Bao Lin's face went red.
Then redder.
Then an entirely new shade of crimson that might as well have been its own spiritual phenonon.
The mont the words "What token?" left Zou Fang's mouth, Bao Lin snapped.
His voice exploded through the Food Hall like a thunderclap.
"YOU AN TO TELL —"
Heads turned.
"THAT I JUST WASTED ALL THAT TI—"
Elders, disciples, and even so spirit beasts paused mid-bite.
"EXPLAINING EVERYTHING—"
A faint ringing echoed through Zou Fang's ears.
"AND YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A BREEDER'S TOKEN?!"
The entire hall fell silent.
A few tables away, a massive Crimson Fla Lion let out an awkward cough before slowly continuing to lap at its stew.
Inside Zou Fang's spiritual sea, Wei Long was howling with laughter.
"PFFFT—HAHAHAHA!"
Zou Fang felt his eye twitch. "Wei Long. Not now."
But Wei Long was losing it.
"This guy! This guy!" Wei Long wheezed between laughs. "The mont he thought you were useful, he was all 'Follow , junior brother! Here's a grand tour of the Food Hall! Let tell you my life's story!'"
Zou Fang rubbed his temples.
"And now?" Wei Long continued, still snickering. "Now that he realizes you're useless? He's about to pop a blood vessel!"
anwhile, Bao Lin was still going off.
"Do you know how hard it is to beco a breeder?!" he bellowed. "You think you can just walk in and claim a position? Do you even understand what it ans to be a breeder?!"
Zou Fang, still reeling from the sheer volu of Bao Lin's rage, hesitantly raised a hand. "…So does that an I can't enter?"
A few veins bulged on Bao Lin's forehead.
"OF COURSE YOU CAN'T ENTER!"
Zou Fang winced.
Bao Lin took a deep breath, his nostrils flaring as he tried to compose himself. He clenched his fists, trembling with barely contained frustration.
"Listen here, kid." Bao Lin's tone dropped into sothing grave, solemn. "Becoming a breeder in the Autumn Dragon Sect isn't sothing just anyone can do."
Zou Fang blinked. "…Really?"
Bao Lin's eye twitched.
"Really?" He repeated, voice dangerously low. "You have no idea what kind of competition exists for this role."
Bao Lin then crossed his arms and looked down at Zou Fang, his voice dripping with disdain.
"Out of a thousand disciples… do you know how many actually get chosen to beco official breeders?"
Zou Fang thought about it. "…A hundred?"
Bao Lin scoffed.
"One."
Zou Fang's eyebrows shot up.
Bao Lin nodded firmly.
"That's right. One."
"The sect receives countless applicants every year. They train day and night, mastering everything from beast anatomy to dietary requirents, spiritual energy flows, and beast psychology—all for a chance at this position."
"And even then, only one person is chosen per selection cycle."
Zou Fang frowned. "So… it's really that hard?"
Bao Lin gritted his teeth.
"Of course it is!" He threw his hands up. "Do you think the sect would let just anyone handle their precious beasts? These aren't common farm animals! These are spirit beasts, so of which have lived for centuries! So of them have lineages tracing back to ancient divine creatures!"
Zou Fang was starting to realize—this wasn't just a job for Bao Lin.
It was his dream.
The way he spoke… the sheer passion and reverence in his voice…
Zou Fang could tell that Bao Lin had spent years striving toward this goal.
But at the sa ti…
That wasn't his problem.
He was about to ask if there was a shortcut, when Bao Lin suddenly sighed heavily and shook his head.
"Well… there is one way," he muttered.
Zou Fang perked up. "What is it?"
Bao Lin hesitated for a mont, then finally answered, "If you can get a spirit beast to acknowledge you as its master on its own, the sect might consider letting you in."
Zou Fang blinked.
Then, without thinking, he blurted out—
"That's it?"
Silence.
Bao Lin's eyes narrowed.
Other nearby disciples turned their heads.
A few elders snorted in amusent.
"'That's it?'" Bao Lin repeated, his voice dangerously low.
"Kid… do you have any idea how hard that is?"
"Spirit beasts aren't pets. They don't just randomly choose humans to follow. It takes years of dedication, training, and effort to form a bond strong enough for a beast to acknowledge you as its master."
"And you… You think it's easy?!"
Zou Fang could feel the intensity in Bao Lin's voice.
The man wasn't just skeptical—he was offended.
Even other disciples nearby were muttering among themselves, shaking their heads at Zou Fang's words.
Inside his spiritual sea, Wei Long suddenly let out a low chuckle.
"Ohhh, Zou Fang. I have an idea."
Zou Fang imdiately felt a shiver down his spine.
"…What kind of idea?"
Wei Long smirked.
"Call Red'Ribbon out."
Zou Fang froze.
"Wait, what?"
"You heard ."
Zou Fang grimaced.
"No way. That guy is a complete pain. He won't listen unless there's—"
"Oi, Red'Ribbon."
A sudden, deep, bored voice echoed through Zou Fang's spiritual sea.
"Tch. What now?"
Wei Long grinned.
"Co out."
Red'Ribbon snorted.
"Not happening."
Wei Long's grin widened.
"I'll find the most obnoxious, ugliest, fattest, worst-tempered rooster in this entire sect and personally make you spend a week alone with her."
A horrified silence followed.
Red'Ribbon's voice cracked.
"YOU WOULDN'T DARE."
Wei Long's smirk grew dangerously sharp.
"Oh, I would. And you know I would."
A heavy silence settled over the spiritual sea.
Then, after a long pause, Red'Ribbon let out a sigh of defeat.
"…Fine."
But then, Red'Ribbon grumbled.
"I won't show myself. But I'll make sure that little fool in front of you trembles."
Back in reality—
Bao Lin had just crossed his arms, about to continue his lecture when—
His entire body suddenly shuddered.
A violent, bone-deep chill ran down his spine.
His face drained of color.
His breath hitched.
Sothing—sothing was watching him.
It was ancient. Overwhelming.
It felt like an invisible force was staring right into his soul.
Zou Fang tilted his head.
"Hey… Did you feel that?"
Bao Lin's legs gave out beneath him.
He crashed onto the stone floor, eyes wide with horror, breath coming in short, ragged gasps.
"W-What… was that?!"
His voice trembled.
The entire Food Hall fell silent.
Every disciple. Every elder. Even the spirit beasts—all of them felt it.
A vast, indescribable pressure.
Sothing so ancient, so primordial, it was as if the weight of a thousand years had just brushed against their souls.
The air grew thick with tension.
Bao Lin gripped his chest, feeling the erratic pounding of his heart.
It was as if… sothing had just stared into the depths of his being.
And decided he was insignificant.
Zou Fang tilted his head slightly, regarding him with a calm, almost amused expression.
"That's ," he said casually.
Bao Lin's breath hitched.
Zou Fang continued, "Taming a beast like what you felt, it should be impossible, right?"
Bao Lin numbly nodded.
The words barely even registered.
His mind was still caught in that mont of pure, instinctive terror.
Zou Fang smiled. "Unless the creature acknowledged …"
Bao Lin, still lost in fear, barely processed what he was saying. But his body reacted on its own—he nodded again.
Zou Fang then asked, "So can I co in?"
Bao Lin, unable to think, just kept nodding.
Zou Fang didn't wait for further confirmation.
He simply walked past him, his silhouette flickering for a brief second—
—And then he was gone.
A sharp gust of wind swept past, ruffling the robes of the stunned disciples.
Bao Lin remained frozen, staring at the empty space where Zou Fang had stood.
And then—
Darkness.
His mind snapped into an illusion.
Bao Lin suddenly found himself sowhere else entirely.
A vast, endless forest.
The sky above him was moonless, the trees towering unnaturally high, their branches twisting into eerie, claw-like shapes.
The air was thick, suffocating, filled with an oppressive silence.
And then—
Chrrkkk… chrrkkkk…
A wet, skittering noise echoed in the distance.
Bao Lin whipped his head around, heart hamring against his ribs.
The sound ca from every direction.
Shhhk… shhhk… shhhk…
Sothing was moving.
No—multiple sothings.
They were fast.
They were watching him.
His hands trembled as he tried to summon his spiritual energy—
Nothing.
His connection to his qi was severed.
He was alone.
No allies.
No spirit beast companions.
No protection.
He was nothing but prey.
His breath quickened.
The forest seed to close in around him, the shadows thickening, writhing like they were alive.
Then—
A low growl.
Deep. Guttural.
Right behind him.
His body locked up in pure, paralyzing fear.
He couldn't turn.
He couldn't run.
Then sothing huge exhaled, hot breath washing over the back of his neck.
A clawed hand reached out—
—And Bao Lin jerked awake with a scream.
His body was soaked in sweat.
His hands were still trembling violently.
The familiar sounds of the Food Hall rushed back into his ears—disciples murmuring, elders talking, the clatter of bowls and plates—
But none of it felt real.
Not after that.
A voice suddenly cut through his haze.
"Bao Lin," an elder's voice called.
He snapped his head up.
It was one of the sect's overseers—an older man dressed in fine robes, his expression one of concern and suspicion.
"What did that disciple do to you?"
Bao Lin's lips parted—but no words ca out.
His mouth was dry.
His throat tightened.
What could he say?
That he had just experienced sothing beyond comprehension?
That for a brief mont, he had felt like he was already dead?
He slowly turned his head—toward the direction Zou Fang had gone.
His pupils contracted.
The elder asked again—but Bao Lin couldn't answer.
He just sat there, staring, with deep horror in his eyes.
---
anwhile, in another part of the Food Hall…
Far away from the commotion, an old man sat in silence, his face unreadable.
Elder Fu.
He had co to the Food Hall for a simple reason—to thank them for honoring his request regarding the competition he made yesterday so he could find the tar that the dinosaur was hiding into.
But now?
His entire body was tense.
Because he had felt it.
That sa dreadful, suffocating presence.
His hands involuntarily clenched into fists as his mind was suddenly dragged back—
Three days ago.
It had been a clean up to make sure none of the demonic path cultivators escape.
His disciples had ventured into the valley to investigate demonic path cultivators, only to have them et a rogue beast .
One by one, they had reported strange abnormalities—tracks that shouldn't exist, a scent that felt unnatural, a pressure that made their skin crawl.
And then, suddenly—
Silence.
Not a single disciple returned.
Alard, Elder Fu personally rushed to the valley.
And what he saw—
A nightmare.
The remains of his disciples were scattered across the valley floor.
So were partially eaten.
So were ripped apart.
So were barely even recognizable.
And standing in the middle of that carnage—
A dinosaur.
No—a beast unlike anything he had ever seen before.
It was massive, its muscles coiled with an unnatural strength.
Its scales glead with a tallic sheen, almost as if they were a fusion of biological material and sothing else entirely.
And its eyes…
Cold. Intelligent.
Uncaring.
As if killing his disciples had ant nothing.
Elder Fu had imdiately attacked, but—
It was too fast.
Too powerful.
With a single swipe of its claws, it shattered his defensive techniques.
If he hadn't retreated imdiately, he would have died there too.
So he needed to co and have his companion beast to deal with it. But it was gone and he was sure, it was hiding in the new disciples.
And now—
That presence.
That sa, bone-chilling aura—
He had felt it again.
Just now.
In the Food Hall.
Elder Fu's mind raced.
His gaze snapped toward the source of that energy.
And then—he saw him.
Zou Fang.
His eyes narrowed.
Wasn't that the arrogant disciple who had challenged everyone in the outer sect?
The sa one who stord off after the Patriarch scolded him being a muscle head who only seeks to fight?
Could it be…
Had he tad that creature?
Elder Fu rose to his feet, his spiritual energy surging slightly.
He had to find out the truth.
He had to follow him.
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