Beast Taming System, activate!

After being slapped, Feng Qing'er completely lost her composure. She stood there clutching her cheek, trembling with rage.

"Jiang Yuan! How dare you hit me!"

Feng Qing'er roared, her eyes practically spitting fire. The fellow female disciples beside her were furious as well. Each stepped forward, Dou Qi surging around them.

"Senior Sister, let's teach this arrogant fool a lesson together! He dared to hit someone from our Wind-Thunder Pavilion. We'll make him pay for it today!"

"Everyone, get him! Let's see how cocky he is then!"

The junior sisters were already poised to attack, waiting only for Feng Qing'er's order to rush him together. Just as they were about to act, however, a system notification suddenly sounded in Jiang Yuan's mind.

[Bindable Magical Beast detected. Target: Feng Qing'er. Race: Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan.]

[Beast Taming System activated. Establishing mental link... Link successful.]

[Host has gained control over the target and may issue commands to Feng Qing'er of the Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan. The target cannot refuse.]

[Current authorization level: Basic. One command may be issued at a time.]

Jiang Yuan paused briefly upon hearing the notifications, then a knowing smile spread across his face. He hadn't expected the Beast Taming System to work on members of the Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan.

Feng Qing'er carried the bloodline of the Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan, so the system had classified her as a Magical Beast by default. This was getting interesting.

The junior sisters beside her saw Jiang Yuan suddenly smile and assumed he had been scared witless.

"What are you smiling at? You'll be crying soon enough! Senior Sister, stop wasting words on him. Let's do it!"

Feng Qing'er glared at Jiang Yuan through gritted teeth, ready to call on her junior sisters to attack together.

Before they could act, however, Jiang Yuan suddenly spoke.

"Feng Qing'er, slap each of those loudmouthed women beside you."

Everyone present froze at his words. The junior sisters exchanged glances, then burst out laughing.

"What did he say? He wants Senior Sister to slap us? Hahaha, that's hilarious! Has he been beaten stupid? Why would Senior Sister ever hit us? Who does he think he is?"

The junior sisters sneered and mocked him, clearly finding Jiang Yuan's words utterly absurd.

Feng Qing'er was even more furious. This man actually dared to order her to hit her own junior sisters?

"Jiang Yuan, have you lost your mind? What gives you the right to order—"

Her words abruptly cut off halfway through. Her gaze grew vacant, and she looked as though something had taken control of her.

Dan Chen was baffled too, unable to make any sense of what Jiang Yuan had just said.

"Jiang Yuan, what are you talking about? Why would Feng Qing'er listen to you and hit her own junior sisters?"

Dan Chen looked at Jiang Yuan in confusion, finding his words inexplicable. But what happened the next second left everyone dumbfounded.

Feng Qing'er suddenly turned around, raised her hand, and slapped the junior sister standing to her left.

Smack!

The junior sister she had struck was utterly stunned. She stood rooted to the spot, clutching her cheek.

"S-Senior Sister?"

Before anyone else could react, Feng Qing'er turned again and slapped the junior sister to her right.

The second junior sister staggered two steps sideways, disbelief written all over her face. Then Feng Qing'er walked up to the third junior sister, raised her hand, and slapped her too.

That last junior sister stumbled from the blow, completely dazed. Everything had happened so quickly, in the space of just a few breaths.

All three junior sisters had been slapped. They stood there clutching their cheeks, with no idea what had just happened.

"Senior Sister! Why did you hit me? What's wrong with you? We were supposed to hit that guy! Why are you hitting us?"

The three junior sisters were bewildered, unable to understand why Feng Qing'er had suddenly attacked them. Dan Chen was stunned too, staring wide-eyed at the scene.

"Wh-what's going on?"

Dan Chen turned to Jiang Yuan and found him standing there with an amused smile.

"Jiang Yuan, why did she actually listen to you and hit them? What exactly did you do?"

Jiang Yuan didn't answer her question. He merely smiled at Feng Qing'er, who had now returned to normal, clarity coming back into her eyes.

But when she came to her senses and saw the scene before her, she froze as well. Her three junior sisters were all standing there holding their cheeks, each bearing a red, swollen handprint.

"What... what happened to your faces?"

Feng Qing'er asked in bewilderment, completely unaware of what had just happened. Her question only left the three junior sisters even more confused.

"Senior Sister, how can you ask what happened? You hit us!"

"That's right, Senior Sister! You suddenly turned around and slapped each of us. We don't even know why! Senior Sister, are you possessed?"

Feng Qing'er went rigid at their words, her expression shifting from confusion to shock.

"I hit you? Impossible! When did I hit you?"

She couldn't remember anything that had just happened. It was as though that part of her memory had been erased.

She turned to Jiang Yuan and found him watching her with the ghost of a smile.

"Jiang Yuan! Was this your doing?"

Feng Qing'er roared at him. Although she had no idea how Jiang Yuan had done it, her instincts told her he had to be involved.

Jiang Yuan merely shrugged without a word, his smile growing wider. Meanwhile, Dan Chen found the situation more absurd the longer she watched. A moment ago, Feng Qing'er had been aggressively threatening to hit Jiang Yuan, yet in the blink of an eye, she had slapped each of her own junior sisters instead.

"Senior Sister, what is wrong with you? You called us here to help, and then you went and hit us first!"

The junior sisters felt terribly wronged. Each stood there clutching her cheek, and the way they looked at Feng Qing'er had changed.

Feng Qing'er grew frantic. She truly couldn't remember what had happened, but the handprints on her junior sisters' faces were real, and their expressions didn't look like they were lying.

"I really don't know..."

Feng Qing'er wanted to explain, but she had no idea how. She was thrown into complete confusion. Watching it all, Jiang Yuan was delighted. He had to admit, the Beast Taming System was incredibly useful.

Although his authorization was only at the basic level and he could issue just one command at a time, its effects were already outrageous.

Making Feng Qing'er slap her own junior sisters was hilarious even to think about.

"Feng Qing'er, I suggest you take your junior sisters and leave. If you stay any longer, you might end up taking a few more slaps."

Jiang Yuan spoke with a smile, his tone openly mocking.

Feng Qing'er's face turned livid at his words, but she really couldn't keep fighting under the circumstances. Her junior sisters were all looking at her with such resentment that if she kept causing trouble, they might turn against her too.

"Jiang Yuan, just you wait! This isn't over!"

With that, Feng Qing'er turned, grabbed her still-bewildered junior sisters, and hurried away.

As they left, the junior sisters kept glancing back at Feng Qing'er, their expressions a mixture of hurt and confusion.

Only after Feng Qing'er and the others were far away did Dan Chen move closer to Jiang Yuan and look him up and down.

"Jiang Yuan, what exactly did you do? Why did Feng Qing'er suddenly listen to you and hit her own junior sisters?"

Jiang Yuan smiled and answered casually, "Who knows? Maybe her brain just short-circuited."

Dan Chen clearly didn't believe that explanation, but seeing that Jiang Yuan didn't want to say more, she stopped pressing him.

"All right, forget about that. Let's hurry to the Space Exchange. The elders are still waiting for us to report back."

Jiang Yuan nodded, and the two continued toward the Space Exchange.