Beast Tamer

A dark and windy night, perfect for murder and robbery.

A beam of sword energy descended from the sky, as pure and flawless as a white crescent moon, yet its contained energy was no less potent.

Though the rampaging Beast Armor had only a sliver of consciousness left, it was exchanged for a leap in physical capabilities. Facing the moon-blade-like sword energy that flew like a startled swan, it directly leaned back, landing on all fours. This movement, difficult for ordinary people to comprehend, helped it evade Ling Mu's seemingly guaranteed strike.

The enemy's strength was within expectations. Ling Mu wasn't discouraged by the opponent's perfect dodge; his feet shifted through steps, and he moved like lightning to close the distance, intending to directly use the Shadowless Sword's sharpness to break through this peculiar opponent's defenses.

"Brother Mu, I'll help you!"

Seeing Ling Mu opt for close combat, Nie Xiaoyu immediately understood. Her golden silk whip swung continuously, and the attacks coming from all directions compressed the Beast Armor's space to dodge. Back and forth, Ling Mu had already closed to within three steps of him.

Only then did Ling Mu finally get a clear look at the mysterious pursuer's true face. His face was a mess of terrifying scars, and his pair of blood-red eyes glinted with ferocity. He stood hunched over, like a true wild beast.

"My goodness, what did this guy eat to become like this? I initially thought it was through pills like the Blood Demon Pill, but now it seems he used some special method to beastify himself, sacrificing some of his original consciousness for greater physical strength."

In a very short time, Ling Mu had roughly analyzed the killer before him. The Ancient Thorn Armor was still on cooldown, and the enemy's physical strength was abnormally savage. To defeat him, they could only exploit his weakness of lacking consciousness and having a simple mind.

"I never thought I'd have to rely on my intelligence to crush an opponent one day."

While his mouth was sharp, his hands had to be capable. Ling Mu's sword thrust out without pause, and black sword flowers continuously struck the Beast Armor's body, splashing out clusters of blood.

However, in his rampaging beastified state, he clearly didn't care about these wounds. Instead, he fearlessly used his hands as claws while Ling Mu was in the middle of a sword strike, leaving two bloody wounds on Ling Mu's abdomen and arms.

For a time, the two fought to a standstill, neither able to gain the upper hand.

The Beast Armor's moves seemed chaotic, but every strike followed the most primal hunting instincts, aiming directly for vital points. His hands were like the claws of a fierce tiger or a hungry wolf, possessing astonishing power.

Ling Mu dodged with a flash, narrowly avoiding another claw strike. The trees behind him weren't so lucky; under that claw, the thick trunks instantly shattered, and the falling branches heavily impacted the ground, raising a huge cloud of dust.

A black shadow shot out from the dust-filled air and landed beside Nie Xiaoyu. It was Ling Mu, now disheveled and somewhat battered. Although the wounds on his body had temporarily stopped bleeding thanks to emergency healing pills, he still couldn't move freely.

"I was too careless, too careless... I thought this guy could only move by instinct after beastifying, and that I could break through his defenses up close with the advantage of my weapon. I didn't expect his hands to be as hard and sharp as alloy steel claws; I couldn't gain any advantage at all."

Ling Mu's mind raced. The half-human, half-beast pursuer before him seemed to have no weaknesses. His agile movements combined with his indestructible iron claws made him truly helpless.

"Brother Mu, have you noticed that every time your sword hits him, his eyes contract slightly? It's only for a split second, but it happens every time he's hit."

Xiao Yu's words were like a wake-up call. Such an unnoticeable detail could only be spotted by a meticulous girl, and it sparked a bold guess in Ling Mu's mind.

"Could it be that he didn't lose consciousness because of beastification? But is sharing a body with the 'beast's' consciousness? So, every time he gets hurt, his original consciousness reacts to the pain?"

Ling Mu was shocked. This situation was indeed unheard of, but given the current circumstances, it was the only explanation that made sense.

"I feel like I've seen this situation somewhere before... let me think... Ah, I remember now! This isn't a technique, nor is it a pill, nor is it a bloodline talent. It's a soul symbiosis achieved through the sacrifice of a Bloodthirsty Rat. He's a Beast Tamer!"

Nie Xiaoyu frowned, carefully pondering where she had seen this special situation before. Finally, she remembered reading about this peculiar combat style in a book about ancient lineages at the academy.

"Beast Tamer? What kind of profession is that?"

Ling Mu had no concept of this unfamiliar term. In his impression, the Demon Beasts in the Immortal Realm were mostly extremely ferocious and impossible to tame. Even if a Demon Beast was occasionally subdued, it was usually used as a mount by major sects. He had never heard of fighting using Demon Beasts.

"It's normal that you don't know, Brother Mu. This combat style has been extinct for hundreds of years. Nowadays, the most orthodox way in the Immortal Realm is cultivating the vital energy of heaven and earth, gaining power through the modification of the dantian. But over millions of years, many cultivators have found alternative paths and also achieved great strength. The Beast Tamer is one of them."

After hearing Xiao Yu's explanation, Ling Mu nodded in agreement. The world is vast, and the paths to the Dao are myriad. While the current cultivation methods are mainstream, they are by no means the only way to reach the Great Dao. For example, the Beast Race and the Outer Realm Demon Race also have their own cultivation systems. In that light, the existence of Beast Tamers is not surprising.

"The records in that ancient book about Beast Tamers were not very detailed either. It only said that they could control Demon Beasts through various means, or even share a body with Demon Beasts to fight. I suppose the Storm Wolf before was also controlled by him, which is why we came to the outer reaches of this mountain range."

Since they had no more information about Beast Tamers, they could only decide to take it one step at a time. After exchanging a glance, Ling Mu once again drew his sword and lunged at the Beast Tamer, while Nie Xiaoyu continued to try and block the opponent's movements with her whip.

The two and the beast engaged in a fierce battle once more. Ling Mu displayed his family's sword techniques to the extreme, his Half-step Core Formation Realm strength fully revealed. Nie Xiaoyu seemed to be in sync with him; every time the Beast Armor dodged, it would encounter the obstruction of her whip.

Gradually, the two began to find the knack for fighting the rampaging Beast Armor. Since it was a soul coexistence, it was nothing more than temporarily handing over control of the body to the sacrificed demon beast. As long as the host's original consciousness still existed, the sensitivity to pain would still affect the effectiveness of their combat techniques.

Realizing the key to the problem, Ling Mu quickly adjusted his tactics. Instead of pursuing a single killing blow, he continuously thrust his sword, thrust after thrust, not missing any opportunity to inflict damage on his opponent. The all-out offense left Ling Mu no time to worry about his own defense, but fortunately, he wasn't fighting alone. Whenever the Beast Armor's iron claws attacked, a whip shadow would come to his rescue.

The two cooperated with extreme tacit understanding, as if they had fought together many times before. As time went on, the Beast Armor sustained more and more wounds, and blood flowed uncontrollably all over his body, making him look like a blood-soaked figure, terrifying to behold.

"Roar!"

Finally realizing that this couldn't go on, the Beast Armor forced Ling Mu back with a claw strike, flashed backward, and created distance between them. The blood-red color in his eyes faded, and he stood up straight.

"I didn't expect that even after sacrificing a Bloodthirsty Rat and giving it complete control of my body, I still couldn't deal with you two. I must say, you have satisfied me."

This was the Beast Armor's first time speaking. By now, he had fully regained his original consciousness. Covered in blood, he looked at Ling Mu and Nie Xiaoyu with the playful gaze of a predator, which was even more chilling than his berserk state earlier.

"But I won't give you another chance. If you have anyone to blame, blame yourselves for offending someone you shouldn't have!"