“Brother Ye, could I please have a look at that book you’re holding?” Jun Xiaomo minced her way over to Ye Xiuwen’s side and peered over his shoulders at the book he was holding.
“Alright, don’t stick your neck out so long. Just say it if you want to read it. I’m not going to hide it from you anyway.” Ye Xiuwen helplessly patted Jun Xiaomo’s head as he said. Then, he closed the book ent.i.tled Beast-taming Technique and handed that book over to Jun Xiaomo.
“Thanks brother Ye!” Jun Xiaomo smiled radiantly as she received the book, before slipping over to the side and excitedly flipping through the book’s pages as she devoured its contents. At this moment, both of her eyes gleamed as though she had discovered some rare, valuable treasure.
Ye Xiuwen smiled helplessly to himself as he shook his head, before walking back to the bookshelf to flip through the other books there.
Jiang Yutong was truly of an aristocratic background. Even the bookshelf here contained books that were rare and invaluable. Some of the books here were even unique, one-of-kind productions that were simply priceless.
It was such a pity that she had fallen in love with someone who only saw her as something to be used, resulting in her tragic and sorrowful demise.
As Ye Xiuwen browsed through the remaining books in the bookshelf, Jun Xiaomo had very quickly skimmed through the entire contents of the Beast-taming Technique, and her eyes gleamed with ever growing brightness – This book is indeed a pleasant surprise! It’s practically a G.o.dsend! The Beast-taming Technique was much more useful than I had expected!
In fact, Jun Xiaomo had also come across similar beast taming techniques and ma.n.u.scripts in the past as she escaped her persecutors. But back then, she had merely skimmed through the contents of these techniques and then tossed them to a corner to collect dust, never intending to delve deeper into her study of these techniques. The main reason was that learning to tame and handle spirit beasts simply took too much time, and strong cultivators invariably never walked down this route.
When the former Jun Xiaomo had encountered these beast-taming techniques and ma.n.u.scripts, she had already been a formidable cultivator. Even though she knew that there were opponents she was unable to defeat in combat, she would very simply rely on her talismans and formation arrays to flee for her life and live to fight another day. There was simply no impetus for her to delve into the study of a new discipline.
More importantly, mastering the discipline of beast-taming required an incredible investment of time. Spirit beasts were very different from talismans, formation arrays and humanoid puppets in that spirit beasts possessed spiritual awareness and feelings. Unless these spirit beasts completely pledged allegiance and subservience to their masters, beastmasters would never be able to fully subdue and tame their spirit beasts. Since this was the case, there was naturally also a good chance that a beastmaster would be devoured by his own spirit beast as soon as he lets his guard down.
Additionally, stronger beastmasters naturally had higher requirements of these spirit beasts as well. These beastmasters would have to look under every rock possible for superior grade spirit beasts with great potential, and then slowly groom them to become their own spirit beast. The process of grooming even required the beastmasters to source out suitable combat environments for the spirit beasts to gain combat experience and grow holistically.
This was an extremely long and arduous process, and the former Jun Xiaomo neither possessed the luxury of time, nor the heart to consider such an investment of time either.
Of course, the present Jun Xiaomo was not considering the path of beast-taming either. She had the Nineform Spirituo-Demonic Refinement Technique, and she naturally did not need to rely on external forces such as spirit beasts to improve her combat prowess. All she needed to do right now was to find the best way to improve her cultivation speeds.
What truly caught Jun Xiaomo’s eyes was a more practical chapter within the Beast-taming Technique book. This chapter described a technique that could be mastered by beastmasters and non-beastmasters alike, and that was to use spirit herbs, blood essences and talismans to establish a temporary relations.h.i.+p with the spirit beast in order to spur them to do one’s own bidding.
Jun Xiaomo was well aware that she was unable to deal with Ke Xinwen and Qin Lingyu with her current abilities. Even if her martial brother Ye a.s.sisted her, their chances of success were slim. Quite apart from the fact that Ke Xinwen and Qin Lingyu were both at the twelfth level of Qi Mastery, just dealing with the bunch of imbecile Sect’s disciples in their entourage was already enough of a headache. If Qin Lingyu or Ke Xinwen suffered any mishaps at her hand, there was no doubt that the Sect’s disciples would all attack her at once.
In fact, Jun Xiaomo had thought about setting traps to trip up Ke Xinwen again and make him suffer. However, formation arrays were not that easy to set up. Additionally, given how Ke Xinwen had already suffered in her hands once, he would certainly be much more guarded around Jun Xiaomo. Therefore, it was going to be far more difficult to deal with him using formation arrays a second time.
However, that did not mean Jun Xiaomo was simply going to take things lying down after suffering so terribly at Ke Xinwen’s hands this time. Even though revenge is a dish best served cold, there was nevertheless no reason to bide her time if she was presented with a reasonable opportunity right now!
Jun Xiaomo again flipped through the chapter ent.i.tled “Establis.h.i.+ng Temporary Relations.h.i.+p, Controlling Spirit Beasts” so that she could ascertain that with Ye Xiuwen and her combined prowess, they would be able to control spirit beasts below the fifth-grade. Then, she happily stowed away the Beast-taming Technique back into her Interspatial Ring.
After all, this was a discipline that was completely foreign to her, and Jun Xiaomo had decided to experiment with it and familiarize herself with the technique before putting her plans into motion and giving Ke Xinwen a ma.s.sive surprise.
Just as Jun Xiaomo was making plans in her heart, Ye Xiuwen suddenly exclaimed, “Ugh!” He immediately clutched at the scar on his face that had been caused by the incursion of demonic energies.
Jun Xiaomo had clearly placed a talisman on his body earlier, and no one expected issues to arise so quickly. At this moment, Ye Xiuwen had only walked near a box with a seal that had come loose, and the demonic energy on Ye Xiuwen’s face immediately started roiling and burrow deeper into his flesh, as though they were trying to hide from something.
Once Jun Xiaomo heard Ye Xiuwen’s groan in pain, she immediately hurried over to his side and asked him anxiously, “Brother Ye, what happened?”
“It’s nothing.” Ye Xiuwen calmly replied. However, the profuse perspiration on the Ye Xiuwen’s back and the bulging veins on Ye Xiuwen’s face told a different story – Ye Xiuwen was currently enduring the pain brought by the corrosive effects of the roiling demonic energy right now.
“d.a.m.n it! This scar is clearly a potential source of danger waiting to erupt!” Jun Xiaomo blurted out angrily, pulling Ye Xiuwen to the side and had him sit down. Then, she solemnly instructed him, “Brother Ye, Jiang Yutong is a demonic cultivator, and her things are all filled with demonic energy, so it might be best if you refrained from touching them. I’m personally a demonic cultivator, so I’m completely immune to these things. Why not let me sort out the rest of her things and then we’ll be on our way?”
Even though Jiang Yutong had stated in her will that everything in her cavern can be taken by them, Jun Xiaomo and Ye Xiuwen’s Interspatial Rings were limited in s.p.a.ce, and they would not be able to carry everything away. Besides, some things in this cultivation world naturally repelled each other, and they would be wise to sort out their belongings properly instead of stowing everything together in a haphazard fas.h.i.+on. This was one of the main reasons why Jun Xiaomo and Ye Xiuwen had stayed in this place for such a long time.
Ye Xiuwen also decided not to force the issue, and he nodded his head as he said to Jun Xiaomo, “Be careful.”
Jun Xiaomo made a “rest a.s.sured” gesture with her hands to Ye Xiuwen, before she walked over to the box which had earlier caused Ye Xiuwen to feel uncomfortable. She lifted the box from the bookshelf with her hands and peered into it.
The box had a talisman placed on it, and its contents could all be seen from the side where the seal had come loose.
The objects inside were hardly attention grabbing – everything inside was dark and black, almost like a clump of soil. But upon closer inspection, one would discover that this “soil” was in fact formed by numerous black beads that had come together, and each of these black beads even emanated a soft l.u.s.ter from them.
“This is…” Jun Xiaomo’s heart skipped a beat as she stretched out her hand to the contents of the box.
“Little Mo!” Ye Xiuwen gave Jun Xiaomo a disapproving look. Stretching her hand out to touch the contents of the box before ascertaining what it was? This was simply too dangerous!
Jun Xiaomo lifted her head and blinked innocently at Ye Xiuwen, saying, “It’s fine. I’ve roughly guessed what this item is already, and I only want to confirm my suspicions. Don’t worry, it’ll be fine.”
Ye Xiuwen also heard the determination in Jun Xiaomo’s voice, and he decided not to press the issue any further. But at the same time, his eyebrows were still knitted tightly together as he watched on.
Jun Xiaomo removed one small black bead from the box and then swiftly crushed it in her hands. Then, a layer of black substance on the bead itself started to become powder and flake off, and the little bead finally returned to its original form –
It was a cream coloured little bead which emanated a soft, l.u.s.trous glow. On the other side, Ye Xiuwen once again felt some discomfort spreading from the scar on his face. It was as though the demonic energy had been provoked into its present reaction.
Ye Xiuwen immediately closed his eyes and regulated his breathing to suppress the pain and discomfort that he felt.
Jun Xiaomo glanced over at Ye Xiuwen, but at this moment her face was filled with joy.
She looked back at the little bead in her hand with a bright glimmer in her eyes, nodded and said to herself, “So it’s actually this…” As she finished speaking, she wrapped her fingers around that little bead in her hand before retrieving a talisman from her Interspatial Ring and pasting the same on the box containing the other black beads. Then, she gingerly kept the box in her Interspatial Ring.
“Brother Ye!” After doing all these things, Jun Xiaomo skipped over to Ye Xiuwen’s side as she joyfully said to him, “Brother Ye, do you know what those little black beads earlier were?”
Because Jun Xiaomo had already kept the box in her Interspatial Ring, the scar on Ye Xiuwen’s face had stopped reacting to the box as well.
At this moment, Jun Xiaomo’s bright eyes seemed to exclaim, “Ask me! Praise me!” Seeing this, Ye Xiuwen chuckled to himself and patted Jun Xiaomo’s shoulder as he replied, “Brother Ye’s not as learned as you; I don’t know what those things were.”
“Cough, cough…That’s not the case. I’ve only coincidentally learnt about these things before.” Jun Xiaomo puffed up her cheeks shyly.
If not for her previous life’s experiences, she certainly would be none the wiser as to what these little black beads were. After all, these things were extremely rare, and they were furthermore useless to normal people. Therefore, it was completely understandable that Ye Xiuwen would not have heard of these things before.
But even though these beads were useless to normal people, they were in fact extremely beneficial to Ye Xiuwen. In fact, its use was related to why Ye Xiuwen would experience discomfort emanating from the scar on his face every time he drew closer to these beads.
“These beads are called Demonophile Soil, and they can usually only be found in places with thick concentrations of demonic energy. It carries strong adsorption properties to the surrounding demonic energy, and so the surface of these beads would invariably be coated with a black layer of demonic energy, causing them to look no different from the normal soil that we see. But in fact, as brother Ye would have noticed, these beads are originally cream coloured, and one would only be able to see this after sc.r.a.ping off that layer of demonic energy on the outside.”
“This is also one of the reasons why it is difficult to locate Demonophile Soil to begin with. Spiritual cultivators would not travel to places with thick concentrations of demonic energy to begin with. On the other hand, even if demonic cultivators travelled to places with a thick concentration of demonic energy, they wouldn’t take any interest to the Demonophile Soil. This is because the Demonophile Soil would continue to absorb the demonic energy within the demonic cultivator’s body if a demonic cultivator did not have the ability to properly seal it up.”
Then, Jun Xiaomo paused momentarily to suppress the excitement in her voice, before continuing with a steady and calm tone, “Brother Ye, the Demonophile Soil is simply an uncommon object to most normal people. But if one used it when curing injuries caused by the incursion of demonic energy, then it can be likened to a miracle medicine!”
“What?!” Ye Xiuwen would never have thought that these little beads could actually be used on the scar on his face!
“But the scar on my face was caused by a curse. I’m afraid that even these Demonophile Soil would not have much effects on it.” Ye Xiuwen stated coldly after a moment of deliberation.
Naturally, Ye Xiuwen did not want to live with this scar for his entire life. But the Sect Elders had concluded that the only way was to find the demonic cultivator who had cursed him; otherwise, there was absolutely no way to remove this hideous scar from his face.
Jun Xiaomo shook her head as she walked over to Ye Xiuwen’s side, gripping tightly onto his arm as she said, “Brother Ye, believe me. Finding the demonic cultivator who had cursed you is not the only way to remove this scar. Of course, this is but one medicinal element required for the cure, and it would not be sufficient to cure the scar on your face. But at the same time, this is the most important medicine for removing the scar on your face, and also the most difficult medicine to locate. Previously, I only had a ten percent confidence in removing the scar on your face. But after obtaining this medicine, my confidence level is now at a level of seventy percent. All that remains are to locate and gather two more medicinal elements which are on the rarer side of things.”
Jun Xiaomo smiled brightly, and her bright eyes curled radiantly as she continued with a determined tone, “We’re only looking for two rare medicines in such a big world. We will definitely be able to find them! If not in one year, then two years; if not in two years, then three years…our life span is much longer than that of mortals anyway, and these are but two mere types of medicines – time is definitely on our side! Brother Ye, you will definitely be cured!”
Despite Yao Mo’s young age and his naivete and innocence, Ye Xiuwen could feel the determined warmth coming from Yao Mo right now. At this moment, Ye Xiuwen felt that meeting this young man might well have been his greatest returns in these travels.
“That’s great.” Ye Xiuwen smiled warmly, softening the terrifying look caused by his scar, “Thanks, Little Mo.”
“Cough, there’s no need for thanks, haha.” Jun Xiaomo did not know why, but she would feel a little bit shy every time she saw her martial brother Ye smiling at her. Thus, she lowered her head and rubbed her nose awkwardly.
In the very next moment, she was suddenly pulled into an embrace by Ye Xiuwen, who patted her back as she heard the warm notes of Ye Xiuwen’s voice emanating from beside her ear –
“Little Mo, no matter what reason it is that caused you to be so willing to do all these things for me, I swear that as long as I shall live, I will always protect you to the very end.”
As she heard the words coming from the side of her head, the thoughts of her previous life’s experiences suddenly welled up within her once again and Jun Xiaomo’s eyes immediately reddened and her heart soured.
“Mm.” She responded softly, while silently adding these words in her heart – I know. I’m willing to do so much for martial brother Ye because I’ve always known martial brother Ye was the type of person who would do the same for me – just like you did in my previous life.