After taking care of his personal hygiene at the nearby creek, Wei Yan opted to explore the mountain a bit more to collect some Spirit Herbs which he could trade later in the marketplace. His Supreme Rank Spiritual Sense was on high alert, nothing could escape his attention in a hundred kilometers radius. Practically, his Spiritual Sense had covered the entire mountain.
Although he had numerous treasures in his inventory which could make him very rich in a single night, most of them were invaluable Ancient Treasures that could bring a nation to its knees or worse, total destruction.
Moreover, Wei Yan didn't want to cause a big commotion before he had the strength and means to protect himself. His future endeavours to re-establish Celestial Inn without offending big powerhouses before he reached higher realm was his top priority.
By the time he traversed through the dense jungle, he stumbled on a gruesome scene where numerous Spirit Beasts were killed indiscriminately regardless of their ranking or age. Most of them were missing their Beast Core and some body parts which could be refined into Spirit Weapons for Spirit Core Experts and beyond.
Wei Yan could fairly guess that it must be the work of the Burning Sky Sect and their accomplices.
"Hunting this many beasts for raw materials in less than a year… Tch, tch, somebody in the Burning Sky Sect must be desperate to break through to the Soul Transformation Stage. But, it's still not enough. Are they intent on hunting the beasts in this mountain to extinction? What a disaster."
Aside from the beasts' carcasses, numerous human remains also littered the ground and took Wei Yan by surprise. They were low level grunts who were sacrificed by the sect's top brass to achieve their goals to minimize the loss.
He looted everything that could be sold later, and put them into the inventory. As he checked the dead body one after another, a rustling noise was heard from the bushes about a hundred meters away, for some reason, it was locked onto him.
Upon a quick scan, Wei Yan identified the creature as a Black Tiger Beast's cub.
"To have such a sharp sense in early age is indeed very astonishing. It seems like nature forced it to be strong very early. Tch, tch… humans are indeed shameless, heartless and selfish."
Wei Yan opted to continue with his own business, ignoring the beast's cub. If it ought to die in the hands of those humans, then so be it. Wei Yan had no obligation to save it.
By the end of the day, Wei Yan managed to gather a bunch of Spirit Herbs and various beast's body parts.
"The rough estimation of these items would be around 1,000 low-grade spirit stones. It's not much, but at least it's honest work."
As Wei Yan was ready to slip out of the mountain, the beast cub was crying aloud, he could also hear dozens of men unleashing their Martial Technique one after another to corner the little beast.
"Don't kill it! We must take it alive!" Shouted one of the men.
"Yes, sir!"
Suddenly, the little beast completely went silent as if it was swallowed by the earth.
"Where did it go?!"
"You bunch of trash! Keep looking! We must not lose it!"
The search went on until the day turned dark. Wei Yan was a little bit annoyed that he couldn't leave the mountain just yet since it was already surrounded from all sides by the Burning Sky Sect. He opted to find a quiet place where the Earth Qi was the thinnest. It was a completely barren valley filled with Abyssal Yin Qi when the night came.
Even the Alpha Beast of this mountain would think twice before entering due to the chaotic nature of the energy. With the protection of Turtle Dome Formation, however, the malicious energy was negated effectively. In addition, Wei Yan's powerful Spiritual Sense protected him from being insane.
Although he chose the most unlikely place to be visited by any living being, the little beast was still able to locate him by following his unique smell.
When it was cornered on the edge of the cliff, the little cub deliberately took a leap of faith into the dark and barren valley below.
The chaser cursed under his breath. "Darn it! Let's jump!"
"Hold on a sec, First Brother! We can't! The Abyssal Yin Qi would devour your soul without the protection of Spirit Core's aura! Let's report this to the Elder Wang Wuya first!"
"Hmph! It couldn't be helped then. Let's get back to the outpost!"
A few minutes into the fall, the little beast could already feel the ground was so close. However, the momentum was slowed down until it was gently laid down by an invisible force. The weak and feeble beast tried its best to stay awake as a figure of man walked slowly toward it, encased within a greenish dome formation. It could breathe much easier when the man's dome formation covered its body.
Wei Yan, however, still couldn't understand why the little beast sought him out of all beings in the jungle. He shook his head, sighing exasperatedly.
"Tch, tch, tch. Seems like the Beast Distribution System has blessed me today, or cursed me, perhaps? Very well, I'll take you in until you're grown enough to be independent. From today onwards, I will call you Xiao Mao!"
Technically, the little was indeed a Black Tiger's cub through and through. However, his common sense and knowledge was still overlapping with the past. In his understanding, anything that was no bigger than the Tian Baihu Beast Clan was still considered as a small cat.
In the next morning, Wei Yan left the barren valley with a small beast cub in his energy bubble. He did so as to not hurt it any further.
"Hmm, I need to find this mountain's Earth Qi Vein to make a Yin Yang Spirit Hot Spring to heal this kitty. Otherwise, it'd definitely die before I could leave this place. Haiya, what a cumbersome task."