In a world fraught with crisis, where resources must be obtained through battle, medical resources were exceptionally precious.
After a Lifebound Guardian Beast was injured, as long as its Origin wasn't too severely damaged, it could recover on its own by resting within the Soul Base.
However, Guardian Beasts bound by a Contract that consumed Soul Power required medical resources to be healed.
During explorations of Secret Realms, it was inevitable for Guardian Beasts to get injured.
However, awakening a Lifebound Guardian Beast wasn't necessarily a good thing. For some Guardian Beast Masters, their awakened Lifebound Beast would mutate into a special kind of creature during the awakening.
These creatures were called Bizarre. A Guardian Beast Master who possessed a Deceit Beast was known as a Deceit Beast Master!
A Bizarre could be raised like a normal Lifebound Guardian Beast, but it could also feed on the Lifebound Guardian Beasts of ordinary Guardian Beast Masters to rapidly raise its own Tier and Quality.
During the Soul Awakening process, if a Guardian Beast Master was discovered to have awakened a Bizarre, they would be immediately imprisoned.
The specific methods of disposal were not made public, but any Guardian Beast Master who awakened a Bizarre during a Soul Awakening Ceremony was never seen in the Upper City District again.
In Starlight City's Upper City District, Ghost Suppression Guards from the Ghost Suppression Bureau patrolled the entire city daily, almost completely eliminating the possibility of a Deceit Beast Master who had awakened a Bizarre appearing.
However, Bizarre often appeared in the Lower City District!
Many Deceit Beast Masters who had awakened a Bizarre would hide in the Lower City District, secretly hunting Guardian Beast Masters who had awakened normal Lifebound Guardian Beasts.
Zhong Chenghuai had seriously explained this information about the Guardian Beast Master's Soul Awakening several times during dinner, afraid that Zhong Yi and Zhong Ling might not remember it.
Seeing Zhong Yi and Zhong Ling's looks of eager anticipation, Zhong Chenghuai's heart tightened.
'What if one of them awakens a Bizarre!?'
'If they awaken a Bizarre during the Beastmaster Association's Soul Awakening Ceremony, I'm afraid I'll never see them again!'
After Zhong Yi and Zhong Ling went to their rooms to rest, Zhong Chenghuai sat at the table all night.
Zhong Chenghuai hadn't even been this nervous back when he participated in his own Soul Awakening Ceremony.
There was one thing Zhong Chenghuai hadn't told Zhong Yi and Zhong Ling, because at his level, he had no way of confirming its authenticity.
According to legend, the true geniuses weren't those who awakened a Lifebound Guardian Beast and a Beastmaster Talent at the same time, but a group whose Lifebound Guardian Beasts were born carrying the Power of Rules.
These Guardian Beasts, born with mastery over the Power of Rules, were called Order Beasts!
And the Guardian Beast Masters who controlled Order Beasts were called Celestial Destiny Seekers!
Every time he thought of this legend, Zhong Chenghuai couldn't help but sigh. 'Celestial Destiny Seeker... Order Beast... Such enviable and awe-inspiring titles!'
Although Zhong Chenghuai had never seen one of the legendary Celestial Destiny Seekers and couldn't verify the truth of the legends, he felt that the legend wasn't false!
He wasn't the only one who had heard it; legends about Celestial Destiny Seekers circulated not only throughout Starlight City's Upper and Lower City Districts, but across the entire Xin Xia Federation.
If the legend were false, the Starlight City officials would have likely debunked it long ago.
When Zhong Chenghuai first heard this legend, he too had fantasized before his Soul Base awakening that his own Lifebound Guardian Beast would be born with the Power of Rules.
But that was just a fleeting thought!
Zhong Chenghuai didn't want to put too much pressure on Zhong Yi and Zhong Ling, or get their hopes up.
After all, as the old saying goes: the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment!
As Zhong Chenghuai sat at the table, he had no idea that a battle was raging on South Cross Street.
Six figures dressed in ink-black uniforms, their faces hidden by matching masks, were cornering a hunched-over man. The stench of blood around him was so thick it was almost tangible.
The hunched-over man abruptly looked up, a twisted, evil smile on his ordinary face.
The man raised a hand to wipe away the viscous, crimson, gel-like blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, his voice hoarse and obscure.
"You people from the Ghost Suppression Bureau are so annoying, always bothering me when I'm trying to eat."
"I didn't even cross the line. I killed that guy in the Lower City District. I just brought him to the border of the Upper and Lower City Districts to eat because I didn't want any competition from my own kind."
"You normal folk could never understand the ecstasy of devouring a Lifebound Guardian Beast. It's a pleasure that far surpasses breeding, mating, or using those little things that stimulate the mind."
As he grew more excited, his hoarse, raspy voice became tinged with madness and glee.
Just then, a deep voice cut in coldly.
"Did you really think we were interested in you, you filthy thing? That we'd let you ramble on for so long?"
"Number 4, Number 5, deploy the Barrier!"
As the command was given, four spiders appeared in the void under the moonlight. They were a brilliant silver, covered in vivid patches of black and blue.
At some unknown point, these four spiders had already spun a massive web, trapping this section of the alley on South Cross Street.
As the web materialized in the air, the space around it began to ripple and distort, as if being torn.
These webs, anchored to the void itself, continuously absorbed the surrounding Spatial Energy to reinforce themselves.
The great web separated the alley from the surrounding buildings, trapping the Deceit Beast Master while also protecting the residents of South Cross Street.
Seeing the massive web that had suddenly enveloped him, the man who had just been boasting about the taste of Lifebound Guardian Beasts looked like a chick whose neck had been suddenly squeezed, his face filled with terror.
"Void Web Prohibition Spiders!"
"You're not ordinary Ghost Suppression Guards! Ordinary Guards don't have this kind of equipment."
"Could you be..."
Before he could finish, the deep voice that had spoken earlier cut him off.
"You committed murder on Chessboard Street. Two Ghost Suppression Guards nearly died at your hands."
"Since you dared to hunt down Guardian Beast Masters who have awakened Lifebound Guardian Beasts and even attack Ghost Suppression Guards, you should have expected this day would come."
"Number 6, reinforce the Barrier. Number 2, Number 3, take him down."
As the command was issued, a figure with six frost stars carved on the left side of their mask activated their Soul Base.
A mollusk-like creature the size of a truck, its body constantly dripping with slime, was summoned.
A clear, crisp, and heroic female voice rang out.
"Alright, old pal, it's your time to shine!"
Hearing the woman's voice, the truck-sized mollusk-like creature squirmed reluctantly.
A massive amount of slime was secreted, crashing toward the web spun by the Void Web Prohibition Spiders like a surging wave.
The slime solidified instantly upon hitting the web. As more and more slime accumulated, the web became airtight, as if completely sealing off the world within from the world without.
Fist-sized eyeballs formed one after another as the slime piled up on the web.
All these eyes stared in unison at the Deceit Beast Master opposite them, and the air around him instantly grew thick and viscous.
The moment the cursed eyes opened, the slime transformed into chains that lashed out at the Deceit Beast Master!