Asher pulled out his phone, "I'm lost on the road of life. Can I get some suggestions?"
The Angel was silent for three seconds.
Asher: "?"
Three seconds of silence was normal for other people, it was just regular thinking time.
But for the Angel, it was a bit strange.
The Angel didn't need to think.
["Perhaps, sir, you could ask Little Raven's opinion."]
Hearing the Angel's words, Little Raven's golden-red eyes also turned into question marks.
It couldn't look in Asher's direction, or else it would definitely give the Angel a good questioning stare.
But Asher actually took the Angel's words seriously.
He looked at Little Raven with a serious expression.
"Little Raven's opinion, huh…", Asher rubbed his chin and muttered.
Then, he lowered his head: "Little Raven, what do you think?"
Little Raven forcibly resisted the urge to look at Asher but flapped its wings against Asher's arm and elbow in dissatisfaction.
Little Raven: (〃＞皿＜)
'Why ask the bird!'
'Can the bird say that its mind is completely blank right now, with no thoughts whatsoever?'
'The only thought is not to lose any more feathers!'
'Hurry up and grow back, feathers!'
Unfortunately.
It couldn't say that.
Asher rubbed his forehead with a slight headache.
In this unknown place, with the protection of the Angel and his four contract beasts, there was indeed no real danger.
But Asher hadn't forgotten—the situation in Crimson City was inseparable from this Red Soil Secret Realm and this mountain range.
If the issue wasn't resolved within seventy-two hours, no one knew whether things would improve or worsen.
In short, it had to be dealt with as soon as possible.
"Let's go," Asher, who was just as clueless as Little Raven, could only choose the dumb method.
Walk.
He would circle the four directions of the mountain—east, south, west, and north.
It didn't matter if Little Raven had no thoughts right now.
Maybe after walking around, it would have some.
Little Raven: "?"
The bird's face was full of confusion.
Once he made up his mind, Asher acted immediately. He was a person of action.
Trying to circle the entire mountain wasn't an easy task. Even for someone as determined and physically trained as Asher, by the time he barely managed to complete a lap, it was already around nine in the evening.
Asher stood, barely holding himself up, on the boundary between winter and spring scenery. He was panting heavily, his eyes starting to lose focus.
"Still no thoughts at all?", Asher helplessly lowered his head to look at the Little Raven in his arms.
Little Raven covered its eyes with both wings, making its meaning extremely clear.
Asher sighed long and deep again.
'This is really…'
Feeling a bit frustrated, Asher subconsciously took two steps forward.
Suddenly.
Little Raven lowered its wings, its fluffy little bird face showing great confusion and bewilderment.
Little Raven: "?"
Asher: "?"
Asher looked down at Little Raven, and Little Raven instinctively looked up at him.
The moment their gazes met, both of them shuddered slightly.
Then, Asher was the first to relax and hugged Little Raven tightly, who was hurriedly trying to avert its gaze.
"It's okay. Little Raven, you're getting much better at controlling your flames," Asher gently patted Little Raven's back, soothing it with a calm voice.
Little Raven, still shaken, curled up in Asher's arms with lingering fear.
Sure, sure, he could say that, but it still wasn't completely mastered. What if an accident happened?
The warmth lasted less than thirty seconds.
The other contracted beasts started making noise.
Cat-Worm: "Meow! Meow?"
'Can you please consider us over here?'
Little White Snake: "Awooo!"
'The snake wants cuddles with the Beastmaster too!'
Little Jellyfish: "Gulu?"
'Huh? What's going on?'
Asher laughed and ruffled all of them before finally, unhurriedly, turning back to look at Little Raven: "What happened just now? Did you sense something?"
Little Raven suddenly remembered.
'Oh right.'
'This is serious business!'
'Yes, yes, yes!'
'Absolutely!'
'Something extremely important!'
'Up there!'
Little Raven raised its wing and pointed to the towering mountain. Its golden-red eyes gazed at the peak hidden in the clouds, its intense stare burning like fire.
Asher: "…"
'The mountain peak?'
At first, Asher had considered climbing up to take a look… Okay, fine, he hadn't actually thought about it.
Because this mountain was just too tall.
So tall you couldn't see the top.
It wasn't that Asher hated climbing mountains, but he hated this kind of primitive, exhausting, trailblazing kind of climbing.
By the time you were done, you'd be completely wiped out.
But looking at Little Raven now, its eyes sparkling, as if something was calling to it, Asher asked seriously: "What's up there?"
Little Raven tilted its head, as if thinking about how to answer.
'What is up there…'
'The bird doesn't know!'
'But the bird feels an incredibly strong pull!'
'Something that is very useful for the bird!'
'The bird just wants to fly up there right now!'
Then, Little Raven turned its gaze back to Asher, scanning him up and down, as if to say: 'It's the Beastmaster dragging things down!
I can fly!'
"…If you could carry me while flying, then you wouldn't be dragging things down."
Being able to fly alone wasn't enough. Asher couldn't just let Little Raven fly up there on its own.
Who knew what it might encounter?
"Alright then, let's go now and try to reach the top by 8 AM tomorrow," Asher checked the time on his phone.
It would be tough.
But not impossible.
Just for the fact that Little Raven was so drawn to something up there, Asher figured it was worth a shot.
Little Raven flapped its wings and averted its gaze, looking a little shy and embarrassed.
'Ah!'
'The bird knew it.'
'The Beastmaster really likes the bird!'
Asher pretended not to hear what Little Raven was thinking.
But what Asher hadn't expected was… climbing the mountain was actually easier than he thought?
He chose to start from the southern side near the spring scenery, where Little Raven had sensed something. There were no towering trees here, and the landscape leaned more towards flower fields.
The slope wasn't too steep either.
The hardest part was the lack of a clear path. An ordinary person might wander off-course.
And the mountain was so high you couldn't see the top.
No one knew if wandering off-course might lead to getting completely lost.
However.
None of these were problems for Asher.
Direction?
Little Raven could sense it!
Altitude?
Expend every last bit of energy. Rest when exhausted, climb when recovered.
Time passed unnoticed.
From day to night, from night to dawn.
When the peak finally appeared before Asher, the sun had just begun to rise.
Asher looked towards the sunlight.
'Hmm?'
'Hmmm?'
Asher's small eyes were filled with big confusion.
'Isn't the sunlight coming from… the wrong direction?'
Before Asher could figure it out—
The rising sun quickened its pace.
And when the "sun" fully emerged from behind the peak, Asher finally saw it.
'That is, a beast?'
A massive, curled-up form, its shape obscured yet clear enough to reveal claws, wings, and a body.
And at its center, where the blinding radiance was most intense, was the unmistakable silhouette of a beast.
Asher was shaken.
His contract beasts were also stunned, each reacting differently.
Little Raven was anxiously flapping its wings, its golden-red eyes fixated on the "sun," growing deeper in color.
And Asher, eyes stinging with tears, finally realized—
'That's not the sun.'
'That's a real… Three-Legged Golden Crow?'
Maybe with a question mark added.
Asher didn't dare to immediately make a definite judgment.
"Angel, you know what's going on, don't you?", Asher blinked, blinking away the tears that blurred his vision, and asked in a calm voice.
["I have some guesses, but I can't be sure. However, now I can confirm it,"] Asher's voice was calm, and Angel's voice was just as calm.
"So…" Asher connected what he was seeing with what he knew, "The Red Soil Forbidden Zone… No, this should be a true secret realm. There's a complete Three-legged Golden Crow here?"
Asher's voice was very calm, but that didn't mean he himself was calm.
The impact of the scene before him was even greater than he had imagined.
Asher could only try his best to calm himself down.
Rather than immediately going into a breakdown.
["This is not a living Three-legged Golden Crow. This is the projection of a deceased Three-legged Golden Crow."]
Hearing this, Asher nodded: "Mm, go on, I'm listening."
Now it was Angel's turn to want to retort at Asher.
'Wait?'
'Isn't Beastmaster too calm?'
'Can a human really be this calm?'
'Are we sure nothing is wrong here?'
'How can a human be this unfazed?'
Asher: :)
'Heh!'
This wasn't a matter of being unfazed or not.
Think about it.
He had already seen the corpse of a being about to become a mythological creature… Oh, even though he hadn't seen the full body with his own eyes, just enduring the overwhelming pressure that covered the sky was enough.
Now, facing this "sun" that was only a form without pressure… and was supposedly just the projection of a dead Three-legged Golden Crow—
Even after knowing the truth, what was there to be shocked about?
In fact, what surprised Asher more, was that another Three-legged Golden Crow had existed in this world.
But after calming down, that wasn't something he couldn't understand or accept.
Not to mention, this "other Three-legged Golden Crow" was already dead.
Asher felt like he was ridiculously calm right now.
Seeing that Asher truly seemed to have been tempered into someone with an unshakable heart, Angel spoke even more smoothly, ["This secret realm should be a gift left by the Three-legged Golden Crow for its future newborn offspring."]
["The red ore, red crystal, red stone, and Red Soil within the secret realm were all resources the Three-legged Golden Crow prepared for its offspring."]
["Within this mountain range, there may be a part of the Three-legged Golden Crow's body or its essence blood, which is also the core of the entire secret realm."]
Three sentences.
And Asher's brain buzzed.
'Huh?'
'So… this secret realm is left behind by Little Raven's predecessor for Little Raven?'
'Theoretically, the rightful owner of this secret realm should be Little Raven… and maybe, by extension, me?'
Asher, who had never had any improper thoughts about secret realms or forbidden zones, showed an expression of disbelief and confusion upon hearing this news.
'Wait… I need to calm down for a moment.'
Asher realized he wasn't able to calm down very well, "Little Raven, we might be about to become billionaires."
Little Raven: "?"
'The bird doesn't understand.'
'But the bird kind of got it—'
'The bird can really afford to support its Beast Tamer!'
'It can support this household!'
'This household really can't do without the bird!'
Thinking this, Little Raven proudly puffed out its chest.
Then… in this confusing and suffocating atmosphere, another feather gently floated down from Little Raven's body.
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