Chapter 3 — The Beast King's Blood Seal

The entire courtyard was instantly stunned. The sound of mockery was choked off mid-air, leaving only a tense, suffocating silence. Even the smile on Ling Xi's face froze solid. The master frowned, staring intently at me: "Ling Ye, do not speak nonsense! Where is your spirit beast?"

I did not answer, merely shifting my gaze toward Mo Yuan, who lay resting at Ling Xi's feet. "My spirit beast... isn't it right over there?"

As those words fell, the entire assembly erupted like boiling water. "Has she lost her mind? Wasn't that dog abandoned by her long ago, having already chosen Senior Sister Ling Xi as its master?" "Indeed, didn't you just see it bare its teeth and growl the moment it laid eyes on her? In what way does that resemble her spirit beast?"

Ling Xi recovered her senses, wearing an expression as though she had just heard the most ridiculous tale in the world: "Junior Sister, have you lost your mind from the shock? Little Cutie is my spirit beast now, and has no further relation to you whatsoever."

With that, she even leaned down, affectionately stroking Mo Yuan’s head. Mo Yuan cooperated quite well, nuzzling gently against her hand before turning its head to glare at me with a growl full of hostility.

I looked down at it coldly. "Is that so?"

I raised my hand, forming a simple hand seal. It was a primary-level contract seal from the Beast Taming Sect—effective only on one's own bonded spirit beast. The very next second, Mo Yuan's aggressive growling abruptly ceased. As though an invisible hand had clamped tightly around its windpipe, its body convulsed uncontrollably, absolute agony etched across its features.

"Woof! Woof... ugh... ah..."

Painful howls echoed through the air, its eyes brimming with a primordial, unadulterated terror as they locked onto me. The arena plunged once more into a deathly stillness. Everyone stared with wide eyes, utterly incapable of believing what they were witnessing.

Ling Xi's complexion turned pale, her eyes wide with panic: "How... how is this possible?! The contract was clearly severed!"

I stepped forward, closing the distance between us step by step, the seal in my hand tightening with each stride. Mo Yuan's whimpers grew increasingly pathetic, its body writhing as if every bone in its frame were being snapped in two.

"Severed? Who told you such a thing?" I walked right up to Ling Xi, standing a head taller and looking down at her from above. "I merely 'lent' you the right to use it for a while."

"Now... I am no longer lending it."

The moment those words dropped, the hand seal in my hands suddenly shifted. Mo Yuan let out a miserable screech, its body hurled violently outward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily onto the ground right at my feet. It trembled from head to toe, lacking even the courage to offer the slightest resistance, and could only look up at me with sheer terror, its throat emitting a fawn-like, ingratiating whine.

I lifted my foot, pressing it down upon its head: "Now, tell them—who is your true master?"

Mo Yuan whimpered all the more frantically, its entire body pressing flat against the earth, desperately trying to burrow underground to escape my presence. This scene utterly shattered everyone's preconceptions. A disciple who had been cast aside as utter trash... could, with a mere hand seal, force a fierce spirit beast to prostrate itself in absolute submission without the courage to fight back. This proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the bond between us had never been broken! Furthermore, this was a master-servant contract of the highest order, holding absolute authority and control!

The expressions of the master and the elders shifted rapidly—from astonishment and doubt to sheer disbelief. Ling Xi looked as though she had been struck by lightning, her trembling finger pointing at me while her lips parted and closed repeatedly, unable to form a complete sentence: "You... you..."

"What about me?" I gazed at her coldly. "Elder Sister, now... do you still have anything to say?"

"No! This cannot be!" Ling Xi finally collapsed, shrieking aloud. "This is impossible! Master! She must have used some kind of demonic arts! That's right! She was locked away in the Cold Pool Cavern for three months, she must have practiced heretical techniques!"

Her words instantly rekindled the suspicions of the crowd. Indeed... if the contract still existed, why had Ling Ye lost control of it earlier? Why had that dog grown so close to Ling Xi? There was only one logical explanation—she had resorted to some unknown, underhanded trick!

The master's expression darkened completely: "Ling Ye, you had better explain yourself clearly—what is the meaning of all this?"

A formidable wave of oppressive aura instantly bore down upon me. Yet I... remained completely unshakeable. Because the very moment I pressed my foot upon Mo Yuan's head, an extraordinarily pure surge of demonic energy flowed upward through the soles of my feet into my body. The Demonic Transformation Art began to spin frantically of its own accord. My cultivation realm—in a single breath—shattered through its bottleneck!

I raised my head, meeting the master's gaze directly, the corners of my lips curling upward into a wicked, enchanting smile: "An explanation? Very well."

"But before I explain... I wish to participate in the sect's grand martial arts combat tournament right now."

My gaze swept across the courtyard, finally coming to rest upon an inner sect disciple—one of Ling Xi's most loyal flatterers, who had mocked me the loudest and most viciously just moments ago.

"I... challenge him."

Being singled out so blatantly, he paused for a fraction of a second before flying into a rage: "You death-seeking wretch! Without a spirit beast, what do you plan to use to fight me?"

I chuckled softly: "Who said I don't have a spirit beast?"

Beneath my feet, Mo Yuan seemed to sense a silent command, its body undergoing an astonishing metamorphosis. Its dry, withered fur shed away, revealing a layer of pitch-black scales beneath that gleamed like ink. Its frail, sickly frame swelled ceaselessly, and the dull cracking sounds of shifting bones echoed menacingly, setting everyone's teeth on edge. In the blink of an eye, the sickly village hound transformed into a gigantic, raven-hued beast, a single formidable horn protruding from its forehead as a fierce, ferocious pressure surged outward like a tidal wave.

A Heaven-Swallowing Beast!

Even in its infancy, that primordial bloodline alone was enough to make every spirit beast present tremble in its tracks, even the proud and indomitable Fiery Phoenix.

Mo Yuan raised its head, its crimson beastly eyes locking onto me, devoid of all terror, filled only with absolute submission. It lowered its proud head, gently rubbing its solitary horn against my ankle like a spoiled pet.

The entire arena fell into a silence so profound one could hear the beating of their own hearts. Everyone was frightened out of their wits by this bizarre spectacle. Ling Xi's face was drained of all color, her body swaying as though she were about to collapse. The very backing she had relied upon most, the fortuitous encounter she had so ruthlessly stolen... was now groveling submissively at my feet like the most loyal of servants.

The master and the elders were so profoundly shocked that they sprang to their feet in unison. Their gazes shifted from Mo Yuan back to me, filled with an avaricious yet terrified greed.

"An... Ancient Divine Beast..."

"It's... a Heaven-Swallowing Beast!"

My declaration exploded like a thunderclap across the martial arts training grounds. All eyes instantly converged upon Ling Xi and me. On one side stood the former "trash," who had just revealed a heaven-shaking trump card. On the other stood the favored daughter of the heavens, dragged down from the clouds as her hypocritical mask was ripped away entirely before the masses.

Ling Xi bit her lips until they turned white, her gaze locked fiercely onto Mo Yuan beneath my feet, her eyes brimming with deep-seated malice and unwillingness.

"Why should I fight you? You monster who practices demonic arts!"

She deliberately framed me with her words, hoping to incite public outrage. Unfortunately, in the face of absolute strength, such petty tricks were nothing more than children playing games.

An elder stepped forward, his tone turning abruptly and unnaturally amiable: "Ling Ye, let's talk this over calmly. When exactly did you form a bond with this Heaven-Swallowing Beast... Why have you never mentioned it before?"

The way he looked at me was no different from someone gazing upon a peerless treasure of the world.

A cold sneer crossed my heart. The very people who had just cursed me as trash and ordered my expulsion from the sect... were they not the exact same individuals? Now that they saw I still possessed usable value, they changed their expressions instantly, donning kindly and benevolent facades. It was utterly nauseating to the extreme.

"Elder flatters me. It has always been my spirit beast, how could it be called hiding anything?" I bent down, gently stroking the solitary horn on Mo Yuan's head, clearly feeling its closeness and devotion. "As for why it only maintained that pathetic appearance previously... Perhaps it was because its master was far too useless, causing it to lose face, so it simply refused to reveal its true form."

These words were half true and half false. Mo Yuan had indeed broken through its disguise ahead of schedule because of my rebirth. Yet it was precisely due to my weakness in my past life that Ling Xi had been granted the opportunity to fish in troubled waters.