Divine Transcendence

The next day, early morning.

Yuan Ming arrived at the Fire Workshop early. The work of material selection and screening was not difficult for him. On the contrary, he was skilled in identifying materials and sieving gravel, and quickly completed all the tasks at hand.

He didn’t waste time resting, but picked up the casting hammer again and started the tedious and challenging process of refining the embryo. However, progress was not smooth after a hard work.

He was not too discouraged by this. After completing today’s tasks and having lunch at the canteen, he went straight to the Beast Taming Hall.

Yuan Ming now knew that among the three peaks in the sect, the shortest one in the southeast belonged to the Furnace Hall, which was the territory of the Second Elder and was mainly responsible for the cultivation of spiritual herbs and the refining of pills.

As for the central peak, it goes without saying that it was where the Forge Hall, managed by the Third Elder, was located, responsible for refining tools for the sect.

The tallest peak in the northeast was where the Beast Taming Hall, under the jurisdiction of the Grand Elder, was located. It was also the most powerful and highest-ranking hall in the sect.

Since he didn’t have his own spiritual beast, Yuan Ming had to rely on his legs to travel. By the time he arrived at the boundary of the Beast Taming Hall, it was already an hour later.

The situation in the Beast Taming Hall was completely different from that of the Forge Hall.

Its buildings were widely distributed throughout the entire mountain peak, and there was a circular reception hall at the foot of the mountain.

As soon as Yuan Ming entered, he saw a sturdy disciple with a round face and black tattoos walking towards him.

"Hehe, this junior brother looks unfamiliar. Are you a newcomer?" The disciple with a round face smiled.

Yuan Ming was a little overwhelmed by this sudden enthusiasm and could only nod.

"There’s no need to be restrained when you come to the Beast Taming Hall, junior brother. We are here to serve all the senior brothers and sisters in the sect, and the prices are fair. We can meet all your needs! So, junior brother, are you here to rent or buy a spiritual beast? Let me introduce it to you." The disciple with a round face smiled even more and asked.

Yuan Ming was taken aback by his words. It turned out that he was here for business, no wonder he was so enthusiastic.

"Senior brother misunderstood. I came here to learn basic knowledge of raising spiritual beasts as part of the task assigned by the Execution Hall." Yuan Ming smiled and shook his head.

The disciple with a round face was stunned by his words. The smile on his face gradually disappeared, and his tone became lazy:

"Oh, I see. You took on a task. Do you have the seal from the Execution Hall?"

Yuan Ming had already prepared and took out the seal from his pocket and handed it over.

The disciple with a round face took it casually, looked at it, and frowned, "Why do you only have the seal from the Execution Hall and not the signature of the Elder?"

Yuan Ming furrowed his brows at his words. He had confirmed with the staff of the Execution Hall before that as long as there was a seal, it would be enough. The other party was obviously making things difficult for him.

"Go back and get the signature, then come back." The disciple with a round face threw the seal back and was about to turn around.

At this moment, a figure walked into the hall and immediately walked towards Yuan Ming.

"Oh, isn’t this... Junior Brother Yuan Ming?"

Yuan Ming looked over at the sound and found that it was the disciple from the Beast Taming Hall who took care of the gluttonous beast yesterday.

"Senior Brother Legong, what a coincidence to see you here." Yuan Ming raised his eyebrows and greeted him with a bow.

"Junior Brother Yuan Ming, it seems like you’ve made up your mind and are ready to challenge yourself, right?" Legong walked up to Yuan Ming, glanced at the seal in his hand, and immediately understood what was going on, and smiled.

"Cough, Senior Brother Legong, I didn’t expect you two to know each other..." The disciple with a round face smiled awkwardly and said.

Seeing the change in his expression, Legong knew that this guy was making things difficult for others again. He waved his hand and said, "I’ll take Junior Brother Yuan Ming in. You don’t need to worry about it. Go about your business."

"Alright." The disciple with a round face no longer mentioned the signature and immediately turned around and left.

"Junior Brother Yuan Ming, follow me." Legong said, and led Yuan Ming through the hall and out through the back door.

After leaving the main hall, Yuan Ming first arrived at a spacious square and saw a huge circular building in front of him, built entirely of stone, looking very sturdy.

Seeing Yuan Ming’s curious gaze, Legong explained, "This is the Beast Arena. Sect disciples can bring their own spiritual beasts here to compete. If they win, they can get a large amount of contribution points as a reward."

"When are the competitions usually held? Can I watch them?" Yuan Ming became interested.

"Usually once a month, and there will be different sessions depending on the number of participants. Elder disciples who don’t participate in the competition can also watch, but they need to pay ten contribution points as an entrance fee." Legong said.

"It’s not free after all..." Yuan Ming thought to himself.

"Speaking of which, the competitions are always lively! The spectators can also place bets based on their own judgments. If the side they bet on wins, they can get contribution points as a reward based on the odds." Legong said excitedly.

"You can do that too?"Yuan Ming said with his mouth, but in his heart he thought: "Isn’t this just gambling? I didn’t expect that cultivators, in this aspect, are no different from ordinary people."

As they spoke, the two bypassed the beast arena and walked along the mountain path towards the mountaintop.

The trees along the way were dense, with buildings of various sizes hidden among them. There were many more buildings than the Refining Hall, and various beast roars could faintly be heard.

When they reached a spacious square halfway up the mountain, Legong stopped and instructed Yuan Ming, "The place where non-disciples come to learn beast taming is in the beast garden ahead. I will take you there to register with the elder in charge. After learning, return the same way and do not wander around. Our Beast Taming Hall has many rules and strict levels, especially the area above the halfway point of the mountain, which is the activity range of inner disciples and generally cannot be accessed."

"Thank you, senior brother. I will remember." Yuan Ming nodded.

With that, the two arrived at a courtyard of considerable size and entered the front hall.

The elder in charge here was a middle-aged man with a thin build and a mustache. When he saw Legong bringing a stranger, he asked, "Legong, you’re here. This person next to you is a disciple of the Refining Hall, right?"

"Disciple greets Elder Moru. I have come here to learn about beast breeding as part of a task." Yuan Ming handed over the sign-in book and said.

"Junior brother is so eager to learn, naturally welcome! Come, come and register, and submit five contribution points." Elder Moru glanced at him and nodded.

Yuan Ming frowned upon hearing this.

He had received a clear reply from the elder of the Administration Hall that it was not necessary to pay for learning about beast breeding as part of a task. This was the bottom line that a sect specializing in beast taming should have.

"What’s wrong, junior brother Yuan? Do you have any questions?" Elder Moru frowned when he saw Yuan Ming standing still and not moving.

Yuan Ming naturally had no contribution points, and he couldn’t come up with any for a while. He had planned to give up and leave, but Legong took out his own disciple waist badge and handed it to Elder Moru, saying, "Elder Moru, this junior brother is new and doesn’t understand the rules. Deduct it from my contribution points."

"If he doesn’t understand the rules, you should teach him. It’s fortunate that I’m an easygoing person. Others wouldn’t be so polite." Elder Moru’s expression softened a bit.

He took the waist badge, pressed it against his own waist badge, and a light flashed in his palm. Then he returned the waist badge to Legong, turned around, and walked towards the back door.

"Thank you, senior brother. I will definitely repay you." Yuan Ming sincerely thanked Legong.

"It’s a small matter, not worth mentioning! If it weren’t for your help yesterday, the Fire Ferret of the Third Cave Master would have caused me a lot of trouble." Legong waved his hand and said in a low voice.

Just as the two were about to step over the threshold, they heard a loud shout from behind, "Stop."

Yuan Ming frowned, thinking to himself, "What bad luck."

Legong was puzzled and turned around to see that his expression changed slightly. He quickly clasped his fists and said, "Senior Brother Kuntou, is there something wrong?"

Kuntou completely ignored his question and only looked at Yuan Ming, showing a mocking smile.

Yuan Ming turned sideways and met Kuntou’s gaze without any avoidance.

He thought that the sect was so big, it shouldn’t be so coincidental, but he didn’t expect to really encounter this person. It could be said that they were destined to be enemies.

However, what surprised him was that there were several people behind Kuntou, most of them had a sycophantic look, but one of them was not wearing the Beast Taming Hall emblem on his clothes and did not have a disciple waist badge. It was Wu Lu.

Wu Lu just looked at him with a slight smile, without any malice, nor did he have any intention of greeting him.

"I thought the Third Cave Master brought you back for some important task. Why did you come to our Beast Taming Hall?" Kuntou looked at Yuan Ming provocatively and said.

"Senior Brother Kuntou, he..." Legong hadn’t finished speaking when he was glared at by Kuntou, and immediately fell silent.

Moru, who had already reached the back hall door, also stopped and turned around. When he saw who it was, the corners of his mustache trembled slightly, and he immediately put on a smile. He jogged a few steps to Kuntou’s side and bowed, "Senior Brother Kuntou, what brings you here?"

"Moru, when did our Beast Taming Hall become so casual? Can any cat or dog come in? What if a precious spirit beast is lost? If being a hall elder is too hard for you, I don’t mind suggesting to the master that you can focus on cultivation." Kuntou glanced at Moru and said so."Ah, Brother Kuntu, what are you talking about! I was just observing this lad, he looks like a sly fox, not a good sort at all. I was about to drive him away when you arrived. Hey, I’m talking to you, do you think you can just come here as you please? Get lost now!" After giving Kuntu a flattering smile, Moru immediately turned to Yuan Ming and scolded him with a stern face.

Yuan Ming had clearly seen the change in Kuntu’s expression when he saw Legong. Although Kuntu was a newly admitted inner disciple, his status in the Beast Control Hall was already quite unusual. His plan to study today was doomed to fail. Insisting on staying would not bring any benefits, but would instead likely result in him being framed.

He wanted to thank Legong, but he was afraid of causing him unnecessary trouble, so he said nothing and turned to walk towards the exit of the hall.

"Halt, did I say you could leave?" Seeing Yuan Ming ignoring him, Kuntu’s face grew even darker, and he shouted loudly.

The two lackeys following him immediately moved, one to the left and one to the right, blocking Yuan Ming’s path.