Lanzhou, Red Peach Ridge.
Located in the southeastern part of Lanzhou in Jingguo Country, Red Peach Ridge was more than seven hundred li away from Jiufeng Ridge, the home of the Zhou Family.
The mountain range stretched over two hundred li with complex terrain, and it was infested with poisonous insects and fierce animals. Many Demon Beasts frequented the area, making it a popular place for treasure-hunting adventures among the loose cultivators of Lanzhou.
At this moment, Zhou Chun, Zhou Zhengyong, and Zhou Jiapeng, who had left the Zhou Family at Jiufeng Ridge, were standing outside a valley deep in Red Peach Ridge.
"It's the valley ahead, where the Red-Tailed Monkey Group usually resides. There are also many ordinary beasts cohabiting with them in the valley," Zhou Zhengyong said softly, pointing to a valley surrounded by mountains on three sides with an entrance only twenty to thirty zhang wide, and he shared the information he had previously gathered.
However, after hearing his words, Zhou Jiapeng standing beside him slightly shook his head and said, "Zhengyong, my good nephew, what you said was the situation from a few days ago. Let's wait until Uncle Peng has sent the Iron Feather Hawk to scout the area before making any decisions."
No sooner had he finished speaking, without waiting for Zhou Zhengyong's response, Zhou Jiapeng slapped his Spirit Beast Pouch and released his Spirit Pet, the Iron Feather Hawk.
As a top-tier first-rank Demon Beast, the Iron Feather Hawk was several times larger than the Golden Eagles that Zhou Chun had seen in his previous life. With its wings spread, it measured thirteen zhang, and its feathers shimmered metallically as if forged from pure steel.
Upon emerging from the Spirit Beast Pouch, the hawk swept a sharp glance over Zhou Chun and Zhou Zhengyong before opening its beak to let out a low chirp toward Zhou Jiapeng.
Once Zhou Jiapeng communicated his instructions mentally to it, the hawk immediately flapped its wings, stirring up a fierce wind to propel itself forward several zhang, and then it soared into the sky.
Watching this scene, Zhou Zhengyong couldn't help but express his admiration, "Uncle Peng, your Iron Feather Hawk is truly magnificent. If it could produce offspring in the future, you must consider your nephew. Even if I have to sell all my possessions, I would buy one to raise!"
However, as soon as these words left his mouth, Zhou Jiapeng sighed with a frustrated expression, "Ah, it's fine if you don't mention it, but as soon as you do, it just upsets me."
"More than two years ago, I had finally obtained information about a female Iron Feather Hawk appearing in a certain area in Fengguo. I intended to take Iron Peng to seek out that female Iron Feather Hawk for breeding, but before we could set out, that incident happened!"
"Now the thought of finding another suitable female Iron Feather Hawk for breeding, who knows how many years it will take!"
Er…
Zhou Zhengyong was at a loss for what to say next.
Indeed, the matter of finding breeding partners for Spirit Pets was a long-standing issue for Beast Taming families like the Zhou Family.
Aside from a few types of Spirit Pets, most of the pets of Zhou Family cultivators were either captured from the wild or purchased from other cultivators.
As these Spirit Pets grew up, finding them a mate to produce offspring was not an easy task.
Typically, cultivators would either inquire about other cultivators who reared the same type of Spirit Pet and then request paid breeding arrangements or search for a wild Demon Beast of the same species to tempt or force into breeding.
In such cases, the rarer the Spirit Pet, the harder it was to find a suitable mate of the same species.
So often, when could not find a mate of the same species, Zhou Family cultivators would have to look among similar categories for a breeding partner.
Just like lions and tigers could breed, Iron Feather Hawks could also mate with certain types of bird or falcon Demon Beasts.
But the offspring that resulted from such matings could not guarantee viability or potential.
Most of the time, due to the incompatibility of the power attributes of the two different Demon Beasts, even if offspring were produced, they were difficult to raise.
Or if they were raised, the conflict of bloodlines in their bodies meant they lacked potential for cultivation.
Occurrences where the offspring perfectly inherited both parents' powers and developed strong bloodlines were extremely rare.
Thus, Zhou Zhengyong was uncertain how to comfort his uncle Zhou Jiapeng and could only mask his awkwardness with silence.
As for Zhou Chun standing beside them, he had even less intention of joining the conversation.
He was not familiar with his clan uncle Zhou Jiapeng; he was only here because of Zhou Zhengyong and felt it inappropriate to interject on such topics.
After waiting in silence for about a quarter of an hour, the Iron Feather Hawk circled back above their heads and landed on the treetops, conveying its reconnaissance results to Zhou Jiapeng.
Having received the report from his Spirit Pet, Zhou Jiapeng quickly said, "Alright, Iron Peng has confirmed that there are indeed only those Red-Tailed Demon Monkeys in the valley, and no traces of other Demon Beasts or cultivators have been seen nearby for several li. We can proceed with confidence."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhengyong immediately could not contain his excitement and bowed deeply to him, saying, "Everything is in your hands, uncle."
After that, the three of them, led by Zhou Jiapeng, entered the valley together.
After entering the valley, Zhou Chun looked up and saw that the valley was quite large, spanning about two to three hundred acres. It was filled with orchards growing various kinds of wild fruits.
Therefore, besides the monkey groups, some small beast species and birds that also feed on wild fruits were living there.
As the three human Cultivators entered, the monkeys and birds in the valley that noticed their presence immediately began to sound their piercing alarms in warning.
Some of the bolder and more aggressive monkeys even stood on the treetops, grabbing wild fruits and branches to launch an attack on the three people.
"These impudent monkeys!"
The leading Zhou Jiapeng's face darkened. He quickly formed hand gestures and with a wave of his hand, he flung a series of greenish needles towards those monkeys.
Every monkey hit by those greenish needles screamed tragically and fell from the treetops – in an instant, more than a dozen monkeys were struck.
This immediately scared the remaining monkeys, who all started shrieking and fled deeper into the valley.
So this is what they mean by "kill one to warn a hundred"?
Watching this scene unfold, Zhou Chun chuckled silently to himself.
As they ventured dozens of yards deeper into the valley, they quickly caught sight of the Red-Tailed Monkey Group.
The monkeys were already alarmed, and it seemed as if both parties had run into each other halfway through their journeys.
Upon seeing the three human Cultivators, the Monkey King in the group immediately let out a fierce roar and was the first to launch an attack.
Fireballs and flaming arrows came shooting from all directions towards the three people, creating quite an impressive spectacle.
The trio, upon seeing this, either brought out Magic Artifacts to defend themselves or took out Talismans to activate Protective Barriers around themselves.
At the same time, Zhou Chun and Zhou Zhengyong each slapped their Spirit Beast Pouches at their waists and released their respective Spirit Pets.
However, in this situation, Zhou Chun's Rock Earth Turtle really couldn't be of much use; at most, it could serve as a meat shield to attract fire.
After all, the Rock Earth Turtle's main form of attack could not reach the Red-Tailed Monkeys hopping around the treetops.
And it was clear that the Red-Tailed Monkeys were not foolish enough to come face to face with it for a close-quarters battle.
However, although the Rock Earth Turtle may not have been useful this time, Zhou Chun's several Magic Artifacts were extremely effective.
Under the influence of his Mana, a Silver Short Sword and a pale golden dagger flew out, each locking onto a target and shooting towards a Red-Tailed Monkey.
Lacking experience in combat with Cultivators, the monkeys faced the incoming Magic Artifacts and, after a few unsuccessful attempts at dodging, they finally become enraged and directly swiped their claws at them.
As a result, one had its claws severed by a burst of sword light from the Silver Short Sword and died on the spot with a sword through its chest.
Another had its palm pierced by the pale golden dagger and fell from the treetops.
Meanwhile, Zhou Jiapeng's Iron Feather Hawk descended from the sky, directly pouncing in front of the Monkey King. With its claws flailing, it unleashed dark claw shadows and began a fierce battle with the Monkey King.
After fighting for about half a quarter of an hour, nearly half of the dozen or so Red-Tailed Monkeys were killed under the assault of the Zhou Family trio.
This greatly enraged the Monkey King, which was still entangled with the Iron Feather Hawk.
It suddenly let out a piercing scream, prompting the remaining Red-Tailed Monkeys to immediately abandon their attack and scatter in all directions to escape.
Then it, too, spat out a blazing flame to push back the Iron Feather Hawk and rapidly fled towards the forest outside the valley, jumping away.
Seeing this, the Iron Feather Hawk seemed intent on pursuing further.
But at that moment, Zhou Jiapeng spoke out to stop it, "Don't chase them, let them go."
After speaking, he turned to Zhou Chun and Zhou Zhengyong, advising them, "Our Zhou Family has established itself with the Beast Taming Technique. Our ancestors have always said that wild Demon Beasts are hard to grow, and if there is no conflict of interest, one should not seek to exterminate them completely, lest future generations struggle to find suitable Spirit Pets for contracts."
"Killing these Red-Tailed Monkeys wouldn't yield much benefit, as we can barely extract a few ounces of oil from them. It's better to let them breed here. Who knows, maybe one day Zhengyong's nephew will need them for breeding his own Red-Tailed Monkeys!"
Hearing this, both of them appeared thoughtful and then withdrew their Magic Artifacts.
Zhou Jiapeng saw this and couldn't help nodding with satisfaction. Then he waved his hand and declared, "Let's go. Now let's see the treasure guarded by the monkey group in the valley, and don't let those impudent monkeys get there first."