Chapter 142 A Special Status

Just at that moment, however, a stern shout rang out.

"Stop!"

As soon as the voice fell, the previously charging Profound Ice White Tiger halted abruptly in its tracks.

This command was issued directly through the absolute restraint of the soul contract.

The Profound Ice White Tiger had no power to resist.

"I..."

"Run! Go on, keep running!"

Looking at the stationary beast, Xiao Yang wore a mischievous grin.

This caused the Profound Ice White Tiger to instinctively cross its legs in panic.

"Young Master! I was wrong, I don't want to be a eunuch tiger!"

A pitiful wail echoed throughout the underground cavern.

***

"How has Long'er's cultivation been stabilizing lately?"

Gongsun Miao asked with a face full of affection.

Not daring to be negligent, Zhang Long quickly replied with a smile.

"Thanks to Master's excellent guidance, my current realm has fully stabilized. With my present strength, coupled with the blessing of the Qilin Divine Statue, dealing with an ordinary second-layer Martial Marquis should not pose much of a problem."

Hearing this, Gongsun Miao's eyes lit up slightly.

Being able to fight opponents of a higher realm was more than enough proof of extraordinary talent.

By then, even at the Ten Nations Martial Gathering, he would undoubtedly secure a commendable result.

"Good, good, good!"

Unable to hold back his excitement, Gongsun Miao stood up and repeated the word three times.

"It is all thanks to Master's cultivation."

Zhang Long was well aware that everything he had achieved was entirely due to Gongsun Miao.

Had he lacked even a single resource provided by his master, he would never have reached the Martial Marquis realm.

"Hahaha!"

Gongsun Miao let out a hearty laugh.

In his heart, he felt immensely gratified to have cultivated such a genius disciple.

Not only did this bring great prestige to the Giant Spirit Sect, but it also heavily favored him in the eyes of Jing Potian.

His path to competing for the position of Sect Master would undoubtedly become much smoother.

"Long'er, there is something I wish to discuss with you."

Gongsun Miao suddenly lowered his voice and said.

"Master, please speak. If this disciple is capable of doing it, I will certainly not decline."

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhang Long replied immediately.

Hearing this, Gongsun Miao nodded in satisfaction.

"You are now in the Martial Marquis realm, making you invincible among your peers. Before the tournament begins, I want you to ask Jing Potian for a reward."

"What reward?"

"To take Zhou Ya, a disciple of the Spirit Sword Peak, as your wife!"

Zhang Long froze instantly, thinking he was suffering from auditory hallucinations.

After all, Gongsun Miao was well aware of the romantic entanglement between him and his own daughter, yet he was still encouraging him to sow wild oats.

"Of course, you only need to marry her and bring her home; you won't need to concern yourself with the rest."

"As for the other matters, your master has his own plans."

"Very well."

Zhang Long nodded and agreed directly.

***

Seven days later!

"It's about time, we should get going."

Xiao Yang stood up from the ground.

Originally, he had planned to return right after breaking through to the Martial Marquis realm, but upon second thought, who goes out on a trial for only a day or two and rushes right back? That would practically be a joke.

Therefore, Xiao Yang had settled his mind and continued his training for another seven days.

Though he hadn't encountered any miraculous encounters during these seven days, he had slain quite a large number of fierce beasts.

His Cashing Value remained steadily at four million.

This amount of Cashing Value should be more than enough for his daily use within the sect.

"Young Master! You're awake."

Zhen Zhuang trotted over eagerly.

Ever since they emerged from the Martial Emperor's tomb, he and Xiao Yang had reunited.

During these past seven days, Zhen Zhuang hadn't done much else, yet his strength was now comparable to that of a Great Martial Master.

To an outsider, however, Zhen Zhuang's apparent strength still remained merely at the tenth layer of the Martial Practitioner realm.

Moreover, due to his Sacred Physique, even fierce beasts at the Great Demon Master realm found it difficult to inflict any injuries upon him.

One could say that this fellow was now completely a ferocious beast wearing a human skin.

Every battle he fought involved flesh-to-fist combat in the truest sense.

Either your brains get smashed to pulp by my fists, or you manage to kill me.

Xiao Yang had reprimanded him countless times because of this reckless habit.

He had even personally stepped in to teach Zhen Zhuang martial techniques, but whether the fellow was simply lacking a few cognitive wires or not, he just couldn't learn.

Whenever he encountered fierce beasts, his only strategy remained sheer brute force.

Consequently, he always returned covered in wounds, only for a single night's sleep to bounce him right back into peak condition, ready to go and make trouble for the beasts all over again.

Xiao Yang even suspected that Zhen Zhuang was on the verge of being blacklisted by the local wildlife.

He was far more savage than the beasts themselves, utterly ruthless through and through.

"Pack up your things, we're leaving."

Xiao Yang instructed.

Zhen Zhuang's eyes lit up slightly; he had long since grown tired of staying in this place.

However, as long as Xiao Yang didn't leave, he wouldn't budge.

"Alright, Young Master, I'll pack right away."

He responded immediately.

Perhaps because they had ventured too deep into the Fierce Beast Wasteland during this period, they hadn't encountered a single assassin.

Xiao Yang surmised that any assassins would have likely been wiped out by fierce beasts before they could even reach this far.

"Brother Xiao Yang, good morning! What are our plans for today?"

Sun Xiaoya rubbed her eyes and greeted him.

"Taking you home."

"What?"

"Really?"

Sun Xiaoya instantly woke up, asking with joyful surprise.

"Of course it's true. It's time to head back, but before that, I'll escort you safely back to the Azure Mountain Sect."

Xiao Yang said with a smile.

In truth, he harbored a few calculating thoughts of his own.

He knew very well that if he were to bring a young woman back with him, a certain young girl's jealousy would most likely boil over.

By then, no matter how the situation unfolded, he would undoubtedly end up with a massive headache.

To prevent such a scenario from happening, he needed to nip the trouble right at the source.

His plan was to drop Sun Xiaoya off at the Azure Mountain Sect, return to Northern Desert City, and then head back from there to the Giant Spirit Sect.

With this detour, he wouldn't have to worry at all about anyone's jealousy flaring up.

"Thank you, Brother Xiao Yang!"

Sun Xiaoya jumped up in excitement and gave Xiao Yang a big, tight hug.

She had originally only gone out to experience the outside world, never expecting to run into such a terrifying ordeal.

Out of her entire party, only she had survived.

Had it not been for Xiao Yang, she probably wouldn't have made it out of the Fierce Beast Forest alive.

"Awoo!"

A wolf's howl rang out.

A black shadow could be seen sprinting rapidly from the distance.

"My Lord, I have returned."

The black shadow bowed slightly to Xiao Yang, then opened its mouth and spat out four or five beast cores.

Xiao Yang glanced at them.

Over a hundred thousand Cashing Value—better than nothing, though trivial.

"Get ready, we'll be leaving shortly."

Nodding, Xiao Yang directly collected the beast cores.

At that very moment, a white flash flew over from afar.

Its speed was astonishing.

Within just a few breaths, it had arrived right before Xiao Yang.

"Young Master, these are today's spoils."

Shaking its tiger head, seven or eight beast cores dropped down, landing precisely in Xiao Yang's hand.

"You did a good job today."

Taking a look, a smile appeared on his face.

Today's eight beast cores had all remarkably reached the Demon Marquis realm.

Combined, these items were worth over nine hundred thousand.

Without a doubt, this was the luckiest haul in the past seven days.

"Hehe, I ran into a large wasteland lion pride containing nine pack leaders, and I slaughtered eight of them."

The Profound Ice White Tiger said with a trace of embarrassment.

Xiao Yang didn't say much in response.

Things shouldn't be pushed to absolute extremes; somewhere in the unseen currents, cause and effect balanced themselves out.

"Alright, get ready, we'll be heading out soon."

Hearing this, the Profound Ice White Tiger's eyes lit up slightly.

The last time it had left the Fierce Beast Wasteland was several centuries ago.

Ever since that incident, it had remained within the wasteland to cultivate, never once stepping outside.

In truth, it had long yearned to visit the cities of humankind and look around.

However, due to its special identity, entering a human city would most likely lead to catastrophic misunderstandings.

After all, it was a being at the Demon King realm; it certainly couldn't wander about carelessly.