Celestial Beast Taming

Witnessing the diversity of these Secret Realms, Zhong Yi decided he should contract some flying and aquatic Guardian Beasts in the future.

He aimed to effectively counter enemies both in the air and in the water.

With his Soul Taming Seed, Zhong Yi was perfectly capable of becoming an all-terrain warrior, effective on land, in the air, and at sea.

Long Mu paid a sum of Divine Origin Value to the Wanyu Gambling Company through the Soul Fighting Bracelet.

Zhong Yi was thus granted access to this Second Level Divine Wood Secret Realm.

When Zhong Yi decided to apply, more than 2,800 prodigies had already signed up for this Divine Wood Secret Realm.

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Before long, the moment the number of applicants reached 3,000, a Secret Realm Entrance opened up before Zhong Yi.

The moment he stepped through the Secret Realm Entrance, Zhong Yi immediately felt a familiar sense of weightlessness and dizziness.

When Zhong Yi recovered from the sensations of weightlessness and dizziness, he found himself standing beneath a towering tree.

The ancient tree pierced the heavens. In fact, its height might even rival that of the Star Frost Tower in the Central District of Starlight City.

Previously, Zhong Yi had thought Liu Shu’s description of the Divine Wood Secret Realm was a bit of an exaggeration.

Now, seeing these ancient trees that soared into the clouds, Zhong Yi felt Liu Shu’s earlier description had even been an understatement.

The tree’s trunk was over forty meters in diameter. Never mind a hundred people—even two hundred people holding hands couldn’t hope to encircle it.

Not far from this tree, other ancient trees also stood, soaring into the clouds.

The root systems of these ancient trees were exceptionally developed, intertwining with each other in their struggle for nutrients.

They had forcefully transformed what should have been flat forest terrain into a hilly landscape of tangled roots.

However, these hills were not made of stone formed from the Earth Element.

Instead, they were formed from the roots of these ancient trees, which were harder than steel!

Zhong Yi never forgot that as a Guardian Beast Master, his own safety was the top priority.

Therefore, upon entering the Secret Realm, he immediately activated his Soul Base to summon his Defensive Guardian Beasts first.

Zhong Yi had just summoned Hong Ji, but before he could call forth Ice Glaze, a swift figure was already upon him.

Two sharp claws—one slashed toward Zhong Yi’s neck, the other toward his lower abdomen.

The assault was as sudden as it was vicious. If the claw struck his neck, even if it didn’t decapitate him, it would surely shatter his spine.

Meanwhile, the claw aiming for his lower abdomen could tear a gaping hole right through him.

An injury like that went beyond simply being wounded.

It would have castrated him outright!

The attack was so sudden that even Hong Ji, whom Zhong Yi had just summoned, had no time to react.

Fortunately, out of habit, Zhong Yi had already summoned the two Guardian Beasts responsible for his protection before calling out Hong Ji.

Relying on its keen Perception Power, the Golden Mayfly Mother Insect acted even before Zhong Yi detected the danger.

It had already commanded its Sub-Worms to link their metallic bodies, forming two oval Metal Insect Shields in front of him.

These shields completely covered Zhong Yi’s frame, ensuring that even if the assailant changed their target, the attack would still be blocked.

The Golden Mayfly Mother Insect had only managed to cultivate a small number of elite Sub-Worms over the past few days.

After mounting the initial defense, the Golden Mayfly Mother Insect also commanded these elite Sub-Worms.

Using the Skill, Shuo Gold Armor, they formed a nearly weightless layer of protection over Zhong Yi’s most vulnerable areas.

Meanwhile, Zhong Yi’s other protector, the Crystal Seal Star Bee, proactively sacrificed one of its sub-bees.

It activated its Exclusive Trait, Absolute Exclusion.

If Zhong Yi hadn’t ordered the Crystal Seal Star Bee to halt after realizing he was under attack—telling it not to sacrifice any more sub-bees to cast its other Exclusive Trait, Energy Shield Reversal—the bee would have kept going.

To ensure his safety, the Crystal Seal Star Bee would have sacrificed at least two more sub-bees to wrap him in two additional layers of Energy Shield.

This sudden ambush made Zhong Yi fully realize just how dangerous the Secret Realms operated by the Wanyu Gambling Company truly were.

If he hadn’t summoned his two Defensive Guardian Beasts first, prioritizing his main combatants Hong Ji and Ice Glaze instead, he would have been severely wounded by that blow, if not killed outright.

Zhong Yi subconsciously glanced down.

He had no desire to have a large hole torn in a man’s most vulnerable spot.

Two sharp clashes of metal rang out. The attacker clearly hadn’t expected Zhong Yi to deploy his defenses so quickly.

The moment she saw Zhong Yi under attack, Hong Ji had already hitched up her red dress.

She lunged at the assailant like a panther.

As Hong Ji attacked, the four Demon Puppets—the Blood Thread Puppet, the Fern Bone Puppet, the Decaying Mist Owl, and the Ice Robe Hidden Scorpion—materialized at her side.

At the Blood Thread Puppet’s command, a tide of dark red and purplish veins surged toward the figure.

’To Zhong Yi, the scene looked a bit like an overturned stall of duck intestines at the market.’

Thousands upon thousands of veins whistled through the air, but to an assassin, such speed was nothing remarkable.

The fact that this person dared to assassinate Zhong Yi the moment he entered the Secret Realm clearly meant that speed was their specialty.

The assassin dodged the veins coiling toward them.