"Old Jin, follow that Xiao Yu." Jiang Chen issued his command.
Though they were traveling underground, this was the Gold-Munching Mouse King's specialty. Following the path Xiao Yu took, they tracked him all the way through the subterranean passages.
"Yu'er, come pay your respects to these senior brothers." Liu Chengfeng's voice rang out from above ground.
Xiao Yu stepped forward quickly. "Junior brother Xiao Yu pays respects to his senior brothers."
"Mm, so you're Xiao Yu? Not bad!" A deep voice spoke.
Liu Chengfeng was clearly very respectful toward the owner of this voice and hurriedly made introductions. "Yu'er, this is Senior Brother Zhou Yi, one of Elder Tie's personal disciples. He's not yet thirty, but has already entered the Earth Spirit Realm. His future prospects are limitless! You should consult Senior Brother Zhou more often in the future."
Upon hearing that the other was actually younger than himself yet had already reached the Earth Spirit Realm, a storm of shock surged through Xiao Yu's heart. His expression was one of pure reverence. "Senior Brother Zhou is extraordinarily talented—this junior brother is full of admiration. I used to cultivate among the secular outer disciples and honestly thought quite highly of myself. Being called a genius went to my head. It seems I truly was a frog at the bottom of a well! A figure like Senior Brother Zhou is what a true genius deserves to be called!"
Hearing these words, Liu Chengfeng felt a touch of surprise but was nonetheless quite gratified. It seemed that after the failed marriage proposal last time, Xiao Yu had taken the setback to heart and his temperament had improved considerably.
At the very least, these flatteries were delivered with practiced ease. The old Xiao Yu would never have deigned to say such things.
It really did look like Xiao Yu had matured.
Liu Chengfeng doted on this disciple the most, and seeing him like this brought secret joy to his heart.
It had to be said—Xiao Yu's flattery was delivered with remarkable precision. First he mocked himself, placing his own position as low as possible, then used comparison to highlight Zhou Yi's genius.
A faint smile appeared on Zhou Yi's originally rather indifferent expression.
"Xiao Yu, your Qianlan Northern Palace is also under my master Elder Tie's people, so to speak—we're all one family. You don't need to be so formal and reserved. This time, I heard your urgent dispatch arrived, and Master sent me down the mountain along with these junior brothers. Just how big of a deal is this transaction? Even your Qianlan Northern Palace can't handle it alone?"
Liu Chengfeng said, "This matter involves many parties. Without the backing of our sect's higher-ups, I truly felt a bit isolated and unable to stand my ground. Here's what happened. Some days ago, I spotted Tian Shao of the Dragon Tooth Guard traveling toward the border with a woman. For certain reasons, I sent people to follow them. They discovered that the two had hidden over a thousand peak Mortal-grade fierce birds at the border."
"Peak Mortal-grade? Over a thousand of them?" Zhou Yi's tone tightened slightly.
"That's right—genuinely peak Mortal-grade fierce birds, every one of them top quality. They're even higher grade than our Yellow-Plumed Divine Eagles or the Dragon Tooth Guard's Huangyi Yalong. Such spirit birds—I've been raising spirit birds at the Qianlan Northern Palace for all these years, and I've never seen such a large batch, so many at once!"
The Yellow-Plumed Divine Eagle was roughly equivalent in quality to a Silver-Winged Sword Bird, and raising them was no easy feat. Every single Yellow-Plumed Divine Eagle that the Qianlan Northern Palace trained was an enormous effort.
Back when Jiang Chen had first passed by the Qianlan Northern Palace, he happened to encounter their disciples chasing after two swindlers—because those two had impersonated Dragon Tooth Guards and swindled the palace out of two Yellow-Plumed Divine Eagles. The palace disciples had furiously given chase and happened to run into Jiang Chen's group.
Upon encountering Jiang Chen's party, they had spontaneously abandoned the pursuit of the swindlers and instead attempted to forcibly seize Jiang Chen's Golden-Winged Sword Birds.
That was the original source of the enmity between the Qianlan Northern Palace and Jiang Chen.
It was also, in its own way, proof of how difficult it was to cultivate Yellow-Plumed Divine Eagles.
Now, the sudden appearance of over a thousand spirit birds of even higher quality than Yellow-Plumed Divine Eagles—how could the entire Qianlan Northern Palace not be burning with excitement?
True, they knew all of this was connected to Jiang Chen.
But under the支配 of greed, they decided to take the risk.
Moreover, they knew full well that the Qianlan Northern Palace had already formed an irreconcilable grudge with Jiang Chen. There was no need to be courteous toward him.
Liu Chengfeng had given this considerable thought. He had to admit that with the Qianlan Northern Palace's strength alone, he might not be able to stand against Jiang Chen these days.
That was why he had chosen to send an urgent dispatch immediately and seek Elder Tie's instructions.
If the sect stepped forward and threw its weight behind them, then even if it involved Jiang Chen, even if it involved the Dragon Tooth Guard, Liu Chengfeng would have nothing to fear.
When Zhou Yi heard Liu Chengfeng's account, his heart warmed. "If they truly are peak Mortal-grade, their combat power would rival top-tier True Qi Grandmasters. For human martial artists, that wouldn't be particularly remarkable. But for flying spirit birds—that would be exceedingly rare! Palace Master Liu, this discovery of yours is no small contribution!"
Receiving Zhou Yi's approval, Liu Chengfeng was delighted. "Not at all, not at all—it's all just doing work for Elder Tie. Old Liu here has always been willing to endure hardship without complaint."
"Mm. Now then—where are those spirit birds at the moment?" Zhou Yi asked.
Underground, Jiang Chen had his Wind-listening Ear pushed to its absolute peak, afraid of missing a single word. His heart was already burning with towering rage.
So all of this really was connected to the Qianlan Northern Palace!