Chapter 53: Chapter 49: Reunion

"Follow him to the Spirit Beast Garden."

A martial master dressed in the clothing of an odd-jobber approached Chu Zheng, flashing a smile:

"Come with me."

Chu Zheng understood; this was clearly the assignment of positions.

The distribution of tasks to other odd-jobbers was also swiftly completed, and accompanying Chu Zheng to the Spirit Beast Garden were two other martial masters.

"My name is Tong Jinshan, just call me Old Tong. What are your names?"

"Chu Zheng."

"Dong Chong."

"Liu Yuanzhen."

As they talked, they had already reached the outer layer of the square, where they were greeted by a large expanse of low sheds.

Tethered inside was a type of horse Chu Zheng had never seen before, nearly ten feet at the shoulder, entirely black, with fine mane and bulging musculature.

At a glance, there were no fewer than a hundred.

Tong Jinshan led two horses out, speaking in a gentle voice, "Mount up. Chu Zheng, you'll ride with me."

Seeing the trio all looking puzzled, Tong Jinshan mounted his horse and explained:

"The Spirit Beast Garden is nearly two thousand miles from here. We need to hurry, or we won't make it in time for tomorrow morning's breakfast."

"Two thousand miles?!" The three of them were astonished.

What surprised Chu Zheng was the pace of the horse; if he were not using Yuan Qi to boost his strength, his current physical speed would be approximately the same.

"Let's talk on the way; mount up first."

Tong Jinshan urged him again.

Chu Zheng leapt onto the horse's back, and in the next moment, a fierce gust of wind swept around them, with the trees and grasses on the edge of his vision rapidly receding.

The black horse beneath him, as it galloped, seemed to ride the wind like a being of Qi, making the mountains and rivers feel like level ground beneath its hooves, albeit with some jostling.

"It's all new to you now, but after a while, you'll get used to it," came Tong Jinshan's voice, carried on Inner Qi to Chu Zheng's ear, explaining:

"Those Immortal Sect disciples don't have much time to concern themselves with the likes of us; we hardly ever see them on a normal day. If you were thinking of coming here to curry favor, I'd advise leaving that thought aside."

After offering that advice, Tong Jinshan began introducing Chu Zheng to some details about the Phantom Spirit Sect gates.

The Phantom Spirit Mountain Range stretched for ten thousand miles, and the location of the Spirit Beast Garden was nearly two thousand miles from here.

Even for a cultivator in the Spirit Spring Realm, it would take about two hours to cover that distance, and they would need to recover the mana spent, essentially wasting nearly an entire day, so naturally, no one would send them.

For travelling around the Sect gates, odd-jobbers could only rely on these Cloud-Treading Steeds.

The Immortal Sect disciples rarely appeared before them on a normal day; they barely had enough time to cultivate, let alone spend time interacting with odd-jobbers.

The time of odd-jobbers was not considered valuable, and most of them, after joining the Sect, were familiarized with the environment under the guidance of older odd-jobbers.

It was precisely because they needed to spend most of their time cultivating that a large number of miscellaneous tasks piled up, needing people to take care of them.

Including but not limited to maintaining herb fields, feeding Spirit Beasts, transporting ores, and running errands to procure items for Outer Sect Disciples who had not yet reached the Spiritual Spring stage.

This is why the odd-jobbers existed.

Every year, there were at least a hundred new disciples entering the Phantom Spirit Sect, a considerable part of whom was selected from more than ten mortal realms. Sёarch* The NôᴠeFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Those with Lower Quality Immortal Bones had no right to choose their own masters and had to flow with the masses, being taught collectively by the Elder of the Outer Sect.

These people had different identities and different statuses; some disciples came from prestigious families and were used to ordering people around.

Upon joining the Sect and finding themselves without attendants, they often felt uncomfortable. Some tasks they should do but did not want to would eventually fall on the shoulders of the odd-jobbers.

After talking incessantly for a long time, Tong Jinshan finally mentioned the Spirit Beast Garden they were heading towards.

"The work in the Spirit Beast Garden isn't heavy, but it is varied. In

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"We need to monitor the condition of some low grade spirit beasts, whether they are injured or have overexerted themselves, and adjust their feeding amounts accordingly to ensure a swift recovery."

"Right, there's a rule I must inform you of in advance, one that is absolutely inviolable."

"If this crime is committed, not only you but also all those related to you will face severe punishment."

Tong Jinshan spoke with a grave tone, causing the three of them to tense up and listen intently.

"Sexual misconduct with spirit beasts is strictly forbidden, offenders will have their entire clans held responsible."

This statement left Chu Zheng momentarily bewildered, and he even doubted whether he had heard it correctly at first.

Once he had recovered from his initial shock, his face couldn't help but show a complex expression.

As for this rule, Chu Zheng didn't consider its reasonableness. Behind every seemingly outrageous rule, there was often an even more outrageous story.

Things he would not do, others might, since humanity's desires were free.

The only thing he found puzzling was how an odd-jobber martial master could possibly take advantage of those powerful spirit beasts.

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At dawn, the two Cloud-Treading Steeds finally arrived at the location of the Spirit Beast Garden.

It was a chasm crossing over a hundred miles, several miles wide.

As soon as he approached the area, Chu Zheng felt an extremely strong fluctuation of Yuan Qi, far surpassing anything he had seen from the likes of Qin Feng and Han Yuliang.

Tong Jinshan first took the three of them for breakfast, which was merely a bowl of Spirit Spring Water and a Fasting Pill.

The Spirit Beast Garden had only this one meal a day, and that single Fasting Pill was enough to sustain a Martial Path Grandmaster for an entire day's activities.

For the average person, after ingesting this pill, they wouldn't need to eat for ten days or half a month without any adverse effects.

Only after entering the Spirit Beast Garden did Chu Zheng understand his earlier confusion.

To prevent injuries, or worse, among the odd-jobbers and the Outer Sect Disciples, all the spirit beasts here wore Spirit Binding Rings, which limited their mana. Against some martial masters with a bit of strength, these beasts indeed had little capability to resist.

However, for Chu Zheng, that particular area was still too far-fetched, and he did not even want to contemplate it.

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Life in the Spirit Beast Garden turned out to be much more peaceful than Chu Zheng had imagined.

His daily routine was quite fixed: feeding spirit beasts, preparing the next day's food, then returning to cultivate.

Thanks to the presence of powerful spirit beasts, the influx of nature's spiritual energy here exceeded other areas by a considerable amount.

This was extremely beneficial to Chu Zheng's cultivation; a day's worth of training here was equivalent to half a month in the secular world.

As long as he completed the task of feeding the spirit beasts on time, no one would bother him.

The daily refreshed number of repairs was prioritized for the Xuan Tian Seal, which was just one step away from being fully restored.

In the blink of an eye, several days passed.

One day at noon, Tong Jinshan came hurriedly, with a woman following behind him.

"Song Zhenchuan, these are all the entry stage spirit beasts."

"I appreciate it."

Hearing the commotion, Chu Zheng stepped out from his abode and furrowed his brows slowly the moment he saw who had arrived.

Song Lingqing.

Before he could react, Tong Jinshan had already beckoned to him:

"Chu Zheng, come here!"

Song Lingqing's gaze swept over, and upon seeing Chu Zheng, her expression changed subtly, her eyes conveying a mix of emotions.

But after a moment of silence, she just stood there without saying a word, not attempting to converse with Chu Zheng.

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