Chapter 40

The middle-aged man in the white robe kept muttering to himself, and it was only after a long while that the muttering gradually ceased. His entire body began to stiffen and grow cold.

Zong Shou exhaled, and the tension in his mind eased. The blood talismans he had drawn on his body, which had protected him from the rain, had all dissipated. The torrential rain pelted down on him, and in the blink of an eye, his clothes were drenched.

Using the method of devouring essence, he absorbed a considerable amount of soul power and essence from this man. However, his entire body was now devoid of any strength, and he fell backward, lying on his back in the mud, gazing at the dark, starry sky.

"Tch! Just a Spirit Master who has barely reached the peak of the Soul Observation Realm—"

Even three months ago, when he fought with the Secret Weapon Master Lie Jian Wwei, the battle was far less arduous than today's.

Back then, with Yin Yang's restraint, Zong Shou didn't have to face the full force of the opponent, allowing him to achieve victory with a single strike. But now, even a Spirit Master who was just one realm below Wwei, made him feel constrained, and he nearly lost his life here.

However, these practitioners of spirit techniques and incantations usually have far less combat power than martial masters. But once they have sufficient preparation, a ritual platform, and talismans, along with the support of high-quality mounts, their strength can instantly increase several times, far beyond what a martial master of the same rank can handle.

This man, who called himself Qi Shao, was just like that. He possessed two second-stage soul beasts, and his strength was not much weaker than that of Lie Jian Wwei.

Although this battle was perilous, it ultimately did not force him to use his final trump card.

After the spasms in his muscles subsided somewhat, Zong Shou put the willow leaf talisman knife, which had only shown a glint of cold light from his left sleeve, back into his sleeve and forced himself to stand up.

He had intended to lean on his sword, but as soon as he stood up, the wind-hidden sword in his hand immediately shattered into countless pieces, almost causing him to fall again.

"Turns out this talisman sword was just a defective product. I wondered how these people could be so wealthy—"

His mood did not lighten in the slightest. Although these swords were defective, the assassins behind them must have been supported by a high-ranking Spirit Forger, or had a special connection with the armor shops that sold talisman weapons.

In this Eastern Lin Continent, even defective talisman weapons are not something ordinary people can buy.

Walking to the Yin-Yang diagram ritual platform, Zong Shou unceremoniously searched the middle-aged man in the white robe, taking everything he had.

The hundreds of spirit talismans were of no low rank, with over twenty clearly crafted by a Night Roaming Realm Spirit Master. The peach wood sword was three hundred years old. Zong Shou naturally could not refuse such items.

In addition, the man's bag contained some "Nourishing Spirit Pills" specifically for treating soul injuries, stored in a porcelain bottle, about fifty in total. There were also various bottles and jars, all commonly used by Spirit Masters, as well as a considerable number of first and second-stage beast crystals. Moreover, there was a third-stage soul beast still in a sealed state.

"Turns out it's a fifth-stage Cold Hell Tiger soul. What kind of background does this person have? His wealth almost rivals that of the inner disciples of the Lingyun Sect. One Lie Jian Wwei from the Yang Mountain and another Qi Shao. I fear that even before my uncle and cousins take action, I will have offended all the major forces in this Eastern Lin Continent—"

Although he thought this, Zong Shou kicked the corpse of Qi Shao away with his foot. Then he stood in the center of the ritual platform, stepping on the Yin and Yang eyes, and relit the two white candles.

He formed hand seals and recited a series of prayers. In a short while, Zong Shou felt several faint spirit veins underground being gradually attracted and connected to this place.

This was the power of the ritual platform, using the array and talisman to connect to the underground spirit veins, enhancing the power of the incantations.

"—This Spirit Master's ritual platform is indeed useful. If it were a martial cultivator, they would at least need to reach the innate stage to initially perceive the spirit veins in the world. To truly harness them, they would need to reach the Heaven Rank Martial Venerable stage."

Using this specialized method of Spirit Masters for the first time, Zong Shou's mind was filled with thoughts. However, when his soul connected completely with the spirit veins gathered in the Yin and Yang eyes below, all his杂念 vanished.

The vast soul power absorbed from Qi Shao, mixed with the spiritual energy surging up from the underground spirit veins, immediately filled the small forest with a suffocating cold force.

The silver slime and the hawk, which were entangled nearby, immediately stopped their movements. They dared not make any move under this faint pressure.

"Little guy, come over here!"

Zong Shou formed another hand seal and beckoned with his hand.

The silver slime initially showed some resistance, its body slightly retracting. But a more powerful constraining force immediately erupted within its body.

It had no choice but to reluctantly retract its tentacles, forming a ball, and slowly 'roll' over.

Zong Shou smiled slightly. In fact, it was best for a Spirit Master to subdue a mount when it was in a sealed state and unable to resist.

However, since he had the confidence to release this 'Silver White Beast King,' it was not without reason. Over the past three months, he had almost fed it his blood daily, which was not in vain.

Almost every drop of blood deepened his control over this spirit beast.

The sound of flapping wings came from nearby. The second-stage soul beast hawk, no longer restrained by the silver tentacles, began to flap its wings and fly into the sky.

Zong Shou sneered coldly and threw a small black jar he had obtained from Qi Shao.

Just as the hawk flew to about ten zhang, countless black threads burst from the jar's mouth, tightly binding its body again. It was then forcibly pulled into the black jar, which sealed itself without Zong Shou's intervention.

The mount and the Spirit Master are mentally connected, almost as one. Once the Spirit Master dies, the mount will also suffer severe injuries.

Therefore, even though this hawk king was a second-stage soul beast, it could be easily subdued without any effort from him.

In this short time, the silver slime had already reached the ritual platform.

Zong Shou's expression became focused. He took out a brush, dipped it in special spirit ink, and began to draw a talisman array on the surface of the slime.

This ritual for subduing a mount would have a certain impact on the future spirit beast.

Generally speaking, the more powerful the soul power displayed during the subjugation, the more loyal the spirit beast would be.

Although he was not at the appropriate realm, his soul was pure. The soul power and essence extracted from Qi Shao were used extravagantly without any hesitation. The blood he had fed for three months had a miraculous effect, sufficient to subdue this slime king.

Furthermore, the talisman array for controlling the mount was crucial. The more perfect it was, the fewer restrictions the spirit beast would have in the future. Some special talismans could even promote the evolution of the spirit beast.

This concept did not exist in this era. However, several thousand years later, some bored Spirit Masters conducted specialized experiments.

Fortunately, as a small librarian in a national library, he happened to know a few talisman arrays.

The silver slime, which was initially very uncooperative, constantly struggled and writhed. When about a quarter of the talisman array was drawn, it seemed to sense some benefit from the array and began to show a very comfortable expression, allowing Zong Shou to continue drawing on its body.

When the array was completed, it gradually faded. The spirit ink, made from Zong Shou's blood, cinnabar, spirit stone powder, and thousand-year-old black grass juice, would gradually seep into the skin of the spirit beast over the next three months, slowly penetrating until it reached the crystal core.

Only then would it truly become a spirit beast mount!

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