Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Chapter 621 Victory! Tianjing's Conditions [Please Subscribe]

The duration of "Berserk Body" is not very long, because it is a supernatural power that pushes the body to its limits.

The berserk state lasted for only about fifteen minutes before the [Azure-Eyed Golden Ape] exited its berserk state.

As the berserk state subsided, the various injuries on its body aggravated it, instantly making it experience what it meant to be berserk for a moment, only to suffer a devastating aftermath!

Suddenly, multiple wounds on its body burst open all at once, sending blood and flesh flying everywhere, as if an internal explosion had occurred.

His aura plummeted rapidly, seemingly regressing to the middle rank of the fourth level!

Just then, the late-stage Golden Core cultivator who had previously retreated made his move.

Before Zhou Chun could even make a move, he directly activated a high-grade magic weapon flying sword and slashed it at the neck of the [Azure-Eyed Golden Ape].

Even before the Azure-Eyed Golden Ape entered its berserk state, such a sword strike would at most severely injure it, and it would be difficult to sever its head completely.

But now this sword strike easily cleaved off that enormous ape head!

With a single swipe of sword light, the enormous ape head was carried towards the late-stage Golden Core cultivator.

However, Zhou Chun reacted quickly and drew his sword to disperse the sword light, knocking the ape's head down.

Then, with a grim expression, he stared at the late-stage Golden Core cultivator and questioned, "Fellow Daoist Lu, what do you mean by this? Are you perhaps going back on your promise?"

Upon hearing this, the cultivator surnamed Lu's eyes flickered for a moment, then he raised his hand and withdrew his flying sword, smiling faintly, "Fellow Daoist Zhou, you flatter me. I was just afraid that this beast might not be completely dead, and I wanted to confirm it."

"Is that so? It seems I misunderstood you, Fellow Daoist. However, I will handle this matter myself, so there's no need to trouble you, Fellow Daoist Lu!"

Zhou Chun stared intently at the man, and as he spoke, he brought the ape head to his front.

The cultivator surnamed Lu did not stop him from doing so.

This gave him a slight sense of relief, and he immediately cut open his skull to take out the demon core inside.

After taking and storing the demon core, Zhou Chun finally felt relieved and looked at the cultivator surnamed Lu, saying, "As agreed, I will only take the demon core. The beast's spiritual eyes and corpse belong to Fellow Daoist Lu. I will also compensate Fellow Daoist Lu with a portion of dragon essence blood."

After saying that, he tossed the ape head and a bottle of blue dragon essence blood he had prepared beforehand to the cultivator surnamed Lu.

"Good, Fellow Daoist Zhou is indeed a trustworthy person."

The cultivator surnamed Lu waved his hand to receive the item, and after a brief inspection, he smiled and nodded to Zhou Chun before taking the headless ape corpse with him.

He then glanced at the six-legged stone elephant that was about to attack, and immediately cupped his hands to Zhou Chun, saying, "I still have to help my fellow disciples, so I won't chat with you any longer. Farewell."

He then hurriedly left the place.

Zhou Chun watched the man's departing figure and couldn't help but shake his head slightly. He immediately roused his spirits and once again faced the six-legged stone elephant.

He was well aware of the cultivator surnamed Lu's plan. If he hadn't intervened in time, once the head of the Azure-Eyed Golden Ape had fallen into the other party's hands, it would have been virtually impossible for him to retrieve the demon core as agreed in their verbal agreement.

The reason the other party was so agreeable later was that they knew there was a gap in their strength and didn't want to break ties with him after their attempt to steal the chicken failed.

Both sides were aware of this, but they were also wary of each other and didn't openly break off relations.

However, after what just happened, there was naturally no possibility of the two cooperating again.

The cultivator surnamed Lu clearly didn't want to help him deal with the troublesome six-legged stone elephant.

In fact, Zhou Chun did have a way to deal with the six-legged stone elephant. At least the Golden-Winged Tiger's [Spatial Blade] could break through its defenses.

However, given the enormous size of the six-legged stone elephant, the [Spatial Blade] would hardly cause the severe damage that the fourth-tier superior-grade thunder dragon suffered, unless it happened to hit the opponent's brain center or heart.

He believed that the six-legged stone elephant must have been warned by the fifth-tier demon king to be especially careful against the Golden-Winged Tiger's killing move, and therefore had not used it easily.

If the opponent doesn't use their killer move, they'll be constantly on edge and won't dare to go all out.

Conversely, if the killing move doesn't achieve any effect, the opponent will feel relieved and go all out.

So this thing can sometimes be a double-edged sword.

After Zhou Chun slew the Azure-Eyed Golden Ape, he had already gained a lot from this battle and no longer wanted to take too many risks.

Moreover, the remaining fourth-tier demonic beasts have basically been targeted by other Golden Core cultivators. If he rashly intervenes, they may not welcome him, and they may not all agree to share their demonic cores with him.

He certainly wouldn't do something so thankless and exhausting.

Time passed slowly, and the war raged from day to night, and then from night to dawn.

In such a high-intensity war, both sides suffered heavy casualties.

Especially those cultivators below the Purple Mansion stage, many of them were easily killed or trampled to death by demonic beasts after exhausting their mana!

Of course, many other monsters also collapsed from exhaustion, leaving them vulnerable to slaughter.

Even Golden Core cultivators had to replenish their mana several times with pills and spirit crystals by this point in the battle.

Now that the battle has raged on, the situation has finally become completely clear.

The number of fourth-tier demonic beasts has dwindled to less than thirty, less than a third of their peak strength.

The number of Golden Core cultivators besieging them was as high as sixty or seventy!

Such a large difference makes it virtually impossible for them to turn the tide.

Meanwhile, some Golden Core cultivators who were injured but still had the strength to fight went to sweep away those third-tier demonic beasts, and defeated this group of demonic beasts so badly that they collapsed!

This kind of top-down collapse is the most fatal.

At this point, unless those fifth-tier demon kings defeat and crush the group of Nascent Soul stage cultivators, and then disregard their status to bully the weak, the demon beasts' defeat is already irreversible!

But that's impossible.

Since the battle between the Golden Horned Dragon King and Venerable Yuanyang, most of the fifth-tier high-grade demon kings who had previously shown themselves have retreated back into the Dragon Abyss Marsh, leaving only one to oversee the overall situation.

Moreover, since the Golden Horned Dragon King has no intention of provoking a war between the two races, the tacit agreements between the top beings of the two races should continue to be observed, otherwise neither side will be able to gain any advantage.

Therefore, seeing that the defeat was irreversible, the fifth-tier demon kings did not allow the remaining demon beasts to fight to the death, and immediately issued a retreat order.

As soon as the retreat order was given, the remaining fourth-order demonic beasts let out joyful roars as if they had survived a catastrophe. Then, they used their various methods to flee towards the Azure Lotus Mountain Range behind them. In a short time, most of them escaped!

The remaining slower demonic beasts were surrounded by a group of human cultivators.

This includes the six-legged stone elephant that fought Zhou Chun for a long time!

This six-legged stone elephant was not good at escaping, and it was entangled with Zhou Chun, a powerful enemy. How difficult it would be for it to escape.

At this moment, the other fourth-order demonic beasts fled, and it was immediately surrounded by Zhou Chun and five or six Golden Core cultivators. No matter how strong its defense was, it was difficult to hold on alone.

Stumbling and staggering, he managed to hold on for less than fifteen minutes before his protective magic was shattered by various magical artifacts, leaving behind terrifying wounds on his body.

Perhaps realizing that it was unlikely to survive today, the beast let out a long hiss and spat out its demon core, attempting to take a few down with it before it died, just like the other fourth-tier demon beasts that had self-destructed their demon cores.

With its cultivation level of fourth-grade superior, doing so is not difficult.

However, what it didn't expect was that as soon as the demon core was spat out, it was suddenly swept by a beam of emerald green light, and then the connection with it immediately became faint, making it impossible to self-destruct the demon core.

Zhou Chun and the others seized the opportunity to attack together, smashing its enormous elephant head to pieces!

With the death of the six-legged stone elephant, the demon core also lost its spirituality and was enveloped in emerald green light, falling into the hands of a middle-aged beauty with the cultivation of the late Golden Core stage.

Seeing this, Zhou Chun hesitated for a moment before bowing respectfully to the middle-aged woman and saying, "Madam Gu, would you mind transferring this demon core to me? I'm willing to exchange it for other treasures!"

Upon hearing his words, the middle-aged beauty looked at him and smiled faintly, saying, "Originally, it was only because Fellow Daoist Zhou held it back that we were able to kill it. Logically speaking, I should not refuse Fellow Daoist's suggestion."

"However, Fellow Daoist Zhou must admit that if I hadn't used my supernatural powers to hold back the demon core it spat out, it would have already self-destructed!"

"And this demon core happens to be of great use to me, but I'm afraid I cannot grant Fellow Daoist Zhou's wish!"

He then put the demon core into a jade box and placed it into his storage bag.

Surprisingly, none of the other Golden Core cultivators who had contributed objected to this.

All of this stems from the extraordinary identity of this middle-aged beauty!

She was a concubine of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator. The supernatural power that had previously immobilized the demon core was a special high-grade magic weapon bestowed upon her by the Nascent Soul stage cultivator.

With this identity, as long as she doesn't go too far, other Golden Core cultivators naturally won't offend her for a small gain.

After all, no matter how you look at it, the only people who can get the demon core are her and Zhou Chun; it has nothing to do with anyone else.

Zhou Chun was fully aware of this.

So when he saw the middle-aged beauty put away the demon core, he didn't want to offend a Nascent Soul cultivator for this item, so he could only nod and say, "Since Madam Gu has chosen the demon core, then the corpse of this six-legged stone elephant should be distributed by me and the other fellow Daoists."

"I have no objection to this."

The middle-aged woman smiled faintly and left immediately.

Seeing this, Zhou Chun didn't stand on ceremony with the cultivators who had been watching from the sidelines. He directly took two long tusks from the six-legged stone elephant's mouth and an enormous heart from its body.

The most precious materials on the six-legged stone elephant were originally its skin and two tusks.

But since Zhou Chun took the ivory, he couldn't take the whole elephant hide; otherwise, the others would have gotten nothing.

So he took this heart, which also contained abundant earth-attribute spiritual power. This item was a good supplement for the Golden Armor Mountain-Carrying Turtle Stone.

At this moment, the third-tier and low-to-mid-level demonic beasts also began to scatter and flee.

However, the cultivators at the Purple Mansion stage, as well as those at the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages, were powerless to pursue and kill the fleeing demonic beasts. They could only watch as the remaining tens of thousands of demonic beasts scattered and fled to various places.

What is certain is that even after the entire territory of Yasukuni is recovered, the lingering effects of this great beast tide will continue for at least several decades.

In the future, various sparsely populated desolate mountains and wilderness areas may be inhabited by varying numbers of monsters, and will no longer be as safe as before.

Meanwhile, Zhou Chun and the other Golden Core cultivators followed the instructions of the Nascent Soul cultivators and continued their pursuit towards the Azure Lotus Mountains to prevent the fourth-order demonic beasts from destroying the spiritual mountains and blessed lands cultivated by the Azure Lotus Temple before leaving the area.

It should be noted that some of the medicinal fields, spiritual pools, and other blessed lands inside were things that Qinglian Temple had invested a lot of effort in creating. If they were destroyed, rebuilding them would require an unknown amount of resources and manpower.

Zhou Chun was definitely the one who put in the most effort in this matter.

He summoned the Su family patriarch and Lin Hongyu together and headed straight for the main peak of the Qinglian Temple.

Before even reaching their destination, they saw a huge fire burning, with smoke rising from all over the mountains, accompanied by the sounds of the earth shaking.

Clearly, those escaped fourth-tier demonic beasts were indeed trying to destroy this sacred mountain.

This infuriated Zhou Chun, who quickly separated Lei Jiao Bai Bai, Jin Chi Hu, and Yan Yu Huo Feng, sending them to nearby locations to fight the fire and prevent the fourth-tier demon beasts from causing further destruction.

Fortunately, the previous battle had already frightened those fourth-tier demonic beasts. When they saw Zhou Chun and the other Golden Core cultivators chasing after them, these beasts did not dare to confront them again and retreated on their own initiative.

In the end, the overall losses were still acceptable to Zhou Chun and were not particularly serious.

After driving away the fourth-tier demonic beasts, the group brought the low- and mid-level cultivators to Mount Ling and temporarily set up a detachable and movable spirit-purifying array to restore their vitality and treat the wounded.

As for the battle between the Nascent Soul stage cultivator and the fifth-order demon king in the Azure Heaven, it's not something that Golden Core stage cultivators like Zhou Chun can get involved in. They just need to wait for the outcome.

After waiting for nearly a day, the Nascent Soul stage cultivators and the fifth-order demon kings finally ended the great battle, which ended with the fifth-order demon kings retreating.

Apart from one or two Nascent Soul stage cultivators and a fifth-order demon king suffering some injuries, this great battle did not result in any major casualties, and was far less intense than the battle when the beast tide first broke out.

In fact, this is the normal situation when Nascent Soul stage cultivators fight each other.

Under normal circumstances, battles between Nascent Soul stage cultivators can determine a winner, but it is difficult to determine life or death.

Often, even those who have the upper hand don't dare to push the other party too hard. Most of the time, once the other party backs down, they'll know when to stop.

After all, which cultivator who can reach the Nascent Soul stage doesn't have a few hidden tricks up their sleeve?

Without absolute strength, forcing the opponent to fight to the death will only leave you humiliated and bring you no benefit.

That is why, at the beginning of the beast tide, the Nascent Soul cultivators who came to support Qinglian Temple did not think that the trip would be very dangerous. They never expected that the demon race would have such a strong desire to kill them, and even prepared magical treasures to deal with the Nascent Soul "teleportation"!

With these precautions in place, even if another great battle broke out between Nascent Soul stage cultivators and demon kings, no such thing as the death of an individual occurred.

After defeating those fifth-tier demon kings, all the Nascent Soul cultivators quickly entered the strongholds that had been set up with formations to recover their mana and heal their injuries.

Just then, Zhou Chun suddenly received a divine sense transmission that surprised him.

When he received the message, he was taken aback for a moment, then his eyes lit up with joy and he hurriedly left the camp, heading towards a certain place in the mountains.

Not long after, Zhou Chun stopped near "Xuanying Valley," a once-famous scenic spot within the Qinglian Mountains.

This "Mysterious Sound Valley" is a valley with a unique structure. Various inexplicable sounds often resound within the valley, making it a peculiar place within the Qinglian Mountain Range.

Although Zhou Chun had never been here before, he knew where this place was.

He arrived here alone and waited silently for about two hours before seeing a golden beam of light fall into the valley, revealing the puppet body of the Heavenly Mirror True Man.

"This junior pays respects to Senior Tianjing."

Zhou Chun looked at the Heavenly Mirror Immortal who had landed, and immediately bowed respectfully.

"Young friend Zhou, there's no need to be so polite. Please allow me to make the arrangements first."

As Master Tianjing spoke, an array plate and several array flags flew out from his body. He quickly made hand seals and set up an illusion array to conceal the two figures.

This person's actions made Zhou Chun even more curious about their intentions.

However, Master Tianjing was even more cautious than he had imagined. Even with the array blocking the way and being a Nascent Soul cultivator himself, he still chose to transmit his thoughts through divine sense.

"Time is of the essence, so let's be frank. If I'm not mistaken, young friend Zhou is also very interested in this spiritual land of the Azure Lotus Mountains and wants to claim it for himself!"

As soon as Master Tianjing spoke, he uttered words that caused Zhou Chun's expression to change slightly.

However, Zhou Chun had roughly anticipated this when he arrived. His expression changed slightly, and he cupped his hands towards Master Tianjing, saying, "Senior, your insight is truly remarkable. I have indeed had such an idea, but unfortunately, I know my strength is insufficient, and I fear it will be difficult to succeed!"

Upon hearing this, Master Tianjing bluntly commented, "If it were just your Zhou family, even with a powerful expert like yourself and several fourth-tier demonic beasts, you certainly wouldn't be qualified to rule this Azure Lotus Mountain Range!"

Then, changing the subject, he quickly added, "But if I were to stand up for your Zhou family, then on the surface you would be qualified to compete!"

Upon hearing his words, Zhou Chun was filled with a myriad of emotions and remained speechless for a long time.

Whether this was a case of someone offering a pillow when one is sleepy, or a coincidence between the two parties, it's hard to say for sure.

However, when Tianjing Zhenren took the initiative to talk to him about this matter, Zhou Chun did not feel the excitement he had expected. Instead, he was very wary.

He knew very well that with Master Tianjing in his current state, the Qinglian Mountains were no longer a place he needed to occupy.

In other words, there was absolutely no need for the other party to get involved in this mess.

In this situation, the other party took the initiative to approach him, offering to support him and the Zhou family in the struggle for ownership of the Qinglian Mountains. How could this not make him wary?

After a long silence, Zhou Chun calmly met his gaze and said, "Senior, I am naturally extremely grateful for your willingness to stand up for the Zhou family. However, I wonder what my family and I need to contribute?"

Seeing his attitude, Master Tianjing was not angry at all. Instead, he nodded and said, "Very good. It seems you are very clear-headed."

He then said leisurely, "My willingness to help your Zhou family take control of the Azure Lotus Mountain Range is not without conditions."

"In fact, if it weren't for the strength you displayed in this war, young friend Zhou, which successfully caught my attention, I wouldn't have had this idea at all!"

At this point, Master Tianjing paused slightly, then suddenly looked at Zhou Chun and asked, "If I may be so bold as to ask, how confident are you, young friend Zhou, about your future progress in transforming your core and forming your nascent soul?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chun's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately shook his head with a wry smile, saying, "Senior overestimates me! I haven't even reached the late stage of the Golden Core realm yet, how dare I presume to think about the Core Formation and Nascent Soul stage!"

Upon hearing his answer, Master Tianjing calmly replied, "You were able to break through to the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm after only a hundred years of Core Formation, and now you possess combat strength surpassing that of a late-stage Golden Core cultivator. The late-stage Golden Core barrier certainly won't stop you; even with the aid of pills, you can force your way through!"

After saying that, he shook his head and said, "But the Core Formation and Nascent Soul Formation are different. The spiritual objects that can assist cultivators in the Core Formation and Nascent Soul Formation are all rare and precious spiritual objects. With your background, without the support of a noble person or a stroke of good fortune, you basically have no chance of obtaining one!"

"What you say is absolutely right, senior. I am well aware of the difficulty of achieving the Core Formation and Nascent Soul stage, so I dare not have too much hope for it now!"

Zhou Chun nodded repeatedly, and replied in a low voice with a sigh.

Master Tianjing didn't suspect he was lying and immediately nodded, saying, "Therefore, my conditions are twofold: one is something you can do now, and the other is something you can only do after you've formed your Core and Nascent Soul!"

"Please enlighten me, senior!"

Zhou Chun's expression turned solemn, and he immediately composed himself, looking at the Heavenly Mirror Master with a serious expression.

However, Master Tianjing calmly stated, "Although the Qinglian Temple's main gate was breached, some people still managed to escape. Furthermore, several branch sects were previously arranged to cultivate in seclusion outside the temple. I do not wish to see this force continue to exist in the cultivation world in the future!"

These seemingly ordinary words, however, revealed an intention that startled Zhou Chun.

But upon closer reflection, if the Zhou family were to take control of the Qinglian Mountains, this matter would indeed be necessary. Otherwise, if the Qinglian Temple were to rise again in the future, it would certainly not let the matter rest with the Zhou family.

Therefore, he quickly replied, "This junior understands. If this junior and the Zhou family successfully take control of the Azure Lotus Mountain Range, it will naturally be our duty to eliminate these remnants of the Azure Lotus!"

After speaking, he looked at Master Tianjing with a nervous expression and asked, "But what is your second condition, senior?"

(End of this chapter)