Chapter 2035: Liao Elder's Request

"Uh..." Zhang Xuan stood frozen on the spot, at a loss. He hadn't expected the gourd to actually want to attack; it was terrifying.

Several times he had tried to unleash his sword intent, but without success. Thus, before he could even ascertain his true strength, the opponent was already on the verge of collapse.

"Hehe!" After knocking down the Nine-headed Fiery Phoenix Beast, the gourd lightly swiped, causing the massive immortal beast on the ground to gush blood.

Twisting its body, the gourd greedily devoured the blood.

"What are you doing...?" Feeling its blood drain and its body growing weaker, the Nine-headed Fiery Phoenix Beast became frightened. It tried to get up, but found that the gourd, sitting on it like a mighty mountain, had it suppressed, making it impossible to move.

"Come on, let me drink a bit..." Wriggling slightly, the gourd continued to gulp down the blood.

Seeing that more and more blood was being lost from its body, putting it in danger of dying from excessive blood loss at any moment, the Nine-headed Fiery Phoenix Beast could no longer bear it. It quickly looked up at Zhang Xuan, who was not far away: "I submit... I submit..."

It had no choice but to submit! Although it was very proud, it couldn't withstand this strange gourd! Not only could it devour flames, but it could also swallow blood... If it didn't submit soon, it would be swallowed whole before long, dying without even knowing how.

In the past, it might have chosen death over surrender out of pride. But now, even their boss, the Flood Dragon, had submitted. Adding itself to the list wouldn't be shameful...

"Submit?" Zhang Xuan scratched his head.

He had been thinking of using his beast-taming method of beating, aiming to make it submit within thirty breaths. He hadn't expected that with the gourd's intervention, the opponent would cower in less than fifteen breaths.

"Stop for now!" Approaching, he instructed the gourd.

"Ugh!" It wobbled slightly and burped. "Master, I need to digest first, let's talk later..." With that, it lightly swayed, disappeared again, and reappeared in his Dantian the next moment, sound asleep.

Seeing that this fellow was as unreliable as ever, Zhang Xuan shook his head. With a flick of his finger, he completed the Nine-headed Fiery Phoenix Beast's submission ritual.

"What about you?" Having dealt with two sacred beasts with hardly any effort, Zhang Xuan, a mix of amusement and exasperation, looked up at the sky again.

The White-eared Fox had not yet returned; only the Seven-tailed Saber-toothed Tiger remained. At this moment, this creature was internally collapsing.

On Mount Lingyun, it was only ranked third. Its strength was far inferior to the previous two. The Flood Dragon and the Nine-headed Fiery Phoenix Beast, together, hadn't even lasted a minute before submitting easily. It... had no idea what to do!

To submit or not to submit? If it didn't submit, it might end up like the two previous bosses, severely beaten on the ground, or even cut and bled dry... But to submit just by saying a word was too humiliating, a loss of dignity!

"You made the old Flood Dragon submit using the Eight Sounds of the Celestial Dragon, and you made the old Fiery Phoenix submit by relying on a magic artifact..." the Seven-tailed Saber-toothed Tiger gritted its teeth and said, "I want to fight you based on true strength. If you can defeat me... I will submit!"

"A fight? Very well!" Breathing a sigh of relief, Zhang Xuan stomped his foot and rose into the air again. With a flick of his long sword, the divine sword intent he had suppressed for a long time immediately burst forth.

No sword shadow was seen, nor any sword move; the Paulownia Sword simply appeared abruptly before the Seven-tailed Saber-toothed Tiger.

*Puch!* With just one strike, its long fangs, extending out of its mouth, were severed at the root. Its nose was also sliced open by the sharp sword qi, gushing blood.

"No more fighting, I submit..." Terrified, the Seven-tailed Saber-toothed Tiger flinched and quickly spoke, cold sweat running all over its body.

It had thought the opponent only relied on unconventional methods. It hadn't expected his true sword art to be so terrifying! If it had been slightly slower in shouting just now, let alone its fangs, its head might have been gone...

Not only was it shocked, but the Flood Dragon and the Nine-headed Fiery Phoenix Beast also gulped simultaneously.

They had thought that their newly submitted master, aside from knowing the Eight Sounds of the Celestial Dragon and possessing powerful artifacts, wasn't particularly strong. Only upon seeing this scene did they understand... even without those two things, based purely on combat strength, they were no match!

That sword just now was too powerful. It carried an unfathomable profundity and was utterly unstoppable.

The formation dispersed. Thirty breaths had passed!

"All three immortal beasts tamed?" "And in just over two minutes total?" Seeing the Seven-tailed Saber-toothed Tiger also successfully submit, Elder Liao and the others were utterly dumbfounded.

They were top elders of the Myriad Beasts Gate, the world's foremost beast-taming sect... They had accompanied Elder Yuan, who might become the next Sect Leader, to tame the beasts... Their entire group was wiped out, and Elder Yuan was still being foolishly played by the White-eared Fox. Yet this middle-aged man before them had already tamed all three immortal beasts... Were *he* from the Myriad Beasts Gate, or were *they*?

How was it that they felt so far behind him in the art of beast taming?

In an instant, everyone felt a pang in their chest and couldn't speak.

Elder Liao gave a wry smile: "The Sect Leader said... whoever, Elder Yuan or Elder Liu, first tames any one of the four immortal beasts, will be qualified to inherit the next Sect Leader position... Now one is dead, and another is being played with by the White-eared Fox... How are we supposed to explain this back home?"

"The main purpose of the Sect Leader setting this difficult task was to test his successors," an elder whispered, "hoping that the heir would be able to command respect in both beast taming and strength... Elder Yuan and Elder Liu both failed, but this person before us succeeded!"

"What do you mean?" Elder Liao and the remaining elders looked over simultaneously.

"It's simple..." the elder from before said, "if this person before us doesn't belong to any sect, we could absolutely recruit him into the Myriad Beasts Gate... As long as he becomes an elder within our sect, with such formidable beast-taming skills, plus the ability to defeat Immortal Monarch peak experts at the True Immortal realm... Who would dare say anything if he became the Sect Leader?"

"This..." The group fell silent.

Indeed. The Myriad Beasts Gate's greatest strength lay in beast taming. This middle-aged man before them had surpassed all of them alone. His beast-taming techniques were countless times stronger than even their Sect Leader's! If such a person wasn't from their own sect, how could the Myriad Beasts Gate face others in the future?

"We must bring him into our Myriad Beasts Gate..." Elder Liao nodded.

"Mm!" Everyone responded simultaneously.

Having made the decision, Elder Liao didn't hesitate. Just as he was about to speak, Zhang Xuan, who had tamed numerous immortal beasts, approached: "Everyone, they have been tamed by me and will no longer attack you. You may leave... However, before you go, I have one favor to ask, which I hope you'll grant!"

"You saved our lives. Just command us if there's anything you need; we will not refuse..." Elder Liao quickly bowed.

If not for this person, they would certainly have been tortured to death by the three immortal beasts long ago. Calling it a life-saving grace was not an exaggeration.

"I'm a rather low-key person and don't like to reveal my identity," Zhang Xuan said. "So, I hope you all can keep this absolutely confidential after you leave..."

He had just used his divine sword intent, which showed an extraordinary effect. One strike had made the Seven-tailed Saber-toothed Tiger submit. Although it was used subtly, making it hard to discern the sword intent, if the news leaked, someone would surely be able to sense it.

Once the Spirit Temple knew, he would probably face all sorts of dangers again. So, it was better for these people not to spread the word.

"This..." They had thought he would ask for something else, but upon hearing this, Elder Liao and the others all showed admiration.

If any of them had tamed just one king beast from Mount Lingyun, they would have wished to declare it everywhere, making the whole world know. Yet, he had tamed three in one go, without any trace of pride... This humble and composed character was admirable!

"May I know your esteemed name?" Elder Liao was curious.

"I am Zhang..." He was about to say his name, but Zhang Xuan paused, realizing the Spirit Temple might already know his identity. He immediately said, "My name is Zheng Yang!"

He couldn't come up with a temporary name on the spot. He might as well use a student's name! Anyway, he was currently in the Master Teacher Continent, so no one here would know that name.

"So, it's Brother Zheng Yang..." He rapidly searched his mind for a long time but couldn't recall ever hearing that name. Elder Liao then couldn't suppress his curiosity: "Brother Zheng, may I ask... which sect are you currently cultivating in?"

He needed to figure out the person's background first.

"I am merely a rogue cultivator..." Zhang Xuan shook his head.

Although he was an elder of the Lingyun Sword Pavilion, his identity was special and couldn't be revealed. Moreover, he was currently in disguise and using a fake name, Zheng Yang... If he claimed to be from the Lingyun Sword Pavilion, they would check and find no record, making his deception easier to expose. It was better to just say he was a rogue cultivator.

Anyway, there were many sword users in the firmament. Even Spirit Temple experts used swords, and there were countless rogue cultivators whose sword arts were not weak. This wouldn't arouse suspicion.

"A rogue cultivator?" Elder Liao and the others' eyes lit up.

If he belonged to another sect, recruiting him would be difficult. But a rogue cultivator would be simple! To have him join the Myriad Beasts Gate, one of the six great sects, and even have a chance to become Sect Leader—he surely wouldn't refuse!

"Yes!" Unaware of their thoughts, Zhang Xuan nodded and asked again, "About what happened just now..."

"Brother Zheng, rest assured. As long as you don't want us to speak of this matter, we will absolutely not leak it, but..." Elder Liao paused.

"But what?"

"It's just that while we can keep quiet," Elder Liao said awkwardly, "the fact that Mount Lingyun's three kings have been tamed surely cannot be concealed... When the news spreads, with so many elders from our Myriad Beasts Gate failing while an outsider succeeded, I fear there will be unrest among our disciples!"

"What then?" Zhang Xuan frowned.

What he said was true. The Myriad Beasts Gate was the world's foremost beast-taming sect. They had sent over a dozen elders, only for them to return in failure. Yet, he, a mere passerby, had tamed all the immortal beasts. How would they explain this to their disciples? Remaining silent wasn't an option, but speaking wasn't either...

"It's simple..." Elder Liao said, "Brother Zheng, would you be willing to return to the Myriad Beasts Gate with us, and acknowledge... that you are one of our Myriad Beasts Gate's elders? This way, the morale within our sect will surely soar! Don't worry, you just need to display these three immortal beasts before everyone... It would also be an explanation to our disciples and the world!"