Here is today’s second update! Vote for the monthly pass! Midnight marks the Qixi Festival, here in our China! To all my brothers and sisters, I wish you joyous love!

Xiong Kaishan, sprawled on the ground in shock, couldn't help but look up and let out a gloating laugh. Suddenly, he shouted, "Boss, look there! This little thing has a jade plaque around its neck. It seems... it's actually someone's pet!" He sucked in a cold breath, clearly shaken by his own realization...

A pet?...

The man in the black robe didn't hesitate. He flipped the little creature over. Indeed, hanging around the neck of Little White was a small jade plaque. The material of the plaque was already crystalline white, the same color as its fur. If one wasn't paying close attention, they might never notice it. It was only because Old Fourth Xiong was on the ground that a slight reflection, different from the other two Beast Kings, made it visible.

“Tianxiang, Dugu,” the man in the black robe murmured the four characters inscribed on it, then suddenly looked up, as if pondering silently. After a long pause, he said, “It’s Tianxiang City again. It seems we really must go to Tianxiang City! This little creature’s miraculous advancement speaks volumes. To enable such an advancement in this frail body, with no lingering side effects, and actually greatly expanding its potential for growth—this kind of miraculous technique is truly something that seizes the fortune of heaven and earth!”

Xiong Kaishan suddenly seemed to recall something. He scrambled to his feet and walked right up to Little White. He opened his mouth wide, made two low ‘wuwu’ sounds, and bared his teeth.

Little White’s eyes brightened, and it lifted its small paws, scratching twice, uttering two weak ‘wuwu’ sounds from its mouth.

The man in the black robe stomped angrily on Xiong Kaishan’s rear: “How could I forget that you can talk to it? You blockhead, if you could talk, why didn’t you come over sooner?!”

Xiong Kaishan rubbed his backside, grumbling internally: Can you blame me if you forgot yourself? But he didn't dare delay, emitting a series of ‘wuwu’ sounds, followed by a few strange syllables, and then a continuous ‘wuwu’ sound.

Little White blinked its big eyes excitedly, its two small front paws fluttering up and down, chattering ‘wuwu ji ji wu wu.’ A bear and a leopard were actually having a spirited conversation.

Later, Xiong Kaishan’s questions grew increasingly frantic. Little White tilted its head with an expression of utter innocence, let out two ‘wuwu’ sounds, trying to explain something but completely failing. Its eyes were filled with confusion. Finally, it drooped its head in defeat, its two stiff ears drooping too, and it fell silent.

Xiong Kaishan spread his hands helplessly, indicating that his questioning was finished.

The man in the black robe and He Chongxiao spoke simultaneously: “Well? How was it?”

“Wuwu wuwu—” Xiong Kaishan obviously forgot to switch back to his regular speech pattern, his mouth full of gibberish. He immediately took a punch to the chest and a kick to the rear, crying out as he rubbed both spots simultaneously.

“Hurry up and tell us, you clod!” Both men wore fiercely menacing expressions. Little White shrank back, tucking itself into the embrace of the man in the black robe. Though young, the little creature was sharp; it knew this black-robed man was the leader among the three, and it felt safest in his arms. Suddenly, it let out two confused ‘wuwu’ sounds, widened its wet, round eyes, looked around twice, couldn't help but nudge him with its head, and then licked him with its tender little pink tongue.

The man in the black robe flinched as if electrocuted, causing Little White to tumble awkwardly to the ground.

“This little thing!” the man in the black robe cursed angrily, sweeping his long sleeve, yet picking it up again, patting its little head: “Behave yourself!” His voice was stern.

Little White looked at him fearfully and lay still obediently.

“It says… it was done by a very, very, very good, nice, great person…” Xiong Kaishan panted, his bear eyes wide open, his face a mixture of helplessness and frustration.

“I asked what he looked like, and it said very, very nice. How old? Very, very nice. In any case, everything was very, very nice…” Xiong Kaishan was so frustrated he almost howled at the sky.

“It has zero distinguishing features! How on earth did you communicate, you lunkhead!” The man in the black robe was clearly getting agitated.

“Besides ‘very nice,’ it had only one other evaluation: a very nice smell, even better smelling than its master!” Xiong Kaishan added. He was internally miserable too—what kind of nonsensical answers were these?

“Be satisfied with what you got. It’s barely a month old; it’s quite something that it can communicate with you at all! What do you expect such a small thing to articulate? At least we know now that advancing a Xuan Beast is a real possibility!”

He Chongxiao shot him a sidelong glance, then turned to the man in the black robe: “Boss, I suspect this matter is connected to that mysterious man in black. I can be almost certain it was him. Besides that person, no one else in the world possesses such methods! Also, this little creature has an owner. And its owner must be extremely close to the person who facilitated its advancement. With such heaven-defying methods, why would anyone share them easily unless they were the closest of friends!”

“Indeed, Old Third He’s analysis is sound. Old Xiong, why don’t you learn more from Third! If that’s the case, that mysterious expert might very well have arrived in Tiannan too! At least this little creature’s owner is here!”

The man in the black robe’s eyes lit up. He paced a few steps, then suddenly gave a decisive order: “Proceed with the original plan. However, absolutely do not engage the Jun family or the Dugu family! If…”

He sighed.

“Boss, if the battle at Bo Peak… for you,” He Chongxiao and Xiong Kaishan watched him worriedly, “you are currently on that… edge of the Earth Tier. If this has any effect, wouldn't it be…”

“No matter!” The man in the black robe waved his sleeve. “This battle is about establishing might. As long as we successfully crush them, we can secure at least several decades of peace. If we shy away from the fight out of cowardice, that will be the true calamity brought by Heavenly Retribution! Once this is over, I will immediately enter seclusion to prepare for the breakthrough to the twelfth Gate! By then, Heavenly Retribution will be up to you all!”

“Yes!” the two agreed simultaneously.

Meanwhile, in Tiandu City, a degree of chaos was already brewing; anxiety permeated everywhere!

After witnessing the terrifyingly powerful lineup of the Heavenly Retribution Xuan Beasts, the confidence that had swelled among those gathered—believing they held the consolidated strength of the world’s Xuan Experts—had completely evaporated.

Originally, the various great families and major forces had brought nearly several hundred Heaven Xuan masters, along with forty to fifty Divine Xuan experts. This strength was undeniably formidable. Before the Heavenly Retribution Xuan Beasts revealed their power, the vast majority of participants were brimming with confidence about the coming battle, even harboring pleasant thoughts of using the conflict to gather more Xuan Pills and Xuan Beasts!

This was all wealth!

But after merely glimpsing the terrifying roster of the Heavenly Retribution Xuan Beasts today, all those beautiful ideas vanished into thin air. If one used the conversion rate where an eighth-tier Xuan Beast was equivalent to a Heaven Xuan expert, and a ninth-tier Beast to a Divine Xuan expert—the vast force from the Heavenly Retribution Forest far surpassed their own! Not to mention the ninth-tier Xuan Beasts they had already seen; there were probably no less than a hundred of them! As for the eighth-tier ones, there were likely tens of thousands. How could this battle be fought? How indeed?

Still thinking of collecting newly born Xuan Pills? Dream on!

Furthermore, it was rumored that even a single Beast King could rival a Supreme Being! Even counting the Mad Wind Sword God, Feng Juan Yun, there were at most only five Supremes present! What was even more outrageous and despairing to the masses was that the strength of the first Beast King of Heavenly Retribution was utterly unrivaled! At least today, the Absolute Heaven Supreme had been put at a decisive disadvantage!

The leaders of every family, faction, and nation debated for an entire day, yet failed to produce a single effective countermeasure; one person would suggest a plan, another would immediately refute it; one would offer a strategy, the next would instantly veto it. This back-and-forth nearly led to internal strife. Moreover, many, seeing the powerful lineup of the Xuan Beasts, had already developed thoughts of retreat.

Young Master Jun’s side was no less tumultuous. To be honest, the Young Master was exhausted after a full day. Putting aside everything else, the rapid dashing and the mentally taxing exchange of words used to subdue Baili Luoyun had severely drained his energy. He had intended to rest well upon returning, but the moment he got back, he was faced with the disappearance of Little White. He could only try endlessly to coax, deceive, and persuade Dugu Xiaoyi, with very little success.

Eventually, the Young Master, out of ideas, simply feigned death, utterly at a loss. The little girl insisted on finding Little White, crying incessantly. Young Master Jun finally lost his patience and roared, “If you cry again, I’ll tie you up like a zongzi and send you back to Tianxiang!”

The effect was immediate. Miss Dugu stopped crying right away, but then sulked in anger, picking on Jun Moxie for a full hour.

Guan Qinghan cautiously tried to mediate, while simultaneously giving Jun Moxie a disapproving glare. She was annoyed that this young man, usually adept at placating women, now seemed incompetent. His attitude was simply too harsh, almost unjustifiable.

Under the combined barrage of glaring looks from the two beauties, Jun Moxie felt like he was sitting on pins and needles, slinking out the door.

Sighing, he lamented, Why is my fate so bitter? Why does everyone come to me when there’s trouble? Am I some kind of emergency response team?

As soon as he stepped out, he ran into Dongfang Wenjian and Dongfang Wendao. These two elder gentlemen from the Dongfang family were not going to let Young Master Jun off either. They subjected him to meticulous questioning about his activities over the past few years—the scrutiny was so thorough that it piled even more fatigue onto the already weary Young Master!

Heavens, can’t I get a moment’s rest!

It wasn't until evening that Jun Wuyi and Dongfang Wenqing returned with grave expressions. Jun Wuyi briefly settled the military affairs and immediately headed to Jun Moxie’s tent.

“Is the situation not looking good?” Jun Moxie asked. Guan Qinghan quietly raised her eyelids, straining to listen.

“Not looking good? It’s worse than not looking good—it’s extremely grim!” Jun Wuyi frowned deeply and sighed, “The generals have no will to fight, and the soldiers have no fighting strength; everyone acts independently and refuses to submit! Several families are clearly showing signs of wanting to retreat… With this kind of situation, where no one has the will to fight, how can we possibly go to war! I fear that the moment the fighting starts, we might face imminent collapse!”

“What? They didn’t manage to discuss anything all day? The situation can’t be that pessimistic, right?” Jun Moxie was shocked. Low efficiency was one thing, but this was ridiculous!

“Pessimistic? That’s already an optimistic assessment. Do you really think this group of people can agree on anything?” Dongfang Wenqing snorted, brimming with frustration. “If it weren’t for the few Supremes keeping order, there would have surely been bloodshed today! If the Xuan Beasts had attacked tonight, the last shred of fighting spirit everyone possesses would have completely collapsed!”

“It seems Li Jue Tian truly lacks much leadership talent,” Jun Moxie sighed.

“That’s stating the obvious. Although these Supremes hold lofty statuses, deep down they are still great martial titans. Which of them possesses the leadership talent required to command an army or lead the masses? Every one of them is dedicated to solitary cultivation; otherwise, how could they have achieved their current status! In terms of leadership, among the Eight Supremes, perhaps only the First Supreme Yun Biechen and the Life-and-Death Supreme Shi Changxiao possess a little bit, the rest are just brute leaders, especially Ying Bokong, who is even more of a savage!”

Dongfang Wenqing said angrily, “Speaking of him makes me furious! He actually suggested that we concentrate all our Divine Xuan and above strength to infiltrate the Heavenly Retribution Forest, carry out a covert decapitation strike, quickly eliminate a few Beast Kings, and then retreat immediately. Damn his ancestors, what an idiot!”

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