Chapter Fifty-Five: Beasts Become Human, Humans Become Beasts

The Beast-Taming Sect, true to its name, possessed the power to command birds and beasts, taming and raising them to serve their purposes. It could not be counted among the demonic sects. Several decades ago, this sect flourished in the mortal world, nearly ascending to the ranks of the most esteemed orders.

Their cultivation method was, in itself, not extraordinary, save for the unique ability to control animals in battle. However, after generations of inheritance, the sect developed a sinister art: not only did they skin wild beasts and even spirits, but they also refined their flesh and blood into pills.

Novice disciples, lacking in cultivation, would swallow these blood pills, then, employing their techniques, don the beast skins and transform themselves into beasts.

Yet, decades past, a great upheaval occurred.

A disciple of the Fang family within the Beast-Taming Sect altered this method—he began to kill people, flay their skins, and refine their flesh into medicine for his own consumption. Then, using the same technique, he donned human skin and assumed new identities.

When this method spread, the sect not only failed to suppress it, but instead extolled it, leading many of its members to go on a rampage, slaughtering innocents and feeding their remains to their tamed beasts and spirits.

Those tamed creatures, after ingesting the blood pills and wearing human skins, could take on human form.

Such a practice was an abomination, violating the natural order and massacring innocents. At last, it provoked the wrath of a celestial patriarch, who sent down an immortal youth to obliterate the Beast-Taming Sect.

Qingyuan knew of these events because the celestial patriarch thus angered by the sect was none other than the Great Immortal Zixiao of the Zixiao Palace.

And the immortal youth dispatched to exterminate the sect was the very Daoist child, White Crane Boy, who in Qingyuan’s earlier, unaccomplished years of cultivation, often appeared in his dreams “under orders to slay” him.

Rumor had it that White Crane Boy was of great age, having lived over a century—perhaps even older than Qingyang, who taught Liu Yue the Contemplation of Purity and Impurity—and was among the earliest followers of the Great Immortal Zixiao.

Within Zixiao Palace, the Daoist youths often surmised that White Crane Boy had already attained immortality, which was why he remained forever youthful, his appearance unchanged, ever the image of a child.

White Crane Boy was greatly esteemed by the Immortal, entrusted with many vital tasks.

For this reason, Qingyuan had dreamed more than once of White Crane Boy descending upon him on a mission to apprehend him.

Only after Qingyuan progressed in his own cultivation, reaching a level of mastery, did these distracting thoughts finally fade.

He had always admired White Crane Boy.

Thus, at this moment, he was eager and intent.

“Remnant of the Beast-Taming Sect.”

Qingyuan’s lips curved in a faint smile; he leveled his iron staff and called out, “If you possess any vestige of the Beast-Taming Sect’s arts, now is the time to show them!”

He had long heard Qingyang recount tales of White Crane Boy’s exploits; he was not only well-versed in these matters but had yearned for such encounters, which was why he could recognize the sect’s legacy at a glance.

Senior Qingyang had said that the annihilation of the Beast-Taming Sect was but one of White Crane Boy’s many heroic deeds.

He had heard these stories time and again.

Now, facing this ragged, wild-haired survivor of the Beast-Taming Sect, his heart was stirred by an inexpressible excitement.

In a clear, ringing voice, he shouted, “Demon, take this!”

As the words fell, he flipped his hand, producing over a dozen fire talismans, which he cast into the air. The talismans ignited as they caught the wind, transforming into blazing fireballs, rolling forward in a torrent.

The cave was instantly illuminated, the heat suffocating.

Dozens of fire talismans were thrown in all directions.

Qingyuan’s aim was not to harm, but to burn.

The nearest human skin at the cave’s entrance immediately caught fire and was consumed.

Other fire talismans flew toward the beast pelts scattered within the cave.

“Damn you!”

The strange man gave a sudden, furious cry, his eyes nearly bursting from their sockets. He snatched up several pelts from behind him and rolled on the ground, but when he looked up, all the other pelts had already been reduced to ashes.

“I’ll kill you!”

He roared in wrath.

He had entered the Beast-Taming Sect as a boy and had learned little; decades later, his cultivation remained stuck at the second tier. His skills lay almost entirely in those beast pelts.

Never had he expected Qingyuan to have concealed so many fire talismans.

“Then let us see... who shall kill whom?”

Qingyuan drew a deep breath, heat rippling like a wave around him. He turned his head and said, “Gu Cang, kill all the spirits outside—let none escape.”

Gu Cang did not understand the phrase “let none escape,” but he grasped his master’s intent and replied in the affirmative.

He threw aside his spear to avoid hindrance, drew his long blade, and charged out.

Qingyuan called after him, “Be careful.”

Outside were dozens of wolves, all possessing spirit power—unlike the mere bandits they had faced before. Even with Gu Cang at the second tier, victory was not guaranteed.

Worried, Qingyuan reached into his satchel, drew out eight wooden carvings of tigers and wolves, wrapped each in a talisman, and rolled them on the ground. Instantly, they became eight fierce, life-sized tigers and wolves, brimming with savage power.

With a wave of his hand, Qingyuan sent these eight beasts in pursuit.

“This...”

Seeing such a display of Daoist art, the Beast-Taming Sect remnant was deeply shaken, thinking to himself, “I underestimated him...”

Qingyuan, gripping his iron staff, blocked the cave entrance.

Flames roared on all sides, the heat oppressive.

“Very well...”

The man roared, “You wish to see the skills of the Beast-Taming Sect? Then I shall show you clearly.”

With that, he cast aside all his other pelts but one—a bear skin. He wrapped himself in it, and with a furious bellow, transformed into a giant bear, standing over ten feet tall.

Its eyes were blood-red, teeth sharp, and its paws as broad as fans.

In an instant, he had become a living, breathing giant bear—not merely in appearance, but in essence.

It exuded a terrifying aura.

In a flash, it lunged.

A paw crashed down.

Qingyuan’s face betrayed no fear. He stepped forward, sweeping his iron staff sideways and deflecting the massive paw.

The bear’s strength was overwhelming; though Qingyuan had redirected the blow, the force drove him so deep that the earth beneath his feet sank a few inches.

The monster was astonished.

But skilled in close combat, he ignored the pain in his hand, seized the iron staff with one paw, and brought the other crashing down toward Qingyuan’s head.

“You are a cultivator, not a martial artist. Let’s see if you can survive a single blow in close quarters!”

The giant paw pinned the iron staff.

Qingyuan could not retreat—unless he abandoned his weapon.

The descending paw brought with it a rush of fetid wind.

“With just you?”

Qingyuan arched a brow, gripping the staff with one hand and raising the other to meet the strike.

Bang!

A thunderous sound echoed.

The giant paw was stopped cold by Qingyuan’s outstretched hand.

The bear’s paw was as broad as a fan, while Qingyuan’s arm seemed slender by comparison.

Yet he caught the blow with ease.

Had an onlooker been present, this scene would have been truly astonishing.

The giant bear paused, surprise flickering in its blood-red eyes.

“Strength, is it?”

Qingyuan gave a cold laugh. “I am not inferior to you.”

With that, he reversed his grip, seized the bear’s paw, and held it fast.

The staff, pinned under the paw, was freed as Qingyuan exerted his strength.

A glint of severity flashed in Qingyuan’s eyes.

He stepped back, steadying his stance.

Then, with a mighty swing, he drove the iron staff forward.

The tip traced a path between the bear’s eyes and struck its chest with a muffled thud.

Bone shattered, sinews snapped, organs ruptured.

The bear’s chest caved in.