements from the imperial court will arrive. At that point, no matter how powerful Mu Yedong is, he wouldn’t dare risk his life!"
Seeing that Jiang Zuo seemed willing to agree, Xia Shiyuan hurriedly added.
"I can help, but let me be clear about one thing: if my life is in danger, my own safety will be my top priority."
Jiang Zuo said finally.
"But of course. All I ask is that you do your best, Zhao. If a situation arises that puts even you in mortal danger, then it can only mean the enemy is too powerful, and it would be no fault of ours."
Xia Shiyuan had personally witnessed just how astonishing Jiang Zuo’s defensive abilities were. Through their occasional contact over the years, he had vaguely sensed that Jiang Zuo had become even stronger than he was a few years prior.
Considering Jiang Zuo’s usually low-profile nature, Xia Shiyuan believed that even if Jiang Zuo wasn’t equal to a Grandmaster, he had to be the strongest expert beneath that level.
If that weren’t the case, he wouldn’t have gone to such great lengths to enlist Jiang Zuo’s help.
"Alright, I’ll take the feather. I’ll just gather my things, and then I’ll head to Celestial Gate Pass with you, Commander Xia."
Jiang Zuo took the fiery red feather, accepting Xia Shiyuan’s request.
Xia Shiyuan couldn’t see it, but to Jiang Zuo’s eyes, the feather was emitting an intense, fiery red glow—far stronger than the one from the gecko corpse. It had to be a High Tier Obsession Relic.
Jiang Zuo felt he was already no weaker than an ordinary Grandmaster and wanted to take this opportunity to see for himself what this Inner Breath was all about.
If he truly found himself outmatched, Jiang Zuo was confident he could escape.
And if all else failed, he could still unleash his ultimate weapon: Xiaoqing.
Jiang Zuo didn’t know any Magic, and he had never seen Xiaoqing practice it. However, when he had once asked Xiaoqing if it knew any spells, the snake had clearly told him that it did.
The only issue was that using Magic consumed Spiritual Power. Within the Heaven and Earth Sealing Spirit Array, Spiritual Qi could not be replenished, so Xiaoqing was unwilling to use its abilities.
But in the face of true danger, it surely wouldn’t hold back.
Worse comes to worst, Jiang Zuo could just take Xiaoqing and sneak into the Cultivation Realm to let it replenish its Spiritual Power.
Now that he had the Pet Beast Spirit Garden, he wasn’t worried about being discovered.
After ordering Great Black to guard the house, Jiang Zuo changed into a set of gray robes, put on a conical hat, stowed Xiaoqing away, and set off with Xia Shiyuan.
While he was packing, Jiang Zuo had the Beast Taming System absorb the fiery feather.
——Fire Phoenix Feather: A Tier 5 Obsession Relic, containing the lingering obsession of a Fire Phoenix.
During a great war between realms, this Fire Phoenix knew it could not escape death. At the final moment, it used its life-bound feather to carry its own Fire Phoenix Egg, piercing the celestial veil and escaping into this world.
High above this world, the life-bound feather and the Fire Phoenix Egg were forced apart, each falling to a different location.
Find the Fire Phoenix Egg and hatch the Fire Phoenix to resolve the obsession and obtain the Beast Soul Power contained within this feather.
When it is within a three-mile radius of the Fire Phoenix Egg, this life-bound feather will react.
...
’A Tier 5 Obsession Relic!’
’But is a Fire Phoenix only a Tier 5 Demon Beast?’
’No, that’s not right. For an Obsession Relic, the tier only represents the intensity of the obsession itself. It’s not necessarily related to the original power of the being it came from.’
’It’s like the Night Cat’s Eye; there’s no way a Night Cat is only a Tier 2 Demon Beast or Demon.’
’Fulfilling the Fire Phoenix’s obsession seems to depend on luck, but if I can do it, I’ll get a massive amount of Beast Soul Power, a Fire Phoenix Egg, and a Tier 5 Beast Pattern derived from a Fire Phoenix, all in one go!’
’Just thinking about it is exciting.’
’Xiaoqing is also from beyond the heavens. Could its arrival, like the Fire Phoenix Egg’s, be due to this so-called great war between realms?’
Jiang Zuo thought again of Xiaoqing’s origins.
But these matters were too remote for him to worry about now, so the thought was just a fleeting one.
By evening, Xia Shiyuan had led Jiang Zuo to the gates of Celestial Gate Pass, which lay to the north.