Chapter 259: Beast Taming Master
While Han Qiu was setting up the formation, Zhang Ruochen took out all his war swords from the space ring, a total of one hundred and seventy-two blades.
"If I use the Sword Control Art to simultaneously control one hundred and seventy-two war swords, they could inflict massive damage on a large number of savage beasts. Of course, doing so would expose my Sword Heart Illumination realm. Is Han Qiu truly trustworthy?"
After thinking it over, Zhang Ruochen put all one hundred and seventy-two war swords back into the space ring, deciding not to reveal the Sword Heart Illumination realm for now.
Having met Chi Yao and Chen Xier, Zhang Ruochen had deeply understood the saying, "You know a person's face, but not their heart." Although he didn't dislike Han Qiu, he still felt he should keep some secrets and not let anyone fully know his trump cards.
Always holding something back could never be wrong.
Zhang Ruochen began inspecting the city-protecting grand formation of Yueji City and discovered that the formation's eye was inside the altar at the city center.
In the Kunlun Realm, not only every city but even every village had an altar.
The altar of Yueji City was seven meters tall and covered a fairly wide area.
Beneath the altar was a sacred pool engraved with various patterns.
Zhang Ruochen opened the stone door of the altar and came to the edge of the sacred pool, only to find it filled with blood. Bubbles rose from the pool, emitting a strong bloody odor.
"Why is there so much blood here?" Han Qiu walked in from outside, standing beside Zhang Ruochen, staring in surprise at the churning, boiling blood.
She had already fully inserted the formation flags of two defensive formations and five offensive formations into the city wall, forming seven formations.
Zhang Ruochen said, "If I'm not mistaken, this blood comes from the martial artists of Yueji City. Their blood was drained by blood spirits and stored in the sacred pool, waiting for the blood-sucking demon to come and absorb it."
Han Qiu exclaimed in shock, "You mean that blood-sucking demon could arrive in Yueji City at any time to absorb the blood in the pool?"
"That should be the case." Zhang Ruochen nodded.
Han Qiu felt a headache coming on. "Just one beast taming master is already hard for us to deal with. Now there's an extra blood-sucking demon..."
Zhang Ruochen stared thoughtfully at the blood in the sacred pool and showed a faint smile. "To us, this might not necessarily be a bad thing. Perhaps we can use this blood to perform a sacrifice and break through our cultivation realms."
"Break through our realms through a sacrifice?" Han Qiu asked.
"That's right."
Zhang Ruochen nodded. "However, we still need some savage beasts as offerings and need to prepare more blood to help us open the human-god gate. This might be our only chance to deal with that beast taming master. Only by breaking through our realms can we have a fighting chance."
Han Qiu looked at Zhang Ruochen with a mix of doubt and belief, then nodded. "Alright! I'll trust you this time."
Zhang Ruochen took out twenty thunder beads, two bottles of healing pills, two bottles of qi-recovery pills, two bottles of Taiyu Pills, and three battle diagrams, and handed them to Han Qiu.
He said solemnly, "I've already repaired the city-protecting grand formation. I'm giving you these resources now. I hope we can truly break through our realms through the sacrifice. Otherwise, Yueji City might become our burial ground."
Han Qiu took the resources, curled her lips, revealing two rows of snow-white teeth, and smiled. "We've prepared so thoroughly. Can we really not defeat a beast taming master? Whether we break through our realms is secondary."
Looking at Han Qiu's stunning smile, Zhang Ruochen also relaxed a little and smiled back. "Well said. Let's start preparing for battle."
From outside the city came a rumbling sound, and the ground trembled slightly.
"They're here!"
Zhang Ruochen picked up the Abyssal Ancient Sword, leaped up more than seventy meters high, landed on the city wall, and looked into the distance.
At the horizon, dust flew, and a vast, pitch-black mass of savage beasts surged toward Yueji City.
The beasts were formidable in number, over a thousand, rushing like a flood.
One could imagine that without the protection of the formation, the low-walled Yueji City would be trampled flat in an instant.
"Roar!"
A fourth-rank savage beast, the Fire Cloud Wolf, charged at the front.
Its body was seven meters tall, covered in crimson flames, and it let out a deafening howl. From afar, it looked like a blazing red fire cloud.
Where the Fire Cloud Wolf passed, snow melted, the ground turned into black scorched earth, and some rocks melted into red-hot magma.
From another direction, a fifty-meter-long cyan giant python led a group of snake-type savage beasts to the foot of Yueji City.
The cyan giant python had a pair of fleshy wings on its back, a body thicker than a water barrel, and raised its ferocious head to the height of the city wall. It revealed two lantern-sized eyes, staring coldly at the two weak humans on the wall.
Besides the ground, the sky was also filled with dense flocks of savage birds circling above Yueji City, seemingly waiting for the beast tamer's command.
"Roar!"
"Growl!"
...
The roars of the savage beasts rose and fell, spreading for hundreds of miles.
A weaker martial artist would probably have fainted from fright at such a scene.
Even the battle-hardened Han Qiu and Zhang Ruochen were now tense, feeling unprecedented pressure.
"The number of savage beasts has already exceeded ten thousand and is still increasing. This is almost like a beast tide. Without the city-protecting grand formation, even the royal city of a lower commandery might not be able to withstand such an attack. Is this the power of a beast taming master?"
Han Qiu clenched her hands, her face solemn. "Zhang Ruochen, you're right. If we were surrounded by these beasts in the mountains, we probably wouldn't survive even one charge before being torn to pieces."
Zhang Ruochen looked at the beast horde outside the city. "There are five fourth-rank savage beasts: the Fire Cloud Wolf, the Cyan-Winged Blood Python, the Four-Armed Fierce Ape, the Iron-Armored Black Bear, and the Lion-Headed Bull King. Plus two fourth-rank savage birds: the Dragon Eagle and the Swallowing Cloud Sparrow. Along with the other third-rank, second-rank, and first-rank beasts, the city-protecting grand formation and the seven formation flags probably won't hold for long."
A fourth-rank savage beast or bird had combat power comparable to a Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artist.
With seven fourth-rank beasts and birds combined, it was clear that the beast taming master took Zhang Ruochen and Han Qiu very seriously, without any underestimation, and had likely summoned all the savage beasts within thousands of miles.
An old man wearing a purple gold crown rode a three-headed fire crow, flying over from a distance. He hovered in the void, staring at Zhang Ruochen and Han Qiu on the city wall, a smile appearing on his aged face. "Zhang Ruochen, hand over the account books! Under these circumstances, you don't still intend to resist, do you?"
Zhang Ruochen remained expressionless, channeling his true qi, and sent his voice out: "Are you the beast taming master of the Four Directions Commandery, Ling Xiansu?"
"That's right, this old man." The old man in the purple gold crown said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "How about we make a deal?"
"What deal?" Ling Xiansu asked.
Zhang Ruochen said, "With your mastery of beast taming, staying in the Four Directions Commandery leaves no room for improvement. But if you cooperate with me, I can guarantee that you'll reach a higher level, achieving a greater realm."
Ling Xiansu laughed heartily. "This old man has lived for nearly a hundred years, yet this is the first time I've heard such a joke. A mere teenager like you wants to cooperate with this old man? Do you even have the qualifications?"
Zhang Ruochen sighed. "Not cooperating with me will be the stupidest thing you've ever done in your life."
"This old man enjoys the treatment of a national teacher in the Four Directions Commandery. I am second only to one and above ten thousand. I have abundant money and resources and earn the respect of countless people. What can you give me? You're just a prince of a lower commandery. Do you expect this old man to abandon a middle commandery to serve a lower one?" Ling Xiansu sneered disdainfully.
Ling Xiansu had lost patience. His eyes darkened. "I'll give you the time it takes to burn one incense stick to hand over the account books and cripple your own martial arts. This old man will spare your lives. Otherwise, when the beasts attack the city, you'll die without a complete corpse."
Han Qiu was about to speak, but Zhang Ruochen stopped her. He said, "One incense stick is too short. We need an hour to consider."
Dragging out time was the best they could do. The longer they delayed, the more advantageous it would be for them.
Ling Xiansu said, "An hour is too long. I'll give you at most half an hour."
"Fine! We'll discuss it and give you an answer in half an hour." Zhang Ruochen said loudly.
In Ling Xiansu's view, Zhang Ruochen and Han Qiu were already doomed. If they could voluntarily hand over the account books, that would be the best outcome.
Half an hour passed quickly.
Ling Xiansu said, "You two juniors, have you made up your minds?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "Senior, could you give us another half hour to think? After all, this is a matter of life and death, and we're very hesitant."
"Is dragging out the time really meaningful? This old man has already given you half an hour. Since you didn't cherish it, don't blame this old man for not giving young people a way out."
Ling Xiansu took out a purple crystal ball and infused it with true qi.
The crystal ball immediately lit up, emitting beams of purple light like a purple moon hanging in the void, illuminating the land for a hundred miles.
"Whoosh!"
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen channeled his true qi into the formation eye, and the city-protecting grand formation of Yueji City immediately activated.
Simultaneously, the thirty-six formation flags on the city wall lit up, shooting out thirty-six beams of light.
The thirty-six beams connected, forming a semi-circular light shield that enveloped the entire Yueji City within the formation.
Below the city, the savage beasts became violent, roaring wildly as they began to furiously attack the defensive formation.
A Four-Armed Fierce Ape, like a giant, held a stone disc weighing hundreds of thousands of jin and smashed it toward the city wall of Yueji City.
"Boom!" Under the stone disc's attack, the light of the thirty-six formation flags dimmed slightly. The formation light shield was dented by the impact, seeming on the verge of breaking.
In the sky, the fourth-rank savage bird, the Swallowing Cloud Sparrow, absorbed all the spiritual qi within dozens of miles in a single breath.
In its belly, the surging spiritual qi transformed into lightning power.
The Swallowing Cloud Sparrow opened its crimson beak and spat downward. A bolt of lightning as thick as a bowl struck the top of the defensive formation.
The entire Yueji City seemed wrapped in lightning.
If the martial artists in Yueji City hadn't all died and there was no formation protecting them, that single strike from the Swallowing Cloud Sparrow would have killed half of them.
Such was the terror of a fourth-rank savage beast!
Among human martial artists, only a Heavenly Extreme Realm martial arts myth could contend with a fourth-rank savage beast.
"Han Qiu, activate the Eight Dragon Wind and Fire Formation and deal with the savage birds in the sky first." After saying this, Zhang Ruochen picked up the Abyssal Ancient Sword and charged toward the city gate.
Han Qiu shouted, "What are you going to do?"
"Those fourth-rank savage beasts are too powerful. If we let them keep attacking, the two defensive formations and the city-protecting grand formation will be breached before dark. I have to kill one before nightfall. You control the formations in the city. The spirit crystals needed are all in the arrow tower. Remember to support me at any time."
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Ruochen leaped, jumping directly out of the formation light shield.