“Brother Tiger, there’s a waterfall ahead along the river.” Brian Carter pointed into the distance at a silvery, winding ribbon and laughed, “Let’s go over together and have a refreshing bath before we move on.” The waterfall was at the end of the silver-white river, just over twenty li from the cliff.

Blake Carter let out a low roar in agreement.

“Excellent. Brother Tiger, how about we have a race to see who gets to the waterfall first?” Brian Carter suddenly grinned slyly. “But to keep things fair, look, I’m carrying a 150-jin Xuan Yue. You should add some weight too.” As he spoke, he strapped a beast hide bundle weighing over a hundred jin onto Blake Carter’s back. Before Blake Carter could protest, he leapt from the top of the high cliff.

Blake Carter roared angrily, unwilling to be outdone, and followed him down.

The wild wind howled past Brian Carter’s ears, and his spirit soared in that moment of freefall. Leaping from several hundred meters up was several times more exhilarating than any bungee jump he’d done before. A surge of heroic energy welled up in his chest, and Brian Carter couldn’t help but let out a long howl in midair. Ever since reaching the Xiantian stage, he could gather his true qi throughout his body for a short time, allowing him to glide for a hundred meters or so. Dropping from such a height, as long as he filled his body with power before landing, he would become as light as cotton and land unharmed.

Normally, from several hundred meters up, when there were still over a hundred meters to go, Brian Carter would have to activate his power. Otherwise, as the falling speed increased, the massive inertia would shatter him on impact. Blake Carter relied on instinct to do the same, spreading his limbs wide, circulating true qi through his body, slowing his descent, and drifting down like a falling leaf.

“Brother Tiger, you’re going to lose!” Brian Carter laughed heartily, dropping another few dozen meters in an instant. Then he shouted, driving Xuan Yue straight into the nearby cliff face. With a ripping sound, the sharp, hard Xuan Yue sliced through the rock like tofu, slowing Brian Carter’s fall. When he was just over twenty meters from the ground, Brian Carter kicked off the cliff with both legs, agilely flying toward the waterfall. At that moment, Blake Carter was still drifting in midair. This kind of gliding consumed a lot of true qi, which was why Brian Carter had switched to another method.

With a light tap of his feet, he bounced off rocks and tree trunks. Brian Carter spread his body like a great bird, racing on the wind toward the waterfall. Angry tiger roars sounded behind him, filling Brian Carter with pride.

A distance of over twenty li was just a matter of ten or twenty minutes for a Xiantian master at full speed. But such a sprint was very exhausting. By the time Brian Carter plunged into the deep pool beneath the waterfall, most of his true qi was spent. As soon as Brian Carter landed, Blake Carter was only a step behind, plunging into the pool with a splash that sent water several meters high.

Brian Carter surfaced from the pool, looked at the somewhat bedraggled Blake Carter, and laughed, “Brother Tiger, looks like you lost.”

“Roar.” Blake Carter glared fiercely at Brian Carter, clearly displeased with Brian Carter’s trickery.

The scenery around the pool was magnificent. The waterfall, dozens of meters high, cascaded down like silver ribbons, crashing into the pool with a thunderous roar like ten thousand galloping horses. Billows of white mist rose, making it feel like a fairyland. The moist air wrapped around their bodies, feeling wonderfully comfortable. On the bank was a grassy meadow, where lush, tender grass attracted many herbivores to live in peace. They were so at ease that even when they saw Blake Carter and a human, they showed no signs of alarm. Clearly, this was a very peaceful place, with little conflict.

Beside the meadow was a vast peach grove stretching as far as the eye could see, the peach trees extending up into the nearby mountains. It was the season when peach blossoms were in full bloom. The mountains were covered in pink flowers, a perfect blend of grandeur and gentleness, creating a unique charm that delighted the senses and soothed the soul.

“Brother Tiger, this place is really wonderful.” After bathing, Brian Carter and Blake Carter sat by the pool, enjoying the warm spring breeze and the intoxicating scent of peach blossoms. Leisurely, they roasted several fat fish caught from the pool over a campfire. The curling smoke quickly drove the curious herbivores a good distance away.

As they shared the delicious, tender fish, Brian Carter gazed into the distance and exclaimed, “What a paradise this is. If I weren’t looking for other humans, I might just stay here forever. Brother Tiger, this is much better than your old mountain. The spiritual energy is abundant, and the scenery is both grand and beautiful.”

Blake Carter let out a soft roar in agreement, clearly loving the place as well.

“Something’s not right.” Brian Carter’s heart tightened, and he became alert. Along the way, he had noticed a pattern: the more abundant the spiritual energy, the more likely it was for high-level creatures to appear. This place’s energy was far richer than Blake Carter’s old mountain. It was impossible that there were no powerful creatures here. Yet everything seemed peaceful, with no signs of conflict. It was truly puzzling.

Chapter 11: Xiantian Delicacies

Blake Carter seemed to sense Brian Carter’s alertness as well, suddenly standing up. His tiger eyes slowly swept the surroundings. Suddenly, the fur on Blake Carter’s back stood on end, and a fierce, domineering light flashed in his eyes as he roared angrily toward the peach grove not far away.