His profession was that the extremely rare beastmaster, and he spent most of his time on how to control demon beasts. After years of hard work, he was finally able to barely control this Darkthunder, a fifth-tier demon beast. And yet, a boy who was only a warrior had just announced aloud that he would deal with it. That notion was both funny and annoying for him.

　　Even a tame fifth-tier demon beast was equivalent to a Martial King of the Five Elements Realm, not to mention all demon beasts were savage and had mighty physical strength.

　　But, Ji Meng did not find it funny. According to him, Yunxiao would never be wrong. He drew his soft sword, and with a cry of “Unseal!”, the weapon transformed into a long snake that darted toward Xu Pinghong.

　　Knowing that his opponent was a four-stars Martial Lord, Ji Meng did not dare to be careless, so he fought with all his might and trapped the man in a fierce battle. Meanwhile, Yunxiao walked smilingly toward the Darkthunder.

　　Although demon beasts had no intelligence, they had keen intuition that no human being could compare with. The beast immediately sensed that Yunxiao was approaching with a bad intention. So, it stood up, staring at him warily and looking as if it would pounce on him at any time.

　　“Hey, it’s alright.” Yunxiao began to sing softly.

　　My child, my child… why are you so bad?

　　Bullying, cheating… how can you do that?

　　Learn to be good… learn to be loving.

　　Love is in your heart… filling your life with warmth.

　　Be good, be good, and come home soon.

　　My arms are always ready to embrace you.

　　My child, repent with a sincere heart…[1]

　　“Roar!”

　　The Darkthunder could not stand it anymore. As it did not know how to vomit, it roared to express its anger and sick feeling toward the song. However, as soon as it had finished roaring, its big eyes turned dull.

　　Yunxiao’s pupils had turned into blood-red crescents, and there was a look of unspeakable evilness on his face. “Come in now, baby…” he murmured softly.

　　The Darkthunder shuddered as a feeling that came from the depths of its soul made it tremble, and in the next instant, it discovered that the sky had totally changed: it was now under a clear, cloudless sky.

　　At some point, Yunxiao, who was standing in front of it, was now sitting cross-legged far away. While smiling, he stood up and walked toward it, “Don’t be afraid, baby! This is the interior of the Divine Realm Tablet, and I’ve only pulled one of your soul and one of your spirit in.”

　　Relying on the bloodthirsty power and mighty flesh, demon beasts were much stronger than human beings of the same level. But, their only weakness was that their divine sense was extremely weak, and they did not have intelligence. Therefore, once they met experts like Yunxiao, who were good at soul attacks, they would always be in a passive position.

　　The Darkthunder did not understand Yunxiao’s words, but instinctively felt a little fear. Moreover, the golden texts that constantly flashed in the sky made it tremble with a rush of anxiety rising from the bottom of its heart, and filled it with dread and restlessness.

　　A bloodthirsty instinct that came from the ancient bloodline was immediately triggered by the powerful pressure. The beast’s eyes turned red, and it pounced on Yunxiao with a roar.

　　Seeing the attack, Yunxiao’s soul-form turned into streams of golden light and vanished. But, he appeared in the sky in the next instant, with the same faint smile on his face.

　　They were in the Divine Realm Tablet, and with the nourishment of the Great Expansion Divine Technique, Yunxiao’s soul was several times stronger than when he was outside. So, even if an alchemist who was a few tiers higher than him came here in soul-form, he would not be his match.

　　He knew about beastmasters. They usually controlled demon beasts through some assistive mystic equipment and various mystic arts. The bell hanging around the Darkthunder’s neck was one such assistive mystic equipment.

　　The reason Yunxiao pulled it into Divine Realm Tablet was that he wanted to subdue it with his powerful soul power.

　　Outside, Xu Pinghong was startled. He saw his mount roar and then lay down on its belly there without moving. Meanwhile, the boy warrior also sat cross-legged down, staring into its eyes, which were filled with a dull look.

　　“Darkie! Darkie!” Xu Pinghong called aloud, but it was useless. The beast seemed to be taken aback slightly at the sound of his voice, but then it quickly turned back to that dull and blank look.

　　That was when Xu Pinghong started to panic, his heart filled with horror.

　　According to the standard of the arts of beastmaster, the Darkthunder was eighty percent under his control after all the training. It was almost impossible for it to betray him. However, it just turned a deaf ear to him, even though he had called it several times with the mystic art. This instantly filled him with panic and anger.

　　It had cost him all his resources, time, and efforts to cultivate this fifth-tier demon beast. It was almost equivalent to his strongest fighting strength and trump card. Even then, he thought of the boy’s words, and he did not find them funny anymore.

　　He wished he could rush over and kill the boy immediately, but his opponent, a two-stars Martial Lord, fought fiercer and fiercer as the battle progressed. His cultivation base was two stars higher, but not only did he fail to defeat the other, but he was constantly faced with danger. As a result, he was getting impatient and angrier.

　　“Bast*rd! Green Thunder!”

　　In a fit of rage, he took out a pair of metal hoops and put them together. Immediately, streaks of lightning flashed and bolted out of them, and with the power of thunder, he smashed them down on his opponent.

　　Ji Meng was not panicked or nervous; his mind was as calm as water. Although he was only a two-stars Martial Lord, his understanding of the martial essence was far greater than his opponent’s. As long as he met the attack calmly, he would definitely win in the end.

　　“Peach Blossom Sword Intent!”

　　He made an upward cut with his sword. With that, a tiny seed emerged in the air and sprouted, instantly blooming into a huge peach flower. Numerous shafts of golden light broke out of it, completely enveloping the thunderous attack unleashed by Xu Pinghong.

　　“Saying that I’m crazy, others just laugh at me;

　　I laugh at others for the Truth they cannot see.

　　The emperors’ mausoleums are nowhere to be found;

　　With no flowers, no wine, the land’d been turned into farms!” [2]

　　A painting scroll of peach blossom and flowing water unfolded under his sword; it seemed that he was now standing under a peach blossom groove, singing aloud and drinking to his heart’s content. His sword danced faster and faster, and the more he swung it, the more unrestrained he seemed.

　　Thousands of peach flowers bloomed around him, and soon, they completely flooded Xu Pinghong.

　　“Impossible!” Xu Pinghong growled. “Bast*rd! How can you beat me!”

　　But, the cruel reality immediately despaired him, and he shouted frantically at the Darkthunder, “Darkie, Darkie! Help me!”

　　It was worse, because the beast did not even move slightly this time, as if it had not heard his voice at all. Xu Pinghong’s heart sank. Not daring to fight again, he hurriedly freed himself and was about to flee.

　　“Trying to run away from me?” Ji Meng sneered as the scene of Yunxiao conjuring seven lotus flowers with one sword strike in Feifeng came back to him, and he shouted, “The Song of Blue Lotus Sword!”

　　His soft sword swept out through the air. However, what bloomed in the sky were not blue lotus flowers, but peach flowers. And yet, they were all conjured with the sword intent of the Song of Blue Lotus Sword.

　　Seven huge peach flowers emerged once again in the void, and this time, they were much more vivid than in the town. A breeze blew gently over as the flowers bloomed and faded, and thousands of pink petals fell from the sky.

　　Xu Pinghong was stunned, watching in horror as the petals fell from the sky. He could not bear it any longer and shouted with all his strength, “Uncle-Master, help me!”

　　His voice shook the sky and rang directly into Mount Phoenix.

　　“AHHH!”

　　But unfortunately, the peach blossoms had already fallen. Xu Pinghong gave a miserable shriek as he died under thousands of peach flowers.

　　Ji Meng glanced at Yunxiao in the distance. He did not dare to disturb him, and besides, he suddenly felt a faint sensation of restlessness in his body, which filled him with wild joy and made him quickly sit down to meditate. It was the sign of breaking through.

　　As time went by, the Primordial Qi in him finally broke through the bottleneck. He was finally a three-stars Martial Lord! He observed the flow of Primordial Qi in his body in disbelief while a feeling of excitement washed him over.

　　A month ago, he was only a seven-stars Great Martial Master, and his biggest dream in life was to become a Martial Lord someday. Little did he know that after only a month with Yunxiao, he had broken through six stars and become a three-stars Martial Lord!

　　He opened his eyes slightly, and was shocked to find that Yunxiao was standing quietly aside, staring at him with a smile.

　　“Young Master Yun!” he said, somewhat moved.

　　“Not bad!” Yunxiao praised, “The sword strike just now did have some flavor of the Song of Blue Lotus Sword, but it is far from close. Nevertheless, with your current understanding of martial arts, it is more than enough for you to become a three-stars Martial Lord.”

　　Ji Meng’s heart was filled with gratitude, but the words got stuck in his throat. Suddenly, he saw the Darkthunder standing beside them, which gave him a pause. “Young Master Yun, this…”

　　While smiling, Yunxiao patted the beast’s head and said, “Darkie is our friend now.”

　　As if to prove his words, the Darkthunder twisted its body and rubbed its head against Yunxiao’s palm, putting on the look of a tamed pet.

　　“Ugh!” Ji Meng’s jaw almost dropped to the ground, somewhat at a loss. He could clearly feel the aura emanating from the beast, and he knew it was as strong as a Martial King. And yet, it was behaving like a kitten now.

　　He was once again rendered speechless by Yunxiao’s divine abilities.

　　“Let’s go! With the help of Darkie now, it will be easier for us to rush into the mountain!” Yunxiao patted the beast on the back.

　　All of a sudden, a fierce attack came shooting down from the mountain, smashing and crushing all the trees and rocks along the way. Shockingly, a vacuum trace was formed under the impact, and the attack was pointing directly at Yunxiao and Ji Meng.

　　“Move away!” Yunxiao cried out. The two men and a beast immediately jumped up into the air and then fell back somewhere far away, staring alarmingly at the figures that gradually emerged in the mountain.

　　Sun Xiumei still leaned gently against Li Wenshi’s shoulder as she looked affectionately at Yunxiao and Ji Meng. Her eyes flashed with a trace of surprise as she said, “How did you subdue Senior Brother Xu’s little lion?”

　　Li Wenshi glanced at the two men with a cold face. “I thought some big mice had broken in. It turns out only a three-stars Martial Lord and a nine-stars warrior. Rubbish!” He scoffed disdainfully. “Since Senior Brother Xu couldn’t handle ants of these levels, he deserved to die!”

　　[1] This is a nursery rhyme taken from the movie Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons. You can listen to the song here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-mVNv87_yA

　　[2] This is taken from the Song of the Peach Blossom Cottage by Tang Baihu (1470-1523), translated by Frank C Yue.