Chapter 57 Chapter 57 “Rabbit, that just now…
An hour passed in the blink of an eye, and someone in the crowd urged him to go back, so Jiang's father gave up.
Jiang's father and mother stuffed a large bag of dried Qi-condensing grass into Jiang Qing's backpack, and stuffed two cans of homemade meat jerky into her hands.
I gave her one can, and cut the other can into small pieces for Zhu Tianba to chew easily.
It was not until the whistle of the college's special car was heard from the village entrance that everyone reluctantly said goodbye to the Jiang couple.
When the special car drove away from the village, Zhu Tianba curled up in Jiang Qing's arms, with grease from the butcher shop still on the tip of his nose.
It suddenly looked up, its eyes fixed on the thickening fog outside the car window, and moved its little hooves towards Jiang Qing.
At that moment, it seemed to smell something.
Jiang Qing noticed Zhu Tianba's expression and immediately took out the jade spoon from his pocket. The handle of the spoon was indeed getting hot again. The gray mist in the jade was trembling slightly along the fingers. The handle of the spoon slowly rotated in his hand and finally stopped in the direction of the depths of Chongyue Realm.
"The beast core power in Wind Whisper Canyon is even more condensed than Teacher Chen Ming judged." Jiang Qing murmured softly.
The Compass Jade actually reacted so early.
No wonder Teacher Chen Ming had such a strong attraction to Zhu Tianba when he brought back just a few star-patterned orchids.
Three days later.
early morning.
The study team finally arrived at the entrance of the Dangdeng Canyon.
The scenery here began to undergo a qualitative change on the second day after they entered Chongyue. The rock walls on both sides of the canyon were as steep as if cut by a knife, like a hideous scar, lying across the vast mountains of Chongyue. Some shrubs grew tenaciously in the cracks of the rocks, and the tips of the branches and leaves of these shrubs were dark purple.
Clouds and mist were swirling at the bottom of the valley, and one could faintly hear the whistling of the wind through the cracks in the rocks.
The study tour was led by two female teachers, one named Qin and the other named Sun, both of whom were earth-level beastmasters.
Teacher Qin stood at the front of the team. With a clear voice that overcame the sound of the wind, he explained to the students the precautions and content of the study tour.
Teacher Qin said: "The primary task of this study is to observe and record the species, habits, and abilities of the exotic beasts in Chongyue, and to compare and analyze them with the exotic beasts in our Qiuluyuan area to understand the impact of the environment on the evolution of exotic beasts."
She swept her gaze over all the students and their spirit pets present and continued, "Secondly, the canyon's complex environment is an excellent place to hone your on-the-spot adaptability, teamwork, and your spirit pets' combat abilities. But remember, safety comes first. You must not leave the team without permission, nor provoke high-level beasts. Follow all instructions!"
Teacher Sun continued with Teacher Qin's words and added that she was holding an energy detector in her hand, and the values on the energy detector were constantly jumping.
"Some areas in the canyon have high energy concentrations and mixed properties, which may interfere with the release of skills of spirit pets and even affect the spiritual connection of the beastmaster. Everyone should always pay attention to the status of themselves and their spirit pets. If you feel unwell, report it immediately." Teacher Sun said.
When the two teachers were explaining the precautions, Zhu Tianba in Jiang Qing's arms seemed a little restless.
Unlike other spirit pets, it did not look around the environment with vigilance or curiosity. Instead, it buried its head almost to the ground, and its nostrils flared constantly, as if it was trying to distinguish some extremely subtle special scent in the air.
Its ears sometimes drooped, sometimes stood up, and a hint of solemnity flashed across the amber color.
"Tianba?" Jiang Qing keenly noticed its abnormality and called it.
"Kankang." Zhu Tianba grunted twice.
To others, it was just uneasy restlessness, but when Jiang Qing heard these two "Kang Kang" sounds, he could understand their meaning accurately.
Zhu Tianba was saying, "The wind here smells bad, and there are a lot of messy noises that give me a headache."
It pawed the ground gently with its hoof. "Besides, something is watching us."
Jiang Qing was horrified by what it said. She touched the goosebumps on her hands and looked in the direction that Zhu Tianba sensed.
In the gray mist in the distance, the outlines of the rugged rocks were vague and there was nothing unusual.
But she absolutely believed in Zhu Tianba's intuition.
As an awakening divine beast, it has an extraordinary sensitivity to energy and potential threats.
She calmly recounted Zhu Tianba's words to Li Xiu and the other two beside her.
The expressions of several people became more serious, and they secretly became more vigilant.
Zhao Peng patted the armored bull's shell and said, "Iron Armor, cheer up and pay attention to your feet and surroundings!"
The Iron-clad Bull mooed softly and stamped the ground with its thick hooves. A faint ochre light spread across a small area of rock. This was its ability to sense the earth veins.
Lin Qingzhou's Flowing Phoenix flew a little higher, emitting a soft halo around its body, trying to dispel some of the disturbing fog, but the light seemed to be absorbed by the haze, and the effect was minimal.
Li Xiu's rabbit pricked up its ears nervously, and its ruby-red eyes looked around vigilantly.
"Alright, now disperse in small groups to conduct preliminary exploration and record-keeping," Teacher Qin ordered. "Your activity must not extend beyond the Eagle's Beak Rock ahead. Meet back in one hour."
The team immediately dispersed.
Jiang Qing's group naturally gathered together, and the four of them carefully chose a relatively open path to advance into the canyon.
The further you go in, the stronger the feeling of oppression becomes.
Jiang Qing noticed that the color of the surrounding rock walls gradually deepened as they moved forward, and he could even see some dull and fragmented crystals embedded in the rocks.
That is the associated spirit crystal ore mentioned in Teacher Chen Ming’s report, but the quality here is obviously not high.
Zhu Tianba seemed to be getting more and more uncomfortable. He stopped curling up and jumped out of Jiang Qing's arms, maintaining his half-human-height combat size and walking beside Jiang Qing.
The dark blue mane on his neck swayed in the wind, and the extremely faint white light around him reappeared, like a thin shield, slightly isolating the uncomfortable energy aura around him.
It is no longer in its usual happy or lazy state. Every step it takes carries a sense of steadiness that is inconsistent with its size, as if its weight is far greater than it appears.
"roar--"
Suddenly, a low roar of an animal came from the front, accompanied by the sound of rolling rocks.
Everyone immediately became alert.
Suddenly, three strange beasts that looked like cheetahs but were covered with rock-like scales jumped out from a cave on one side.
Their eyes flashed yellow, their teeth were bared, and their saliva dripped onto the rocks, giving a sticky and disgusting feeling.
"It's a stone-scaled leopard. Be careful of its claws and attacks." Lin Qingzhou quickly retrieved the information.
Before departure, the teacher of the study team gave everyone a copy of the "List of Common Exotic Animals".
Zhao Peng immediately summoned his pet to block the three girls: "Iron Armor, go!"
The armored bull roared, lowered its head and charged forward.
The three stone-scaled leopards were extremely agile and easily avoided the charge of the Iron-Armored Bull. Two of them flanked the Iron-Armored Bull from both sides, while the other one had a clear target and rushed directly towards Jiang Qing and Zhu Tianba, who seemed the most "easy to bully".
Or perhaps it was because some special aura of Zhu Tianba Shenhang attracted them.
However, the stone-scaled leopard chose the wrong target.
It's fast, but Zhu Tianba's reaction is even faster!
At the moment when the stone-scaled leopard pounced into the air, Zhu Tianba didn't even look back, but just stomped his front hoof on the ground.
At this moment, the ground spread out from the center like a wave.
The stone-scaled leopard froze in the middle of its run, as if its feet had crashed into a ball of sticky mud, and its speed instantly slowed down.
A trace of confusion and fear flashed across its fierce eyes, a fear of its own time and space.
The next moment, Tutu cooperated tacitly, wrapped his body with ice crystals, and accurately hit the waist and abdomen of the Stone Scale Leopard.
With a slight "crack" sound of broken bones, the stone-scaled leopard was knocked back and hit the rock wall heavily. It slid down with a wail and was unable to get up for a while.
Jiang Qing, who was about to extend his tentacles for support, was stunned. Zhao Peng and Lin Qingzhou, who had just dealt with the other two stone-scaled leopards, were also stunned.
I didn't expect that the rabbit could be so vigorous.
Rabbit got up from the ground, shook his head, and then walked with his short legs to the stone-scaled leopard that had just lost the ability to move. He tilted his head and looked at it, as if to confirm that the other party had no strength to fight anymore, and then ignored it.
He turned around and lay back on Li Xiu's shoulder, his eyes returning to their usual clarity, as if to say, "It's solved, no big deal."
Even its owner, Li Xiu, was stunned by its calmness.
Zhao Peng opened his mouth wide, and after a long while he finally uttered, "Damn... Rabbit, that move just now... was quite handsome!"
......
After the episode, the team continued to advance deeper into the canyon along the exploration route.
The fog around seemed to be thicker, distorting the light and casting mottled and strange shadows.
The energy in the air became increasingly sticky and complex, carrying a faint smell of decay.
Zhu Tianba always walked half a body length in front of Jiang Qing's left. This position was not unintentional. It could protect her behind him and allow him to react immediately in case of emergencies.
"The plants here grow in a very special way, very different from those near our college." Lin Qingzhou did not forget the purpose of this trip, squatting beside and began to study the plants here.
Zhu Tianba's nostrils were still twitching slightly. He ignored Lin Qingzhou's observation of the plants and instead took a few more steps forward. His dark blue mane moved without wind, and the extremely faint white light flickered like his breathing.
"Jiang Qing," its voice rang out in Jiang Qing's mind, with a rare seriousness, "something is 'dead' behind the stone ahead."
Jiang Qing immediately raised his hand, signaling the team to stop advancing.
"There's something unusual ahead, everyone be careful." She lowered her voice and conveyed Zhu Tianba's warning.
Zhao Peng immediately let the Iron-Armored Bull stand in the front, and Lin Qingzhou's Flowing Phoenix also lowered its altitude, restraining its brilliance, ready to deal with emergencies at any time.
Li Xiu held the rabbit tightly and looked around vigilantly.
Zhu Tianba walked forward slowly, his little hooves making almost no sound as they stepped on the gravel.
It skirted the huge, moss-covered rock.
The scene behind made everyone gasp.
Behind the rock was not some horrible corpse, but a huge, completely whitened animal skeleton.
The skeleton was an unnatural gray-black color, as if it had been eroded by some force. Most of the bones were still intact, but the head was completely shattered, as if it had been flattened by a huge force.
The most eye-catching thing is the few broken dark golden scales scattered around the skeleton. Even though they have been covered with dust for a long time, they can still reflect a faint but tenacious light in the dim light.
"Is this... the skeleton of a golden-armored rhino?" Lin Qingzhou identified the bone structure and asked with a tone of surprise, "Judging from its size, it must have been at least a high-level Immortal-level beast, perhaps even close to the Earth-level."
"How could he die here? And his head was shattered..."
The golden-armored rhino is known for its strong defense and its skull is extremely hard.
Zhu Tianba stopped in front of the pile of bones. He lowered his head to sniff the dark golden scales, then looked at the broken skull.
"It's in pain," Zhu Tianba's voice carried a hint of barely perceptible compassion. "It's not that it was defeated. It's that the thing inside... went crazy and exploded."
It nodded its head gently with its little hoof.
"Energy backlash?" Jiang Qing immediately thought of the mutant beasts in the mine that were contaminated by the beast core power. "Did they absorb unbearable violent energy?"
In order to advance, alien beasts usually absorb materials that are several times more powerful than themselves. The process of breakthrough can easily trigger backlash, causing them to explode and die.
Zhu Tianba nodded, then shook his head, as if he couldn't accurately describe the feeling: "It's different."
As he spoke, white light suddenly lit up around Zhu Tianba. This time it was not an attack, nor a defense, but a gentle light that brushed across the huge skeleton like a tide.
To everyone's surprise, the gray-black color on the skeleton seemed to fade a little, and the lingering, heart-pounding feeling of dullness also dissipated a lot.
After doing all this, Zhu Tianba retreated back to Jiang Qing's side. His serious expression disappeared and he returned to his previous self.
Zhu Tianba: "It's much quieter now."
The four of them looked at each other and could see the shock in each other's eyes.
Zhu Tianba not only sensed the residual death energy, but also seemed to be able to... soothe them?
This has already exceeded their understanding of the abilities of spirit beasts.
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