According to the Art of Beast Servitude, a demon beast was simply a beast that differed from the norm.
Since it was a wild beast, it naturally lacked highly developed intelligence and rich emotions. It remained wild, untamable, cruel, and bloodthirsty.
So during the breeding and training of demon beasts, one must never show mercy. One had to be utterly harsh and merciless, making the beast fear its master and, in turn, submit.
For example, the Art of Beast Servitude recorded a demon beast called the Black Roar Tapir.
Though it looked clumsy, sluggish, and endearingly foolish, its nature was vicious and spiteful. It loved using its nightmare-inducing ability to plunge entire villages into bloody nightmares, driving the inhabitants to slaughter one another and even commit the horrifying atrocity of devouring each other.
Thus, during the Black Roar Tapir's growth, it had to be beaten and abused continuously, until it feared its master absolutely and, in turn, developed absolute obedience.
Otherwise, once the Black Roar Tapir had even a rough grasp of its abilities, it would drag its master into a terrifying nightmare just for the fun of it, tormenting him to its heart's content until he died.
The Black Roar Tapir wasn't the only one like this. Almost every other demon beast recorded in the Art of Beast Servitude had the same disposition, with the exception of one called the Iron-Scaled Fungus Ox, which was relatively mild and nonaggressive.
For example, the Phantom-Scaled Demon Dog liked to use the cover of night to turn invisible and sneak into village after village and town after town, where it secretly gnawed on human children's heads.
By the time the children's parents noticed something was wrong, all they could do was watch their own children's heads vanish piece by piece into thin air, while clear sounds of sucking and chewing continued to come from the surrounding air.
The sight was utterly horrifying.
"Demon... beasts..."
Li Hai mused for a moment, then asked Qiu Fangzheng, "Fangzheng, have you ever heard of monsters or demon beasts?"
"No. I've never seen or heard of any."
Qiu Fangzheng shook his head, then added, "My lord, it's not just Ox-Horn Town. No one anywhere in Coiling Dragon Mountain has ever heard of monsters. Bandits and brigands, on the other hand, are everywhere."
"Fine." Li Hai pursed his lips. "Maybe there are some in certain parts of Jing territory. Otherwise, how would a book like this exist?"
"Perhaps... that's possible."
Qiu Fangzheng agreed. "After all, the whole Coiling Dragon Mountain region is smaller than a single province of Great Jing. So perhaps there are monsters in some of the provinces."
After their casual conversation, the two ghosts once again turned into wisps of black smoke and vanished from the spot, speeding toward the last location.
That place was the site of the ancient sect's stele that Qiu Fangzheng had been talking about all along.
A while later—
"My lord."
Qiu Fangzheng pointed at a fallen stone stele, its cracked surface facing upward, and said respectfully, "This is the stele I mentioned earlier. According to the inscription, it was left behind by survivors of the earthquake."
"Mm." Li Hai nodded and walked over to examine it closely.
Just as Qiu Fangzheng had said, the roughly seven-foot-high stele recorded all sorts of detailed information about the sect.
From it, Li Hai learned that the sect was called the Deer-Hunting Pavilion. It was an ancient sect with a thousand-year legacy, renowned for raising demon beasts, and accomplished in both alchemy and the tempering of the body.
As for why it had moved its entire sect from the inland regions of Great Xuan to a remote place like Coiling Dragon Mountain—
It was because, during the one hundred and seventy-third year of the reign of the sixth Black Son of Heaven of the Great Xuan Dynasty, members of the sect had unexpectedly unearthed a world-shaking treasure deep in the grasslands at the northern edge of the Xuan Dynasty.
In other words, the gold Li Hai had seen and collected earlier.
"Black Son of Heaven... What a strange name."
After reading this, Li Hai muttered under his breath, "Judging by the style of that name, could that so-called Great Xuan Dynasty have been some kind of demon kingdom?"
After muttering to himself, he continued reading.
He then discovered that the gold mentioned on the ancient stele... hadn't actually been the real "prize" of the treasure trove.
The true reason the Deer-Hunting Pavilion had resolved to move its entire sect was, astonishingly, a legendary... dragon egg.
"A dragon egg?"
Li Hai couldn't help asking Qiu Fangzheng beside him, "Fangzheng, you're older than me and have seen more of the world. Have you ever heard of dragons existing in this world?"
"Uh..." Qiu Fangzheng's skull seemed to furrow.
I'm older than you?
That remark had nearly made Qiu Fangzheng crack.
It sounded both right and wrong.
But in the end, he answered honestly:
"My lord, though I've existed alone in this world for more than seventy years, I've never seen or heard of a true dragon appearing anywhere."
"Fine." Li Hai shrugged. "Then I suppose that's another specialty of Great Xuan... Oh, no, of Great Jing."
After a brief exchange, he continued reading the ancient stele.
According to its contents, more than a thousand years ago, after obtaining the dragon egg, the Deer-Hunting Pavilion had developed grand ambitions.
Namely, to dominate the world, carve out a fief, and be enfeoffed as a lord.
To put it plainly, the sect's leaders had staked their entire future on that dragon egg.
They hoped to raise and tame it into a demon-beast king powerful enough to crush all living beings, then use it to seize the realm.
So, after several secret meetings, the sect had moved in its entirety out of Great Xuan and settled in the distant Coiling Dragon Mountain region.
They wanted to lie low in this remote mountain wilderness until the dragon egg had grown powerful enough, then return to Great Xuan for a grand king's homecoming.
Unfortunately, their luck couldn't keep up with their ambition.
Not long after they arrived in Coiling Dragon Mountain and built their sect headquarters, boom—the earth shook.
In the end, all the Deer-Hunting Pavilion's efforts and ambitions came to naught.
Li Hai's verdict on this was:
"Don't blame society when you've drawn the short straw. Rest in peace."
What came after this was rather less interesting.
It mostly recounted the sect's successive forebears, reminisced about its past glory, lamented its current sorry state, and railed against the heedless heavens and unjust fate.
Finally, it ended with the wish that whoever found the stele might rebuild the Deer-Hunting Pavilion and other such nonsense.
Yes, to Li Hai, it was nonsense.
Just look at the ghostly place they were in. What ordinary person could get inside?
Forget people—even ordinary ghosts couldn't get in.
Besides, Li Hai already bore the heavy responsibility of restoring Naihe Mansion. Where would he find the time to help the Deer-Hunting Pavilion with its revival?
"I've finished reading. All in all, it was a very unlucky sect. It flourished for a thousand years, only to end up buried by an earthquake."
Li Hai slowly raised his head and summed up, "Still, all things rise and fall. That's the natural order of heaven and earth, so the Deer-Hunting Pavilion's destruction was perfectly normal."
"My lord is absolutely right," Qiu Fangzheng agreed.
With that, the two ghosts turned into black smoke and prepared to leave.
But just then, Li Hai's otherwise tranquil heart stirred for no apparent reason.
Before you continue