Chapter 711: All Tamed

Within the mist, Zhang Xuan walked slowly.

With his Eye of Insight activated, the fifth-level maze was nothing to him; the spirit beasts trapped within could not see him, but he could clearly see their every move.

He lightly tapped the ground with his foot, silently approached a spirit beast, reached out his hand, and pressed down gently!

Thud!

The spirit beast fell to the ground, severely injured.

Having broken through to the Bridge Heaven realm, his pure true qi strength alone reached a staggering 5.5 million ding, comparable to a late-stage Bridge Heaven expert. Although these spirit beasts were not weak, how could they withstand it? (Bridge Heaven realm: early stage 4 million, mid stage 4.8 million, late stage 5.6 million, peak 6.2 million!)

Struggling to lift its head, the spirit beast was about to die together with its attacker when it heard a faint beast language in its ear.

"Submit, or die!"

"Roar!"

With the beast language transmission and the opponent so powerful, without much hesitation, the spirit beast gritted its teeth and knelt.

As soon as it submitted, it felt a surge of energy flow into its body, not only healing its injuries but also purifying its bloodline under the nourishment of that energy, its strength on the verge of breakthrough.

"Roar?" Its eyes reddened, the spirit beast knew its opportunity had come, sincerely submitted, and had no other thoughts.

"Mm."

Leaving it in place, Zhang Xuan continued forward.

Although Elder Mi said these spirit beasts were vicious and killing them was no big deal, they were still lives; taming them was far better than slaying them.

Of course, if any would rather die than submit, he would not hesitate to eliminate them directly.

As he ventured deeper into the mist, the cries and screams of spirit beasts filled the air. More and more spirit beasts were tamed, and more and more "stubborn ones" were slain.

As he walked, Zhang Xuan took the opportunity to absorb spiritual energy, enhancing and consolidating his cultivation.

Within the maze, over five hundred spirit stones had shattered, forming a vortex of energy, rich in spiritual energy. It allowed him to break through while saving his own spirit stones—why not?

After an hour, he smoothly reached the peak of the Bridge Heaven realm.

As for the several hundred spirit beasts, some were tamed, some slain, leaving few remaining.

With his cultivation at the peak of Bridge Heaven, his true qi strength doubled again, reaching 8 million ding, already comparable to an early-stage Guiyi realm expert.

If combined with his physical strength of 4 million ding and soul power of 3.2 million ding, he could even contend with an early-stage Huafan Eighth Layer expert!

If he encountered that young man from the Yuan family again, even without using his clone, he could easily defeat him.

"The spirit beasts are mostly dealt with; I can dispel the formation now!"

His Eye of Insight flickered, and after making another round to confirm all spirit beasts were handled, Zhang Xuan smiled lightly and stomped his foot.

Whoosh!

The formation stopped, and the once mist-filled valley reappeared before everyone.

...

At the very center of the mist, over two hundred master teachers sat on the ground, gasping for breath, healing their injuries, and recovering their true qi.

They had planned to hunt, but instead were ambushed by the spirit beasts.

Now almost everyone was injured. If not for the sudden young man who set up the maze, they would have been wiped out.

"I know that man—he is Zhang Xuan, Master Zhang of Huanyu Empire. He has a half-step Ninth Layer Purple-Winged Sky Bear as a pet. I was fortunate to see him once at a trading fair!"

After recovering for some time, a pale-faced master teacher spoke.

Though it was only a glimpse, he still recognized him.

This man had once used the inner core of a Huafan Eighth Layer spirit beast to exchange for a Bridge Heaven realm cultivation manual, causing quite a stir. Anyone who had been to the trading fair knew about it.

However, among the thirty thousand new students, only a few had attended the fair; most were unaware.

"A half-step Ninth Layer pet? Does that mean we might be saved?"

A master teacher clenched his fist, hopeful.

"Not so easy!"

Another, slightly older master teacher shook his head: "There are over four hundred spirit beasts here, nearly half of them at Bridge Heaven realm. Plus, the valley is narrow. Even a half-step Ninth Layer beast, let alone a true Ninth Layer, might not be enough to kill them all! Besides... to save us, he set up the maze... He can't even enter himself, so how can he rescue us?"

A single spirit beast's cultivation might be weak, but the combined attack of hundreds is terrifying.

Like soldiers, a united attack can annihilate even peak experts. That's why empires are so powerful—once an order is given, no one dares to disobey.

Such was the situation before them.

Over four hundred spirit beasts had managed to trap them, indicating they had already formed an alliance. Combined with the narrow valley, flying spirit beasts would find it hard to dodge. If someone came to rescue them, they would likely be killed by the combined attack before even reaching them.

Even if they charged into the maze, the Sky Bear's massive size would make it easy to spot, leading to a bitter fight.

In short, even though the maze had bought them temporary safety, rescuing them was still nearly impossible.

"Then... are we just waiting to die?"

The master teacher's face turned ugly.

"Don't think too much. Just focus on recovering your strength. We'll see later. Let's just hope Elder Mi learns of our danger and acts personally; otherwise... none of the new students can save us!"

The older master teacher sighed.

In truth, their predicament was partly his fault.

He had been too eager for glory and rushed in, only to fall into the ambush.

"Wait, Teacher Ding, I hear spirit beasts crying outside. Could it be that Master Zhang has already entered the maze?" another master teacher said.

He had heard many spirit beast cries over the past half hour. Could someone already be acting?

"You're still too naive!"

Teacher Ding shook his head: "We can't see anything now. The spirit beasts are deliberately crying to lure us in. Even if not, it's probably an effect of the maze!"

"Luring us in?"

"Mm. I am a Four-Star Beast Tamer myself. Having dealt with spirit beasts for a long time, I can distinguish their sounds. The cries just now, though pained, were more of excitement and flattery... Such sounds clearly mean they think we are trapped and cannot escape, and they are overjoyed!"

Teacher Ding said.

As a beast tamer, though he didn't understand beast language, he could discern their emotions.

The sounds contained both pain and excitement, clearly indicating that these creatures had devised a method to wipe them all out.

"Alright, focus on recovering your strength and prepare for the next battle..."

As he spoke, Teacher Ding was about to continue warning everyone not to harbor false hopes when he felt the formation before him shake violently.

"Damn, the formation is breaking! Grab your weapons, prepare to fight..."

He shouted urgently and stood up. The other master teachers also wore grim expressions.

Hum!

Before his words ended, the maze shook and then stopped, and a young man walked slowly toward them.

Everyone was stunned.

"Alright... you're saved."

The young man glanced at them calmly.

"Saved?"

They were dumbfounded, only then noticing that the spirit beasts that had been attacking were now all lying on the ground, their gazes respectful.

And the young man walked among them like an invincible sovereign.

"This..."

"Is this... tamed?"

"In one hour, he tamed over four hundred spirit beasts?"

Soon, they understood, and each was so shocked they nearly fainted.

Others need to fawn over spirit beasts and offer various treasures to tame them, but this young man set up a maze and tamed so many in an hour...

Is this real?

Not only them, but Ruohuan and the others on the rock, who had expected a bitter fight when the formation disappeared, were also so shocked they nearly fainted.

Taming over four hundred spirit beasts in an hour...

Brother, are you trying to defy the heavens?

"Wait, look... Master Zhang's cultivation!"

Amid the shock, someone shouted. At this, everyone's gaze snapped toward him.

One look, and they all swayed, nearly falling off the rocks.

They saw that Master Zhang, who had just broken through to Bridge Heaven an hour ago, now had a full aura, his strength surging like a mighty river, giving a sense of all rivers flowing into the sea.

"All rivers flowing into the sea—this is... peak Bridge Heaven, on the verge of breaking through to Guiyi..."

"Didn't he just break through to Bridge Heaven?"

Rubbing their eyes vigorously, everyone went mad.

They had seen fast cultivation, but never this fast.

Just breaking through, and in one go, he rose an entire major level from early to peak...

Is this cultivation, or eating?

Even eating isn't this fast!

"Master Zhang must have used some secret technique to boost his cultivation to save us; otherwise... how could he tame so many spirit beasts in such a short time?"

"Yes, over four hundred spirit beasts—unless his strength surpasses them, how could they sincerely submit?"

Everyone clenched their fists.

They were all master teachers and knew the hardships of cultivation. Boosting strength in a short time must come at a price.

Among the spirit beasts before them, about half had reached Bridge Heaven. To tame them, there was only one way: his cultivation must exceed theirs!

To save others, he paid the price to boost his cultivation... His character is admirable!

"The spirit beasts I killed, plus those I tamed, should be enough for your points. No need to continue; hurry back and complete the assessment!"

As everyone was shocked and admiring, Zhang Xuan's faint voice sounded.

Then they saw the young man shake his body, leap up, and climb higher along the valley walls.

"Enough for our points?"

"Master Zhang means... we should take these spirit beasts and inner cores back to complete the assessment?"

"He's giving us all the spirit beasts he tamed and hunted? This..."

Their faces solemn, they stared at the figure disappearing into the canyon, fists clenched, eyes reddening.

Not for himself, but for humanity...

This is a true master teacher!