Chapter 425

Chapter 425: Allow Me!

At this moment, the Nightmare Beast was currently lying lazily on the ground. It wasn’t even angry; it just couldn’t be bothered to lift his head to glance at the other party. Instead, it seemed to be using some kind of unique method to heal the injuries it had sustained.

“Hall Master, I would like to give it a try!”

Walking forward, Wei Youdao clasped his fists.

“Go on!” Glancing at Grand Elder Wei Yuqing, Hall Master Xie Jiuchen nodded.

The grandson of his old friend had been blessed with exceptional talent for beast taming, and the other party had made a name for himself among the younger generation

If not for Zhang Xuan’s abrupt appearance, Wei Youdao might very well become the number one genius of Xuanyuan Kingdom Beast Hall’s younger generation.

In any case, there was no better solution for the matter at the moment. If the Nightmare Beast were to recover substantially from its injuries, it would be impossible for the Beast Hall to confine it any further. Since that was the case, he might as well grant everyone a chance. Perhaps, someone might just succeed.

“Thank you, hall master!”

Taking a deep breath, Wei Youdao walked up to the Nightmare Beast.

With a flick on his wrist, a jade bottle appeared in his palm.

Uncorking the cap, a dense fragrance wafted out, revitalizing everyone’s spirit.

“It’s the Seven-colored Honey from the Cloud Mist Mountain!”

“It’s said that the Zongshi realm savage beast Heaven Snow Bee concocted this honey from the nectar gathered from seven different colored flowers. It has an alluring fragrance, and it’s incomparably sweet. Even spirit beasts would find it difficult to rein in their craving!”

“This thing is incomparably expensive and rare. Even with plenty of spirit stones at hand, obtaining it is no easy matter. Yet, to think that he would have an entire bottle of it!”

“Since he is willing to take even that out, the Nightmare Beast should probably cave in!”

…

Catching a whiff of the fragrance from the jade bottle, a huge commotion was stirred in the surroundings.

The Seven-colored Honey was formed by seven different colored nectars. It possessed a fragrance that opened up one’s pores with a single whiff.

Savage beasts tended to be gluttonous; it would be difficult for the other party to hold back from such a delicacy.

“The Seven-colored Honey is ranked fifth among the ten most favored objects of savage beasts. It is impressive that Wei Youdao was able to obtain such a good item, not bad!”

Hall Master Feng’s eyes also lit up.

“Ten most favored objects of savage beasts? There’s such a ranking?” Zhang Xuan was taken aback.

He had read nearly all of the books in the Beast Hall, but he had never heard of such a ranking.

“There is!”

Hall Master Feng chuckled. “Actually, we only created this list out of boredom, and it isn’t officially recognized by the Beast Hall, so it isn’t recorded in any book. Seven-colored Honey isn’t just fragrant, more importantly, it has the effect of nourishing and expanding a savage beast’s meridians! Usually, if a beast tamer were to take out a single droplet of it, he would be able to induce Complete Submission in a Zongshi realm savage beast. The jade bottle that Wei Youdao might be small, but there are at least several dozens of droplets in it. He must be truly determined if he is taking so many droplets out at once!”

“Nourish and expand a savage beast’s meridians?”

Upon hearing the effects of the Seven-colored Honey, Zhang Xuan was astounded.

The meridians of humans and savage beasts had a certain cross sectional area. If one were to drive one’s zhenqi too quickly, it might cause one’s zhenqi to seep outward, resulting in severe internal injuries.

Expanding one’s meridians was equivalent to increasing the quantity of zhenqi one could drive within a specific period of time. This quality made the Seven-colored Honey extremely valuable. Putting aside savage beasts, even the eyes of the cultivators in the area reddened in desire upon learning of the effects of the Seven-colored Honey,

“What other objects are there in this ranking?” Zhang Xuan couldn’t help but ask curiously.

If he were to know the most favored objects of savage beasts, it might help him in taming powerful savage beasts in the future.

“As it’s unofficial, it’s mostly speculation. The publicly acknowledged number one object is Dragon Blood, number two is the inner core of spirit beasts, number three is ancient beast blood essence, number four is Godfall Flower, and number five is Seven-colored Honey!”

“I see!” Zhang Xuan nodded.

He had heard of the first four objects.

The Dragon Tribe was incomparably powerful. If a savage beast were to possess the slightest trace of the Dragon Bloodline, it would be significantly stronger than normal savage beasts.

Taking the Nightmare Beast for example, even though the Dragon Bloodline within it was so meagre that it could be disregarded, it still granted it the potential to reach Half-Transcension.

Just this in itself made the Dragon Bloodline a desired object that could send all savage beasts and spirit beasts into a frenzy.

As for the ancient beast blood essence, as shown in the Xuanluo Mountain Range branch, it possessed the same effects as well. If used appropriately, it could induce a Bloodline Evolution in a savage beast.

As for the inner core of a savage beast, it was something that spirit beasts nurture and cultivate day and night over a long period of time. It harnessed the essence of their cultivation and strength. If a savage beast could obtain it, even if it still wasn’t able to make the leap to become a spirit beast, its cultivation would definitely be enhanced significantly.

As for the Godfall Flower, rumor had it that it could nurture a savage beast’s spirit.

Of these four incredible objects, the very fact that the Seven-colored Honey could be placed at the fifth place proved testimony to its fearsome effects.

Zhang Xuan couldn’t help but take a glance at the situation.

As expected, upon catching a whiff of the fragrance, the lazy Nightmare Beast in the cage was stirred into action. It lifted its massive head, and a glaring radiance pierced from its eyes.

It was clearly interested in the object.

Grabbing the Seven-colored Honey in his hands, Wei Youdao confidently declared, “I know that you understand the human language, and you know our purpose here. As long as you swear to the Dragon Bloodline within your body to remain loyal to the Beast Hall, this bottle of Seven-colored Honey will be yours!”

With this object, he didn’t need to resort to any ploy. He only had to state his conditions.

“Roar!”

The Nightmare Beast was initially rather interested in it, but after hearing Wei Youdao’s words, it began to lie back down lazily.

“I know that you’ve attempted a breakthrough to become a spirit beast and failed. The Seven-colored Honey can expand your meridians and heal your wounds. It could help you surpass your bottleneck, so why do you remain so obstinate? Besides, you’re only pledging loyalty to the Beast Hall, not to an individual. If you do so, the Beast Hall will surely devote massive resources to your cultivation and your growth… I hope that you can consider this matter!” Wei Youdao said.

Even though his words were moving, the Nightmare Beast remained indifferent.

There was no difference to whom it would pledge loyalty to. In its eyes, it was still becoming the puppet of the humans. Rather than being restricted, it would prefer to venture out and live its life as it pleased.

“Seems like it’s a failure!”

The crowd had finally seen a flicker of hope, but upon seeing this sight, their expression sunk again.

They thought that the Seven-colored Honey, ranked fifth on the list, could move the Nightmare Beast. However, they seemed to have underestimate the fellow’s control.

“Even though the Seven-colored Honey is irresistible to ordinary savage beasts, this Nightmare Beast isn’t too far away from reaching the level of a spirit beast. As such, its effects would be severely limited. On top of that, as a proud bearer of the Dragon Bloodline, how could it serve the humans for just a bit of Seven-colored Honey?”

Among the crowd, a 2-star pinnacle beast tamer commented.

“Indeed. The Dragon Tribe is one of the strongest tribes in the continent, and they have the pride matching their standing. Even though this fellow’s bloodline might be weak, it still won’t lower its head to humans just over such small benefits. The only way for it to work is to offer it Dragon Blood!”

“Dragon Blood? You must be joking! Do you think that it’s that easy to find some? Putting aside how difficult it is to find a member of the Dragon Tribe, even if you manage to find one, it would be impossible to subdue it! Even the weakest of their members is a Half-Transcension, like this Nightmare Beast before us. It isn’t a being that normal beast tamers like us can hunt down.”

A commotion broke out.

The Beast Taming Competition had gathered dozens of hall masters and elders from the surrounding kingdoms. To be able to become the head of their organizations, their eye of discernment and knowledge far exceeded that of ordinary beast tamers.

The Seven-colored Honey was valuable, but it wasn’t sufficient to make a savage beast with a hint of Dragon Bloodline lower its head.

“My apologies!”

After a moment of persuasion, the Nightmare Beast still remained unmoved. In the end, Wei Youdao could only retreat in defeat.

“Is there anyone else who likes to try?”

Expecting this outcome, Hall Master Xie Jiuchen sighed. Turning to the crowd yet again, he asked.

Silence.

Initially, after hearing this news, many people were tempted to give it a try. However, after seeing the 2-star pinnacle and 3-star primary beast tamers falling in defeat, the others lost their courage as well.

“Allow me!”

Suddenly, a faint voice broke the silence.

“It’s Beast Tamer Zhang Xuan!”

“Since he managed to clear the Ten Beasts Cage so easily, he must have a deep insight into beast taming. Perhaps, he just might succeed!”

“I don’t deny that his beast taming skills are incredible, but his cultivation is way too low!”

“That’s true. It’s already a formidable feat for a beast tamer to tame a savage beast one or two small cultivation realm above him… He is only at Zongshi realm pinnacle while the other party is at Half-Transcension. That’s a total of six small cultivation realms. It’s impossible for him to successfully tame it!”

“Indeed. If he were at Zhizun realm pinnacle, it might still be possible. But given his current strength… I don’t think that he’ll succeed!”

After identifying the source of the voice, the crowd flew into an uproar.

Zhang Xuan’s feat of clearing the Ten Beasts Cage had awed everyone in the Beast Hall. Thus, almost everyone here had heard of his name.

His appearance had generated hope in some, but most simply shook their heads grimly.

Beast taming wasn’t just about technique, strength also played a major role.

If one’s cultivation realm differed too much from the savage beast, it would only look down on one. Given the lack of respect, how could it possibly allow one to tame it?

“I’ve heard that he came here to give it a try after clearing the Ten Beasts Cage yesterday, but he failed!”

“Then why is he still volunteering again? Does he have a better idea in mind?”

“I don’t know. Let’s wait and see then…”

There were some who knew that Zhang Xuan had already attempted yesterday. Even though they didn’t know what had happened, given that the Nightmare Beast hadn’t been tamed yet, it was clear that he had failed.

“You… succeeded in learning the language?”

Upon seeing Zhang Xuan, Hall Master Xie Jiuchen’s eyes lit up.

That fellow ran to the library, claiming that he was going to learn the ancient beast language. Yet, he appeared here today. Did it mean that he had succeeded in learning the language?

“Succeed? I’m still far from that…”

Zhang Xuan shook his head.

It wasn’t that the ancient beast language was too difficult, but that the level of this Beast Hall was simply too low. There were insufficient books here for the Library of Heaven’s Path to work its wonders.

“Then…”

Hearing Zhang Xuan admit that he was still far from success, Hall Master Xie Jiuchen was baffled.

“I’ve only learned a few sounds, so I would like to give it a try. If it doesn’t work, we can try the method I mentioned the previous time!” Zhang Xuan said.

“The method you mentioned?”

Hearing those words, Hall Master Xie Jiuchen fell speechless.

Given how that fellow ran off to the library to study, he thought that he had given up on the idea. To think that he was still harboring those thoughts!

Chapter 426: The Might of the Mysterious Language

“The ancient beast language is expansive and profound. It’s impossible to succeed just by learning a few sounds!” Grand Elder Wei Yuqing interjected.

The other party said that he would study the language, and he cooped himself in the library for an entire day. Despite everything, Wei Yuqing still bore some expectations of the other party, yet he returned saying that he had only learned a few sounds… Are you here to amuse us?

Even if you had learned the entire ancient beast language, it still remains an uncertainty whether that fellow will listen to you. With just a few sounds, do you think that the other party will bother with you?

You must be joking!

Given Zhang Xuan’s declaration of ‘Let me try!’, they thought that he was very confident of the matter. Yet… to think that he was here just to cause trouble.

Seemed like even top geniuses weren’t reliable either…

“If it doesn’t work, you all should just think of a way to knock it out!”

Honestly speaking, Zhang Xuan did not have much confidence either, given that he had only learned a few sounds.

“We’ll talk about that later. You should give it a try first…”

Afraid that the fellow would continue pestering him on the matter, Hall Master Xie Jiuchen hurriedly interjected.

What the heck is going through your mind!

Just because you managed to tame the Whirlwind Wolves by pummeling them, do you think that the same method will work again?

This is the Nightmare Beast, a top-notch savage beast possessing the Dragon Bloodline, a proud and noble existence. Even if you were to beat it to death, it would not lower its head to you.

If it were that simple, they would have long done it.

“Alright!”

Sensing the other party’s reluctance, Zhang Xuan decided to give it a try first. Thus, he took two steps forward to the Nightmare Beast.

The massive savage beast was nonchalant to Zhang Xuan’s presence. It didn’t even bother taking a glance at him.

“He’s starting…”

Wei Youdao clenched his fists tightly.

He had even gone to the extent of taking out the Seven-colored Honey, but it proved to be useless. What kind of solution would the fellow who managed to clear the Ten Beasts Cage come up with?

He stared fixedly at the situation in front with widened eyes, fearful that he would miss out a single detail. However, in the next moment, his lips couldn’t help but twitch.

That fellow didn’t take out anything of interest to the Nightmare Beast, and instead, he simply frowned. After a long moment of struggling, a bizarre sound suddenly escaped from his throat.

“Gu!”

It sounded like lightning, and no one could understand what it meant.

“This is ancient beast language?”

Wei Youdao didn’t comprehend the other party’s bizarre action, but Hall Master Xie Jiuchen and Grand Elder Wei Yuqing’s face immediately tightened. They hurriedly turned their gazes over to the Nightmare Beast.

That fellow had gone off to study the ancient beast language previously, so it was likely that this sound was a part of the language.

Even though it was just a single sound, there was an off-chance that it might just work!

Under the intense gazes of the crowd, the lazy Nightmare Beast suddenly opened its eyes…

Then, it yawned lazily, lay down, and fell silent.

“It is ineffective?”

Seeing that it was completely ineffective, Zhang Xuan scratched his head.

Of the ancient beast language, Zhang Xuan had only learned a total of eight words. He had no problem reading or verbalizing it, but as the meaning wasn’t written in the books, he couldn’t tell what it was either.

In other words, he only knew how to speak those words, he didn’t know what they meant at all.

Even if he were to voice out all of them, that fellow still wouldn’t know what he was up to.

“The next one.”

Even so, it was still worth a try. Thus, Zhang Xuan opened his mouth once more, “Wu!”

It sounded like the call of an eagle, crisp and bright, piercing one’s ears.

Hall Master Xie Jiuchen and Grand Elder Wei Yuqing hurriedly turned their gazes over, but the Nightmare Beast seemed to have fallen into a deeper sleep. With its paws cushioning its head, it lay comfortably on the spot.

“This… So, is it working or not?”

The duo stared at one another in confusion.

If that fellow’s ancient beast language was useful, why was there no response from the Nightmare Beast?

But at the same time, the Nightmare Beast did at least adjust its sleeping posture, so whether it was completely useless or not…

Could the sounds that Zhang Xuan was voicing a lullaby…

I thought that you went away to learn the ancient beast language, why did you learn a lullaby instead?

What is the use of your lullaby!

What I want is to tame it, not for it to sleep…

“Ji!”

Amidst their bewilderment, the young man before him voiced the third sound.

This time, not only did the Nightmare Beast get into a comfortable sleeping posture, it even stuck its tongue out, and saliva was flowing out of its mouth.

“The heck!”

“With just three notes, he managed to bring the Nightmare Beast into a deep sleep?”

The surroundings beast tamers were stunned.

They thought that the young genius would use some kind of inconceivable beast taming technique on the Nightmare Beast.

While their thoughts were spot-on, it was completely different from what they were thinking.

Aren’t we supposed to tame it? What do you mean by luring it to sleep?

“Hmm?” Zhang Xuan was baffled as well.

However, upon seeing the sight, his eyes lit up.

“This is good as well. If I can knock it out with these words, I won’t have to waste my effort on trying to knock it out!”

Besides the ancient beast language, Zhang Xuan had a backup plan. He could knock the Nightmare Beast out, and through the Library of Heaven’s Path, he would be able to determine its flaws and tame it.

But it was a pity that Xie Jiuchen, Wei Yuqing, and the others refused to cooperate with him, and Zhang Xuan wasn’t a match for the Nightmare Beast himself. Thus, he had been unable to carry it out. If he could lure it to sleep through the ancient beast language, that would be perfect.

“Wu Ya Hai Wu Wu!”

The more he thought about it, the happier he got. Thus, he voiced out the remaining words all at once.

Hearing those words, the crowd immediately turned their gazes to the Nightmare Beast.

This was especially so for Hall Master Xie Jiuchen. Anxiety could be seen in his eyes.

However, with a single look, he suddenly felt a wave of vertigo striking him.

The drowsy Nightmare Beast abruptly opened its eyes, and its massive body rose up.

Roar!

A deafening roar pierced through the heavens, parting the clouds above. The crowd in the surroundings felt light-headed under the powerful roar.

At the same moment, the massive head suddenly charged straight toward the metal cage.

Weng!

The formation immediately activated, sealing its movements. Even so, under the powerful charge, the sturdy metal cage was bent out of shape, and it seemed as though it would collapse soon.

“This is bad…”

Hall Master Xie Jiuchen’s eyes narrowed, and his face reflected his astonishment.

He thought that the fellow was still immobile from its severe injuries. To think that he had recovered sufficiently to stand up and exert such offensive might after a few days of recuperation.

But of course, perhaps it was agitated by Beast Tamer Zhang’s ‘ancient beast language’, it seemed to be in an extremely bad mood.

If the Nightmare Beast were to escape under such conditions, the Beast Hall would be in grave danger. Most likely, it might be wiped off the face of the world.

“See what you’ve done…”

The more Hall Master Xie Jiuchen thought about it, the more furious he became. Thus, he turned around and chastised Zhang Xuan.

What in the world is this?

I asked you here to tame the savage beast, not to provoke it.

“Elders, prepare the [Constellation Beast Confinement Formation]!”

Knowing that it was useless to blame this fellow at this point, Hall Master Xie Jiuchen bellowed.

“Yes!”

The elders of Xuanyuan Kingdom Beast Hall also knew how dangerous the situation was, so they immediately got into action. They hurriedly rushed to their places with a grim expression.

The Constellation Beast Confinement Formation was a powerful formation used to trap savage beasts. Many of the elders in the Xuanyuan Kingdom Beast Hall studied and practiced it. As long as they ran to their allocated location to infuse their zhenqi into the formation, they would be able to activate it even without an in-depth understanding of the formations.

“What’s going on?”

“Beast Tamer Zhang seems to have provoked that savage beast?”

“Isn’t he here to tame it? How did he end up provoking it instead?”

…

Wei Youdao, Jiang Nanping, and others also felt nervous upon seeing the situation.

That was a Half-Transcension savage beast! Once it went on a rampage, the entire Beast Hall would be reduced to ruins!

Hong hong hong!

Amidst everyone’s shocked gazes, the Nightmare Beast threw its body at the metal cage several more times, and a huge hole, through which he could escape, appeared in it.

Weng!

As soon as its head appeared outside, a clear buzz suddenly echoed. The Constellation Beast Confinement Formation had been activated. A white light shot out from the locations of the elders, forming a gigantic net that wrapped itself around the Nightmare Beast.

Trapped by the gigantic net of light, the Nightmare Beast became even more irritated. It howled furiously, and its giant claws grabbed at empty air.

Tzzzzzz!

White energy emanations reminiscent of sword qi shot out from the claws of the Nightmare Beast, striking straight at the net trapping it.

The net tremored violently, and as though a shield struck by a powerful hammer, a deep reverberation sounded.

Pu! Pu!

Under the massive force, some of the elders standing at the center of the formation spat out large mouthfuls of blood.

Half-Transcension savage beasts were already an extremely strong existence, and this fellow possessed the Dragon Bloodline on top of that. Its immense strength allowed it to match up to even a Transcendent Mortal expert. Even though the elders were strong as well, most of them were only at Zhizun realm intermediate and advanced stage. They weren’t a match for this fellow at all.

“Hurry up and infuse more zhenqi in to reinforce the formation…”

Seeing that the Nightmare Beast was about to escape, Xie Jiuchen panicked. He hurriedly called for help.

As soon as the formation collapses, the entire Beast Hall would surely be destroyed. They could not back away at this point.

Hong long!

Knowing the severity of the issue, most of the elders immediately got into action. They charged forward and infused all of their zhenqi into the formation.

Accompanying the furious surge of zhenqi into the formation, the darkened net suddenly glowed brilliantly once more.

While the formation had been strengthened, the Nightmare Beast seemed to have derived strength from its rage as well. Roaring furiously once more, its lower limbs pushed against the ground, and its massive body struck the massive net in midair.

Si la!

Under the violent power contained in the massive body, the Beast Confinement Net caved in and was torn apart.

Deng deng deng deng!

All of the elders who had operated the formation collapsed onto the floor with pale faces.

Hu!

After escaping from the formation, the Nightmare Beast glared at Zhang Xuan with widened eyes. Carrying unparalleled strength in its body, it charged swiftly toward him.

“It’s over…”

Seeing that the formation and metal cage had failed to contain the Nightmare Beast, Hall Master Xie Jiuchen’s face was ghastly pale.

He didn’t expect that the savage beast would suddenly go on a rampage in the midst of the beast taming process.

Given that so many people were unable to withstand the might of the Nightmare Beast, no matter how talented Beast Tamer Zhang was, he would surely be torn to shreds.

“Moo!”

Knowing that it was impossible to save the other party, Hall Master Xie Jiuchen was about to avert his gaze when the young man released another bizarre sound.

Xie Jiuchen staggered.

It was precisely because of your random babbling that provoked this fellow. Yet, to think that you wouldn’t learn your lesson…

Are you that intent to die?

Just as Hall Master Xie Jiuchen was about to urge Zhang Xuan to hurry up and leave instead of continuing to dabble in the ancient beast language or whatever it was, he saw the Nightmare Beast suddenly kneeling onto the floor after hearing the sound. It stuck out its tongue, and it licked the young man all over. Its appearance… was no different from the Whirlwind Wolves back then.

“Word of Submission, Bloodline Suppression… Could this be the True Voice of Dragons?”

Hall Master Xie Jiuchen’s eyes narrowed, and his face paled.

“What in the world was going on?”

Chapter 427: True Voice of Dragons

The True Voice of Dragons was a language that only ancient Pureblooded Dragons were capable of using. As long as one’s Dragon Bloodline didn’t reach the level of a Pureblooded Dragon, a single word would cause a suppression from its bloodline, forcing it into submission.

The Nightmare Beast was still baring its fangs at Beast Tamer Zhang previously, but at the very next moment, it suddenly fell to the floor and became as tame as a pup. If this wasn’t the language depicted in the legends, Hall Master Xie Jiuchen had no idea what other languages were capable of such a feat.

But… didn’t this language disappear along with the Dragon Tribe, its heritage lost?

How did he learn of it?

More importantly… Even if the members of the Dragon Tribe were to impart the True Voice of Dragons to him, it was impossible for humans to learn it.

This was not just a matter of talent. Even if one possessed superior zhenqi, the human body was still unable to withstand its sharp notes.

This sound had to travel through all of the meridians within one’s body and harmonize all of one’s acupoints before it could be produced. Even if one cultivated the most profound cultivation technique, it was impossible for one to open up all of their meridians and acupoints!

“Can it really be… that he’s the True Incarnation of Dragons?”

Hall Master Xie Jiuchen narrowed his eyes, and his body trembled uncontrollably.

Legends had it that the Dragon Tribe traveled across the world, and they took on many forms. Some became beasts, some became humans, some became spirits, some became monsters… No one could discern their true identity.

Just by pummeling the Whirlwind Wolves, the latter immediately submitted to him and fawned on him; with a single fist, he caused the Tiger Head Beasts to play dead; with just a few words, he made the Steel-armed Golden Ape waved him goodbye, as though buddies with decades of history behind them…

If he isn’t a True Incarnation of Dragons, how can he possibly achieve such ridiculous feats?

Even 5-star beast tamers are incapable of such a feat!

“Regardless of whether he is one, I mustn’t reveal this matter… Otherwise, I’ll surely be silenced!”

Hall Master Xie Jiuchen’s face paled.

The members of the Dragon Tribe were incomparably strong, and from birth, they were granted with powerful destructive might.

If this Beast Tamer Zhang was a True Incarnation of Dragons, and he exposed the other party’s true identity when he wished to conceal the fact, he might incur the wrath and killing intent of the other party to himself.

Hall Master Xie Jiuchen’s conjectures caused his face to slowly pale in fear.

On the other hand, the crowd, baffled by the sight before them, was about to go insane from bewilderment.

The rage of the Nightmare Beast was not feigned in the least; even the grade-3 pinnacle formation maintained by so many elders was torn apart. Its might was truly fearsome.

Yet, this strong, proud fellow was suddenly lying on the floor, licking the other party’s pants… What in the world happened in between?

“What is it doing?”

“I’ve no idea. Could it be that… there’s something about Beast Tamer Zhang’s pants that’s even more delicious than the Seven-colored Honey? Is that why it’s licking it non-stop?”

“It can’t be that… it has been tamed? But even if it’s tamed, it couldn’t possibly have changed its attitude so quickly!”

…

Some of the older beast tamers tore their beards out, but their minds were too preoccupied for them to feel pain.

The sight before them was simply too frightening.

In the blink of an eye, a Half-Transcension savage beast, who was thinking of slaughtering everyone here just a moment ago, was suddenly lying so docilely on the floor. No one could accept this abrupt twist.

“With a scream… this fellow was tamed?”

Wei Youdao, Jiang Nanping, and the others stared at one another, and their heads were about to burst from shock.

Wei Youdao had taken out the Seven-colored Honey, which was ranked fifth on the list, but even so, he was disregarded. Just when they thought that this haughty fellow could never be tamed… Beast Tamer Zhang simply cried out a word, and that fellow immediately sprawled on the floor and fawned on the other party, as though afraid that the other party would not take him in…

When did a Half-Transcension savage beast became so shameless?

Was it insane, or were our eyes playing tricks on us?

“Hmm?”

In truth, Zhang Xuan was dumbfounded as well.

Previously, when he accidentally agitated the Nightmare Beast through the ancient beast language, he was anxious as well.

He only gave that bizarre language a try, especially since he could escape with the Heaven’s Path Movement Art if he failed. He didn’t think that the other party’s attitude would change completely after hearing it.

If only he’d known before those words were so formidable, he wouldn’t have wasted his effort with the ancient beast language.

Glancing at the massive head, which kept cuddling itself up to him, Zhang Xuan suppressed his astonishment and asked, “You wish to submit to me?”

“Roar!”

The Nightmare Beast hurriedly nodded its head.

“This…” Even though the other party had admitted to the matter, Zhang Xuan was still a little dumbfounded.

Wasn’t it being… a little too easy?

“Then… let’s establish the contract then!”

Even though Zhang Xuan was bewildered, he knew that this was a good opportunity. Touching the other party’s head, he drew a droplet of blood from the tip of his forefinger.

As though fearing that Zhang Xuan would change his mind, the Nightmare Beast hurriedly swallowed it with a contented look.

After which, Zhang Xuan felt a will being bound to his own, allowing him to communicate with the other party.

“This is… Complete Submission?”

The beast tamers in the surroundings felt light-headed.

Just by shouting a few bizarre sounds, the other party actually succeeded. When did taming a Half-Transcension savage beast become so easy?

“To think that we even thought about competing with him…”

Many of the geniuses of the younger generation were on the verge of tears.

Even though Zhang Xuan had passed the Ten Beasts Cage, there were still a few who refused to concede.

However, upon seeing this sight… they realized that the difference in their capability was simply too vast…

Even Hall Master Xie Jiuchen, a 3-star beast tamer, was unable to succeed, yet, in just a dozen breaths or so, the other party was already done. This feat was so incredible that it felt that it could not have been done by a human.

“This is a truly master beast tamer!”

Someone amidst the crowd sighed.

Hearing those words, the rest nodded their heads in agreement.

Most probably, only masters of this level would be capable of taming the Nightmare Beast so easily and clear the Ten Beasts Cage in half a tea’s time…

Everyone turned their gazes toward the ‘master’, curious to see how he would do now that he had established a contract… only to see the other party walking toward Hall Master Xie Jiuchen.

“Hall Master Xie, I’ve already tamed this fellow, so twenty droplets of spirit beast blood essence… Wait, you said that you’re going to give me ten more. When will you be passing those to me?”

“Spirit beast blood essence…”

Xie Jiuchen’s body swayed, and his mouth twitched.

When I told you to tame this Nightmare Beast, I meant that you should convince it to serve the Beast Hall as the organization’s tamed beast.

Yet… not only did you take it for yourself, you even have to cheek to ask for compensation…

Can you be more reasonable?

It is just like I have asked you to help me court a beautiful lady that I met with much difficulty, and yet, you seduced her for yourself… and you even expect me to pay you for it…

Hall Master Xie Jiuchen felt so stifled inside that he was on the verge of throwing up blood.

You cannot be so unreasonable…

“Beast Tamer Zhang, you have tamed the Nightmare Beast to become your tamed beast. Isn’t it inappropriate for you to expect us to pay you spirit beast blood essence like that?”

Seeing the hall master go speechless from rage, Grand Elder Wei Yuqing could not help but interject.

“Inappropriate? Didn’t I tame the Nightmare Beast?” Zhang Xuan asked.

“That’s right…”

“Didn’t you say that you’ll pay me the spirit beast blood essence as long as I tame it?” Zhang Xuan continued.

“Yes…”

Hall Master Xie Jiuchen was on the verge of tears.

Initially, he thought that no matter how formidable this fellow was, he was only a Zongshi realm pinnacle cultivator. Given how the Nightmare Beast disregarded even them, how could it possibly submit to such a weak fellow?

Never in their dreams did they expect that the other party would really succeed…

“Since you’ve agreed to it, then we should get it over and done with. Otherwise… I’ll go and clear the Ten Beasts Cage!” Zhang Xuan said.

“Forget it. Grand Elder Wei, go and fetch the spirit beast blood essence.

The corner of Hall Master Xie Jiuchen’s lips twitched, and he hurriedly waved his hands.

There was no way to undo the matter of the Nightmare Beast anymore. On the other hand, if that fellow were to continue challenging the Ten Beasts Cage, it would not be long before all of the savage beasts in the Beast Hall would become his…

If that truly happened, then as the hall master of the Beast Hall, he would become a huge laughingstock…

“Alright!”

Even though Grand Elder Wei Yuqing felt frustrated as well, he still fulfilled the hall master’s command. A moment later, he returned with a jade bottle in his hands.

Taking the jade bottle over, Zhang Xuan uncapped the lid and took a look. Scarlet blood flowed within the container, and it filled up to half of the bottle. Making a rough estimation, he confirmed there were around thirty droplets inside.

“Great!”

Zhang Xuan’s purpose at the Beast Hall was this. Having obtained what he wanted, Zhang Xuan happily placed the bottle into his storage ring.

Seeing the sight, Hall Master Xie Jiuchen’s heart bled.

Despite the huge accumulation of Xuanyuan Kingdom Beast Hall over a span of a thousand years, it only had around fifty droplets here. Having more than half of it taken away in an instant, he could not help but feel a sense of loss.

However, upon thinking that it was possible for the other party to be a True Incarnation of Dragons, he hurriedly pushed down his displeasure.

“Alright, there’s no use for you to follow me. You might as well submit to the Beast Hall and stay here! As long as you agree to it, I’ll take care of the afflictions you are suffering from. It’s also not entirely impossible for me to help you become a spirit beast!”

Oblivious to Hall Master Xie Jiuchen’s reactions, Zhang Xuan turned to the Nightmare Beast and waved his hands casually.

This fellow was strong, but it was not capable of flying. Thus, its usability was limited to Zhang Xuan.

Xuanyuan Kingdom was only a temporary resting point. Zhang Xuan had to reach the Myriad Kingdom Alliance within three months, and it would be impossible for him to take the other party along. Since that was the case, he might as well sell a favor to the Beast Hall.

Of course, if the other party had not given the spirit beast blood essence to him, he would’ve rather let the Nightmare Beast loose than help tame it for the Beast Hall.

In the end, Zhang Xuan was no Samaritan. If the other party had reneged on his promise, why should he help them?

“You… What did you say? You want the Nightmare Beast to submit to our Beast Hall?”

Initially, Hall Master Xie Jiuchen was displeased by the other party’s extortion, but upon hearing his words, his breathing hastened in agitation.

“Un!”

Zhang Xuan waved his hands casually.

“This…” Hall Master Xie Jiuchen and Grand Elder Wei Yuqing were stunned. Their eyes slowly turned red.

This was a Half-Transcension savage beast! If anyone of them were to tame it, it would be impossible for them to give it up. Yet, this fellow was saying that he would give it to them. Wasn’t he being too generous?

They thought that the other party was a selfish and greedy person who only knew how to extort from others. However, Zhang Xuan’s actions had changed their opinion of him.

Perhaps, he really might have some urgent use for the spirit beast blood essence.

A Half-Transcension savage beast which possessed the potential to make the breakthrough to become a spirit beast was clearly much more valuable than thirty droplets of spirit beast blood essence. In fact, even a hundred droplets would still be unable to match up to its value.

Since the other party was willing to give away such a formidable savage beast directly, how could he possibly be a greedy person?

“We… We misunderstood him. Geniuses have their own pride, so how could he possibly act dishonorably just for this bit of interest…”

A thought suddenly appeared in their heads. The impression the two had of Beast Tamer Zhang immediately went through a 180-degree reversal.

But at that moment, the young man before them suddenly spoke up hesitantly, “Oh, right… Since I convinced the Nightmare Beast to submit to Beast Hall, shouldn’t you all offer some token of appreciation? For example, spirit stones, pills, medicinal herbs, or that sort. I wouldn’t mind a carriage or two of them…”

“…” Hall Master Xie Jiuchen and Grand Elder Wei Yuqing.

Chapter 428: Uncle Sun Qiang Is Here (1)

We are the Beast Hall, not some spirit stone mining clan. How much of wealth do you think we possess?

Still a carriage or two… Just a few dozen would already be almost their entire stock…

As for pills, medicinal herbs, and the sort, even if the Beast Hall had them, they are mainly reserved for the savage beasts. How in the world are we going to find so many for you?

They had just thought that this fellow was generous when he gave himself in right after…

“Beast Tamer Zhang, you must be jesting. It’s not that we don’t want to give those to you, we simply don’t have that many resources here…” Hall Master Xie Jiuchen replied with a reddened face.

“It’s alright if you don’t have those. However, there’s something that I really require, and I hope that you won’t turn me down!” Zhang Xuan turned to look at them.

“Feel free to speak!”

“I need over a thousand Half-Zhizun and Zhizun realm cultivation technique manuals. There are no requirements to their quality, and the more there are, the better it is!” Zhang Xuan said.

Zhang Xuan’s motive wasn’t spirit stones or medicinal herbs, but this.

Only with sufficient cultivation technique could he form the Zhizun realm Heaven’s Path Divine Art and achieve a breakthrough.

No matter what, if he wanted to avenge Lu Chong, he would require strength.

“A thousand Half-Zhizun and Zhizun realm cultivation technique manuals?”

Hall Master Xie Jiuchen blinked.

What did he need those for?

It’s not like you could boil cultivation techniques together to make a stew… On top of that, to demand nothing of their quality.

“This is simple, I can prepare them for you. However, I’ll require at least three days!” After pondering for a moment, Hall Master Xie Jiuchen nodded.

Zhizun realm cultivation techniques were valuable in Tianwu Kingdom, and it was nigh impossible to find even a single one in the market. However, in Xuanyuan Kingdom, most clans would possess several books. Collecting a thousand of them was troublesome, but with the connections of the Beast Hall, it would not be too difficult.

“Fine!”

Hearing that it was possible for the other party to collect all of them, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.

With this, he had met two main goals he had at the Beast Hall, spirit beast blood essence and cultivation technique manuals.

“Alright, I’ll cure your wounds now!”

Zhang Xuan turned to look at the Nightmare Beast.

The fellow had suffered some afflictions when it failed in its breakthrough to Transcendent Mortal realm. Previously, Zhang Xuan had promised to treat it as part of his deal, so it was time for him to fulfill the end of his bargain.

“Roar!”

The Nightmare Beast knew that it would not be able to follow behind Zhang Xuan once its injuries had recovered, so it howled in reluctance.

The other party was an expert capable of producing the True Voice of Dragons. If it were to follow behind him, it would surely be able to reach great heights in the future.

Staying at this Beast Hall meant losing this great opportunity.

However, the master had already made his stand. Contractually-bound to Zhang Xuan, it did not dare to protest.

“For me to solve your problem, I’ve to know what problems you are suffering from first!”

Ignoring its unhappiness, Zhang Xuan glanced at it and said, “Alright… Knock yourself out!”

“Roar???”

The Nightmare Beast widened its eyes in bewilderment.

Hall Master Xie Jiuchen and Grand Elder Wei Yuqing were speechless as well.

It seemed like this fellow had not given up his intention of knocking the Nightmare Beast out…

“What are you roaring for, hurry up!”

Zhang Xuan chastised with a slight frown.

He had no time to waste here, he needed to make use of his time to cultivate Heaven’s Path Golden Body 2-dan.

“Roar~~~~”

It stared at Zhang Xuan pleadingly, but upon seeing the other party’s determined gaze, it gritted its teeth before striking its massive hand on its head.

Padah!

The sight before it turned dark, and it passed out.

If Xie Jiuchen and the others wanted to knock it out, they would probably have to go through a huge hassle. It was much simpler for it to do the work itself.

“What is it doing?”

“What’s happening?”

When the Nightmare Beast barged out of its cage, the other beast tamers immediately retreated far away. Thus, they missed out on the conversation of the others. However, upon seeing the huge fellow knock itself out, bizarre expressions appeared on their faces.

“Beast Tamer Zhang is about to treat that huge fellow!”

Hall Master Feng and Beast Tamer Wang chuckled.

“Treat?” Luo Tang, Fang Jin, and the others were bewildered.

One had to knock out savage beasts before treating them?

“This is Beast Tamer Zhang’s unique diagnosis method, the Unconscious Treatment Method!” Hall Master Feng explained.

“Unconscious Treatment Method? Beast Pummeling Taming Method… What the heck is with his techniques?”

The duo found themselves at the end of their tolerance for this insanity.

They had seen many eccentric things in this world, but such a bizarre sight was one they could have never imagined.

Ever since they were apprentice beast tamers, there was an iron-clad rule seared deep in their minds: To tame a savage beast, one must cultivate an intimate relationship with it, and conflicts are a huge taboo.

Yet…

Yet, the Beast Pummeling Taming Method and Unconscious Treatment Method…

If anyone else were to try pummeling a savage beast, they would definitely be beaten to death. Yet, not only was this fellow still in perfect condition, he even managed to get the savage beast to submit to it…

Just by thinking about it made them feel stifled.

Amidst everyone’s bewildered and gloomy gazes, Zhang Xuan had already touched the Nightmare Beast and formed a corresponding book. Flipping through it, he found the root of the fellow’s illness.

“Indeed, he suffered severe injuries from his failed breakthrough. Not only are his meridians injured, his internal organs are also damaged. He will require the nourishment of medicinal herbs… I’ll write down a prescription for you now. If you were to treat him, it’ll help you in earning his good will!” Zhang Xuan said.

This fellow was indeed severely injured. After all, if that wasn’t the case, it would have been impossible for the Beast Hall to capture him.

On top of that, he overexerted himself previously, exacerbating his injuries.

Even though Zhang Xuan could treat it without the Library of Heaven’s Path given his current level of medical knowledge, he would be only able to treat its symptoms, not the root of its illness.

Knowing the specific location of the injuries had made it much simpler to cure the Nightmare Beast. However, to heal it to the point that it could try for Transcendent Mortal realm once more would still take at least half a year.

Of course, if Zhang Xuan were to use his Heaven’s Path zhenqi, the other party’s recovery rate would be boosted.

However, Zhang Xuan’s current cultivation realm was far too lacking as compared to the other party. Putting aside the doubt of the effectiveness of the Heaven’s Path zhenqi under such circumstances, there was a chance that Zhang Xuan’s pure zhenqi might be revealed, and this would bring him a whole string of trouble.

Thus, he would rather dump the problem on the Beast Hall. In any case, this would also serve as a platform for them to strike up a relationship with the Nightmare Beast.

“Yes!” Hall Master Xie Jiuchen nodded.

Zhang Xuan took out a piece of a paper and a brush, and started writing down a prescription. The main ingredient of the prescription just so happened to be Wei Youdao’s Seven-colored Honey.

He was only responsible for providing the prescription. As for how the other party would negotiate the matter, that was no longer a matter for him to worry over.

“I need a quiet chamber!”

After dealing with this matter, Zhang Xuan raised his request.

Hall Master Xie Jiuchen did not dare to keep Zhang Xuan waiting. He hurriedly prepared a quiet and spacious residence for him.

This Beast Tamer Zhang had successfully cleared the Ten Beasts Cage. Just that in itself was sufficient reason for the Beast Hall to give him a residence already.

Not to mention, the other party even tamed the Nightmare Beast and gave it to the Beast Hall. It would be hard for the Beast Hall to return this debt.

After settling Zhao Ya and the others in, Zhang Xuan turned to Hall Master Xie Jiuchen and asked, “Right, Hall Master Xie, may I trouble you on another matter?”

“Feel free to speak!” Hall Master Xie Jiuchen chuckled.

Despite this fellow’s young age, Xie Jiuchen already viewed him as a fellow peer, or perhaps, even a senior.

Putting all things aside, just the fact that Beast Tamer Zhang was able to tame the Nightmare Beast so easily and produce the True Voice of Dragons showed that his capability was far beyond his.

“May I trouble you to assign a person to escort a friend of mine to Gale Valley of the Duskfall Mountains?”

Zhang Xuan called Sun Qiang over by gesturing to him.

“Duskfall Mountains… Gale Valley? You are going to the… Poison Hall?” Hall Master Xie Jiuchen narrowed his eyes.

The Xuanyuan Kingdom Poison Hall branch was well-hidden, and very few people knew of its exact position. Even so, as the head of the Beast Hall, Xie Jiuchen was well-informed on such matters.

It was in Gale Valley!

That region was usually forbidden lands for ordinary cultivators. Why was Beast Tamer Zhang sending his subordinate over?

“You know of the Poison Hall as well? Indeed, I need him to make a trip for me!”

Zhang Xuan chuckled.

“But… the surrounding area of the Poison Hall is treacherous land…” Hall Master Xie Jiuchen tried to talk Zhang Xuan out of it.

The Poison Hall had a horrible reputation, and there were many casualties under them. To abruptly pay a visit was an extremely dangerous affair.

More importantly, this subordinate of his was only at Dingli realm!

“Ah, I have a friend at the Poison Hall, and I just need Sun Qiang to look for him in my stead. There won’t be any danger, so you don’t have to worry! It’s just that I need someone to protect him on the way to avoid unnecessary trouble,” Zhang Xuan explained.

Back then, when Gu Mu left, he had left Zhang Xuan with a token, saying that he could bring it to look for him when he needed help.

Since Zhang Xuan was going against the Xuanyuan royal family now, he needed all the help he could get.

However, Zhang Xuan urgently needed to cultivate now so that he could gain sufficient strength to exact his vengeance. Thus, after much contemplation, he decided to send Sun Qiang over.

This fellow might be arrogant, but he was able to retain his composure even before experts like Su Fan and Ling Yuheng. As such, he was in a much better position than Zhao Ya and the others.

“Alright then! I’ll go make preparations!”

Hearing that Zhang Xuan had a friend at the Poison Hall, Hall Master Xie Jiuchen hesitated for a moment before eventually nodding his head.

Then, after the other party left, Zhang Xuan turned around to face Sun Qiang.

“Butler Sun, I have something I require your help on.”

“Young master, feel free to speak!” Sun Qiang hurriedly clasped his fist.

As the sole direct disciple of the old master, Sun Qiang had to obey Zhang Xuan’s commands.

“Take this token, visit a poison master named Gu Mu in the Gale Valley Poison Hall and have him meet me at Xuanyuan Kingdom!” Zhang Xuan instructed, taking out a token.

“Alright!” Sun Qiang nodded his head. “May I know if this Gu Mu is young master’s friend? How should I address him?”

Zhang Xuan had never told anyone about the happenings in the Poison Hall, so Sun Qiang did not know about the matter.

“Oh, this Gu Mu… is my teacher’s grandstudent, meaning, my junior nephew!” Zhang Xuan replied.

Initially, Zhang Xuan was going to say that the other party was his grandstudent, but if the other party were to find out his senior granduncle was not even twenty yet, he would surely bear doubts. Thus, he might as well push the identity of the elusive expert to his ‘teacher’.

In any case, his ‘teacher’ had always been an unfathomable figure. Adding an additional layer of secrecy to his identity did not mean anything much at this point.

“The old master’s grandstudent?” Sun Qiang’s eyes lit up.

He did not expect the old master to be so formidable as to have a grandstudent in the Poison Hall.

“As a servant of the old master, even if I am of inferior standing to the old master, I am at least of the same standing as the young master! Since that Gu Mu lad is the old master’s grandstudent, young master’s junior nephew, that means that he’s my junior as well…” Sun Qiang thought. “As his senior, it’s only right for him to run over as soon as he’s called. Besides, as his senior, he should at least welcome me grandly with good alcohol and meat!”

The more he thought about it, the more satisfied Sun Qiang felt with the job he was assigned.

Seeing the other party’s delighted expression, Zhang Xuan warned, “The Poison Hall is a dangerous place, so be careful!”

“Young master, rest assured!” Sun Qiang nodded.

“I’ll leave a surge of zhenqi with you just in case someone tries to poison you. At the very least, you’ll be able to protect yourself this way!”

After a moment of hesitation, Zhang Xuan flicked his finger, and a surge of Heaven’s Path zhenqi flew through the other party’s meridians, seeped into his dantian, and lay dormant within.

Chapter 429: Uncle Sun Qiang Is Here (2)

Zhang Xuan’s Zongshi realm Heaven’s Path zhenqi could neutralize all poisons of grade-3 and below.

It was hard to tell what kind of dangers Sun Qiang would meet, so it was best for him to be careful.

With this surge of zhenqi, Sun Qiang should be able to protect himself from the poison of ordinary poison masters.

“Thank you, young master!”

Knowing that the young master was doing this for his safety, Sun Qiang bowed in gratitude.

After the last few days of fellowship, he knew that even though the young master might be inferior to the old master, he was also a man of great capability.

Since he decided to do so, he must have his own considerations.

After explaining the method of triggering the surge of zhenqi and ensuring that the other party understood his words, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.

Even though Sun Qiang was a little coarse, his ability to get things done was reliable. All along, he had been able to reliably accomplish the tasks Zhang Xuan entrusted to him, saving him a lot of hassle.

‘Yang shi’ was an unfathomable, advanced master teacher, and the butler of such a figure had to possess a befitting disposition. Even though Sun Qiang’s cultivation was so-so, he had been able to play the role of a butler perfectly.

Otherwise, Zhang Xuan would not have gone through the trouble of bringing him here from Tianxuan Kingdom.

“These are a few pills beneficial to your cultivation. Remember to cultivate hard even when traveling.”

With a flick of his wrist, Zhang Xuan took out several pills that he obtained from the Lin Clan and passed them over.

“Yes!” Sun Qiang hurriedly received them.

He was no fool. Given that his cultivation was already lagging behind, he knew that if he did not work harder, he would soon lose his value.

While Zhang Xuan was delegating a few more points for Sun Qiang to take note of, Hall Master Xie Jiuchen returned with an elder before him. It was Wei Yuqing,

“The Poison Hall is dangerous, and after much consideration, I decided to assign Elder Wei to follow him. This way, his safety can be guaranteed!” Hall Master Xie said.

On top of being a 3-star beast tamer, Wei Yuqing was a Zhizun realm pinnacle expert. Other than Xie Jiuchen, he was the strongest person in the entire Beast Hall. Also, he possessed the deepest understanding of the affairs of the Poison Hall as well.

It should be safer for him to escort Beast Tamer Zhang’s subordinate.

Beast Tamer Zhang was an important guest of the Beast Hall. On top of that, they had yet to fully tame the Nightmare Beast. Thus, no matter what, they had to protect the other party’s subordinate well.

“I’ll be depending on Elder Wei then!”

Zhang Xuan clasped his fist.

“Don’t worry!” Wei Yuqing nodded with a smile. “Even though I’ve never been to the Poison Hall, I’ve heard some rumors about it. If it’s just looking for someone, there won’t be any danger!”

As long as they weren’t going to the Poison Hall to wreak havoc, it should be fine.

After all, even though poison masters were formidable, beast tamers, as a member of the Upper Nine Paths, were not to be trifled with either.

“Un!” Since Grand Elder Wei Yuqing was making a move personally, Zhang Xuan felt reassured.

The duo left on an aerial savage beast. After trading some pleasantries with Zhang Xuan, Hall Master Xie Jiuchen took his leave.

The Nightmare Beast had awoken, and he had to make use of this opportunity to strike up an intimate relationship with the latter before it recovered fully.

“Time to start!”

After the crowd left, Zhang Xuan found a quiet room, conditioned himself, and sat down cross-legged.

With his recent gains, he should have sufficient spirit beast blood essence to reach Heaven’s Path Golden Body 2-dan.

After adjusting his state, Zhang Xuan flicked his wrist, and a few droplets of spirit beast blood essence appeared in his palm.

There was a dense concentration of spiritual energy in the room. This was a unique cultivation chamber in the residence, and a spiritual energy gathering formation had been set up here.

Closing his eyes, Zhang Xuan began to drive his zhenqi according to the formula stated within the Heaven’s Path Golden Body 2-dan. Then, with a flick of his finger, the blood droplets suddenly turned into a mist, permeating into the pores throughout Zhang Xuan’s body.

The spirit beast blood essence was the essence of the blood extracted from a spirit beast. Even though it wasn’t as valuable as inner cores, harnessed within every droplet was the very essence of a spirit beast. The energy contained in every droplet was even purer and denser than those in spirit stones.

A huge spiral formed within his body, taking in all of the energy within the blood to nourish every single cell within him.

“The effects are indeed significantly less effective than before…”

Taking a look at his body after absorbing the first batch of spirit beast blood essence, Zhang Xuan frowned.

Along with the rise in his strength, the requirement on the spirit beast blood essence would increase as well. In the past, a single drop could induce massive improvements, but now, its effects had been greatly cut.

But in any case, Zhang Xuan had sufficient spirit blood essence in his possession, so he had no worries.

Based on his previous calculations, twenty droplets of spirit beast blood essence should be sufficient for him to reach Zhizun realm pinnacle.

As long as his strength reached that level, it would be possible for him to face even a Half-Transcension cultivator through the Eye of Insight and Library of Heaven’s Path.

He would be able to exact vengeance then.

Tzzzz!

Under the effects of the Heaven’s Path Golden Body 2-dan, the constitution of Zhang Xuan’s muscles was modified, augmenting his physical strength immensely.

Boom!

After an unknown period of time, with the sound of an explosion, Zhang Xuan seemed to have broken a shackle binding his body. It felt as though he was submerged in a tub of hot water, and a feeling of relaxation spread all over him.

Finally, he had broken through the 9999 ding bottleneck to reach the level of Zhizun realm!

Even though there was only a single ding of difference between 9999 ding and 10,000 ding, it set apart the boundary between a Half-Zhizun and Zhizun. With this leap, one’s level of existence became completely different.

Zhizun was the peak of the Fighter realm. Regardless of whether it was one’s physical body, spirit, or energy, one would be approaching the limits of a human at this realm.

Only when one had reached this realm could one attempt to break their mortal limits to become a Transcendent Mortal. Upon success, their lifespan and strength would be enhanced immensely.

If one could not even take the step to Zhizun realm, one would be doomed to remain as a mortal for life. One could only watch helplessly as time left its mark on one.

In other words, it was the stepping stone to becoming a true expert.

Many cultivators found themselves locked outside of its gates, unable to take the final step in, and thus, dying in regret.

After previously absorbing the two droplets of spirit beast blood essence, Zhang Xuan also found himself stuck before this hurdle, unable to raise his strength by that final ding to push through the next realm no matter how he cultivated.

However, with sufficient blood essence in his hands, he could finally take that final step.

With the breakthrough in his cultivation, Zhang Xuan’s reaction speed and senses were enhanced immensely.

His vision became much sharper and clearer.

As expected of the top realm of a Fighter. Just the breakthrough in his physical body had brought him many benefits.

Even though his strength was just increased by a single ding, his overall fighting prowess rose by almost two folds.

If he were to fight with the Steel-armed Golden Ape once more, even without the Library of Heaven’s Path, he would be able to crush it easily with just his strength.

This was Zhizun realm!

“Finally!”

Knowing that it would be easier to raise his cultivation now, having broken through his bottleneck, Zhang Xuan frenziedly absorbed the spirit beast blood essence within the jade bottle and drove the Heaven’s Path Golden Body 2-dan. Once again, his strength rose at a rate visible to the eye.

10,100 ding!

10,200 ding!

10,300 ding!

…

30,000 ding!

In just a single day, Zhang Xuan reached 30,000 ding straight, granting him strength equivalent to a Zhizun realm advanced stage expert.

At this moment, he had already expended a total of eighteen drops of spirit beast blood essence.

“The expenditure is greater than I’d expected…”

He thought that it would only take at most ten droplets for him to reach Zhizun realm advanced stage, but contrary to his expectations, it took eighteen instead. That was far beyond his estimations.

It was fortunate that he received ten additional droplets from Hall Master Xie. With twelve droplets remaining, it should be sufficient for him to push to Zhizun realm pinnacle.

“Continue!”

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Xuan closed his eyes and continued cultivating.

…

While Zhang Xuan was in seclusion, Sun Qiang had finally arrived at the Gale Valley in the Duskfall Mountains after half a day of traveling.

Similar to the Red Lotus Range, it extended far beyond the horizon, and the Poison Hall was hidden somewhere amidst this vast plot of lush greenery.

If one didn’t know the exact location of the Poison Hall, putting aside finding it, one would probably end up dead at the hands of the powerful savage beasts prowling around or from the poisonous mist which lingered in the air.

“Be careful!”

Grand Elder Wei Yuqing took out an antidote pill in advance.

The duo abandoned the aerial savage beast and began proceeding through the mountain valley on foot.

Grand Elder Wei Yuqing’s strength of Zhizun realm pinnacle made the weaker savage beasts dare not approach him. On top of that, he was an experienced veteran, and under his guide, the duo avoided most of the danger.

After a day of walking, having circled around innumerable savage beasts and poisonous mist, a massive infrastructure appeared before them.

Countless tall dark-gray stone buildings reminiscent of ancient relics clustered around it.

The layout was similar to the Red Lotus Range Poison Hall, but it was clearly larger and grander. There were all kinds of formidable formations laid out in the area.

After circling around a massive boulder, they finally arrived at the entrance.

Before they could walk in, they seemed to have triggered some kind of mechanism. Jiya! A loud rumbling echoed, and immediately afterward, the ringing of bells sounded.

Huala!

A few poison masters wearing long robes appeared before the duo.

Even though Poison Hall was well-hidden and no one would easily attempt to besiege it, it was still one of the most hated and feared occupations in the continent. As such, they went to the extent of building a strong defensive system.

“Who dares to barge into the Poison Hall?”

A young man walked forward as he assessed the two intruders with a cold gaze.

These few people seemed to be in their thirties, and they had all reached Zongshi realm, and the young man who spoke had even reached Zongshi realm pinnacle.

But of course, what was fearsome about poison masters wasn’t their strength but their ability to utilize poison.

Even though they were only at Zongshi realm, Grand Elder Wei Yuqing didn’t dare to underestimate them.

“I am a 3-star beast tamer from the Beast Hall, Grand Elder Wei Yuqing. I’m here to seek a friend!”

Wei Yuqing stepped forward and clasped his hands.

After a day of accompaniment, Wei Yuqing realized that Sun Qiang was only at Dingli realm. It was likely that the poison masters would simply disregard his presence so he chose to take on the job of interacting with the other party.

“An elder from the Beast Hall?”

Taken aback, a grim look slowly surfaced on the young man.

Even though they rarely interacted with the outside world, poison masters still roughly knew the various powers out in the world. Given that the other party was an elder of the Beast Hall, his strength was most probably at Zhizun realm pinnacle. This wasn’t a figure that they could trifle with.

“May I know which poison master within our Poison Hall you are looking for?”

The young man replied politely.

“It’s a poison master named Gu Mu!” Sun Qiang said.

“Gu Mu?”

The young man was taken aback by Sun Qiang’s words, and a furrow slowly appeared on his forehead. “You’re looking for Hall Master Gu Mu?”

“Hall master?”

Sun Qiang and Wei Yuqing were dumbstruck.

Wei Yuqing knew that they were here to look for Zhang Xuan’s junior nephew… He thought that the other party would just be some unknown poison master, to think that he would be the head of the Poison Hall!

The standing of the head of the Poison Hall was in no way inferior to the head of the Beast Hall.

“That’s right!” Seeing that the other party clearly didn’t know that Gu Mu was the hall master despite being here to look for him, a wary look appeared on the faces of the poison masters. “May I know the reason why you are looking for the hall master? I’ll help you relay your message!”

“The reason?”

Sun Qiang hesitated for a moment, but upon recalling his standing, he straightened his plump body and stood imposingly.

Placing his hands behind his back, his eyebrows shot up, and an arrogant look appeared on his face, “Hmph, tell him that his Uncle Sun Qiang is here, so he should hurry out to welcome me!”

Chapter 430: Gu Mu’s Teacher Is Here Too [2in1]

“Uncle Sun Qiang?”

Wei Yuqing was just about to explain the matter when he heard these words. His lips trembled, and he nearly bit his own tongue.

As the head of the Poison Hall, there were no doubts about the other party’s strength and his ability to utilize poison. Even if Hall Master Xie Jiuchen were to come personally, there was no guarantee that he could defeat the other party.

Even Wei Yuqing had to bow respectfully before such an elder for fear of offending the other party.

Yet, this fellow declared that ‘uncle is here’ as soon as he arrived.

Where in the world did that come from?

Even if Gu Mu was Yang shi’s grandstudent, you should have nothing much to do with it!

For a Dingli realm fellow to claim to the be uncle of a Zhizun realm expert…

And to declare it so loudly and imposingly at that…

Wei Yuqing felt his face turn green.

He thought that it should be a simple matter bringing Sun Qiang here to look for someone. How could he have known that Sun Qiang was such an unreliable companion?

“What did you say?”

“Where did this fool come from!”

As expected. As soon as Sun Qiang spoke those arrogant words, everyone’s fury immediately erupted.

They had always admired Hall Master Gu Mu’s incredible strength, so how could they tolerate a random stranger claiming to be his uncle, his senior? This was an insult!

Furthermore, even if Hall Master Gu Mu were to really have an uncle, the other party should at least be a powerful Transcendent Mortal expert. How could such a shameless-looking Dingli realm fellow like you be his uncle?

“Audacious!”

Used to such situations, Sun Qiang’s eyebrows shot up as he bellowed authoritatively, “Hurry up and call him out. Otherwise, don’t blame me if I get that lad Gu Mu to tear you apart!”

“Lad? Gu Mu?”

Wei Yuqing’s mouth twitched yet again.

He felt that a heart problem would crop up soon enough if he continued listening to these words.

“You…”

The faces of the poison masters steeled in fury. Unable to hold back their fury, they were about to make a move on Sun Qiang when a voice echoed.

“What happened? Who are these visitors?”

Turning to the origin of the voice, an imposing young man walked over with widened strides.

It had not been long since the bell rang, and it was already ringing for the second time. When did the Poison Hall get so bothersome?

“Poison Master Wu Xi, you came at the right time. These fellows popped out from nowhere and claimed to be Hall Master Gu’s uncle…” The group hurriedly explained the matter to the young man who had just appeared.

“Teacher’s uncle? I don’t recall teacher having any relatives…”

Wu Xi frowned in confusion.

Even though he was baffled, he chose to handle the matter prudently. Thus, he clasped his fist and asked.

“I am Wu Xi, and Hall Master Gu Mu is my teacher. May I know how to address you and where did you come from so that I can report this matter to teacher.”

Seeing the other party’s respectful attitude, Sun Qiang nodded his head in satisfaction. “How to address me? I am your teacher’s uncle, so you can address me as grandfather!”

Wu Xi’s eyebrows twitched, and his body swayed for an instant.

As the direct disciple of the hall master, he possessed a high standing in the Poison Hall. For a Dingli realm fellow out of nowhere to claim to be his grandfather…

Stifled, he nearly exploded.

Even so, if the other party was truly his teacher’s uncle, there would be no problem with the address.

“Since you claim to be teacher’s uncle, may I know if you have… anything to affirm your identity?”

Suppressing his rage, Wu Xi clasped his fists respectfully.

“Here!”

With a flick of his wrist, Sun Qiang threw the token Zhang Xuan gave him over.

“It’s teacher’s token…”

Upon seeing the object, Wu Xi’s face changed.

He had seen teacher’s token once, and it was a one-of-a-kind object. To think that he would see it on this plump man… Could this unimpressive fellow truly be teacher’s uncle?

“Elder, please wait for a moment. I’ll report this matter to teacher now!”

Given that the other party was able to take out his teacher’s token, it was highly likely that his words were true. Thus, Wu Xi hurriedly clasped his fists respectfully. At the same time, he also changed his method of address to ‘elder’.

“Un, go on!”

Sun Qiang waved his hands proudly.

Seeing the imposing Wu Xi behaving so respectfully, the other poison masters were dumbfounded.

They thought that this fellow was bragging. To think that it was actually true!

Just a moment ago, someone had just appeared claiming to be the hall master’s teacher. Given his powerful and majestic disposition, no one doubted his words at all.

And now, the uncle had appeared as well. However, why did this uncle seem so weak and unimpressive?

…

In the lounge of the Poison Hall, Gu Mu was seated on a chair, and he had an extremely respectful and humble look on his face.

In the past twenty days, his cultivation had leaped considerably. Vaguely, one could sense that he was just a single step away from reaching Half-Transcension.

It seemed like it wouldn’t be long before he managed to make that breakthrough to a whole new world.

Seated before was a white-haired elder. His eyes were deep as though an abyss, filled with the vicissitudes of life, leaving one with an unfathomable impression of him.

Seated beside the elder was a youth dressed in a white robe. The youth had rosy lips and held a foldable fan in his hands. Taking a closer look, he was even more dashing than the refined Ji Mo gongzi, who won the hearts of the ladies in Tianwu Royal City.

In fact, the disposition and appearance of this youth far exceeded that of Ji Mo. The difference was as huge as though the gap between the heaven and the earth.

A feature that stood out for that youth was his smooth and pale skin. Even Zhang Xuan, who had already cultivated the Heaven’s Path Golden Body 2-dan, could not match up to his complexion. Perhaps, only Zhao Ya could be a match for him.

The youth sat quietly on a chair beside the elder. Even though he didn’t speak a single word, he exuded a pressure that caused the white-haired elder to feel slightly restrained, not daring to speak excessively.

“Teacher, this is the Crimson Flame Lotus Seed. Upon consumption, it’ll increase a person’s chances of breaking into the Half-Transcension realm by twenty percent!”

With a flick on his wrist, Hall Master Gu Mu took out a jade box and passed it over to the elder.

Opening the box, a blood-red object the size of a peanut appeared before everyone’s gazes. It exuded astonishingly concentrated spiritual energy which revitalized one with just a single breath.

Crimson Flame Lotus Seed!

This was the treasure obtained back when he was at the Red Lotus Range.

“Un!”

Nodding his head, the elder took it and passed it to the youth beside him, “Gong-gongzi!”

“This is the reason why you came here?”

The youth who was addressed as ‘gongzi’ glanced at the seed for a moment before closing it.

The incomparably valuable Crimson Flame Lotus Seed that other cultivators would kill to obtain seemed to be something of zero value in his eyes.

“I heard that this object is beneficial to gongzi’s recovery…” the elder hurriedly explained.

“You’ve been troubled!”

Upon hearing that it was for him, ‘gongzi’ nodded his head, kept the jade box, and fell silent once more.

“Well done!”

Seeing the finicky ‘gongzi’ accept the Crimson Flame Lotus Seed, the elder heaved a sigh of relief. Only then did he turn to Hall Master Gu Mu and nod his head in satisfaction.

“Teacher has done so much for me, it’s only right for me to be filial to you!”

Gu Mu hurriedly clasped his fist humbly.

The person seated before him was his ex-teacher, 4-star Poison Master Jin Conghai.

When Jin Conghai was still a 3-star poison master, he accepted Gu Mu in as his student and groomed him. Eventually, he managed to break through his bottleneck, so he left Xuanyuan Kingdom. With this departure, he was gone for two whole decades.

Even so, his guidance had played a fundamental role to Gu Mu’s current accomplishments.

Otherwise, he would probably still be trying to crawl ahead as a 2-star poison master.

Knowing that the Crimson Flame Lotus Seed was an incredible treasure, he immediately sent the news over to his teacher. As such, his teacher made a detour to the Xuanyuan Kingdom Poison Hall.

“Since we’ve obtained what we needed, let’s go!”

The ‘gongzi’ didn’t seem to care for pleasantries or that sort. Waving the fan in his hand, he stood up.

“Yes!” Jin Conghai nodded.

“Teacher, may I know… where are you heading in such a hurry to? If it’s within my means, I wish to offer my assistance…”

Hall Master Gu Mu hesitated for a brief moment before asking.

He thought that his teacher would stay a period of time, during which, he could seek his guidance on his cultivation to break through his bottleneck. Yet, the other party was going to leave right after arriving. This left him slightly disappointed.

“Gongzi is intending to head to a Tier 1 Kingdom below Xuanyuan Kingdom. There’s nothing we need your help on, you don’t have to worry about it!”

Jin Conghai shook his hands and rejected the other party’s offer with a smile.

“There is a total of twenty-seven Tier-1 Kingdoms under Xuanyuan Kingdom. May I know which one is gongzi and teacher intending to head to? I am familiar with some of them, so perhaps I can help lead the way.”

Knowing that his teacher was deferential to this ‘gongzi’, Hall Master Gu Mu asked for the latter’s opinion as well.

“Tianwu Kingdom!” Jin Conghai said.

“Tianwu? I’ve just returned from there a few days ago. In fact, this Crimson Flame Lotus Seed came from the branch there! I am well-versed with the directions there, so if I may, I could guide you both!”

Gu Mu’s eyes lit up in excitement.

Given that he had just come from Tianwu Kingdom, he was still rather familiar with the basic layout of the region.

“You’ve just returned from Tianwu Kingdom?”

Hearing the Gu Mu’s words, the nonchalant ‘gongzi’ suddenly turned around and asked, “Good, I’ve something to ask you about.”

“Gongzi, feel free to speak!” Gu Mu replied respectfully.

After a momentary pause, the ‘gongzi’ was just about to voice his query when anxious footsteps sounded outside. Then, Wu Xi appeared in the group’s sight. “Teacher!”

“What’s wrong?”

Given that the other party interrupted the esteemed ‘gongzi’s’ words, Gu Mu’s complexion immediately darkened.

“There’s a person outside claiming to be your uncle, and he insists on meeting you…” Wu Xi hurriedly said.

“My uncle?”

Gu Mu was baffled. “When did I ever have an uncle?”

His father was the sole son in his family, so how could he have an uncle?

“But… he has your token!”

Wu Xi quickly lifted the token Sun Qiang gave him up.

Upon seeing the token, realization suddenly struck Gu Mu. “Could he be someone senior granduncle sent?”

It was just a few days ago that he gave this token to the mysterious ‘senior granduncle’.

Even though the other party looked young, he possessed unfathomable means. The reason why he managed to touch on the gates of Half-Transcension in just a short span of twenty days was because of this senior’s guidance.

The other party had cured him of his affliction and helped him tame the Lava Beast, thus granting him sufficient time and hope to avenge his wife.

To be honest, the gratitude he felt toward this mysterious senior didn’t pale to that of his teacher.

“What senior granduncle?”

Hearing Gu Mu’s mutterings, Jin Conghai turned his head over.

“I was just about to report this matter to teacher…”

Gu Mu hurriedly walked forward and asked, “May I know if… teacher has a young-looking senior uncle?”

Since the other party was his senior granduncle, then naturally, he would be his teacher’s senior uncle.

“Senior uncle?”

Jin Conghai was bewildered. “Young-looking? What’s his name?”

“His name is Bai Chan… However, I think that it’s just an alias. I’m not too sure what his real name is either!” Gu Mu said.

Gu Mu had Liao Xun investigated the matter, but the results showed that Bai Chan was only an ordinary physician in Tianwu Royal City. Most probably, senior granduncle did not want others to know his identity, that’s why he chose to conceal his true name.

Seeing that Gu Mu was unclear of the matter as well, Jin Conghai asked, “Where’s he now?”

It was common for a cultivator to have many teachers throughout his entire life. However, most of them could only be considered as a half-teacher. More often than not, one would only have a single true teacher.

His teacher had already passed away many years ago, and he didn’t hear of his teacher having any juniors at all. Where did this senior uncle appear from?

“I haven’t met him since parting from him at Red Lotus Range. However, I gave him my token, and someone is looking for me now with it. Most probably, that person should be his junior or his student!” Gu Mu said.

Since the other party claimed to be his uncle, it meant that the other party was a junior of his senior granduncle.

“My teacher, Jin Chengxue, has already passed away, thirteen years ago. He’d never spoken of our lineage, so I’m not too sure about the details as well. However, if he’s truly related to my teacher, I should be able to recognize it…”

With a deep frown, Jin Conghai suddenly felt intrigued to know who this ‘senior uncle’ was. After a moment of hesitation, he turned to look at ‘gongzi’.

“It’s only out of interest that I’m heading to Tianwu Royal City. It isn’t much of a problem for me to push back my schedule for a few days. Since this is a problem regarding your lineage, you should investigate it properly to prevent anyone from making use of your name!”

Knowing Jin Conghai’s intentions, ‘gongzi’ shook his hands casually.

“Thank you, gongzi!”

Upon receiving the other party’s approval, Jin Conghai’s eyes lit up. Then, turning to Gu Mu, he issued an instruction.

“Allow him in. I would like to see if this senior uncle is real or not…”

“Yes!”

Gu Mu nodded before gesturing to Wu Xi.

The young man walked out, and before long, he returned with two figures behind him.

The one walking in front was a plump man whose cultivation was only at Dingli realm. His hands behind his back, his chest was puffed up, and he carried a slight air of superiority.

Sun Qiang.

The other man was an elder possessing a cultivation of Zhizun realm pinnacle. He had a composed disposition, but there was a sharp glint in his eyes.

Grand Elder Wei Yuqing.

As soon as the trio walked in, before Wu Xi had a chance to introduce them, Sun Qiang’s eyes swept across the people in the room and he said, “Which of you is Gu Mu?”

Seeing how that fellow arrogantly addressed the hall master by his name, the complexion of Wu Xi and the others turned awful.

“I am!”

Gu Mu frowned as well, but he clasped his fist and responded politely.

“I believe you have seen the token already. The old master hopes for you to make a trip to Xuanyuan Royal City.”

Without the slightest hesitation, Sun Qiang walked up to the main seat and waved his plump hands, “You should hurry up and make preparations!”

“May I know… the reason why senior granduncle is asking me to head for Xuanyuan Royal City? And what should I prepare?” Gu Mu asked in confusion.

Since the other party had the token, it was unlikely that this plump man was an imposter. Besides, Gu Mu had given his word that regardless of who it was, as long as they came to him with the token in hand, he would fulfill their demands regardless of what it was.

Sun Qiang replied, “As a subordinate, I dare not comment on the old master’s affairs. I advise you to do the same as well… When you reach Xuanyuan Royal City, he’ll inform you on the rest!”

“This… Yes!” Gu Mu nodded.

Not only was this Dingli realm fellow fearless before the Zhizun realm pinnacle Poison Hall Hall Master, he even spoke with a lecturing tone. Grand Elder Wei Yuqing felt so faint-headed that the whites of his eyes were showing.

He thought that given Sun Qiang’s weak cultivation and shabby background, it was unlikely for him to be experienced in this kind of huge matter. Thus, as a Zhizun realm pinnacle, the grand elder of the Beast Hall, he intended to bring him along and teach him a thing or two…

In the end… he became the countryside bumpkin instead.

Before the fearsome head of the Poison Hall, he was so scared that he didn’t dare to utter a single word. On the other hand, the other party was able to speak nonchalantly, lecturing as he pleased, not giving the slightest consideration to the hall master’s face at all…

He sure was bold!

Where in the world did he get such confidence from?

Did he really think that the other party wouldn’t dare kill him?

Even the composed ‘gongzi’ couldn’t help but widen his eyes in astonishment.

He had seen arrogant people before, but this plump man clearly topped them all.

Given the other party’s strength, even an apprentice in the Poison Hall could easily extinguish his measly life. Yet, he was able to speak fearlessly here. Could his backing truly be that great? Was he certain that Gu Mu wouldn’t make a move on him, that’s why he was able to remain fearless?

“This friend here, may I know how I can address your old master?”

Unable to hold himself back anymore, Jin Conghai spoke up.

The other party’s confidence and boldness had left him puzzled as well.

If the other party was an imposter, he would surely show some hints of fear. However, Jin Conghai could sense that this plump man was truly confident and fearless.

This meant that he must have something to fall back on…

Such boldness was not something an imposter could possess.

“Audacious! Who do you think you are? I’m speaking to Hall Master Gu Mu, this isn’t your place to butt in!”

Sun Qiang’s eyebrows shot up furiously.

“The heck!”

Grand Elder Wei Yuqing nearly spurted a mouthful of blood. He nearly couldn’t hold back his urge to escape.

Due to Sun Qiang’s lack of strength, he was unable to gauge the strength of this elder. However, as soon as Wei Yuqing walked in, he had already noticed the peculiarity with this elder. Given the deeply concealed and exceptionally calm aura of the other party, there was a high chance that he was a Transcendent Mortal expert!

It was precisely due to this elder that he didn’t dare to move or speak at all. Yet, this fellow… berated him!

Doomed!

Wei Yuqing thought that this should be an easy mission since they only had to look for a person. But from the looks of it now, this simple mission was going to claim his life…

He wasn’t the only one astounded by this situation. ‘Gongzi’ and Gu Mu also nearly bit their tongues.

How dare a Fighter 5-dan Dingli realm weakling speak to a Transcendent Mortal expert like that…

This was no longer boldness, this was madness!

“You…”

Having been bellowed at, Jin Conghai’s face darkened. He flung his sleeves and said, “I am Hall Master Gu Mu’s teacher, 4-star Poison Master Jin Conghai. Even so, I still have no rights to speak?”

“Gu Mu’s teacher? 4-star poison master?”

Sun Qiang was taken aback.

He thought that the other party was just a sidekick, and he didn’t expect him to be such a formidable figure.

Even so, Sun Qiang didn’t panic in the least. He simply stared at Jin Conghai with a look of disdain.

“So what if you’re a 4-star poison master? Even 4-star master teachers like Su Fan and Ling Yuheng have to pay respect to the old master in the capacity of a student, not daring to refute even when reprimanded… Why, do you think that you’re superior to 4-star master teachers?”

Trying to scare me?

Let me tell you, I, Brother Qiang, am no bumpkin!

Back then, even the 4-star master teacher ‘Little Su’ acted subserviently to the old master, not daring to speak loudly or go against his wills. You are just a mere poison master. No matter how incredible you are, do you think you can match up to the number one occupation in the world?

Didn’t I try to spare your pride already? What are you bragging for!

“Su Fan? Ling Yuheng? Do you mean Elder Su and Elder Ling from the Myriad Kingdom Alliance’s Master Teacher Pavilion?”

Jin Conghai was about to erupt from rage when he heard those words. His face immediately warped in shock.

As 4-star master teachers, Su Fan and Ling Yuheng were famous figures in the Myriad Kingdom Alliance. Not only were they powerful, they also possessed incredible influence as the elders of the Master Teacher Pavilion. Their standing was comparable even to the nobles of the Myriad Kingdom Alliance’s royal family.

Yet, these two noble and powerful master teachers actually paid respect to his old master in the capacity of a student… Are you for real?

If that’s true… Then who in the world was his old master?

A grave look surfaced on Jin Conghai’s face.

Chapter 431: Wreaking Havoc in Xuanyuan Kingdom (1) [2in1]

“You know Little Su and Little Ling?”

Sun Qiang frowned.

“I’ve… met them once!”

Hearing him address 4-star master teachers in such a manner, the corner of Jin Conghai’s lips twitched.

Those two were powerful figures in the Myriad Kingdom Alliance, and yet, in this plump man’s mouth, they seemed as though insignificant small fries…

His head spun frenziedly.

“Since you know them, then it won’t be a problem to tell you then!”

Sun Qiang’s expression finally alleviated slightly upon seeing the fear on the other party’s face, and he revealed, “The old master, Yang Xuan, is a master teacher. As for his rank… he has never revealed it before, so I don’t know either. However, Su shi has once hinted that his capability has definitely reached the level of a… 6-star master teacher!”

“A 6-star… master teacher?”

‘Gongzi’, Jin Conghai, Gu Mu, and the others leaped in shock.

Even the most formidable master teacher in the Myriad Kingdom Alliance, the head of the Master Teacher Pavilion, Pavilion Master Kang, was only at 4-star pinnacle. He was still a far way off from reaching 5-star, needless to say, 6-star.

In the ranking system of a master teacher, the higher the rank, the greater the difference between each ranking.

Even though there was only a difference of two ranks between 6-star and 4-star pinnacle, there was actually a huge disparity in their cultivation. Even if all of the experts of the Myriad Kingdom Alliance were to band together, they wouldn’t be able to match up to an expert of this class.

To think that the old master the other party was speaking about was such a formidable existence…

It was no wonder why this plump man, despite being only at Dingli realm, could act so fearlessly before them.

With such a huge backing, putting aside Zhizun realm pinnacle cultivators and Transcendent Mortal experts… Even the powerful Fleeting Cloud Sect wouldn’t dare offend him!

On the other hand, Grand Elder Wei Yuqing’s body shuddered, and he nearly fainted from shock.

He had never seen the old master that Sun Qiang was speaking of, but he had seen the young master… it was the incomparably talented Beast Tamer Zhang!

To that genius, taming a beast was as though a walk in the park, and even the incredibly difficult Ten Beasts Cage was no more than a slight workout for him!

All along, he had thought that Beast Tamer Zhang might be the direct disciple of some high-ranked beast tamer. He never could have imagined that Beast Tamer Zhang’s teacher would be a 6-star master teacher!

It was no wonder why he was so formidable despite his young age.

‘I must hurry back to inform the hall master of the matter!’ Grand Elder Wei Yuqing thought.

“That’s right! However, the one who wishes to meet Hall Master Gu this time is Young Master Zhang Xuan. Make some preparations and bring more poison along. At the very least, you won’t panic when the time comes!”

Seeing the fear in everyone’s eyes, Sun Qiang nodded his head in satisfaction.

Who was Yang shi?

As the butler of a master teacher whose ranking potentially exceeded 6-star, even if he didn’t possess sufficient strength, he mustn’t lose out in his disposition. If he were to be frightened by these small fries, how could he still proudly claim to be the old master’s butler?

“Yes!”

Upon learning that ‘senior granduncle’ was a 6-star master teacher, bits and pieces of Gu Mu’s interaction with the other party gradually surfaced in his mind.

Solving his affliction, helping him tame the Lava Beast, expelling the Contract Gu from the Great Herb King’s body…

All of his feats were anything but ordinary.

At that moment, he realized that… this fellow might not necessarily be bragging.

That senior granduncle ‘Yang shi’ might truly be a person of such great means.

“Gongzi, is what he said true?”

Jin Conghai communicated telepathically with ‘gongzi’.

Gongzi might be young and his cultivation could not compare up to him, but he was extraordinarily sharp when it came to discerning people.

“His tone is confident, and there isn’t the slightest hint of a lie in his words. That Yang shi probably isn’t an ordinary figure!” Gongzi replied calmly.

“This…”

“Actually, it’s not difficult to determine whether his words are true or not. Based on his words, his young master is probably at Xuanyuan Royal City. If I recall correctly, we have to pass by there to reach Tianwu Royal City so we can go over to take a look. If the old master he speaks of is truly a 6-star master teacher, then befriending him would surely be beneficial.”

Gongzi continued, “If that’s not the case, you can handle the matter as you please!”

“Yes!” Jin Conghai hurriedly nodded.

That plump man had spoken so confidently that even he was unable to gauge whether the other party’s words were true or not.

If this plump man was truly the subordinate of a 6-star master teacher, offending him could potentially be calamitous. Getting on bad terms with an expert of that caliber spelled certain doom.

In any case, since they were heading for Xuanyuan Royal City anyway, they could take a look. Through assessing the young master the other party spoke of, they might be able to determine the authenticity of the other party’s words.

Upon coming to a decision, the duo decided to speak no more.

As all of Gu Mu’s possessions were kept in his storage ring, there was nothing for him to prepare. Soon, he was ready to set off.

Thus, leaving the Poison Hall, the group headed in the direction of Xuanyuan Royal City.

…

Hu!

In the chamber, Zhang Xuan finally opened his eyes.

“Such a pity…”

Lamentation surfaced on Zhang Xuan’s face.

Ever since Sun Qiang left, Zhang Xuan had been immersing himself into his cultivation. Today was already the third day since then.

On the first day, his physical strength reached 30,000 ding.

In the next two days, he expended a total of five droplets of spirit beast blood essence, but his strength had only reached 35,000 ding before reaching a bottleneck.

“There’s nothing wrong with my cultivation method, it’s the spirit beast blood essence that has become ineffective!”

Exhaling deeply, Zhang Xuan shook his head.

The Heaven’s Path Golden Body 2-dan was a formula to enhance one’s physical body through absorbing spirit beast blood essence. As a cultivation technique compiled by the Library of Heaven’s Path, it was impossible for there to be any problems with it. At the same time, Zhang Xuan could sense that he hadn’t reached the cap of his cultivation yet.

The problem was that… the spirit beast blood essence had lost its effectiveness.

All Zhang Xuan could find in Xuanyuan Kingdom’s Beast Hall was the blood essence of grade-1 spirit beasts. An item of that rank was useful and powerful when one’s cultivation was still weak. However, after reaching the strength comparable to a Zhizun realm advanced stage, the effects of the blood essence had become minimal.

Using an analogy, when there is a huge difference in the height of two connected ponds, there would be a rapid flow of water from the higher pond to the lower pond. But when their heights finally become equal, the flow of water to the lower pond would stop.

This grade-1 spirit beast blood essence was only sufficient for Zhang Xuan to reach Zhizun realm advanced stage. At this level, the height between both ponds would be already equal. No matter how much more grade-1 spirit beast blood essence Zhang Xuan absorbed, it would be difficult for his strength to progress.

Immersing his consciousness into the state of his body, Zhang Xuan saw that the blood droplets flowing through his body were round and satiated. They were dense as though mercury, and every single droplet had immense strength packed within it. They were in no way inferior to the grade-1 spirit beast blood essence that Zhang Xuan consumed before.

Even though Zhang Xuan’s cultivation had not progress by much in the past two days of cultivation, his efforts were not completely futile. He managed to reinforce his cultivation and adapt to his newfound strength. At the very least, he wouldn’t lose control of his strength as he did back then in Master Lu Chen’s house.

“I still have seven droplets left. I’ll give three of them to Yuan Tao and find a way to further awaken his Emperor’s Bloodline. As for the last four, I’ll give them to the Howling Firmament Beast!”

Since there was no point in keeping the spirit beast blood essence droplets, he might as well just give them away.

Yuan Tao possessed the Emperor’s Bloodline, and the spirit beast blood essence was a treasure that could be used to awaken one’s unique constitution.

As for the Steelfang Howling Firmament Beast, since Zhang Xuan had yet to make a breakthrough in his zhenqi cultivation, he was still unable to trigger a Bloodline Evolution in it. However, through channeling the energy contained within the spirit beast blood essence properly, raising its cultivation by one or two small realms could still be easily done.

With the knowledge from the books contained within Xuanluo Mountain Range and Xuanyuan Kingdom Beast Hall, coupled with the Eye of Insight, even without utilizing the Library of Heaven’s Path, Zhang Xuan was still capable of such a feat.

In fact, putting aside Zhang Xuan’s unique abilities as a master teacher, just in terms of the capabilities of a beast tamer, he was superior to typical 3-star beast tamers.

Having made up his mind, Zhang Xuan immediately got to action. Summoning Yuan Tao and the Howling Firmament Beast over, he distributed the remaining seven droplets of spirit beast blood essence and explained the method to using them clearly.

After dealing with that matter, he saw Hall Master Xie Jiuchen walking over with a delighted expression.

“Beast Tamer Zhang, I’ve managed to gather all of the books that you require!”

In exchange for taming the Nightmare Beast, Zhang Xuan demanded compensation in the form of cultivation technique manuals. After three days of hard work, the Beast Hall finally managed to gather a thousand manuals of Half-Zhizun and Zhizun realm cultivation techniques each.

Huala!

As Hall Master Xie Jiuchen spoke, he flicked his wrist and two huge bookshelves appeared before Zhang Xuan. An entire collection consisting of two thousand books were placed in them.

Fearing that Zhang Xuan would be unsatisfied, the Beast Hall had used all of its connections and paid a heavy price to gather all of these books from the distinguished clans. As such, most of the cultivation techniques within the pile were actually rather decent.

Even though they were only copies, just the ability to gather so many valuable manuals in a short span of three days bore testimony to the immense influence the Beast Hall wielded.

“You have my gratitude, Hall Master Xie!”

After a brief glance, Zhang Xuan could instantly tell that the Beast Hall must have paid a heavy price for it. Grateful for the favor, Zhang Xuan asked, “How is the taming of the Nightmare Beast coming along?”

“That fellow’s injuries are starting to recover, and it’s no longer as resistant to us as it was… It’s all thanks to Beast Tamer Zhang’s help!”

Hall Master Xie Jiuchen nodded with a bright smile on his face.

Even though the Nightmare Beast was reluctant to submit to the Beast Hall, it had already signed a contract to Zhang Xuan, and Zhang Xuan’s words were law to it. Resigning to fate, its attitude toward the Beast Hall improved significantly.

As time passed, even if the Beast Hall was unable to tame it completely, as long as they were able to build a good relationship with it, it shouldn’t be a problem for them to rely on its help during times of crisis.

“That’s good!”

Seeing that everything was going well, Zhang Xuan nodded in satisfaction.

“Beast Tamer Zhang, you should continue on with whatever you’re busy with. I’ll take my leave now!”

Given that Zhang Xuan had requested for these cultivation techniques, it was likely he was planning to cultivate or research them. Thus, deciding not to be a nuisance, Hall Master Xie Jiuchen left.

As soon as the other party was gone, Zhang Xuan immediately slid his fingers through the secret manuals to duplicate them in the Library of Heaven’s Path.

“Compile!”

With a hushed exclamation, two secret manuals appeared in Zhang Xuan’s mind.

They were the Half-Zhizun and Zhizun realm Heaven’s Path Divine Art manuals.

Chuckling softly, Zhang Xuan began browsing through them.

It didn’t take him long to complete the two books.

“Time to try cultivating it!”

Choosing not to waste his time, Zhang Xuan sat down cross-legged, and with a flick of his wrist, a spirit stone appeared in his palms and he started cultivating.

He had obtained ten spirit stones from the Lin Ruotian’s storage ring, and five from winning the championship of the Beast Taming Competition.

In other words, there was a total of fifteen spirit stones in Zhang Xuan’s hands at the moment. Back when Liang Qingming and Lin Long were smashed to meat paste by the Book of Heaven’s Path, Zhang Xuan was unable to find their storage rings.

Even though there weren’t many of them, he calculated that it should be sufficient to raise his cultivation considerably.

Kacha! Kacha!

The spirit stones that were sapped dry were reduced to powder. At the same time, an immense amount of spiritual energy surged into Zhang Xuan’s meridians, causing his cultivation to steadily grow stronger.

Boom!

Around ten minutes or so later, his body jolted and his cultivation broke through Zongshi realm pinnacle to reach Half-Zhizun.

Jiang Shu, Mo Tianxue, and the others had cultivated their entire lives, only to be kept out of this level. If they were to know that this fellow had only spent a dozen minutes to accomplish his feat, they would probably die from excessive vomiting of blood.

Half-Zhizun meant that that one already had half a foot into Zhizun realm, and one’s level of existence was already undergoing a metamorphosis.

Even so, Zhang Xuan didn’t stop there. He continued absorbing spiritual energy from the spirit stones greedily.

Kacha!

An hour later, Zhang Xuan’s body jolted, and he had successfully reached Zhizun realm.

Cultivating from Zongshi realm pinnacle to Zhizun realm didn’t even take him an hour.

As expected of the Heaven’s Path Divine Art. With sufficient spiritual energy, cultivating was no different from eating or drinking. The concept of bottlenecks didn’t exist in Zhang Xuan’s training.

Having achieved a breakthrough in his cultivation, Zhang Xuan immersed himself in the sensation of having an immense amount of zhenqi flowing through his body.

At this moment, just his zhenqi strength itself amounted up to 10,000 ding. He had truly stepped into the top ranks of the Fighter realm.

Two hours later.

Coming to a stop in his cultivation, Zhang Xuan sighed.

Along with the rise in his cultivation, the demand for the quality and quantity of spirit stones was rising exponentially.

In the past, five spirit stones were more than sufficient for him to reach Zongshi realm pinnacle. However, at this moment, fifteen spirit stones were only barely enough for him to reach Zhizun realm. It wasn’t even sufficient for him to reinforce his cultivation as a Zhizun realm primary stage cultivator.

The main reason why Zhang Xuan’s spirit stone expenditure was so exaggerated was due to the absurd purity of his Heaven’s Path zhenqi, which in turn resulted in an absurdly high demand in the quality of spiritual energy that he absorbed.

If it was any other Zhizun realm expert, a single low-tier spirit stone would be sufficient to raise their cultivation significantly. However, Zhang Xuan found himself unable to absorb most of the impure spiritual energy contained within the spirit stone.

About eighty to ninety percent of it went to waste.

Even so, the gains were great. Despite still being in Zhizun realm primary stage, his zhenqi strength had risen by another 5000 ding to reach 15,000 ding. With such strength, he could easily crush any Zhizun realm primary stage expert.

“Along with my physical strength of 35,000 ding, I’ll be able to defeat even Zhizun realm pinnacle expert. Coupled with the prowess of the Eye of Insight and Library of Heaven’s Path, I’ll be a match for even a Half-Transcension expert!”

Zhang Xuan’s eyes gleamed in confidence.

Adding both his zhenqi strength and physical strength together, his overall might summed up to an astonishing 50,000 ding. This made him significantly stronger than the 40,000 ding of strength that a typical Zhizun realm pinnacle cultivator possessed.

Pairing that with his Heaven’s Path battle techniques and the various abilities of a master teacher, it would be possible for him to defeat even a Half-Transcension expert.

In the fourth day upon reaching Xuanyuan Kingdom Beast Hall, as well as the seventh day that Lu Chong fell into coma, Zhang Xuan, from a Zongshi realm cultivator, finally gained the strength surpassing a Zhizun realm pinnacle expert!

In other words…

He finally possessed sufficient strength to avenge his student!

“Lu Chong, look at me… I shall avenge you!”

Zhang Xuan’s eyes narrowed as he muttered hoarsely.

Since he had already achieved sufficient strength, it was time for him to make a move.

But before that, he had to gain some understanding of the overall strength of Xuanyuan Kingdom first.

Thus, walking out of the chamber, Zhang Xuan walked to another room, knocked on the door, and entered.

“How is it?”

Without wasting any words on pleasantries, Zhang Xuan immediately got straight to the point.

Before his seclusion, on top of instructing Sun Qiang to look for Gu Mu and Hall Master Xie Jiuchen to gather the secret manuals, he had also arranged for Mo Yu to head to Xuanyuan Kingdom to look into Ding Mu’s affairs.

If Zhang Xuan wanted to kill the Xuanyuan Kingdom’s crown prince, he mustn’t allow the Beast Hall to hear of it. Otherwise, if word were to leak out and that fellow were to choose to hide in some remote corner in the world, given how large the alliance was, it would be impossible for Zhang Xuan to find him.

Thus, he decided to entrust this job to Mo Yu.

The other party probably had already looked into his affairs, and it wasn’t too hard to dig up news of his students. It would be extremely easy for Zhao Ya and the others to be noticed and captured if he were to send them instead.

Besides, Mo Yu was a 1-star master teacher, and given her standing, it would be relatively easier for her to gather intelligence.

“I’ve gathered some news…”

A slight frown crept onto Mo Yu’s forehead as she replied, “As soon as Ding Mu returned to Xuanyuan Kingdom, he immediately sought refuge in the Master Teacher Pavilion. Ever since then, he hasn’t stepped out from there!”

“Master Teacher Pavilion?”

Zhang Xuan’s eyebrows shot up.

Things always seemed to go in the worst direction.

If one wanted to go against the Conferred Kingdom, the greatest obstacle wasn’t the country itself but its Master Teacher Pavilion.

The Master Teacher Pavilion had a responsibility to maintain peace and stability in its region, so it rarely allowed anyone to wreak havoc in its territory. Otherwise, given how many experts there were in the Myriad Kingdom Alliance, they could easily travel to a weaker kingdom and proclaim themselves as emperors.

With such instability, the kingdom system would fall apart eventually.

While killing the crown prince might result in chaos, it wasn’t as destabilizing as killing an emperor. Given Zhang Xuan’s standing as a master teacher, the other party would probably just overlook the matter. However, from the looks of it, he seemed to have been underestimating the severity of the matter.

“It’s said that the head of the Master Teacher Pavilion, Luo Qianhong, is indebted to the royal family, and he’s a close friend of Ding Mu as well. As such, he intends to stand up to mediate the conflict!” Mo Yu revealed the news that she had just heard.

The other party had intentionally put word out, so it wasn’t difficult for Mo Yu to hear of it.

“Hmph!”

Zhang Xuan’s eyes narrowed and dense killing intent poured out of him, “As long as he hands over Ding Mu, I’ll allow him to mediate whatever he likes!”

Mediate?

If he were to accept it, then what about Lu Chong?

You must be dreaming!

“Zhang Xuan, there’s another matter…”

Seeing the other party’s expression, Mo Yu knew that he was determined to kill Ding Mu. A hint of worry flashed across her eyes.

“Hmm?” Zhang Xuan turned around to look at Mo Yu.

“The Xuanyuan Kingdom’s emperor, Ding Chong, has announced that he will pass down the throne to Ding Mu!” Mo Yu said.

“Pass down the throne?” Zhang Xuan’s forehead furrowed.

If Ding Mu remained as a crown prince, even though killing him might bring some trouble, it wasn’t beyond his means to resolve it.

However, once he inherits the throne and becomes the emperor, killing him would rattle the foundation of the kingdom. The other Conferred Kingdoms might strike at this good opportunity.

If so, there would be war, and the population would suffer. Given such, the Master Teacher Pavilion would surely step in to stop Zhang Xuan.

“Seems like he’s well-prepared!”

As long as Ding Mu was successfully inaugurated as the new emperor, it would be difficult for Zhang Xuan to strike.

It seemed like that fellow was truly frightened by the sight of Liang Qingming being crushed by the Book of Heaven’s Path.

However… So what if he became the emperor?

So what if the Master Teacher Pavilion was going to stop him?

Since the other party injured Lu Chong, he should be ready to face his wrath!

If the kingdom tries to stop him, he will eradicate the kingdom. If the Master Teacher Pavilion tries to stop him, he will eradicate the Master Teacher Pavilion!

At most, he would just have to find some way to form more golden pages. Even if he had to become everyone’s enemy, he was determined to avenge his student!

Coming to a decision, Zhang Xuan asked, “When is his inauguration ceremony?”

The inauguration of an emperor was not a minor affair. The royal family, nobles, envoys from the surrounding Conferred Kingdoms… there were many people to be invited. Given the huge amount of preparatory work required, it should take some time.

It had only been seven days since that fellow’s escape. Even if the announcement of him inaugurating as the emperor was made as soon as he returned, there should still be some time before the inauguration ceremony.

“It is… today!”

Mo Yu smiled bitterly.

As the princess of a country, as well as a potential emperor candidate groomed by Mo Tianxue, she was well-aware of the various formalities required for an inauguration ceremony.

The other party should have taken two days at minimum to travel from Tianwu Kingdom back to Xuanyuan Kingdom. In other words… in just five days, the other party managed to complete all of the formalities. They sure were efficient.

Before the inauguration was held, Ding Mu would continue to hide in the Master Teacher Pavilion. And when he’s finally inaugurated as the new emperor, it will become even harder to kill him…

Even Mo Yu couldn’t have expected that Zhang Xuan would force the crown prince of a Conferred Kingdom up the wall.

“Today?”

Flinging his sleeves, Zhang Xuan stood up and walked out.

“What are you going to do? It can’t be that… you intend to barge into the inauguration ceremony?”

Mo Yu’s face paled.

“Indeed!” Zhang Xuan nodded.

“But your current strength… Didn’t you say that you’ll only head over after reaching Zhizun realm pinnacle? You’re being too reckless like that…” Mo Yu hurriedly persuaded.

“Zhizun realm pinnacle?”

Without turning back, Zhang Xuan’s aura suddenly burst out. In an instant, it was like a flood dragon was rising to the heavens, or a tiger stepping out of the forest, leaving one feeling helpless and insignificant.

“… I’ve already reached it!”

Chapter 432: Wreaking Havoc in Xuanyuan Kingdom (2)

“Going over without reaching Zhizun realm pinnacle is courting death…” Mo Yu anxiously shouted. However, halfway through her words, she finally came to a realization and her lips quivered, “What did you say… You’ve already reached it?”

Four days ago, when this fellow went into seclusion, he was only at Zongshi realm pinnacle. Yet, he was saying that he had already reached Zhizun realm pinnacle?

That is Zhizun realm! Countless people have been stuck at its gates, unable to surpass the bottleneck their entire lives. Yet, in four short days…

Do you have to be so exaggerated?

What in the world did you eat to become so scary?

Overwhelmed with shock, Mo Yu hurriedly took a closer look. Feeling the powerful aura the other party was exuding, she trembled.

Even though she had finally reached Zongshi realm, before him, she couldn’t help but feel as helpless as an ant before a wave.

“You’ve really reached Zhizun realm pinnacle?”

Mo Yu was stunned.

What kind of monster was this?

Just a few days ago, when the other party told her that he wanted to exact vengeance, she told him that he had to reach Zhizun realm pinnacle to stand a chance.

In truth, she had hoped that he would back down after being told the difficulty of the matter.

In this way, the other party would give up on these dangerous thoughts and focus on the Master Teacher Tournament instead. Yet… the other party simply made breakthroughs as though they were nothing.

In just a few short days, he rose from Zongshi realm pinnacle to Zhizun realm pinnacle. It was as if those so-called cultivation bottlenecks were a concept non-existent to him… Could he still be considered as a human?

If she were to say that he would at least require the strength of a Half-Transcension, would he rise to that level as well?

She had always been proud of her talent, but why did she seem no different from trash before him…

Even the incredible genius Mo Hongyi, compared to him, was… nothing at all.

It was no wonder why Zhao Ya and the others thought nothing of it when Zhang Xuan said that he was going to aim for Zhizun realm pinnacle. She’d only realized at this moment that the others weren’t just fawning over Zhang Xuan; it was the absolute truth, and perhaps… they might even be underestimating him.

“Wait a moment, I’ll go along with you…”

Multiple emotions flashed across Mo Yu’s face, and by the time she regained her composure, that fellow was already far away. She hurriedly rushed over to catch up.

“You’re still far too weak. It’ll be better for you to stay here with Zhao Ya and the others!”

Zhang Xuan stopped and waved her away.

Even though Mo Yu had improved swiftly during this period of time, breaking through the Zongshi realm barrier, her strength was still far from enough to match up to those experts in Xuanyuan Kingdom.

Bloodshed couldn’t be avoided in this confrontation. Zhang Xuan was confident in holding his ground, but it would be difficult for him to protect the others on top of that.

“I am a master teacher of the Master Teacher Pavilion. On top of that, I am a princess of Tianwu Kingdom as well. As long as I don’t make a move, they won’t do anything to me!” Mo Yu hurriedly said.

As she spent more time with the young man before her, she gradually found it harder and harder to part with him. For some reason, knowing that he was headed for danger, she wanted to follow him as well so that she could lend her assistance if something were to really happen.

“Alright then. Later on, just remain on the back of the Steelfang Howling Firmament Beast. If there’s any sign of danger, leave straight away!”

Seeing the worry on the other party’s face, Zhang Xuan hesitated for a moment before eventually nodding his head.

He felt that it was his responsibility to exact vengeance for Lu Chong given that he was his teacher, but this had nothing to do with Mo Yu at all. He didn’t want his own affairs to result in any harm to the other party.

“Alright!”

Knowing that this was the other party’s bottom line, Mo Yu agreed in gratitude.

Reaching the courtyard, they climbed onto the Steelfang Howling Firmament Beast, and with a roar, the latter soared into the skies.

After consuming the spirit beast blood essence and driving the spiritual energy using the method Zhang Xuan gave him, this fellow made a breakthrough once more, reaching Zhizun realm intermediate stage.

At its current strength, it was on par with Ding Mu’s Gold-scaled Lightning Beast.

Given the short proximity between Beast Hall and the capital, it didn’t take long for them to arrive at their destination.

“Today is Crown Prince Ding Mu’s inauguration ceremony! With such a genius becoming our emperor, it seems like we can finally hold our head high before other Conferred Kingdoms!”

“Indeed! Despite only being thirty-two this year, he is already a 3-star formation master and a Zhizun realm advanced stage expert!”

“Throughout the entire history of Xuanyuan Kingdom, there have only been a handful of people who managed to reach Zhizun realm before thirty. Given his talents, he will surely be able to reach Zhizun realm pinnacle in less than ten years. With sufficient luck, he might even be able to reach Half-Transcension in his lifetime.”

“Crown Prince Ding Mu has always been my idol, as well as my goal! I heard that today’s inauguration ceremony will be held at the Heaven’s Altar. I must go over to have a look!”

“Wait for me, I want to go as well…”

Walking along the wide streets of Xuanyuan Royal City, such discussions could be heard all around.

Before Crown Prince Ding Mu’s inauguration had even started, everyone was already thrilled.

“He sure knows how to make his move!”

Zhang Xuan’s complexion darkened further.

Perhaps, the other party couldn’t stand the idea of a threat looming in the shadows. Thus, he decided to make a huge fuss of this celebration to bait him out.

Without a doubt, an impeccable trap must have already been set up at the Heaven’s Altar, just waiting for him to walk into it. If Zhang Xuan were to really make a move, the other party would surely mobilize the entire army of the kingdom to crush him.

However…

So what if he had set up an impeccable trap?

Since the other party dared to lay his hands on his student, then he should be prepared for the most brutal vengeance.

With a grim expression, Zhang Xuan stepped onto the back of the Howling Firmament Beast and flew toward the Heaven’s Altar.

…

Xuanyuan Kingdom, Green Leaf Pavilion.

This was the information hub of Xuanyuan Kingdom. There were countless information dealers and clients walking in and out of here daily; it was even more bustling than some of the massive markets in the city.

In here, one could buy all kinds of information, as well as sell exclusive news.

The Green Leaf Pavilion would compile all of this news based on their value and create a ranking on them.

The rumors that ‘The scrolls of the Green Leaves resound across the capital’ didn’t come from thin air.

In the past, Hall Master Feng had mentioned the ranking of items that savage beasts were fond of. Even though it was an unofficial ranking made by beast tamers, it had the shadows of the Green Leaf Pavilion in it.

If not for this massive information network pulling its connections, such private news wouldn’t have spread so far.

Not only so, it had also created a ranking of the experts in the kingdom in the form of the Green Leaf Board and Young Leaf Board.

Only the most powerful experts in the kingdom were on the Green Leaf Board.

Even the head of the Master Teacher Pavilion, Half-Transcension Pavilion Master Luo Qianhong, was only in third place on the Green Leaf Board.

As for the Young Leaf Board, recorded on it were the most powerful young geniuses.

And of the Young Leaf Board, Crown Prince Ding Mu was listed on the very top.

“Pavilion Head, why is the Crown Prince listed on the top of the board? His strength is only at Zhizun realm advanced stage while the second placed Ling Luoye was clearly already at Zhizun realm pinnacle!”

In one of the executive rooms in the Green Leaf Pavilion, two figures were seated face-to-face.

The one speaking was a gray-robed elder. He was staring at the ranking board on the table in incomprehension.

Elder Liao Qingxun.

Opposite to him was a white-robed elder. He had eyebrows that were slightly arched upward, snowy hair, and eyes that were sharp as though lightning. With a single look, one could tell that he was an extraordinarily intelligent person.

Pavilion Head Dai Feng.

“The Young Leaf Board ranks the young geniuses based on their strength. Even though Ling Luoye’s cultivation was above that of the crown prince, if a battle were to break out between the two of them, it was more likely that the crown prince would emerge victorious!”

Pavilion Head Dai Feng chuckled.

“Oh?” Elder Liao Qingxun was clearly doubtful of the latter’s words.

“You don’t believe me? I’ll explain it to you then!”

Seeing the doubt in the other party’s eyes, Pavilion Head Dai Feng calmly picked up the teacup on the table, scraped the floating tea leaves on top and said, “Ling Luoye’s indeed talented to have reached Zhizun realm pinnacle at thirty-four. However… if a person’s cultivation rises too quickly, all kinds of problems will occur. Firstly, his cultivation technique, [Profound Ripple Art], is a water element cultivation technique. As such, it lacks offensive power. On top of that, his strongest battle technique, [Frigid Water Dance] was also relatively lacking in power. As such, he could only be considered as average among those of the same cultivation realm.

“On the other hand, Crown Prince Ding Mu…

“Firstly, I believe you should have heard of the royal family hunting down a wounded spirit beast! Back then, they procured quite a substantial amount of spirit beast blood essence. The royal family possesses an extremely powerful physical body cultivation technique known as [Spirit Blood Body Nourishment Formula]. Anybody that was tempered by it would become incredibly resilient and powerful!

“Other than that, the cultivation technique he cultivates, [Might of the Celestial Bear], grants him extraordinary strength. On top of that, he also learned the [Heaven Shattering Fist] which was known for its aggressiveness. Putting aside how none of those in the same cultivation realm would be able to match him, it wouldn’t be hard to face those of higher cultivation realm than him as well.

“But of course, most importantly of all, as a 3-star formation master, he had at least seven to eight grade-3 formation plates on him. If he were to throw all of them out, it would be difficult for even a Transcendent Mortal expert to kill him, needless to say, a Zhizun realm pinnacle cultivator!

“Thus, without doubt, he was worthy of being in first place!”

At which, Pavilion Head Dai Feng turned to look at the other elder with a wide grin, “How is it? Do you still think that Ling Luoye can defeat him?”

After a moment of contemplation, Elder Liao Qingxun shook his head.

“… Impossible!”

Given the Crown Prince Ding Mu’s powerful cultivation technique, extraordinary talents, and numerous aces, even despite his cultivation realm being only that of Zhizun realm advanced stage, probably not even Zhizun realm pinnacle experts would be willing to offend him.

“It’s due to all of this that he was ranked at first place of the Young Leaf Board. He’s deserving of his position on the Young Leaf Board. Putting aside Ling Luoye for the moment, there won’t be anyone who could match him in the past five hundred years, and I believe there won’t be anyone like him in the next five hundred years either!”

Pavilion Head Dai Feng chuckled.

“Indeed. Crown Prince Ding Mu is truly a talented person…”

Elder Liao Qingxun felt awed by the insight.

“It’s about time for you to change your method of address. It’s going to be Emperor Ding Mu from today onward!” Pavilion Head Dai Feng reprimanded with a smile.

“You’re right, it’s Emperor Ding Mu. No wonder everyone is thrilled about this inauguration. With such a genius leading Xuanyuan Kingdom, its national strength will only continue to grow further. Soon, among Conferred Kingdoms, no one would dare offend us!”

Recalling the sight outside, Liao Qingxun commented.

A nation being weak wasn’t just a problem of its weak military; more importantly, it was related to the character and attitude of its leader.

If its leader was a talented and headstrong person, the nation would surely grow strong.

“Indeed. He’ll become a much better sovereign than old Emperor Ding Chong. At the very least, his reputation should strike fear in the surrounding kingdoms, and those ambitious kingdoms would be hesitant to make their move. Seems like Xuanyuan Kingdom is about to usher in a new era of unparalleled growth!”

Pavilion Head Dai Feng was filled with anticipation for the future.

Elder Liao Qingxun nodded in agreement. Just as he was about to say something, the ground suddenly shook and a deafening sound resounded across the entire capital.

“Ding Mu, I, Zhang Xuan, am here. Get out here to face your death!”

“Face your death?”

“Someone has barged into the Heaven’s Altar during the inauguration ceremony… to kill Emperor Ding Mu?”

Pavilion Head Dai Feng and Elder Liao Qingxun were dumbstruck.

Chapter 433: Bai Chen

The duo had just said that with Ding Mu’s inauguration, no one would dare to wreak havoc in Xuanyuan Kingdom anymore when they heard this stark provocation. They felt a stinging sensation on their cheeks, as though someone had just struck them.

What was going on?

They hurriedly stood up and looked out of the windows.

The Green Leaf Pavilion was a tall infrastructure, and from the executive room, they could see the vast field around the Heaven’s Altar.

The field was filled with a massive crowd, and in the air, a young man stood on the head of a massive Howling Firmament Beast. The young man was currently staring coldly down upon the inauguration ceremony below.

“From the looks of it… he isn’t even twenty yet. However, given how deep his aura is, his cultivation has probably already reached Zhizun realm pinnacle… When did such an expert appear in the city?”

The mouths of the duo twitched.

They had just said that Crown Prince Ding Mu’s feat was unsurpassed in the past five hundred years, and would remain to be so in the next five hundred… and at the next moment, this fellow appeared. Wasn’t this too coincidental?!

“Zhang Xuan… If I recall correctly, a few days ago, a beast tamer going by this name won the Beast Taming Competition. However, that person’s cultivation should only be at Zongshi realm pinnacle? Why is his cultivation suddenly at Zhizun realm pinnacle?”

A beast tamer was bellowing for the inaugurating crown prince to face his death…

What was going on?

The two heads of the largest information network in Xuanyuan Kingdom stared at one another in frenzy.

…

In the house on the back of a flying massive savage beast, a few people stood by the window.

Standing at the very front was a white-robed young man. With his hands behind his back, he carried an ethereal aura.

Gu Mu stepped forward and announced, “Gongzi, Xuanyuan Royal City is right ahead of us!”

Not too far away, a massive city came into sight. It extended for several hundred kilometers, and its thick city walls were connected to the meandering mountains. It resembled a sleeping behemoth.

“The layout of this city is indeed interesting. To think that it would be a formation!”

Opening his fan, the gongzi chuckled.

Those within might not realize anything, but from above, it was clear that the city that was connected with the mountains appeared to be aligned with some formation theories. There seemed to be a slight gathering of spiritual energy in the region.

“The Xuanyuan royal family is a clan of formation masters, and the generations of emperors had been skilled formation masters themselves. In this field, Crown Prince Ding Mu seemed to be an exceptional genius…” Gu Mu explained.

“Pui, genius my head!”

Before Gu Mu could finish his words, a disdainful voice sounded. Turning to take a look, they saw Sun Qiang with a contemptuous expression on his face.

“You disagree with my words?”

Knowing that there was a high chance that the other party was a butler of a 6-star master teacher, Gu Mu dared not get angry. Rather, he gazed at the other party with a look of bewilderment.

“This Ding Mu, having offended the young master, probably won’t live for long. In terms of talent, who could match up to the young master?”

Sun Qiang’s lips curled up in pride.

Sun Qiang had witnessed how Ding Mu’s subordinates severely wounded Lu Chong, and he knew that the other party’s actions had piqued the young master’s killing intent.

While the young master was a headstrong person, he had the capability to match it. Even without the assistance of the old master, the young master’s wrath wasn’t something that the mere Xuanyuan Kingdom could withstand.

In Sun Qiang’s eyes, there was no genius in the world who could even compare to the pinky of the young master.

Genius? Stop bringing shame to the word.

“Is this… senior uncle very talented?” Gu Mu asked.

“Of course. The young master isn’t twenty yet, but he’s already a 3-star painter, 2-star master teacher, 2-star beast tamer… and on top of that, he was recruited as an elder of Myriad Kingdom Alliance Physician Guild. Do you think that a fellow like Ding Mu could match up to the young master’s talents?”

Sun Qiang was filled with pride.

The reticent ‘gongzi’ standing by the window suddenly turned around and asked, “Isn’t your young master from Tianwu Kingdom? How did he become an elder of the Myriad Kingdom Alliance?”

How could a small figure from Tianwu Kingdom become an elder of the Myriad Kingdom Alliance Physician Guild?

“Who do you think the young master is? He solved all of the problems written on the Physician Guild’s Wall of Dilemma in a single taking. Among those questions, there are even problems that the physicians from the Myriad Kingdom Alliance Physician Guild are unable to solve. As such, in awe of the young master’s capability, they decided to recruit him as an elder…”

Sun Qiang harrumphed.

He liked speaking of the young master’s accomplishments. He was just about to brag more about the various feats the young master had done when the calm gongzi’s face paled and his body trembled.

“Isn’t your young master… called Zhang Xuan? If I recall correctly, isn’t the one who solved the questions on the Wall of Dilemma called Liu Cheng?”

“Oh, Liu Cheng is an alias that the young master used during the 2-star master teacher examination!” Sun Qiang said.

“Zhang Xuan is Liu Cheng? Your young master?”

‘Gongzi’ and Jin Conghai glanced at one another in shock.

“Indeed!” Sun Qiang nodded.

“Since he’s a physician, why is he involved with the matters of poison masters as well? These two occupations are contradictory to one another…” A moment later, gongzi asked once more.

A master teacher could take on many occupations at once. Initially, upon hearing that Yang Xuan was a skilled poison master, as well as Gu Mu’s senior granduncle, they thought that Zhang Xuan would be a skilled poison master as well… But if that was the case, how could the other party be a skilled physician too?”

“The young master is a talented individual. What is bizarre about him mastering two occupations at once?”

“The responsibility of a physician is to bring salvation to the world, and only those with benevolence in their hearts are suited for the occupation. On the other hand, the poison masters concoct poison for malicious means, and those who take on this occupation tend to be callous… Given how the two occupations are at the opposite end of the spectrum, could it be that your young master has dissociative identity disorder?” ‘Gongzi’ was still baffled by this matter.

Given how physicians and poison masters stood at the opposite ends of the spectrum, he couldn’t understand how one could take on these two occupations simultaneously.

“What’s so bizarre about that? Our young master is normally a gentle person, and he rarely argues with others. Even though he’s capable of utilizing poison, unlike other poison masters, he doesn’t kill everyone that he gets into a dispute with. On the contrary, he tends to resolve problems through reason and seeks to win over others via morals…”

Upon learning of the other party’s doubts, Sun Qiang glanced at the other party contemptuously.

Expert? If you’re truly an expert, how could you not know this? How embarrassing.

Just as Sun Qiang was about to continue introducing the various strengths of Zhang Xuan, a deafening voice suddenly sounded from the city.

“Ding Mu, I, Zhang Xuan, am here. Get out here to face your death!”

“Zhang Xuan?”

Upon hearing these words, the group on the back of the savage beast fell silent. Everyone’s gazes hurriedly turned to Sun Qiang.

This is the man that you said is gentle, rarely argues with others, and uses morals to win others over?

It seemed like the other party had already slaughtered his way to the other party’s doorstep!

“What is he up to?”

Wei Yuqing was stunned.

He was just gone for a few days. Why was Beast Tamer Zhang wreaking havoc in the royal palace, even threatening to kill the crown prince?

“Grand Elder Wei, let’s go over to take a look!”

Of the crowd, only Sun Qiang understood the abrupt situation. Knowing that there was no time to be wasted, he hurriedly instructed.

It seemed like the young master couldn’t wait any longer, so he decided to make his move today.

“Alright!”

Knowing how urgent the matter was, Wei Yuqing tapped his feet and the savage beast dashed straight toward the direction of the voice.

…

Standing at the very center of the Heaven’s Altar, Ding Mu was just about to undergo the final rituals to be officially inaugurated as the emperor when he heard those words. For a moment, he was dumbstruck.

He thought about the various forms that the other party may exact vengeance on him; assassination, life-and-death duel, poisoning…

But one thing he never expected was for the other party to do it so openly.

Before the innumerable civilians, master teachers, officials, and nobles of the Xuanyuan Kingdom, the other party fearlessly rushed here and declared brazenly that he would kill him… Was this fellow insane?

This was Xuanyuan Kingdom, his home ground! Putting aside the troops, there were many formations laid out all over as well… To dash right here fearlessly, was the other party really a genius 2-star master teacher?

“This is the master teacher who wishes to kill you?”

A middle-aged man walked over.

The head of the Master Teacher Pavilion, Luo Qianhong.

In the past few days, Ding Mu had been staying in the Master Teacher Pavilion. He had told him about the recent events, and it seemed that a master teacher desired for his death. Initially, he thought that Ding Mu was just overthinking it, but to think that the other party really came knocking.

“Un!”

Ding Mu nodded. Clasping his fist, he said, “It’s a misunderstanding. I hope that Brother Luo can mediate the situation for me!”

“The other party is just a mere 2-star master teacher. He won’t dare to defy my words!”

Luo Qianhong waved his hands.

There was strict ranking hierarchy to master teachers. 2-star master teachers possessed incredible standing in the kingdom, but to a 3-star intermediate master teacher like him, the other party’s standing didn’t mean much.

In fact, the other party had to pay respect to him in the position of a student, otherwise, he could report the matter to the Master Teacher Pavilion and have the other party’s master teacher license revoked.

“I’ll thank you in advance then…”

Seeing that the head of the Master Teacher Pavilion was going to stand up for him, Ding Mu heaved a sigh of relief.

“Bai Chen, go over and issue a stern warning to that young man. Don’t allow him to delay His Highness’s inauguration ceremony. If he doesn’t know what’s good for him, I permit the use of violence to deal with him!”

Luo Qianhong instructed one of his subordinates.

“Yes!”

A master teacher dressed in a long robe walked out of the crowd.

This master teacher seemed to be in his forties, and his eyes were gleaming with spirit. On the emblem pinned on his chest, there were three bright stars.

He was a 3-star primary master teacher.

His cultivation was also at Zhizun realm pinnacle.

Upon receiving the orders, Master Teacher Bai Chen turned to look at Zhang Xuan above and frowned, “Today is Crown Prince Ding Mu’s inauguration ceremony, so I ask of you not to cause trouble and leave immediately. If so, we will not pursue this matter. Otherwise, don’t blame me for getting nasty!”

“I’ll leave after killing Ding Mu!”

Couldn’t be bothered to waste his words, Zhang Xuan leaped down the back of the Howling Firmament Beast.

Even though he didn’t possess any technique capable of breaking his fall, given his Zhizun realm cultivation and powerful physical body, an altitude of a dozen meters didn’t mean much to him.

Hu!

Landing on the stairs of the Heaven’s Altar, the ground below cracked. After which, without any hesitation, he began walking up.

“I am 3-star Master Teacher Bai Chen. As a master teacher, you should be well aware of the rules. A lower-ranked master teacher has to unconditionally obey the commands of higher-ranked master teacher. It can’t be that you are intending to defy my words?”

Upon seeing the young man disregarding him, Bai Chen’s complexion turned awful. He immediately stepped forward to block Zhang Xuan’s path.

He heard the conversation between the pavilion master and Ding Mu, and he knew that the other party was a master teacher as well.

A mere 2-star primary master teacher should bow respectfully upon seeing a 3-star primary master teacher like him… Yet, to dare to disregard him altogether, how brazen!

“Scram!”

Seeing the men from Xuanyuan Kingdom Master Teacher Pavilion blocking his path, Zhang Xuan bellowed coldly.

“You… You’re courting death!”

He thought that after revealing his identity, the other party would retreat out of fear. Yet, the other party dared to ask him to ‘scram’. The arrogance of the other party caused Bai Chen’s face to turn livid, and he nearly erupted from rage.