Human Hearts Change Easily, Beast Taming Ability

Inside the temple, shriveled corpses lay everywhere. Only faint, nearly imperceptible traces of blood remained on the ground, yet the smell of blood in the air was overwhelmingly thick.

Amid the corpses, Lu Li sat cross-legged on the floor. His complexion was rosy, his vitality abundant, and all his injuries had completely healed.

"Xiangliu's blood-draining healing is still working..."

With a sigh, Lu Li slowly rose to his feet. He had actually been badly injured in that fight just now; the bones and tendons in both his hands had long been shattered by Huang Shang's fists.

If not for the Intransigent Qi numbing his pain, he might already have been drenched in cold sweat from the agony.

And now, after absorbing the blood qi of one Fifth Layer of Meridian Opening martial artist, twenty-nine First Layer of Meridian Opening martial artists, and another Fifth Layer of Meridian Opening martial artist, the total amount of blood qi he possessed had increased rather than decreased after that slaughter.

"This blood qi is already nearly equivalent to seventy percent of a Qi Solidification martial artist's vitality. Counting what was consumed during healing and battle, the blood qi remaining is enough for me to cultivate all the way to the Tenth Layer of Meridian Opening..."

Lu Li calculated silently and nodded in satisfaction.

Cultivation in the Meridian Opening realm grew harder the further one advanced, requiring a profound accumulation of internal qi. Even a genius like Shuang Qiuyue had needed ten full years to break through the Meridian Opening realm.

Yet Lu Li could absorb blood qi through the Demon Martial Path. He estimated that, given enough blood qi, he could conservatively break through Meridian Opening within a year.

After sorting through all his gains, Lu Li grabbed Xuandu, then placed all the corpses on the ground into the square pit beside the Buddha statue.

He then found a fire starter, lit a torch, and tossed it into the pit. The flames crackled as they burned fiercely.

Illuminated by the firelight, the Buddha statue flickered between brightness and shadow. Its compassionate gaze silently looked down upon the people of the Huang Household, just as it had upon the dead Dog Child.

Walking out of the temple, Lu Li found that the dark clouds had vanished at some point. He looked up at the stars scattered across the sky.

"The rain has stopped."

Inside the inn.

After clearing out Rebirth Temple, Tian Wang returned to the inn, but he had remained restless and deeply uneasy.

The farmer lay in bed with his eyes tightly shut, trying to suppress the fear in his heart. Yet he kept tossing and turning, unable to calm himself.

He loved gambling and had visited White Crow Town many times, so he knew better than anyone how powerful the Huang Household was.

To the Huang Household, he was like an ant that could be crushed with ease.

"Those two siblings look like they have no backing, but that Lu Li seems to know some martial arts. Now that they've provoked the Huang Household, if I get dragged into this, wouldn't I die for nothing?"

Tian Wang more or less understood Huang Erlang's nature. Recruitment was only a pretense; what he truly enjoyed was torturing and killing others for amusement. Lu Li was most likely already dead.

Time slowly passed. The room was silent, and Tian Wang could hear only his own slightly hurried heartbeat. He slowly opened his eyes and turned to look toward the neighboring room as an evil thought gradually surfaced.

"That little girl has such delicate skin. If I sell her to the Huang Household, she should fetch quite a bit of money. Maybe I can even earn myself a favor..."

He sat up in bed. In the darkness, his eyes were full of struggle, but the evil thought had taken root and could no longer be driven away.

The night was deep, and the inn was quiet and dark.

Tian Wang silently crept to Liu Yueling's door. He gently pushed it, only to find that it would not budge. The door had been bolted from within.

Tian Wang paused before the wooden door for a moment, then viciously kicked it.

Bang!

The door flew open. Hearing the noise, Liu Yueling instantly woke with a start. She instinctively clutched the bedding around herself and saw Tian Wang appear.

Tian Wang strode forward, his former honest appearance gone. His face was fierce as he muttered,

"Don't blame me. I just want to live."

Liu Yueling curled back in terror again and again. As Tian Wang reached out to grab her, she suddenly flung the blanket over him.

Tian Wang clearly had not expected Liu Yueling to resist. With his vision blocked, he fumbled about for a moment before tearing off the bedding, only to see that Liu Yueling had already climbed off the bed and was running for the door.

"Still trying to hide?"

Fury rose in Tian Wang's heart. He immediately took large strides after her and quickly caught up, one hand reaching for Liu Yueling's neck.

But before he could seize her, there came another bang as the wooden window suddenly shattered. A bird of prey as large as a calf crashed through it.

The bird's feathers were pitch-black, its sharp talons gleaming coldly. Its beak was long and narrow, and when it spread its wings, a shadow immediately fell over the room.

"Ground Owl?!"

Tian Wang recognized it, and his face changed drastically.

Why had a Ground Owl suddenly appeared in a place like this?!

Before he could sort through his thoughts, Tian Wang saw the Ground Owl's talons growing larger and larger before his eyes. In an instant, both his eyes were gouged straight out.

"Aaaah!"

Tian Wang dropped to his knees in agony, clutching his eyes with both hands as blood poured down and quickly stained the floor red.

At the sight of the Ground Owl, Liu Yueling seemed to be frozen in fright. She did not even notice the Emerald Jade on her chest suddenly beginning to glow.

The Ground Owl seemed intelligent. It tilted its head, its vertical pupils staring at the Emerald Jade. Then it flapped its wings and landed beside her, sheltering Liu Yueling beneath its fluffy feathers.

The screams and the sounds of the door and window breaking had clearly awakened the inn's other guests. Hearing the commotion, the innkeeper's attendant felt his heart tighten and hurriedly prepared to go upstairs to investigate.

But the moment he stepped outside, he saw a group of monsters crawling on all fours like dogs approaching along the street outside the inn. He was so frightened that he immediately retreated into his room.

How many copper coins did he earn in a month? There was no need for him to risk his life being so diligent.

Some of the other guests also peered out through their windows. When they saw what appeared to be a woman charging toward the inn with a pack of doglike "monsters," they too were frightened back beneath their blankets.

The person who had arrived was Madam Peng.

She had seen Liu Yueling outside town earlier. The moment she heard Liu Yueling's scream, her heart tightened. Looking toward the shattered window, she scaled the wall in a few swift strides.

After landing in the room, Madam Peng's body suddenly stiffened slightly. Her hearing was keen; from the faintest sounds alone, she had already roughly pieced together the scene in her mind.

A man rolling on the floor in blood, Liu Yueling, and a strange bird as large as a calf?

What had happened here?

Madam Peng knew Tian Wang. He was Lu Li's driver.

In truth, it had not been a coincidence that Lu Li and the others encountered her outside White Crow Town. She had deliberately gone looking for them.

Through Dog Child, Madam Peng had learned from afar that a martial artist was bringing a young girl toward White Crow Town. She had initially assumed they were people from the Myriad Life Sect, only to discover after approaching them that it was a misunderstanding.

As her thoughts turned, Madam Peng forced a gentle expression toward Liu Yueling.

"Good child, what happened?"

Liu Yueling clearly recognized this pitiful woman who had blocked their path outside town. She was exceptionally clever and could vaguely tell that Madam Peng meant her no harm.

Sensing Liu Yueling relax, the Ground Owl gradually lowered its vigilant gaze as well.

Madam Peng noticed this, and astonishment filled her heart.

"This girl has the power to command beasts?!"

Madam Peng came from a prestigious family and was well informed. She knew that the martial world had strange people who could train and command insects, beasts, and the like.

But those were all gradually tamed over time.

Yet Madam Peng could tell that Liu Yueling possessed no martial arts at all. In other words, this was an innate ability!

"Extraordinary..."

Madam Peng was shaken. She had once heard that some people in the martial world were born with unusual constitutions and abilities entirely different from ordinary people.

She now suspected that Liu Yueling was one of them.

After Liu Yueling gradually calmed down, Madam Peng stepped forward and gently asked what had happened.