"Legend of the Red Fox"

"Junior Brother, were you planning to train on Fierce Tiger Mountain?" Senior Brother Ouyang asked.

"We were, but with that Tiger Demon around, we'll have to pick another peak." Lin Jing sounded helpless.

Walking took quite a bit of stamina, too.

I'll have to ask what status you need to ride an immortal crane sometime.

At that moment, Lin Jing realized the advantage of choosing a Horned Ox as his pet beast. He had seen plenty of disciples riding oxen along the way.

Meanwhile, his own pet beast was riding him. Outrageous!

Hearing this, Senior Brother Ouyang turned to the old peak keeper.

"Sir, I've come to tame the Tiger Demon."

The old peak keeper glanced at Ouyang Hao and said, "Understood. Go on in."

Senior Brother Ouyang smiled, then turned back to Lin Jing. "Junior Brother, would you like to come with me? Once I've tamed the Tiger Demon, you can train as usual."

"Can I?" Lin Jing asked in surprise.

"Of course. With me around, nothing will go wrong." Senior Brother Ouyang turned back to the old peak keeper. "Sir, I'll be taking this junior brother in with me."

"Go on, go on." The old peak keeper seemed familiar with Senior Brother Ouyang's strength and said unconcernedly, "Off you go. I'll get back to writing my Self-Criticism Report."

His face was full of irritation.

"Senior Brother Ouyang, what was that senior guarding the peak talking about when he mentioned self-criticism...?"

Once Senior Brother Ouyang had led him into Fierce Tiger Peak, Lin Jing asked.

"A Spirit Plant unexpectedly grew on Fierce Tiger Peak, and he failed to discover it immediately. Instead, a wild Demon Beast ate it. Of course he'd have to write a Self-Criticism Report to repent and receive punishment."

"He probably hates that Tiger Demon's guts right now. Unfortunately, he can't deal with a Demon Beast like that directly. As long as it hasn't hurt anyone, the sect's first consideration is taming it, not killing it."

"And subduing a Demon Beast takes skill. Unless the situation is particularly serious, the sect lets promising disciples try their hands at it for practice."

"After all, taming these 'wild Demon Beasts' is also a basic skill that disciples of our Beast Taming Sect need to master."

"As a disciple, you might get by simply choosing a Spirit Beast or Demon Beast raised by the sect and forming a contract with it. But if you want to go further, you'll still need to venture into the vast Cultivation World yourself, seek out powerful creatures, and tame them!"

"The reason I wanted to bring you along was to show you how I tame a wild Demon Beast and make it willingly submit," Senior Brother Ouyang said kindly.

"So that's how it is." Lin Jing was surprised. "I thought you'd come for the tiger's penis, Senior Brother Ouyang."

Ouyang Hao said, "...If this Tiger Demon refuses to be taught, then I'll have no choice but to graciously accept it."

Lin Jing and Ouyang Hao entered the mountain forest on foot. Birdsongs and insect calls intertwined along the quiet path. They were still some distance from the Tiger Demon.

Just then, Lin Jing suddenly remembered a question he still hadn't found an answer to!

Elder Mo had said that once Senior Brother Ouyang became a True Disciple, he might take the Sect Master as his master!

He hadn't mentioned why and had been rather evasive about it, which left Lin Jing curious.

Lin Jing had forgotten to ask back in the scripture library. This time, he intended to seize the opportunity and ask the man himself.

"Senior Brother, I heard the Sect Master wants to take you as his disciple?"

"You even know about that? Has word already reached the outer sect?" Senior Brother Ouyang turned around in surprise.

"No, Elder Mo told me." Lin Jing gave a dry cough.

"Senior Brother, teach me! How did you manage it?"

Only by becoming a True Disciple could one learn the sect's true inherited secret arts and count as a core member of the Beast Taming Sect.

And one requirement for becoming a True Disciple was to take someone in the sect at the Golden Core realm or above as one's master.

Taking a master, like getting married, was no less than being born a second time. With a good master, the path of cultivation would be easier to walk.

Senior Brother Ouyang's ability to forge a connection with the Sect Master was no small feat.

"Well..." Senior Brother Ouyang gave Lin Jing an odd look, then shook his head emphatically. "Junior Brother, my circumstances probably wouldn't suit you."

"How so?" "Squeak, squeak, squeak?"

Lin Jing and the Pineleaf Squirrel dug down to the roots of the matter.

Senior Brother Ouyang sighed and stopped walking. After a moment's thought, he finally said wistfully, "Forget it. It's not really a secret, so I'll tell you. Just remember not to spread it around."

"I remember you took a book about the Beast Taming Sect's history from the scripture library, didn't you?"

"Our Beast Taming Sect's first Sect Master had a mortal physique. With that constitution, he should have had no chance of setting foot on the Immortal Path. Yet through a fortuitous encounter, he obtained a Beast Taming Cultivation Art originating from the Immortal Palace."

"The Immortal Palace's Beast Taming Cultivation Art focused on enslaving beasts. A cultivator could decide a contracted pet beast's life or death with a single thought... Using that art, our founder enslaved countless powerful Demon Beasts, and his own cultivation reached Spirit Transformation. The Beast Taming Sect flourished at its height."

"Unfortunately, forcibly enslaving pet beasts had its drawbacks. In the end, he died from spirit beast backlash."

"With that cautionary tale before him, the second Sect Master began considering what the true relationship between a beast-taming cultivator and their pet beasts should be. Eventually, he concluded that beyond master and servant, they should also be fellow cultivators, brothers and sisters."

"So he began reforming the sect, encouraging disciples to cultivate alongside young beasts from the Qi Refinement realm onward and strengthen their mutual bond, rather than forcibly enslaving wild Demon Beasts. Even when taming a wild Demon Beast, they had to earn its genuine acceptance and willingness to follow them. They could not force it."

"The second Sect Master laid an excellent foundation for the Beast Taming Sect, and that sect rule has been passed down ever since. It already seemed perfect, but now... the fifth Sect Master, our current Sect Master, has taken his emotional bond with his pet beast to another level."

"He became cultivation partners with his pet beast, making them family in the truest sense."

Lin Jing said, "..."

That hadn't been recorded in the book.

"Which one?" Both Lin Jing and the Pineleaf Squirrel were utterly shocked.

"That lady from the Skyfeather Crane Clan... Though it hasn't been announced among the disciples, we may call her the Sect Master's Wife," Senior Brother Ouyang said respectfully.

At that moment, Lin Jing's mind was still rather muddled.

W-wait!

"Then the reason the Sect Master favors you, Senior Brother... could it be...?" Lin Jing suddenly fell silent.

"Yes." Senior Brother Ouyang sighed. "Hong'er was an injured little fox I rescued back when I was a mortal. She later grew very attached to me, so I kept her by my side."

"Only after Elder Mo brought me back to the Beast Taming Sect and I formed a bloodline contract with Hong'er did I discover she'd developed those feelings for me."

"Though she's a beast, her feelings are real. A sincere heart shouldn't be let down. Don't you agree, Junior Brother?"

Lin Jing gazed at the sky.

Solved. Every mystery had been solved.

Still, considering this was a world of cultivation, Lin Jing stopped dwelling on the difference in species.

It was simply "Legend of the White Snake" turning into "Legend of the Immortal Crane" and "Legend of the Red Fox."

"You have my blessing," Lin Jing said.

"Squeak, squeak..."