With heavy hearts, Lu Chaohe and Lu Mingchao led 15 of the clan's cultivators out of the Yuyan Mountain and headed north.
They had a clear plan. Where the horses were yesterday had been marked on the map. Furthermore, the horses' path of migration was also indicated on the map.
They were an estimated 240 miles away from where the group of horses was. To the cultivators, this distance was not far away. A cultivator at the Qi Refining Stage could reach the area in half a day at their normal speed. A Foundation Building cultivator could reach the area in just over two hours if they rode on a flying sword or other flying equipment.
Water-Spirit Horses were also Level One Spiritual Beasts. Their speed was a little faster than a Qi Refining cultivator.
However, this group of horses was migrating, and they had no powerful enemies chasing after them. They searched for water and food while they walked. They even had the time to rest and play. Since that was the case, their pace throughout the entire journey would not be too fast.
It was not much a problem to catch up to the herd in four days, especially since their target was so clear.
In reality, they had already found traces of the herd of horses on the morning of the second day.
The path the horses took was nearly identical to the one they marked on the map.
They officially encountered the group of horses at noon.
This group of Water-Spirit Horses seemed to consist of 24 horses. Among them, there were five young horses, 12 female horses, and seven male horses. They were drinking water and resting by a pond. The young horses were even chasing one another around the herd and seemed to be playing. The bodies of these Water-Spirit Horses were white. Pale blue light emanated faintly from under their fur. They looked exceptionally beautiful.
Lu Mingchao was a water-element cultivator. The technique she cultivated was called Score of Water and Cloud. There was one skill within that technique that was rather suitable during such a situation.
With her seventh brother, she first instructed all of the other cultivators to form a circle of embattlement. She then took action.
She formed a gesture with her hands and cast Cloud and Fog spell.
This spell enabled her to summon a very thick fog that could envelop the large area and obscure their figures. At the same time, she could sense the situation within the fog and transmit those feelings to her partners.
The horses reacted immediately when the fog had just appeared.
They were water-element Spiritual Beasts and were exceptionally sensitive to the changes to the Water Spiritual Energy around them.
Following the brays of the male horses, the entire herd started to move and return to their group. All of the mature Water-Spirit Horses formed a circle to protect the young horses in the middle of the circle.
While the herd of horses was anxious, three cultivators suddenly appeared in the west. They held brightly lit torches and approached the herd of horses from the perimeter. They even shouted threateningly.
Even though Water-Spirit Horses were Spiritual Beasts that possessed Spiritual Energy, they were naturally docile and temperate. They did not like to fight. Under threat, the first instinct of the group of horses was to run in the opposite direction.
They fell straight into the trap set by the cultivators.
Lu Chaohe was the only Level Two Array Mage in the clan. He had set up an array in the east of the group of horses beforehand. When the group of horses passed by, he appeared from within the fog and rang a bell in his hand. He activated the array with the help of four other Qi Refining cultivators.
Spiritual Energy pulsed as the earth started to shake. The herd of horses brayed but could not stay steady on their feet. They all fell to the ground.
This was a level two low-grade array called Ground Flipping Array. Its effects were as witnessed before. It could shake and flip the ground to make the target unable to move freely within the array. The targets would be trapped and would feel the pressure of the earth. Furthermore, due to the activation of the heavy Earth Spiritual Energy, all flying spells would be restricted to an extent.
Water-Spirit Horses could not fly and were thus even more powerless against the array.
A dozen cultivators showed themselves at the same time and circled the edge of the array as they started to impose a restriction.
"Seventh Uncle, softer. Seventh Uncle, softer…" A female voice rang out. The person who spoke seemed to be a young lady. She was rather beautiful, but she was already 45 years old.
The age of cultivators, especially female cultivators, cannot be judged by their appearances. In the world of cultivation, aside from a few special circumstances, almost all eligible female cultivators would have done something to their appearance. Their cultivation allowed their bodies to remain at peak condition when they were young. Furthermore, there were pills and elixirs that they could consume.
Her name was Lu Xueting. She belonged to the second generation of the Lu Clan with the generation name "Ting." She was currently a sixth-tier Qi Refining cultivator. Judging from her current cultivation progress, there was not much hope of her reaching the Foundation Building Stage.
However, she was currently the only Beast Tamer in the family. Her standards reached level one high grade.
In the past, the clan also had a small group of Spiritual Beasts. They had reared a few Demon Ducks that were tended to by people they employed. Later, they felt that it was not worth it to employ people and thus nurtured a Beast Tamer from the clan. That person was Lu Xueting.
Unfortunately, they managed to nurture a Beast Tamer, but they lost the horde of Demon Ducks…
However, there was finally a use for her now.
The group of Water-Spirit Horses was much more important than the Demon Ducks, which could only be reared for food. A Level Two Beast Tamer could well manage them. However, the clan had no choice. They had to send Lu Xueting given their current circumstances.
Lu Xietung also regarded her mission highly. She was immensely afraid that her Seventh Uncle's Ground Flipping Array would kill a few of these precious Spirit Horses. Even if the horses did not die, their values would decrease drastically if their legs were broken.
After she received the notice for this mission, she had started to produce amulets that could control Spiritual Beasts manically. She had not stopped her production during these two days of tracking down the group of horses. Along with the amulets she had stocked up in the past, she had prepared 40 to 50 Level One Beast Controlling Amulets and handed them out to the cultivators.
At this moment, now that the group of horses had been restrained, she led the cultivators of the clan and tossed the Beast Controlling Amulets into the array one after the other.
The Spiritual Beasts that were hit by the Beast Controlling Amulets would temporarily fall under the control of the Beast Tamer. However, that control would not last long. Whether or not the Spiritual Beast would be fully tamed in the future still depended on the abilities of the Beast Tamer.
However, she did not have the time to tame all of the horses one by one at the moment. She placed a Beast Controlling Amulet on all of them. She would consider taming the horses slowly after she moved all of the horses back to Yuyan Mountain.
The success rate of a Level One Beast Controlling Amulet was rather high against a Level One Spiritual Beast like the Water-Spirit Horse. It was about 70%. All of the Water-Spirit Horses, except for the Horse King, were controlled after she used 35 Beast Controlling Amulets.
The personality of the Horse King was particularly intense. It struggled continuously within the Ground Flipping Array. Water Spiritual Energy pulsed around it as it tried to stand and charge out of the area. However, it fell to the ground time and time again. Lu Xueting placed four to five Beast Controlling Amulets on the Horse King, but it did not have much of an effect. Finally, there was no other choice. Lu Chaohe spoke.
"Let's kill it. It's fine if we skin it and bring back the spiritual meat."
"It's too much of a pity to kill it," Lu Mingchao said. "Let me think of a way…"
As she spoke, she formed a hand gesture and cast another spell.
A string of water shot out from her hand and turned into a rope. The rope tied itself around the trapped Horse King tightly.
"Ninth Sister, are you going to drag the Horse King back?" Lu Chaohe had a worried expression on his face. He was afraid that his youngest sister's spiritual strength would not last the entire journey back.
"Yes," Lu Mingchao replied. "A Water-Spirit Horse is worth 200 Spirit Stones. This Horse King is exceptionally strong and majestic. It might fetch a price of 300 Spirit Stones. Right now, the clan is not in great condition. We have to get every sum of money that we can get. It's all right for members of the clan to suffer a little… You need not worry, Seventh Brother. I know my limits. I can hold up."