Chapter 457: Golden Silk Demonic Ape
"Zhui Yun, land over there."
"Neigh—!"
Zhui Yun let out a sharp whinny and slowly descended according to Qi Han's instructions.
They were still about five kilometers away from the Jing Yang Mountain Range. The reason Qi Han chose to land here was that he had noticed signs of human activity near the edge of the mountain range ahead.
Having just arrived on the Sun Moon Continent and still unfamiliar with the local situation, Qi Han decided to play it safe.
After all, flying openly in the air was far too conspicuous.
After communicating briefly with Zhui Yun and letting him return to his initial state, Qi Han held Zhui Yun with one hand and carried Pururu in his arms with the other as he walked toward the Jing Yang Mountain Range.
"Stop right there! What are you doing?"
Very soon, the man and his two beasts were stopped by a soldier holding a strangely shaped metallic weapon in his hand and carrying another metal weapon on his back.
On the chest of his fitted uniform was the emblem of the Sun Moon Empire. Clearly, he was a soldier of the empire.
So the weapons in his hand and on his back were spirit tools?
Qi Han's curiosity was instantly piqued as he examined the weapon in the soldier's hand with interest.
Although he had heard about spirit tools many times before, this was his first time seeing one in person.
One end of the weapon was firmly clamped to the wrist. In the middle was a hollow grip for the hand to hold. At the front was a structure resembling a hemispherical antenna.
The entire metallic surface was engraved with intricate patterns. Though the overall structure wasn't particularly complex, the metallic inscriptions gave it a rather high-tech and imposing appearance.
As for the metal weapon strapped to the soldier's back, it looked somewhat like a rocket launcher without the rocket attached.
The cylindrical barrel bore similarly complex engravings, along with two handles for gripping. Even though it was currently inactive, Qi Han could still sense a faint hint of danger emanating from its dark muzzle.
"What are you staring at? Never seen a spirit-guided ray gun before?" The soldier's expression grew impatient. He raised the spirit-guided ray gun in his hand, its antenna-like head pointing directly at Qi Han. "Ahead is the Jing Yang Mountain Range boundary. If you have no business here, retreat!"
This left Qi Han slightly confused.
He had never encountered such a situation on the Douluo Continent.
However, noticing other soldiers glancing in their direction, Qi Han decided not to cause trouble and took the initiative to explain.
"I'm here to hunt Spirit Beasts in the Jing Yang Mountain Range."
"Hunt Spirit Beasts?" Upon hearing this, the soldier's expression softened slightly, and he slowly lowered the spirit-guided ray gun. "Wait a moment. I need to scan you."
Scan?
Qi Han was puzzled when he saw the soldier pull out a peculiar metallic device from his waist and sweep it over Qi Han's body.
The device was relatively small—just slightly larger than a palm—so Qi Han hadn't noticed it earlier. Now that he looked closely, it was clearly another kind of spirit tool.
A burst of blue light flashed from the device as it scanned Qi Han's body. Soon, a mechanical voice sounded:
"Spirit Power level: Fifty-three."
So it was a spirit tool used to measure Spirit Power?
Qi Han finally understood.
After hearing the scan result, the soldier's attitude immediately became more respectful.
"Respected Fifth-Level Spirit Engineer, I apologize for my earlier discourtesy. You may now enter."
Fifth-Level Spirit Engineer?
Qi Han couldn't help but laugh inwardly. He didn't even know how spirit tools were made, yet now he was being labeled a Fifth-Level Spirit Engineer.
Still, he didn't bother correcting the soldier.
As long as he could enter, that was enough.
Having just arrived on the Sun Moon Continent, he preferred not to stir up unnecessary trouble.
Wasn't it better to quietly earn the money and leave without drawing attention?
Mounting Zhui Yun once more, Qi Han guided him swiftly toward the interior of the Jing Yang Mountain Range.
Only after watching Qi Han disappear into the distance did the soldier who had stopped him finally let out a long breath of relief and rejoin the others.
"That scared me to death—I almost stopped a Fifth-Level Spirit Engineer just now!"
"Hahaha! Who told you to judge him by his age and rush up to block him? Never judge a book by its cover!"
"Forget that, did you see that horse he was riding? It looked incredible. Have you ever seen a horse like that?"
"No idea. Judging by that horn, it's probably some kind of Spirit Beast. There are so many Spirit Beasts in this world, who could possibly recognize them all?"
"A Spirit Beast mount like that must be extremely expensive. And that Spirit Engineer was so young yet already at the Fifth-Level. He must be some kind of genius, maybe he's from the Royal Spirit Engineer Academy?"
"I think so too. Even though he wasn't wearing the academy uniform, there's a high chance he's from that academy."
"Yeah, I agree…"
…
Qi Han had no idea that after he left, the soldiers—judging by his cultivation level and age—had mistaken him for a prodigious student from the Royal Spirit Engineer Academy.
With Zhui Yun running at full speed, it didn't take long before Qi Han encountered his first opponent.
It was a golden-furred ape.
However… no matter how long he stared at it, Qi Han couldn't identify what kind of Spirit Beast it was.
"Ru Yi, why isn't this thing in the Ingredient Encyclopedia?"
"The one I gave you before was the Douluo Continent Ingredient Encyclopedia. Of course Spirit Beasts from the Sun Moon Continent wouldn't be included," Ru Yi explained, then added, "The Sun Moon Continent Ingredient Encyclopedia has already been sent to your storage space."
Good grief.
Qi Han could already sense that a new book had appeared in the storage section of his system space. Compared to the previous encyclopedia, this one was noticeably thinner—apparently the variety of "ingredients"… ahem, Spirit Beasts… on the Sun Moon Continent was somewhat fewer.
But that wasn't the immediate concern.
The golden-furred ape was already lunging at him. He clearly didn't have time to pull out the encyclopedia to check its classification.
A kitchen knife instantly appeared in his hand. The oppressive aura of his ten-thousand-year Spirit Rings caused the ape's movements to falter slightly.
Channeling Spirit Power into his wrist, Qi Han swung the back of the blade heavily against the ape's arm, instantly knocking it backward.
Although he had held back and not used the blade's edge, the force of the strike still caused the ape's arm to twist unnaturally. Judging from the angle, it was likely fractured.
A bit weak.
He raised an eyebrow. This ape's cultivation was probably around a thousand years at most—no more.
Ape-type Spirit Beasts were generally more intelligent than other beasts of the same level. After just one exchange, it realized that this human could break its bones with a single strike—clearly a threat to its life. Enduring the pain in its injured arm, it scrambled up a tree using its uninjured hand and both feet, fleeing rapidly while letting out shrill cries.
It just ran?
Qi Han didn't give chase. Instead, he retrieved the new encyclopedia from his storage space and began flipping through it.
After only a couple of pages, his expression suddenly changed.
The very ape he had just encountered appeared in the book.
Golden Silk Demonic Ape — a species capable of reaching ten-thousand-year cultivation. Social, combative, and fiercely protective of its own kind. Primarily inhabits the Jing Yang Mountain Range, dominating the third branch of the mountain range.
And he was currently… in the third branch.
Before he could react, an enraged roar suddenly echoed from the distance. A much larger Golden Silk Demonic Ape—far bigger than the one before—came charging toward Qi Han. Clinging to its shoulder was a familiar smaller ape.
It was the one that had just escaped.
Damn it!
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