83: Compensation and concession

The vast moonlight filled the entire sky, contending with the richly colored ink painting on the firmament.

"War? Chenyue Forest, as a buffer zone, probably isn't qualified to say such a thing."

Thick watercolors gathered, and Old Ancestor Huo's figure condensed in mid-air. The disdainful voice came from his mouth.

Spirit Rank Source Beasts truly awakened their spiritual wisdom, and by Domain Rank, they could already speak human words.

The moonlight around the Source Beast in the bright moon shattered, transforming into thousands of moon-colored beams that rose within the Chenyue Forest. Within those thousands of beams, different feathers seemed to float.

And that Source Beast also fully revealed its appearance: a slender neck, long feathers, a pure white body, with particularly long plumes trailing behind it on its tail feathers.

"Human Race, you are too arrogant."

One couldn't discern the facial expression of a Source Beast, but the anger in its words seemed to solidify into substance.

The magnificent feathers within the light beams that pierced the heavens shot straight up into the sky, like thousands of spirit swords, covering the entire sky and stabbing towards the low-rank Noble Family members in the forest.

Old Ancestor Huo raised his palm, and the rich ink from the ink wash painting cascaded down like a waterfall from the boundary between the moonlight and the canvas.

Those incoming wings, upon touching the ink, were instantly dyed with the same ink.

In Old Ancestor Huo's eyes, these low-rank Contract Masters could die, but not now.

"Moon Feather Magnificent Plume Bird, are you truly content to stay in this Chenyue Forest for a hundred years? Today, my target is not you. Quickly make way, or else I will have to go all out."

Behind Old Ancestor Huo, a huge painting slowly unfurled. The colors on it bled into a mass, as if all the ink covering the entire sky was poured out from the painting.

Hearing Old Ancestor Huo's words, a hint of hesitation flashed in the Moon Feather Magnificent Plume Bird's eyes. It truly didn't want to fight Old Ancestor Huo, after all, this old fellow was one rank higher than it.

Moreover, he still had a second Source Beast that hadn't been summoned. Even if it wouldn't necessarily be killed, suffering severe injuries was certainly predictable.

Just as Old Ancestor Huo said, it had no race to protect and had always been a solitary individual. It wasn't absolutely necessary for it to guard this Chenyue Forest.

Thinking of this, its wings gently unfurled, and the moonbeams scattered throughout the forest were reabsorbed by it. The wings that were about to be born within them also gradually dissipated.

"It's not impossible to pass through me, but you'll have to leave some road toll, won't you?"

Before reaching his true destination, Old Ancestor Huo also didn't want to expend too much strength. He lightly raised his palm, and a fruit glowing with moonlight appeared in his palm.

Then he gently lifted his hand, and the fruit flew from the air towards the Moon Feather Magnificent Plume Bird. The Moon Feather Magnificent Plume Bird stared at the fruit for a long time before slowly nodding.

It condensed several moon feathers to hold the fruit, carrying it back into a certain part of the forest.

As its figure descended, the bright moonlight gradually receded, as if a moon had sunk into the forest. Perhaps this was the true origin of the forest's name.

Old Ancestor Huo's figure once again flew into the ink in the sky, and the ink that had initially cascaded down like a waterfall slowly flowed back.

The initial voice then rang out, "Continue forward."

Chu Jingyu clenched his fist, making the Golden Armored Jade Pupil Beast, which had just appeared in front of him, hide back underground.

Chenyue Forest wasn't even the Huo Family's intended destination. A region even further than Chenyue Forest would probably be easy to go to, but not necessarily easy to return from.

Moreover, Old Ancestor Huo didn't seem to need so many low-rank helpers, so why issue an order to gather these low-rank Contract Masters? Chu Jingyu still couldn't understand.

The rest of the journey remained very peaceful until night fell and the bright moon hung in the sky.

Only then were the many Contract Masters who had been traveling allowed to rest.

Chu Jingyu simply took out some food from his jade pendant, shared a portion with Xu Yinghui and another elder, then found a giant tree, jumped onto a branch, and rested.

But at night, it would not be as peaceful as during the day.

Not long after night fell, a disturbance occurred not far from Chu Jingyu, followed by the sound of clashing skills, explosions, and screams.

Hearing the mournful screams, Chu Jingyu realized that people were starting to die.

He didn't know if it was man-made or a Source Beast hiding in the dark, but with so many members of the Human Race gathered together, and many high-rank ones among them, would any Source Beast really dare to approach and attack the Human Race?

Just as Chu Jingyu was pondering, he suddenly felt a gust of wind from behind him, followed by the sound of metal clashing.

Chu Jingyu reacted quickly. He quickly drew his saber from his jade pendant and swung it backwards towards his assailant.

"Clang!"

A sharp metallic clash rang out, and out of the corner of his eye, Chu Jingyu saw a blurry figure disappear back into the darkness.

But above the blurry figure's head, Chu Jingyu saw a conspicuous ink thread. It was the Human Race causing trouble themselves.

Chu Jingyu glanced around, finding that the attacking figure had completely vanished. So, Chu Jingyu inwardly guessed that the person's Source Beast must have some kind of skill that allows for a similar invisibility.

Chu Jingyu's mind stirred. He and the Golden Armored Jade Pupil Beast both leaped to the ground. Then, Earth Buried Heart was fully activated by the Golden Armored Jade Pupil Beast.

Another layer of golden armor was attached to both the man and the beast by the Golden Armored Jade Pupil Beast, to guard against the person's next sudden attack.

Hearing this commotion, Xu Yinghui and the other elder nearby woke up from their daze. Seeing Chu Jingyu's vigilant posture, they immediately raised their guard with their accompanying Source Beasts, nervously scanning their surroundings.

"Patriarch, is it a Source Beast attack?"

Chu Jingyu didn't answer Xu Yinghui's question. Instead, his eyes narrowed sharply towards Xu Yinghui, and with a fierce flick of his hand, his saber spun through the air, slashing towards Xu Yinghui's position.

Xu Yinghui's eyes widened in surprise, not expecting Chu Jingyu to suddenly attack him. His Flying Feather Crane, however, was the first to spread its wings, and several feather blades shot out from its wings.

But the feather blades did not collide with the saber Chu Jingyu threw. Instead, midway, they were blocked by a man who suddenly appeared in the air.

This man in black held short blades in both hands, blocking both attacks, one after another, but his mood was not calm.

He looked incredulously at the Flying Feather Crane, then back at Chu Jingyu, seemingly unable to understand how he had exposed himself twice in a row tonight.

The man in black retreated a step, and his figure faded into the darkness again.

But this time, he had barely disappeared when, with a 'thump', his figure reappeared, falling directly to the ground.

From where he had stood, a golden Source Beast crawled out from underground, and two large holes, poked by pincers, were exposed on the black-clad man's legs.

The man in black didn't have time to be shocked. Beside him, a dark raven flew into the air, and a cloud of mist was released from its body, spreading outwards.

But the mist only spread halfway when a large amount of golden sand flew up from the ground, rushing into the black mist and instantly piercing the dark raven within it, turning it into a sieve.

With his Source Beast dead, the black-clad man, who had fallen to the ground, spat out a mouthful of blood, which he didn't have time to wipe away.

The colorful ink thread hovering above his head suddenly dropped towards his head. In an instant, the man transformed into a blob of ink under Chu Jingyu's gaze, summoned by the canvas in the sky.

Chu Jingyu hissed lightly. He hadn't had time to ask the man for any information. He hadn't expected that with the death of the Source Beast, this colorful ink thread would directly obliterate the Contract Master as well, as if afraid of missing something.

Chu Jingyu looked up at the colorful ink thread above his head and let out a light breath.

"Patriarch, this is..."