Chapter Thirty-Two: The Beast Tide Erupts

After breaking through to the fifth layer of Qi Refining, one must undertake a task each month—a compulsory duty required of every clansman at this stage. So long as the task is completed satisfactorily, the remaining time is free for personal use.

Additionally, the Task Hall randomly issues extra tasks, offering generous contribution point rewards. Participation in these is entirely voluntary. Regardless of the type, all completed tasks grant contribution points, which can be exchanged for cultivation necessities—elixirs, formations, talismans, and so forth.

Though Gu Weiyu’s first experience with a mission was indeed harrowing, it was not without its rewards.

First and foremost, she earned over a thousand contribution points, an amount that would take others four or five tasks to achieve.

Secondly, she discovered that in moments of life-or-death crisis, her potential seemed to be awakened more fully, greatly enhancing her real combat abilities. Especially with her Sky Thunder Flash technique, she sensed she was on the verge of breaking through to the intermediate stage.

After resting for ten days, Gu Weiyu visited the Task Hall to review the random missions. Soon, she found one that caught her interest.

“In the past three years, the northern Qin Mountain range has suffered a beast tide every few months, wreaking havoc on nearby villages. The Qin Prefecture is issuing an investigation task to uncover the cause of these beast tide outbreaks. Reward: one thousand contribution points.”

Two winters ago, Qingshan Village suffered heavy losses from such a beast tide. The wolf pack emerged from the deep mountains, ravaged the clansmen, and even bit off her father’s arm.

Last year, Qingshan Village was fortunate to avoid disaster, but no one could say whether their luck would hold this year.

Barely a month had passed since the last beast tide. According to Sister Crescent, their village had been affected, several clansmen killed—her heart ached for their kin. Gu Weiyu resolved to help as much as she could.

The beast tide consisted of ordinary beasts, not yet transformed into demon beasts. For cultivators like herself, safety was not an issue; the challenge lay in the investigation, for humans could not speak beast-tongue, making the truth difficult to uncover.

“Grandfather Fifth, I’ll take this task!” Gu Weiyu removed the task token and brought it to her elder.

“Girl, are you sure you want this one?” Grandfather Fifth examined the token. “Many have attempted this task, but none have succeeded.”

“I’d like to try,” Gu Weiyu insisted. Though personal reasons weighed on her, her resolve was not mere bravado.

Seeing her determination, Grandfather Fifth did not dissuade her further. The task was not dangerous, simply demanding patience and time.

“This jade slip contains the detailed description and requirements. Take it with you,” he said, handing her a jade slip.

Gu Weiyu carefully stowed the slip and left the Task Hall, eager to return and prepare.

—

“Sister Crescent, I have some matters to attend to—no need to call me for lunch,” Gu Weiyu said as she ascended the stairs.

Crescent responded, concern in her eyes as she watched the young mistress’s retreating figure. Was she going out for another mission?

Gu Weiyu entered her quiet chamber, activated the room’s wards, and brought out the spell jade slip gifted by her ancestor. It was truly invaluable, containing a technique that allowed rudimentary communication between one’s spiritual sense and beasts—the Beast Mastery Technique.

With this method, conversing with beasts that did not understand human speech would no longer be a problem.

Had this task not been posted for nearly two years already, she might have suspected it was tailored for her alone.

Though the Beast Mastery Technique appeared simple, it took considerable effort to master. Gu Weiyu spent a full hour before she could barely employ her spiritual sense to cast it. She sighed; haste would yield nothing. Her spiritual sense exhausted, she decided to rest.

Deactivating the wards, she left her chamber. It was well past mealtime, and hunger gnawed at her. She made her way downstairs.

“Mistress, lunch was delivered long ago and kept warm in the pot. Would you like some now?” Crescent greeted her with concern.

Gu Weiyu smiled and nodded. Crescent was truly thoughtful.

After her meal, she returned to her chamber, cultivated for several cycles, then resumed her study of the Beast Mastery Technique.

For three days, she alternated between cultivation and practicing the technique. To master it more fully, she even asked Crescent to fetch a common rabbit from the kitchen, using the spell to communicate.

She soon discovered she could sense the rabbit’s inner language, but its intelligence was so low that all it knew was eating, drinking, and relieving itself—it could not respond to her questions.

Clearly, the technique worked; she would simply need to find a more intelligent beast next time.

After so many days of preparation, it was time to set out.

Early the next morning, Gu Weiyu left the Gu mansion once more. Outside the city, she rode a paper crane toward the northern Qin Mountain range. She had studied carefully; the villages afflicted by beast tides lay near the northern slopes—Qingshan Village and Yanchai Village among them.

Gu Weiyu soon left Qingshan Village behind. Passing Wenshan, she paused to glance at it, yet her destination lay farther still—Qilin Mountain, north of Wenshan.

—

It took nearly half an hour before Qilin Mountain finally appeared in the distance, and by then, most of her spiritual energy was depleted.

Qi Refining, fifth layer—how inadequate! Just traveling nearly drained her reserves.

Gu Weiyu lamented, choosing the mountain’s edge to alight from her paper crane.

Qilin Mountain was named for its resemblance to the legendary beast; its ridges were steep and towering, reaching into the clouds. Standing at its base, she could hardly glimpse its true face.

Surveying her surroundings, Gu Weiyu strode into the mountain.

As she advanced, she activated her spiritual eyes to use the Spirit Detection technique, allowing her to distinguish between ordinary beasts and demon beasts, as well as gauge their levels.

Along the way, she encountered only common beasts—lacking spiritual energy and intelligence. Not even a first-level demon beast appeared.

With no choice, she pressed deeper into Qilin Mountain, hoping to find a suitable creature to interrogate.

In the depths of the forest, she occasionally encountered a few low-level demon beasts, but they were merely wild chickens and boars, their intelligence limited. The information gleaned through Beast Mastery was vague and unsatisfactory.

Rounding a massive tree, she came upon a lush meadow beside a small pool. At the water’s edge, a magnificent white tiger lay lazily.

Gu Weiyu’s eyes lit up at the sight. Tigers were the rulers of the mountains and must possess some intelligence!

The white tiger seemed to sense her approach, raising its mighty head to gaze at her.

Her eyes swept over the tiger’s sleek, glossy fur and met its clear, glass-like gaze—this was clearly a creature with spirit. Using Spirit Detection, she found no trace of spiritual energy within the tiger. It was, astonishingly, an ordinary beast.

Joy blossomed in Gu Weiyu’s heart. This was the one!