Chapter 20: Shen Gong Bao's Mount (Part 2) (Seeking Collection and Recommendation)

  "So you're the Year Beast! Hehe, that's even better!" Shen Gongbao said with a stroke of his beard.

  "Roar! Stinky Taoist, let me see if you have the skills!" The Nian beast let out a loud roar and suddenly pounced on him like a fierce lion, lowering its head, with cold light flashing from its sharp horns as it viciously stabbed at Shen Gongbao.

  Only to see the Year Beast's feet produce wind, its speed was incredibly fast, a powerful sonic boom emitted a loud whooshing sound, and in an instant it arrived before Shen Gong Bao.

  Shen Gong Bao's face changed, and he didn't expect the Year Beast to be so fast. In a flash, Shen Gong Bao dodged to the side, avoiding the fatal blow, and at the same time, he used his Earth Escape Technique to dodge and weave to a distant place before emerging from the ground, staring at the Year Beast in shock.

  "His cultivation is so low, yet he's already this formidable before even reaching the Taiyi Mystic Realm. Indeed, he lives up to his reputation as the world's one and only Year Beast!" Although he was somewhat frightened just now, that was because Shen Gongbao had underestimated him. Now that Shen Gongbao was fully focused, he naturally wouldn't be as disheveled as before.

  The year beast didn't say a word, continuing to come with the sound of wind under its feet, while the tail's hammer was quietly raised high, ready to launch a fierce attack at any time.

  "Wind Bind!" Sheng Gong Bao raised his hand and pointed, a formless wind-restraining spell momentarily slowed down the rapidly running Year Beast, but soon that wind barrier was crushed, and the Year Beast continued to rush forward.

  Shen Gong Bao wasn't surprised, the wind barrier only slightly slowed down the beast's speed. Afterwards, Shen Gong Bao repeatedly cast his magic, blocking the beast and slowing it down further.

  When the beast arrived in front of Shen Gong Bao, its speed had already slowed down a lot. Seeing this, the beast let out a loud roar, "Stinky Taoist, accept your death!"

  Boom!

  The tail end of the hammer fell vertically with a loud whoosh, accompanied by a hint of thunder, and it was terrifying as it rushed towards Shen Gongbao's forehead. If it had hit its mark, his brains would have splattered everywhere.

  Shen Gong Bao smiled lightly, fearless and at ease. Just as he was about to use his Earth Escape Technique to leave, the beast let out a loud roar: "Die! Five Elements Seal!"

  Only to see the Year Beast lift its foot and heavily strike the ground, at that moment Shengong Bao felt the ground was like an iron plate, unable to escape with earth concealment technique.

  Shen Gong Bao couldn't help but secretly laugh bitterly in his heart, never expecting the Year Beast to be so cunning. Earlier, it had deliberately not used its full strength to break through his Five Elements technique, and now it had come up with this ruthless and deadly blow!

  Before he could finish speaking, the hammer had already arrived at a point one foot above Shen Gongbao's forehead, and Shen Gongbao could even feel the chill it brought, destroying heaven and earth.

  At this time, Shen Gong Bao suddenly raised his full body's Fa Li, slightly turned his head, and with a flash of white light in his hand, he shouted: "Yu Qing Shen Lei Yin, Chi!"

  Boom!

  Shen Gong Bao quickly dodged to the side, but was still heavily struck on the shoulder, and at that moment "Boom" he was knocked flying, with fresh blood gushing out of his mouth.

  Then there was a loud crash, and a bright white lightning bolt suddenly shot out of the air and struck the Year Beast. The beast let out a mournful howl as its body shook violently, before crashing to the ground with a loud thud. Its body still crackled with electricity, flashing on and off.

  Both sides suffer!

  In a brief moment, both the man and the beast lost their strength to move, lying in the valley, and for a while the valley was silent, except for the urgent breathing sounds of the man and the beast.

  After a long time, Shen Gong Bao slowly woke up and saw the Year Beast lying not far away. He secretly rejoiced that he had used all his strength to cast the Jade Clear Divine Thunderbolt, blasting the Year Beast, or else he would have been dead for sure.

  At that critical moment, Shengong Bao couldn't care about taming the Nian beast as his mount anymore. The Jade Clear Divine Thunder, condensed from all his magical powers, was boundless in its might at that time, and it was still wielded with the Giant Void Sword.

  Saying that, he took a look at the giant sword in his hand, fortunately, it was not damaged by his own powerful magic. Shen Gongbao didn't have any other magical artifacts on him at this time, but fortunately, the giant sword was made from the branches of the evil-repelling cypress tree and had the effect of repelling evil and dispelling demons. Using it to cast the Jade Clear Divine Thunderbolt was perfect. One was that it had the effect of repelling evil and dispelling demons, and the other was the most powerful thunder-type Taoist magic. The two combined, how could their power be just a simple addition? Even before he finished speaking, his cultivation was still not as high as Taiyi Xuanxian's, but he fainted from the shock.

  It was the only unique beast in the world, but it wasn't that easy to die. In Shen Gongbao's senses, he already knew that the beast had only been knocked unconscious by the Yuqing Divine Thunder. He stopped thinking about it and put away the giant axe, starting to meditate and recover his spiritual energy, while his injuries also continued to heal.

  His cultivation had reached the realm of Taiyi Xuanxian, and his recovery speed was naturally not ordinary. Shengong Bao was also fortunate that the Year Beast's attack did not carry attribute attacks, but was a purely physical attack. If it had carried attribute attacks, he would not have woken up so early, and by then the Year Beast would have awakened first, and he would still be unable to escape death.

  About a moment later, Shen Gong Bao roughly stabilized his injuries and got up, slowly walking towards the Year Beast. Looking at the Year Beast who was in a coma, he thought of making a soul contract with it to subdue it, but then remembered that such a strange beast would generally not follow someone willingly even if there was a soul contract binding it, and would probably just die instead.

  For a moment, Shen Gong Bao hesitated, and after a long time, he gave up the idea of making a soul contract. If he could tame the beast, there would be many benefits. At this time, taking advantage of the opportunity to make a soul contract, taming it, even if it didn't surrender willingly, in the future it wouldn't wholeheartedly assist him either.

  However, his own injuries were not fully recovered and needed time to recuperate. Therefore, Shen Gongbao reluctantly lifted his spirits and set up various restrictions beside the Year Beast, among which many scattered spirit arrays were set.

  The Dispersing Spirit Formation is a formation method that is diametrically opposed to the Gathering Spirit Formation, where the spiritual energy set up in the formation is constantly dispersed outward. Shen Gong Bao, however, wants to let the Year Beast recover its lost spiritual energy and heal its injuries, so he plans to wait until it has fully recovered before capturing the beast.

  Then Shengong Bao found a nearby mountain peak, opened up a cave, and fell into a deep state of meditation.

  Half a month later, Shen Gong Bao emerged from the cave with a refreshed and revitalized spirit. His injuries had fully recovered, and he felt that his cultivation had advanced to another level. He also had better control over his magical powers. The experience of being on the brink of life and death was indeed an effective way to rapidly increase one's cultivation, but Shen Gong Bao cherished his own life. If there was no need, he would rather take a safer approach, after all, not every time could be as lucky as this.

  Still in the same valley as before, Shen Gong Bao looked at the Year Beast lying on the ground with a smile and said: "You beast, are you okay today?"

  "Stinky Taoist, let me go quickly, or I won't be polite!" The Year Beast roared, but its voice was no longer as loud and clear as before, with a hint of weakness.

  It was all because of Shen Gongbao's despicability. The existence of the scattered spirit array made it impossible for Nian Beast to recover its spiritual energy after waking up, and Shen Gongbao had also placed dense restrictions on Nian Beast's body, making it impossible for it to escape. As a result, Nian Beast spent the most suffocating years of its life.

  Looking at the Year Beast's gnashing teeth, Shen Gongbao burst out laughing and said: "Year Beast, you're not a foolish beast after all. At this moment, I'm the one holding the knife, and you're the fish on the chopping board. Why bother pretending to be strong?"

  "Hum! Stinky Taoist, you can't subdue me to be your mount, even if I die, you won't succeed!" The Nian beast said unyieldingly.

  Shen Gong Bao waved his hand and said, "Listen to me for a moment. You went hunting in the crowd earlier, even if I didn't come to subdue you, someone more powerful would have come to kill you later on. At that time, your life would still be in danger!"

  After a moment, Shen Gong Bao continued: "Moreover, following me, you won't be without gain either. Your spiritual awakening isn't that long ago, and you're also the only one of your kind in the world, with an extraordinary foundation. However, your cultivation is surprisingly low, I suppose it's because no one has guided you before. If you follow me, I can guide your cultivation, which will be much faster than searching on your own."

  Shen Gong's gentle and persistent teaching, moving with emotion and explaining with reason, spent a lot of words, finally making the Year Beast soften up. The Year Beast said: "Following you is not impossible, but I have two conditions. If you don't agree, then everything is off!"

  "Oh?" Sheng Gong raised an eyebrow and said, "Tell me about it!"

  "Firstly, tell me about the great way that can help me cultivate and see if it's really helpful to me; secondly, if in the future my cultivation surpasses yours, I won't be your mount anymore!"

  Shen Gong Bao listened and immediately burst out laughing, saying: "Good!"

  Then Shen Gong Bao lifted the ban on the Year Beast, and was no longer afraid of being harmed by it. Like the Year Beast, such a unique and unrivaled monster, he was extremely proud and would not make concessions again.

  Shen Gong Bao sat down with his legs crossed, and began to expound on the great Tao he had come to understand. Some of it was from what he had heard from Yuanshi Tianzun, some from his insights gained from the "Huangting Neijing", and some from his own personal experiences during his cultivation. He spoke about all these together, and although Shen Gong Bao was only at the level of Taiyi Xuanxian, due to various reasons, the great Tao he explained was not ordinary. The year beast had never been guided by anyone before, so as it listened, it became more and more entranced, as if in a state of intoxication.

  After a long time, Shen Gong Bao finally stopped, and saw that the White Tiger's body flashed with white light. The previous injuries had completely recovered, and his cultivation had advanced to another level. He was not far from the realm of Tian Xian Di Feng.

  Roar!

  The Nian beast let out a loud roar, then walked up to Shen Gong Bao and lay down its body, indicating for him to get on its back. Shen Gong Bao smiled lightly and sprang onto the beast's back, sitting steadily as the raging flames on its body surprisingly couldn't harm him in the slightest, leaving him marveling at the beast's incredible fire control abilities.

  The beast let out a low roar and flew away with a "whoosh", leaving the valley and disappearing into the distance.