Chapter 612: Pretending to Be Dead?

The Yao Chen Beast had originally established itself as king of Wenyun Ridge, acting like a rogue beast. Neither the Beast Hall nor the Alliance Leader's Mansion could do anything about it. Anyone who dared to challenge it was either killed or beaten to a pulp and discarded in some obscure corner.

For this fellow to try and tame it right away, the fact that the beast didn't immediately kill him was already a sign of respect.

Clasping the jade bottle containing spiritual beast essence blood and the storage ring in its hoof, the beast roared once more.

"Cough, cough!" Zhang Xuan translated apologetically, "It wants you to drink this spiritual beast blood..."

As Zhang Xuan's pet beast, the Yao Chen Beast could communicate with him telepathically. Even if he didn't understand the beast language, he could still grasp these simple messages.

"Drink beast blood..." Wei Changqing was horrified.

Spiritual beast blood is only useful for spiritual beasts. If a human drinks it, not only is it useless, but they might even grow scales and fur like a ghoul… or worse, they could die!

Not everyone possessed Heaven's Path True Qi, which could neutralize the rampant energy within the blood.

Seeing that he remained motionless, the Yao Chen Beast roared again, opened the jade bottle, and prepared to force its contents into his mouth.

"Teacher Zhang, save me! I... I won't tame it anymore..."

Wei Changqing's face went pale; he was nearly scared out of his wits.

Judging by the beast's stance, it wasn't just going to feed him the spiritual liquid, but also stuff the entire jade bottle into his mouth. If he didn't speak up immediately, he probably wouldn't need to continue the competition; he'd be dead within a few breaths.

What in the world was this?

He had confidently come to tame the opponent's spiritual beast, but who would have thought this big guy didn't play by the rules at all.

Other spiritual beasts, upon seeing essence blood from a Harmonious Spirit realm beast, would immediately have their eyes light up and try all sorts of ways to please you. This fellow, on the other hand, treated it like trash and even wanted to feed it to him…

It was as if it wouldn't be happy unless it killed him…

A dignified four-star Beast Tamer, being stomped into the ground by a spiritual beast and ordered to be tamed by it – what kind of situation was this?

Seeing that if the beast continued, Wei Changqing would really die there, Zhang Xuan reprimanded it, "Alright, Yao Chen, stop messing around!"

"Roar!" With a reluctant expression, Yao Chen lifted its hoof and stood proudly at one side of the arena. As for the storage ring and jade bottle, it had no intention of returning them.

Are you kidding? Once it was in its paws, it became its spoils of war. Did they really expect it to return them?

In their dreams!

"Cough, cough!" Spitting out two mouthfuls of fresh blood, Wei Changqing struggled to his feet, his face ghastly pale.

The beast taming hadn't even begun, and he was already almost beaten to death by a spiritual beast. If word got out, this Beast Tamer wouldn't need to work anymore… He simply couldn't afford such a humiliation!

He looked eagerly at the Yao Chen Beast, wanting to reclaim the storage ring and beast blood, but when he saw its eyes widen, he instinctively flinched in fear.

Reclaim what? Judging by the beast's demeanor, the fact that it hadn't killed him was already a great show of mercy.

Tears welled up in his eyes.

"I came to regain my dignity… How is it that I seem even more humiliated than before?"

"It seems you haven't gained any loyalty from my pet beast… Is there still a need to continue the competition?" Zhang Xuan asked, looking over.

They were supposed to tame each other's pet beasts, with the winner decided by the degree of loyalty gained. Since he hadn't gained any loyalty from the Yao Chen Beast, continuing the competition or not was meaningless.

"Of course, we must continue!" Wei Changqing gritted his teeth. "Beast taming relies on serendipity, and you might not do much better than me. If you also can't tame anything like me, then at most, it will be a draw…"

There wasn't much time left. He couldn't gain the trust of the Yao Chen Beast, and the other party might not be able to gain the loyalty of his Azure Spirit Beast either.

It might very well end up as a draw!

This way, he could at least salvage some face.

"Are you sure?" Zhang Xuan asked, a peculiar expression on his face.

"I'm sure!" Seeing Zhang Xuan's expression, Wei Changqing thought he was intimidated. He smiled coldly, clasped his hands behind his back, and regained his confidence. He then turned to his pet beast beside him. "Azure Spirit, this Teacher Zhang wants to tame you. As long as you can resist and bring honor to me, when we go back, you'll have whatever you want! Even finding ancient veins to advance your bloodline won't be a problem…"

"Roar!" Hearing its master's promise, the Azure Spirit Beast's huge eyes filled with determination, and it nodded its head vigorously.

"Shameless! That's utterly shameless!"

"Exactly! Teacher Zhang just told the Yao Chen Beast to cooperate properly, but this guy, on the other hand, directly ordered his own pet beast not to yield! How can anyone possibly tame it like this?"

"This is cheating!"

"He keeps talking about fairness, yet he gives such clear instructions to his own pet beast! It's outrageous!"

Hearing Wei Changqing's words, everyone below the stage erupted in an uproar.

Just now, Teacher Zhang told the Yao Chen Beast to cooperate well, yet you couldn't tame it and got a beating!

That was due to your own lack of skill. Now that someone else is going to tame your pet beast, you actually make such demands and even offer huge rewards…

Have you no shame?

Since this was a beast taming competition, it should naturally be conducted in a fair environment. Doing this was simply beneath the dignity of a Master Teacher.

Several elders from the Purple Gold Sect, having not expected their sect's genius to act this way, each covered their faces. "How shameful… how utterly shameful!"

What kind of situation was this?

Even if he won now, he wouldn't be able to face anyone.

Seeing that Wei Changqing still wasn't giving up and wanted him to try taming his pet beast, Zhang Xuan gave a wry smile and shook his head. He then looked at the big beast in front of him. "Then I'll begin!"

"Roar!" With a roar, the Azure Spirit Beast, just like the Yao Chen Beast, stomped its hoof at Zhang Xuan.

It had witnessed its master's recent humiliation and intended to make this Teacher Zhang suffer a big loss as well.

However, it was only at the early stage of Mortal Transcension 4-dan, and compared to Zhang Xuan, it was significantly weaker.

Zhang Xuan's body swayed, dodging the attack, and he slapped the beast.

A loud slap landed on the Azure Spirit Beast's huge face. Before the beast could even react, it did a somersault in the air and plunged headfirst into the ground, leaving only its two large hind legs twitching uncontrollably.

Zhang Xuan possessed strength comparable to a Harmonious Spirit realm mid-stage cultivator. One slap from him unleashed over two million ding of force, enough to instantly shatter even low-grade Spirit weapons. If he hadn't held back, the beast would have been crippled, if not killed.

Let alone resisting, it didn't even have time to react.

"Gah?"

"A Mortal Transcension 4-dan spiritual beast slapped headfirst into the ground?"

"How much strength must that take?"

Everyone was dumbfounded.

Spiritual beasts are naturally robust, relying on their powerful physical bodies and defenses. Opponents of the same cultivation level are generally no match for them. This meant that the early-stage Mortal Transcension 4-dan Azure Spirit Beast, in terms of true strength, was definitely comparable to a mid-stage Mortal Transcension 4-dan expert, and could even contend with those at the late stage.

Such a powerful beast, yet it was slapped headfirst into the ground without even a shred of ability to resist… What kind of strength was that?

It was simply terrifying!

Below the arena, Wu Tianhao, who had just flown back, saw this scene and his lips twitched in fear.

He had originally thought that being thrown out earlier was just a coincidence, and that as long as he was careful, he wouldn't suffer any losses. Only now did he realize… Thankfully, he had only been thrown out. If he had received a slap like that just now…

He'd probably be lying in the Physician Guild right now, if not dead, then disfigured beyond recognition…

"Was it you who said his strength was poor?" He turned to his companion. "Friendship over!"

"…" His companion was speechless.

"That's not right! While Teacher Zhang doing this shows his immense strength, directly hitting the beast will make it impossible to build goodwill, and beast taming will certainly not succeed!"

"Indeed!"

"If Teacher Zhang also doesn't gain any loyalty, just like Teacher Wei, will it really be a draw?"

"Damn it! Teacher Zhang should clearly win. If it's a draw, it will be extremely troublesome!"

After the initial shock, everyone came to their senses.

Normal beast taming involves offering irresistible items to spiritual beasts to gain their favor.

Engaging in physical conflict with a beast would only make it increasingly disgusted and impossible to reconcile with.

As a four-star Beast Tamer, Teacher Zhang should have been very clear about this. Why did he directly strike? And… he hit so hard!

This way, the Azure Spirit Beast would definitely be extremely disgusted. Not only would he fail to gain its loyalty, but it might even grow to dislike him more.

He hadn't expected Zhang Xuan to be so reckless, daring to retaliate against the Azure Spirit Beast. Wei Changqing's body trembled, and he almost burst out laughing. "Haha, let's see how you're going to tame it now…"

When he had tamed this beast back then, it had taken him a full two years, letting it choose all sorts of treasures, and even accompanying it on hunts and sleeping by its side. Only then had it obediently submitted.

This guy, on the other hand, slapped it so severely! Given the Azure Spirit Beast's proud nature, it would be good if it didn't tear him to shreds. Loyalty? Dream on!

He hadn't gained the Yao Chen Beast's loyalty, and the other party hadn't gained the Azure Spirit Beast's loyalty either. At most, it would be a draw between them!

In fact… when it came to goodwill, he was still the winner.

Just as he was reveling in his joy, he heard the sound of a gong, signaling that the time limit of one incense stick had just expired.

On the Master Teacher Tournament arena, "one incense stick" was an approximate time limit. However, once the time was up, a winner had to be declared, or it would be difficult to judge.

Time was up. Even if he had other methods he wanted to use, it was too late. One could say… he was already in an unassailable position.

"Didn't you all say I could only concede? Didn't you say I would definitely lose?"

"Now I've achieved a draw and gained supreme dignity. Let's see what you have to say now…"

The more he thought about it, the happier he became. His eyes sparkling, he looked at the young man not far away with an arrogant expression. "Teacher Zhang, you didn't tame the Azure Spirit Beast, and I didn't tame the Yao Chen Beast. So, this round is a draw, how about it?"

"A draw?"

"That's right. Strictly speaking, you used violence on the Azure Spirit Beast, causing it to be disgusted. You've already lost in terms of goodwill…" Wei Changqing said.

Didn't they want composure? Well, this was it!

It was clearly him who lost, yet he was calling it a draw…

"Disgusted?"

Just as he was secretly feeling proud, he saw Teacher Zhang opposite him shake his head. He then kicked the continuously twitching hind leg. "What are you pretending to be dead for? Get up and acknowledge your master!"

*Thud!* *Roar!*

Immediately after, he saw the Azure Spirit Beast hurriedly pull its head out of the ground and excitedly rush to Teacher Zhang. It then lay down, continuously rubbing its head against him like a pug seeing its master.

"Gah?"

He instantly stiffened. Wei Changqing's eyes widened so much they almost popped out of his head.

"How is this possible?"

"Didn't he just beat it? How did it acknowledge him as its master?"

"Can anyone tell me what exactly happened?"