Chapter 425: Let Me Try!

At this moment, the Cyan Nightmare Beast was lying lazily on the ground, without even the will to be angry, too lazy to lift its head, seemingly using some special method to recover from its injuries.

"Hall Master, I want to give it a try!"

Approaching, Wei Youdao clasped his fists.

"Go ahead." Glancing at Elder Wei Yuqing not far away, Xie Jiuchen nodded in agreement.

This grandson of his old friend had possessed exceptional beast-taming talent since birth and was renowned among the younger generation, with a strong claim to being the best.

If not for the sudden appearance of Zhang Xuan, he would undoubtedly have held the title of the top young beast tamer in the Xuan Yuan Kingdom's Beast Hall.

Since they were now grasping at straws anyway—once the Cyan Nightmare Beast recovered, it could no longer be contained—it was better to let everyone try; perhaps someone's method would work.

"Thank you, Hall Master!"

Taking a deep breath, Wei Youdao approached the Cyan Nightmare Beast.

With a flick of his wrist, a jade bottle appeared in his palm.

As he uncorked it, a rich fragrance wafted out, invigorating everyone.

"It's Seven-Colored Honey from Cloud Mist Mountain!"

"Legend has it that this honey is brewed by Master-level Heaven Snow Bees from seven different colored flowers. It's extremely sweet, fragrant, and irresistible even to spirit beasts!"

"This stuff is incredibly precious and rare; even with spirit stones, you can't buy it. I didn't expect him to have a bottle!"

"Impressive! If he's willing to bring this out, the Cyan Nightmare Beast probably can't resist the temptation!"

...

As the fragrance from the jade bottle spread, the crowd buzzed with excitement.

Seven-Colored Honey, a blend of seven colors, was intensely fragrant; a single sniff made one's pores open wide.

Beasts were always gluttonous, and encountering this, it was indeed hard to resist.

"Seven-Colored Honey ranks fifth among the ten items most favored by beasts. Wei Youdao managed to find such a good thing—not bad!"

Hall Master Feng's eyes also lit up.

"Most favored by beasts? There's a ranking for that?" Zhang Xuan was taken aback.

He had read almost all the books in the Beast Hall, but he had never heard of such a ranking.

"Yes."

Hall Master Feng smiled. "These rankings were casually set by some beast tamers when they were bored; they haven't been recognized by the Beast Hall, so there are no records in books. Seven-Colored Honey is not only fragrant but, more importantly, it greatly nourishes a beast's meridians, increasing their elasticity! An ordinary beast tamer can completely tame a Master-level beast with just one drop. The jade bottle in Wei Youdao's hand may look small, but it probably contains dozens of drops. To bring out so much at once is quite a generous move!"

"Nourishing meridians and increasing elasticity?"

Hearing that Seven-Colored Honey had such an effect, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but marvel.

The meridians of beasts and humans are like canals, with a certain width. If true energy flows too fast, it can cause the canal to collapse, leaking true energy outward and causing severe injury.

Increasing elasticity is equivalent to widening the canal, which is immensely beneficial for cultivators. Not only beasts, but even many cultivators nearby, upon learning of this effect, had red eyes full of longing.

"What other items are on this ranking you mentioned?"

Sighing with admiration, Zhang Xuan couldn't suppress his curiosity.

Knowing the ranking of items most favored by beasts would allow him to prepare in advance when taming higher-level beasts.

"Since there's no official confirmation, everyone just chats casually. The公认 ranking is: first, Dragon Blood; second, Spirit Beast Inner Core; third, Ancient Meridian Essence Blood; fourth, Disgusting God Flower; and fifth, this Seven-Colored Honey."

"I see!" Zhang Xuan sighed.

He had heard of the first four.

The dragon race is immensely powerful; even a trace of dragon blood, no matter how slight, makes a beast far stronger than others.

For instance, this Cyan Nightmare Beast, with only a negligible amount of dragon blood, possessed strength comparable to a Half-Step Mortal Transcender, and no one could tame it.

Dragon blood alone would drive countless beasts and spirit beasts wild; ranking first is well-deserved.

As for the third, Ancient Meridian Essence Blood, it was already known in the Xuan Luo Mountains to have similar effects; used properly, it could completely upgrade a beast's bloodline.

Spirit Beast Inner Cores are condensed from the essence of the sun and moon absorbed by spirit beasts, containing their lifetime of cultivation and power. Obtaining one, even if it doesn't directly allow a breakthrough to spirit beast, would certainly greatly increase strength.

The Disgusting God Flower is said to enhance a beast's soul and spirit, with immense effects.

These four are so extraordinary that Seven-Colored Honey ranking fifth, on par with them, shows its formidable nature.

He couldn't help but look up.

Sure enough, the Cyan Nightmare Beast in the cage, upon smelling the fragrance, stirred its lazy body, lifted its huge head abruptly, and its eyes gleamed.

Clearly, this item had piqued its interest.

"I know you understand human language and know our purpose. As long as you swear by the dragon blood within you to henceforth serve the Beast Hall, this bottle of Seven-Colored Honey is yours!"

Holding the Seven-Colored Honey in his palm, Wei Youdao stared intently at it.

With this item as leverage, all taming techniques could be ignored; he could directly negotiate terms.

"Roar!"

Initially interested, upon hearing this, the Cyan Nightmare Beast again lay down lazily, unmoving.

"I know you attempted to break through to spirit beast and failed. Seven-Colored Honey can relax your meridians and heal injuries. Once you take it, you might break through the bottleneck. Why not? Besides, serving the Beast Hall doesn't mean serving an individual. With this backing, it will greatly aid your cultivation and growth in the future... I hope you will consider my words carefully!"

Wei Youdao continued.

However, despite his tempting words, the Cyan Nightmare Beast remained indifferent.

In the eyes of a beast, serving anyone means becoming a human puppet, bound by constraints—how could that compare to the joy of roaming freely?

"Looks like it's not working."

Seeing this, the crowd, who had rekindled hope, grew dejected again.

They had thought that offering the fifth-ranked Seven-Colored Honey would move this Cyan Nightmare Beast, but they had underestimated it.

"Although Seven-Colored Honey ranks fifth and is irresistible to ordinary beasts, this Cyan Nightmare Beast is clearly about to transcend the beast realm. Even if it has effects, they won't be significant. Moreover, it contains dragon blood and is extremely proud—how could it submit to humans for a bit of Seven-Colored Honey?"

A two-star peak beast tamer in the crowd sighed.

"Indeed, the dragon race is one of the most powerful and proud races on the continent. Even if this beast's bloodline is thin, it won't bow to humans for mere items, unless we can find the top-ranked Dragon Blood."

"Dragon Blood? Are you joking? How could that be easily found? Not only are dragons rare, but even if you find one, they are all immensely powerful—at least as strong as this one, at the Half-Step Mortal Transcender level. How could ordinary beast tamers hunt them?"

Murmurs spread.

The Beast Taming Grand Competition had gathered hall masters and beast tamers from dozens of surrounding branches. As leaders of their respective factions, these people were no simpletons in terms of insight and knowledge.

Even if Seven-Colored Honey was precious, it clearly couldn't make a beast with dragon blood yield.

"Sorry."

After struggling for a while and finding the Cyan Nightmare Beast completely unmoved, Wei Youdao stepped back in disappointment.

"Anyone else want to try?"

As if expecting this outcome, Hall Master Xie Jiuchen looked around again.

Silence fell.

Initially, many were eager to try upon hearing the news, but after seeing even two-star peak and three-star initial beast tamers fail, they lost the courage to attempt.

"Let me try."

Just as everyone was feeling down, a calm voice rang out.

"It's Beast Tamer Zhang Xuan!"

"He breezed through the Ten Beast Cage, so he must have deep knowledge of beast taming. If he steps in, he might actually succeed!"

"I don't deny his exceptional beast taming skills, but his personal strength is too low!"

"That's true. An ordinary beast tamer can tame a beast one minor level higher and is considered decent; two levels higher is outstanding... He's only at the Master peak, while this beast is Half-Step Mortal Transcender—a difference of six whole minor levels. Taming it is nearly impossible!" (Half-Step Zun, Zun initial, mid, late, peak, Half-Step Mortal Transcender)

"Right, if he were at Zun peak, there might be some hope, but now... I'm not optimistic."

Seeing who had spoken, the crowd buzzed.

Zhang Xuan had stormed the Ten Beast Cage yesterday, shocking the Beast Hall, and almost everyone recognized him.

Seeing him appear, some held hope, while others shook their heads.

Beast taming requires not only skill but also talent.

If the level gap with the beast is too large, the beast will look down on you from the heart—how could it obediently become your tamed subject?

"I heard that after challenging the Ten Beast Cage yesterday, he came to try but failed."

"Then why is he coming out now? Does he have a new method?"

"That's unknown. Let's see..."

Some insiders knew that Zhang Xuan had attempted to tame the beast before, and though they didn't know the specifics, since the Cyan Nightmare Beast remained untamed, they assumed he had failed.

"You... succeeded in learning?"

Seeing him appear, Hall Master Xie Jiuchen's eyes lit up.

This fellow had gone to the library to study ancient beast language, and now he was coming back—had he learned something?

"Succeed? Far from it..."

Zhang Xuan shook his head.

It wasn't that ancient beast language was hard to learn, but that this Beast Hall was clearly too low-level to have enough books.

"Then..."

Hearing him admit he was far from success, Xie Jiuchen was puzzled.

"I've only learned a few characters. I want to try and see if it works. If it doesn't, I might have to use the method I mentioned earlier."

Zhang Xuan said.

"The method from earlier?"

Hearing this, Xie Jiuchen was speechless.

He had thought that after going to the library to read and seeing so many people attempt taming, this fellow had abandoned that idea, but apparently, he still remembered it clearly.