Cultivation Begins From The Desert-Chapter 167 - 165: Demonic Soul Contract [Request Subscription]

Chapter 167: Chapter 165: Demonic Soul Contract [Request Subscription]

Zhenyue Immortal City.

As Zhouyang was taming the Eagle Lion Beast, the Golden Core Stage cultivators, who had activated the City Defense Array, directly went out to battle against the Tier Five demon beasts.

The five Golden Core Stage cultivators from Zhenyue Immortal City all appeared, while on the demon beast side, up to eight Tier Five demon beasts emerged, including two Tier Five high-grade demon beasts.

The result was that the City Lord Ren Tianxing from Zhenyue Immortal City faced off three Tier Five demon beasts alone, including one Tier Five high-grade demon beast and two Tier Five middle-grade demon beasts. Then, another Deputy City Lord, who was of the seventh-layer Golden Core stage, confronted the remaining Tier Five high-grade demon beast, while the remaining four beasts were left for the other three Golden Core cultivators to handle.

The combat between Golden Core cultivators and Tier Five demon beasts was so intense that fighting near the city would not only risk injuring the middle and low-tier demon beasts on the ground but also put pressure on the City Defense Array. Therefore, all battles took place within the rugged mountains and hills hundreds or even thousands of miles away.

Separated by hundreds or thousands of miles, even standing atop the city wall hundreds of feet high or on the immortal mountain thousands of feet high, it was difficult to see the exact situation. You could only see the flashes of magical spiritual light in the sky like Zhouyang did outside the Yin Puppet Sect ruins previously, and hear the thunderous roars of demon beasts.

But this didn’t have much to do with Zhouyang anymore. After the City Defense Array was activated, his tasks as a middle-tier cultivator were mostly completed.

From now on, the demon beasts would primarily attack the City Defense Array from a distance, consuming its energy, while the cultivators inside the city would attack the beasts outside the array from behind the spirit light barrier.

As such, Zhouyang returned to the city wall after storing the Eagle Lion Beast in the Spirit Beast Bag, picking up the demon beast corpses he had killed.

Not only was he doing this, but even Dong Jianping, who was severely injured making sword flight extremely difficult, was forcing himself atop the city wall to collect the corpses of demon beasts he had slain earlier.

They must do this because if they don’t come to collect the demon beast corpses for a while, others will assume they’ve fallen in battle, in which case the beasts they’ve slain will just be divided among others or the defense army’s cultivators.

This "Beast Tide" attack was so fierce that many Foundation Establishment cultivators fell on the city wall. Consequently, there were many ownerless spoils to be taken, and even Zhouyang couldn’t resist the temptation, claiming a few Tier Three demon beast corpses without knowing who killed them.

However, these people are very measured, only collecting demon beast corpses, without touching the cultivators’ corpses or fallen magical artifacts. Those items are eventually collected by Zhenyue Immortal City’s defense army, who will inform their family and friends to claim them after the battle.

No one would dare break this rule, as doing so would not only offend all surviving cultivators but lead to confiscation of their property and expulsion from the Immortal City.

Unlike before, Zhouyang didn’t sell the demon beast corpses to unscrupulous merchants this time but planned to store them in his cave abode and use them to gradually feed the Eagle Lion Beast in the Spirit Beast Bag later.

Spirit beast mounts aren’t easy to maintain either; the stronger the beast, the pickier it is with food. A Tier Three high-grade demon beast like the Eagle Lion Beast wouldn’t even lay eyes on it unless it’s Tier Two demon beast meat or "Essence Pill" refined from Tier Two demon beast meat.

He even found Dong Jianping, intending to buy the demon beast corpses from him and asked Dong Jianping to help him find an alchemist to refine the demon beast meat into "Essence Pill."

"You actually managed to tame that Eagle Lion Beast!"

When Dong Jianping learned that Zhouyang was purchasing demon beast corpses to feed the Eagle Lion Beast, his face was immediately filled with shock and disbelief as he looked at Zhouyang, almost doubting his ears.

"This matter is indeed somewhat unbelievable, but it is the truth—the beast is recuperating in my Spirit Beast Bag right now!"

Zhouyang said with a smile, patting the Spirit Beast Bag at his waist, once again confirming the news to Dong Jianping.

Now Dong Jianping believed him, and then the shock on his face quickly turned into envy, his eyes even reddened with admiration.

A Tier Three high-grade demon beast mount!

Even if he sold himself, Dong Jianping might not be able to buy such an excellent mount like an Eagle Lion Beast.

For Zhouyang to possess such a fine mount with just a mere fifth-layer Foundation Establishment cultivation is something even Purple Mansion Stage cultivators would envy!

At the same time, this realization made Dong Jianping even more surprised at Zhouyang’s hidden strength. He had always believed Zhouyang’s power was quite formidable—at least to a point where at full strength, he himself might not necessarily be Zhouyang’s match. But now, he realized he had underestimated this young man he brought from the Broken Cloud Mountain Range.

"Brother Zhou’s ability to tame the Eagle Lion Beast certainly makes one envious and jealous; however, demon beasts are challenging to tame, and may temporarily submit under pressure but harder to ensure permanent loyalty,"

"Brother Zhou, if you’re not afraid of spending Flower Spirit Stones, it is better to approach the Beast Taming Sect later and ask them to establish a ’Demonic Soul Contract’ with the Eagle Lion Beast for you. This ensures that even if the beast advances to Tier Four before you, it would only run away rather than dare to attack you!"

Dong Jianping said solemnly to Zhouyang, speaking words that made Zhouyang’s eyes widen in surprise.

He quickly looked at Dong Jianping and asked, "May I ask, Brother Dong, what kind of secret technique is this ’Demonic Soul Contract’ that allows a demon beast, even when its strength surpasses its master, to refrain from attacking the master?"

"You don’t even know about the [Demonic Soul Contract]?"

Dong Jianping looked at Zhouyang with a peculiar expression, his thoughts racing. Ultimately, he said, "[Demonic Soul Contract] is a core secret technique of the Beast Taming Sect. As long as a cultivator signs this contract with a demon beast, the beast cannot develop any malicious intent towards the cultivator if both parties are in the same realm. Otherwise, the cultivator could become aware in advance and punish the beast through the contract’s power!"

"The Beast Taming Sect rose to prominence relying on this secret technique. They smartly didn’t monopolize it but offered secret technique services for a fee to other cultivators who need it. Nowadays, not only do cultivators from the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm seek their assistance to establish [Demonic Soul Contract] with spirit beasts, but people from other cultivation realms, like the Donghua Continent Cultivation Realm, travel from afar for their help!"

"However, to establish a [Demonic Soul Contract], the demon beast must be willing. If the beast’s will resists and refuses to sign the contract, it will certainly fail!"

"I see! I didn’t expect there to be such a wondrous secret technique in the world. Truly eye-opening!" Zhouyang sighed in realization, gaining some insight.

In the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm, no one has heard of such a secret technique. Even the ’Nether Blood Contract’ for signing contracts between cultivators is scarcely known.

After his sigh, he quickly asked, "Then, Fellow Daoist Dong, do you know the Beast Taming Sect’s pricing standards?"

"I don’t know specifics, but it shouldn’t be too outrageous, otherwise many cultivators wouldn’t go to them for help." Dong Jianping shook his head, indicating his lack of clarity.

Seeing this, Zhouyang could only temporarily set aside the matter, intending to inquire gradually in the future.

Following this, Dong Jianping collected some rare materials from the demon beasts and nearly half-gave, half-sold the demon beast corpses to Zhouyang, while assisting him in contacting a Tier Three alchemist from a small clan to refine the demon beast corpses into ’Essence Pills’.

The alchemist initially wanted to take a 20% cut of the refined ’Essence Pills’ as compensation, but Zhouyang managed to negotiate a trade by offering a Tier Three Lower Grade magical artifact he refined himself and several Tier Three spirit elixirs instead.

Finally, all the demon beast corpses were refined, and Zhouyang obtained a total of over twelve hundred Tier Three ’Essence Pills’ and nearly three thousand Tier Two ’Essence Pills’.

At a rate of 20 low-grade spirit stones per Tier Three ’Essence Pill’, Zhouyang could sell these ’Essence Pills’ for tens of thousands of spirit stones.

With so many ’Essence Pills’ in hand, he wouldn’t need to worry about feeding the Eagle Lion Beast for decades.

By this time, more than two months had passed since the City Defense Array was activated, and the battles involving Golden Core Stage cultivators and Tier Five demon beasts had long concluded.

After recuperating from injuries sustained in the battle with the Eagle Lion Beast, Zhouyang sought information only to learn that the result of that battle was Zhenyue Immortal City’s City Lord Ren Tianxing demonstrating great prowess, slaying one Tier Five Lower Grade demon beast at the cost of light injuries, deterring the other Tier Five demon beasts from recklessly igniting conflicts.

However, rumor had it that after that battle, a Tier Five demon beast came from the depths of the Broken Cloud Mountain Range to reinforce the "beast tide", maintaining pressure on the high-end forces of Zhenyue Immortal City.

During this period, battles between Purple Mansion Stage cultivators and Tier Four demon beasts were also intense. In just over two months, three Purple Mansion Stage cultivators perished, with the demon beast side losing as many as eight Tier Four demon beasts!

"Brother Zhou, according to what Brother Dong knows, the city is about to host an underground exchange meeting. Not only would us Foundation Establishment cultivators exchange treasures therein, but some Purple Mansion Stage cultivators would also participate. If you’re interested, I can secure an invitation for you."

"Oh, an underground exchange meeting? Brother Dong, could you elaborate?"

In Dong Jianping’s cave dwelling, Zhouyang gazed at Dong Jianping, who still appeared listless while recovering from injuries, intrigued by his earlier remarks.

His visit was to check on Dong Jianping’s injury status and obtain recent news, unexpectedly gaining this information.

Zhouyang was no stranger to exchange meetings, having participated in one and organized another in the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm.

However, the exchange meetings he attended and organized were public, where all attending cultivators knew one another, distinctly different from Dong Jianping’s description of an underground exchange meeting. freёweɓnovel_com

"There’s not much to say. This time, the underground exchange meeting is hosted by a large shop. Participants only need to pay five hundred spirit stones to receive an invitation. When presenting the invitation at their designated location, they will be provided with magical artifacts to conceal their faces and identities. So there, you can safely exchange treasures with anyone, without fearing post-meeting treasure theft!"

Dong Jianping thought for a moment, organizing his words to explain the situation simply.

His explanation was straightforward, instantly comprehensible to Zhouyang.

"Then I’ll trouble Brother Dong."

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