The Transcendent Immortal Chapter 257 Illusory Moon Beast

The shadow moved so swiftly that no one could keep track of it at all. Mu Shaoai reacted instinctively and unsheathed his Immortal's Sword to block his attacker. The shadow slammed into his sword, producing a loud clanging sound. To everyone's surprise, the crash sent Mu Shaoai staggering backward. Before he could react, the shadow reappeared behind him and slammed into his back.

"Watch out, Junior Brother!"

The moment Yu Yifeng yelled, he moved his fingers to cast a spell. An Immortal's Sword turned into a drawn-out radiance and lunged at the shadow behind Mu Shaoai. It was the Divine Weapon of the Archean Eon: the Startling Rainbow Sword.

After the Startling Rainbow Sword cleaved the shadow, it emitted a high-pitched screech. Even now, the others couldn't make out what creature it was.

Yu Yifeng dashed to Mu Shaoai's side. The creature continued to wail in a hair-raising manner. Suddenly, it split into two, and then four, and began attacking the two of them.

A male disciple named Zhou Li put himself in front of his Junior Sisters. Worried as they were, they dared not advance rashly and fight that strange creature. Xiao Chen frowned and yelled, "Senior Brother Yifeng! Come back now! Leave that place!"

Putting up no protest, Yu Yifeng flew back to them with Mu Shaoai on his shoulders. The shadows gave chase at first, but when all of them retreated more than a mile away, the shadows regathered to form one ent.i.ty with a screech and fled to where they came from.

"What… the heck was that?!"

Mu Shaoai's voice was full of resentment as he held onto the bite mark on his arm.

Yu Yifeng noticed that Mu Shaoai's wound wasn't turning black, so it meant that the creature's bite wasn't venomous. He handed Mu Shaoai a jade bottle. "Stop the bleeding first."

The rest finally relaxed. Even though the monster's attack was inferior to that of a Core Forming Realm cultivator, its speed was terrifying. Xiao Chen glanced at the woods. "You must have entered its domain and brought on the attack."

Yu Yifeng nodded. He looked at Zhou Li. "Junior Brother Zhou, go and investigate the monster."

"Sure," Zhou Li said. He took out a jade plate and tossed it into the sky. Following his spell, the jade plate began to enlarge. Various information appeared.

Shadow Monster: Rank 3.

Whether it goes on the offense: Takes the initiative to attack.

Scope of attack: Twenty feet.

Special traits: High speed, division.

Mu Shaoai punched the trunk of a large tree. "b.a.s.t.a.r.d! How can a Rank 3 monster show up in a Grade 1 district?!"

Yu Yifeng shook his head. "This is a Grade 3 district, not Grade 1. Our cultivation was weak last time, so we were sent to a Grade 1 district. Since there's a sharp increase in the partic.i.p.ants' cultivation this time, they're also sending us to high grades districts."

Xiao Chen chuckled. "The Forest of Illusory Moon is quite interesting."

Yu Yifeng nodded. "The forest is divided into ten grades. Most high-ranking monsters wouldn't appear in places of lower grades. We'll be fine as long as we're careful not to intrude into places of high grades, we'll be fine. We're quite fortunate to have met just a Shadow Monster earlier. Some monsters bear deep grudges. Once they latch onto us, they won't give up unless we kill them."

"If we encounter monsters of Grade 7 and above, our only choice is to crush our jade note. Not even a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator can defeat a Grade 7 monster. I can't even imagine just how powerful a Grade 10 monster will be. So, don't run to high-grade places out of greed for Illusory Moon Beasts," Zhou Li chimed in to explain.

Xiao Chen more or less understood what was going on. He took out the dozen or so seal talismans that he made last night and distributed it to everyone.

"The red one is a Fire Manipulation Talisman, the purple one is a Lightning Blockade Talisman, and the blue one is a Freezing Talisman."

Holding a few of the talismans in hand, Qingyu smiled and said, "Wow! I didn't think you'd know how to make talismans, Junior Brother Xiao!" The rest were astonished as well. In this era, only those with exceptionally strong Divine Sense were able to produce seal talismans with ease.

Mu Shaoai sneered, finding the talismans to be beneath him.

Yu Yifeng looked up and stared in the distant mountain range. "Let's find the Illusory Moon Beasts here today. We can head to the Grade 4 district tomorrow, and search in between both places later on…"

Without waiting for him to finish, Mu Shaoai started kicking up a fuss. "Why aren't we going to Grade 5 and 6 districts? You know we can deal with more beasts in higher-grade districts. Do you think we're too weak to handle a few Grade 5 or 6 monsters? Remember, the minimum qualifying number has gone up from twenty to fifty this time."

Yu Yifeng frowned. "I know, but there will also be more cultivators in Grade 5 and 6 districts. To prevent unnecessary conflict, I think we're better off staying in Grade 3 and 4 districts. Seven days are more than enough for us to gather fifty Hearts of Illusory Moon."

This was the truth. The problem right now wasn't the monsters of the Forest of Illusory Moon but cultivators from other sects. The higher the grade, the more Hearts of Illusory Moon there would be. If a group could gather ten every day in the Grade 4 district, they could find at least forty in the Grade 5 district and at least one hundred in the Grade 6 district.

The volume of the collected Hearts of Illusory Moon had a direct impact as to whether they could enter high-grade Violet Illusory Lands for cultivation in the next two months. However, certain large sects tend to dominate the high-grade districts. For example, the Divine Mist Sect was likely in the Grade 6 district by now. If smaller sects enter, they would just be serving their Hearts on a platter. Of course, they could choose to pay "protection fees" every day, allowing them to escape the fate of having their hard work stolen.

"I think Senior Brother Yu is right. We should tread carefully."

Suddenly, Ziyun'er gave her opinion in a quiet voice. Her only hope was to see Xiao Chen survive the coming seven days and enter the Immortal's Sword a.s.sembly. The number of the Hearts of Illusory Moon that they could gather was of no importance to her.

Mu Shaoai glared at her. "Who allowed you to speak? You're just an outsider's subordinate! Did you think you're a Jade Qing Sect disciple?"

"You!" She advanced with large strides and was about to lose her temper when Xiao Chen reached out to stop her. He smiled at her and said, "Since Senior Brother Mu wants to go to Grade 5 and 6 districts, we'll just come along. Never mind that, we can even go to Grade 7, 8, 9, or 10 districts if you want to."

Yu Yifeng looked at him. "Junior Brother Xiao!"

Zhou Li burst into laughter. "I'll just go with the flow and follow wherever you go. But let's make sure we stick together."

Qingyu's refined brows furrowed. "Stop arguing, you two. Let's just go with Senior Brother Yu's suggestion for now. We can discuss our plan for the next few days when the time comes."

"Hmph!" Mu Shaoai flicked his sleeves. He said coldly, "Why come to the Forest of Illusory Moon if you're that spineless? You should go back and cultivate behind closed doors instead." He then walked ahead without care.

Yu Yifeng shook his head with a sigh. "Let's go down this path for now. Maybe we'll stumble into Illusory Moon Beasts along the way."

The group started making their way southeast. Even though there was a quarrel, no one said anything about it afterward. Nearly an hour later, Li Muxue suddenly cried, "I saw a rabbit! It darted in front of me just now!"

"That's an Illusory Moon Beast, not a rabbit! Chase!"

Yu Yifeng quickly spotted the Illusory Moon Beast and gave chase. Mu Shaoai and the rest were hot on his tail. Xiao Chen dashed, following suit.

The Illusory Moon Beast resembled a rabbit. The nimble creature was fl.u.s.tered when it sensed so many people trying to catch it and nearly crashed into a tree. However, its reaction speed was unparalleled. With so many obstructions in the forest, the group couldn't blockade it at such short notice. Neither could they kill the creature, or they wouldn't be able to retrieve the Heart of Illusory Moon.

It took them some time before they finally managed to surround the creature. The creature was so frightened that it was shaking and screeching. It lifted its claws and pointed to its mouth, indicating for them that it was willing to spit out the Heart of Illusory Moon and for them not to hurt it.

"What a cute rabbit." Li Muxue walked over and tucked the rabbit into her embrace. She couldn't help herself.

The Illusory Moon Beast instantly became silent and its ears began to sway back and forth. It was acting so adorable now. Xiao Chen shook his head with a smile. Such a cunning creature it was. He slowly made his way over, grabbed the creature's ears, and tossed it onto the empty ground.

Frightened, the creature immediately fled far, far away. It disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Mu Shaoai was stunned at first, but soon began to yell, "What are you doing? Why did you release the creature?!"

Yu Yifeng was confused himself. Frowning, he asked, "We'll just retrieve the Heart of Illusory Moon and won't hurt the creature. Junior Brother Xiao, what are you doing?"

Xiao Chen smiled and said nothing.