Chapter 881: You, Come out for a Moment!
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
The Scarlet Blaze Lion rushed out of the cavern and flew straight toward the valley where the aerial spirit beasts were garrisoned. It didn"t take him too long to arrive at his destination.
The Scarlet Blaze Lion frowned. "Why is there an Illusory Formation here?"
Standing before him was a gigantic formation that shrouded the entire valley. From time to time, the bellowing of spirit beasts could be heard from within. At the entrance of the valley, the two Black Spirit Panthers, who had escorted that fellow to this valley earlier, stood guard, watching the surroundings warily.
The Scarlet Blaze Lion flew toward the two panthers and gazed at them coldly. "Black Spirit Panthers, what is going on?"
"Scarlet Blaze Lion King…"
Upon seeing the other party, the Black Spirit Panthers leaped in shock. They hurriedly explained, "It"s like this… That Zhang s.h.i.+ fellow is a skilled formation master, and as soon as we arrived here, he immediately set up a formation, and before we could comprehend what was going on, he… disappeared! We tried looking around for him, but we couldn"t find him anywhere!"
"You fools!" The Scarlet Blaze Lion glared at them.
It was clear that the other party was up to no good from the fact that he had set up a formation here, and these two fellows actually didn"t attempt to stop him at all… How could they be so dim-witted?
However, as Illusory Formations couldn"t isolate auras, the Scarlet Blaze Lion could clearly sense that the spirit beasts within were still alive and kicking.
If the other party wasn"t intending to deal with the aerial spirit beasts, what was his reason behind setting up this formation?
As the Scarlet Blaze Lion racked his brain to make sense of the situation, the Illusory Formation before him abruptly dissipated, and a young man flew up from the valley.
It was the young fellow he had met earlier, School Head Mo"s student.
At this moment, Zhang Xuan"s face was slightly pale, and he felt light-headed from exhaustion.
Even for a person of his stamina, he was still drained after spending the last two hours taming aerial spirit beasts.
However, it was fortunate that his mission was a success. He had managed to have all of the aerial spirit beasts to acknowledge him as their master.
Of course, there were a few thick-headed ones who obstinately refused to submit to him. Zhang Xuan didn"t have the time to waste his words on them, so he killed them with a single punch.
Upon seeing Zhang Xuan emerge from the valley, the Scarlet Blaze Lion roared furiously, "Lad, what were you doing?"
"It"s nothing much. Byzantium Lad and Ding Ding, help me take care of this fellow. I have to rest for a moment…"
Zhang Xuan didn"t seem to be too surprised to see the Scarlet Blaze Lion at all. He nonchalantly took out a grade-6 pill and swallowed it while flicking his wrist to release the Byzantium Helios Beast and the Golden Origin Cauldron.
Upon seeing that there was a Saint 1-dan pinnacle saint beast to play with, the Golden Origin Cauldron cheered in excitement and charged forward.
Peng!
Before the Scarlet Blaze Lion could even react to the situation, he had already been smacked into the face of the mountain, and large mouthfuls of blood spilled from his mouth.
In the next moment, before he could even catch his breath, the huge fist of the Byzantium Helios Beast had already appeared right before his eyes.
Peng peng peng peng!
A saint beast and a Saint-tier artifact, two experts collaborating with one another, there was no way that the Scarlet Blaze Lion could possibly withstand that. In the blink of an eye, his face was already disfigured with bruises and blood. He tried to escape, but his leg couldn"t move; he tried to scream, but his voice wouldn"t come out.
Not too long later, that fellow ended up obediently acknowledging Zhang Xuan as his master with tears streaming down his cheeks.
What is with my luck? I only came out to take a look, but I ended up being beaten up like this… Where is the justice in the world?
What has happened to respecting the law?
After offering a fragment of his soul to Zhang Xuan, the Scarlet Blaze Lion greeted him with a bruised face. "Master!"
Having recovered from his fatigue at this point, Zhang Xuan commanded as he stretched his back leisurely, "I want you to return to the cavern right now and lure two kings out!"
"Lure two kings out?" The Scarlet Blaze Lion"s blinked blankly in response.
"That"s right." Zhang Xuan nodded.
There was a total of ten kings in the cavern. Even if he were to draw all of them out at once, there was no guarantee that he would be able to defeat all of them even with the Golden Origin Cauldron, the Byzantium Helios Beast, and his Otherworldly Demon puppets, let alone, tame them.
Furthermore, if too many of them were gathered together, they would try to at least put on a show of bravado of some kind before their comrades, or else it would be too embarra.s.sing for them to face one another in the future.
If that was the case, that could complicate the taming process.
Dealing with them one by one was much easier and simpler.
"Alright, but…" With his soul held hostage in Zhang Xuan"s hands, the Scarlet Blaze Lion couldn"t disobey him. However, he raised his face and said, "… in my current state, I fear that they won"t believe my words…"
The Golden Origin Cauldron had gotten too excited earlier, so it had accidentally gone overboard, causing the Scarlet Blaze Lion to look nothing like its originally majestic and das.h.i.+ng self.
"Drink the contents of this gourd!" Zhang Xuan infused a few surges of Heaven"s Path zhenqi into a gourd of Earth Vein Spirit Essence before pa.s.sing it over.
Due to the other party"s ma.s.sive physique and higher cultivation, it would require at least a dozen gourds of wine for the Scarlet Blaze Lion to make a complete recovery.
Even if the other party wasn"t drunk by then, the others might still notice that something was amiss from the strong scent of alcohol on him.
On the other hand, by mixing the Earth Vein Spirit Essence with his Heaven"s Path zhenqi, the restorative effect of the Heaven"s Path zhenqi would be amplified, so a single gourd would suffice.
Taking the gourd, the Scarlet Blaze Lion uncorked the cap, and with a single sniff, it suddenly felt the urge to keel over.
"This is… the Earth Vein Spirit Essence?"
He had finally found the fellow who had stolen their treasure…
But who would have thought that the thief would end up becoming his master?
What was with this turn of events?
It was just that morning that he had been hurling curses at the thief alongside the other kings, swearing to tear the other party into shreds… But a few hours later, here he was, kneeling before the other party respectfully…
Ahhh, the wretched tragedies of a beast life…
But as stifled as he felt within, the Scarlet Blaze Lion drank the spirit essence in the gourd in a single gulp.
As the spiritual energy coursed through his body, the severe injuries he had sustained before swiftly healed.
"T-this…" The Scarlet Blaze Lion blinked in confusion, completely dumbfounded.
He was familiar with the properties of the Earth Vein Spirit Essence. Even at the very most, it should only have replenished his strength. When did it gain healing properties as well?
"I have added some medicinal herbs inside to give it the ability to heal injuries swiftly. As long as you serve me well, it isn"t too difficult for me to raise your cultivation to Spiritual Perception realm!" Zhang Xuan said.
"Yes!" The Scarlet Blaze Lion nodded in agitation.
It could be said to be a miraculous feat to grant the Earth Vein Spirit Essence, a substance formed solely out of spiritual energy, healing properties.
If his master had such means, perhaps it might really just be able to help raise his cultivation to Spiritual Perception realm!
"Alright, you may go now!" Zhang Xuan said with a wave of his hand.
Having tamed the Scarlet Blaze Lion, he could control the other party"s life and death with a single thought, so he wasn"t worried about the other party turning against him.
"Master…"
Watching as the Scarlet Blaze Lion returned to the cavern, the Byzantium Helios Beast walked up to Zhang Xuan with admiration gleaming in his eyes.
The Cloudmist Ridge had always been a lurking threat to the Master Teacher Academy. Even the old princ.i.p.al had been helpless before it, but Zhang Xuan… As soon as he arrived, he had already tamed all of the Half-Saint and Nascent Saint beasts in the area. Now, he had even tamed one of the Ten Indomitable Kings, and it seemed like his streak was still going to continue…
It might not be long before the entire Cloudmist Ridge became a va.s.sal of the Master Teacher Academy…
Zhang Xuan thought that the Byzantium Helios Beast was worried, so he rea.s.sured with a smile. "We might not be a match for them now, but with an additional member of the Ten Indomitable Kings tamed, the odds will lean further in our favor. By then, we should be able to achieve an easy victory!"
From the moment he arrived on the battlefield, he had already come up with this plan. Naturally, it was also with such intentions in mind that he had asked School Head Mo to propose a negotiation with the other party.
This was the only way that he would be able to slip into the Cloudmist Ridge to carry out his plan.
The Ten Indomitable Kings were a formidable force when they were gathered together, and not even he was able to do anything about them. However, by luring them out one by one, as long as he could tame four of them, with their force along with the Byzantium Helios Beast, the Golden Origin Cauldron, and the Otherworldly Demon puppets… the remaining members would surely fall to him as well!
…
In the cavern, School Head Mo was still oblivious to Zhang Xuan"s intentions. He stared at the entrance of the cavern worriedly with clenched fists, fearing that the next being to enter would deliver bad news.
Hu!
A figure appeared in his sight as the Crimson Blaze Lion rushed into the cavern.
Seeing the Crimson Blaze Lion return to the cavern without anyone with him, the Golden Beartiger Beast frowned in displeasure. "What happened? Where is the Black Spirit Panthers and that lad?"
He had ordered the Crimson Blaze Lion to find that fellow, so why had he returned alone?
The Scarlet Blaze Lion harrumphed in displeasure. "That fellow is more cunning that I thought. He managed to distract the Black Spirit Panthers for a moment and slipped away. I tried to look around the area, but I wasn"t able to determine which direction he escaped in. Steelbacked Bear and Emerald Bamboo Earth Dragon, follow me to take a look!"
"That fellow escaped?"
"Hahaha! School Head Mo, so that is your student? Abandoning his teacher in the face of danger to escape?"
"The Master Teacher Academy sure has fallen!"
Hearing that the lad had abandoned his teacher and escaped, the other kings burst into laughter.
It was said that the master teachers valued their lineage. But while the teacher was negotiating here, the student actually escaped as soon as he found the opportunity to do so. Disgraceful!
School Head Mo was dumbstruck as well. Princ.i.p.al Zhang escaped?
He could hardly believe those words, but… the Scarlet Blaze Lion shouldn"t have any reason to lie about that!
"Sure, I will go with you to take a look. I sure didn"t expect the Master Teacher Academy to have such a student in their ranks!" The Steelbacked Bear stood up as he laughter uproariously.
"Hahaha, count me in as well!" The Emerald Bamboo Earth Dragon rose from its seat as well.
Just like the Scarlet Blaze Lion, these two fellows were Saint 1-dan pinnacle beasts as well. Their presence felt like an endless abyss, leaving one incapable of gauging how powerful they were.
"Find him quickly; we don"t have much time to spare!" the Golden Beartiger Beast said with a frown.
"Don"t worry!" The Scarlet Blaze Lion chuckled before bringing the two saint beasts out.
After the three saint beasts left, the Golden Beartiger Beast turned to School Head Mo and sneered coldly, "School Head Mo, what else do you have to say? Even your own direct disciple behaves so dishonorably… Tell me, where do you find the confidence to preach about morals and values to others?"
Only a person of upstanding character can win the respect of others. Despite being one of the esteemed Ten Great Master Teachers, his direct disciple turned out to be a reprehensible scoundrel who cared only about his own safety in the face of danger. If others were to learn of this, he could very well die of shame!
"I…" School Head Mo clenched his fists tightly.
Even though he didn"t think that Princ.i.p.al Zhang would actually abandon him, he still couldn"t help but feel apprehensive.
The other party was the one who had proposed the negotiation, but two hours had pa.s.sed, and the other party"s figure was nowhere to be seen. Even up to this point, he still had no idea what was going on; he felt helpless and frustrated.
"Hehe, there"s no doubt about it. That student of School Head Mo must have been scared out of his wits when he saw our great army of aerial spirit beasts, and knowing that their defeat was imminent, he decided to flee in advance!"
"I have always thought that master teachers are people with backbones, but this incident has truly opened my eyes. To think that they could stoop even lower than our Beast Tribe…"
The kings burst into laughter.
"School Head Mo, there is no need to stall for time any longer. Both you and I know that it is futile. Hurry up and contact the other school heads and have them agree to our terms. Otherwise, you won"t be getting out of here alive!" the Golden Beartiger Beast said with a menacing edge to his voice.
"I…" Sighing deeply, School Head Mo was just about to speak when footsteps sounded outside the cavern once more. Turning his gaze over, the Steelbacked Bear, who had left just a moment ago, had returned.
"There is something really eerie about that fellow! I have no idea where he found those experts from, but even with the three of us combined, we aren"t able to defeat his reinforcements. Tigerhead Beast and Steelfang Wolf, follow me. We shall crush him together!"
"He found experts to reinforce him?"
"What kind of experts did he bring in for the three of you to be unable to defeat them?"
The Tigerhead Beast and Steelfang Wolf both questioned him with a deep frown as they got up from their seats.
"I am not too sure either, but they don"t seem like elders from the Master Teacher Academy. Let"s talk on the way, I fear that the Scarlet Blaze Lion and the Emerald Bamboo Earth Dragon can"t hold on for much longer!" the Steelbacked Bear urged.
"Alright then."
The two kings of the Cloudmist Ridge stood up, and after bowing to the Golden Beartiger Beast, they hurriedly followed the Steelbacked Bear out.
A few moments later, the Steelfang Wolf returned and exclaimed, "He seems to have brought in even more reinforcements! Bluetrunk Elephant, Crimsonflame Ape, Steelscale Beast, and White-eared Beast, follow me!"
Just who did Princ.i.p.al Zhang bring in here? School Head Mo was confused by the situation before him.
"This…"
Looking around him, the Golden Beartiger Beast suddenly realized, to his surprise, that he was the only remaining member of the Ten Indomitable Kings in the cavern.