Chapter 204: The Story of Ugly Duckling
Translator: Subudai11 Editor: Chrissy
When the spirit of the Beast Collar pulled the whip, tying the immortal beast, and presenting the immortal beast in front of Tiger King, many of the surrounding Elders didn’t dare to believe that things were actually that simple.
They originally thought that there would be a fierce struggle between two evenly matched opponents, thinking that it would cause them a lot of trouble. However, things have eventually become so. Except for erupting the moonlight from the Green Lake and futilely struggling under the whip, the opponent’s performance could be considered as abysmal.
However, looking from another point of view, this result was normal. No matter how powerful the innate strength of the young immortal beast was, it was, after all, still a spirit beast. And as long as it was a beast, naturally it would be restrained by Beast Master School, even if it was an immortal beast...
Of course, if it was a fully grown immortal beast, perhaps the whole effort of the Beast Master School would come to a dead end. However, for a not yet transformed immortal beast, its power was still limited.
In particular, this dog, which was tightly bounded by the whip, still tried to desperately struggle. It seemed like… it was a bit stupid? Oh, right, if it were clever, it wouldn’t have appeared and received the Emperor Essence on the Green Lake. On the outside, it seemed like a good idea, but in fact, it was nothing short of a suicide...
"Well then, it is time for the Great Elder to leave the mark on it as soon as possible."
A Jindan Stage Elder promptly said.
Tiger King nodded and, with a thought, that beast collar spirit used a burning torch to heat the branding iron, and then slowly reached out for that beast spirit on the ground.
As long as it left the slave mark on its body, it would never be able to break free. Even if it gradually matured in the future, when its cultivation base nearly reached the peak, thus be able to lift the mark by itself… By then, there would be a more advanced mark waiting for it.
The fate that would await it was to contribute its value at the Beast Master School until its death. Of course, it was still a good fate. Because, in Beast Master School, it would receive the most rigorous training to reach its full potential. Although the downside to that was its loss of freedom, overall, compared to the solitary life in the Grand Cloud Mountain, it would still be a much better choice.
Under the gaze of many Elders, the Beast Collar spirit was about to burn the red hot branding iron on the immortal beast, but then...
Bam!
A ripple of golden light bounced away the branding iron. The Beast Collar spirit roared, "A contract!? A contract has already been formed! This immortal beast has already exchanged contract with other people, it is not an ownerless thing! My slave brand can’t be marked over it!"
"What!?"
The Elders were dumbfounded. The contract has been exchanged? How was this possible? This immortal beast moon spirit should have been completely formed not long ago, so it was basically like a newborn baby. Before it was born, it was impossible to change the contract, but after it was born… was there a time window?
While the other Elders were incredulous, the most hot tempered one among them, Great Elder Tiger King was instead calmed down.
Because he remembered the words spoken by A Xia previously… It seemed like that young cultivator from a certain big sect finally could not bear but make his move.
Able to come in contact with the immortal beast in advance without them noticing it and then leaving behind a contract with it were indeed powerful moves. Unfortunately, these efforts were doomed to be futile without changing the premise.
Before it transformed its form, moon spirit could not leave the mountain. However, if it wanted to transform its form, it must pass through the moat that was the Beast Master School. And this moat, was impassable.
So, what would happen next? What’s the use in leaving such a contract? Was he going to go back to his sect to look for his Elders, claiming that he found the immortal beast first? What a joke! Even Shengjing Sect people would not do such a high handed method… right?
Thinking to this, Tiger King furrowed his brows. He inwardly knew that a long delay usually meant more problems. He then said to the beast collar spirit, "Quickly lift up the contract and cover it with our mark."
However, that beast collar spirit said, "It’s difficult, this contract… is quite an advanced one. The cultivator who made the contract is a master in contract making technique."
"Humph, no matter what level it is, since it’s a pet beast contract, putting it in front of us is like showing off a meager skill in front of an expert! Liang Yu, Gong Yang, you two assist the beast collar spirit and crack this contract as soon as possible."
While talking, Tiger King rose up.
Unsurprisingly, the opposite party’s genuine real move finally appeared.
——
"Hm, it’s time. Let’s move."
Outside the Full Moon Valley, after waiting for a long time, Wang Lu finally issued the start signal.
Xiao Qi was astonished. "Now? Right now, the opposite party is clearly waiting for us to enter into a trap?"
It must be said that the best opportunity to make their move was just now, when the other side locked the immortal beast using the beast collar and dragged it to the Crown Cloud Peak, when they all thought the victory was at hand and their attention was focused on the immortal beast… Now that they have found that something was wrong, they began to be vigilant!
"No problem, believe me."
Wang Lu lightly said and then stepped into the Full Moon Valley.
When Wang Lu and the others stepped through the barrier of the Five Mountain Broken Veins Great Array, by its spell, they were directly transmitted to the center of the valley.
Of course, with this, they could no longer hide.
If things went according to the best possible outcome of Wang Lu’s expectation, A Xia had successfully deceived Tiger King. Thus, the appearance of Wang Lu’s group would be completely unexpected to Beast Master School, which would send them into shock. This moment of shock would be enough to let Wang Lu accomplish a lot of things. However, things were not quite as what they expected...
"Sure enough, you finally appeared. I’ve been waiting for you for a long time. I was afraid you won’t come!"
Tiger King sneered and coldly laughed. However, his laughter didn’t last long because, on top of the Crown Cloud Peak, there was only his after image. The big stature of this Great Elder, in the blink of an eye, had already flown down straight from the Crown Cloud Peak, his pair of tiger claw tore the air, creating a vacuum. The friction with the air also ignited a violet-blue fire that looked like a divine tribulation lightning. Before his tiger claw, Wang Lu who had just been transmitted there, seemed to have a vacant look.
Trying to surprise a person but instead was beaten by surprise. While he inwardly sneered, Tiger King retrieved the majority of strength from his arms as he did not intend to kill the intruder.
According to A Xia, the young cultivator came from a top upright sect, thus killing him would just give Tiger King a momentary pleasure but would create more trouble in the future. Of course, he himself didn’t care so much for the future trouble. The problem was, for a cultivator from a top upright sect, there would always be some mouth-watering magical treasures. If one of his claws tore him apart, those magical treasures that were connected with the owner’s life might be destroyed in vain.
Though Tiger King was being lenient, for a Yuanying Stage cultivator like him, even if he didn’t use most of his strength, the remaining parts would be enough to break a Jindan Stage cultivator’s defense.
However, the next moment, when Tiger King’s claw was about to grasp Wang Lu’s throat, a plain and simple sword suddenly met him head on.
Bang!
The sword tip directly clashed with Tiger King’s palm, and two strands of opposite magical power erupted. Tiger King’s thunder like momentum abruptly stopped and was inverted backward dozens of meters away. Wang Lu, however, sank a meter deep into the ground.
However, except for that, Wang Lu’s momentum was not chaotic, and his person and the sword unite were as steady as the mountain.
It was blocked!? In mid-air, Tiger King could not believe his eyes. A Yuanying level strike was actually stopped by a Foundation Establishment… Oh, wrong, a mere Xudan Stage little cultivator!?
Of course, there were many rational explanations for this. Tiger King’s mercy, combined with Wang Lu’s unexpected counterattack actually stopped Tiger King claw’s attack from fully erupting its power. Even so, the gap between Xudan and Yuanying shouldn’t easily be wiped out like that.
For a Yuanying Stage cultivator, even if the used strength was not many, the magical power that gushed out of the Nascent Soul in the Jade Mansion would contain the cultivator’s own spiritual nature, which has an absolute quality difference. The same spell would double its power if powered by the spiritual energy of a Yuanying Stage cultivator. Similar to a battle between two armies: one side consisted of battle-hardened veterans while the other were new recruits, including the generals. From this, the strength disparity was self-evident.
Just now, Tiger King used twenty percent of his force, but common sense dictated that even a Jindan Stage cultivator must use two or three times of its magical power just to contend with it. Considering that the total magical power of a Yuanying Stage cultivator was better than that of a Jindan, it would need a full effort from a middle-level Jindan Stage cultivator to barely able to resist it.
However, Wang Lu wasn’t even a middle-level Xudan, so how could he possibly block it? Tiger Wang frowned while his dao's heart frantically circulated in his Jade Mansion, inwardly replaying the exchange that just happened in details.
Just now, when he sent out his tiger’s claw, his five fingers were imbued with lightning arc powered by the magical power from the double colored Nascent Soul, making it just like tens of thousands of ferocious tigers, and could easily shred the opponent a number of times… And Wang Lu simply withstood it with a simple sword. However, the sword’s magical power actually possessed a unique and pure spiritual nature, which was comparable to that of a Jindan!
Who exactly is this guy?
No matter, he will not escape my second strike, after that, I can just slowly torture him. Just now the block was an accident...
At this time, Wang Lu mockingly smiled. "Look behind you."
Tiger King roared in anger, "Do you think I am a three years old child?"
With that, lightning arcs began to wound around his fingers again. However, this time, the magical power used was ten times as before. However, suddenly...
"Aaa!"
A scream came from the top of the Crown Cloud Peak shocked and frightened Tiger King because that was the voice of the beast collar spirit!
Looking back, Tiger King’s eyes penetrated through the clouds that surrounded the Crown Cloud Peak and saw that, on top of the peak… there was a creepy giant shadow.
"Auuu!"
That was the terrifying sound of a howling wolf that could even scare away the light from the moon. The initially tied down to the grown, unable to move even an inch, immortal beast moon spirit had actually become a fifteen-meter tall giant wolf. Its two blood-red eyes emitted out an abnormally ferocious bloodthirsty light, and blood continued to trickle down from the two rows of teeth in its mouth.
The bleak and lightless beast collar lied on the ground, and everything below the chest of the dog face with human body beast collar spirit had already been swallowed by the wolf, leaving just half of its body on the ground, rolling and wailing. And each of the two Jindan Stage Elders who were initially at its side spat out a mouthful of blood. Obviously, they have suffered a heavy injury.
"What!?"
Tiger King was greatly shocked.
Where did this giant wolf come from? Is it the immortal beast? But the immortal beast was clearly bounded tightly by the Beast Collar. Not to mention that it has yet to transform its form, even if it has assumed its true form, along with its power, with the repression from the spiritual treasure, plus the assistance of two Jindan Stage Elders, it was impossible for it to suddenly break loose and seriously bitten and wounded the beast collar spirit!
In consternation, Wang Lu’s voice sounded out again from behind.
"The spiritual treasure that you guys are proud of is indeed especially made for the spirit dog. But, even though I always call my stupid dog a stupid dog, it’s not a dog."