Chapter 729: All Tamed

In the mist, Zhang Xuan walked slowly. With his Eye of Insight activated, a Level 5 illusion array was like nothing to him. The spirit beasts trapped within couldn't see him, yet he could clearly observe their every move.

He lightly tapped his foot on the ground, silently appearing behind a spirit beast. Extending his hand, he gently pressed down!

Thud!

The spirit beast immediately collapsed to the ground, severely injured.

Having broken through to the Bridging Heaven Realm, his True Qi alone reached a colossal 5.5 million ding, comparable to a late-stage Bridging Heaven Realm expert. Although these spirit beasts were not weak, how could they possibly resist?

Struggling to lift its head, the spirit beast was preparing to unleash a desperate, suicidal attack on its assailant before it died, when a faint bestial language echoed in its ear.

“Surrender, or die!”

“Roar!”

The message transmitted through beast language, coupled with the opponent's immense power, left no room for hesitation. The spirit beast gritted its teeth and knelt.

Immediately after surrendering, it felt a current of energy surge into its body. Not only were its injuries fully healed, but its bloodline, nourished by this energy, became even purer, on the verge of a breakthrough in power.

“Roar?” Its eyes reddened. The spirit beast knew its opportunity had arrived, and it sincerely submitted, abandoning all other thoughts.

“Hmm.”

Leaving it there, Zhang Xuan continued forward.

Although Elder Mi had said that these spirit beasts were vicious and that killing them was nothing, they were living beings after all. Taming them was always better than slaying them. Of course, if any refused to submit, preferring death, he wouldn't hesitate to directly eliminate them.

As he ventured deeper into the mist, the pained cries and shrieks of spirit beasts echoed ceaselessly. More and more spirit beasts were tamed, and a growing number of "stubborn ones" were slain.

While moving, Zhang Xuan seized the opportunity to absorb spiritual energy, enhancing and consolidating his cultivation. Within the illusion array, the shattered remnants of over 500 spirit stones had formed a vortex of abundant spiritual energy. This allowed him to not only achieve breakthroughs but also conserve his own spirit stones—a truly win-win situation.

An hour later, he successfully reached the peak of the Bridging Heaven Realm. Of the hundreds of spirit beasts, some were tamed, others slain, leaving very few remaining.

With his cultivation at the peak of the Bridging Heaven Realm, his True Qi strength doubled again, reaching a colossal 8 million ding, already comparable to an early-stage Unity Realm expert. If he combined this with his physical strength of 4 million ding and soul power of 3.2 million ding, he could even contend with an early-stage Transcendent Mortal 8-dan expert! If he were to encounter that young man from the Yuan clan again, he could easily defeat him even without relying on his clone.

“The spirit beasts are mostly dealt with; I can remove the array now!”

His Eye of Insight flickered. After scanning once more and confirming all spirit beasts were handled, Zhang Xuan lightly smiled and stomped his foot.

The array ceased, and the mist-filled valley reappeared before everyone.

In the very center of where the mist had been, over two hundred master teachers sat on the ground, panting heavily. Some were healing their injuries, while others recovered their True Qi. They had initially intended to hunt, but unexpectedly, they had been ambushed and outmaneuvered by the spirit beasts. Now, almost everyone was injured. Had it not been for the sudden appearance of the young man who set up the illusion array, they would likely have been completely wiped out.

After an unknown period of recovery, a pale-faced master teacher spoke. “I know that person. He’s Master Teacher Zhang Xuan from the Illusion Feather Empire. He has a half-step Ninth Stage Purplewing Celestial Lion as a beast pet. I was fortunate enough to see him once at a trade fair when I was exchanging items!” Although it had been merely a fleeting glance, he still recognized him. This individual had once caused quite a stir by trading the inner core of a Transcendent Mortal 8-dan spirit beast for cultivation techniques and secret manuals of the Bridging Heaven Realm. Anyone who had been to that trade fair essentially knew about it. However, among the thirty thousand new students, only a minority had attended the trade fair, so most were still unaware.

“A half-step Ninth Stage beast pet? Does that mean we’re saved?” A master teacher clenched his fist, filled with anticipation.

“It’s not that simple!” Another, slightly older master teacher shook his head: “There are over four hundred spirit beasts here in total, with nearly half of them having reached the Bridging Heaven Realm. Moreover, the valley is narrow. Forget a half-step Ninth Stage, even a true Ninth Stage expert coming here probably wouldn’t be enough to handle them all! Besides… to save us, he set up an illusion array… he himself couldn’t enter it, so how could he rescue anyone?”

The cultivation of a single spirit beast might not be formidable, but the combined attack of hundreds would be terrifying. Like soldiers, their coordinated attacks could overwhelm even peak experts. It was precisely for this reason that empires were so powerful: with a single command, no one dared to disobey.

The current situation was exactly like that. The fact that over four hundred spirit beasts could scheme against them indicated they had long formed an alliance. Furthermore, with the narrow valley making it difficult for flying spirit beasts to maneuver, anyone attempting a rescue would likely be overwhelmed and killed by coordinated attacks before even reaching them. Even if one managed to rush into the illusion array, the Celestial Lion, being enormous, would easily be discovered and thus drawn into a bitter struggle. In other words, even though the illusion array provided them with temporary safety, rescuing them was still virtually impossible.

“Then… are we just waiting to die?” The master teacher’s face darkened.

“Don’t overthink it. Just focus on recovering your strength, and we’ll see when the time comes! We can only hope that Elder Mi knows we’re in danger and personally intervenes, otherwise… absolutely no one among the new students could save us!” The older master teacher sighed. In truth, their predicament was partly his fault. They had advanced too eagerly, seeking merit, and consequently fell into the ambush.

“Wait, Master Teacher Ding, why do I hear spirit beast cries outside? Do you think Master Teacher Zhang might have already entered the illusion array?” another master teacher asked. He had heard many pained spirit beast cries throughout the past half day. Could someone have already taken action?

“You’re still too naive!” Master Teacher Ding shook his head: “We can’t see anything now. The spirit beasts’ deliberate cries are clearly meant to lure us into a trap. Even if not, it’s probably just an effect produced by the illusion array!”

“Lure us into a trap?”

“Yes. I’m a Four-Star Beast Tamer myself, and having spent a lot of time with spirit beasts, I can discern their voices. The sounds just now, though they contained cries of pain, were more indicative of excitement and fawning… When they make such sounds, it’s clear they believe we are trapped like turtles in a jar, unable to escape, and they can barely contain their joy!” Master Teacher Ding explained. As a Beast Tamer, even if he didn’t understand the beast language or what they were saying, he could perceive their emotions—their joy, anger, sorrow, and delight. With cries of pain and excitement in their voices, it was clear these creatures had devised some method to capture them all in one fell swoop.

“Alright, let’s focus on recovering our strength and prepare for the next battle…”

As he spoke, Master Teacher Ding was about to continue his instructions, urging everyone not to entertain false hopes, when he felt the array before them violently shake.

“Oh no, the array is about to break! Grab your weapons, prepare for battle…” With an anxious cry, he quickly stood up. The other master teachers also wore solemn expressions.

Before he could finish, the illusion array, which had been shaking, abruptly ceased. Immediately after, they saw a young man slowly walking toward them.

Everyone was stunned.

“Alright… you are saved!” The young man looked at them calmly.

“Saved?” The crowd froze, then noticed that the numerous spirit beasts that had been attacking them were now all prostrate on the ground, their gazes filled with reverence. And the young man walked among them, like an unconquerable monarch.

“This…”

“This is… tamed?”

“In just an hour, he tamed over four hundred spirit beasts?”

Soon, understanding dawned on them, and they were so shocked they nearly fainted. When others tamed spirit beasts, it required various forms of appeasement and precious treasures. This young man, however, had simply set up an illusion array and tamed so many in just an hour… Was this real?

Not just them, but Young Master Ruohuan and the others on the rocks above, who had expected to plunge back into a bitter fight when the array vanished, were also so stunned by this sight that they nearly fainted.

Taming over four hundred spirit beasts in just one hour…

Brother, are you trying to defy the heavens?!

“Wait, look… Master Teacher Zhang’s cultivation!” Amidst their shock, someone cried out. Hearing this, everyone's gaze snapped towards Zhang Xuan. Upon seeing it, they all swayed, nearly toppling off the rocks.

They saw that Master Teacher Zhang, who had only just broken through to the Bridging Heaven Realm an hour earlier, now possessed a full and vigorous aura. His entire being was brimming with power, surging like a great river, giving a sense of all streams flowing into the ocean.

“All streams flowing into the ocean… this is… the peak of the Bridging Heaven Realm, on the verge of breaking through to the Unity Realm any moment…”

“Didn’t he just break through to the Bridging Heaven Realm?”

Rubbing their eyes vigorously, everyone felt like they were going crazy. They had seen fast cultivators, but never *this* fast. Breaking through, then in one fell swoop, advancing an entire major realm from initial to peak stage… Is this cultivating, or simply eating a meal? Even eating wouldn’t be this quick!

“Master Teacher Zhang must have used some secret art to forcefully elevate his cultivation to save us. Otherwise… how could he possibly tame so many spirit beasts in such a short time?”

“Exactly. With over four hundred spirit beasts, unless your strength vastly surpasses theirs, how could they genuinely submit?” Everyone clenched their fists. They were all master teachers, well aware of the arduousness of cultivation. Increasing one’s strength in such a short period inevitably came with a corresponding price. About half of the spirit beasts before them had reached the Bridging Heaven Realm. To tame them, there was only one way: for one’s cultivation to surpass theirs! Paying a price to enhance one’s cultivation for the sake of rescuing others… such character was truly admirable!

“The spirit beasts I’ve slain, plus the ones I’ve tamed, should be enough for your points! There’s no need to continue; hurry back and complete your assessment!” As some remained stunned and others filled with admiration, they heard Zhang Xuan’s calm voice resound. Immediately after, they saw the young man’s body flicker as he scaled the valley walls, leaping higher and higher.

“Enough for our points?”

“Does Master Teacher Zhang mean… he wants us to take these spirit beasts and inner cores back to complete our assessment?”

“He’s giving us all the spirit beasts he tamed and hunted? This…”

With solemn faces, they stared intently at the figure disappearing up the gorge, clenching their fists and with reddened eyes.

Not for himself, but only for humanity…

This was a true master teacher!