Ma Tu along with his guards was stunned for a long time. Black tiger, a Peak Martial Grandmaster, had his head chopped off along with all of his cronies in just a few minutes by a young man. This was too terrifying. Ma Tu stared at Fang Lan foolishly without being able to say a word even after Ling Chen spoke to him.
There was only confusion left in his mind and the entire group was in a chaotic mess as well.
However, he didn't take him long before he broke free from his witless state.
He quickly calmed down and with a wryly smile, he answered, " It seemed like brother Fang, no, senior Fang and Senior Ling didn't need my guards' protection."
Even though he calmed down, Ma Tu was still feeling restless. To someone like him, a Peak Martial Grandmaster was already strong. Even his father who was a Martial Ancestor expert wouldn't overlook a master of such magnitude.
Yet a person like that didn't even have the power to resist Fang Lan, only the main branch of the family had such an expert.
As such, he quickly changed the way he addressed them compared to before where he was calling them brother. Even the guards had the same ideas as well. Not to mention them, even the people from the main branch family would respect such a powerful expert.
Besides, it wasn't a shameful thing to address them that way. It's all about power in this world and age had nothing to do with it. Even if Ling Chen was one year old and had such a powerful servant, he would've still called him senior.
" Brother Ma, I'm only a ten years old kid. There's no need to call me senior. In fact, you can just act like before." Ling Chen said as he noticed the stuttering as well the complicated look on Ma Tu's face.
" Well.....If you say so little.....little brother Ling." Ma Tu scratched his head and let out a silly smile. Deep down, he was thrilled to be able to befriend such powerful people.
" Also, it didn't matter if I didn't need your protection, I really appreciated the gesture." Ling Chen said with a sincere smile on his face.
Life's really ironic and unpredictable. His own brother tried to kill him many times, yet a perfect stranger tried to protect him from a group of bandits.
Ma Tu only smiled bitterly upon hearing Ling Chen's words.
Soon the tense atmosphere returned to normal and Ma Tu and Ling Chen were chatting like when they first met. However, none of them brought the topic of the bandits as though it never happened.
Furthermore, although Ma Tu told Ling Chen about his family, he didn't dare to ask Ling Chen about his or Fang Lan. And just like that, the night went by.
......
After the blackness of night, the sun finally rose, filling the sky with its warm light as it announced the arrival of a brand new day.
At this time, Ling Chen, Fang Lan, and Ma Tu along with his guards already began to travel toward the Red Sand Valley.
Because Ling Chen had decided to travel along With Ma Tu and the rest, he had no choice but to send the Black Lightning Eagle back to the sect.
Before he left the sect, His father had given him a device that allowed him to communicate with the Black Lightning Eagle even though they were far apart. As such, since last night, Ling Chen had sent the Eagle home before Ma Tu and his group saw it.
Along the way, Ma Tu explained to Ling Chen all the information he knew about the Black Fox cub.
According to Ma Tu, two days ago his father came across some news about a heavily injured 7th rank demon beast that appeared next to a cave a few kilometers away from the Red Sand Valley.
From what they could tell, the 7th rank demon beast seemed to have failed his heavenly tribulation and was on his last breath.
Unlike human cultivator, breaking through the 7th rank to the 8th rank which was comparable to a Martial Sovereign realm warrior was a huge milestone for a demon beast. It was also the most dangerous and the most important phase in a demon beast's life.
That was because once a demon beast successfully passed that hurdles, it would be able to take human form. However, that stage was as hard as a human breaking through the Martial Saint realm as they were both accompanied by heavenly tribulation.
However, that wasn't important. The most important thing was that the injured 7th rank demon beast which was a rare black fox gave birth to a small cub, a 7th class little cub.
7th rank demon beast and 7th class demon beast were two different things. A 7th rank demon beast was a powerful demon beast similar to a Martial Emperor human warrior, while a 7th class demon beast was a beast that had the potential to become a 7th rank demon beast in the future due to its powerful bloodline.
After listening to Ma Tu's explanation, not to mention Fang Lan, even Ling Chen furrowed his brows.
This wasn't a small piece of news or rumor. It was something big enough to draw the attention of the Heavenly Demon Sect higher-ups.
A 7th rank demon beast wasn't something people in the mortal world could deal with. In fact, there wasn't supposed to be a powerful rogue demon beast running wild next to a human kingdom at all.
Although the demon beast mountain range was vast and boundless and occupied half of the Heaven Desolate Region, the fifteen great influences were positioned in a way that prevented any powerful demon beasts to get close to the kingdoms or the mortal influences under their rule before passing through them first. They were like fortresses that protected the mortal kingdoms and their domains from the powerful demon beasts in the demon beast mountain range.
Yet, there was a powerful injured 7th rank demon beast that was even about to break through the 8th rank within the domain of the Heavenly demon sect and the Heavenly Demon knew nothing about it.
This was really odd and suspicious!
Even though Ling Chen didn't care about power or influence, as the son of the Heavenly Demon Venerable and also the newly appointed Asura Elder, he has the duty to protect the sect's territory including his vassals from any threat. As such, he intended to get into the bottom of this.
On the way, Ling Chen noticed plenty of people rushing to the direction of the Red Sand valley as well. With the information about an injured 7th rank demon beast as well as a 7th class demon beast cub, every single warrior in the Sky Lion Kingdom and the surrounding influences were rushing on over.
These people were a bunch of weak warriors that hadn't even opened their lower-dantian, yet they had the gut to try their luck against an injured 7th rank demon beast. There was only a handful of them that were at the Martial Ancestor Realm. They were simply courting death.
According to Ma Tu, the reason he was participating in such an event was to broaden his horizon as he's never seen a 7th rank demon beast before in his entire life.
He didn't come to compete for the black fox cub because he knew that he had no chance of getting it. And even if he did, he wouldn't have kept it as it would bring more harm than good.
After a few hours of traveling, they finally made it to the Red Sand Valley. By this time, there were already hundreds of people gathered densely on a flat clearing with tents everywhere on the outskirts of the Valley.