Read at: https://blogspot-translatedstories.blogspot.com/?m=1
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Could it be that she was already more than ten kilometers away from Qingqing Ni?
Was its speed really that fast?
For a moment, Qiao Sang couldn’t quite make sense of the situation.
If Gangbao couldn’t catch up, perhaps it was just a step late.
But for a mere moment of delay to stretch into a gap of over ten kilometers, that was truly unbelievable.
Especially since Qingqing Ni was only a Beginner-level pet beast…
Yabao’s figure shrank back down as he teleported to his Beast Master’s side.
“Xun xun!”
Little Treasure floated nearby, lowering his head to glance at the Qingqingni Compass, and gave a startled cry.
The compass wasn’t moving!
After so much searching, he already understood that the Qingqingni Compass was the tool meant to locate Qingqing Ni.
Qiao Sang set down the compass, suppressing the rising emotions in her chest, and explained: “This means Qingqing Ni has gone beyond the sensing range of the compass.”
“Xun xun…”
At those words, Little Treasure immediately glanced at Gangbao, letting out a sigh.
He hadn’t expected his “little brother's” speed to be so slow…
“Gang Zhan?”
Gangbao gave a calm cry, as if asking what they should do next.
Qiao Sang pondered briefly, then replied: “We can only do what we did before, cover a wide area quickly, and see if Qingqing Ni can reappear within the compass’s sensing range.”
In just one day, she had already gained a deep understanding of the vastness of Secret Realm No. 16.
The only reason she had crossed so much of it so safely and swiftly was thanks to Little Treasure’s Spatial Shift.
Qingqing Ni wasn’t just small in size; it could also dissolve into the wind, leaving no physical body. If she relied only on Gangbao or Yabao’s normal flying speed, even with the Qingqingni Compass, it might still take a month of travel through the Secret Realm without ever catching up.
Truthfully, failing to catch Qingqing Ni after five hours, and then losing another ten kilometers’ distance from just a few minutes’ delay, this had already shaken her quite a bit.
“Xun xun!”
Little Treasure gave a leave it to me expression, his eyes glowing with blue light.
Qiao Sang immediately thought of something and reminded him: “Make sure the coordinates are safe before moving.”
“Xun xun…”
Little Treasure paused.
Seven or eight seconds later, Qiao Sang, Gangbao, and the others vanished into thin air.
Little Treasure carefully executed the Spatial Shift.
He kept his Beast Master’s words in mind, ensuring that the location he was transferring to carried no powerful aura before making the shift.
During the short pauses while Little Treasure tested the coordinates, Qiao Sang lifted the Qingqingni Compass to check for changes.
After two consecutive Spatial Shifts, the previously motionless rings and central needle began turning again.
Qiao Sang’s eyes lit up as she shouted: “No need to shift again! The compass is moving, we’ll advance in this direction!”
“Xun xun~”
Hearing this, Little Treasure happily twirled in the air.
It really all came down to him.
“Gang Zhan.”
Gangbao gave a call, beating her wings harder as her speed increased.
“Yap?”
Yabao glanced around at their surroundings, then at Gangbao in flight, calling as if to ask if he should take over instead.
“No need.” Qiao Sang didn’t want to waste any more time, so she persuaded gently: “Lubao already cast Healing Light on Gangbao just now.”
“Yap…”
Yabao, a little bored, shut his eyes and began meditating.
Even inside a Secret Realm, he wouldn’t forget to train… The sight touched Qiao Sang faintly. She pulled her gaze away from him and focused back on the Qingqingni Compass.
Honestly, she felt like her earlier encounter with Qingqing Ni had been nothing but dumb luck.
From the moment Qingqing Ni disappeared from her sight to her decision to contract it and chase after it, only a few minutes had passed.
And yet, it had already taken her so much time without closing the gap. Even with Little Treasure’s two Spatial Shifts, only then did the compass finally start turning again.
If not for heaven-defying luck, how could she possibly have stumbled into Qingqing Ni before?
When it floated with the wind, it didn’t even have a physical body. Even if the compass reacted for just a second or two, with Qingqing Ni’s speed, that was more than enough to stretch the distance far beyond reach again.
No wonder Secret Realm No. 16 had opened again and again, thirty years after thirty years, and despite the thirty-two Qingqingni Compasses, only a handful of Beast Masters had ever succeeded in finding and contracting Qingqing Ni.
“Yap!”
Her thoughts were broken off when Yabao suddenly opened his eyes and called sharply, staring at the forest below with a serious expression.
Someone was crying for help.
Qiao Sang gathered herself and instinctively said:
“Let’s go take a look.”
At once, she thought better of it and tucked the Qingqingni Compass into her pocket.
Gangbao shifted her wings and swooped downward.
Within the dense forest, a blue lion-like pet beast with white-striped spirit patterns was desperately fleeing.
The ground erupted with jagged spikes, rising in rows to stab at its body.
“Help! Help me!”
A man clung to the lion beast’s back, screaming in raw desperation.
A Wind-Rush Lion again… Qiao Sang’s face tightened in exasperation.
Gangbao’s large wings stirred the air loudly; in a wide enough range, her wing beats were impossible to miss.
Hearing the noise, the man looked up in shock. When he spotted the silhouette high in the sky, his face twitched violently.
“Let’s go.” Qiao Sang gave him one cold look, then patted Gangbao’s back.
Once was more than enough.
Without hesitation, Gangbao flapped her wings and left.
But as they pulled away, the man’s expression darkened. He gave an order: “Harden!”
The Wind-Rush Lion suddenly halted.
A translucent sheen coated its body.
Rows of sharp spikes shot from the ground, only to shatter on contact with its hardened skin.
The lion stomped down hard, blasting the gravelly earth apart. From the ruptured ground, several rock-bodied beasts were forced up.
“Feng feng.”
The lion roared, and dozens of chaotic wind blades appeared, tearing through the stone beasts’ bodies.
Screams followed as they crashed back to the ground.
Figures leapt out from the dense trees.
“Why is it still that same girl? Didn’t she say she was after the Frostbird’s feather? Could she have already gotten it?” The man who’d once worn a white down jacket, now changed into a green field coat, spoke up.
“Impossible.” Scoffed the short-haired woman.
“That’s the Frostbird.”
“I’m done with this.” The man dismounted the lion and scowled.
“There are only so many Qingqingni Compasses. With the size of Secret Realm No. 16, how could we just so easily bump into someone carrying one?”
“Feng feng.”
The Wind-Rush Lion nodded fiercely.
The man in the baseball cap said seriously: “I think that young woman has a high chance of carrying a Qingqingni Compass.”
The cap-wearer thought for a moment and explained: “We only went to the Frostbird’s territory because our intel said someone spotted Qingqing Ni thirty years ago in that direction. That girl showed up there, claiming she wanted a Frostbird’s feather.”
“In such a short time, it’s impossible she already plucked one and got all the way here.”
“Remember, we needed Zhicheng’s coordinates and multiple Spatial Shifts to reach this area quickly.”
“I believe she’s moving with intent. Families who hold Qingqingni Compasses aren’t ordinary, and her pet beasts aren’t from the Central Hollow region. They’re far too strong to belong to just anyone.”
“That means her identity isn’t simple and most likely she’s not from our region at all.”
“A foreign Beast Master entering Secret Realm No. 16 with a key? If not to seek Qingqing Ni, then why else?”
Hearing this, the short-haired woman and the green-coated man fell into thought.
Li Zhicheng disagreed: “She’s not simple, but not the way you think. I’ve been close to her. She looks very young, almost underage, but her strength is anything but. Probably some old monster. That ghost-type pet of hers could use Spatial Shift, a psychic skill.”
“Think about it: A ghost beast using psychic transfer. Can anyone ordinary command that?”
“I suspect she already has the Frostbird’s feather. As for her speed, her ghost beast might be Emperor-level, or at least a master of Spatial Shift, letting her move so quickly.”
“Besides, she wasn’t holding the compass at all. Even if she were after Qingqing Ni, she wasn’t depending on it.”
He paused, then added gravely: “Even if she has a Qingqingni Compass, so what? With strength enough to pluck a Frostbird’s feather, do you really think we can take it from her?”
The man in the green coat nodded: “Zhicheng’s right. Her apparent age doesn’t match her power. That kind of person is the scariest, I’d rather face someone old and obvious.”
The short-haired woman said slowly: “There are plenty of people in this realm. We don’t need to chase just one.”
The cap-wearer fell silent.
He was convinced.
--- Read at: https://blogspot-translatedstories. blogspot.com/?m=1 ---
In a shadowed forest, Gangbao descended through the wild winds.
The Qingqingni Compass’s rings rotated steadily, meaning Qingqing Ni was at rest nearby. The gales felt just like when Qingqing Ni had posed for that photo with her… perhaps she had found its elder here.
Sliding off Gangbao, Qiao Sang glanced at the compass and advanced carefully toward the needle’s direction.
It was her first time moving on foot since entering the Secret Realm.
The rotting leaves crunched underfoot for twenty minutes until a cliff came into view.
Atop it rested a massive bird beast, white-brown with streaks of greenish hide down its back and neck, a tuft of white feather at its throat, and a long brown tail. Its eyes were closed, wings folded in sleep.
Qiao Sang’s pupils contracted. She recalled a forum post: Northwest, on a cliff, dwelled an Emperor-level Ancient Winged Bird.
A cliff? An Emperor-level Ancient Winged Bird?
She had stepped right into its territory?!
No wonder her path had been so smooth, with no wild beasts in sight, this was its domain!
She signaled to Little Treasure with her eyes: We leave. Now.
But Little Treasure’s eyes shone as he stared at its feathers, itching to try.
Too bold! He actually had his eyes on an Emperor-level beast’s plumage… Qiao Sang’s mouth twitched. She tiptoed backwards, planning to retrace her steps.
At that moment, the drowsy Electric-Tail Worm blinked awake.
The terrifying giant filled its vision.
Its eyes went wide with primal fear, and it let out the most pitiful cry of its life.
“Duanwei!!!”
The Ancient Winged Bird stirred, opening cold, red eyes.
“Run!” Qiao Sang shouted instantly.
“Xun xun!”
Little Treasure snapped out of it, eyes glowing blue.
In the next second, Qiao Sang and her beasts vanished.
The Ancient Winged Bird closed its eyes again, indifferent.
The winds around it roared louder, but it remained unbothered.
A gentle breeze slipped down into the forest.
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Halfway down the mountain.
“Whew…” Qiao Sang let out a long, trembling breath.
That was too close. She hadn’t expected to encounter one of the Secret Realm’s only two Emperor-level beasts.
“Yap!”
Yabao suddenly cried, saying Electric-Tail Worm had fainted.
It actually fainted from fright… Qiao Sang glanced at it and called: “Lubao.”
“Lu Di.”
Lubao understood, her forehead gem glowing blue and bathing Duanwei in healing light.
The glow faded, and Electric-Tail Worm stirred awake.
“Duanwei!”
At once, it scrambled to Qiao Sang’s clothes, hiding behind her with trembling antennae, terrified of everything.
“Don’t be afraid, it’s over.” Qiao Sang comforted gently.
“Duanwei…”
But it still shook all over.
You were so brave when you first met me… Qiao Sang thought with a sigh. But wait, the compass had pointed this way. Could Qingqing Ni actually be near that Ancient Winged Bird? How was I supposed to deal with that…
Lifting the Qingqingni Compass, she saw the all-too-familiar sight: Its rings and needles spun wildly in a full circle.
Her heart skipped a beat.
She held her breath and whispered: “Qingqing Ni?”
The next moment, that pure, childlike voice rang out: “Qing qing?”
And then, Qingqing Ni appeared before her eyes.
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