Chapter 76: Chapter 76 - The Forbidden Technique and the Static Predator

With the Sect Master personally overseeing the Blackwater City incident and the Liu Family Auction House busy tracking down his specialized ingredients, Su Bai found himself with absolutely nothing on his agenda.

Rather than sitting idly in his hut, Su Bai decided to go on a campus tour.

The Radiant Sky Sect was massive, and there were still several major peaks he had never officially visited.

He had already successfully signed in at Clear Cloud Peak, Verdant Peak, Heavenly Forge Peak, Azure Sword Peak, and the Grand Archives at Radiant Zenith Peak.

The remaining locations on his map were the Grand Foundation Peak (mostly known as the Inner Sect’s Main Peak), Beast Taming Peak, Silent Orchid Peak, and Slumbering Ancestor Peak.

Determined to expand his foundation, Su Bai set out the next morning for the Grand Foundation Peak.

...

The atmosphere on the Grand Foundation Peak was vibrant and bustling. This was the heart of the Inner Sect, a massive plateau where thousands of disciples gathered daily to practice martial arts, spar, and listen to the lectures of the sect elders.

As Su Bai stepped off his flying sword, the sharp sounds of wooden practice swords clashing and the shouts of training disciples filled the air.

His arrival did not go unnoticed.

"Senior Brother Su!"

A wave of respectful murmurs rippled through the training grounds. Several elders who were overseeing the morning drills immediately paused. Their faces lit up with welcoming smiles.

The elders invited him to the viewing platform, eagerly asking for his thoughts on the disciples’ movement techniques.

"Their footwork is very solid," Su Bai offered politely. "However, I notice some of the younger disciples are focusing too much on speed and neglecting their breathing rhythms. If they pace their Qi with their steps, their stamina will double."

The elders stroked their beards, nodding in profound agreement at his traditional, sound advice.

It was then that two familiar faces appeared when Su Bai was alone. It was Chen Yu and Wang Lin.

They were currently a formidable force in the Inner Sect, and because of their rapid progress, many elders were actively competing to take them on as personal disciples. However, the two were torn, unable to decide which path to choose.

"Senior Brother Su," Chen Yu bowed deeply. "We... we need your guidance."

"Elder Han wishes to take me in," Wang Lin explained, scratching his head. "But Elder Zhou has also offered to mentor both of us together. We don’t know whose offer to accept. We want to stay together, but my arts aren’t suited for Elder Zhou’s heavy sword path."

Su Bai looked at the two young men. They were incredibly talented, but they were letting loyalty blind their individual potential.

"The path of cultivation is long, Junior Brothers," Su Bai said warmly. "A master can only guide you to the door, but you must walk the path yourself. You must choose the peak that resonates with your own Dao. Friendship is forged in the heart, not by standing in the same courtyard. Follow your own paths."

Chen Yu and Wang Lin’s eyes widened as the simple, profound truth hit them.

"You are right, Senior Brother," Chen Yu said as his eyes teared up slightly. He clapped Wang Lin on the shoulder. "We will always be brothers, even if we cultivate on different peaks!"

Wang Lin nodded vigorously. A bright smile broke across his face. They bowed deeply to Su Bai once more, profusely thanking him for clearing their clouded minds before running off to formally accept their respective masters.

Smiling at the wholesome resolution, Su Bai silently triggered the system.

[Ding! Signed in at Grand Foundation Peak.]

[Reward: Jade Slip of the Shattered Sea]

[Description: Contains a corrupted, forbidden technique. Anyone who attempts to read it suffers an immediate, violent backlash that permanently shatters their "Qi Sea" (their Dantian), completely crippling their foundation.]

Su Bai’s eyebrows shot up in amazement as the pitch-black jade slip materialized in his storage ring.

’If it violently shatters and destroys a normal Qi Sea...’ Su Bai’s eyes gleamed with anticipation. ’Then for me, it will likely fortify it!’

It was a priceless treasure. He decided to study later.

...

The following morning, Su Bai flew over to Beast Taming Peak.

The moment he landed, the smell of damp earth, pine, and animal musk filled his senses. The peak was loud, echoing with the roars, squawks, and howls of countless spirit beasts.

"Disciple Su!" a cheerful voice called out.

Elder Zhao hurried over to greet him. The elder looked ten years younger. The dark circles under his eyes were gone, and perched proudly on his shoulder was a magnificent, vibrantly colored Storm-Crested Falcon.

Su Bai smiled warmly. It was clear the other elders had gifted him a new companion, and Elder Zhao had finally moved on from the tragic death of his beloved crane, Wilson.

"It is good to see you in such high spirits, Elder Zhao," Su Bai greeted him politely.

"And it’s wonderful to have you visit!" Elder Zhao laughed as he stroked his new falcon’s feathers. "You know, you spend all your time on Clear Cloud Peak or hovering around the Alchemy cauldrons. You need a hobby! Have you ever considered taming a spirit beast? It does wonders for the soul!"

Su Bai felt a sudden pang of nostalgia. Of course, he knew just how healing the company of a pet could be.

"I wouldn’t mind trying, Elder," Su Bai admitted. "Do you have any beasts that need tending?"

"Oh, I have the perfect challenge for you," Elder Zhao sighed, then gestured for Su Bai to follow him toward a heavily reinforced enclosure made of thick steel bars. "We recently captured a pack of Iron-Hide Shadow Wolves. They are incredibly powerful, but their temperament is... difficult."

As they approached, the shadows inside the enclosure violently shifted. Six massive, muscular wolves with fur like steel wire hurled themselves at the bars, snarling viciously. Their jaws snapped, and their eyes burned with untamed, aggressive fury.

They weren’t pets. They were apex predators.

Su Bai took a step back as he realized that the spirit beasts in the cultivation world were vastly different from the golden retrievers of his past life. These things wanted to eat his face.

Before engaging, Su Bai mentally called out to the system.

[Ding! Signed in at Beast Taming Peak.]

[Reward: Parasitic Beast-Master’s Branding Iron]

[Description: A short, heavy rod made of cold, matte-black metal. It can grant telepathic control over thousands of beasts, but with a fatal cost: it violently drains the user’s stamina every time a linked beast moves. A normal cultivator would die of extreme exhaustion within minutes of linking to an active pack.]

Su Bai almost burst out laughing as he read the description.

It was the exact same principle as Ning Shuang’s Yang-Plucking technique! The system had just handed him a cursed artifact that was supposed to drain the user to death.

Which meant, for him, the parasitic drain would completely invert.

Su Bai pulled the heavy, matte-black metal rod from his storage ring. He stepped up to the steel bars, looking the snarling Alpha wolf dead in the eyes.

"Let me try, Elder Zhao," Su Bai said smoothly.

He channeled a surge of his Qi into the Branding Iron. Six invisible, ethereal tethers shot out from the black metal, instantly sinking into the foreheads of the raging wolves.

The connection was established.

The Alpha wolf let out a furious roar and lunged violently at the bars, trying to bite Su Bai’s hand.

Whoosh!

Instead of Su Bai’s stamina draining to fuel the beast’s movement, the brand acted as a massive inbound siphon. The kinetic energy of the wolf’s lunge was violently ripped from its body and pumped directly into Su Bai.

Su Bai felt an incredibly refreshing wave of pure stamina wash over his muscles. He let out a content sigh.

Inside the cage, the Alpha wolf suddenly staggered. Its legs wobbled uncontrollably. A wave of profound, inexplicable exhaustion hit it out of nowhere.

Confused and enraged, the rest of the pack began to pace aggressively. They snapped their jaws and shook their heavy heads.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

With every single step, twitch, and snarl, their stamina was mercilessly sucked through the tethers and funneled straight into Su Bai. The wolves began to pant heavily. Their legs gave out, their muscular bodies suddenly feeling like they were made of lead.

These wolves were predators with highly tuned survival instincts. It didn’t take them long to realize a terrifying truth: Moving cost them their energy.

The Alpha wolf looked up at the smiling human holding the black rod. Then, the ferocious, untamable beast slowly, carefully, and with absolute precision... sat down.

It tucked its tail neatly around its paws. It stopped snarling. It stopped panting. It barely even dared to blink.

Seeing their leader submit, the other five wolves instantly followed suit. They dropped to the floor of the cage, then arranged themselves into perfectly still, statuesque poses. They looked like the most well-behaved, obedient, and terrified dogs in the history of the cultivation world.

Absolute, pin-drop silence fell over the enclosure.

Elder Zhao stood frozen. His jaw was completely unhinged. He looked at the perfectly motionless pack of ferocious beasts, then slowly turned his head to look at Su Bai.

"Heavens above..." Elder Zhao whispered. "Such... such absolute dominance!"

Su Bai, currently overflowing with stolen stamina, gave the elder a modest, polite smile.

"They just needed a firm hand, Elder," Su Bai replied gently.

The beasts inside the cage heard his voice and collectively decided to stop wagging their tails, fearing that even a slight twitch might drain the last of their energy.

Later, Su Bai finally released the tethers.

Before walking away, he offered the pack a sharp look of warning. "Please behave yourselves from now on. Or else..."

The Alpha wolf nodded its head so frantically that it looked like it was about to fly off its neck.