Library of Heaven’s Path - Chapter 882

Chapter 882: Tribute

Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97

Every single one of the Ten Indomitable Kings of the Cloudmist Ridge had strength rivaling the Ten Great Master Teachers of the Master Teacher Academy!

Just what kind of reinforcements did School Head Mo’s student bring in to require the strength of nine of them?

Did he bring the other elders into the Cloudmist Ridge?

But that didn’t make sense either! If so many enemies had invaded the heart of their base, the Half-Saint and Nascent Saint beasts patrolling the area should have already reported the matter to him!

With eyes narrowed threateningly, the Golden Beartiger Beast glared at School Head Mo. “Mo Zhu, just what in the world are you up to?”

“I don’t know either. I have been here all along…” School Head Mo was on the verge of bursting into tears.

It was as if he was here to serve as a sidekick to the principal; he had no idea what the other party was up to…

Unsure of whether School Head Mo was putting on an act or not, the Golden Beartiger Beast threatened him once more. “You don’t know? You’d better not be trying to pull something. For my Cloudmist Ridge to survive right under the nose of the Master Teacher Academy for so long, it definitely isn’t as simple as you might think…”

“You have your men scattered throughout Cloudmist Ridge. Even if we do attempt to pull something, how can you possibly not know?” School Head Mo argued.

Hearing those words, the Golden Beartiger Beast glared at School Head Mo for a moment before eventually nodding slightly in agreement

This was exactly what had left him puzzled.

If something had truly happened, the other kings would have surely informed him. For them to call for the other kings to go with them instead, that meant that the problem was still within their means to deal with.

Forget it. As long as School Head Mo remains my hostage, the Master Teacher Academy won’t be able to take any drastic actions. As long as I have this card, I should be able to force them into compromising! The Golden Beartiger Beast reassessed his current situation, and feeling that he was still in a safe position, he heaved a sigh of relief.

Standing up, he was just about to force School Head Mo into accepting his terms once more when the Scarlet Flame Lion, the first king to leave, finally returned to the cavern.

Following behind him was the Steelbacked Bear, Tigerhead Beast, Steelfang Wolf… All nine of the kings had returned together, and sandwiched between them was a young man with a lowered head.

He was School Head Mo’s escaped student.

The Scarlet Blaze Lion stepped forward and reported loudly, “Boss, we have managed to bring back this fellow!”

“What happened that required all of you to head out?” the Golden Beartiger Beast asked doubtfully.

“It’s like this…”

The Tigerhead Beast stepped forward, pointed its steel claws at Zhang Xuan ferociously, and harrumphed. “I don’t know how that fellow did it, but he managed to find a few formidable master teachers to reinforce him, so we ended up fighting against them…”

“Master teachers?” The Golden Beartiger Beast frowned.

The Steelfang Wolf stepped forward and said in agreement, “That’s right!”

“Who are those master teachers? Are they the Ten Great Master Teachers of the Master Teacher Academy?” the Golden Beartiger Beast continued asking.

“That doesn’t seem to be the case. None of them look familiar to us… Why don’t I take out their corpses to show you? Here they…” the Steelbacked Bear said as he walked toward the Golden Beartiger Beast

At this point, the Steelbacked Bear was only three meters away from the Golden Beartiger Beast.

Without finishing his words, he abruptly leaped forward with three other saint beasts to assault the Golden Beartiger Beast.

Hong long!

The Scarlet Blaze Lion, Tigerhead Beast, Steelfang Wolf, and Steelbacked Bear were considered the strongest saint beasts in Cloudmist Ridge after the Golden Beartiger Beast. Their combined might was so great that it felt like it could split mountains and reverse rivers.

Before the Golden Beartiger Beast could react, he was already struck squarely by four paws and claws.

Peng!

“What are you all doing!” the Golden Beartiger bellowed furiously as his figure was sent retreating into the distance. It knocked through a couple of stalactites before eventually crashing into the wall of the cavern, and it spewed large mouthfuls of blood.

The other saint beasts had been together with him for over a thousand years, and he deeply trusted them. He never thought that they would suddenly make such a vicious move against him!

In just a moment, the Golden Beartiger Beast had already sustained severe injuries. His innards were so shaken by the impact that it would be difficult for him to recover in the short term.

Panting heavily, the Golden Beartiger Beast felt most of his strength sapping away from his body. With reddened eyes, he roared frenziedly, “Why? Tell me why!”

“Master!”

Ignoring the roars of the Golden Beartiger Beast, the Scarlet Blaze Lion, Steelbacked Bear, Steelfang Wolf, and Tigerhead Beast, having accomplished their mission, turned around and bowed to Zhang Xuan.

“Un.” Chuckling softly, Zhang Xuan placed his hands behind his back and raised his head, revealing a faint smile on his lips. As he stepped forward with an entourage of saint beasts following behind him, it seemed as if he was a lofty emperor.

“Of the Ten Indomitable Kings of the Cloudmist Ridge, nine have already submitted to me. Golden Beartiger Beast, you have two choices before you; you can either submit to me, or prepare to die!”

“They have submitted to you?” The Golden Beartiger Beast widened its eyes as it glanced at the other nine kings in disbelief.

They were all proud saint beasts, how could they submit to a mere human… and not to mention, an insignificant Chrysalis realm cultivator?

He wasn’t the only one who was feeling frenzied by the situation; School Head Mo also felt like he was losing his mind.

He had thought that Principal Zhang was truly here to negotiate, and he had resigned himself to be cursed for this failure for generations to come. Who would have thought that the other party, in just a little more than two hours, would manage to tame nine of the Ten Indomitable Kings?

Furthermore, recalling how there was not a single beast who had come in to report the matter, the chances were that the Half-Saint and Nascent Saint beasts had become his tamed beasts as well…

He knew that the new principal was extremely skilled at beast taming, having witnessed it back in the entrance examination on Leiyuan Peak, but this… this power level was way off charts, way too overpowered!

If the other party were to continue taming beasts at this rate, would all of the saint beasts in the Master Teacher Continent become his tamed beasts and obey his commands?

While School Head Mo was in a daze, the Scarlet Blaze Lion and the others turned to their former boss, the strongest saint beast of the Cloudmist Ridge, and attempted to persuade him.

“Boss, you should just submit to him. Our master is a person of great capability. We will definitely achieve greater heights pursuing him!”

“Indeed. For many years, we have successfully repelled all enemies, including the forces of the Master Teacher Academy, and maintained a tight grip over the Cloudmist Ridge. But think about it, how different is this from being trapped in a cage? In any case, I have had enough!”

“There is no point resisting it; you will be killed if you hesitate any longer!”

…

“You want me to submit? Dream on!”

Seeing that all of his subordinates had betrayed him, the Golden Beartiger Beast shouted savagely, “Weren’t you all curious about why such a huge supply of Earth Vein Spirit Essence has accumulated here, never running out despite so many spirit beasts and saint beasts absorbing it over the years? Let me tell you the reason today!”

With a furious roar, the Golden Beartiger Beast struggled to his feet and leaped into the dried-up lake before speaking in a respectful tone. “My great emperor, please grant me the power to eliminate these traitors of the Beast Tribe…”

This time, he was speaking not in the human language but the Ancient Beast Language.

“Emperor?”

Hearing those words, Zhang Xuan frowned as an ominous premonition clutched his heart.

From the very start, he had been wondering how something as rare as the Earth Vein Spirit Essence could gather in such great quantity in the Cloudmist Ridge. Even considering the unique geographical terrain, it was near impossible for that to happen.

And more importantly, it was unnatural for there to be so many saint beasts gathered here.

Survival of the fittest. Resources were always in short supply, so the number of experts in a region was limited.

It was truly confounding to see so many powerful beasts gathering on this land.

At the same time, School Head Mo’s face also warped in astonishment.

As a 6-star pinnacle beast tamer, even though he wasn’t very fluent in the Ancient Beast Language, he was still able to decipher bits and pieces of the Golden Beartiger Beast’s words. It was apparent that the other party was trying to initiate some kind of ritual to summon a powerful being.

If the other party succeeded, the tables could very well be turned on them.

“Zhang shi…” Anxious, School Head Mo immediately turned to Zhang Xuan.

Zhang Xuan raised his hand and said, “Calm down, let’s just watch for now. This could very well concern the mystery behind the disappearance of Elder Wu Yangzi…”

After taming the Scarlet Blaze Lion and the others, he had questioned them about the matter concerning Wu Yangzi’s disappearance two thousand years ago. However, they had only risen to power a thousand years ago, so they weren’t too sure about that incident either.

However, based on their description, it seemed like the Golden Beartiger Beast was the key to this mystery.

This was precisely why he possessed unparalleled authority in the Cloudmist Ridge, the number one figure of the innumerable beasts gathered here.

Hong long long!

Extremely high concentrated spiritual energy abruptly burst forth from the depths of the cavern. In that moment, it felt as if the sky was falling, and it left all present incapable of catching their breath.

The lake that had stored the Earth Vein Spirit Essence previously seemed to have become an altar for the Golden Beartiger Beast to make an offering in order to summon an overwhelmingly powerful being here.

“What power…”

Feeling the powerful energy drifting in the air, School Head Mo’s face paled. He couldn’t help but retreat several steps as he clenched his jaws in pain.

The pressure was simply too great, and it seemed to be crushing his soul directly. Despite being a Saint 1-dan pinnacle expert, he still found himself unable to hold on for much longer.

“Zhang shi…”

If even someone of his prowess was unable to withstand this pressure, what would become of their principal?

Alarmed, he quickly turned his gaze to Zhang Xuan, only to see the latter standing upright with his eyes gazing coldly upon the lake, as if he couldn’t feel the pressure at all.

School Head Mo’s body jolted in astonishment.

Even the Scarlet Blaze Lion and the other kings of the Cloudmist Ridge were lying feebly on the ground under that immense pressure, so how was it possible for their principal to be completely fine?

Hong long long!

Before he could analyze what was going on, the spiritual energy in the air suddenly gathered to form an illusory, mist-like Bluehorn Dragon Beast. Coiling in the air, its very presence seemed to exert immense pressure directly on one’s soul.

“My descendant, why have you summoned me?” A majestic voice boomed.

The Bluehorn Dragon Beast spoke in the Ancient Beast Language as well, but its words felt heavy, seemingly carrying a quality that left one feeling as if one had traveled back in time.

This is… the most authentic Ancient Beast Language! School Head Mo’s body turned cold.

It was possible for them to emulate the pronunciation of the Ancient Beast Language, but it was impossible to bring out the same deep resonance as the ancient beasts of old.

Just this intonation in itself could bring one the loyalty of many spirit beasts and saint beasts. Without a doubt, this Bluehorn Dragon Beast was a legendary figure from the ancient era.

Turning around, he saw the Scarlet Blaze Lion, Tigerhead Beast, and the others trembling in fear, unable to bring forth the slightest intention to retaliate at all.

This was a result of the inevitable suppression of bloodline among saint beasts

Turning his gaze back to Principal Zhang, he was just thinking about how he could shield the other party and send him out safely, when he saw the latter standing before the Bluehorn Dragon Beast with a frown, seemingly in deep thought.

The Golden Beartiger Beast kneeled to the ground and pleaded using the Ancient Beast Language, “My emperor, I ask of you to grant me the power to eliminate these traitors!”

“What can you offer me?” the illusory figure above asked impassively.

“I can offer you the fresh blood of this 6-star pinnacle master teacher of the Master Teacher Academy, the head of the Beast Tamer School!” the Golden Beartiger Beast replied respectfully.

“A 6-star pinnacle master teacher?” The figure above shook his head and replied, “That is not enough!”

The Golden Beartiger Beast pointed to Zhang Xuan and said, “And his student as well!”

However, thinking that it was unlikely to suffice as well, he added, “With my newfound power, I will immediately dispatch my army to slaughter more master teachers to offer them to you!”

“Granted. You should know the consequences if you renege on your promise.”

Hong long!

With the words of the illusory figure above, overwhelming strength abruptly fell and surged into the body of the Golden Beartiger Beast, and its withered aura began to recover.

Chapter 883: The Powerful Golden Beartiger Beast

Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97

School Head Mo’s face blanched. “Zhang shi, you must leave right now! The Golden Beartiger Beast is having his strength forcefully raised, and he will gain great power in the short term. If you don’t leave right now, you will be in danger…”

Despite the severe side effects afterward, such forceful infusion of energy could heal the Golden Beartiger Beast’s wounds and even bring his cultivation up another level. Once this infusion was complete, none of those present would be a match for him!

Before School Head Mo could even finish his words, the Golden Beartiger Beast’s strength already recovered to Saint realm 1-dan, and with incredible momentum, he achieved a breakthrough and reached Spiritual Perception realm shortly afterward.

Spiritual Perception realm primary stage, intermediate stage, advanced stage…

His cultivation sped forward at an unbelievable pace.

Faced with such a sight, those kings who had pledged loyalty to Zhang Xuan earlier began trembling in fright.

Over the years, they had learned that the Golden Beartiger Beast was hiding some powerful means up his sleeves, but they didn’t think that it would be so fearsome!

If they had known that the Golden Beartiger Beast was capable of this, they never would have dared to betray him! Having pledged allegiance to the wrong faction, they were all doomed to die now.

Kacha!

With another loud buzz, the Golden Beartiger Beast’s cultivation achieved another breakthrough, reaching Saint realm 3-dan before gradually coming to a halt.

“Remember your promise!” the illusory figure warned sharply before gradually dissipating into nothingness.

“Hahaha, you must not have seen this coming when you betrayed me. Today, you all shall learn the consequence of turning your back on me!”

Feeling the magnificent power coursing through his body, the Golden Beartiger Beast swiped his paw down with a roar, sealing the entrance to the cavern. No one could escape anymore.

He had always been the emperor of the Cloudmist Ridge, and no one had dared to disobey his orders before. Yet, in a single day, not only had he found his subordinates betraying him all at once, he had even been severely injured by them. The rage that he felt within was enough to drive him mad.

Hong long long!

As the might of a Saint realm 3-dan expert permeated the area, the entire cavern began creaking under the pressure, seemingly on the verge of collapse.

“Master…”

In the face of the Golden Beartiger Beast’s absolute strength, the Scarlet Blaze Lion and the others trembled in fear, and with pale faces, they turned to Zhang Xuan, hoping to find a chance of survival.

At Saint realm 3-dan, Embryonic Soul realm, one’s dantian would be forged into an Origin Soul, amplifying the power one could wield many times over. Even if the nine of them were to gather their strength to fight against him, they still wouldn’t be a match at all!

If a battle were to truly occur, it wouldn’t be long before they breathed their last.

At this moment, they could only bank their hopes on the master they had acknowledged just a while ago and pray that he would be able to create a miracle once more.

“Mo Zhu, I gave you a chance earlier, but you refused to budge. It’s too late now. Not only will you die, Hongyuan City and the Master Teacher Academy will pay the price for your foolishness as well! They shall be devastated by the army of aerial spirit beasts, and history will remember you as the sinner who caused it all!” the Golden Beartiger Beast roared savagely.

Hong long!

With a deafening cry, the Golden Beartiger Beast charged at School Head Mo. The Golden Beartiger Beast raised his paws, and a massive palm print appeared in the air and fell violently upon the latter.

“Thirteen Swords of the Red Leaf!”

Without any hesitation, School Head Mo drew his sword once more and utilized his strongest technique to retaliate.

As soon as the sword came into contact with the red leaf, the red leaf after-shadows immediately dissipated, and with a loud ‘kacha!’, the sword snapped into innumerable pieces and scattered all over the ground.

Pu!

School Head Mo was sent flying before knocking onto the wall of the cavern. Blood spewed out of his mouth frenziedly, and his face turned as pale as a sheet of paper.

When he’d used that same sword art earlier, he had at least been able to force the Golden Beartiger Beast back by a single step. However, after the other party’s surge in strength, he couldn’t even stop a casual blow from the beast.

The disparity in their strength was truly despairing.

Even if Senior Byzantium Helios and Senior Golden Origin Cauldron were to collaborate against him, they still wouldn’t be a match for him.

“Zhang shi, hurry up and leave,” School Head Mo urged anxiously.

It wouldn’t matter if he were to die here, but nothing could be allowed to happen to the principal!

Otherwise, the division within the academy would never be breached, and it would fall into chaos once more.

The Golden Beartiger Beast turned to Zhang Xuan and sneered, “Leave? Hahaha, after inducing so many of my subordinates to betray me, do you think that I will allow you to leave?”

Leaping forward, the Golden Beartiger Beast raised his paw and struck down forcefully.

“Be careful!” School Head Mo exclaimed anxiously.

Even he was unable to stand against the assault of the Golden Beartiger Beast, let alone the Transcendent Mortal 9-dan Principal Zhang!

Enduring the severe wounds he was afflicted with, School Head Mo hurriedly got to his feet to rush forward and take the blow for Zhang Xuan, but before he could move, an immense pressure abruptly crushed down on his body, nearly shattering it.

The enemy was simply too powerful. Just his aura was already sufficient to render him nearly powerless.

“No need to get hasty, you will be next! No one will be getting away today!” Sneering coldly, the Golden Beartiger Beast pushed his palm down toward Zhang Xuan, and ‘jiya!’, the ground creaked loudly under the pressure of the palm.

“Zhang shi!” School Head Mo exclaimed in despair.

He had never thought that it would eventually end like this. If he had known, he never would have agreed to let Zhang Xuan come with him.

“Getting away? Who says that I intend to escape?”

Just when everyone thought that Zhang Xuan would surely die, a nonchalant voice suddenly sounded in the air. Following which, an overwhelming killing intent suddenly burst forth from behind Zhang shi and swept through everything in its path like a hurricane.

Hong long!

Under the burst of killing intent, the offense against Zhang Xuan was neutralized, and before the arrogant Golden Beartiger Beast could realize what was going on, his head suddenly bent backward, and his tongue fell out from his mouth as he plummeted from the sky, crashing head first to the ground. A massive depression appeared in his wake.

“Ding Ding, destroy him!” Zhang Xuan instructed.

The Golden Origin Cauldron immediately charged forward to slam into the Golden Beartiger Beast.

Peng!

As the duo collided, a resounding chime reminiscent of a bell echoed, and a spurt of blood mixed with a few teeth spewed out of the Golden Beartiger Beast’s mouth.

The situation he suddenly found himself faced with left him dumbfounded.

He had thought that after reaching Saint 3-dan with the infusion of power from his emperor, he would be able to slaughter everyone present and shake the Master Teacher Academy to the core. Who could have known that, before he could even display the full extent of his prowess, he would be abruptly knocked out of the sky by an aura that jolted his soul?

Furthermore…

What was with the sudden appearance of this Saint-tier artifact?

He might possess greater strength than the other party, but Saint-tier artifacts, especially a cauldron like the one before him, were known to possess nigh invincible defense; how was he supposed to defeat the other party?

Peng!

Just as the Golden Beartiger Beast was overwhelmed by the turn of events, the Golden Origin Cauldron suddenly charged over with a roar and smashed into his head once more.

A deafening blast reminiscent of the heaven and earth collapsing sounded, and the sight before the Golden Beartiger Beast abruptly turned dark. His massive body tumbled backward with astounding momentum, leaving a deep gorge in his path. By the time he knocked into the cavern wall, his body was already cloaked in a layer of dust and bits of granite.

“This…”

“Even the powered up Golden Beartiger Beast… is no match for the Saint-tier artifact?”

The Scarlet Blaze Lion, Tigerhead Beast, and the other kings gulped down a mouthful of saliva.

From the looks of it, it seemed like the Golden Origin Cauldron had truly gone easy on them back when they had fought with it.

Otherwise, with just a body slam, their bodies might have been crushed to bits.

Those saint beasts who had just regretted pledging allegiance to Zhang Xuan couldn’t help but shudder in astonishment. It was fortunate that they hadn’t said it out loud, or they might just have been the next ones to follow the Golden Beartiger Beast.

“Hahaha, this is truly exhilarating! It has been long since I was last able to fight like that. Little beast, just watch how Grandpa Ding turns into cinders today!” the Golden Origin Cauldron yelled excitedly as it slammed into the dying Golden Beartiger Beast again and again.

The might of the Golden Origin Cauldron was so great that ordinary Saint realm experts couldn’t hope to withstand it. Only against this fellow would it be able to use its full strength.

“This…” School Head Mo felt his head spinning as he stared at the sight with slackened jaws.

He had thought that they would all lose their lives, but… this reversal had come far too quickly!

The Golden Origin Cauldron was powerful—there was no doubt about that—but ultimately, it was only a Saint-tier artifact. Without anyone wielding it, it was difficult to bring out the full extent of its power. Thus, School Head Mo didn’t think that it would be able to defeat the Golden Beartiger Beast.

What had truly reversed the tides of the battle was the fearsome killing intent that had burst forth from behind Zhang shi earlier!

Where did it come from?

Had the Golden Origin Cauldron charged forth without that killing intent incapacitating the Golden Beartiger Beast beforehand, it would have surely been knocked back, and a one-sided pummeling wouldn’t be happening now either.

School Head Mo swiftly turned his gaze to Principal Zhang, only to see the latter with a nonchalant expression on his face. It was as if he knew that this matter would end in such a manner, and there was not the slightest trace of surprise or fear on his face.

And in truth, this matter was truly nothing to Zhang Xuan at all.

The Golden Beartiger Beast had gained massive power from the emperor he spoke of, reaching Saint realm 3-dan, but Zhang Xuan’s trump cards didn’t consist of just the Byzantium Helios Beast and the Golden Origin Cauldron. There was the even more powerful Vicious as well.

After consuming a third of Kong shi’s writings on the scroll, he had grown significantly more powerful than before. Putting aside a mere Saint realm 3-dan primary stage cultivator, a surge of zhenqi could easily knock down even a Saint realm 4-dan expert from the sky and incapacitate him.

Before a mere Golden Beartiger Beast, he wouldn’t even bat an eyelid!

Peng peng peng peng!

The Golden Origin Cauldron continued to ram itself into the Golden Beartiger Beast, and before long, he was already bruised all over. His breathing was so faint that it seemed as if he would just pass away at any moment.

“Alright, that’s enough!” Seeing the Golden Origin Cauldron getting more and more excited from the battle, Zhang Xuan hurriedly stood forward to stop it.

“Master, he tried to kill you earlier! Let me pummel him to death to show him the consequences of baring his fangs at you…” The Golden Origin Cauldron was reluctant to stop in the midst of his fun.

It wasn’t easy for it to find someone who was so tolerant to its beating, so it should at least have its fair share of fun with him.

“Leave him alive for now, I have some things to ask him,” said Zhang Xuan.

There were still many mysteries surrounding this matter, such as the emperor whom the other party had summoned earlier and the various bizarre happenings on Cloudmist Ridge.

If the Golden Beartiger Beast was killed, they would lose a valuable source of information.

Hearing those words, the Golden Origin Cauldron could only stop with a regretful look on its face.

Zhang Xuan walked up to the Golden Beartiger Beast, and upon taking a closer look at its current state, his lips couldn’t help but twitch.

It must be said that the Golden Origin Cauldron really hadn’t held back. It had rammed its body at the Golden Beartiger Beast’s head forcefully, again and again, knocking away every hint of the other party’s former glory as a king of the Cloudmist Ridge.

As a result, the other party’s massive head was filled with creases, similar to those of a shriveled meat bun.

If he hadn’t stopped the Golden Origin Cauldron in time, the other party would definitely have lost his life!

Flicking his wrist, Zhang Xuan took out a bit of Earth Vein Spirit Essence and fed it to the Golden Beartiger Beast, restoring a little bit of his vitality. Afterward, he gazed down at the other party coldly and said, “Submit to me, or die!”

As long as the other party submitted to him, he should be able to acquire all of the intelligence he needed. Otherwise, even if he were to force the other party to speak, there was no way of telling whether the information acquired was credible or not.

“You want me to submit to you? Dream on! My life belongs to my emperor, and if you dare to kill me, my emperor will surely exact vengeance for me!” the Golden Beartiger Beast roared furiously.

“Your emperor? Hah, you expect an incomplete soul to exact vengeance for you?” Zhang Xuan sneered.

Zhang Xuan had assessed the ’emperor’ that the Golden Beartiger Beast spoke of with his Eye of Insight when it was summoned earlier, and he was certain that it was only a soul.

The reason the soul was able to raise the Golden Beartiger Beast’s cultivation so swiftly was probably due to some kind of secret art it possessed.

So far, Zhang Xuan only had the cultivation techniques for soul oracles from Transcendent Mortal 1-dan to 9-dan.

On the other hand, considering how the ’emperor’ was able to raise the Golden Beartiger Beast’s cultivation to Saint realm 3-dan in just a short period of time, it should at least be at Saint realm 4-dan or 5-dan.

Considering its strength, even if it was a mere incomplete soul now, it would still be extremely beneficial to Zhang Xuan if he could capture it.

Translator’s Thoughts

StarveCleric StarveCleric

Today, the beasts of Cloudmist Ridge took pity on Millman. After seeing his pathetic response to their previous taunting, they decided to allocate him some extra time to work, thus allowing him to finish the chapter ahead of time and guaranteeing a punctual release.

However, the beasts only afford Millman these small mercies, which are basically nothing when compared to the horrors he faces. The only way to save him is to vote for LOHP with your power stones and boost Starve!

Chapter 884: Zhang Xuan’s Change

Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97

“An incomplete soul? My emperor is a deity, a saint beast from an ancient era. For you to have plotted against the Cloudmist Ridge, you have already infringed on his authority. There is no doubt that he will extract your soul and tear your body into pieces to exact vengeance for me,” the Golden Beartiger Beast howled in rage.

It seemed that he was extremely loyal to the so-called emperor, revering the other party even.

He had already placed the other party on a divine pedestal in his mind, so he couldn’t bring himself to believe that the other party would only be a mere soul.

On the other hand, Zhang Xuan shook his head.

If the so-called emperor was truly that powerful, it wouldn’t have been stuck on the Cloudmist Ridge, dependent on the Golden Beartiger Beast’s tributes.

“If the emperor you spoke of is as incredible as you say, don’t you think that it would have appeared after seeing the state you are in?” Zhang Xuan replied with a wry smile.

“My emperor will never abandon me. You will be regretting your actions against me very soon,” the Golden Beartiger Beast yowled frenziedly.

But despite the words it spoke, uncertainty had already crept into his gaze. His confidence had wavered.

He knew that his relationship with his emperor was one built on mutual profit. He would offer tributes to the latter, and the latter would grant him power or the Earth Vein Spirit Essence.

Even if he was pummeled to death, all his emperor had to do was find another agent to work for him instead. There was no need for the other party to save him, or rather, if the other party had any intentions of saving him, the other party wouldn’t have watched as the massive cauldron pummeled him viciously.

Noticing the hint of apprehension in the depths of the Golden Beartiger Beast’s eyes, Zhang Xuan knew that his words had worked. Thus, infusing his words with the Impartation of Heaven’s Will, he said, “I heard earlier that you were going to offer School Head Mo and me to your emperor. Is this what you have done with the many master teachers before us?”

Earlier, when the Golden Beartiger Beast negotiated with his emperor and offered the lives of School Head Mo, Zhang Xuan, and countless other master teachers as tribute, the latter had agreed immediately. The deal had gone so smoothly that it felt like they had conducted the same trade innumerable times over the years, and they had already come to a mutual understanding of the needs of each other.

Furthermore, recalling the many corpses he had seen in the surroundings, it wasn’t too difficult to put the story together.

Considering the huge implications of this matter, the Golden Beartiger Beast couldn’t possibly allow the other saint beasts to learn of this matter as well, so he had to get the information out of the beast in question.

Perhaps, the full mystery might be unraveled with this.

“Nonsense…”

The Golden Beartiger Beast immediately shook his head. However, halfway through his words, the figure of the young man before him suddenly seemed to tower above him, reminiscent of an inviolable deity of the heavens. He desired deeply to deny the matter, but his mind wouldn’t listen to him. Unable to control himself, he began confessing, “That’s right! My emperor would devour the blood and flesh of those master teachers, and in exchange for that, he would bestow us with the Earth Vein Spirit Essence, granting us an opportunity to achieve a breakthrough in our cultivation!”

Previously, Zhang Xuan’s Impartation of Heaven’s Will had only been effective on those who had the blood of a human running through their veins, which resulted in it being ineffective against beasts. However, after comprehending the Heart of a Teacher, the effects of his Impartation of Heaven’s Will had been extended to beasts as well, allowing him to beguile even a saint beast like the Golden Beartiger Beast easily.

“Devour the blood and flesh of master teachers?” School Head Mo clenched his trembling fists in agitation.

He had thought that the saint beasts were just an impending threat that the Master Teacher Academy would have to deal with soon, but who would have thought that they had been committing such atrocities over the years?

If he had learned of this earlier, he would surely have convinced the Master Teacher Academy to send an army up to utterly destroy the Cloudmist Ridge long ago.

If this had been going on over a span of more than a thousand years, he could hardly imagine how many master teachers had died brutally due to the other party.

Zhang Xuan’s complexion had darkened as well, but he continued to interrogate the other party. “Are those white bones in the cavern the corpses of the deceased master teachers?”

“That’s right! They are the master teachers who dared to brazenly barge into my Cloudmist Ridge over the years. I offered their blood and flesh to my emperor, and all that is left of them is the pile of bones here. In exchange, my emperor has used his divine strength to alter the geography of the Cloudmist Ridge, turning it into a natural formation to gather Earth Vein Spirit Essence. It is precisely this that has allowed the beasts of the Cloudmist Ridge to grow rapidly stronger over the years!” the Golden Beartiger Beast explained proudly.

He dared not kill master teachers openly, but each year, there were still a substantial number of master teachers who went missing due to undertaking dangerous missions or various miscellaneous reasons each year. As such, he was still able to tribute dozens or even several hundred master teachers each year without drawing much attention.

Suppressing his fury, Zhang Xuan continued asking, “Since your emperor is consuming the blood and flesh of master teachers, it is surely not an ordinary soul. Where is he now?”

For a soul to live, it had to be nourished by a body. Otherwise, it would be extremely vulnerable by the Five Soul Declines, resulting in it getting weaker and weaker over time.

The main reason Mo Hunsheng was able to survive several ten thousand years was due to the unique nature of the Nine Hearts Lotus. If not for that God artifact, his soul would have long dissipated as well.

To be able to survive the ancient era and feed on the blood and flesh of master teachers, the so-called emperor was definitely not an ordinary soul.

“That… I am not too sure where my emperor is either. I only know that he only appears if I summon him here,” the Golden Beartiger Beast replied.

“Summon him here?” Zhang Xuan frowned.

Activating the Eye of Insight, he began scanning the surroundings.

The previous time he was here, he had taken a look as well, and he hadn’t noticed anything at all.

But if the so-called emperor would only appear when summoned here, the chances were that there was something amiss here…

Even through the Eye of Insight, Zhang Xuan only saw an ordinary cavern. There didn’t seem to be anything out of place in the surroundings.

Wait. That fellow appeared here not long ago, so perhaps I might be able to trace his aura… Suddenly recalling this matter, Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up.

Due to the intangible and elusive nature of souls, it was extremely difficult to find the trail of a soul. However, as one who possessed the Eye of Insight, he should still be able to find some traces if he looked closely.

Focusing his sight on the area where the so-called emperor had appeared earlier, lines of insight began gathering in Zhang Xuan’s eyes, and finally, an extremely faint trail could be seen leading into the depths of the cavern.

“Ding Ding, I will leave this fellow to you!”

Having finished his interrogation and uncovered the trail to his next target, Zhang Xuan issued his instructions to the Golden Origin Cauldron before taking huge strides into the depths of the cavern.

The Golden Beartiger Tribe had the blood of far too many master teachers on his hands. That was beyond Zhang Xuan’s bottom line, and he had no intention of sparing him.

“You are leaving him to me? Great, that’s exactly what I like!” Cheering in excitement, the Golden Origin Cauldron immediately leaped toward the Golden Beartiger Beast.

“W-what are you going to do?” Hearing the glee in the Saint artifact’s voice, the Golden Beartiger Beast’s body immediately stiffened in fear. “Zhang shi, I will acknowledge you as my master. Please, spare me. Spar—AHHHHH…”

Before he could finish his words, a cry of agony had already escaped from his mouth. A certain massive cauldron had descended right onto its face, and raging flames burst from it, producing a sizzling sound in contact with the other party’s skin. Soon, a fragrant aroma drifted within the cavern.

Gudong!

The Scarlet Blaze Lion, Steelbacked Bear, and the others gulped before the sight.

The heck.

That monster… It was fortunate that they had submitted, or else they could have been in the Golden Beartiger Beast’s position…

This particular emotion was intensified as they stared at the Golden Beartiger Beast’s face… The face that they had respected and feared for many years had distorted into a hideous shape indescribable using words…

…

“Zhang shi!”

Paying no heed to the Golden Origin Cauldron, which was having the time of its life, School Head Mo hurriedly rushed forward to catch up with Zhang Xuan.

After walking up to Principal Zhang, he hurriedly advised telepathically, “That ’emperor’ seems to be an extremely powerful being. Since we have managed to subdue the forces of the Cloudmist Ridge, I don’t think that emperor will do anything for the time being. Why don’t we just leave this matter for the headquarters to deal with?”

That so-called emperor was able to heal a severely wounded Saint realm 1-dan pinnacle beast fully and raise his cultivation to 3-dan on top of that. Such prowess was unimaginable to him.

To pursue such an enemy, and not even bringing Senior Golden Origin Cauldron at that… he feared that Principal Zhang would face grave danger.

This matter was already beyond their scope of power, so it was best to leave it to the higher ranked master teachers of the headquarters.

“That ’emperor’ will definitely escape after seeing that his loyal subordinate has perished. It will take at least around half a month for the personnel of the headquarters to arrive, and by then, it will already be too late!” Zhang Xuan shook his head.

That fellow was an incomplete soul, which was extremely useful to him, so how could he hand such a treasure over to anyone else?

If the personnel from the headquarters were to arrive, it would be impossible for him to take the soul for himself, and all he would receive were a few words of commendation. Since that was the case, he would have to take matters into his own hands.

“This…” School Head Mo hesitated for a moment before replying, “Since that’s the case, allow me to call Mu shi and the other elders here too. It should be safer that way…”

“There’s no need for that. You should stay here to manage the situation, I will go in to take a look. Don’t worry, even if I am no match for the other party, I still do have some means up my sleeves to at least escape safely!” Zhang Xuan reassured.

That ’emperor’ was at least a Saint realm 5-dan expert, an extremely dangerous being to go against. One reason that he dared to pursue the other party was because he had Vicious in hand, but more importantly, it was because he still had a golden page in his Library of Heaven’s Path!

It was formed when he took School Head Jiang Qingqin in as his student back then.

No matter how powerful that ’emperor’ may be, could he be more powerful than the heavens itself?

Even Vicious was forced to kneel before it, let alone an incomplete soul.

Of course, he couldn’t mention this matter to anyone else. Even though he could tell that School Head Mo earnestly cared for him, and he trusted the latter as well, this matter was simply too important for him to reveal to anyone.

“Zhang shi…” Seeing that Zhang Xuan insisted on entering, School Head Mo cut into his path to stop him.

“Enough! … Don’t worry, I will be fine. Have the Scarlet Blaze Lion and the other kings issue an order for all of the battling spirit beasts to return to Cloudmist Ridge. After that, inform School Head Zhao that the negotiations were a success, and have him send the students involved in the battle to rest. After such a long battle, they must be exhausted!” Zhang Xuan instructed with a wave of his hand.

School Head Mo was still hesitant, but he eventually relented and nodded. “This… Alright!”

Sighing deeply, Zhang Xuan flicked his wrist and took out a pile of high-tier spirit stones. “Here are two hundred high-tier spirit stones. Please compile a list of the students who have lost their lives in this battle and use this money to compensate their families.”

There were exactly two hundred of them in there.

As much as he loved money, there were some things that just had to be done.

Ultimately, the trigger to the beast stampede was his theft of the Cloudmist Ridge’s Earth Vein Spirit Essence, so it was only right for him to compensate the victims of the conflict.

He didn’t have the power to raise the dead, but if his money could aid the family members of the victims and allow them to lead better lives, perhaps it would at least allow the souls of the victims to rest in peace.

Seeing Zhang Xuan take out so many high-tier spirit stones all of the sudden, School Head Mo was shocked. He hurriedly waved his hands to reject it. “This… Zhang shi, our academy will fork out the expenses to compensate the students. How can we allow you to pay out of your own pocket!”

Even if Zhang Xuan wanted to provide some form of aid to the family members of the deceased students, he need not pay out of his pocket. The Master Teacher Academy and the Master Teacher Pavilion had their own measures for that.

Those master teachers had died while protecting the populace of Hongyuan City, so there was no way the Master Teacher Pavilion would allow their sacrifice to go unrecognized.

“Take it!” Zhang Xuan insisted with a displeased frown. “This is from me; it has nothing to do with the academy!”

“… Alright!” Seeing the determination in Zhang Xuan’s eyes, School Head Mo could feel the earnest sincerity in his gesture, so he couldn’t bring himself to turn the latter down anymore.

At the same time, his admiration for the latter deepened once more.

Only such an upright and selfless person would be qualified to become their principal! They had indeed made the correct decision.

I must learn from Principal Zhang’s example and strive to lead an upright and altruistic life, School Head Mo vowed within.

“Alright, you should hurry along now. I will be fine here, so rest assured.”

After leaving behind those instructions, Zhang Xuan turned around and followed the barely visible trail he saw with his Eye of Insight into the depths of the cavern.

Chapter 885: A Single Finger

Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97

Soon, Zhang Xuan arrived at a place filled with white bones and rusty armor. Taking a close look at those bones, there were some faint engravings on them, reminiscent of those that the predecessors in the Teacher Acknowledgement Hall would leave on those whom they had recognized.

In other words, these bones belonged to master teachers.

Every single master teacher was a wealth to humanity. Looking at the sheer number of bones accumulated here, Zhang Xuan couldn’t help but tremble in agitation.

Every single bone here reflected the sin of the Golden Beartiger Beast. Even if he were to die a thousand times over, that still would be insufficient to absolve him of what he had done.

You are all heroes who have sacrificed yourself for mankind; I can’t allow your bones to be left lying exposed here!Zhang Xuan thought grimly.

Thus, he pushed his hand on empty ground not too far away, and a massive hole immediately emerged. After which, with a surge of his zhenqi, he swept all of the bones in the area into it.

After many years, the bones had already worn down and shattered into innumerable pieces, making it impossible to differentiate one person from another. As such, he could only bury them together. As comrades in arms, it should be acceptable for them to be buried alongside one another in death. At least, this was all he could do at the moment.

After burying them, Zhang Xuan continued to follow the trail with his Eye of Insight.

The trail that the ’emperor’ had left behind disappeared beneath a certain area covered by bones earlier.

Is it beneath the ground?

It was a completely flat ground, and touching the area, it didn’t seem like there were any mechanisms or formations around.

He had followed the other party’s trail using his Eye of Insight, so there shouldn’t be any problem with the location. How could the soul have vanished into thin air?

Could it be… All of a sudden, a thought emerged in Zhang Xuan’s mind.

He flicked his wrist, and a spirit beast soon appeared before him.

“Myriad Anthive Queen, check if there is a folded space in the area!”

Folded space concerned the laws of space, which Zhang Xuan was unable to comprehend due to the limits of his cultivation. However, the Myriad Anthive Queen possessed exceptional aptitude in spatial manipulation, so it should be able to easily discern the presence of a folded space.

The Myriad Anthive Queen nodded and began sniffing around, and before long, it stood up.

“Master, there is indeed a folded space here. However, it doesn’t seem to be too large. Do you want to enter to take a look?”

“As I expected!” Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up.

Since there were no mechanisms or anything of that sort in the area, the chances were that the soul had hidden itself in a folded space.

“Of course, I have to enter to take a look!” Zhang Xuan replied without any hesitation.

His goal here was to find and capture the ’emperor’ that the Golden Beartiger Beast had spoken of. He couldn’t give up just because the other party was hidden in a folded space.

However, given that a Saint 5-dan expert was hiding inside, it would be dangerous for the Transcendent Mortal 9-dan Anthive Myriad Queen to enter. Thus, after some consideration, Zhang Xuan raised his gaze and said, “It will be unsafe for you to enter the folded space… Open the entrance for me; I will enter myself.”

Without spatial manipulation capability, it was impossible for one to enter a folded space even if one were to discover one.

Take, for example, the folded space back at the Saint Ascension Platform, had Zhang Xuan been unable to find the flaws in the inscriptions and won Kong shi’s acknowledgement, he would not have been able to enter it even if he had shattered the cliff face and managed to find it somehow.

It was the same for this as well… However, given the Myriad Anthive Queen’s aptitude for spatial manipulation, it was highly likely that it would possessed some kind of method to enter folded spaces.

“Alright, I will open the entrance right now. You should be able to get into the folded space just by stepping in!” the Myriad Anthive Queen replied with a nod.

After which, it began sniffing the area before abruptly grabbing onto something with its hands and ripping it apart.

Si la!

A void around the size of a human appeared before Zhang Xuan’s eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Xuan flicked his wrist and took out a book. After instructing Vicious to guard him well, he stepped into the void.

…

There was no vertigo or anything. As soon as Zhang Xuan stepped through the void, he was able to see everything on the other side clearly. It was indeed not a very large space, consisting of only a diameter of around eight meters, considerably smaller than the one in the Saint Ascension Platform.

Scanning the room, he didn’t see the Bluehorn Dragon Beast that had appeared previously, but there was a peculiar round altar, around the height of a human and a diameter of half a meter large. Unlike normal altars though, it had nothing on it.

After taking a thorough look around the room and finding nothing, Zhang Xuan frowned doubtfully.

His Eye of Insight wouldn’t lie. The ’emperor’ had definitely come into this folded space, but why wasn’t there anything here?

Not even a soul could escape the discerning gaze of the Eye of Insight, not to mention, he was also a soul oracle as well. If the Bluehorn Dragon Beast was truly in here, it shouldn’t have been able to hide from him.

Just as Zhang Xuan was about to conduct another thorough check, a shrill shriek suddenly sounded in the room, as if something was rushing right toward him.

Before he could react, an immense might was already right behind him.

Weng!

The moment that Zhang Xuan was about to be struck, a light barrier suddenly appeared around him. It was the Aerial Strike Amulet, which he had received from Yu Cheng back in the entrance examination.

The Aerial Strike Amulet could deflect an attack with the full power of a Saint realm 1-dan infused into it, and for safety, Zhang Xuan had always kept it on him instead of his storage ring. In the face of grave danger, he immediately activated it.

Kacha!

With a sharp echo, the Aerial Strike Amulet shattered, not even stopping the attack for half a breath. That rampaging might rushed forth and struck Zhang Xuan squarely on his back, and as if hit by a train, his figure was immediately sent flying.

Peng!

He crashed heavily onto the wall behind, creating a huge hole behind him.

Pu!

A large mouthful of blood spurted forth.

Even with the Aerial Strike Amulet protecting him and cushioning the blow, Zhang Xuan still ended up suffering severe injuries.

He quickly drove his Heaven’s Path zhenqi to heal his injuries as he turned around to look at the origin of the assault.

There was no one in sight, and the soul of the Bluehorn Dragon Beast was nowhere to be seen either. There was only a withered finger floating in the air.

The attack he had just suffered probably came from this finger.

A single finger actually managed the crush the Aerial Strike Amulet and injure me severely? Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes in astonishment.

He couldn’t sense how powerful the finger was, but to be able to injure him so easily, it was definitely a terrifying existence.

Stabilizing his breathing, Zhang Xuan asked, “Are you the emperor that the Golden Beartiger Beast spoke of?”

“To be able to track me down to here, you do possess some capability!”

A thought from the finger reached his mind, and the language used was the Ancient Beast Language.

Judging from the voice, it seemed to be the Bluehorn Dragon Beast from before.

“To think that the soul of a great Bluehorn Dragon Beast would be living off a finger!” Zhang Xuan remarked coldly in response.

Souls wouldn’t age, but they couldn’t survive by themselves either. Zhang Xuan had been wondering how the Bluehorn Dragon Beast had been able to live through the ages, and looking at it now, it seemed that the other party had only managed to survive for so long by hiding within the finger.

This was similar to how Mo Hunsheng managed to survive in the Nine Hearts Lotus.

As long as a soul could find an excellent container, it could survive for a very long time.

It was for certain that the finger wasn’t just an ordinary finger, but ultimately, it still wasn’t a living body with complete organs. Thus, in order to sustain its life force, it had to absorb the vitality contained within flesh and blood. Perhaps… this was the reason the Bluehorn Dragon Beast had made the latter offer the bodies of master teachers to him as tributes.

Master teachers tended to possess purer zhenqi, which resulted in the vitality within their flesh and blood being far richer than ordinary cultivators. In a sense, they could be considered the ideal tonic for the finger.

Seeing Zhang Xuan exposing its origin so easily, the finger harrumphed coldly. “You do have a pair of sharp eyes. To have such insight at your age, it seems like you aren’t just an ordinary student. You probably aren’t the student of that fellow out there either.”

“Indeed, I am not School Head Mo’s student,” Zhang Xuan replied.

“To be able to tame nine of the ten kings of the Cloudmist Ridge, you are indeed a capable man. You know, I am really glad that you came here… I simply love devouring talented master teachers like you. With you, I should be able to fill the vitality of this finger to the brim once more and live for another fifty years!” The finger chuckled eerily. For a moment, Zhang Xuan felt as if a pair of greedy eyes were staring at him.

“Live for another fifty years?” Zhang Xuan frowned. “What is this finger for it to allow you to escape Senescence Decline?”

Of the Five Soul Declines, the one that had left most soul oracles despairing was the Senescence Decline. The Senescence Decline dictated that as time ticked, even if a soul was protected by a powerful body, its soul energy would still continue to dissipate.

As such, not even soul oracles could live on for an eternity.

Trapped in the Nine Hearts Lotus, Mo Hunsheng had been isolated from the world. But even so, his soul energy still continued to dissipate over the years, and by the time he was released, he possessed less than a tenth of his original cultivation of Transcendent Mortal 9-dan pinnacle.

Yet, this fellow had been able to live for so long just by hiding within a finger… There was truly something eerie about the finger.

“You know about Senescence Decline?” the finger asked in astonishment.

There were many who knew about the existence of soul oracles, but very few had ever heard of the Five Soul Declines. The Five Soul Declines contained the weaknesses of the soul oracles, so they had guarded this secret tightly, unwilling to allow any outsider to learn of it. For this fellow to be aware of it as well, could he be a soul oracle too?

“Of course I do! On top of that, I also know that you have not inherited the heritage of the soul oracles. Even though you are able to survive in the form of a soul, you are just a parasite leeching off the finger, not the possessor of it,” Zhang Xuan responded.

Had the other party not attacked him, he would have been unable to gather any details on the other party via the Library of Heaven’s Path. In a sense, it was fortunate that the other party had assaulted him, allowing him to compile a book and learn more about the enemy he was going to face.

Zhang Xuan’s initial thought had been that the Bluehorn Dragon Beast had inherited the soul oracle heritage, thus allowing him to survive through many eras. However, after taking a look at the book, he realized that he had been mistaken.

The other party had only bound his soul to the finger using a special method, and through consuming the vitality of master teachers via the finger, he was able to sustain his existence. This had nothing to do with the soul arts of the soul oracles at all.

However, to be able to sustain a soul for so long, this finger was definitely no ordinary artifact.

However, it was a pity that the Bluehorn Dragon Beast could only be considered to be in coexistence with the finger, meaning that they were still two separate entities, and the one who had attacked earlier was only the soul, so there was no information reflected on the finger in the Library of Heaven’s Path at all.

Otherwise, he would have just ended it straight with a smack of his book instead of wasting words on the other party.

The finger was astonished for a moment before bursting into a cold chuckle. “I never expected a young lad like you to be able to see through me so easily. Despite your young age, you are rather knowledgeable. However… the more that this is the case, the more I can’t spare you! I might still have thought twice if you hadn’t come into my folded space, but since you are here now, don’t even dream about leaving here alive!”

Weng!

The next moment, an overwhelming aura burst forth from the finger. The illusory Bluehorn Dragon Beast that Zhang Xuan had seen earlier in the cavern swiftly emerged from the finger. Its eyes were filled with killing intent, seemingly determined to devour the young man before it.

“We were still speaking properly a moment ago, so why do you want to eat me all of a sudden? And… do you think that you will be able to succeed?” Seeing that the Bluehorn Dragon Beast was going to make its move, Zhang Xuan grasped the Book of Heaven’s Path in his hands tightly, ready to throw the golden page at any moment.

However, at that moment, Vicious’ voice suddenly sounded. “Leave that fellow to me…”

“Leave him to you?”

Based on what he knew of Vicious, the latter was never one to take on a job actively. Why would he suddenly step up to this task?

Zhang Xuan’s query was answered very soon.

“It’s because… that finger over there is mine!”

Translator’s Thoughts

 StarveCleric

The beasts of Cloudmist Ridge forced Millman to post this chapter slightly early, just to mess with you all.

Meanwhile, Starve is still busily levelling up, getting ready for his final confrontation with the beasts. Make sure to send him your power stones so that he can breakthrough his bottleneck! Time is running out…

**Rate Translation Quality** **********

Chapter 886: I Am Also Vicious

Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97

“Yours?” Zhang Xuan was stunned.

According to what Vicious had told him previously, in the battle against Kong shi back then, he had been completely obliterated except for a droplet of blood, and after several dozen millenniums of rest, the droplet of blood finally grew to become a heart.

In other words, there should be no other parts of Vicious remaining after the battle, so why would its finger suddenly appear out of nowhere?

Aware of the nuances behind Zhang Xuan’s words, Vicious replied, “I’m not too sure what is going on either; I am still missing many parts of my memories. However, I am certain that is my finger! That fellow is making use of my body part!”

As a former powerhouse of the Master Teacher Continent who was capable of reviving himself with just a droplet of blood, even though he had lost most of his memories, he could still recognize his body parts easily.

This finger was originally just the phalanges 1 of a finger, but after the Bluehorn Dragon Beast leeched onto it and devoured the vitality of master teachers, it began to recover its blood and flesh.

“You are intending to snatch it back?” Zhang Xuan asked with a frown.

“Of course!”

Vicious’ heart began beating rapidly, and an overwhelming killing intent immediately surged forth from it, directed toward the finger floating in the air.

“What?”

The Bluehorn Dragon Beast’s soul, who had just left the finger for a moment, immediately felt the killing intent and began trembling in fear. With a piercing scream, it swiftly dived back into the finger while shouting, “Vicious, save me! Save me…”

Hong long!

Another powerful killing intent spilled forth from the finger, clashing with that from the heart.

As the two auras collided, the folded space began shaking intensely, seemingly on the verge of bursting apart under the pressure.

An incredibly powerful voice, which exerted a crushing pressure, sounded from the finger. “Who are you?”

Under the immense pressure, Zhang Xuan was forced to retreat all the way to the corner of the folded space. At this moment, his eyes were widened in astonishment.

He could clearly feel the intent from the finger… and to his shock, it was identical to that of the heart sealed in the Book of Heaven’s Path!

“Who am I? I am Vicious!” the heart declared proudly.

“Nonsense, I am Vicious!” the finger refuted coldly.

“Two Viciouses?” Zhang Xuan blinked blankly.

What was going on?

Even someone as knowledgeable as him was finding it hard to process what was going on.

“Bullsh*t, I am the real Vicious! How can a puny finger like you be Vicious?” the heart roared furiously.

The finger harrumphed coldly. “Back then, Vicious stood at the very top of the world, devoid of fear for even Kong shi. How could he possibly submit to an insignificant master teacher like the lad over there and listen to his commands? Stop soiling my reputation any further! You’d better sit obediently as I devour you, or else I will kill you along with your master!”

“You want to devour me? Hah, let me see if you have the capability to do so!” With a furious roar, the heart leaped forward furiously along with the Book of Heaven’s Path with unbelievable momentum to strike the finger.

Boom!

The finger retaliated with a tap, and a loud explosion sounded.

Suffering grave injuries from the tap, the heart convulsed intensely as it tumbled furiously backward, returning to Zhang Xuan’s hands.

“Zhang shi, hurry up and release the book’s seal on me. Otherwise, we might all die here…” the heart implored.

“What is going on?” Zhang Xuan asked with a frown.

“It could be because I was too powerful when I was still alive, so even a droplet of blood or the phalanges of a finger could form an individual entity in itself. During the time when my main body was still alive, these individual entities could still be managed and even combined into one. However, with the death of my main body, the sentience that sprouted in each individual part viewed itself as the real Vicious, resulting in the current circumstances. In order to fully recover, it seems like we will have to devour one another… but the side that is being devoured will stand to lose his consciousness once and for all!” Vicious hurriedly explained.

“There’s such a matter?” Zhang Xuan widened his eyes in astonishment.

To be able to revive oneself from just a droplet of blood… This was way too overpowered!

“Un. That fellow has devoured innumerable master teachers, and the vitality he has absorbed has made him far stronger than me. Unless you dispel the seal on me, I won’t be a match for him at all,” Vicious hurriedly explained.

“Dispel the seal on you?” Zhang Xuan frowned.

He could indeed release the seal from the Book of Heaven’s Path on him with a single thought, but it would be a huge risk to do so.

No matter what, the other party was an expert who had stood toe-to-toe against Kong shi at one point in his life. It was only due to the prowess of the Book of Heaven’s Path that the other party was obeying his orders, and if he were to release the seal, the other party could very well disobey his orders and even turn against him.

Feeling a burst of confidence after successfully overpowering the heart in the direct clash earlier, the finger sneered coldly, “Hah, with powers like yours, you still dare to vie with me? Die!”

Otherworldly Demons could grow by devouring humans, and master teachers could be considered an ideal tonic to them. Even though the Heart Vicious was able to make a substantial recovery using the spiritual energy in the underground chamber, it couldn’t be compared with the Phalanges Vicious, who had recuperated by devouring innumerable master teachers over the years.

More importantly, the finger could be considered one of the more flexible and active portion of a body, so it wielded might superior to the heart.

Hong long!

The finger gathered its might and charged at the heart once more. Overwhelming killing intent gushed over like a sharp sword, threatening to pierce through all that stood in its path.

Feeling the immense power of the finger, the heart panicked and quickly urged Zhang Xuan, “Hurry up and dispel the seal!”

“There is no need for that. It’ll suffice as long as I seal that fellow as well,” Zhang Xuan said.

Releasing the seal on Vicious simply wasn’t an option.

If he were to release the other party, that would be no different from leaving his life in the hands of the other party.

And to leave one’s life in the hands of an Otherworldly Demon was sheer foolishness.

Since that wasn’t an option, he would just have to seal the finger as well. At the very most, it would just get a little noisier as the two Viciouses wrestled with one another in the book.

Having made up his mind, Zhang Xuan was just about to call upon the golden page when a thought suddenly flashed across his mind.

Since he had the power to release the seal on the heart, was it possible for him to put the finger in as well?

If that was the case, he wouldn’t have to waste an additional golden page.

The golden page was his ultimate trump card, so it was best to save as many of them as he could.

“Go!” Zhang Xuan immediately put his theory to the test.

With a thought, the Book of Heaven’s Path, in which the heart was sealed, immediately flew straight for the incoming finger.

Hu la!

The finger, which was just on its path to slaughter the heart, suddenly felt an oppressive power shrouding it, which froze the finger on the spot.

“What is this…” the finger exclaimed in shock.

It struggled furiously in an attempt to escape, but as if pinned down by a mountain, it found itself unable to move at all.

The book before it seemed to harness the laws of the world, forming an unbreakable cage.

“Haha, didn’t you just mock me a moment ago? Let’s see how you are going to escape from this!” Seeing the finger getting suppressed by the book as well, just as he had been back then, the heart couldn’t help but burst into hearty laughter.

The other party had just claimed that he was a fake and that the Vicious who had dared to fight against Kong shi couldn’t possibly submit to a Transcendent Mortal 9-dan student. But with this, the other party should understand that it wasn’t only him… Even if the real Vicious was standing before this, he would have to kneel down as well!

This trump card of Zhang shi’s was simply that fearsome!

There was nothing higher than the heavens in this world. No matter how much power or authority one held, even if one was unmatched by any other being in the world, it was all futile!

No matter how much power one accrued, could one still be stronger than the heavens?

And as long as one continued to exist beneath the heavens, one would have no choice but to bow before it!

“NO!” Hearing the other party’s mocking, the finger was horrified.

Kacha!

Amidst the finger’s piercing screams, the book abruptly closed, sealing the finger within it.

That finger had devoured innumerable master teachers, granting him power considerably greater than the heart. Nevertheless, it was still nothing more than a hatchling before the Book of Heaven’s Path.

Hu!

Seeing that it had worked, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief. With a slight grab, the Book of Heaven’s Path returned to his palm. He flipped it open swiftly and saw the finger and heart sealed alongside one another.

Previously, the heart had only taken up half of the page, and with the addition of the finger, the entire page was filled up.

This likely meant that this page was already full, and it couldn’t contain anything else anymore.

“I am the real one; you are the fake!”

“No, I am the real one; you are the fake!”

The heart on the upper half and the finger on the lower half glared at one another viciously as they bellowed in fury.

Until now, the finger still could hardly believe what had just happened to it.

As the phalanges of the great Vicious, who had faced Kong shi head on back then, even if a Saint realm 9-dan expert was here, it would still have some means up its sleeves to escape safely. Yet, in this instant, it was trapped within this ancient book.

It howled angrily and struggled with all its might, but it found itself unable to break free. “Where is this place?”

This book seemed to harness the will of the heavens, a lofty power that gazed coldly on all existences beneath, eradicating all who dared stand in its way.

Putting aside him, any existences that lived beneath the heavens, no matter how powerful, had to bow down to it.

The heart harrumphed. “Don’t bother with that futile struggling. Just let me devour you and end it once and for all!”

“Let you devour me? Dream on! It is your fate to be devoured by me… and that lad as well, I will kill him as soon as I find a way to get out! All of you shall die by my hand. There is no one who has dared offend me, Vicious, and ever met a good end…” the finger cried furiously.

But before it could finish its words, a finger suddenly flicked lightly on it, harnessing a surge of pure zhenqi.

Peng!

Before it could even react, it was already tumbling furiously within the page. Struck by the pure surge of zhenqi, it found itself unable to catch its breath.

It was as if that surge of zhenqi was its nemesis, capable of subduing it easily.

“Shut up!” Zhang Xuan frowned.

Even if you still carry the consciousness from your previous self and think that you are Vicious, in here, you are nothing more than a simple image. Learn your place and keep your mouth shut!

“You dare to flick me? Do you know who I am…”

The finger was exactly like how the heart had been when it first arrived, indignant and incomparably arrogant.

It thought that it was still the great emperor of the Otherworldly Demons, which even Kong shi himself had feared.

Peng!

But before it could finish speaking, another flick struck it.

There was only one way to make that fellow submit, and it was to pummel him!

Sealed in the Book of Heaven’s Path, even if the other party was the peerless monarch of the world, the other party’s life and death would still be grasped in his hands.

Peng peng peng!

Under consecutive flicks, the finger in the book nearly lost its life.

“You…” Howling furiously, the finger finally realized its current standing and dared not speak arrogantly anymore.

Finally, after seeing that he had finally managed to stamp out the other party’s arrogance, Zhang Xuan began his interrogation.

“Who are you? What is with the Bluehorn Dragon Beast? Why do you have two consciousness within you? Explain yourself well, or else… Vicious, I will make you know what true viciousness is!”

Whether you are Vicious or not, at the moment, you are nothing to me. If you dare cross me again, I will make you regret ever being born in this world!

1: phalanges -The bones of a finger or toe.

Chapter 887: The Wealth of the Golden Beartiger Beast

Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97

“I…”

Knowing that it was helpless before the other party as long as it was trapped within this book, the finger finally abandoned its pride and spoke. “I am the phalanges of a finger of Vicious, and it is only after several dozen millenniums of sleep that I finally gained my own consciousness. The Bluehorn Dragon Beast was the emperor of the Cloudmist Ridge, and in order to hasten my awakening, I bound his soul to me and had him work under me…”

Soon, it went through the entire story.

It wasn’t too far from what Zhang Xuan had guessed previously.

No one could tell for sure what had happened in the battle between Vicious and Kong shi back then, but one thing for sure was that the phalanges of a finger of his had been left behind somehow.

Vicious had already reached the level of being able to revive from just a droplet of blood, so even though his phalanges had suffered severe damage, resulting in a lengthy sleep of several dozen millenniums, it still managed to regain consciousness.

Afterwards, by some stroke of luck, it was found by the emperor of the Cloudmist Ridge.

In order to quickly recover, it used a unique method it possessed to bind the other party’s soul to him and made use of it to lord over the saint beasts of the Cloudmist Ridge.

In exchange for replenishing the Earth Vein Spirit Essence in the cavern, the saint beasts would capture master teachers to feed it.

Naturally, with its incredible means, it was able to raise the cultivation of the Golden Beartiger Beast easily as well. However, one thing that was not within its calculations was that Zhang Xuan would possess such a powerful artifact, and it was this that resulted in its current plight.

As for the matter regarding Wu Yangzi… around two thousand years ago, a few Otherworldly Demons had visited the Cloudmist Ridge to request their assistance.

At that moment, Vicious had fallen into a short moment of hibernation after consuming several master teachers, which placed the Bluehorn Dragon Beast in charge for that period of time. Learning of the motive of those Otherworldly Demons, it had sent a few saint beasts to assist them in kidnapping Wu Yangzi.

The Bluehorn Dragon Beast was only an incomplete soul, but after spending innumerable years with Vicious’ consciousness, it had learned of quite a number of its secrets. While Vicious was unconscious, it had secretly told the Otherworldly Demons about the existence of the droplet of blood… Eventually, those Otherworldly Demons successfully retrieved the heart and brought it back to the underground chamber. It was under their nourishment that the heart eventually regained consciousness.

Thus, it could be said that this finger was the reason the heart was able to regain its consciousness.

After asking everything that should be asked, Zhang Xuan still had some matters that he hadn’t figured out. But just as he was thinking about them deeply, a voice suddenly sounded by his ear.

“Zhang shi, allow me to devour this fellow. I should be able to recover a fair bit of my strength with this…”

It was from the heart.

“You want to devour it?”

“That’s right. Based on my deduction, it seems that even though Vicious was destroyed in the battle back then, he has left quite a few hands. Most likely, there are quite a few of us out there that possess consciousness as well. Even if I absorb spiritual energy for another hundred thousand years, I still won’t be able to return to my peak… The only way to do so quickly is to find my other body parts and devour them!” the heart said.

“As long as I devour a sufficient number of them, even if I can’t return to my peak, I wouldn’t be too far away from it!”

“I see.” Zhang Xuan nodded.

When he saw the finger claiming that it was Vicious as well, he had already deduced this much.

There was a famous, albeit brutal, way to groom an expert within an organization. It was to gather a huge bunch of men and have them face off against one another, and the final one standing would be strongest of them all.

Vicious knew that there was a high chance that he could lose his life fighting against Kong shi, so he had used some secret art to preserve his heart, finger, and perhaps a few more body parts so that he could still survive if a mishap occurred. However, in order to regain his former strength, his body parts would have to devour one another, and the final consciousness standing would become the real Vicious.

“As long as you pledge loyalty to me, not only will I give you this finger to devour, I can even help you find the other parts of Vicious so that you can regain your strength,” Zhang Xuan said calmly.

To him, it mattered not who became the final Vicious as long as the other party was loyal to him.

The heart had followed him for quite some time, and they had gone through quite a few ordeals together. Thus, it was the closest to him, so the probability to successfully tame it was the highest at the moment.

As for the finger… considering that it had brutally slaughtered so many master teachers and devoured their flesh and blood, Zhang Xuan was reluctant to have it serve as his subordinate even if he could tame it.

“Pledge loyalty?” The heart fell silent.

Even though it was powerless after getting trapped in the book, its consciousness was still one of the domineering Vicious who had fought head-on against Kong shi. As such, it was difficult for it to lower its pride and pledge loyalty to another.

“That’s right.” Placing his hands behind his back, Zhang Xuan waited patiently for the other party to make his decision.

Possessing the Library of Heaven’s Path, it was only a matter of time before he reached the top of the world. In his view, Vicious’ loyalty could only be considered icing on the cake. With or without it, he would still be able to forge a path ahead.

After a moment of silence, the heart finally gave the word. “Fine, I agree.”

The capabilities and means that the young man had displayed thus far could even leave the legendary 9-star master teachers astounded.

Perhaps, the other party might really be able to bring it to greater heights, and perhaps… surpass even Kong shi!

Agree, and there would be a chance that it could make a full recovery and even reach greater heights. Reject, and it would be trapped in the book forever, never to make a comeback. Which was the correct choice? It didn’t take a genius to figure that out.

Seeing that he had the other party’s agreement, Zhang Xuan said, “Offer your soul then!”

The other party’s betrayal wasn’t a risk he could afford to take, and a couple of words and promises held no weight at all.

Only with the other party’s soul held hostage in his hands would he be able to put his unconditional trust in the other party.

“Yes.”

Without any hesitation, the heart sent a fragment of its soul into Zhang Xuan’s glabella, entering his consciousness.

Feeling the soul fragment, Zhang Xuan nodded in satisfaction.

Previously, he was only able to make Vicious obey his commands through the prowess of the Book of Heaven’s Path. However, after the soul offering, he now possessed absolute control over the other party, similar to a tamed beast. The other party had no choice but to obey his commands unconditionally.

“Master!”

Offering one’s soul was equivalent to acknowledging the other party as one’s master; the heart put aside its pride and lowered its posture.

Zhang Xuan waved his hands. “Call me young master instead.”

“Yes, Young Master!” the heart responded.

“With your current strength, will you be able to devour him? Do you need my help?”

“Young Master, my strength is currently beneath his, so it will be extremely difficult for me to succeed. However, if you can lend me Kong shi’s writing to use, I am confident that I should be able to overpower him!” the heart said.

“You want to borrow Kong shi’s writing?” Zhang Xuan frowned.

It hadn’t been easy for him to obtain Kong shi’s personal handwriting, and his heart had nearly bled dry when he realized that Vicious had devoured a third of it the previous time that he helped his clone act as Yang Xuan. To think that he would still dare think of devouring more of it…

“Young Master, Otherworldly Demons grow by consuming humans, and that finger has devoured many master teachers over the years. As such, its strength and spirit are far stronger than mine. Without Kong shi’s writing, I fear that I won’t be an opponent for it, and I might even end up being the one devoured instead!” the heart said.

“… Alright then. Here is the remaining two-thirds of Kong shi’s writing. Tell me, how much do you need to successfully devour that finger?” Zhang Xuan asked with a deep frown.

“That… I am not too sure either!” the heart said hesitantly.

After a moment of contemplation, Zhang Xuan sighed deeply and said, “Fine, I will help you weaken that finger first before you make a move. That should save a bit of Kong shi’s writing…”

He might not be a match for the finger outside, but within the Book of Heaven’s Path, his Heaven’s Path zhenqi was a lethal weapon.

Having come to a decision, Zhang Xuan began infusing his zhenqi into the book.

“AHHHHH…”

Under the assault of the zhenqi, the finger began rolling around the place as a shrill scream echoed from its consciousness. It took a while before the voice began to die down.

Watching this sight, the heart couldn’t help but convulse slightly. Nevertheless, knowing that this was a chance for it to strike, it rushed forward and sent a surge of killing intent toward the finger, attempting to subdue it.

…

Sometime later, the movements of the finger finally came to a complete halt. Abandoning its previous arrogant attitude, it lay humbly in the book.

…

“Young Master!”

After an inestimable length of time, a voice sounded from the consciousness in the finger.

The heart had successfully devoured the ‘Vicious’ within the finger and assimilated it into a part of it.

“Young Master, the clash with that fellow’s will while devouring it has depleted my spirit. I need to rest for a moment… I have already wiped away the consciousness in the soul of the Bluehorn Dragon Beast, so you should be able to absorb it to nourish your soul,” Vicious said.

Following which, he felt a surge of soul energy leaving the book.

Sensing the incredible purity of the soul, Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up.

Even though the emperor of the Cloudmist Ridge was only an incomplete soul, it wielded power comparable to a Saint realm 5-dan. If he could absorb the energy in the soul and assimilate it into his own, his soul cultivation could rise significantly.

However, this wasn’t the time to do so yet. The battle against the Cloudmist Ridge had just ended, and there were many other things that he still had to attend to.

Taking Kong shi’s scroll back from Vicious, Zhang Xuan took a look at it and saw yet another thousand words had disappeared from it, meaning only a third of the original writing remained. His eyelids began twitching furiously, but a moment later, he sighed deeply and stowed it into his storage ring.

Any other master teacher who obtained Kong shi’s writing would worship it as if it was their ancestor. He was probably the only one who trampled on it in such a manner.

After returning to the cavern, Zhang Xuan instructed the Myriad Anthive Queen to devour the folded space.

With the Bluehorn Emperor Beast, the culprit behind the deaths of countless master teachers, destroyed, the Cloudmist Ridge would no longer pose a threat anymore. The deceased master teachers who had died under its tyranny should also be able to rest in peace now.

As the folded space wasn’t too large, and the Myriad Anthive Queen’s cultivation was also significantly higher than before, it only took an hour this time for it to devour it completely.

After which, he returned the Myriad Anthive Queen to the nest before heading out.

When he finally returned to the area where the Earth Vein Spirit Essence was stored, he saw the Golden Beartiger Beast lying flat like a pancake on the ground, deader than ever.

Upon noticing him, the Golden Origin Cauldron immediately rushed over to greet him.

“Master, I have killed this fellow for you, and he had quite a few good things with him…” With a fawning smile, it took out a storage ring and passed it over to Zhang Xuan.

“Storage ring?” Zhang Xuan frowned for a moment before he suddenly recalled something.

While spirit beasts were unable to access storage rings, saint beasts could. As the oldest king of the Cloudmist Ridge, the Golden Beartiger Beast had at least lived for a thousand year now. Over the years, it had killed many experts and collected their possessions as spoils of war, so it should have considerable wealth in its ring.

Zhang Xuan hadn’t really thought of that earlier, but it seemed like his loyal Ding Ding had already helped him settle this matter.

The seal on a storage ring would be erased upon the death of its master, so Zhang Xuan was able to easily claim possession of it using a droplet of blood. Immersing his consciousness into the ring, he took a peek at what was within.

The area inside was far larger than his current storage ring, spanning a diameter of several hundred meters. There were all kinds of treasures stacked up into towering piles all around, and just the number of middle-tier spirit stones in itself numbered in the tens of millions.

There were also around several hundred high-tier spirit stones placed together as well.

Besides that, there were also valuable medicinal herbs, high-grade pills, and rare ores of all sorts scattered all around the place in unimaginable quantities

As for weapons, there were several hundreds of them, of which, around forty were at Spirit pinnacle, and three of them were even at Half-Saint!

“Incredible!” Zhang Xuan was rendered speechless by the grandeur before him.

Ever since his transcension to this world, he had worked diligently to earn money, not willing to spare even a single gold coin in his path. He had thought that with his hard work, he had already accumulated quite a large fortune for himself, but compared to this king of the Cloudmist Ridge, what he had was truly nothing in comparison.

But thinking about it… the Cloudmist Ridge had kidnapped Elder Wu Yangzi back then, so it must have taken quite a bit of treasure from the latter too. Just that in itself was sufficient to make it filthy rich.

It had been two thousand years, so the Golden Beartiger Beast might not have even been born back then, but as the spokesperson of the Bluehorn Dragon Beast, it should have inherited most of the accumulated wealth of the Cloudmist Ridge.

Chapter 888: Sinned!

Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97

That was only a small portion of the storage ring. What had particularly caught Zhang Xuan’s eye was the incredible pile of saint beast inner cores by the side.

Saint beasts might enjoy a longer lifespan than humans, but death ultimately came to all. Accumulated over several millenniums, the number of saint beast inner cores in the storage ring had reached an unbelievable number—there were several hundred of them!

Every single one of these inner cores was incredibly valuable and could be sold at an astronomical price.

After looking through all of the treasures within the storage ring, Zhang Xuan was completely dumbstruck.

Compared to the Golden Beartiger Beast, he felt like a beggar flaunting a coin in his bowl before a tycoon

Delighted, Zhang Xuan turned to the Golden Origin Cauldron and said, “You have done well getting this for me! How do you wish to be rewarded?”

With so many treasures in the storage ring, it was very likely that the Golden Beartiger Beast had hidden it somewhere discreet so that no one else could get to it. If the Golden Origin Cauldron had not gotten it out of the Golden Beartiger Beast, he might have just missed it.

Despite Ding Ding’s occasional silly behavior, it seemed like it was still reliable in crucial moments like this!

“Hehe, it will suffice as long as Master doesn’t forget to raise my strength,” the Golden Origin Cauldron said.

“Don’t worry!” Zhang Xuan nodded.

Currently, the Golden Origin Cauldron was only a Saint low-tier artifact. As long as Zhang Xuan raised his smithing capability further, he would be able to help raise its tier.

It was also due to this promise that the Golden Origin Cauldron had willingly submitted to Zhang Xuan back then. Otherwise, as the proud Guardian Saint Artifact of the academy, it couldn’t possibly have acknowledged anyone as its master so easily!

Threat might force another to submit, but it would only eventually breed acrimony and result in betrayal. It took a combination of both the carrot and the stick in order to instill true loyalty.

After leaving the cavern with the Golden Origin Cauldron, Zhang Xuan was welcomed by the Scarlet Blaze Lion, Tigerhead Beast, and the other kings.

“How is it?” Zhang Xuan asked.

“Master, all of the spirit beasts that were fighting have been pulled back, and they are currently waiting for you at the foot of the mountain!” the Scarlet Blaze Beast hurriedly said.

After everything they had gone through, they no longer dared harbor any second thoughts regarding their loyalty to the young man before them.

“Let’s head over.” Zhang Xuan nodded as he began making his way to the foot of the mountain.

They soon saw thousands of spirit beasts of the Cloudmist Ridge gathered orderly at the foot of the mountain. As Zhang Xuan appeared before their eyes, a commotion broke out amid them; each and every one of them widened their eyes in astonishment.

They were in the midst of fighting against the Master Teacher Academy when they were suddenly brought here. They had no idea what exactly had happened, and why the kings would choose to negotiate with the humans.

Stepping forward, Zhang Xuan began speaking without any hesitation.

“The growth of a beast is reliant not only on absorbing the essence of the world and spiritual energy, but to emulate the behavior of humans and cultivate…”

…

Around the time that Zhang Xuan arrived at the foot of the Cloudmist Ridge, School Head Mo also arrived at Leiyuan Peak.

It had been almost four hours since the duo went to the Cloudmist Ridge to negotiate, and Zhao Bingxu had already gathered all of the students along with Mu shi and the other school heads in preparation to fight a bitter war.

When they saw School Head Mo return alone, without the principal by his side, their complexion turned incredibly awful.

Zhao Bingxu immediately rushed forward, grabbed School Head Mo, and asked him in agitation, “Where is the principal? How is he?”

“Mo Zhu, how can you allow the principal to face such danger alone? If something happens to him, how do you intend to face the teachers and students of the Master Teacher Academy?” Wei Ranxue glared at School Head Mo so coldly that it felt that the latter would freeze on the spot.

When Zhao Bingxu returned and informed them that their principal had gone to the Cloudmist Ridge to negotiate in order to stop the war and reduce their casualties, all of them nearly had died of shock.

What kind of place was the Cloudmist Ridge?

It was a land dominated by spirit beasts and saint beasts, and nearly all cultivators who dared to tread those lands were never heard from again. It wasn’t easy for them to find a new principal to lead their academy to greater heights, and if they were to lose their principal over this matter, they would be the sinners of history, and no amount of time would wash away their sin.

“I…” A bitter smile filled with helplessness emerged on School Head Mo’s face.

Even if I really had tried to stop the principal, do you think that I would have been able to stop him?

“Enough! This isn’t the time to be talking about this. How is Senior Uncle doing, and what is the current situation on the Cloudmist Ridge?” Mu shi interjected sharply. “I heard that the Ten Indomitable Kings of the Cloudmist Ridge are all vicious beings who are filled with hostility for humans. You probably met with a lot of trouble negotiating with them, right?”

The others also quickly turned to School Head Mo, waiting intently for him to respond.

“Trouble? …” School Head Mo had no idea where he should start from.

There was indeed a lot of trouble, but they weren’t the ones who faced trouble.

After spending some time organizing his thoughts, School Head Mo began speaking.

“The Ten Indomitable Kings demanded that the negotiation be conducted in a certain cavern, and we headed over and began discussing how we should resolve the conflict. In the midst of that, our principal… headed out for a moment, and when he finally returned, out of the Ten Indomitable Kings… nine had become his tamed beast! And the three thousand aerial spirit beasts, too, had acknowledged him as their master! In other words, other than the spirit beasts who had battled with the students earlier, all of the Half-Saint, Nascent Saint, and Saint realm beasts on the Cloudmist Ridge have all become our principal’s tamed beasts…”

Before School Head Mo could finish his words, he noticed a bizarre silence hanging in the air. Perplexed, he raised his head to take a look, only to see all of the school heads and Mu shi staring at him with slackened jaws and bulging eyes, as if the limits of their rationality had been challenged.

Seeing their expressions, School Head Mo wasn’t surprised in the least. There was no one in the world who wouldn’t react in this way after hearing such news.

To head to a negotiation and end up taming all of the enemy’s forces…

Who could have imagined that?

Negotiation? More like a seizure of property!

Did it really have to be so exaggerated?

“That is everything that happened…” Looking at the looks of disbelief of those around him, School Head Mo could only shrug helplessly.

To be honest, if he hadn’t been there to witness it himself, even he would never have believed such a story.

Ever since the establishment of the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy, the beasts of the Cloudmist Ridge had been a huge threat. Many of the previous principals had attempted to do something about it, but their efforts had been futile.

Yet, the principal of the current generation, despite being yet to be inaugurated, had already completely overturned the other party’s nest!

On top of that, not only did he snap the threat from its very roots, he had even tamed all of the saint beasts, which would bolster the forces of the Master Teacher Academy significantly!

With this additional force, perhaps the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy could be pushed up a single ranking among the Four Great Academies of Qingyuan Empire.

With his head still spinning from having heard such an unbelievable epic, Zhao Bingxu asked, “Where is the principal now?”

“He had me return to organize the students while he deals with some miscellaneous affairs. He is probably still at the Cloudmist Ridge at the moment,” School Head Mo replied.

“Zhong Dingchun, have your students take the wounded to your Physician School for treatment. Xu Changqing, get the students of your Martial Arts School to remain on guard in case a battle occurs. As for the other school heads, follow me to the Cloudmist Ridge!” Knowing that his Senior Uncle was still in the Cloudmist Ridge, Mu shi swiftly made arrangements.

Naturally, the responsibility for treating the wounded students would fall on the Physician School. And even though School Head Mo had said that the problem was resolved, the situation wasn’t entirely clear yet, so the Master Teacher Academy still had to keep its guard up in case an accident occurred. Of the ten schools, the Martial Arts School boasted the greatest fighting power, so they were left to stand on guard.

“Yes!” Zhong Dingchun and Xu Changqing nodded before rushing off to make preparations.

“Let’s go!” Mu shi nodded before rushing over to the Cloudmist Ridge with the other school heads.

…

“Look, what is that?”

Before they even reached their destination, they suddenly noticed innumerable spirit beasts gathered at the foot of the mountain with their bodies lying on the floor. Their eyes were gleaming in gratitude and respect, a vast contrast from the savagery and viciousness when they were battling before.

At the very forefront of the army of spirit beasts was a young man standing on the back of one of the Saint realm kings. His nonchalant voice echoed resoundingly, drawing in an overwhelming amount of zhenqi into the surroundings that it created an illusion of lotus flowers falling from the sky. Listening to the words of that young man, the spirit beasts seemed to fall into a trance.

This was the ability that only 5-star master teachers possessed, Spirit Gathering Diction!

“This is… a lecture for the spirit beasts?”

The arriving master teachers were stunned.

They had seen master teachers conducting lectures for their peers, students, and fellow cultivators, but this was the very first time they had seen anyone lecture spirit beasts.

And more importantly, every single one of the countless spirit beasts in the area was listening intently to each word that was spoken, and some of them were even using their snouts or paws to make notes on the ground.

In the midst of their shock, Zhang Xuan’s voice suddenly sounded.

“… Alright, I will end the lecture here. You are dismissed!”

Roar!

Roar!

But despite Zhang Xuan’s words, the spirit beasts didn’t scatter. Instead, they raised their heads and roared in unison, the sheer volume of which shook even the clouds in the sky. After which, they rose from the ground, and a droplet of blood floated out of each of their glabellae and toward Zhang Xuan.

“The heck…”

Watching a wave of fresh blood rushing toward him, threatening to drown him within it, Zhang Xuan’s knee weakened, and he nearly collapsed on the spot.

I was just conducting a casual lecture for you all; no one is asking you to acknowledge me as your master…

Besides, even if you all want to acknowledge me as your master, there is no need for you to do it together, right? A droplet of blood from nearly a hundred thousand spirit beasts… That is probably enough to fill even a swimming pool!

Zhang Xuan fell into a frenzy, but Mu shi and the others nearly lost their minds.

It seemed like their principal didn’t intend to stop with just taming the Ten Indomitable Kings… His aim was all of the spirit beasts in the Cloudmist Ridge!

A hundred thousand spirit beasts… With such a force, their principal could overrun even a Tier-1 Empire like Hongyuan Empire with a single word!

“To make so many spirit beasts acknowledge him as their master and resolve such a huge threat for Hongyuan Empire… T-this… there is no way to calculate his contribution at all! I must report this to the Beast Hall!” School Head Mo muttered with quivering lips.

To make all of the spirit beasts of the Cloudmist Ridge acknowledge him as their master with a single lecture, there was no one who had achieved such a feat before him, and it was likely that no one else would after him… The contribution from doing so was immeasurable!

On top of that, the other party had also tamed the Ten Indomitable Kings and many Nascent Saint and Half-Saint beasts as well…

If Zhang Xuan was only an ordinary 7-star beast tamer with no contribution to the Beast Hall before, at this very moment, he could be considered a hero of the Beast Hall!

He couldn’t help but remember the saying, ‘Silent in rest, devastating in action’. This sure was applicable to Zhang Xuan at that moment!

In the midst of his shock, School Head Mo didn’t forget to heave a sigh of relief too. It’s fortunate that I had the foresight to apply for the 7-star beast tamer emblem for him earlier on so that he need not take the examination. Otherwise, I can hardly imagine what the state of the Beast Tamer School would be in now…

After seeing the tragic states that the Blacksmith School, Physician School, and Apothecary School were in after a visit from their principal, School Head Mo deeply feared that the other party would come to take their beast tamer examination as well, so he took the initiative to apply for it in advance. From the looks of it, it was probably the wisest decision he had ever made in his life.

Otherwise, if all of the spirit beasts and saint beasts in the Beast Tamer School were to take him as their master as well, there would definitely be a huge riot among the students!

“Let’s go over…” Suppressing his shock, Mu shi raised his trembling hands and gestured for everyone to head over to Zhang Xuan’s side.

But moving over, they found themselves faced with a tearful young man.

The crowd hurriedly clasped their fists and greeted him. “Paying respect to Principal Zhang!”

As if meeting his savior, Zhang Xuan hurriedly rushed over and pleaded with reddened eyes. “You are here… Have these spirit beasts gone insane? Why are they so insistent on taking me as their master? School Head Mo, you are the head of the Beast Tamer School… Do you have any idea how one can halt the acknowledgement ceremony?”

He had really only come here to conduct a lecture; he had no intentions of becoming their master! None at all!

“Halt the acknowledgement ceremony? I fear that there is no way to do so…” School Head Mo shook his head.

It was extremely difficult to tame even one of these spirit beasts, and their principal had managed to tame all of them. Yet, he still had such an expression on his face… Principal Zhang, do you know that you are drawing a lot of hostility from beast tamers around the world?

On the other hand, upon hearing that there was no way to undo the acknowledgement ceremony, a look of helplessness and despair surfaced on Zhang Xuan. A mouthful of blood spurted from his mouth, and he couldn’t help but exclaim in agony.

“I have sinned!”

Chapter 889: Wei Ruyan’s Awakening

Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97

Zhang Xuan had truly dug his own grave this time around. Taming a few saint beasts could give him a few more cards to play in times of crisis, but so many saint beasts… There was truly no need for that.

But these fellows were insistent on taking him as their master, and none were willing to back down at all. If he were to turn them down, it could possibly result in an upheaval. It would be foolish to undo all of the effort that had gone into calming down the Cloudmist Ridge.

In other words… he had no choice but to accept all of the spirit beasts.

Indignant! Very indignant!

What in the world is this?

Putting everything aside, just taking in the souls of so many spirit beasts would put a huge burden on him. If not for Zhang Xuan’s unbelievably powerful soul, he would have long lost his sense of self and gone insane!

But even so, he still suffered severe vertigo from having to take in so many souls, and his eyes turned bloodshot.

Tears streamed down his face endlessly, and he found himself choked by agitation.

I only came with the sole intention of conducting a lecture for you; I really had no intention to tame any of you at all…

Please, spare me…

…

After around twelve hours of effort, Zhang Xuan finally managed to take in all of the offered souls from the spirit beasts.

By the end of it, he was feeling so fatigued that he could faint any minute.

But still, he knew that this wasn’t the time to rest yet. It had been a day since Wei Ruyan’s soul was placed into the Bodhi Saint Tree to be nurtured, and she should be waking up soon. He had to take a look at her condition.

Otherwise, if the Bodhi Saint Tree were to succumb to Wei Ruyan’s unique constitution due to extended exposure to it, his efforts could end in futility once again.

The Innate Soul Constitution was simply too powerful. Even Zhang Xuan didn’t dare to underestimate its prowess.

Thus, leaving the Cloudmist Ridge, Zhang Xuan rushed all the way to the royal palace.

It was already late at night, but with all of the commotion in the Cloudmist Ridge, Yu Shenqing was in no mood to rest at all. Thus, upon hearing that Zhang Xuan had arrived, he rushed out to welcome him.

“Has anything peculiar happened to the Bodhi Saint Tree?” Zhang Xuan asked.

“Nothing that I can think of…” Yu Shenqing was confused by Zhang Xuan’s abrupt question.

“Let’s head over there to take a look.”

Without explaining himself, Zhang Xuan hurried over to the residence where the Bodhi Saint Tree was located under Yu Shenqing’s lead.

Soon, in the residence, he finally saw a lush Bodhi Saint Tree that didn’t show any signs of being poisoned, and he heaved a long sigh of relief.

“Zhang shi, I will be taking my leave now. If you have anything that you require my help on, feel free to let my men know.” Knowing that Zhang Xuan was going to settle a private matter, Yu Shenqing clasped his fist and bade farewell.

After Yu Shenqing’s departure, Zhang Xuan double checked that there was no one in the vicinity of the residence before drawing out his soul to take a look at the Bodhi Saint Tree.

Under the nourishment of the Bodhi Saint Tree, Wei Ruyan’s soul had already grown significantly stronger. Nodding in satisfaction, Zhang Xuan drew her soul out of the tree before gently placing it back into her body. After which, he used his soul energy to facilitate the fusion process between her body and soul.

It was no easy feat to fuse a separated soul and body together, but it was fortunate that Zhang Xuan cultivated the Heaven’s Path Soul Art. This granted his soul a unique property that allowed him to possess the body of another without suffering any significant rejection… Nevertheless, it still took around an hour before he managed to fuse Wei Ruyan’s body and soul together perfectly.

After doing all of that, Zhang Xuan tapped his finger on the other party’s glabella and said, “Wake up!”

Weng!

A crisp buzz sounded, and Wei Ruyan began to open her eyes slowly.

It must be said that despite her many years of sickness, Wei Ruyan was still an incredible beauty on par with Wang Ying. What particularly caught Zhang Xuan’s attention were her eyes. Perhaps it was because she had never witnessed the evils in the world; her eyes were extremely bright and clear, reflecting the innocence of an infant.

“You are…”

Upon seeing the young man before her, a perplexed look surfaced on Wei Ruyan’s face.

She had been asleep all along, so this was the very first time she had met the benefactor who had saved her life.

“I am Zhang Xuan, a master teacher. I have managed to successfully cure the affliction you are suffering from, so you need not live a life filled with pain and suffering anymore.” Zhang Xuan nodded.

“My affliction has been cured?” Wei Ruyan could hardly believe what she was hearing.

For as long as she could remember, she had always been plagued by an affliction. Her father had taken her to many physicians and master teachers, and she had tried all kinds of treatments in the world, but nothing seemed to work. In the depths of her heart, she had already given up long ago.

When she fainted the previous time, she had thought that she would never come to again. Yet, she found herself opening her eyes to this world once more, and a man even told her that she was cured of her affliction. This was… She dared not believe what she was hearing to be true.

Seeing through her thoughts, Zhang Xuan smiled gently and said, “Try standing up.”

“Stand up?”

Confused, Wei Ruyan pressed her palm softly against the ground to prop herself up, but to her astonishment, her body flew seven meters into the air instead, causing her to nearly crash head-on into a nearby tree.

“Ahhh!”

She screamed in fright as she fell back down, waiting in apprehension for the onset of pain the moment she crashed back onto the ground. However, her flailing arms, in a moment of panic, ended up creating a strong wind beneath her instead, which gently placed her back to the ground.

“T-this…” Wei Ruyan widened her eyes in shock, dumbstruck by the changes in her body.

Due to her affliction, despite her father being a Saint realm expert, she had never cultivated for a single day in her life.

But… to be able to fly into the air with a light push and land softly just by flailing her arms, it was clear that she possessed strength beyond that an ordinary mortal…

What was happening?

Seeing the look of confusion on the other party’s face, Zhang Xuan explained with a smile, “You have consumed many precious medicinal herbs over the years, and even though they didn’t do your affliction any good, their medicinal properties are starting to work their magic now that your body has recovered. At the moment, you already possess strength comparable to a Chrysalis realm pinnacle cultivator!”

In order to save his daughter, Wei Changfeng had fed her all kinds of precious medicinal herbs, and on top of that, Wei Ruyan had also consumed the nearly grade-8 Grand Intermittence Pill just some time ago. As a result, despite having never cultivated for a single day in her life, her body still harnessed immense power comparable to a Chrysalis realm expert!

If one were to take into consideration her double unique constitutions as well, she was definitely on par with an average Half-Saint!

However, having never cultivated any cultivation technique or battle technique in her life, she didn’t know how to utilize her newfound strength.

“Chrysalis realm pinnacle?” Wei Ruyan was stunned.

Suffering from such a severe affliction from a very young age, the greatest wish she had was to be granted an ordinary life. She had never dared hope that she would be able to cultivate and harness such great strength.

But now… everything suddenly came to her at once!

“Zhang shi, thank you for saving my life!” Knowing that it was the young man before her who had granted her this second life, Wei Ruyan kneeled to the floor without any hesitation.

“Please rise!” Zhang Xuan stepped forward to help her up.

“Yes!” Standing up, Wei Ruyan began scanning her surroundings, and noticing the lack of a familiar figure, she asked, “Zhang shi, where is my father? Does he know of my recovery?”

She had seen the extent her father had gone for her, so in her moment of recovery, the very first person she wanted to share the news with was him.

If her father found out that she had recovered and could even cultivate, he would probably immediately leap in joy.

Just by thinking about how her father would react to the news, Wei Ruyan’s eyes couldn’t help but curl into crescents, and her lips inched up into a sweet smile.

For many years, the both of them had relied on one another for support, creating an exceptional connection between them.

“Wei Changfeng…” Seeing the expectant gleam in the other party’s eyes, Zhang Xuan had no idea how he should break the news.

Noticing that something was amiss with Zhang shi’s expression, an ominous premonition surfaced in Wei Ruyan’s heart, and she asked anxiously, “What about my father?”

“He has departed from this world.”

Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan sighed. As cruel as it was, this was the truth. Wei Ruyan would have to face it one day.

“Departed…?” Wei Ruyan’s face froze before slowly paling. Her body staggered weakly, and she shook her head in disbelief.

For as long as she could remember, her father had always been by her side. He told her bedtime stories and accompanied her during her treatment. No matter what her request was, he would always give in to her so as to make her happy. She had thought that she would leave this world ahead of him, but who would have thought that… this would be the very first thing she would hear after her awakening!

“Ruyan, you must live on. No matter the price, I will definitely save you!”

“Be good and take your medicine, it will help you recover…”

“You are my beloved daughter. I am willing to give you everything in the world, including my life…”

…

Those words still echoed clearly in her ears, but the person who had said them had already disappeared…

Time and time again, he had begged physicians to treat her. Time and time again, he had ventured into dangerous lands to seek rare herbs for her affliction…

There were innumerable memories of her traveling on her father’s back, going around to seek others for help. But now that she had finally recovered, her father was no longer around to see it…

Father…

Wei Ruyan’s eyes reddened as her vision was blurred by the tears streaming down her cheeks. Amid sobs, she turned to Zhang Xuan and asked hoarsely, “How did my father die?”

“He died while trying to save you…”

Without hiding anything, Zhang Xuan told her everything that had happened.

This included the affair with the Ten-leafed Flower, You Xu’s scheme, and Wei Changfeng venturing into the depths of the Cloudmist Ridge alone…

Hearing that her father had trudged on, despite having sustained heavy injuries, in order to obtain the Cloudmist Flower to save her, Wei Ruyan’s clenched her fists tightly, and her skinny figure began to tremble uncontrollably.

“Father…” she muttered weakly.

A father’s love was greater than a mountain, and no words or actions could possibly repay those sentiments.

She had intended to use her entire life to repay the favor, but it was impossible now…

Taking a deep breath, Wei Ruyan seemed to have come to a decision, and her knees fell to the ground.

“Zhang shi, please accept me as your student!”

Since her father had lost his life in exchange for hers, she would have to live well so that her father’s soul would be consoled as he watched her from above.

Zhang Xuan nodded. “Alright, I will accept you. From today on, you will be my student.”

From the moment he promised Wei Changfeng to take care of his daughter, he had already decided to take Wei Ruyan in as his student.

“Student Wei Ruyan pays respect to Zhang laoshi!” Kneeling on the ground, Wei Ruyan kowtowed grandly several times in order to complete the acknowledgement ceremony.

Knowing that this was the tradition, Zhang Xuan accepted her kowtows.

After acknowledging Zhang Xuan, Wei Ruyan stood up and asked through clenched teeth, “Teacher, may I know where the culprit behind my father’s death, You Xu, is?”

Years of fighting against her affliction had made her mind exceptionally strong despite her young age. Her mental fortitude was at least on par with Lu Chong, if not surpassing him.

Since You Xu was the culprit behind her father’s death, she was determined to make him pay the price, regardless of whether he was a master teacher and the vice head of the Physician School or not!

Understanding Wei Ruyan’s emotions, Zhang Xuan nodded. “I knew that you would surely want to exact vengeance for your father, so I have already detained him.

“Follow me!”

After saying these words, Zhang Xuan informed one of the guards to bid Yu Shenqing farewell in his stead. After which, he summoned the Byzantium Helios Beast, and the duo got on it and headed back for his manor.

Upon reaching his manor, Zhang Xuan had Sun Qiang bring the imprisoned You Xu over.

At this moment, You Xu had his cultivation sealed, and he no longer bore any resemblance to the majestic vice school head he used to be. In just half a month, he had grown so thin that he was barely even skin and bones, and he looked like he had aged a decade.

“This is the culprit behind your father’s death. I will leave him for you to deal with.” Knowing that Wei Ruyan would want to vent her anger and frustration, Zhang Xuan waved his hands before heading out, closing the door behind him.

If she wanted to exact vengeance for her father, she should do it with her own hands. He, Zhang Xuan, would never accept a weak-minded person as his disciple!