Chapter 276: Chapter 276: Beast Taming Skill

After absorbing so many powerful Martial Souls and Soul Thoughts, Ye Xuan’s Devouring Martial Soul finally advanced to Three-Stars, manifesting as a perfect, dark-red star ring.

The four Demon Beasts stared at the Devouring Martial Soul above Ye Xuan’s head, their eyes flickering with fear.

Ye Xuan was amazed. He never expected his Devouring Martial Soul could intimidate not only Profound Beasts but even Demon Beasts.

Now, it was time to deal with these Demon Beasts.

"You’re a Profound Beast, aren’t you? Can’t you control them?"

Ye Xuan could never figure out whether the Little Purple Mink was a Profound Beast or a Demon Beast. It was too intelligent to be a Demon Beast—most couldn’t match its cunning. Yet it lacked the typical traits of a Profound Beast; at the very least, it didn’t exhibit their unique Soul Power aura.

However, judging by the way so many Demon Beasts feared it, the likelihood that the Little Purple Mink was a Profound Beast was much higher.

The Little Purple Mink shot Ye Xuan a disdainful look. Its purple pupils suddenly flashed, and an invisible wave seeped into his mind.

Ye Xuan immediately sensed a strange Soul Skill manifesting in his mind. The text was bizarre, seemingly the language of the Profound Beast race. Though Ye Xuan had never seen it before, he could clearly grasp its meaning the moment his Soul Power touched it.

The Soul Skill’s name was simple, just three words: Beast Taming Skill!

’Is this how the Profound Beast race controls Demon Beasts?’

Ye Xuan’s eyes lit up as he studied it. Sure enough, it detailed how Profound Beasts control Demon Beasts. The process wasn’t complicated, but it was exceptionally clever.

"You want me to enslave these Demon Beasts?"

Ye Xuan was puzzled. He could understand the content and methods of the Beast Taming Skill, but he couldn’t perform it at all.

This was because although the Soul Power of human Soul Refiners was extremely similar to that of Profound Beasts, there was a vast, fundamental difference between them.

Signing a Spirit Pet Contract could achieve this, but these were merely Tier Four Demon Beasts with low intelligence. They weren’t yet qualified to become Ye Xuan’s Spirit Pets.

SQUEAK SQUEAK!

The Little Purple Mink rolled its eyes at Ye Xuan and pointed to the Devouring Martial Soul above his head, its expression seeming to say, ’How can you be so dense?’

A thought struck Ye Xuan. ’Could my Devouring Martial Soul be used to enslave Demon Beasts?’

At that thought, Ye Xuan immediately followed the method from the Beast Taming Skill, infusing a sliver of his Devouring Martial Soul’s aura into the body of the giant rock wolf.

The giant rock wolf trembled. It didn’t dare resist the aura of the Devouring Martial Soul, and a trace of Ye Xuan’s Devouring Martial Soul was imprinted in its mind.

It had actually worked.

Ye Xuan was stunned. He could feel a subtle connection form between himself and the giant rock wolf, just as if he had signed a Spirit Pet Contract.

’This Devouring Martial Soul is simply too amazing.’

Ye Xuan’s fascination with his Devouring Martial Soul grew immensely.

Next, Ye Xuan used the same method to brand the three Blade Mantis Beasts with the mark of his Devouring Martial Soul.

The four Tier Four Demon Beasts surrounded Ye Xuan, as docile as four infants.

"Alright, do a somersault."

Ye Xuan said to the giant rock wolf.

The giant rock wolf immediately rolled over on the ground.

"I said do a somersault, not roll over."

The giant rock wolf blinked its eyes innocently, not understanding what a somersault was.

"Forget it." Ye Xuan laughed, thrilled to have subdued several Demon Beasts so easily. "Let me give you all names. Hmm, you’ll be Dahuang, you’ll be Erhuang, you’ll be San Huang, and as for you... you’ll be Wangcai."

The four Demon Beasts blinked their eyes excitedly, seemingly quite pleased with their new names.

Ye Xuan tested it out. He found he could sense the giant rock wolf and the others’ movements and whereabouts within a ten-li radius, but the connection weakened rapidly beyond that distance.

This was a clear difference from a Spirit Pet Contract, which generally allowed one to sense their Spirit Pet no matter where it was.

However, this distance was more than enough for Ye Xuan.

With Dahuang and the others, Ye Xuan’s search became much more efficient. As they traveled, no Spirit Medicine within a ten-li radius was missed.

After traveling for another two days, Ye Xuan’s eyes suddenly lit up as he gazed at a mountain peak ahead.

’This peak looks a lot like the one Dongfang Yanyu drew on the map.’

Ye Xuan quickly pulled out his map. Sure enough, the two peaks were incredibly similar. Aside from a few minor details, they were a perfect match.

Ye Xuan was overjoyed.

’It has to be the same peak. The map just shows it from that direction over there, while I’m looking at it from here.’

’To get there, I just need to circle around through this valley.’

After studying the route for a moment, Ye Xuan put away the map, his expression full of excitement.

SWISH!

Ye Xuan dashed into the adjacent valley.

He hadn’t gone far when his brows suddenly furrowed. He sensed a group of people ahead.

There were seven or eight of them, sitting cross-legged in a clearing in the valley.

Ye Xuan recognized two women among them: Xia Qixi of the Celestial Gold Kingdom and Wenqiao Mei of the Fire Crow Kingdom. The others were clearly disciples from the Fire Crow and Celestial Gold Kingdoms, with the two women as their leaders.

Just as Ye Xuan spotted them, they saw him as well and all rose to their feet.

"It’s him."

"Ye Xuan."

"The champion of the Floating Light Assembly."

"We’ve been in here for five days, and he’s still on his own."

They looked surprised to see Ye Xuan. The eyes of several Fire Crow Kingdom disciples, in particular, flickered with a murderous intent that vanished as quickly as it appeared.

They all glanced at Wenqiao Mei.

Wenqiao Mei gave an imperceptible shake of her head.

’Fools courting death.’

Ye Xuan sneered but didn’t back down, walking right past the group.

A strange glint flashed in Xia Qixi’s eyes. As Ye Xuan was passing, she finally spoke. "Sir, please wait."

"What is it?" Ye Xuan stopped and turned, his tone flat.

’What a cold tone.’

The faces of the young men behind Xia Qixi darkened, and they couldn’t help but let out a cold snort.

In the Celestial Gold Kingdom’s Soul Master Tower, Xia Qixi was treated like a princess, the goddess of their dreams.

The look she had given Ye Xuan earlier had already made them uncomfortable; now, his tone made them even more displeased.

Xia Qixi said, "The Floating Light Secret Realm is fraught with danger. I see you’re alone. Why not join our team? We can watch out for one another, and it would be safer for everyone."

"Senior Sister, you can’t be serious."

"That’s right! This Ye Xuan is a disciple from the Liuyun Kingdom. He has nothing to do with our Celestial Gold Kingdom. It wouldn’t be right for him to join us."

The young men from the Celestial Gold Kingdom protested.

They had let Wenqiao Mei and her group from the Fire Crow Kingdom join because she was another woman. But Ye Xuan was a man, and their Senior Sister had invited him personally.

They were not only annoyed but also felt a strong sense of being threatened.

Xia Qixi shot them a cold glance. "In the Floating Light Secret Realm, all disciples of the Thirteen Nations Alliance are one. We should naturally help each other. Does it matter whether or not he’s from our Celestial Gold Kingdom?"

"But..."

The young men were used to being cowed by Xia Qixi, so they fell silent. But their resentment toward Ye Xuan only deepened.

Hearing this, Wenqiao Mei couldn’t help but glance at Xia Qixi in surprise. From what she knew, Xia Qixi had always been proud and arrogant, and curt with every man she met. Why was her attitude toward Ye Xuan so different?

"I’m sorry, but I’m used to operating alone. Thank you for your kind offer."

Ye Xuan’s expression softened slightly. He could tell from her voice that her intentions were good and nothing more.

"Won’t you reconsider? This forest is teeming with Demon Beasts. I fear it will be very dangerous for you on your own."

"There’s no need. Farewell."

Ye Xuan cupped his fists, then turned and left.

The light in Xia Qixi’s eyes dimmed. Seeing how resolute he was, she knew she couldn’t say anything more and simply watched his figure disappear into the valley.

"Hmph. What an ungrateful fool. It’s his honor to be invited by Senior Sister Xia Qixi, and he actually refused."

A Celestial Gold Kingdom disciple snorted.

Xia Qixi shot him a glare, and the disciple immediately lowered his head in embarrassment, though inwardly he was delighted.

’Good thing that brat knew his place. If he had actually joined, I’d have shown him what’s what.’

Meanwhile, a heated exchange was taking place among the Fire Crow Kingdom disciples.

"Senior Sister, what do we do now?"

"That’s right. The Chairman ordered us that if we run into any Liuyun Kingdom disciples in the Floating Light Secret Realm, we must not let them leave alive if we get the chance."

"Especially Ye Xuan. The Chairman said that if we can capture him and get the recipe for the Blue Star Grass Martial Soul from him, we won’t have to hand over any of our loot from the Floating Light Secret Realm. We’d even get a huge reward on top of that!"

"Senior Sister, say something!"

"If you don’t say anything, we’re going after him."

"If we don’t chase him now, he’ll get away!"

The urgent voices of the young men echoed in Wenqiao Mei’s mind.

Among the Fire Crow Kingdom’s team, Wenqiao Mei was the strongest: a Soul Refiner at the Peak of Second Grade and a Third-Layer Earth Martial Artist. The others were mostly Early-Second Grade Soul Refiners and First or Second-Layer Earth Martial Artists, so they all deferred to her.

Wenqiao Mei’s eyes flickered as her disciples urged her on. Finally, she gritted her teeth and made up her mind.

"Xia Qixi, everyone, apologies. We have some business to attend to. We’ll part ways for now. Let’s meet again if fate allows."

With that, not waiting for a reaction from Xia Qixi’s group, Wenqiao Mei cupped her fists, then led the other three disciples in swift pursuit of Ye Xuan.

"What are they doing...?"

A disciple from the Celestial Gold Kingdom asked, completely bewildered.

"Hmph, do you even need to ask? They obviously went after Ye Xuan."

"The Fire Crow Kingdom and the Liuyun Kingdom have always been mortal enemies. If disciples from the two kingdoms meet in the Floating Light Secret Realm, it’s a fight to the death. That kid is in for it now."