Peak Head

Azure Origin Sect, Eternal Life Hall.

This was where the Azure Origin Sect's Sect Leader resided, the true core of the Azure Origin Sect.

At that moment, Feng Yi Ju sat in the seat of honor within Eternal Life Hall, looking at the elders on either side.

"Everyone, Ge Feng reports that a divine beast has appeared in our Azure Origin Sect. What do you think we should do?"

"A fine thing!" A bearded man said with delight written all over his face. "Sect Leader Senior Brother, this is our stroke of fortune! We should hold a grand feast and celebrate for three days!"

The presence of a divine beast was enough to ensure the Azure Origin Sect's peace and prosperity for thousands of years. Perhaps one day, if it truly transformed into a pureblood, the Azure Origin Sect might even squeeze its way into the ranks of the Ten Immortal Sects.

The crowd voiced their agreement. Though Feng Yi Ju's expression remained calm, a trace of joy shone in his eyes.

Yet at that moment, someone spoke up. "The birth of a divine beast in our Qing Yuan is naturally tremendous news, but Sect Leader Senior Brother, do not forget Great White Temple from three hundred years ago." The speaker was a young man dressed like a Scholar.

The joyous atmosphere instantly fell silent.

Three hundred years ago, in the Eastern Cloud Mountain range, the one calling the shots had not been the Azure Origin Sect. At the time, Feng Yi Ju and Su Hua Nian had only just begun to emerge, taking charge of Qing Yuan. Great White Temple had been the undisputed overlord of Eastern Cloud Mountain. Yet when Great White Temple's divine beast went berserk, it wiped out Great White Temple overnight.

The Azure Origin Sect had also made a great haul from Great White Temple's ruins, laying the foundation for its rise.

"So..." the Scholar said gravely, "the urgent matter is not celebration, but swiftly placing an Enslavement Restriction within the divine turtle's primordial spirit, so that it can never again resist Qing Yuan."

No one spoke. Only after a long while did someone say, "But have you forgotten as well? Divine beasts cannot be humiliated. Back then, Great White Temple wanted to place an Enslavement Restriction on their divine beast, and that was what drove it berserk and brought about their calamity of utter destruction."

The Scholar looked at him. "Then all the more reason to place the Enslavement Restriction while our divine beast is still young, when it can be suppressed with a single palm. That is the foundation of peace for all ages."

Great White Temple had dreamed too beautifully. Afraid that a restriction would limit their divine beast's growth, they had waited until the divine beast was nearly mature before thinking to restrain it. How slow-witted was that?

Only now, while the divine beast was still childish and ignorant, could they place a restriction and then raise it well, thereby gaining true control over it.

The frail Scholar's voice rang like iron and stone, his momentum pressing upon the entire Eternal Life Hall.

Everyone looked toward the Sect Leader. Feng Yi Ju's expression was calm, revealing none of what lay in his heart.

"Master!"

An urgent shout came from the sky above Beast Taming Valley.

"Boom!"

A streak of sword light smashed into the small courtyard of the Peak Head.

It was the skinny Taoist who had taken Su He's white tiger that day.

Though thin in build, he carried no small force. He smashed a deep pit into the ground, then immediately leaped out without caring about his dusty, disheveled state. He shouted toward the Beast Taming Valley Peak Head, who was drinking in the pavilion, "Master, it's a divine beast!"

The Beast Taming Valley Peak Head was named Xia Da Li. He had not originally come from Beast Taming Valley, but from Evergreen Peak. Yet the previous Peak Head had brushed aside all objections and passed the position to him.

In just sixty years, everyone had marveled at the previous Peak Head's discerning eye. This unremarkable fat man had taken only sixty years to quietly raise Beast Taming Valley from the bottom tier of the seven branches to the middle tier, and its momentum showed not the slightest sign of slowing.

Xia Da Li held his wine cup and looked at the skinny Taoist. All four limbs were intact, his soul was unharmed, and he had suffered no injuries. It was not a life-threatening matter, and no one was pursuing and killing him. The spiritual power gathered in the wine cup quietly dispersed, and the wine that had frozen solid returned to normal.

"Pah! You're the beast!" Xia Da Li snorted in displeasure. "I've told you long ago to act steadily. What kind of conduct is all this shouting, charging about, and crashing in?"

To this day, he had accepted only two disciples. One was Ge Feng, mature and steady, with a build much like his Master's, and Xia Da Li was quite fond of him. The other was Guan Shan before him, clumsy and restless like a monkey.

"Master, stop fooling around!" Guan Shan waved his hand and said urgently, "There's a divine beast! That great turtle Senior Brother Lu Ming schemed against the other day has come. It truly is a divine beast."

Xia Da Li set down his wine cup, his expression turning somewhat more serious. "How do you know?"

Having come too quickly just now, Guan Shan was panting heavily. He grabbed his Master's Wine Pot and gulped down a bellyful before saying, "Senior Brother told me through a Flying Sword Letter."

Fellow disciples generally addressed one another with a daoist name or surname. Only true brothers under the same master directly called each other senior brother or junior brother. The senior brother Guan Shan spoke of was Ge Feng.

After steadying his breath, Guan Shan said, "Senior Brother was teaching at Li Nan Courtyard today when that great turtle came by. Senior Brother projected the great turtle's mind aperture, and inside was a mighty, imposing Dragon Turtle."

Xia Da Li's squinting eyes suddenly flew wide open. Bastard! There was a divine turtle, yet Ge Feng had not sent me a Flying Sword Letter first and had instead informed Guan Shan? Could it be that I, his Master, was not even as good as his Junior Brother...

Ah! He remembered. A month ago, he had lost a bet with Ge Feng's Grandfather, then turned around and beat Ge Feng up. After that, the fellow sent him Flying Sword Letters every day, complaining of his grievances. It had become so irritating that Xia Da Li had forbidden him from sending Flying Sword Letters to him.

Xia Da Li rose to his full height. His immortal sword left its sheath, and he was about to depart using Sword Control for Li Nan Courtyard.

"Master, what are you doing?" Guan Shan asked in surprise.

Xia Da Li said without room for doubt, "Of course I'm going to bring the divine beast back! Whether divine beast or exotic beast, once it enters the Azure Origin Sect, it naturally ought to belong to my Beast Taming Valley. How can I let it wander outside?"

Did that even need asking? He sized up his Second Disciple. Without even this much awareness, how could he become a true disciple of Beast Taming Valley?

"Master, stop fooling around!" Guan Shan pressed down his immortal sword. "That divine turtle belongs to Ya Ya. Martial Aunt Su has even left writing on the divine turtle's back. Are you going to fight Martial Aunt Su over a turtle? You can't beat her."

Xia Da Li's face twitched. The divine turtle already had an owner, so why had he rushed back in such a panic to tell him? Was he here to laugh at him?

This unfilial wretch needed a beating!

He kicked Guan Shan in the backside, sending him rolling like a gourd across the ground. Guan Shan did not care in the slightest and sprang up with a grin. Seeing that his Master still intended to leave by Sword Control, he asked curiously, "Master, are you really going to fight Martial Aunt Su?"

He would truly get beaten! "Pah!" Xia Da Li spat. Only that son would be so bent on courting death!

"I'm going to deliver the secrets for a divine beast's advancement. Though Azure Origin Mountain has never possessed a divine beast, how could others know more than my Beast Taming Valley?"

Guan Shan hesitated somewhat. "Then... what about Senior Brother Lu Ming?"

Senior Brother Lu Ming had truly been locked inside Prison Suppression because of this turtle. He was not confined there as a prison guard; he had truly become a criminal.

There was enmity between Beast Taming Valley's foremost true disciple and the divine beast, even hatred. That was the reason he had come to find his Master.

As Beast Taming Valley's Peak Head, should his Master not handle this matter?

Xia Da Li's expression darkened, an utterly undisguised chill in his face. "Who is Lu Ming? What does he have to do with my Beast Taming Valley?"

Ignorance was not a crime. Wanting to subdue a divine beast was no problem. Wanting one's Lifebound Beast to devour a divine beast was also acceptable. But he should not have employed filthy schemes and caused Feng Ya Ya to overturn Beast Taming Valley.

There were countless beast pets that had fled in fright. Of them, at least seventy had already communicated with their owners at the source and were about to become the Lifebound Beasts of Beast Taming Valley disciples.

Several beast pets had been injured or even died, and those disciples had been thoroughly crippled as well.

For the sake of his own selfish desires, he had treated his fellow Senior Brothers and Junior Brothers as though they were nothing. Xia Da Li would not acknowledge such a disciple! You could be stupid, foolish, incompetent, or even wicked, but you should not be heartless!

No matter who your Master was or what background you possessed, Xia Da Li was expelling you from the chief seat of Beast Taming Valley!

Go dig Nether Stone Mine honestly in Prison Suppression. Prison Suppression's mining of the Nether Stone Mine was among the cruelest punishments in the world, even worse than obliteration.

Xia Da Li rose into the air on his sword and headed for Li Nan Courtyard. Only along the way did he discover that the news of the Azure Origin Sect's divine turtle had already spread without wings, with discussions breaking out from time to time.

It truly was something worth celebrating. The Demonic Race was destined to reach the Demon Transformation Realm, while for divine beasts—the Demon Transformation Realm was only the starting point.