Chapter 19: Shen Gong Bao's Mount (Part 1) (Seeking Recommendations and Favorites)

  Shen Gong Bao left Taoshan after comforting Yun Huaxianzi, and continued his journey alone, traveling to various places, appreciating the beautiful scenery of the vast continent, and also indulging in local delicacies that satisfied his cravings.

  Shen Gong Bao, however, was unaware that due to his intervention, he had formed a not-so-small karma with Yu Huang and Yun Hua Xian Zi, which would need to be resolved in the future.

  But on this day, Shen Gong Bao arrived at a small town and went up to a wine house. He ordered the most delicious dishes and several jars of fine wine in the wine house, and then savored them with relish.

  This small town is located near the outskirts of a vast and desolate forest, where many ferocious beasts such as tigers, leopards, wolves, and jackals roam. There are also numerous birds of prey. However, as long as one does not venture deep into the forest, there is no great danger, for these fierce creatures rarely emerge from the forest to attack local residents.

  At this time, the spiritual energy on the vast continent was still very dense. Even in the outer periphery of the Desolate Forest, there were many precious medicinal materials. Many ordinary pharmacists would enter the outer periphery to search for medicinal materials, and many hunters would also enter the outer periphery of the Desolate Forest to hunt.

  Due to the large number of medicine farmers and hunters, many merchants and travelers were quickly attracted to this place. This small town, which was not well-known, was also bustling with people coming and going in every direction, filling the streets and alleys with the sounds of hawkers calling out their wares.

  Shen Gongbao was leaning against the railing on the top floor, drinking fine wine and gazing at the towering trees and lush mountains in the distance. At this moment, the conversation of a few people nearby caught Shen Gongbao's attention.

  "Hey, have you heard? Recently, several small towns on the outskirts were attacked by a terrifying beast. The beast resembles a lion with a sharp horn on its head and eats everything in sight. Many people have already been eaten alive!" A customer wearing gray clothes said, his face somewhat frightened.

  The man in blue on the opposite side also said in unison, "That's right, but I heard that this fierce beast only appears during this period every year and will disappear soon. It's probably hiding back in the Desolate Forest!"

  The man in grey nodded and said, "Yes, it's possible that our small city has many people, so the fierce beast didn't dare to approach. But those small towns have sparse populations, and they suffered a disaster, alas."

  The man in blue smiled and said, "What's the use of sighing? Even the best hunter can't deal with such a ferocious beast. Perhaps only those legendary immortals can tame it, but they are as elusive as dragons - why would they bother with such trivial matters?"

  The man in blue also sighed, shook his head, picked up a piece of meat and started eating. The man in gray stopped talking too, drinking silently to himself, apparently not wanting to bring up the annoying matter again.

  Shen Gong Bao's expression changed slightly upon hearing the words, and he felt that the fierce beast described by the two was somewhat familiar. However, for a moment, he couldn't think of what it was. At this time, there were countless ferocious beasts and birds on the vast continent of Hongyuan, and Shen Gong Bao could not know the origin of this fierce beast based solely on this description.

  "Heh heh, after I finish eating, I'll go take a look at this fierce beast. If possible, I'll get rid of it too, that's no small merit!" Shen Gongbao muttered to himself, and then savored the fine wine and delicacies with relish.

  After drinking enough wine and eating enough food, Shen Gong Bao left the tavern with a refreshed spirit. Taking advantage of the fact that no one had discovered him, he rose to the clouds and headed towards the small town that was attacked, which the two men in gray and blue clothes had mentioned earlier.

  Soon, Shen Gongbao arrived at the nearest small town, where he saw only a few scattered houses, two of which had been destroyed by more than half. Judging from the traces, they were obviously destroyed not long ago.

  At this time, a group of people were packing up their belongings, seemingly preparing to leave. Shen Gongbao stepped forward and bowed his head to an elderly man with white hair, saying: "Greetings, elder. I am Shen Gongbao, a hermit from the deep mountains. I happened to be passing by and heard that there was a strange beast attacking the residents here, so I came to take a look and see if I can lend a hand."

  The old man heard this, his expression shook, and he immediately trembled and held Shen Gongbao's hand. Tears flashed in his eyes as he said: "Daozhang, are you a high-ranking immortal? Please get rid of this evil beast for me!"

  Then, he intermittently told the general information about this strange beast. Shengong Bao finally understood that this small town had been attacked by this strange beast for three consecutive years. As a result, not long ago, after being attacked again by the strange beast, the people in the town could not help but pack their things and prepare to leave their hometown where they had lived for many years to survive elsewhere.

  The old man was the town mayor, but his two sons and a grandson had unfortunately died in the previous raid. As soon as they heard that Shengong Bao was a legendary immortal, the other villagers immediately surrounded him, kneeling down and crying out loudly: "Immortal Master, please save us!"

  "Yes, Daozhang, kill that beast that has been hacked a thousand times! My poor child, waaah!"

  "Emperor, have mercy! We don't want to leave our hometown and become homeless!"

  Shen Gong Bao looked at the crowd in front of him, his heart filled with both shock and sadness. He was shocked that the ferocious beast had completely intimidated these people, rendering them powerless to resist. What saddened him was that none of these people had the strength to fight back against the beast, and could only flee their homes.

  Shen Gong Bao couldn't help but think of himself under the mighty Yuan Shi Tian Zun, and he secretly reminded himself: "I must quickly increase my strength, otherwise, what's the difference between me and these people in front of me? When a crisis comes, I'm afraid I won't even have the power to resist!"

  Thoughts flashed by in an instant, Shen Gong Bao slightly exercised his magic and helped everyone to their feet, saying: "Everyone please be at ease, if this humble monk's power is sufficient, I will naturally do a good deed and eliminate this evil beast!"

  Everyone had never seen a master before, and when Shengong Bao accidentally revealed his skills, they were even more surprised and couldn't help but say: "Thank you, Master! Thank you, Master!"

  Then Shen Gong Bao pulled over the old man, asked in detail about the location and characteristics of the strange beast after a while, and then bid farewell to the crowd, looking towards the Hongyuan Forest.

  Following the still-unfaded traces, Shen Gong Bao arrived at a mountain valley without any obstacles. Standing on the cloud's edge, Shen Gong Bao scanned with his divine sense and found that there was indeed an extraordinary beast sleeping in the valley.

  Only this strange beast was about ten zhang long, its body four or five zhang high, resembling a fierce lion. On its head grew a pair of cold, shining horns. Its entire body was covered in red scales, emitting a raging fire that protected it completely. At the end of its three-zhang-long tail was a massive object shaped like a bronze hammer. From what the old man had said earlier, those houses were destroyed by this beast's casual glance, collapsing as if made of paper.

  Shen Gong stroked the goat's whiskers, staring at the soundly sleeping alien beast for a long time before he chuckled: "Just what I needed, one more mount, and it'll be you!"

  After careful observation, Shen Gong found that this strange beast had only recently awakened to spiritual intelligence and did not yet know how to cultivate its powers. Its cultivation level was still very low. Although he didn't have any powerful magical artifacts in his possession, he could still subdue the beast.

  Then, Shen Gong Bao descended from the clouds and landed in the valley. Before he could fully arrive, a strange beast woke up and saw an outsider entering its territory, immediately letting out a loud roar.

  Shen Gong Bao smiled complacently and said, "You wicked beast, you actually dare to go to a public place and harm innocent people. Today, I've come to take you as my mount, so that you won't be killed by others in the future!"

  "Hmph, stinky Taoist, why must you pretend to be so righteous? If you want to subdue me, let's see if you have the ability!" The strange beast growled.

  Shen Gong Bao was shocked and his expression changed slightly, saying: "Your cultivation is so low, the Adam's apple in your throat should not have been refined, how can you speak?"

  "Hmph! I am the one and only Year Beast under heaven, what's so surprising about a mere mortal speaking, you stinky Taoist, you're really ignorant and uninformed, actually not knowing my great name as the Year Beast!"

  Shen Gong Bao slapped his forehead and finally knew why he felt that the strange beast was so familiar earlier. It turned out to be the Year Beast!

  Seeing this, Shengong Bao's heart was even more convinced that there was a unique and unmatched year beast, which must be very impressive, at least stronger than the white-browed tiger recorded in history.

  And thinking that in the future when everyone celebrates the New Year, many people will remember the story of this beast, and at that time, I can also receive a lot of incense from the people. It is worth knowing that the incense of the people can also increase one's aura.