Chapter 712: The Thousand-Ant Wasp Mother

"Although Master Zhang doesn't care about these spirit beasts, are we really going to be so shameless as to keep them for ourselves?"

After a moment of silence, Master Ding couldn't help but look around.

"If Master Zhang hadn't acted, we would surely have died long ago. To embezzle his beast pets and the fruits of his hunt would be worse than beasts!"

Everyone present was a renowned master, with their own dignity and values.

Master Zhang had saved their lives, earning their immense gratitude. If they then coveted his belongings, how could they face others in the future?

How could they face their own ideals and principles?

"Since we all share this sentiment, let me make a suggestion!"

Master Ding looked around.

At this moment, Young Master Ruohuan, Luo Xuan, and the others also came over from the rock.

"Please speak, Master Ding!"

Everyone turned to look.

"Since Master Zhang told us not to continue, let's listen to him. We'll take these spirit beasts back now to complete the assessment. However..."

Pausing here, Master Ding continued: "Each of us will take only one point, enough to pass the assessment. The rest, I propose we credit entirely to Master Zhang!"

"That's only right!"

"Indeed, these spirit beasts were tamed and hunted by Master Zhang himself, so naturally they should be credited to him!"

...

Hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.

Elder Mi had previously stated that points could be accumulated or shared among many. Since these spirit beasts were tamed and hunted by Master Zhang, they would take only one point each to pass the assessment, leaving the rest to Zhang.

A renowned master of such character deserved to stand out and be known and noticed by all the academy's teachers and elders!

This was also what they ought to do, and it aligned with the principles they upheld.

Having reached this decision, the group led the spirit beasts and inner cores quickly down the mountain.

...

Unaware of their decision, Zhang Xuan leaped out of the valley and flew straight up the steep mountain ridge toward the peak.

Having tamed so many spirit beasts, he had also confirmed some conjectures in his mind.

Earlier, he had noticed many spirit beasts methodically luring humans and setting ambushes, which raised a doubt: how did these creatures know the humans' whereabouts and avoid various traps?

The spirit beasts responsible for luring were all at the Harmonious Spirit realm. Such a level couldn't possibly detect traps that even many renowned masters found hard to spot—unless something was guiding them!

With this speculation, he had stepped in to rescue people and tamed the spirit beasts to gather information.

Upon questioning, he indeed uncovered some things.

The reason they succeeded in deceiving so many humans was indeed due to guidance from a spirit beast!

"A Return to One realm initial stage spirit beast... the Thousand-Ant Wasp Mother!"

His eyebrows shot up.

Through communication, he had learned the identity of the mastermind behind this!

A Return to One realm initial stage spirit beast... the Thousand-Ant Wasp Mother!

The Thousand-Ant Wasp is an extremely rare savage beast, the size of an ant, capable of flying freely through the mountains without being detected.

These tiny creatures are nothing to the strong, easily killed, but what makes them fearsome is the thing behind them... the Wasp Mother!

The Thousand-Ant Wasp Mother, about the size of a human, cannot fly but can control thousands of Thousand-Ant Wasps, using them as its eyes to cover an area.

The spirit beasts could predict human ambushes in advance because the Wasp Mother controlled the Thousand-Ant Wasps to observe secretly and relay messages.

"Why is the Thousand-Ant Wasp Mother helping these spirit beasts?"

Frowning as he advanced.

The Thousand-Ant Wasp Mother, a Return to One realm spirit beast with so many Thousand-Ant Wasps, could easily predict human actions and make judgments in advance.

Thus, it would be extremely difficult for these new students to harm it!

There was no need for it to take the risk of uniting other spirit beasts specifically to oppose humans!

If Elder Mi discovered this, he would surely kill it.

"Whatever its purpose, I must obtain the Thousand-Ant Wasp Nest!"

After thinking for a while, unable to fathom the other party's goal, he shook his head and stopped dwelling on the issue. Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

He had tamed so many spirit beasts and hunted so many, not out of selflessness to give them to other renowned masters, but because hearing about the Thousand-Ant Wasp Mother reminded him of a treasure he urgently desired!

The Thousand-Ant Wasp Nest!

The Thousand-Ant Wasp Mother could summon Thousand-Ant Wasps at will and take them anywhere, relying on this item!

Like a spatial ring, it contained its own space, but it was filled with spiritual energy and could hold living creatures.

In other words, with this item, even people could be easily stored inside.

Spatial rings cannot hold living things, making it troublesome when switching with his clone. If he had this item, he could place his main body inside whenever he needed the clone to appear, without any hindrance.

It could also be used to store the Purple-Winged Sky Roc, suddenly unleashing it to catch an opponent off guard.

Especially for someone like him, a beast tamer who had tamed so many spirit beasts, he could keep all his pets inside and carry them with him. Once deployed, they would form an army of spirit beasts with boundless combat power!

Thus, upon hearing about the Thousand Ant Queen Bee, he could no longer contain himself.

Obtaining it was more important than anything else, even to the point of neglecting to escort these spirit beasts and many renowned masters down.

He had rescued the crowd, and the Queen Bee must have known. If she fled or hid in advance, finding her again would be difficult!

Patterns rippled in his eyes. The Thousand Ant Bees, invisible to the naked eye of other masters, were clearly visible to him, all flapping their wings and flying swiftly in one direction.

Fully concealing his aura, Zhang Xuan silently followed behind.

Since these Thousand Ant Bees obeyed the Queen Bee, as long as he followed them, he would surely find her.

With his current strength and mastery over his cultivation, it was simple to evade the detection of the Thousand Ant Bees, which were only at the brute beast level.

Moving forward, he encountered many freshmen trapped by spirit beasts. Seeing no major danger, Zhang Xuan couldn't be bothered to intervene.

Half an hour later, he arrived at the midslope of Thunder Yuan Peak.

Here, the distance from the ground was already several thousand meters, the air colder, white clouds swirling, making one feel as if walking amidst the clouds.

As he climbed higher, the number of spirit beasts and freshmen taking the exam decreased significantly, with hardly any figures in sight.

"Could it be in the valley ahead?"

Seeing the Thousand Ant Bees ahead dive into a densely vegetated valley, Zhang Xuan flickered, hiding behind a large tree, and quietly peered forward.

The valley was vast and boundless. Three to four hundred meters ahead, a huge cave lay shrouded in shadow.

"Didn't expect to run into acquaintances..."

He smiled faintly.

In front of the cave, he spotted two familiar faces.

It was that "Brother Yu" who had wanted to bet with him!

At this moment, Brother Yu and "Brother Feng" Feng Wu were together, standing outside the cave, lighting a long incense stick.

The incense smoke curled upward, drifting straight into the cave.

"Beast Scale Incense? No wonder this guy dared to bet with me—he had this ace up his sleeve..."

Taking a closer look at the incense stick, Zhang Xuan nodded.

This incense stick was completely different from ordinary ones. Its surface bore bluish-gray patterns, as if covered in scales.

Once lit, the smoke rose like a straight line, following the will of the one who lit it, drifting toward the intended direction.

This item is refined from the scales of a high-level spirit beast. The special fragrance it carries is fatally attractive to low-level spirit beasts, and if inhaled too much, it can even have a hallucinogenic effect, causing them to fall into a deep sleep.

This guy specifically came to make a bet with me, definitely because he has this.

Not only is Beast Scale Incense valuable, but the refining method is said to be lost. I don't know where he got it, but once lit, it will surely attract countless spirit beasts, willing to be hunted for it.

It seems this guy has already hunted many spirit beasts and obtained many inner cores.

Coming here, could it be that he also discovered the Queen Ant Bee and wants to hunt it?

"Brother Yu, is there really a spirit beast of the Return to One realm inside?"

In front of the cave, Feng Wu seemed unable to believe it.

"Rest assured! For this assessment, I prepared for a long time. Not only do I have Beast Scale Incense, but I also prepared a Tracking Mouse!" Brother Yu said with a light smile, and a snow-white mouse jumped out from his bosom.

The Tracking Mouse is a special kind of savage beast with an extremely powerful nose. Anything it sniffs, even if separated by thousands of miles, it can track down.

Back then, when Lu Chong ambushed Lin Lang and hid in the royal library, it was found by the Lin family using this thing.

"This... is not an ordinary Tracking Mouse?"

Taking a look, Feng Wu was full of doubt, finding that this Tracking Mouse had a black line on its body, extending from the head down to the tail.

Tracking Mice, which he had seen before, were all pure white like snow, without any stray hairs. How could this one have a black line?

"Of course not. An ordinary tracking rat is just a brute beast—how could it detect the location of a spirit beast? This is a golden tracking rat, a type of tracking rat that has already reached the spirit beast level, raised from infancy on the feces of high-level spirit beasts. Once released, it can easily find any spirit beast within dozens of li!"

Brother Yu gently stroked the tracking rat, his eyes full of pride.

This tracking rat had cost him a great price to acquire, all for the purpose of making a stunning impression during this trial and catching the attention of all the elders.

Now it seemed... the effect was indeed good.

"It says there's a spirit beast at the Unity Realm here..." Brother Yu smiled.

"A Unity Realm spirit beast—what if it's not fooled by the Beast Scale Incense? What do we do then?"

Hearing the confirmation, Feng Wu was still worried.

His strength was only half-step Qiaotian, and Brother Yu was merely at the early Qiaotian stage. If this Unity Realm spirit beast was not fooled by the Beast Scale Incense and didn't fall unconscious, but instead charged out, they would be in grave danger.

"You've seen the effects of Beast Scale Incense yourself. As long as it hasn't reached the eighth level of Mortal Transformation, it can hardly resist. And... don't worry, even if it's not fooled, I have other methods. There's no danger!"

Brother Yu nodded, full of confidence.

Knowing there might be a Unity Realm spirit beast in the cave, yet daring to charge in—how could he not be prepared!

He not only had Beast Scale Incense but also a fifth-level formation plate in hand.

If that thing inside didn't come out, fine; but if it did, he would make sure it never returned!