After a while, one of the tribe members brought some piping hot milk tea and delicious looking cheese to them. Although there was a slight raw taste to it, its special flavour was still rather delicious on the whole.
Ma Qun walked around for a bit, learning as much as he could about the tribe. It was a very small tribe, known as the Snow Deer Tribe, which was also the totem they worshipped. The entire tribe was only several hundred strong, split into over a dozen large families, and they were all in that encampment. Just like all the other beastmen of the WanShou Empire, the Snow Deer Tribe were extremely well versed in fighting, able to endure hardships and work hard, skilled at rearing the strong and powerful Snow Deer. When necessary, they would use their Snow Deer as mounts to become Snow Deer Cavalry.
“Boss, I have seen the Snow Deer that they rear, they are even larger than our Ghost Demon Horses. Furthermore, those horned male deers… those horns are definitely deadly weapons indeed. This WanShou Empire is indeed richly endowed by nature, although these Snow Deers aren’t Heavenly Beasts, when used as mounts, perhaps they can be even better than ordinary low level Heavenly Beasts. Their carrying capacity seems pretty strong too, and they can easily seat Crow without any problem.”
“Are you complaining that I am too heavy?” Crow eyed him coldly, and Ma Qun was immediately silenced with an embarrassed look on his face.
Zhou Weiqing’s heart twitched, and after a quick glance at the mediating Zhan LingTian, he stood up and said: “Come, lead me there. I want to have a look myself.” After saying that, he pulled Ma Qun along and left the tent.
Mounts were extremely important to the future of the Peerless Battalion. Even if they would hopefully have Consolidated Wings in the future, due to the restriction of Heavenly Energy, they could not possibly keep flying all the time. As such, flying could only be done during an actual fight. In that case, a suitable mount was of great importance. Those war wolves they had faced previously was a good example, but not a good choice for them due to their ferocity and difficulty to tame. These strong Snow Deers should be gentler, and Zhou Weiqing’s interest was instantly piqued.
Zhou Weiqing and Ma Qun left the tent, and they were met with the two stout Snow Deer Tribesmen who had brought them in, who had also brought in another group of people.
Looking at the attires and appearances of the newcomers, Zhou Weiqing could tell that they were all humans. They were all fully dressed in winter clothes, covered with a large cloak that covered their heads. The party of newcomers numbered six in total, some tall and well built, some small and petite, but he could not see their actual appearance.
The two Snow Deer Tribesmen were just guiding the group to another tent deeper within. It looks like these Snow Deer Tribesmen were quite smart in their own right, choosing to camp on the trade route. Charging ten gold coins for a night’s stay in a tent, that was definitely a high price.
“Ehh, it’s you.” Right at that moment, a surprised voice rang out. Amongst the six newcomers, one of the smaller petite bodies stopped abruptly, lifting up the cowl of her cloak.
A beautiful face revealed, seeming to bring some warmth to this bitter cold winter air. However, the gaze that landed on Zhou Weiqing was one that definitely dropped the temperature several degrees, filled with strong enmity.
Looking at this young lady, Zhou Weiqing’s expression changed, and he couldn’t help but groan inwardly. She was no other than the Blood Red Hell disciple who had almost died at his hands during the Heavenly Jewel Tournament, Shen Little Demon.
His luck was just too terrible this time… before even properly entering the depths of the WanShou Empire, they had actually met with the members of the Blood Red Hell. Without question, the others accompanying Shen Little Demon were likely to be powerhouses from the Blood Red Hell as well. The only thing Zhou Weiqing could pray for was that these companions of hers would be the same generation as them, and not some elder powerhouse.
Alas, Lady Luck was fickle, and this time she was definitely not on Zhou Weiqing’s side at all.
“What’s wrong, Little Demon?” A deep, low voice rumbled out from the person in front of the group, a clearly older voice. The rest of the Blood Red Hell contingent stopped in their tracks, looking towards Zhou Weiqing.
By this point, Zhou Weiqing could see clearly that this person in front was an old man looking to be about over sixty years of age. The others were middle aged men above the age of forty, and Shen Little Demon was the only young person there, the only lady as well.
It was as if a cold hand clutched around Zhou Weiqing’s heart. This time they were definitely in deep trouble. Even if he wanted to try to avoid them at this time, it was already impossible, and he could only brace himself and take a few steps forward, smiling as he said towards Shen Little Demon: “Miss Shen, how are you. It’s been a long time, how have you been?” At this point, he could only hope that Shen Little Demon could remember that he had saved her life, and the promise that the Heaven’s Expanse Palace had made.
Alas, Shen Little Demon glared at him coldly and said: “Zhou Weiqing, I never thought my luck would be that good, to actually be able to meet you in the WanShou Empire. Today, even if you grow a pair of wings, you will not be able to escape. I’ll give you a good icy cold burial.”
Crap. Zhou Weiqing felt a bitter taste at the back of his mouth as he cursed inwardly. It was clear that the hate Shen Little Demon had for him had not lessened when he expelled the venom from her.
However, he had thought about it from her perspective. After all, that time when he had expelled the venom from her, he had been grabbing onto her chest. It was a miracle that she had not been angered to death at that time. This time, Shen Little Demon had followed her seniors from the Blood Red Hell out to the WanShou Empire to hunt some Heavenly Beasts, but it was mainly to get some distraction and relax herself. Who knew that not long after just entering the WanShou Empire they would meet up with this personal enemy of hers, Zhou Weiqing.
“Little Demon, what did you say? He is the one who killed Han Bing?” The old man leading the Blood Red Hell contingent turned to look at him, his eyes seemed to light up with two balls of fire, and his once peaceful face turned savage in anger.
Shen Little Demon said coldly: “Although he was not the one who killed Han Bing, he was the leader of the Fei Li Battle Team. If not for him, how could we possibly lose that fight?”
The old man suddenly burst out laughing. “Good… good… very good. Looks like even the heavens have guided me to help Bing’er take revenge. Capture them all, even the ones in the tents, don’t let anyone escape. I want them to feel the taste of hell. It is time for this old man’s nickname of Live Hades to come back once again.”
“Respected guests, if you have private enmities, please settle it outside, not in our tribal lands.” The two Snow Deer tribesmen furrowed their brows and said.
The Live Hades swept his gaze over them coldly, a powerful aura bursting forth from him. The two Snow Deer Tribesmen gave a muffled grunt, staggering back a few steps as blood streamed down from their seven orifices, before they fell down to the ground, dead.
This time, Zhou Weiqing was definitely struck dumb. To kill two people with his aura, especially with the powerful bodies of the Snow Deer Tribesmen, one could imagine how powerful that old man called Live Hades was.
However, when the two Snow Deer Tribesmen collapsed and died, two faint mists of snow rose from their bodies stealthily, drifting away.
With the command from the Live Hades, all the Blood Red Hell members released their Heavenly Jewels instantly, including Shen Little Demon.
Shen Little Demon was still at the six-Jeweled cultivation level, but she was actually the lowest level of all their entire party. Of the other four middle aged men, two were seven Jeweled and two were eight Jeweled, all Zong Stage Heavenly Jewel Masters.
Any ordinary Zong Stage Heavenly Jewel Master when compared with one from a Great Saint Lands would be at a totally different power level. Even ignoring that unfathomable Live Hades old man, just these five alone was a terrifying force to be reckoned with.
When the Live Hades gave the order and killed the two Snow Deer Tribesmen, Zhou Weiqing had already burst into action. Dragging Ma Qun with his right hand, he flew towards the tent at the back immediately.
With just the two of them, they wouldn’t even last a round against all of them. Only by reuniting with their entire party would they have the slightest chance of survival. At this point, Zhou Weiqing had no more expectations of any luck, and he knew the only thing he could do was to pit everything they had. At this point, the only thing he could pray for was that the Live Hades was a Nine Jeweled Upper Level Zong Stage, not at the Heavenly King Stage. If that was so, they might still have a shred of chance, but if he was really a Heavenly King Stage… they would likely be dead.
Of course, besides fighting head-on, another possibility that could help them survive would be Shangguan Fei’er and Zhan LingTian’s status in the Heaven’s Expanse Palace. Zhou Weiqing hoped that these members of the Blood Red Hell would not dare kill them.
Shen Little Demon hated Zhou Weiqing so much, and with a quick strike of the ground with the tip of her foot, her entire body charged forth towards Zhou Weiqing like an arrow in flight. Having lost to Zhou Weiqing previously was an ultimate humiliation in her heart, and now that she saw him again, her eyes blazed red with hatred. How could she possibly hold back now? All her energy circulating as her palms moved along in front of her, already a blood red colour as she struck out towards him.
“Enemy attack!” At the same time as Zhou Weiqing charged into the tent, he shouted out loud. In the next instant, he used a Blink Skill.
In terms of cunning, who could compare to Zhou Weiqing? As soon as he activated the Blink Skill, he flung out with his right hand, throwing Ma Qun towards Crow so he would not be in the line of fire of Shen Little Demon’s attack. As for himself, in the instant he Blinked, he appeared behind Zhan LingTian.
Originally, according to Zhou Weiqing’s plan, he had been tolerating Zhan LingTian all this time just so he could make use of his power in the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens. Now, at this time, though they hadn’t reached their destination, it was certainly time to pit their all with their lives on the line. Naturally, it was time to make use of him.
Zhan LingTian had been meditating with his eyes closed, taking a rest before having a meal as he was preparing to cultivate for the rest of the night. Zhou Weiqing and Ma Qun had just left and they had rushed back in, and he was quickly startled awake.
In a silver flash, Zhou Weiqing, who had just charged into the tent, disappeared, but the fiery red light burned through onwards.
Being attacked all of a sudden, Zhan LingTian reacted extremely swiftly. With just a quick sidestep, his right hand struck out with a palm and his Heavenly Jewels sprang out around his wrists.
In a loud clash, Shen Little Demon was sent flying back out after their palms met. In terms of cultivation level and power, she was no match for Zhan LingTian at all.
Zhan LingTian’s Heavenly Energy had already reached the thirtieth stage, the sixth level of the Heavenly Xu Energy Stage. In terms of Heavenly Energy alone, he was even higher than the heir of the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, Shangguan Xue’er. Shen Little Demon was only at the Six Jeweled stage, twenty sixth Heavenly Energy Stage. In addition to the fact with Zhan LingTian having an advantage in terms of attributes, in just a single clash she had taken a disadvantage.
Right at that moment, a loud crash reverberated throughout as violent flames rose from all directions. The tough tent actually evaporated in that instant as the heat raised drastically from the raging flames. In the next instant, the entire tent was revealed to the evening sky.