Chapter 67: Sixth-Order Demon Beast?

  After eating some dry rations and replenishing his energy, Xiao Yun jumped down from the tree, walked out of the small woods, and arrived at the edge of a desolate road overgrown with weeds. He looked around in both directions, but had already lost his sense of direction. Last night, he didn't even know how far that group of bats had chased him. The map in his memory seemed to be useless now.

  "Chirp!"

  A bird's cry echoed through the sky, a shadow flashed across Xiao Yun's head from above. Xiao Yun looked up and was startled, a giant eagle flew over from thousands of meters high, its body so huge that it was hard to measure with the naked eye.

  Sharp claws and beak, radiant with light, eyes shining brightly, gazing down at the world below, its entire body covered in black feathers, wings spread wide, casting a massive shadow on the ground.

  The majestic eagle swooped down from the sky, its piercing cry shaking the heavens. The enormous power emanating from it made Xiao Yun's face turn pale with fear, his legs trembling as he hastily retreated back into the small forest, afraid of being discovered by the giant eagle.

  However, Xiao Yun's worries seemed to be unnecessary, the giant eagle didn't even glance at the ground, it lightly flapped its wings and its massive body quickly disappeared into the horizon.

  "Heavens, how can there be such a powerful demon beast!"

  It wasn't until a while later that Xiao Yun cautiously emerged from the forest, his legs still trembling slightly as he gazed at the majestic eagle's aura, fearing it was at least a sixth-tier demonic beast, or perhaps even higher.

  Sixth-order demonic beast, that's equivalent to a late-stage musician's existence. Gazing at the horizon where the giant statue disappeared, Xiao Yun stood for a long time. Isn't it said that above the musician realm, one would be suppressed by the Sacred Seal Array? How can such a powerful demonic beast exist?

  "Is the sacred trace just a restraint for us outsiders who cultivate joy?"

  Xiao Yun's heart skipped a beat, originally thinking that with the suppression of the Holy Trace Array, there wouldn't be any fourth-tier or higher demonic beasts in the Holy Trace. With his abilities, he could have taken the risk to venture into the Holy Trace, but what he just saw overturned his conjecture. That demonic beast from just now, if it wanted to kill him, would absolutely find it easy as turning over its hand. Once encountered, even adding up all the hundred or so people who entered the Holy Trace wouldn't be a match for it.

  This is just the tip of the iceberg, and there may be even stronger beings in this sacred relic. Xiao Yun's forehead was covered with cold sweat, it seems that this sacred relic is indeed not an ordinary danger.

  The giant eagle flew southwest, Xiao Yun stood still for a while, and his mood calmed down. He was originally hesitant about which direction to go, but now the southwest was not an option for Xiao Yun, as the giant eagle had come from the northeast, so that direction was also ruled out.

  Last night, I should have come from the north, standing on a desolate road, Xiao Yun recalled for a moment, and then determined the direction, heading southeast.

  On both sides are low hills, with a rugged and weedy path running through the middle. As you move forward along the path, the surrounding trees gradually become more lush.

  It's been almost a day since entering the Holy Land, Xiao Yun climbed up a small hill, hands shading his eyes to gaze into the distance, surrounded by lush forests, not seeing even half a person's shadow, and didn't know where others had gone.

  He took out the Jiuxiao, sat down on the ground, and set up his instrument. Xiao Yun played all three pieces of Tianxian as usual, but still didn't smell any unusual fragrance.

  "Zu Yin Guo, Zu Yin Guo, where are you?"

  The only response was the birds chirping and beasts roaring in the mountain forest, Xiao Yun's face was filled with disappointment. The sacred region was so vast, he had been searching for so long, what was the difference between this and looking for a needle in the ocean? Fifteen days had already passed one day, at this rate, when would he be able to find it? Was fifteen days enough?

  "No matter how secretly you hide, I will find you out!"

  After a short rest, Xiao Yun's eyes regained their passion. Whether or not he could find Zuoyin Guo was directly related to his own future. No matter how difficult it was to find him, he had to persist.

  Xiao Yun made up her mind secretly, if she couldn't find it in fifteen days, then she would just not go out. Following the sacred mark was dangerous, but rather than going out and living a mediocre life, she would rather take risks in this sacred mark.

  She rolled up her sleeves and continued to search southeast, in Xiao Yun's opinion, the ancestral sound fruit tree should be growing in the mountains, the more trees there were, the more likely it was to exist, so she avoided those desolate places and went to where the trees were lush.

  However, this also increased the danger a bit. The denser the forest was, the more likely it was to have ferocious beasts. For an entire afternoon, Xiao Yun would stop every now and then to play a tune, hoping to lure out the Zuo Yin Fruit. But instead of luring out the fruit, he attracted many ferocious beasts instead.

  Although they were mostly first- and second-order demon beasts, they couldn't harm Xiao Yun. However, when facing those demon beasts, Xiao Yun didn't entangle with them too much. After refining the melody, he cast 'Rainbow Cloud Chasing Moon' to leave. In this sacred realm, the more physical strength you could preserve, the more hope of survival you had. Unnecessary battles were simply not necessary.

  ——

  Night fell quickly again, and before it got dark, Xiao Yun found a small cave to temporarily settle in, picked up some dry firewood, lit a bonfire in the cave, driving away the cold while also driving away some wild beasts from the mountain.

  After searching for a whole day, I couldn't find any trace of Zu Yin Guo. Xiao Yun didn't dwell on it too much either. After all, Zu Yin Guo was a heavenly spirit, how could he be found so easily?

  Outside the cave, there were occasional eerie bird calls, while inside the cave, there was only the sound of branches crackling and bursting into flames in the fire pit. After humming a tune as usual, Xiao Yun took out the white silk she had obtained from the bat cave last night and carefully examined it by the light of the bonfire.

  "Bat King Tune!"

  The name is quite strange, also five tones are ancient and simple, the word is elegant, more like a woman's handwriting. The score is obscure and difficult to understand. Xiao Yun came back and forth several times to study it, this song finally formed a rough outline in his mind.

  Following the score, she played for a while and had only reached halfway when Xiaoyun started to feel some strain. It should be the "Taming Beast" melody in the miscellaneous tune, and its level might not have reached that of the Immortal Tune yet, but it should still be a high-level Heavenly Music. This was a ninth-grade miscellaneous tune, and the creature being tamed should be those bats.

  He unfastened the Spirit Beast bag from his waist, and Xiao Yun had the intention of releasing a few bats to try them out. However, after hesitating for a moment, he gave up on the idea. Those bats were too ferocious, and this melody was still not refined enough for him. If he couldn't control them, it would be a loss.

  The Ling Beast Bag was tied back to his waist, and the 'Bat King Qu' was also put away. Xiao Yun took out the two beast tendons, the purchased piano strings, string pools, and other accessories and tools, preparing to restring Jiu Xiao's zither.

  Want to add strings, first must remove the soundboard and drill holes, install two tuning pegs on it, the tuning pegs he has already bought, made of white jade, although not top-grade, but this is already the best he can find.

  The soundboard only has five holes, so I need to change it to a seven-holed one. Xiao Yun scratched his head, the accessories he bought were also made of Wutong wood, but they weren't top-notch, far inferior, if he replaced them, the power of Jiuxiao would definitely be compromised, and it's unknown whether it could withstand the pressure and tempering brought by the beast tendon.

  "Never mind, just make do with it for now!"

  After some thought, Xiao Yun still made up his mind to change the nine-stringed zither into a seven-stringed qin, which he found more convenient to use.

  "Huh?"

  Just as he was about to dismantle the Jiuxiao, a rustling sound suddenly came from far outside the mountain cave. Xiao Yun immediately became alert and perked up his ears.

  "Are there monsters?"

  Xiao Yun was taken aback, holding Jiu Xiao and tiptoeing to the entrance of the cave, looking outwards, there were two figures swaying in the small woods.

  ——

  "Big Brother Master, it seems like the sound of the guqin is coming from around here?"

  "Hmm, this kid is quite bold, actually daring to brew in the Sacred Land. Doesn't he fear attracting some powerful demonic beast?"

  "Heh heh, if he hadn't played the tune, we might not have been able to find him. That tune 'Hao Qi Jue', we've all heard it before, that kid must be around here somewhere."

  "Search carefully, we must catch him today!"

  "Master brother, that little guy is cunning, we must be careful not to be secretly calculated by him."

  "Hmph, but a music prodigy, even if he can compose heavenly music, as long as he is not yet a master musician, I won't take him seriously."