“Ah?” Zhang Jiang’s body froze upon hearing those words.
Zhang Wuchen and the others also stared at one another blankly.
What was wrong with this fellow? It was just a moment ago that it declared impassionately that those of the Ancient Qilin Bloodline weren’t to be sullied, and if it could, it would have probably slaughtered Zhang Xuan without any hesitation. Yet, why would it suddenly cast away its pride and end up kneeling on the floor subserviently all of a sudden?
Zhang Xuan was also clearly taken aback by the abrupt change in attitude by the Inferno Qilin too. He had to stare intently at the Inferno Qilin for a long while before he was able to convince himself that it was the same arrogant beast that he had dealt with just a moment ago. With a bizarre look on his face, he asked, “Are you certain that you want to acknowledge me as your master?”
“Yes! I swear on my Ancient Qilin Bloodline that I’ll heed any commands that master instructs me without any complaints!” the Inferno Qilin anxiously nodded its head, as if fearing that the young man before it would change his mind.
“Alright then.” Zhang Xuan nodded.
A mere instant after giving his two words of approval, he immediately saw a droplet of blood harnessing the Inferno Qilin’s soul diving gently into his glabella.
And with their master-servant relationship being sealed by a soul contract, he swiftly became cognizant of the massive fellow’s thought process.
Under normal circumstances, the Inferno Qilin would have never submitted to anyone. However, when it saw him diving into a lightning tribulation so powerful that even it would have fled in fear, it changed its mind.
While saint beasts were born physical constitutions that were far stronger than humans, their Primordial Spirits were much weaker in contrast. As such, they possessed natural deference toward lightning, and those who were able to conquer lightning were not too much different from deities in their eyes. As such, just on the basis that the young man was able to chase it away the lightning tribulation so easily, it didn’t seem too bad of an idea to become his tamed beast…
Furthermore, since the other party was able to help the Netherworld Azure Dragon Beast achieve a breakthrough, it shouldn’t be too difficult for him to do the same for it too!
The thought process of beasts was sometimes just much simpler than humans. It was not to say that they were less intelligent, but the way that they perceive friends and foes was much more straightforward as compared to humans.
“I don’t believe it… How can this be?!” Seeing that the Inferno Qilin had actually acknowledged Zhang Xuan as its master, Zhang Jiang’s face turned as white as a sheet of paper.
That was a saint beast which even their clan head was unable to tame! Yet, to be able to win its loyalty within just a short twenty minutes…
Not to mention, it was just a moment ago that the Inferno Qilin was baring its fangs at Zhang Xuan, dying to rip the young man into shreds… Why would it suddenly change its attitude all of a sudden?
Do you know that your abrupt change in attitude has put me in a spot? Not only have I lost the duel, the clan head would also punish me severely for this once he returned!
He had to pay a heavy price in order to capture that huge fellow! If he were to learn that it had fallen into the hands of an outsider…
Pu!
Zhang Jiang’s face reddened from all of the frustration bottled up within in, and a spurt of blood escaped from his lips.
“You are an Inferno Qilin, a beast who possesses the noble Ancient Qilin Bloodline!” Zhang Jiang couldn’t help but exclaim in agitation.
“So what if the noble Ancient Qilin Bloodline flows through my veins? Zhang shi is an outstanding young talent who’s both righteous and humble. Such a person is worthy of me devoting my entire life into pursuing!” The Inferno Qilin shot a haughty look toward Zhang Jiang, fully expressing its delight in becoming Zhang Xuan’s tamed beast.
“You…” Zhang Jiang nearly collapsed to the ground.
What happened to your pride? What happened to your dignity?
It wasn’t too long ago that you were screeching impassionately about how you would rather die than to submit yourself up to another and be sullied, and all of a sudden, you are acting in such a manner… It can’t be that your soul has been swapped with another person’s, can it?
“Since you have acknowledged me as your master, then I guess it would be inappropriate for me not to bestow you with a greeting gift, right?” Completely ignoring the blood-spurting Zhang Jiang, Zhang Xuan snapped his finger with a slight smile.
With an expectant look, the Inferno Qilin waited excitedly for its master present when all of a sudden, it felt a surge of energy gushing out from the depths of its dantian. Under the surge of energy, it found its meridians, which were previously riddled with blockages here and there, were being swiftly knocked open
“This is… the lethal poison from before?” The Inferno Qilin widened its eyes in disbelief.
The sensation of the energy coursing through its body was very familiar—it was the exact same feeling it felt when the poison in the pills diffused throughout its entire body. Just that, instead of wreaking havoc this time around, this surge of energy was clearing away all of the bottlenecks limiting its cultivation, thus pushing it toward a higher realm!
To turn a lethal poison into a tonic with just a mere thought, this was a feat which even 9-star master teachers were incapable of!
The Inferno Qilin found itself trembling uncontrollably in agitation.
It was at this very moment that it truly realized how wise of a decision that it had just made.
It was an instinctive action that it chose to acknowledge the young man as its master, but who could have thought that the capabilities the young man wielded would be far beyond its imagination.
Possessing the Ancient Qilin Bloodline, it was blessed with superior prowess at birth, putting it at a much higher starting point at the others. But at the same time, this overwhelming strength had become its limitation too.
Without a doubt, the Qilin Flames was the strongest weapon that it wielded, but it was also precisely how powerful it was that it was hard to bring it under control, thus making it nigh impossible for Inferno Qilin to cultivate the smaller and thinner meridians in its body. As a result, its rate of cultivation had been very slow.
However, in this very moment, that surge of energy was helping it to pave open all of these smaller and thinner meridians, thus clearing all of the bottlenecks in its way!
In an instant, the Inferno Qilin felt that the invisible ceiling capping its cultivation was starting to loosen up, and it would be able to push for a breakthrough at any moment.
“Master…”
“Hurry up and make a breakthrough. Don’t waste this precious opportunity,” Zhang Xuan interjected nonchalantly.
“Yes!” Knowing that this wasn’t the time for soppy words, the Inferno Qilin closed its eyes and drove the energy in its body.
Boom!
A powerful pressure swept across surroundings, and in this instant, the Inferno Qilin appeared to be an indomitable conqueror.
“The Inferno Qilin… is going to make a breakthrough too?”
Zhang Wuchen’s face immediately warped in absolute shock. With a tearful look, he exclaimed, “Zhang shi, please take the Inferno Qilin away from here. The Zhang Clan can’t take another lightning tribulation! On behalf of Zhang Jiang, I’ll formally concede defeat to you, alright?”
Just the Netherworld Azure Dragon Beast’s breakthrough was sufficient to turn the entire guest area into ruins. If the more powerful Inferno Qilin were to make a breakthrough too… the entire Dracotiger City could very well be turned into ruins!
“Ah… There’s no need to worry. It’s currently at Saint 9-dan advanced stage, so it won’t draw in any lightning tribulation!” Zhang Xuan explained awkwardly.
Through the soul contract, he was able to accurately perceive the Inferno Qilin’s currently cultivation realm and strength—Saint 9-dan Macrocosm Ascendancy realm advanced stage!
Even when utilizing the momentum granted by his zhenqi, it would only be able to push for a breakthrough to Saint 9-dan pinnacle at most… And based on what he knew, just like with Saint 8-dan, there was no lightning tribulation between each cultivation stage within Saint 9-dan.
“That would be for the best…” Zhang Wuchen suddenly recalled that the Inferno Qilin’s current cultivation realm and heaved a sigh of relief.
Once bitten, twice shy. Perhaps it was due to the fright from seeing what happened with the Netherworld Azure Dragon Beast that he became particularly sensitive to this issue.
Indeed, a breakthrough of a cultivation stage within Saint 9-dan wouldn’t draw in any lightning tribulation.
As Zhang Wuchen finally calmed down, many questions began floating in his mind. So, with a slightly intrigued voice, he asked, “Even a breakthrough of a cultivation stage within Saint 9-dan is as difficult as attempting to scale the heavens… If I may just ask, how did Zhang shi manage to induce a breakthrough in it?”
The Netherworld Azure Dragon Beast’s breakthrough could still be attributed to the strong foundations it had built up prior to its breakthrough and Zhang Xuan’s deep understanding of it… But considering that he had just tamed the Inferno Qilin and hadn’t had a chance to understand its constitution on a deeper level yet, how in the world did he manage to induce a breakthrough within it too then?
If that young man really wielded the ability to induce breakthroughs in saint beast as and when he liked, he could pretty much tame any saint beast that he wanted!
“This… I guess it can all be attributed to luck. The Inferno Qilin happens to have made sufficient accumulation over the years, so by using some special means, I was able to tap into its potential and help it push for a breakthrough. Things wouldn’t have proceeded as smoothly as this if I had been dealing with another saint beast instead.” Zhang Xuan explained.
There was no way he could reveal the existence of the Heaven’s Path zhenqi, or else it could bring him great trouble in the future. Ultimately, everything still boiled down to low profile and humility! Those were the two greatest virtues in the world, after all!
“Pardon me, it seems like I have lacked consideration in my words.” Seeing how the young man was beating around the bush, Zhang Wuchen realized that his actions may appear as if he was probing into the other party’s secrets, so he hurriedly apologized.
Following which, he clasped his fist and smiled, “I have heard news from our younglings in the Sanctum of Sages that your teacher is Yang shi, Yang Xuan. Is that true?”
“My teacher is indeed Yang Xuan,” Zhang Xuan replied.
At this moment, he wasn’t ready to throw out his identity as Yang Xuan’s student yet. Considering the abilities that he wielded despite his low cultivation realm, there was no telling that greedy individuals would attempt to do him harm so as to uncover his secrets.
Hu Yiwei wasn’t around anyway, and they weren’t at the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters either. Even the Sanctum of Sages was unable to uncover the authenticity of his identity, so surely it wouldn’t be too difficult to fool the Zhang Clan too?
“No wonder…” Zhang Wuchen nodded in realization. “May I know if Zhang shi knows where Yang shi is currently at?”
“My teacher has always been a free man, wandering the lands without allowing himself to be restrained by anything. As such, I’m afraid that I am unaware of his whereabouts either.” Zhang Xuan replied.
Zhang Wuchen was slightly taken aback for a moment before finally understanding why Zhang Xuan had come to the Zhang Clan and yet, instead of paying a visit to his teacher, chose to wreak havoc here. It turned out that he was unaware that his teacher was right in the Zhang Clan!
“It’s truly a work of coincidence that you came at this timing. Yang shi is currently in seclusion in the Zhang Clan, and I believe that he could be coming out very soon. The two of you will soon be able to reunite with one another!” Zhang Wuchen said with a smile.
“Yang shi is here too?” Zhang Xuan asked with a surprised smile on his face, but on the inside, his blood had already run cold.
