I'm Just a Beast Tamer

Jiang Zuo was still too inexperienced to know the true prestige of a Relic in the Cultivation Realm.

After all, not even an eminent monk at the Manifestation Realm was guaranteed to form a Relic.

And forming a Relic meant one was impervious to all evil. As long as they didn’t perish, ascending to the Upper Realm was only a matter of time.

In the entire Cultivation Realm, the number of Relics that had ever appeared could be counted on two hands.

If it weren’t for the many Cultivators present at Sword Casting Manor at this very moment, Spirit Void, holding the Relic, would have likely lost his life on the spot.

Had Jiang Zuo known earlier how important the Relic was, he would have made different plans.

At the time, he had listened to Leichan and assumed that the Relic was a one-time consumable, used to release the World-Purifying Buddha Light and save people.

He thought that after its use, the Relic would vanish, and Leichan would perish completely.

And under the circumstances back then, Jiang Zuo had no time to consider anything else.

Fortunately, the Little Monk, Spirit Void, had picked up the Relic. Now, he was stepping forward to vouch for Jiang Zuo, which saved him some trouble.

In the crowd, Liao Shitong clutched his own severed hand, his face a grim, ashen mask.

The hand could be reattached, but his Cultivation would inevitably be affected.

More importantly, it wouldn’t be long before the entire world knew that he had provoked Jiang Zuo, only to lose to him.

Even if people didn’t dare say it to his face, they would surely treat it as a joke behind his back.

And as Jiang Zuo’s fame grew, more and more people would learn of this incident.

If they dug deeper, the story of how Jiang Zuo had wanted to join the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect during his Spirit Root assessment, only to be rejected, would soon become common knowledge.

A disciple with poor Spirit Root Talent, rejected by the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect, who then, through his own talent and hard work, led a large group of Spirit Beasts to defeat the very Sect Elder who had refused to accept him.

Liao Shitong couldn’t help but feel a sense of despair just thinking about how the story would be told.

Forget about outsiders; even the disciples within the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect would probably think he was blind for failing to recognize talent.

And there was nothing he could do about it.

However, few people were paying any attention to Liao Shitong right now. Their focus was on how to rescue the more than six hundred disciples from the various sects who were still trapped.

"If there are no further objections, we at Sword Casting Manor will dispatch an elderly Dao Foundation disciple. He will carry a Talisman that nullifies mind control and will be accompanied by the second-tier puppets provided by the Puppet Masters."

The discussion didn’t take long, and a rescue plan was quickly finalized.

Before Luo Taidong brought the Black Eye Order from the Black Tortoise Dao Sect—which was a type of Secret Realm Token—there had really only been one rescue option: go to that hidden valley and wait.

They would have to wait for the Secret Realm’s gate to open on its own, then guard the gate and wait for the disciples inside to come out.

But with the Black Eye Order, they had another choice: they could send someone in first to make contact with those inside.

If they were lucky and the Secret Realm gate didn’t close too quickly, they could rescue the disciples directly.

Even if they couldn’t rescue them directly, they could at least pass information to the people inside.

"Alright, it’s decided then."

"To avoid affecting the stability of the Secret Realm’s gate, please, fellow Cultivators, retreat to a safe distance."

Seeing that there were no objections, Ou Fanghai spoke up.

He wasn’t just posturing; he deliberately said this for all the Cultivators present to hear.

Rescuing over six hundred disciples from the various sects would be a great achievement.

But if Sword Casting Manor acted on its own authority and something went wrong, it would bring great trouble upon them.

Don’t be greedy for merit, don’t be reckless, and don’t rashly take sides and make enemies.

Sword Casting Manor had always followed such a prudent path, which was how it had achieved its current status.

The surrounding Cultivators all retreated several hundred meters away.

Jiang Zuo, Luo Taidong, and Yu Ying didn’t linger either, retreating a great distance.

"Junior Brother, do you think the rescue will go smoothly?"

Yu Ying was now filled with curiosity about her junior brother and couldn’t help but ask for his opinion.

"Normally, it should go very smoothly. However, the methods of the Celestial Eye Black Pupil organization are bizarre and unpredictable, so who knows what they’re plotting."

Jiang Zuo shook his head.

’In this world, probably no one understood the terror of the Celestial Eye Black Pupil better than him.’

’While in the Secret Realm, he hadn’t been able to find any information related to Celestial Eye Black Pupil. But from the looks of it, the Celestial Eye Black Pupil organization and the Celestial Eye Black Pupil he had seen were, one way or another, related.’

In the center of the square, Ou Fanghai poured Spiritual Power into the Black Eye Order, opening the gate to the Secret Realm.

「At the same time, on a desolate mountaintop not too far from Sword Casting Manor.」

A young-looking man, who had been resting with his eyes closed, revealed a faint smile.

’So they’re finally using the Black Eye Order?’

’In that case, let this "Angelica sinensis" Secret Realm fulfill its final purpose!’

As the thought crossed his mind, the young man injected Spiritual Power into the Black Eye Order in his hand.

Inside the Secret Realm, a day after Jiang Zuo and the others had left, a massive change had already occurred in the sky and on the land.

Huge fissures had appeared on the ground of the Secret Realm.

And the sky was shrouded by enormous black Runes.

Under the effect of these giant black Runes, the Secret Realm was steeped in an unprecedentedly oppressive atmosphere.

The Cultivators who hadn’t managed to escape went on a frenzy, hunting down the native believers and killing them in an attempt to stop what was happening.

But after two days, nearly every believer they could find had been slaughtered, yet the situation in the Secret Realm remained unchanged.

All the Cultivators felt a strong sense of unease, but there was nothing they could do.

"The gate to the Secret Realm is open!"

Just as they were on the verge of despair, someone suddenly saw a flash of light appear on a toppled building.

It was the gate to the Secret Realm.

"Quick! We’re saved!"

The surrounding Cultivators were overjoyed and began running toward it frantically.

But.

They hadn’t even run more than a few steps.

In the sky, the massive black Runes shrouding the entire Secret Realm suddenly began to spin violently.

In just an instant, an invisible, irresistible force enveloped the entire Secret Realm!

Within this Secret Realm, whether it was the Cultivators who couldn’t escape, the corpses of the slain believers—no, even the very land of the Secret Realm itself, and the medium-grade Spirit Vein within it.

Under this formless power, everything was instantly turned to ash!

BOOM!

The entire Secret Realm instantly exploded. Everything within was annihilated, transforming into two dense streams of light: one blood-red, one black.

The black light shot forcefully into the Secret Realm gate that had just opened.

The blood-red light, meanwhile, rushed toward another Secret Realm gate that had also just opened.

「On the desolate mountaintop.」

The blood-red light shot out from the Secret Realm gate and landed in the young man’s hand, ultimately forming a single bead of blood.

「Meanwhile, at Sword Casting Manor.」

The Secret Realm gate had just opened, and Ou Fanghai was about to let the elderly Dao Foundation disciple enter.

But just then, a torrent of black light swept out frantically from within the gate.

Sensing the power within this black light, Ou Fanghai’s expression changed drastically.

He violently grabbed the elderly disciple and shot backward.

"What is that?!"

"Something’s wrong! There’s been a disaster in the Secret Realm!"

"This black light... I have a really bad feeling about this!"

As the black light swept out from the Secret Realm, the power it emanated sent a chill down the spine of every Cultivator present.

This black light contained an unimaginably vast amount of Spiritual Power, as well as some strange power unknown to them.

They didn’t need to touch it to know that coming into contact with this black light would be anything but good.

Without another word, almost everyone retreated in unison, trying to get away from the black light.

But after sweeping out of the Secret Realm gate, the black light didn’t disperse. Instead, it coalesced into the black silhouette of an elegant young man.

"Ten Thousand Miles Manifestation!"

"The Second Stage of the Manifestation Realm!"

"A Great Cultivator from Celestial Eye Black Pupil?"

Looking at the suddenly appeared black silhouette, the expressions of every Cultivator present changed drastically.

They had never imagined that this generation of Celestial Eye Black Pupil would not only have a Manifestation Realm Cultivator, but one who was at least in the Second Stage!

Moreover, he was completely disregarding established etiquette, appearing before them all and seemingly preparing to attack them, his juniors!

The person with the highest Cultivation present was Ou Fanghai, who was at the late stage of the Dao Fruit Realm.

But facing a Great Cultivator at the Ten Thousand Miles Manifestation stage, the most Ou Fanghai could do was barely protect himself.

Saving anyone else was an impossibility.

"Which fellow Cultivator has graced Sword Casting Manor with their presence?"

Just as everyone was feeling deeply unsettled, a tall figure suddenly manifested from the depths of Sword Casting Manor.

His voice arrived before he did.

Compared to the suddenly-appeared black silhouette of the young man, this tall figure from Sword Casting Manor felt like a blazing sun.

This was Sword Casting Manor’s own Great Cultivator of the Manifestation Realm!

And it was his true self, present in person!

However, the black silhouette of the young man paid no mind to Sword Casting Manor’s Great Cultivator. His gaze shifted, locking onto a figure that was hastily trying to escape.

It was none other than Jiang Zuo!

"The Angelica sinensis Secret Realm was destroyed because of you. It is only right that you bear the resulting power of this wicked karma!"

The black-silhouetted youth said faintly.

The next moment, a mass of black light roared toward Jiang Zuo like a startled dragon.

"Come with me!"

Luo Taidong saw what was happening and hastily grabbed Jiang Zuo, trying to pull him away to safety.

Luo Taidong’s speed was not slow, but compared to the speed of the black light, it was far too inferior.

"Master, get away!"

He knew that if this continued, nothing would change except that Luo Taidong would be dragged down with him.

Jiang Zuo put forth a burst of strength and broke free from Luo Taidong’s grip.

With a flicker of his body, Jiang Zuo flew toward an empty area to the side.

At the same time, thoughts flashed through Jiang Zuo’s mind as ideas appeared one after another.

And almost as soon as Jiang Zuo broke free from Luo Taidong, the black light, like a swimming dragon, slammed violently into Jiang Zuo and burrowed into his body.

That, at least, is what it looked like to outsiders.

But in reality, just before the black light was about to strike him, Jiang Zuo had forcefully opened the passage to his Pet Beast Spirit Garden, intending to absorb the torrent of black light into the garden.

As for what would happen to the Spirit Garden afterward, Jiang Zuo had no time to worry.

’However, the Spirit Garden should be fine for a short while. The spot where I’m directing it is where those Black Lotuses are located anyway.’

This was the best countermeasure Jiang Zuo could think of in that split second.

But clearly, this alone was not enough.

Although more than half of the black light had surged into the Spirit Garden.

The remaining portion still broke through and slammed into Jiang Zuo’s body.

In an instant, Jiang Zuo’s entire body was engulfed by the strange black light!