Chapter 1752: Yan Xue's Shock

"A few trees, trying to block our path? Dream on!"

The leading sacred beast raised its hoof and claw, striking down.

Its claws were extremely sharp, comparable to a Great Saint divine weapon, tearing through the air, causing space to tremble and leaving several pitch-black cracks.

The hooves, claws, and teeth of sacred beasts were excellent materials for refining Great Saint treasures. Moreover, this beast was no weaker than the five kings. When it struck out fiercely, even some Immortal Realm Great Perfection masters might find it hard to withstand.

Under normal circumstances, such sharp claws would surely sever any branch they touched. But unexpectedly, before they even reached the tree, a sharp "crack!" sounded.

A green mark appeared on the sacred beast's face. A branch, seemingly from nowhere, had lashed across it.

"Roar!"

The intense pain drove the beast to strike again. But fast as it was, the branch was faster. Each blow landed on an undefended spot. After several strikes, the great beast was torn open, blood streaming without cease.

The remaining sacred beasts, seeing their leader beaten, rushed to help. Branches flew everywhere, and in no time, they too were knocked to the ground, utterly unable to resist.

"This..."

Everyone watching felt their brows twitch.

Sacred beasts, by nature, were stronger than ordinary cultivators and had formidable defenses. Yet so many charging together were beaten by a single tree...

"Heh!"

Seeing this, the fair-skinned youth Yan Xue seemed to have expected it. He smiled lightly and closed his eyes.

"Should we intervene?" A young man stepped forward, lowering his voice. "If we save them now, we might earn their gratitude and tame them smoothly."

These sacred beasts were being beaten badly. If they stepped in to rescue them, they could easily win their favor and take them as beast pets.

"No need. Even if we could save them, we didn't stop it earlier, so we've already made enemies," Yan Xue shook his head, his tone wise. "Besides, these apricot trees are only blocking the way, not killing. Don't worry."

"Alright."

The young man nodded.

When the sacred beasts charged earlier, they hadn't stopped them. Now that the beasts were beaten so badly, they would surely harbor resentment. Stepping in now would be useless, and might even incur their wrath, doing more harm than good.

"These sacred beasts can't escape. Once we succeed, they'll follow obediently, and we couldn't drive them away even if we wanted..."

Smiling, Yan Xue was about to continue when a youth emerged from behind the crowd, moving like lightning.

Whoosh!

In the blink of an eye, he appeared above the sacred beasts. Reaching out, he formed several threads of light, binding them all, and with a gentle lift, pulled them out of the apricot tree's attack range.

"Thank you for saving our lives..."

Free from the attack, the sacred beasts, knowing he had rescued them, looked at him with gratitude. But before they could finish, the youth suddenly charged at them.

Crack! Thump!

A flurry of punches and kicks.

"..." The sacred beasts.

The Hundred Schools of Thought and the Spirit Race were all dumbfounded.

They thought he had saved the sacred beasts to win them over, but instead, he started beating them... What was he doing?

The apricot trees also exchanged bewildered glances. The branches that had been about to teach Zhang Xuan a lesson now withdrew involuntarily.

They thought he was rescuing them, but he was also beating them. Did he think their beating wasn't enough? Did he want a try himself?

"Now's our chance..."

After the shock, Yan Xue smiled, a confident expression on his face. "These sacred beasts were beaten for no reason; they must be furious. If we step in to stop it, they'll be overwhelmed with gratitude, and we can tame them smoothly."

"Yes!"

Hearing this, everyone nodded.

The sacred beasts here were all around the Immortal Realm Great Perfection. Taming even one would greatly boost combat power and elevate one's status back in the Hundred Schools of Thought.

"Let's go!"

Unable to hold back any longer, several youths flew over, swords dancing, and thrust straight at the man beating the beasts.

"Stop right there!"

"Meeting here is fate. Sacred beast friends, we cannot stand by and watch you be bullied!"

"Sacred beast friends, we're coming to save you!"

The youths shouted loudly, each word righteous and imposing, exuding an undeniable deterrent force.

"They're clever. Shouting like that will surely make the sacred beasts grateful. With that first impression, taming them later will be easy..."

A smile curling at his lips, Yan Xue was about to continue when his eyes suddenly went wide, his face showing an expression as if he'd seen a ghost, and he blurted out, "What the hell?!"

He saw that before the sword energy of his companions could land on the man beating the beasts, the sacred beasts being beaten suddenly erupted in fury. Hooves and claws flew, tails swept, and in an instant, the several geniuses of the Hundred Schools of Thought were beaten black and blue and knocked to the ground.

Not only that, the leading sacred beast roared angrily, "Dare to interrupt our beating again, and we'll eat you right now!"

"Don't you know when to die? Can't you see we're enjoying this beating?"

"Shameless! Get lost!"

The sacred beasts, all furious, after knocking the others away, came back eagerly to the man: "Please continue beating us, the harder the better! Please! Harder! Harder!"

"..." Yan Xue and the others tore at their hair.

The Spirit Race members also had eyes as wide as eggs, forgetting even to swallow their saliva.

The apricot trees twisted their bodies, branches dropping to the ground, utterly baffled.

Sacred beasts were always unruly and proud. How could they be so happy after being beaten?

When the apricot trees beat them earlier, they were clearly screaming in pain!

"Submit to me, and I'll beat you whenever I have time."

The man, after beating them for a while, seemed to find his hands sore and waved them off.

"Yes, sir! Greetings, master..."

"Long live the master..."

Thud!

With that, the sacred beasts knelt down in unison, each looking proud.

Crack!

Yan Xue pulled out a tuft of his hair, feeling no pain...

Damn it, proud of what?!

You've become someone's beast pet now. No matter how high your status, you're still a pet... What's there to be happy about?

Beaten once and they submit... Are sacred beasts that easy to tame?

"Alright, I'll avenge you!"

Having tamed the sacred beasts, the youth waved his hand and strode boldly toward the apricot trees.

"Looking for death!"

Seeing him so arrogant after taming the beasts, Yan Xue sneered coldly.

Taming sacred beasts might have used some trick, but the apricot trees...

These were trees that had heard Confucius teach. Picking a fight with them was asking for death!

As he sneered, the youth had already reached the apricot trees.

Whoosh!

The apricot trees swayed simultaneously, surrounding him.