Chapter 887: The Wealth of the Bear-Tiger Beast

"I..."

Knowing that he was trapped in the book and had no other way out, his finger no longer had its previous arrogance, so he had to speak: "I am a section of the Cruel One's finger bone. After sleeping for ten thousand years, I gained consciousness. The Azure-Horned Dragon Beast was the emperor of Cloud Mist Ridge. To awaken as soon as possible, I captured its soul and made it act according to my orders..."

Soon, he recounted everything.

It was not much different from what had been guessed earlier.

Back then, what the Cruel One experienced while fighting Master Kong was unknown to anyone, but it was certain that this finger bone had survived.

The Cruel One had already reached the realm of rebirth from a single drop of blood during his lifetime. Although this finger bone was severely damaged, after sleeping for ten thousand years, it still gave birth to its own consciousness.

Then, it was accidentally discovered by this emperor of Cloud Mist Ridge.

To enhance its strength as quickly as possible, it used a special method to capture the creature's soul, allowing it to linger on in a state of barely surviving.

Then, using this remnant soul, it controlled the many sacred beasts of Cloud Mist Ridge, gathering earthly vein spiritual liquid to enhance its strength, and at the cost of capturing master teachers for it to devour!

As a super powerhouse comparable to Master Kong, helping the Bear-Tiger Beast improve its strength was very simple. Who would have thought it would encounter Zhang Xuan, who possessed the Book of Heaven's Path, and thus be caught and beaten until it could no longer be 'cruel'.

As for Wu Yangzi, more than two thousand years ago, a few alien tribesmen came here seeking help.

At that time, this Cruel One had just devoured several master teachers and fallen asleep. The Azure-Horned Dragon Beast learned of their purpose and sent sacred beasts to help kidnap this grandmaster of artifact forging.

Although the Azure-Horned Dragon Beast was only a remnant soul, after being controlled by the Cruel One for so many years, it had also learned many secrets, which it then told the alien tribesmen... Later, these fellows restored the heart in the underground palace, giving the first Cruel One they had subdued its own independent consciousness.

It could be said that the earlier awakening of the heart was thanks to this finger.

"Master Zhang, let me devour this fellow, and my strength will definitely recover more..."

Having asked all that needed to be asked, Zhang Xuan still had some things he hadn't figured out. Just as he was about to ponder carefully, he heard a voice transmission in his ear.

The speaker was the heart he had subdued earlier.

"Devour?"

"Exactly! If I'm not mistaken, although the Cruel One was killed back then, he must have left many contingencies. There are many like us with independent consciousness. To restore our peak, relying solely on absorbing spiritual energy would take another hundred thousand years and still be impossible... The only way is to find these scattered consciousnesses and devour them one by one!"

The heart said: "As long as I devour enough, even if I can't restore all my strength, I definitely won't be far off!"

"Mm!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

Seeing this finger bone also calling itself the Cruel One, he had already guessed this.

Among spirit beasts, there is a method for cultivating strong individuals similar to this: usually, many are raised and made to fight each other, and the last one left is the strongest.

Knowing he was doomed to die, the Cruel One left contingencies in advance. He should have left many such entities like the heart and finger, and to fully resurrect, he would need to gather them all and devour them one by one.

"Alright, as long as you pledge allegiance to me, not only this one, but I will also help you find other Cruel Ones, making you stronger and stronger!" Zhang Xuan said calmly.

To him, who the Cruel One was didn't matter, as long as he could pledge allegiance and help him with his work.

This heart Cruel One had been by his side for a long time and had experienced many things. If it could be completely tamed, that would naturally be best.

As for that finger, having massacred so many master teachers and devoured their flesh and blood, even if it could submit, he would never use it.

"Pledge allegiance?"

The heart fell silent.

Although trapped in the book, its consciousness was still that of the Cruel One who had roamed the world and even fought Master Kong. Making it completely submit was still somewhat difficult.

"Exactly!" Without saying more, Zhang Xuan clasped his hands behind his back, letting it choose for itself.

With the Library of Heaven's Path, he already had the capital to dominate the world. The other's submission would only be icing on the cake; if it didn't submit, he could still carve out a new world.

"Alright, I agree!"

After not long in silence, the heart spoke in agreement.

It had no choice but to agree. It had witnessed this young man's many methods and abilities, which were more astonishing than those of the legendary nine-star master teachers.

Perhaps this one could truly lead it further, even surpassing... Master Kong!

Agree, and it would fully recover or even become stronger; disagree, and it would remain trapped in the book forever, never to turn things around. Unless it was stupid, it would make the most correct choice.

"Offer your soul!" Seeing the other agree, Zhang Xuan said.

Only with a soul offering, where the other's life and death were under his mental control, could he fully trust the other.

Otherwise, with mere oaths and promises, once betrayed, even he couldn't bear the consequences.

"Yes!"

Without hesitation, the heart immediately transmitted a stream of consciousness, which entered Zhang Xuan's brow and flashed into his sea of consciousness.

Feeling this stream of consciousness, Zhang Xuan nodded.

Previously, he had only suppressed this heart, making it follow his orders. Now, it was completely submissive. With this offered soul, it was as if he had fully controlled it, like a tamed beast pet, obeying his commands unconditionally without daring to contradict.

"Master!"

Having offered its soul was equivalent to acknowledging him as master. The heart no longer had its previous pride and lowered its posture.

"Call me Young Master!" Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

"Yes, Young Master!" the heart responded.

"How do you devour it? What help do you need from me?" Zhang Xuan asked.

"Reporting to Young Master, my current strength is still inferior to his. If you could lend me that book personally written by Master Kong, I can ensure I devour him completely!" the heart said.

"Lend you the book personally written by Master Kong?" Zhang Xuan frowned.

It hadn't been easy to obtain that book personally written by Master Kong. Last time, when he pretended to be Yang Xuan, a third of it had already been devoured. Now it was still coveting it.

"Young Master, the alien tribesmen devour humans to enhance their strength. That finger even devours master teachers. Whether in will or strength, it surpasses me. Without borrowing the book personally written by Master Kong, I'm definitely no match for it, and I might even be devoured by it!"

The heart said.

"Alright, this book personally written by Master Kong only has two-thirds of its characters left. Tell me, how much do you need to borrow to devour it?" Zhang Xuan asked.

"This... I'm not sure either," the heart hesitated.

"How about this: in a moment, I'll first severely injure this finger, and then you make your move. That should help save some of it," Zhang Xuan said after thinking.

Outside, he was definitely no match for this finger, but trapped in the Book of Heaven's Path, the Heaven's Path true energy was the most fearsome weapon.

Having made his decision, without further ado, Zhang Xuan took the Book of Heaven's Path in hand and immediately infused a stream of true energy into it.

"Ah..."

Struck by the true energy, the finger writhed in pain, rolling around, and before long fell silent.

Seeing this, the heart twitched, then rushed forward. A massive killing intent surged out, clashing within the Book of Heaven's Path.

After an unknown period, the finger finally stopped moving, its previous arrogance gone, lying quietly on the page.

"Young Master!"

After some more time, a stream of consciousness sounded from the finger.

The heart had completely devoured it, making this so-called "Cruel One" its nourishment.

"Young Master, having just devoured this fellow, the two streams of consciousness clash. I may need to sleep for a while. The remnant soul of the Azure-Horned Dragon Beast inside has been stripped of its consciousness by me. You can easily refine it to nourish your soul!"

The Cruel One's voice continued.

Then, a pure soul power emerged from the finger.

Feeling the purity of this soul, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

This so-called "emperor" of Cloud Mist Ridge, though only a remnant soul, had reached the fourth or fifth level of the Saint realm. Its soul was extremely strong. With proper refinement, his own soul power would surely see great improvement.

However, now was not the time for refinement; there were many matters to attend to.

Glancing at the book personally written by Master Kong, he saw that another three hundred characters had been devoured, nearly a third. Zhang Xuan's brows twitched, and he put it away into his ring.

Others treated a book personally written by Master Kong as a sacred treasure. To waste it like he did was probably unique in the world.

Leaving the folded space, he instructed the Queen Ant to come and devour.

Having slain this "emperor" that had harmed so many master teachers, Cloud Mist Ridge would no longer pose a threat. This was also a way to account for those deceased master teachers.

The folded space was not large, and with the Queen Ant's greatly enhanced strength, it took less than half an hour to devour everything clean.

Putting it into the hive, Zhang Xuan walked out.

Returning to the place where the spiritual liquid had been stored, he saw the Golden Bear-Tiger Beast lying on the ground, already beaten into a meat patty, dead beyond death.

Seeing him approach, the Golden Origin Cauldron immediately greeted him with a fawning expression.

"Master, I've beaten this fellow to death. There are plenty of good things..."

With a chuckle, a storage ring flew out from the Golden Origin Cauldron and landed in Zhang Xuan's palm.

"A storage ring?"

Zhang Xuan was startled, then suddenly understood.

Sacred beasts could already use storage rings. As the king of Cloud Mist Ridge, this creature had lived for at least a thousand years, slain countless strong individuals, and collected countless treasures.

He hadn't thought of it before, but the Golden Origin Cauldron had considered it for him.

With the owner dead, the storage ring's restrictions were gone. He pricked his finger, and a drop of blood seeped in. Zhang Xuan then saw the space inside.

It was several times larger than his own ring, with a diameter of several hundred meters. Various treasures were piled up like mountains, with at least ten million mid-grade spirit stones alone.

High-grade spirit stones were also piled together, numbering in the hundreds.

Various medicinal herbs, pills, and rare ores were countless.

There were also several hundred weapons, with at least thirty to forty reaching the peak of the spiritual grade, and even three at the half-saint level!

"Impressive..."

Zhang Xuan was astonished.

Since his rebirth, he had worked diligently to earn money, not letting a single bit slip by. He thought he was already quite wealthy, but compared to this peak king of Cloud Mist Ridge, he was still far behind.

No wonder. Cloud Mist Ridge had once even kidnapped Grandmaster Wu Yangzi, and the latter's treasures had certainly been plundered.

Although this Golden Bear-Tiger Beast might not have been born two thousand years ago, as the most peak king and the spokesperson of the Azure-Horned Dragon Beast, many good things had been passed down.