Chapter 1368: Soul-Capturing Golden Pearl

"Your formation flags..."

With a wave of his hand, a pile of formation flags flew towards Bi Hongyin.

"Keep them," Bi Hongyin waved her hand. "They'll be much more useful in your hands than in mine..."

She had personally witnessed his mastery of formations and knew these items would be far more effective with him.

"Thank you!" Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

These formation flags were indeed very useful to him. If his current strength allowed him to only kill Half-Step Void-Shattering realm experts, then with these, he could set up formations when his opponents weren't paying attention, causing even early or mid-Saint 7-realm experts to suffer significant losses!

They continued forward, and when they encountered a swarm of poisonous bees, everyone became more cautious. They walked for two more hours. During this time, they encountered several small-scale sneak attacks from Saint Beasts. However, with Zhang Xuan's concealment formation and everyone's strong abilities, they were able to deal with them without much effort.

"The Void Gourd is in that cave ahead..."

After venturing deep into the valley, Luo Xuanqing stopped behind a large rock and pointed forward. Following the valley's contours, everyone saw a small cave appear before them. It was covered in vines, concealing the entrance to just a small slit, making it unnoticeable without close inspection.

"This place... it looks no different from anywhere else?" Bi Hongyin said, feeling a bit incredulous as it was her first time here. The cave before them seemed unremarkable, with no dense energy or spiritual qi converging around it; it looked like any ordinary crack in a mountain. Could a treasure like the Void Gourd truly be inside?

"Precisely because there's a formation inside that isolates its aura, it appears unremarkable. Otherwise, the Void Gourd would have been harvested long ago!" Luo Xuanqing explained.

Everyone suddenly understood. They realized it was true. If spiritual qi and energy were abundant, Saint Beasts in the area would have long since rushed in to seek it out, even without human discovery. As Master Teachers became more numerous and humanity grew stronger, it was clear that this was no longer the ancient era where treasures were found everywhere.

"Let's go in. Why are we waiting here?" Yun Lianhai asked, his eyes gleaming. As a Treasure Seeker, hearing that a treasure was right before him made his blood boil.

"We can't go in yet. We must wait until nightfall!" Luo Xuanqing said with a grim expression, lowering his voice.

"Why?" Yun Lianhai asked, puzzled. Everyone else was also confused. Staying here longer meant more danger, so why wait until dark?

"This cave is home to a Hell Azure Dragon Beast!" Luo Xuanqing transmitted.

"A Hell Azure Dragon Beast?" Everyone's pupils constricted.

"Is it very powerful?" Zhang Xuan couldn't help but ask, seeing their change in expression. His current beast taming level was only Six-Star. Although he had read many books and knew about powerful Saint Beasts, many rare ones were still unheard of to him.

"The Hell Azure Dragon Beast is a Saint Beast with dragon bloodline. Once it reaches adulthood, it possesses strength comparable to a Saint 8-realm expert!" Yuan Xiao said gravely.

"Saint 8-realm?" Zhang Xuan's expression turned serious. Honestly, he had never even seen a Saint Beast of that level. If he could tame one, his chances of snatching the bride from the Zhang Clan would significantly increase.

"Indeed. Let's hope we don't disturb it, or the few of us combined wouldn't stand a chance!" Luo Xuanqing said, exhaling. A Saint 8-realm Saint Beast, relying on its innate talent, would naturally be stronger in combat than a Saint 8-realm human expert. Even though they were descendants of powerful factions with many methods, facing such a beast would be incredibly difficult.

"A Saint Beast of this level is incredibly powerful and would notice even the slightest disturbance. Waiting until night shouldn't make a difference, right?" Zhang Xuan asked. Saint Beasts could develop divine sense at Saint 2-realm, rendering darkness irrelevant. This beast, with its Saint 8-realm power, was at the peak of the continent. What difference would day or night make to it?

"It's because of this treasure!" Luo Xuanqing said, turning his wrist. He flipped his wrist, and a jade box appeared in his palm. He opened it gently, and a dazzling light immediately began to flicker from within. It was a golden-yellow bead, made from an unknown material, extremely radiant and emitting a unique glow.

"What is this?" Everyone asked; even Zhang Xuan was puzzled.

"This is a Soul-Lulling Gold Pearl I specifically commissioned!" Luo Xuanqing nodded.

"A Soul-Lulling Gold Pearl?" Everyone wondered.

"Hell Azure Dragon Beasts, possessing dragon bloodline, are naturally sensitive to shimmering golden-yellow objects. So, I had this created. Once thrown, it will easily attract it... Inside, there are specially carved formation patterns and formations that, if stared at for long enough, will hypnotize it and make it fall into a deep sleep!" Luo Xuanqing explained, "However, during the day, the sunlight is too strong to attract it effectively. Its effect is maximized at night!"

Everyone understood. It was no secret that beasts with dragon bloodline liked shimmering objects. If used correctly, it could indeed produce good results. Once it fell into a deep sleep, they could quietly sneak in, making it less dangerous.

"Brother Luo, may I examine your Soul-Lulling Gold Pearl?" Zhang Xuan asked.

"Here!" With a flick of his wrist, the golden pearl, shining with a unique light, flew over. Zhang Xuan casually caught it and examined it. He had to admit, it was exquisitely crafted. The person who refined it was likely at least an Eight-Star Celestial Craftsman.

With a touch of his finger, a book appeared.

"Soul-Lulling Gold Pearl, refined by Eight-Star Celestial Craftsman Jiang Feifei..." The book was filled with dense text.

"Does Master Zhang also study Celestial Craftsman objects?" Luo Xuanqing asked, seeing him examine it so carefully.

"I've read some books on celestial craftsmanship..." Zhang Xuan nodded. His current Celestial Craftsman rank was still Six-Star, earned from his assessment at Hongyuan Academy.

"Oh, since you've studied it, could you take a look at this Soul-Lulling Gold Pearl for me?" Luo Xuanqing asked casually. Anyway, there was still some time until nightfall. Since this fellow was so proficient in formations, he wondered how much he knew about celestial craftsmanship.

"Judging by the technique, this was likely refined by an Eight-Star Celestial Craftsman. It's indeed exquisite, but it also has quite a few flaws. I'm afraid it might not be potent enough to deal with a Saint 8-realm Saint Beast..." Zhang Xuan said, hesitating for a moment. This item was well-designed. Hypnotizing an ordinary Saint 7-realm Saint Beast wouldn't be too difficult, but an 8-realm one... that wouldn't be so easy!

"I paid a huge price to have that super genius from the inner court, who is skilled in celestial craftsmanship, create this! Any Saint Beast with dragon bloodline that sees it will surely be fascinated, and thus affected by the formation patterns within, falling into a deep sleep..." Luo Xuanqing stated with certainty. After this item was refined, he specifically had his clan elders examine it. The result was that it would be highly effective against Saint 8-realm Saint Beasts; otherwise, how would he dare to come?

"This formation pattern does contain the mysteries of the soul and indeed has a hypnotic effect on humans, but I'm unsure about its use on Saint Beasts. Beast souls are different from human souls... When you commissioned this, did you specify it was for a Hell Azure Dragon Beast?" Zhang Xuan asked.

"Uh..." Luo Xuanqing was taken aback. The Void Gourd involved too much, so when he commissioned this item, he indeed didn't specify what it was for, only that it was to be used against Saint 8-realm experts! Since it could handle experts of that level, a Saint Beast should be fine too, right?

"Saint Beasts have larger bodies and more powerful souls than humans. If used correctly, it's not impossible to hypnotize them, but it might take a considerable amount of time and won't be as convenient as you imagine..." Zhang Xuan continued.

"As long as it can hypnotize it, the duration doesn't matter!" Luo Xuanqing shook his head. As long as he could knock the beast out, an hour more or less was insignificant. They had been preparing for the Void Gourd for half a year already, so a day or two more wouldn't make a difference.

"The longer you interact with a Saint 8-realm Saint Beast, the more trouble it becomes... My point is, if there's another method, it's best not to use this item... I'm afraid it's not entirely reliable!" Zhang Xuan paused before saying. A Saint Beast of this level was like a bomb, capable of exploding at any moment. If it could be hypnotized to sleep, fine, but what if it failed?

"Substitute? Can you refine a better Soul-Lulling Gold Pearl?" Luo Xuanqing asked.

Zhang Xuan shook his head. He had read few books on celestial craftsmanship, so he could only identify flaws but not yet find solutions.

"Then what's the point of saying all this? I only learned that this item could be used against Saint Beasts with dragon bloodline after consulting many books! Alright, no more discussion. We'll try it first. If it doesn't work, we'll have to fight head-on. Even if we can't kill it, just keeping it occupied for a few hours will be enough for us to harvest the Void Gourd!" Luo Xuanqing said. His goal was the Void Gourd, not necessarily to kill the Hell Azure Dragon Beast. Even if it couldn't be knocked out, restraining it for a while would still count as success.

"Alright!" Seeing the other party say this and having no better solution himself, Zhang Xuan could only shake his head.

Everyone continued to discuss their plans for a while, each taking on their respective roles. Just as they were about to rest and recover their strength for the night's battle, Zhang Xuan suddenly frowned. "Someone's coming..."

"Someone?" Doubt appeared in everyone's eyes. They were all Saint 7-realm experts and hadn't detected anyone. How did he know?

"When I came, I left behind some small formations. They'll activate if anyone passes by or touches them..." Zhang Xuan explained. His divine sense covered a much wider area than ordinary people, but he couldn't reveal that, so he found an excuse.

"Who is it?" Luo Xuanqing asked.

"I don't know, but they're coming soon. You should be able to see them from behind that rock..." Zhang Xuan pointed.

Luo Xuanqing flickered behind the rock, focusing his gaze towards the valley they had just come from. Indeed, he saw several figures slowly approaching.

"It's him?" His expression darkened.

"Who?" Yuan Xiao couldn't help but ask.

Clenching his fists, Luo Xuanqing narrowed his eyes. "Zhang Clan's Zhang Chun!"