"Thank you for your blessings," Senior Brother Ouyang sighed deeply.
"It's good that you understand, I was worried you wouldn't accept it."
"But this path is destined to be rugged."
"Even Sect Leader Xu cannot see the future."
Lin Jing asked, "Why do you say that?"
"The bond between humans and beasts is destined to be fruitless." Senior Brother Ouyang shook his head.
You still wish for an outcome?
"Unless the counterpart is a member of the demon race, not a demon beast!" Senior Brother Ouyang said seriously.
"Demon race?"
"Yes, demon race."
"During the Immortal Palace Era, the Celestial Essence Continent was a place where a hundred races thrived, including the human race and the demon race."
"Any beast that cultivated to a certain level could transform into a human form. Over time, the number of humanoid demon beasts increased, leading to the birth of the demon race. They retained some beastly traits while taking human form, becoming a whole new race."
"Most importantly, the demon race could reproduce with humans, resulting in what were called half-demons."
"In the final era of the Immortal Palace, countless races, along with the Immortal Alliance formed by the four major sects, resisted the tyranny of the Immortal Palace. During this period, the casualties among the hundred races were severe."
"Among them, the demon race was the first to bear the brunt. The Immortal Palace used immortal techniques to rewrite the rules of the Celestial Essence Continent, and demon beasts could no longer transform into human form, leading to the extinction of the demon race."
"If the demon race still existed, perhaps Hong'Er could cultivate towards the demon race path. What a pity, what a pity," Senior Brother Ouyang truly felt regret.
Lin Jing was speechless.
These... are parts not yet recorded in the 'Brief History'.
"Sect Leader Xu has been searching for a way to bring back the demon race. If I become his disciple, I too would devote my life to finding a way to evolve demon beasts into the demon race."
Hearing the stories of the current sect leader and Senior Brother Ouyang, Lin Jing was quite moved.
"You will definitely succeed."
"Squeak." The pine mouse nodded as well, though it didn't understand, that didn't stop it from cheering.
"Alright, let's hurry on our way," Senior Brother Ouyang said, reminding himself not to forget the important task at hand.
...
They journeyed in silence.
After hastening their journey, Senior Brother Ouyang quickly used "spiritual eyes" to locate traces of the tiger demon's aura.
Spiritual Eyes is a technique that inner sect disciples can cultivate, allowing them to observe various special energies with the naked eye, making it highly effective against enemies who don't conceal their traces.
At this moment, the fortunate one that had devoured the Spirit Plant was dozing under a tree, still needing sleep to digest the excess Spiritual Qi within.
It was precisely because the tiger demon's current state was stable and hadn't descended the mountain that the Beast Taming Sect had time to arrange for disciples to train, rather than directly executing it.
"Hong'Er." Senior Brother Ouyang and Lin Jing, still at a distance from the napping tiger demon, called out. The red Jade Pendant he wore flashed with a red light, and accompanying a red mist, a scarlet fox spirit appeared beside them.
"A beast-taming type spatial artifact?" Lin Jing's eyes lit up.
"Squeak?" The pine mouse's eyes shone brightly.
"Yes," Senior Brother Ouyang smiled and said, "Because I have the favor of the sect leader and am a special disciple, I obtained a beast-taming spatial artifact early..."
"This item is simple to refine, even at the Qi Cultivation Stage, but the materials for its creation are immensely expensive, far surpassing storage bags and rings that cannot store living beings. Most Foundation Establishment practitioners find it difficult to afford without the support of their elders' Spirit Stones."
"Oooh~~~" The fox spirit known as Hong'Er, upon emerging, ignored Lin Jing and the pine mouse and immediately snuggled up affectionately to Senior Brother Ouyang, making him shiver.
"So, Senior Brother, how do you plan to subdue this tiger demon?" Lin Jing asked.
"Listen well, I'll only teach this once!" Senior Brother Ouyang stroked the fox spirit's head, then explained, "To subdue a wild demon beast, first and foremost, you must have power exceeding your opponent's!"
"Overpower them first, then consider other aspects. Never attempt to persuade a demon beast stronger than you, or the outcome will only be to become its dung!"
"Secondly, to gain their acceptance, surpassing them in power alone is not enough; that's merely fundamental."
"You must defeat them in their area of expertise and exhibit a shared trait. Only then will they willingly acknowledge you as their leader!"
"For instance, if you want to subdue a Bird Demon skilled in flight, you'd best surpass it in aerial flying skills."
"In this way, these demon beasts with limited intelligence will instinctively regard you as a 'peer' to worship, rather than a 'foreign superior'."
"This is crucial, just as you would be willing to marry a Foundation Establishment stage fairy but would certainly not marry a Foundation Establishment stage female monkey."
"Accomplishing all this, whether through coercion or allure, will be much more effective, reducing the opponent's hostility."
He spoke as he headed towards the tiger demon.
The fox spirit Hong'Er followed closely. Though a fox, it showed no fear of the tiger demon ahead.
"I have learned," Lin Jing nodded while looking at the other's back.
Essentially, it's about seeing oneself as a demon beast, defeating the opponent in its domain, using its methods, to maximize its recognition and submission.
Rather than… using human methods.
Is this the wisdom crystallized by the predecessors of the Beast Taming Sect?
In an instant, Senior Brother Ouyang had moved far ahead.
As they approached, the tiger demon at the ninth level of Qi Cultivation suddenly opened its eyes.
It slowly rose, standing its tall and strong body, opening a bloody maw, its eyes like bright lamps, glowing with an amber light, and it let out an earth-shaking tiger roar. Instantly, the forest trembled, leaves scattered, and the birds and beasts within several kilometers were terrified, trembling unceasingly.
Lin Jing and the pine mouse were also shocked, though they forcibly maintained their composure, watching how Senior Brother Ouyang planned to subdue this tiger demon.
They watched as Senior Brother Ouyang took out a tiger fur coat from his Storage Bag, draped it over himself, then crouched down, emulating a beast stance, showing an even fiercer expression toward the tiger demon: "It's said that tigers are Supreme Yang Beasts, their yang energy overwhelming, vanquishing evil spirits. I intend to show you whose yang energy is stronger!"
With that, he released the yang energy of his pure yang body, mixed with the True Qi fluctuations of the ninth level of Qi Cultivation, and employed a Beast Taming Technique: the Capturing Subjugation Art.
"Roar!!!!" Senior Brother Ouyang roared mightily, his voice deep and resonant.
In the blink of an eye, his yang energy and sound waves overshadowed the actual tiger's roar, as if a gale swept past. Amidst the flying leaves, the tiger demon's gaze immediately turned clear, like that of a big cat.
Lin Jing: ???
"Squeak?"
Wait a minute, wasn't the point of the discussion to wear a tiger fur coat and use your pure yang body to roar back?
After the event, the tiger demon seemed to lack aggressive intent, while the fox spirit looked up at its "Beast Master" with admiration.
This left Lin Jing even more puzzled about what exactly the fox spirit saw in Senior Brother Ouyang, but seeing it from a non-human perspective, perhaps he understood something, indeed a match made in heaven.