Chapter 374

Chapter 374: What Do You Feel Right Now?
The cultivators of Boran City were far too enthusiastic. In the end, Yu Zhao had Hua Tu charge into the crowd, snatch Bu Yan out, then sling Bu Yan over his shoulder and run straight for the city gates. Only then did they finally shake everyone off.

Because they had been delayed in Boran City for a while, once they left the city, they did not stop again. They raced all the way and finally reached Chaozong Gorge at dawn on the third day.

As soon as they stepped into the territory of Chaozong Gorge, Hua Tu’s whole body trembled, and his body started sliding downward against his will.

Yu Zhao reacted quickly and grabbed his collar, lifting him up: “Hua Tu?”

Hua Tu stammered: “Yu Zhao, here… here…”

Before he could finish, his body suddenly expanded at high speed. His clothes tore apart, and brown-black fur spread over his whole body.

“Rrrrumble~”

The first thing he did after returning to his true form was flop onto the ground and happily roll around. He kept letting out low, comfortable growls.

Yu Zhao’s expression was full of question marks.

Long Fei Fei, Bu Yan, and Si Tu Xuan all stared, stunned.

Long Fei Fei stared at Hua Tu in surprise and said: “So your true form is a spotted leopard!”

The fact that Hua Tu was a demonic beast had never been hidden, whether by him or by Yu Zhao.

Long Fei Fei had just never expected Hua Tu’s true body to be a leopard. Leopards were famous among demonic beasts for being crafty and agile. No matter how she looked at it, she could not connect that image with Hua Tu.

Hua Tu did not care what anyone thought. He kept rubbing himself against the ground, rolling back and forth. His golden beast eyes narrowed into slits from sheer comfort.

Seeing this, Yu Zhao had a thought. She took Bai Ran out from her sleeve and carefully set him on the ground.

The instant Bai Ran’s body touched the earth, his body trembled slightly.

The movement was very faint, but it did not escape the eyes of Yu Zhao and the others.

Long Fei Fei shouted excitedly: “He moved, he moved! It really works!”

Yu Zhao’s tense heartstrings finally loosened a little.

Chaozong Gorge really did have a strange effect on demonic beasts.

But Yu Zhao soon realized she had relaxed too early. After that tiny movement, Bai Ran did not react again.

Yu Zhao gently poked him with her fingertip.

There was no response at all.

Yu Zhao turned and walked over to Hua Tu: “Hua Tu?”

Hua Tu rolled from the left side to the right.

Yu Zhao called again: “Hua Tu.”

Hua Tu rolled from the right side back to the left.

Yu Zhao smiled slightly, gathered Spirit Power into her palm, and slapped forward.

“Ow!”

Hua Tu yelped and bounced up from the ground. His big bright eyes were full of innocent grievance.

Yu Zhao asked: “What do you feel right now?”

Hua Tu peeked at Yu Zhao in a pitiful way and said in a muffled voice: “My butt hurts.”

Yu Zhao fell silent for a moment.

She took a deep breath and said: “That’s not what I was asking. I mean, why were you lying on the ground?”

“Ah, ah.” Hua Tu answered blankly, then thought back to how he had felt just now: “It was just really comfortable. So comfortable I don’t know how to describe it.”

Yu Zhao asked: “Then can you take us to the source of that feeling?”

“I’ll try.”

Hua Tu spun left and right a few times, sniffed around in all directions, then suddenly leaped forward.

He called back: “Follow me!”

Yu Zhao immediately picked up Bai Ran in her hands and chased after him.

Long Fei Fei and the other two quickly followed.

Maybe because Clarity Sound Temple had been holding its annual lectures recently, there were very few people inside Chaozong Gorge, though there were many traces of demonic beasts moving around.

Also, Hua Tu’s condition here was clearly much better than outside. His speed had increased quite a bit too.

Yu Zhao and Long Fei Fei had to go all out to avoid being left behind by him. As for Bu Yan and Si Tu Xuan, they had already fallen far behind and could only keep chasing by following the marks Yu Zhao left.

Before long, they emerged from the forest and reached a stretch of open highlands.

In front of the highland was a huge chasm. From here, they could clearly see the uneven rocks on the opposite cliff face.

Hua Tu shouted: “It’s down there!”

He grew more excited the farther he ran. He only left that one sentence, then pushed off with all four limbs and leaped straight down toward the gorge.

Long Fei Fei cried out: “Again?”

Even someone like her, who was used to running around all year long, already felt tired. That showed just how fast Hua Tu was moving.

Yu Zhao released her Divine Sense. Sensing no abnormal aura, she did not hesitate and jumped down after him.

Long Fei Fei sighed: “I really owe you for this!”

As soon as she finished, her figure blurred, and when she appeared again, she was already inside Chaozong Gorge.

Chaozong Gorge was famous for the jutting rocks on both sides of the gorge walls, so whether it was Hua Tu, Yu Zhao, or Long Fei Fei, all of them tried their best not to damage the natural terrain here.

Yu Zhao watched Hua Tu’s figure dropping lower and lower and was wondering where exactly he was heading. Right then, Bai Ran, who had been lying quietly in her palm, suddenly vanished.

Yu Zhao stopped short and swept her gaze around.

Nothing.

She released her Divine Sense and spread it outward again and again.

Ten zhang, one hundred zhang, one thousand zhang…

She still could not sense Bai Ran’s presence.

Yu Zhao’s eyes grew dark. Her fingers curled into a fist, and her knuckles turned a faint pale white.

Long Fei Fei flew over to Yu Zhao’s side and asked in confusion: “Why did you stop?”

Yu Zhao said: “Bai Ran is gone.”

“Ah?”

Long Fei Fei blinked quickly. She was very sensitive to the fluctuations of Spirit Power in the area, but she had not sensed anything strange just now. How could Bai Ran suddenly disappear?

She took out her Divining Compass and sent a strand of Spirit Power into it.

The pointer on the Divining Compass immediately started spinning like crazy. Its speed grew faster and faster, with no sign of slowing down.

Long Fei Fei was shocked. She quickly put the Divining Compass back into her storage space: “No, my Divining Compass can’t be used here.”

Back inside Xuanyuan Bubei’s Ancient Pagoda, the Divining Compass had still been able to guide them to the exit. But here in Chaozong Gorge, it had actually failed.

Long Fei Fei felt both shocked and curious. She wondered: [What kind of strange thing is buried down below?]

Just as Yu Zhao and Long Fei Fei were full of doubt, a strange sound rose up from the gorge beneath their feet.

At first, it was like muffled thunder rolling, deep and dignified.

As the sound echoed again and again through the gorge, a powerful air current suddenly blasted up from below. The thunderous sound turned into a sky-shaking howl that rang through the clouds.

At the same time, an endless oppressive pressure spread over the air above the gorge. Yu Zhao and Long Fei Fei did not even have time to resist before the forceful air current flung them away.

“Roar, roar, roar!”

“Squeak, squeak, squeak!”

“Meow, meow, meow!”

It was not just them. All the demonic beasts in the gorge, including Hua Tu, who had jumped in ahead of them, were also thrown out by the blast of air.

Thud, thud, thud!

It was like a rain of beasts. Countless demonic beasts fell in heavy layers, piling up and covering the mountain slopes on both sides.

Yu Zhao and Long Fei Fei exchanged a glance. Before they could speak, another clear and piercing cry sounded from below.

Their minds trembled violently. Without meaning to, they both felt a deep sense of awe rise from their hearts.

All the demonic beasts stayed frozen in their original postures, lying on the ground with faces full of terror, shaking all over.

Someone gasped: “That was a dragon roar!”

From a thousand years ago, dragons had already become demonic beasts of legend.

There were no traces of dragons left in the Cultivation World, so no one had ever heard a dragon roar.

Yet Yu Zhao and Long Fei Fei could still say in unison that this was a dragon roar. It was their instinct, like a sense they had been born with.

If there were dragons in this world, then a dragon’s voice would definitely sound like that.

Among the many demonic beasts, aside from Hua Tu, there were several more at the Nascent Soul stage.

They all lay flat on the ground in a reverent posture, exposing their weakest parts without any defense to show their submission.