Settling In

Wang Pan's body stood a thousand zhang tall. Countless runes intertwined across his savage ox horns, seeming to have formed naturally and containing terrifying power!

Overwhelming Demonic Qi shot straight into the High Heavens, blotting out even the sunlight!

Stimulated by Wang Pan's Demonic Qi, the grand formation covering the entire Qian Capital began to operate. The Great Qian Sword hanging upside down in the Nine Heavens also trembled, humming loudly!

Supreme Power of Slaughter locked onto Wang Pan, ready at any moment to unleash a heaven-shaking strike!

Locked onto by the Great Qian Sword, Wang Pan felt a chill run through his entire body. His incomparably tough hide suddenly split apart as countless razor-sharp Sword Qi roamed across his body, carving open wound after wound.

Wang Pan's body stiffened, and he did not dare move. His pair of ox eyes looked pitifully down at the Great Qian Emperor below.

"Come back. The Qian Capital's grand formation and the Great Qian Sword won't attack you now."

The Great Qian Emperor formed a seal with one hand, and two runes landed on Wang Pan's ox horns.

The next moment, the sharp edge around Wang Pan vanished. The feeling of impending doom disappeared, the Great Qian Sword calmed down, and the Qian Capital's grand formation gradually faded from sight.

Wang Pan shrank down and descended from midair. Then he scampered up to the Great Qian Emperor, stretched out his rough ox tongue, and licked the emperor's palm.

He was every inch a licking ox!

Seeing how close Wang Pan was to him, the Great Qian Emperor felt that this Azure Ox had been born into the world to accompany him!

Then the Great Qian Emperor vanished from where he stood and appeared on Wang Pan's back the next moment.

"Moo!"

Wang Pan flew into a rage. If you wanted to talk, then talk properly! Why were you riding him?!

Just as he was about to throw the Great Qian Emperor off, Wang Pan's entire body stiffened for an instant before returning to normal.

With a roar toward the heavens, Wang Pan carried the Great Qian Emperor and began to run. After only a few steps, he leaped into the air and ran through the void. He was so fast that ordinary people could only see an azure streak flash past their eyes.

Inside Qianyuan Hall, everyone stared at each other.

The emperor had ridden off on an ox. Was this banquet supposed to continue?

The crowd felt utterly miserable. They had racked their brains to curry favor with the emperor and presented countless rare treasures, yet they had not made him as happy as a single ox.

After running through the skies above the Qian Capital for only a short while, Wang Pan returned to Qianyuan Hall at the Great Qian Emperor's instruction.

"Someone, take the Azure Ox to the Beast Taming Garden. Care for it properly, and do not allow the slightest mistake!"

The emperor gave the order to the Old Eunuch beside him.

To the emperor, the Azure Ox held more symbolic value than practical value.

Although the emperor acted without restraint, he could not possibly keep the Azure Ox by his side at all times.

So Wang Pan was placed in the Beast Taming Garden, where the emperor could visit him whenever he thought of it.

"Yes!"

The Old Eunuch turned and led Wang Pan away toward the Beast Taming Garden.

Wang Pan also licked the emperor's palm. His ox eyes were filled with reluctance, and he looked back every three steps as he followed the Old Eunuch away.

Once they left Qianyuan Hall, Wang Pan stopped pretending. The reluctance vanished from his ox face, and his ox eyes began surveying his surroundings.

"What a Clever Little Ghost."

How could such a short distance escape the Great Qian Emperor's notice? Seeing the Azure Ox that had just been so reluctant to part with him immediately change its expression upon leaving the hall nearly broke the emperor's composure.

But the emperor did not mind. Instead, he found the Azure Ox rather interesting.

"Azure Ox, you needn't be—"

The Old Eunuch had just begun to comfort the Azure Ox when Wang Pan changed expressions so quickly that the Old Eunuch's remaining words caught in his throat.

"Moo?"

Hearing the Old Eunuch speak, Wang Pan turned his ox head and mooed at him, his ox eyes filled with curiosity.

Go on. What were you about to say?

The Old Eunuch shut down completely. He silently led the way ahead, sighing inwardly. He was foolish, truly foolish!

Even an ox was better at acting than he was. No wonder that after all these years, he was still merely an attendant eunuch. At his age, he had lived like a dog.

The Beast Taming Garden was vast and directly connected to the Qilian Mountain Range behind the imperial city.

The so-called Beast Taming Garden was simply a section of the Qilian Mountain Range that had been enclosed!

The Qilian Mountain Range was also the Imperial Hunting Ground. Every late autumn, the Great Qian Emperor led the Civil and Military Officials into the Qilian Mountain Range to hunt.

Even before they reached the Beast Taming Garden, they could faintly hear Beast Roars in the distance.

After handing Wang Pan over to the people of the Beast Taming Directorate and conveying the Great Qian Emperor's orders, the Old Eunuch left.

"Lord Azure Ox, what do you usually like to eat? We servants will prepare it for you."

A Little Eunuch wore a fawning smile as he repeatedly bowed and nodded to Wang Pan.

"Moo!"

Wang Pan was somewhat annoyed and let out a bellow. He felt that this Little Eunuch had hit exactly where it hurt.

If he could speak, would he still be mooing?!

He had no tact at all.

"Hmm? Lord Azure Ox, you haven't refined your Transverse Bone, so you can't speak?"

The Little Eunuch froze, somewhat unable to believe it. A great demon at Wang Pan's level had actually not refined its Transverse Bone.

"Moo!"

Wang Pan snorted out two streams of hot air flecked with sparks, his expression turning unfriendly.

"Lord Azure Ox, you can ask the other great demons in the Beast Taming Garden how to refine your Transverse Bone."

"Also, Lord Azure Ox, you may move about freely in the Beast Taming Garden. When you are hungry, return here, and we will have food prepared for you."

The Little Eunuch felt a chill down his back. After giving two dry laughs, he turned and ran.

Wang Pan leisurely entered the forest. He could sense waves of terrifying Demonic Qi rising into the sky from deep within the woods.

There were many demon beasts in the Beast Taming Garden. Some had been offered as tribute by other nations, some had been brought back by the emperor during hunts, and others had entered the Beast Taming Garden from the Qilian Mountain Range on their own.

Some had entered to escape powerful enemies, while others craved the Beast Taming Garden's food. Every few days, they would emerge from the depths of the Qilian Mountain Range and enter the garden to freeload.

Aside from the few demon beasts the Great Qian Emperor cared about, no one bothered even if the rest died.

Thus, the Beast Taming Directorate was an extremely lucrative post!

Demon beasts were treasures from head to toe.

Therefore, some eunuchs of the Beast Taming Directorate secretly hunted demon beasts in exchange for cultivation resources.

Wang Pan did not need to worry. He was a mount that the Great Qian Emperor had ridden, and no one dared lay a hand on him.

There were even experts from the Beast Taming Directorate secretly protecting Wang Pan, preventing the other great demons from killing him.

My strength has advanced too quickly. It can be called ascending to the heavens in a single step.

But this strength is like a castle in the air, with no foundation at all. It was forcibly raised solely through the Earth Qilin's inner core.

What I need most urgently is not to continue increasing my strength, but to lay a solid foundation!

Wang Pan lay in the grass, lost in thought.

What I need now is knowledge—an immense amount of knowledge. Only after I fully understand this world's Cultivation System can I completely integrate into this world.

Wang Pan was not blinded by his suddenly soaring strength. Instead, he chose to settle in.

Time quietly passed, and in the blink of an eye, Wang Pan was three years old.

The Simulation Mark refreshed.

At three years old, you did not become a plowing ox. You changed your fate.

You were the Great Qian Emperor's mount. You were an Ox Relying on Human Influence, and your status was noble.

You obtained 200,000 Simulation Points!

You obtained an Advanced Talent: Cicada Sense!

Cicada Senses the Golden Wind Before it Stirs.

You possessed astonishing Spiritual Sense!