Within the mist, Zhang Xuan slowly advanced.
Before his Eye of Insight, a grade-5 Beguilement Formation meant nothing to him at all. The spirit beasts and master teachers in the formation might be unable to see him, but he could see every single movement they were making as clear as day.
With a swift motion, he silently snuck up to a spirit beast and struck it with his palm!
Putong!
The spirit beast immediately collapsed to the ground.
Having reached the Cosmos Bridge realm, his zhenqi strength had reached 5,500,000 ding, a might comparable to a Cosmos Bridge realm advanced stage expert. Even though the spirit beasts weren't weak, how could they stand against such powerful might?
(Cosmos Bridge realm primary stage 4,000,000 ding, intermediate stage 4,800,000 ding, advanced stage 5,600,000 ding, pinnacle 6,200,000 ding!)
The spirit beast tried to struggle to its feet in order to fight its assailant, but at that moment, a voice sounded by its ear.
"Submit or die!"
These words were spoken in the Ancient Beast Language.
Roar!
Given that the master teachers had come to the mountain to hunt them, it thought that the only option it had was to fight to its death. Thus, when Zhang Xuan presented an offer to the spirit beast, it hesitated. It could choose to fight its assailant to the death, but having experienced the immense might of the other party, it knew that its chances of victory were extremely slim. After a short moment of contemplation, it gritted its teeth and kneeled down.
As soon as it submitted, it felt a warm surge of energy flowing into its body. In an instant, not only did it recover from its injuries, its bloodline also became purer under the nourishment of the energy.
"Roar?" The spirit beast's eyes reddened in agitation. It knew that this was a hard-to-come-by opportunity for it to raise its cultivation, so it immediately bowed earnestly to express its submission.
"Un."
Following which, Zhang Xuan instructed the spirit beast to stay put before advancing ahead.
Even though Elder Mo had said that these spirit beasts had hurt many innocent civilians, a life was still a life. If there was an option, he would rather tame them than kill them.
Of course, if the spirit beasts refused to submit, he wouldn't hesitate to kill them either. On a battlefield, showing mercy to one's enemy was foolish.
As he proceeded deeper into the mist, the screams of agony from the spirit beasts continued to echo ceaselessly in the gorge. As time passed, the number of tamed spirit beasts increased, and the casualties from the 'obstinate faction' piled up as well.
As Zhang Xuan headed from spirit beast to spirit beast in the formation, he also made use of this opportunity to absorb the spiritual energy in the air to advance and reinforce his cultivation.
A whirlpool of spiritual energy had formed in the Beguilement Formation due to the burst of spiritual energy from the 520 middle-tier spirit stones. Since he could save some spirit stones, it would be a waste if he didn't make full use of this opportunity.
Two hours later, he successfully reached Cosmos Bridge realm pinnacle.
At the same time, he had also finished dealing with the several hundred spirit beasts in the area. The only ones remaining in the area were those who chose to submit to him.
Having reached Cosmos Bridge realm pinnacle, his strength had increased to 8,000,000 ding, a might comparable to Perfect Harmonization realm primary stage cultivators.
Taking into account the 4,000,000 ding from his physical body and 3,200,000 ding from his soul cultivation, he could match up to even a Transcendent Mortal 8-dan primary stage expert.
If he were to encounter that young man from the Yuan Clan once more, he would be able to defeat the latter easily even without using his clone.
"I am done dealing with the spirit beasts. It should be fine to deactivate the formation now!"
After scanning the area once more with his Eye of Insight, Zhang Xuan verified that he had finished dealing with all of the spirit beasts. With a chuckle, he stomped his feet.
Hu!
The formation came to a halt, the thick mist in the gorge abruptly vanished, and the battlefield came into sight once more.
…
At the very center of the gorge, two hundred master teachers were sitting on the floor. Some were treating their own injuries while others were attempting to recover their zhenqi.
They had followed the spirit beasts in hope of hunting them down, but who knew that it was actually a scheme, and they would end up being the prey instead.
Nearly every single one of them had sustained significant injuries. If not for the Beguilement Formation the young man had set up, they might have all died by now.
A pale-faced master teacher who was still recuperating from his injuries exclaimed, "I know that man, he is Zhang Xuan Zhang shi from Huanyu Empire! He possesses a half 9-dan Great Violetwing Beast. I had the honor of meeting him at the bazaar previously!"
Even though he had only caught a glimpse of Zhang Xuan amidst the crowd back in the bazaar, he was still able to recognize the latter.
This fellow had offered Transcendent Mortal 8-dan inner cores in exchange for Cosmos Bridge realm cultivation technique manuals, and this matter had caused a huge storm in the bazaar. There were none who were present in the bazaar then who would be unfamiliar with his name.
Just that, as only a small proportion of the thirty thousand freshmen had visited the bazaar, there were also many freshmen who were unaware of Zhang Xuan's identity.
"Half 9-dan tamed beast? Does that mean that there's hope for us?"
A master teacher clenched his fists expectantly.
"It's not that simple!"
Another slightly older master teacher shook his head. "There are around four hundred spirit beasts here, and nearly half of them have reached Cosmos Bridge realm. On top of that, due to the narrow space in the gorge, this place is highly disadvantageous to the Great Violetwing Beast, who specializes in speedy maneuvers. Even though the other party has set up a Beguilement Formation to rescue us, considering how it is unlikely that he will be able to maneuver through the formation himself, all it does is to delay the inevitable."
A single spirit beast might not pose much of a threat, but surely several hundreds of them together would.
If an army of soldiers were to strike simultaneously, even a top-notch expert could be destroyed. This was precisely how each royal family was able to maintain firm control over their nation.
Such was the sight before them as well.
The fact that four hundred spirit beasts were lying in wait to ambush them here meant that they had already formed an alliance. In this narrow gorge, an aerial spirit beast would find it hard to avoid all of the attacks from the spirit beast alliance. It would just be a matter of time before it was worn down and defeated.
"Then… are we to just wait for death?"
The master teacher's complexion looked extremely awful.
"There's no point thinking about it. Let's just recuperate for the time being and face whatever comes our way. Our only hope is for Elder Mo to notice the dire situation we are in and come over to save us. There's nothing else we can do."
The older master teacher sighed deeply.
He was partially at fault for putting everyone into this crisis.
It was his greed that had led them into this trap.
"Wait, something is amiss. Ding shi, why do I hear screams of agony from the spirit beasts? Is it possible that Zhang shi is maneuvering around the formation to deal with them one by one?" another master teacher asked.
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Quite a few desolate screams from the spirit beasts had sounded since the activation of the Beguilement Formation. Could someone be dealing with the spirit beasts?
"You are too naive!"
Ding shi shook his head. "The spirit beasts are clearly exploiting the lack of visibility to lure us in. Even if that isn't the case, the sound is likely just an effect of the Beguilement Formation!"
"Lure us in?"
"Un. As a 4-star beast tamer, I can discern the emotions behind the voices of spirit beasts. Even though their voices sound anguished, there is an excited undertone to it… Clearly, they think of us as fish in a net. They know that we are cornered, and they are waiting excitedly for the moment when the Beguilement Formation runs out of energy and collapses!" Ding shi said.
Even though he couldn't comprehend the Ancient Beast Language and couldn't comprehend the meaning behind the spirit beasts' words, that didn't hinder him from perceiving their emotions.
Their voices were intermixed with anguish and excitement. Perhaps, they might have found an idea to clear them in a single sweep.
"Alright, let's focus on recuperating so that we can pull as many of those bastards down to the grave with us…"
At this point, Ding shi was just about to advise the master teachers not to pin their hopes on the uncertain when the formation before them suddenly shook violently.
Grim expressions surfaced on the master teachers' faces in the area.
Ding shi got to his feet and yelled furiously, "The formation is going to collapse soon! Grab your weapons and prepare for battle…"
Weng!
But before he could finish his words, the thick mist concealing their sight vanished completely. Following which, they saw a young man slowly walking up to them.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
"Alright, you are saved!" the young man said calmly.
"Saved?"
Astounded by those words, everyone hurriedly turned to look at the surroundings, only to see the spirit beasts which had bared their fangs at them just a few hours ago kneeling on the floor respectfully.
And walking through the kneeling spirit beasts, the young man resembled an indomitable conqueror.
"This…"
"They are all… tamed?"
"Taming four hundred spirit beasts in just two hours?"
Soon, everyone realized what was going on. However, coming to understand the reality of the situation only deepened their shock.
Other beast tamers had to offer all kinds of artifacts and fawn on a spirit beast in order to persuade it to submit to them. Yet, just by setting up a Beguilement Formation, this young man had actually managed to tame so many spirit beasts within two hours…
Was this for real?
They weren't the only shocked ones. Upon seeing the formation disappear, Ruohuan gongzi and the others also thought that they would be in for a difficult battle. However, upon seeing this sight, they nearly fainted from astonishment.
How powerful must one be to tame four hundred spirit beasts in two hours…
'Brother, is there anything that can contain you in this universe?'
Amidst the shock, someone suddenly shouted, "Wait, something isn't quite right… Take a look at Zhang shi's cultivation!"
Hearing those words, everyone's gazes fell on Zhang Xuan.
That single glance made their bodies tremor uncontrollably, and they nearly fell from the stone platform.
It was just a moment ago that Zhang shi had just reached the Cosmos Bridge realm. But currently, his strength felt perpetual, reminiscent of an unrelenting river. Somehow, it reminded them of the sight of myriad tributaries converging into an ocean.
"Convergence of Myriad Tributaries, this is a sign of one being on the verge of reaching Perfect Harmonization realm. He has reached Cosmos Bridge realm pinnacle!"
"Didn't he just reach Cosmos Bridge realm a moment ago?"
Rubbing their eyes forcefully, everyone felt as though they were going mad.
They had all met top-notch geniuses who advanced swiftly in their cultivation, but never had they witnessed anything as stupefying as this.
Right after a breakthrough, he actually shot from primary stage to pinnacle in a single breath…
How the heck did he cultivate?
Even bamboo shoots didn't grow as quickly as him!
"Zhang shi must have used some kind of secret art to raise his cultivation so as to save them… Otherwise, how could he possibly tame so many spirit beasts within such a short period of time?"
"Indeed! There are four hundred spirit beasts here. Unless one wields overwhelming strength, how could one win the loyalty of all of them?"
The crowd clenched their fists tightly.
As master teachers, they knew how difficult cultivating was, so they immediately discounted the possibility that Zhang Xuan had achieved a breakthrough. Instead, they thought that he had paid a heavy price using some secret art to temporarily raise his cultivation.
Given that half of the spirit beasts present here possessed the strength of Cosmos Bridge realm, the only way to tame them quickly was to overpower them.
His self-sacrificial spirit to save his fellow peers was indeed worthy of respect!
Amidst everyone's astonishment and admiration, Zhang Xuan suddenly announced, "The spirit beasts I have killed and tamed should provide sufficient points for all of you to clear the examination. There's no need for you to hunt spirit beasts anymore; you should report back to the starting line."
Following which, the young man leaped up the floating rock platforms.
"Sufficient points for us to clear the examination?"
"Zhang shi means that… he wants us to take these spirit beasts and inner cores back to clear the examination?"
"But these are the spirit beasts he tamed and killed personally! Is he giving them to us? This…"
Staring at the figure disappearing from the gorge, the crowd clenched their fists tightly, and their eyes reddened.
To selflessly act with the welfare of humanity in mind…
This was a true master teacher!