“The rewards of the competition differ every single time but it has always been very generous. More importantly, if you earn the acknowledgment of the Beast Hall, you might get an opportunity to study in higher tier kingdoms.”
Hearing his question, Hall Master Feng hurriedly explained.
“In fact, the previous champion won the Tutelage Jade Token of a 3-star master teacher and a Flowing Water Beast Taming Method manual.”
“You call this abundant?” Zhang Xuan was speechless.
He thought that the champion would obtain some incredible treasure, but a 3-star master teacher Tutelage Jade Token and a beast taming secret manual… To him, these were useless.
“If I win the championship and don’t want their rewards, can I swap it for something else?” After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Xuan asked.
“It depends on what you want!” Hall Master Feng looked at him with a perplexed gaze.
Even to him, the Tutelage Jade Token of a 3-star master teacher was a priceless treasure. Was this fellow unsatisfied even with this much? Does he still wish for something even more valuable?
“Can I trade those for a few cultivation technique manuals instead?” Zhang Xuan asked.
“Cultivation technique manuals? A few of them?”
Giant question marks hung on the faces of the three beast tamers.
Do you think that cultivation technique manuals are like cabbages in the market? Asking for… a few of them at once?
Zhang Xuan nodded his head. “Un. Zongshi realm cultivation technique manuals. It’ll be better if there is more of them. In fact, if possible, I would like a thousand books.”
“A thousand books?”
Everyone’s body swayed.
They thought that Zhang Xuan’s ‘a few’ would mean a dozen or so. Yet, a thousand books… Are you trying to rob the entire Beast Hall of its wealth?
“What tier of cultivation technique are you looking at?” Hall Master Feng couldn’t help but ask.
There were different tiers to cultivation techniques. The higher the tier, the more valuable it was. Finding even a single high-tier cultivation technique was difficult enough, needless to say, a thousand of it.
“Oh, I don’t have any requirements on the tier, I’m fine with anything. All I require is a great quantity of Zongshi realm cultivation technique manuals.”
“This…”
Everyone was taken aback.
If Zhang Xuan has no requirements on the tier, then… the cultivation technique manuals are truly inexpensive! While Zongshi realm secret manuals are valuable in Tier 1 and Tier 2 Kingdoms, they actually aren’t worth much in Conferred Kingdoms.
As long as one had sufficient gold coins, he would be able to buy them easily… This fellow actually wanted to trade a 3-star master teacher Tutelage Jade Token for this?
This was a huge waste of the treasure!
Even in Conferred Kingdoms, 3-star master teachers stood at the very top of the pyramid. Their lessons were something that countless cultivators dreamt about, and yet, Zhang Xuan wanted to swap such an object for a bunch of useless cultivation techniques?
Why does it feel like Zhang Xuan was picking the shell of a clam over the pearl within?
One must know that a cultivator can only practice one cultivation technique. If he wants to change his cultivation technique, he has to start from scratch.
They might be able to understand it if Zhang Xuan had asked for a powerful cultivation technique, but to have no demand on the quality… He would only ruin his cultivation at this rate!
Upon realizing these facts, the three beast tamers stared at Zhang Xuan with strange gazes. This Beast Tamer Zhang’s preferences… were simply too eccentric!
“If you don’t have any requirements on the tier, your request actually isn’t that difficult to fulfill. They should approve of it… However, the prerequisite is that you’ll have to win the Beast Taming Competition first.”
After hesitating for a moment, Hall Master Feng nodded his head.
There was a precedent of someone swapping the prize of the Beast Taming Competition for something else. As long as its value didn’t exceed the prize by too much, and it was within their means, given that this would win them the goodwill of a talented beast tamer, the Beast Hall wouldn’t object.
“Alright, I agree to your request!” Zhang Xuan replied.
As his cultivation realm rose, gathering cultivation techniques had been becoming increasingly difficult. It was just a matter of time before he would have to head to the Conferred Kingdoms, and having the backing of the Beast Hall would be for the best.
“That’s great! We’ll meet in Xuanyuan Royal City half a year from now then!”
Upon hearing Zhang Xuan agree, the eyes of the three beast tamers immediately lit up, and they clenched their fists in agitation.
Their Xuanluo Mountain Range Beast Hall had been at the very bottom of the competition every single time. Now with a talented beast tamer joining their ranks, they might be able to awe the other Beast Halls.
After resolving the issue regarding the Beast Taming Competition, they chatted for awhile longer. While they called it a chat, their actual purpose was to pry information from the other party. However, upon seeing that they were unable to get anything out of the other party’s mouth, they decided to let the matter slip.
Whenever they reached a crucial point, that fellow would act ignorant. They were frustrated with his display but could do nothing about it.
If you say that you don’t know about anything else, we can let it slip.
But as a senior to master teachers and a master teacher apprentice, you should at least know how the master teacher examination goes, right? Or at the very least, you should at least know how to raise one’s Soul Depth, right?
In the end… It turned out that he knew nothing about them!
Fine, we’ll tolerate it!
But given how skilled you are in the Way of Medicine, you should at least know some basic medical knowledge, right? Yet… How could you not know anything!
We’ll tolerate that as well!
However… You are already a 2-star beast tamer. How can you not even know how to ride an aerial savage beast and the various branches of the Beast Hall…
Alright, assuming that we tolerated that as well, what about when we asked you about how large the Beast Forest is, how many apprentice beast tamers there are in it, how many apprentices a beast tamer could accept…
Aren’t you going too far with your act!
If you don’t wish to tell us anything, you can just say so. Acting ignorant about everything…
Is that fun?
Previously, when you tamed a beast, treated the Howling Firmament Beast, forged pills, and slapped everyone’s faces, it seemed as if there is nothing you are incapable of. Yet, at this moment, you are acting like a fool. Seeing you in such a state, some might even think that you have dissociative identity disorder…
After chatting for a short while longer, the three beast tamers couldn’t stand Zhang Xuan any further and bade farewell hurriedly.
“Ah, don’t go… I still have a lot of things to talk to you about!” Zhang Xuan tried to stop them.
Hu!
Executing their battle techniques, the three figures blurred and disappeared without a trace immediately.
Whoever who wants to talk to him, feel free to do so. We do not want to die of frustration…
“In short chat, I learned quite a lot of things.”
Oblivious to the thoughts of the trio, Zhang Xuan reflected as he stood up.
While Hall Master Feng and the others were just beast tamers, they had a good grasp of the powers and situation of the surrounding kingdoms. They were quite knowledgeable about the various occupations, and their words had expanded his horizon.
Even though this world wasn’t as modernized as the one Zhang Xuan was in before his transcension, the knowledge which grew throughout the ages here was much more profound than that of his previous world.
It had just been barely twenty days since Zhang Xuan has transcended, and his line of thoughts had yet to fully adapt to this world. Thus, he was unclear of numerous matters, and speaking to these veterans was extremely helpful in expanding his outlook.
After the days of journey and the events that took place at the Beast Hall, Zhang Xuan had become slightly fatigued. Under the guidance of an apprentice, he headed to the residence assigned to him.
Upon reaching the residence he saw an elegant and beautiful figure, reminiscent of a painting, standing at the entrance.
“Mo Yu?”
Zhang Xuan was taken aback.
It wasn’t anyone else. It was the genius who had pitted herself against him for the entire day, the third princess of Tianwu Kingdom, Mo Yu.
“Beast Tamer Zhang!” Upon seeing Zhang Xuan, Mo Yu immediately walked forward to greet him.
“Xiaojie, were you waiting for me?” Zhang Xuan asked doubtfully.
It was already sunset by the time he was done treating the Howling Firmament Beast and after that, he chatted with the three beast tamers for around four hours. By modern standards, it was already around ten o’clock. Why would she be waiting at the entrance at such a timing?
“That’s right. There is something which I am unable to comprehend no matter how much I ponder, so I came over personally to ask you about it.” Mo Yu gritted her teeth.
“Oh?”
“How can you be so sure that the pills had already formed in the cauldron when the cauldron was on the verge exploding?”
Mo Yu stared at Zhang Xuan.
No matter how much she contemplated, she was unable to understand how he did it.
As an official apothecary, she knew very well how difficult it was for a pill to be formed. A split second error in the timing could spell the difference between success and failure. It would take incredible coincidence for a pill to be formed at the very moment of the cauldron explosion. Even though Mo Yu witnessed everything with her own eyes, she nevertheless found the matter hard to believe.
It felt surreal.
“It’s luck!” Zhang Xuan casually said.
With the Library of Heaven’s Path overseeing the situation, Zhang Xuan had a complete grasp of the timing of the cauldron explosion and the formation of the pill. However, he couldn’t possibly reveal the truth, so he could only make up an excuse.
“Luck?” Mo Yu shook her head. “There’s no such thing as luck in pill forging! I will be truly grateful if Beast Tamer Zhang can enlighten me.”
As a genius who dabbled in numerous occupation, Mo Yu possessed a strong desire for knowledge.
Initially, she didn’t think much. However after returning, she tried recalling the matter, and to her surprize, she realized that the other party’s understanding of medicinal herbs and control over flames were superior to even that of her teacher!
One must know that her teacher was a 2-star pinnacle grandmaster apothecary. Even in Tianwu Kingdom, he was an incredible existence.
A fellow who isn’t even twenty being superior to her dignified teacher… How is this possible?
Thus… She concluded that Zhang Xuan had used trickery.
She contemplated over the various possibilities, but she realized that none of them could explain his feat. Thus, she made the trip here in hope that she could be enlightened.
“You wish to learn from me?”
Initially, Zhang Xuan thought that the other party would back off after a few nonsensical statements. Yet, to his astonishment, the other party continued to stare at him with an earnest look.
“Yes! I really wish to learn from you.” Mo Yu looked at Zhang Xuan earnestly.
“Un!”
Satisfied with the other party’s attitude, Zhang Xuan nodded his head.
Without the airs of a princess, she was willing to lower her head to seek enlightenment. With such humility and intense desire for knowledge, it was no wonder that she was able to master so many occupations.
“Since you wish to learn, I’ll tell you more!”
Toward those who sincerely desired to learn, Zhang Xuan wasn’t selfish with his knowledge. Placing two hands behind his back, he spoke, “Pill forging is an art of melding medicinal herbs together to better bring out their medicinal properties. However, there are many factors that one has to consider in the process of doing so.”
“If I’m not wrong, the cauldron that exploded then was forged using the Glacial Metal of the Glacial Metal Mountain at the northwest of Tianwu Kingdom. There were many processes to its forging, and the entire process took a total of forty-nine days. Even though it wasn’t forged by an official blacksmith, it came from the hands of a famous 5-mo craftsman. After several refinements, it became exceptionally sturdy. However…”
At this point, his tone suddenly changed, “You’ve forged pills with this cauldron a total of eighteen times, and there were seven times when there were signs of cauldron explosion! Even though they were suppressed by using overwhelming energy eventually, the pressure had damaged the cauldron, creating numerous cracks in the interior of the cauldron. If that was just it, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. However, if I’m not wrong, half a month ago, you forged an [Ice Soul Pill] using it. The clash between the lingering frost from back then and the heat from the forging of the Searing Sun Pill damaged the cauldron significantly.”
“One should use their zhenqi to line the cauldron so as to prevent it from getting damaged. However, you didn’t do so, and this caused several problems to appear with the cauldron. Even if it didn’t explode this time, it is unlikely that it would last for long!”
“Now that we’re done with the cauldron, let’s talk about the environment where the pill forging was conducted. Given that it was an autumn evening, the surroundings were slightly chilly. When you first started the forging, you didn’t warm the cauldron properly before raising the heat in your haste to show off your fire control mastery. Even though it did look flashy, it was equivalent to destroying one’s own cauldron…”
At this point, Zhang Xuan lifted his head and smiled, “Mo Yu xiaojie, is what I’ve said… true?”
“This…”
Trembling, Mo Yu’s lower jaw fell to the ground.
