Library of Heaven’s Path

The Inferno Qilin finally halted upon hearing those words.

Seeing this, Zhang Xuan chuckled softly as he continued. “Just like you, I also hate the Zhang Clan with a passion. If you don’t want to be trapped and tortured anymore, I can bring you out of here. Together, we’ll make a huge uproar in the world, and if you wish, we can even destroy the Zhang Clan too…”

“Destroy the Zhang Clan? Just… what does that fellow intend to do?”

Upon hearing those words, Zhang Wuchen and Elder Wuzhen felt their hair standing on end, and they nearly fainted on the spot.

What in the world are you doing?

You’re supposed to tame the Inferno Qilin! Why are you bringing the Zhang Clan into the equation?

Well, a mere Saint 9-dan beast won’t pose much of a threat to our powerful Zhang Clan, but still… if it goes on a rampage and relentlessly emanates its flames in the middle of the city, we will be put in a difficult position!

More importantly… our reputation would be completely ripped to shreds!

With awful looks on their faces, the two elders turned their gazes to Zhang Jiang and saw that the young man’s face had already turned pale in fright.

“Humph! If that fellow really manages to tame the Inferno Qilin and cause a mess in the Zhang Clan, I’ll hold you responsible for the damage!” Zhang Wuchen flung his sleeves coldly and harrumphed.

“But…” Zhang Jiang wanted to protest, but meeting with the wintry gazes of the two elders, he could only lower his gaze meekly and accept their judgement. “I understand….”

Seeing how the young man before him was speaking such big words, the Inferno Qilin sneered in disdain. “Destroy the Zhang Clan? Are you sure you have the guts and strength to challenge the number one Sage Clan on the Master Teacher Continent?”

If it was one of the minor clans, it could still afford to run rampant for a while, but in here… even it had no choice but to lie low!

Putting everything aside, just the man who had captured it and brought it to its current prison had been able to suppress its flames with a flick of his hand. If that man had truly intended to kill it, it would have fallen at a single slash of his!

“The Zhang Clan is indeed powerful, with many experts filling its ranks. However, as a clan of master teachers, it has to obey by the rules. If they truly had no regard for the rules, they would have already tortured you into submission. There is no way you would be able to lie here peacefully and live your days quietly,” Zhang Xuan said.

“Humph!” The Inferno Qilin turned its head away.

It was furious at the Zhang Clan’s act of imprisoning it, but it had to admit that the Zhang Clan had never treated it too poorly. Otherwise, there were many ways they could have forced it into submission, such as completely halting any spiritual energy from getting to it and depriving it of food and drink. Even though it would not have succumbed to those cheap tricks, still, its life could have been made a living hell.

And the reason for that was because the Zhang Clan was a clan of master teachers. There were rules that they had to obey, or else they would risk losing their prestige and honor that they had built up over the many years.

No matter how powerful a clan was, if it paid heed only to the ends and not the means, it would be nothing more than a tyrant. A powerful clan that paid attention to only the ends and not the means would be nothing more than a tyrannical monster, and tyranny could only get one so far.

Besides, if the Inferno Qilin did not choose to serve the Zhang Clan willingly, it would be a ticking time bomb waiting to explode at any moment. If it acted up while its master was away, perhaps killing a few of the younger offspring secretly, that would cause far greater damage to the Zhang Clan!

Seeing that the Inferno Qilin was listening to his words, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief as he continued his persuasion. “I can bring you out to pummel the person who has landed you in the plight you are in. Not only that, I can even cleanse your bloodline, bringing you to greater heights!”

“Cleanse my bloodline? You?” the Inferno Qilin harrumphed coldly. A flame cloud immediately rose from its body, and the already blistering heat in the surroundings further intensified.

Kacha!

Zhang Xuan felt a deeply stifling sensation in his chest choking him from within. It felt like he would be reduced to ashes should the wrong words come out from his mouth.

“Indeed. Do you doubt my words?” Despite knowing he was knee deep in danger, Zhang Xuan did not show the slightest hint of nervousness. Instead, a confident smile materialized on his face. “I can prove it to you.”

“Prove it to me?” The Inferno Qilin frowned.

“Indeed. I am only a Grand Dominion realm cultivator, an individual who poses no threat whatsoever to you. Whether I’m lying or not, you should be able to tell with a swift look. Think about how long you have been imprisoned here. Don’t you desire to attain more power and make those who have humiliated you pay the price for their actions? Or are you satisfied being treated as a tool for the beast tamers of the Zhang Clan to test their skills on you? Are you really fine with allowing the Zhang Clan trample all over your dignity?”

Zhang Xuan lifted his gaze to look right into the Inferno Qilin’s eyes as he further enticed it with his voice. “The opportunity is right before your eyes; it’s your choice whether you want to seize it or not. But know that if you were to let it slip, such an opportunity might never come once more.”

“This…” The Inferno Qilin fell into deep contemplation, and confusion could be seen reflected in its eyes.

But at this moment, someone amid the crowd shouted, “Agree to his request!”

It was from Zhang Ziqing.

Her shout immediately caught the attention of the crowd, and many gazes fell upon her.

“Ah…” Seeing that she was suddenly in the spotlight, Zhang Ziqing widened her eyes in realization at what she had just done, and her face immediately flushed red. At the same time, her hands trembled in shock as she muttered, “Demonic tunist?”

The words that she had just spoken simply escaped from her throat before she could even notice it. The young man’s voice seemed to carry some kind of unique quality to it that drew her into a confounded state, compelling her to bend to his will.

And the fact that the young man was able to pull this off showed that he was not an amateur in demonic tunes as he had earlier claimed. On the contrary, he was an expert whose mastery in the occupation far surpassed hers!

Otherwise, there was no way a demonic tunist prodigy like her would have fallen for his beguilement and even shouted out such embarrassing words.

What was even more unfortunate was that she was the only one who had fallen for his demonic tunes. There were plenty whose cultivation was far lower than hers amid the crowd, but none of them had fallen for his demonic tunes.

She knew that this was not due to Zhang Xuan acting against her, but rather, her high affinity toward demonic tunes had worked against her. It was precisely due to her sharpness toward music that resulted in her being subconsciously swayed by Zhang Xuan’s demonic tunes in her moment of carelessness, thus resulting in that embarrassing event.

In a sense, this as similar to how skillful musicians were able to hear subtle differences in the melody where an ordinary man perceived no difference in the tune at all.

The young man’s demonic tune was directed solely toward the Inferno Qilin, so the effects on others were not too pronounced. It was only due to her innate sensitivity toward music that resulted in her falling for it. To others, there were completely no effects whatsoever… well, for the time being, that was.

As time went by, the others would also slowly find themselves unwittingly sinking into the young man’s demonic tune, too.

After recovering from her shock, Zhang Ziqing gritted her teeth in fury. Humph! Despite possessing such deep capabilities in demonic tunes, he still claims that he’s just an amateur in it. His claim that he doesn’t know chess is probably a lie, too!

She had already lost to the young man in the field of painting, and it was apparent that she would be no match for him in terms of zither skills. All that was left was chess, and it was honestly hard for her to believe that the young man before her did not know a thing about chess at all.

She would have to make sure to challenge him after he was done taming the Inferno Qilin!

Paying no heed to Zhang Ziqing, Zhang Xuan continued his persuasion. “What’s your decision? It’s just a try, and it won’t cause the slightest damage to you at all. On the contrary, if it succeeds, you will gain the power to escape from this confinement. So, why are you still hesitating?”

Just as Zhang Ziqing had guessed, he was not only using demonic tunes but also Impartation of Heaven’s Will.

With the two abilities stacked on top of one another, further augmented by his Celestial Master Teacher aura and Heart of a Teacher, as powerful as the Inferno Qilin’s will might have been, it was already starting to be swayed.

After a long moment of contemplative silence, the Inferno Qilin eventually nodded. “Very well, I’ll just give you one chance.”

It had been trapped for far too long. It would be for the best if it could achieve a breakthrough and escape… and if this young man dared to lie to it, it did not mind devouring him whole!

“You are indeed a wise beast!” Zhang Xuan chuckled softly as he flicked his wrist.

A jade bottle materialized in his hand, and shaking it lightly, a pill dropped into his other hand. “This pill is able to cleanse your bloodline. Once you eat it, I guarantee that you’ll be able to achieve a breakthrough within ten minutes!”

“Breakthrough?” The Inferno Qilin lowered its gaze to eye the pill in the other party’s palm.

It was a golden pill, and it emanated an alluring fragrance. Rich spiritual energy shrouded its body, but other than that, there did not appear to be anything extraordinary about it.