Tonight, there are quite a few people by the Cyan Horse Marsh.
Behind a small mound in the west, a bear-like man popped his head out from the bushes.
The two-meter-six tall Barbarian big boy Mr. Daxiong, cheerful and sunny, pulled out a small walnut from his pocket.
Although it was an elongated screen type, it seemed just like a toy compared to his big hands.
"Calling Hong Sen, calling Hong Sen, are you there?"
"I'm right behind you… What the heck."
"Doesn't this make us seem professional?"
"Sigh..."
Hong Sen poked his head out from beside Daxiong and sneakily looked toward the Cyan Horse Marsh ahead.
Daxiong chuckled awkwardly, put away the small walnut, and lay quietly on the ground like a rock.
Hong Sen is from the East Continent, Daxiong from the West Continent. After they first met, they journeyed together, and since last year, they've been mingling around the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion, making quite a name for themselves.
Partly because of Daxiong's impressive stature, and partly because he doesn't play by the rules, always hiding explosives in his pocket and often leaving misleading messages on the walls of the Underground City beneath the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion.
He's really annoying, but most people can't beat him.
The good brother duo even cleared a dungeon in the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion come spring, although they didn't achieve all achievements, they still clinched third place in the team category.
After that, finding it dull to grind ranks and exhausting to go for all achievements, Daxiong didn't continue to challenge. After some leisurely days in Thousand Mechanism Town, he dragged Hong Sen off to Cang Mountain.
Mainly because they were out of money, as money flows like water at the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion; the money they brought from their home in the West Continent was long spent, prompting a lifestyle of working one day and playing for three.
Good brother Hong Sen could only accompany him.
After all, he did spend a fair amount of Daxiong's money...
And the reason the brother duo went to Cang Mountain to work was because of Daxiong's specialty.
He is an innate Witch Path prodigy.
Though Daxiong looks, talks, and acts like a brute with explosives, he does have a talent for the Witch Path.
With the fundamental Floating Life Technique, Daxiong can draw inferences even if he hasn't completely mastered it.
Using the Floating Life Spirit Listening Skill, he and Hong Sen have been taking outsourcing tasks from the Beast Taming Sect, helping to capture demon beasts.
This time they stumbled upon a huge task, as they seem to have struck gold, finding an exotic beast.
The beast was like a mass of cyan smoke, formless and elusive, coming and going effortlessly, and extremely vigilant.
Even Daxiong, the Barbarian prodigy who could trap wild boars at three and wrestle bears at five, almost lost track of it. It was only through the Floating Life Listening to Spirits Technique that he was able to follow it to the edge of the Cyan Horse Marsh.
Daxiong was lying on the ground then, his forehead touching the earth, sincere and serene, as whispers of the surrounding plants, trees, fish, and birds echoed in his mind.
A moment later, Daxiong's gaze was firm.
"What's wrong?" Hong Sen asked.
"There's someone nearby," Daxiong answered.
"Who?" Hong Sen lifted his head, glancing left and right slightly.
After a moment's silence, Daxiong spoke.
"Zhen says there's a fool to the north who's been fishing for three days without a bite."
"Qiang says there's a little bald guy to the south, with a big black bear without a hair on its head next to him."
"Hold on, who are Zhen and Qiang?" Hong Sen was a bit baffled.
"Two fish, they said a gentle and generous little girl gave them the names."
Just as Daxiong finished, a whimpering sound came from the center of the lake.
"It's coming!"
...
At this time, the fool who couldn't catch a fish was floating in the air above the lake center with the gentle and generous little girl.
Zhang Ze and Chen Qin were surrounded by a cloud of black fog, which enveloped their figures and auras completely.
The source of the black fog was a black ring on Zhang Ze's finger.
Before leaving the Sword Pavilion in Jing State, Zhang Ze's uncle, Wei Zhuang, had given him a parting gift, upgrading his bootleg Night Demon Emperor Armor.
Though it was still a tight suit, it no longer generated anomalies when worn and could rest in the ring in his hand like a compressed towel when not in use.
Moreover, it could manifest like the current black fog, enveloping others nearby, albeit with somewhat reduced efficacy.
Chen Qin tugged at Zhang Ze's sleeve, looking down through the mist and gasping softly.
"Big Cyan Horse! Senior Brother, look, there really is a Big Cyan Horse!"
"Don't tell me, it's really cyan."
Below them was a small island in the lake, protruding above the water. The island was small, only about six or seven meters wide, nestled in a pit among reeds and wild grass, lay a horse.
A horse with a cyan lower body, half-transparent... A centaur mare?
She was shrouded in cyan mist, naturally accompanied by a mosaic of holy light...
Where did this sister come from?
And from the way she was whimpering, it seemed like she was about to give birth?
However, what concerned him more was another matter; two new tasks had just popped up from the system that had played dead for a long time.
[Task 1, Ancient Wilderness, a long-term collection task, please find the Primordial Creatures awakening across the East Continent.]
[Scanning in progress, Cyan Thorn area pokedex activated, some entries completed.]
[Rewards available for collection]
The next moment, a screen popped up in front of Zhang Ze, mirroring the Pokémon "Who's that Pokémon?" interface. The interface was divided into grids, with sub-menus divided by regions of the East Continent.
And the magical beasts in the Cyan Thorn area included Li, Rongrong, Maomao...
And the translucent housewife centaur mare in front of him, tentatively named Big Cyan Horse...
How odd, but take another look.
Zhang Ze clicked on the icon of Maomao with its tongue out, and another submenu appeared before him, but it had no explanation, only a name.
For some unknown reason, the useless dog system actually knew Maomao's species.