Chapter 905: Bear Tiger Beast's Wealth

"I..." Knowing it was trapped in the book with no other options, the finger lost its previous arrogance and could only speak. "I am a finger bone of the Cruel One, having only gained consciousness after ten millennia of slumber. The Azurehorn Dragon Beast is the ruler of Cloudmist Ridge. To awaken quickly, I captured its soul and forced it to act according to my will..."

Soon, it recounted the entire story.

It was largely consistent with previous conjectures. No one knew what happened during the battle between the Cruel One and Master Kong, but it was certain that this finger bone had survived.

Before his death, the Cruel One had already reached the realm of rebirth from a drop of blood. Despite being severely damaged and slumbering for ten millennia, this finger bone had still managed to develop its own consciousness.

Then, it was inadvertently discovered by the ruler of Cloudmist Ridge. To swiftly increase its power, it used a special method to capture the beast's soul, leaving it barely clinging to life.

It then used this remnant soul to control many Saint Beasts of Cloudmist Ridge, capturing master teachers to devour, all for the sake of gathering geo-spiritual liquid and enhancing its own strength!

As a super-expert comparable to Master Kong, it was simple to help the Golden Bear-Tiger Beast improve its strength. However, it encountered Zhang Xuan, who possessed the Book of Heaven's Path, and was subsequently captured, beaten into a state where it could no longer be 'cruel.'

As for Wu Yangzi, over two millennia ago, several members of the Spirit Tribe came here seeking assistance.

At that time, this Cruel One had just finished devouring several master teachers and had fallen into a deep slumber. The Azurehorn Dragon Beast, aware of their purpose, dispatched Saint Beasts to help abduct the grandmaster artificer.

Although the Azurehorn Dragon Beast was merely a remnant soul, having been controlled by the Cruel One for so many years, it knew many secrets. It then revealed these to the Spirit Tribe... Later, this group managed to restore the heart in the underground palace, granting independent consciousness to the Cruel One Zhang Xuan had first subdued.

It could be said that the heart's awakening earlier was thanks to this very finger.

"Master Zhang, let me devour this fellow; my strength will certainly recover even more..." After asking all the necessary questions, Zhang Xuan still had some unanswered questions and was pondering them carefully when he heard a telepathic message in his ear.

It was the heart he had first subdued that spoke.

"Devour it?"

"Indeed! If my guess is correct, though the Cruel One was killed, he must have left many contingencies. There are many like us, possessing independent consciousness. To regain his peak strength, merely absorbing spiritual energy wouldn't be enough, not even in another hundred millennia... The only way is to find these scattered consciousnesses and devour them one by one!'"

The heart said, "As long as I devour enough, even if I can't recover all of my strength, I certainly won't be far off!'"

"Hmm!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

Seeing that this finger bone also called itself the Cruel One, he had already guessed as much.

There was a method among spirit beasts to cultivate powerful individuals, quite similar to this. They would typically raise many, allowing them to fight to the death until only the strongest remained.

The Cruel One knew he would surely die and had prepared contingencies in advance. He likely left behind many entities like this heart and finger. To fully resurrect, he would have to gather and devour them all.

"Alright, as long as you pledge allegiance to me, not only this one, but I will also help you find other parts of the Cruel One, making you stronger and stronger!" Zhang Xuan said calmly.

To him, it didn't matter who the Cruel One was. As long as it pledged allegiance and served him, that was enough.

This heart, a part of the Cruel One, had been by his side for a long time and had experienced many things. If it could be completely subdued, that would naturally be for the best.

As for that finger, having slaughtered so many master teachers and devoured their flesh and blood, even if it could be subdued, he would absolutely not use it.

"Pledge allegiance?" The heart fell silent.

Although it was trapped in the book, its consciousness still belonged to the Cruel One who had once roamed the world and even battled Master Kong. Making it pledge complete allegiance was still somewhat difficult.

"Indeed!" Without another word, Zhang Xuan clasped his hands behind his back, allowing it to make its own choice.

With what he possessed, he already had the power to dominate the world. The other party's submission would merely be the icing on the cake. If it refused to submit, he could still forge a new path for himself.

"Alright, I agree!" The heart didn't remain silent for long before agreeing.

It had no choice but to agree. It had personally witnessed the young man's many techniques and abilities, which were even more astonishing than those of the legendary 9-star master teachers.

Perhaps this person could truly lead it further, even beyond... Master Kong!

Agreeing meant full recovery and becoming even stronger; refusing meant being trapped in the book forever, never to rise again. As long as it wasn't foolish, it would make the correct choice.

"Offer your soul in sacrifice!" Seeing the other party agree, Zhang Xuan said.

Only with a soul sacrifice, where the other party's life and death were under his mental control, could he fully trust them.

Otherwise, relying solely on a few oaths and promises, if it betrayed him, even he wouldn't be able to bear the consequences.

"Yes!" Without hesitation, a wisp of the heart's consciousness immediately transmitted over, landing between Zhang Xuan's brows and swiftly entering his Mental Ocean.

Feeling this wisp of consciousness, Zhang Xuan nodded.

Previously, he had merely suppressed the heart, forcing it to obey his commands. But now, it had completely submitted. With this sacrificed soul, he had full control over it, just like a tamed beast pet, unconditionally obeying his orders without daring to refute.

"Master!" The soul sacrifice was equivalent to acknowledging him as master, and the heart lost its former arrogance, humbling itself.

"Call me Young Master instead!" Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

"Yes, Young Master!" The heart responded.

"How do you devour it? How can I help?" Zhang Xuan asked.

"Replying to Young Master," the heart said, "my current strength is still inferior to its. If you could lend me that personal manuscript of Master Kong, I can guarantee its complete devouring!'"

"Lend you Master Kong's personal manuscript?" Zhang Xuan frowned.

Was it easy to obtain this personal manuscript of Master Kong? Last time, when he impersonated Yang Xuan, a third of it had already been devoured. Now it was still coveting it.

"Young Master," the heart explained, "the Spirit Tribe devours humans to enhance their strength. That finger, furthermore, devours master teachers. Both its consciousness and its strength are superior to mine. Without the aid of Master Kong's personal manuscript, I definitely won't be able to defeat it, and might even be devoured by it!'"

"Alright," Zhang Xuan asked, "only two-thirds of Master Kong's personal manuscript remain. Just tell me how much you need to borrow to devour it?'"

"This... I'm not sure!'" The heart hesitated.

"How about this," Zhang Xuan said after thinking for a moment, "I'll first severely wound this finger in a moment, and then you can make your move. That should help me save some.''"

Outside, he certainly wouldn't be a match for the finger. But trapped within the Book of Heaven's Path, Heaven's Path zhenqi was the most terrifying weapon.

Having made his decision, Zhang Xuan said no more. He took out the Book of Heaven's Path, and immediately infused a stream of zhenqi into it.

"Ah..." Assaulted by the zhenqi, the finger writhed in pain. Before long, it fell silent.

Seeing this, the heart twitched and swiftly rushed forward. A vast murderous aura burst forth, clashing within the Book of Heaven's Path.

After an unknown period, the finger finally ceased its struggles, losing its previous defiance, and lay quietly on the book page.

"Young Master!" After another while, a wisp of consciousness emerged from the finger.

The heart had completely devoured it, turning this so-called 'Cruel One' into its own nourishment.

"Young Master," the Cruel One's voice continued, "I've just devoured this fellow, and the two consciousnesses are clashing, so I may need to slumber for a while. I've already erased the consciousness of the Azurehorn Dragon Beast's remnant soul within, allowing you to easily refine it to nourish your Spirit Awakener's soul!'"

Immediately after, a pure stream of soul energy emanated from the finger.

Feeling the purity of this soul, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

This so-called 'ruler' of Cloudmist Ridge, though only a remnant soul, had already reached the fourth or fifth Saint realm. Its soul was extremely powerful. As long as he refined it properly, his own soul cultivation would surely increase significantly.

However, now was not the time for refining; there were still many matters to attend to.

He glanced at Master Kong's personal manuscript, seeing that over three hundred characters, roughly a third, had been devoured again. Zhang Xuan's eyebrows twitched, and he put it back into his storage ring.

Others who obtained Master Kong's personal manuscript would treat it as a sacred treasure. Someone like him, who wasted it so casually, was probably unique in the world.

Leaving the folded space, he instructed the Myriad Ants Queen Bee to come and devour it.

With the 'ruler' who had harmed so many master teachers now slain, Cloudmist Ridge would no longer pose a threat. This also provided some closure for the deceased master teachers.

The folded space wasn't large, and with the Myriad Ants Queen Bee's strength having greatly increased, it was devoured completely in less than half an hour.

Putting the bee back into its hive, Zhang Xuan walked out.

Returning to where the spiritual liquid had been stored earlier, he saw the Golden Bear-Tiger Beast lying on the ground, flattened into a meat patty, utterly dead.

Seeing him approach, the Golden Origin Cauldron immediately trotted over, looking eager to please.

"Master, this fellow has been beaten to death, and it had many good things...'"

With a chuckle, a storage ring flew out from the Golden Origin Cauldron and landed in Zhang Xuan's palm.

"A storage ring?" Zhang Xuan was momentarily stunned, then suddenly understood.

Saint Beasts could already open storage rings. As the ruler of Cloudmist Ridge, this beast had lived for at least a thousand years. It had also slain countless experts and collected an unknown number of treasures.

He hadn't thought of this before, but the Golden Origin Cauldron had considered it for him.

With its owner dead, the storage ring's restrictions were gone. He dabbed his finger, and a drop of fresh blood seeped into it. Zhang Xuan immediately saw the space within.

It was several times larger than his own ring, with a diameter of hundreds of meters. Various treasures were piled up like mountains. There were tens of millions of mid-grade spirit stones alone.

There were also several hundred high-grade spirit stones piled together.

Various medicinal herbs, pills, and rare ores were countless.

There were also hundreds of weapons. At least thirty to forty were of top-tier spirit grade, and there were even three semi-Saint grade ones!

"Incredible..." Zhang Xuan gasped.

Since his rebirth, he had diligently earned money, not letting even a single penny go. He had thought he was quite wealthy, but compared to this peak ruler of Cloudmist Ridge, he was still far behind.

No wonder. Cloudmist Ridge had even abducted Grandmaster Wu Yangzi back then. They must have plundered a considerable amount of the latter's treasures.

Although this Golden Bear-Tiger Beast might not have been born two millennia ago, as the supreme ruler and the Azurehorn Dragon Beast's spokesperson, many valuable items were still passed down to it.