Cultivation Begins From The Desert-Chapter 185 - 183: Black Eagle 1.0 Launch

In the past, people often used the term "hawk dog" to describe someone’s loyalty.

The term "hawk dog" was originally a positive word of praise.

From these two words, one can tell that the eagle, once it recognizes a master, will be loyal like a dog. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

Although the Eagle Lion Beast is a beast, it inherits the eagle’s proud and loyal nature.

Zhouyang defeated it multiple times, especially in the Beast Fighting Arena with unrestricted combat, utterly crushing its pride, making it convinced and willing to submit.

Therefore, after the battle in the Beast Fighting Arena, when Zhouyang took the Eagle Lion Beast to sign the "Demonic Soul Contract," there were no complications, and it was successful.

After the "Demonic Soul Contract" was signed successfully, Zhouyang inadvertently established a kind of divine soul-level connection with the Eagle Lion Beast. Through this connection, he could faintly perceive the Eagle Lion Beast’s thoughts and, using a spell taught by the "Beast Taming Sect," directly punish the Eagle Lion Beast on a divine soul level.

For the Eagle Lion Beast, having signed the "Demonic Soul Contract," it learned from the contract that it must absolutely obey Zhouyang’s every order, or else great disaster would ensue.

At the same time, through this divine soul-level connection, Zhouyang could directly convey his thoughts to the Eagle Lion Beast without using words.

This way, even when issuing complicated orders, the Eagle Lion Beast could understand and execute them.

After signing the "Demonic Soul Contract," Zhouyang didn’t leave immediately; he took Xiao Ying to stroll around the Immortal City, buying several types of spirit beast rations specially made by the "Beast Taming Sect" for the Eagle Lion Beast, which were essentially spirit pills developed for spirit beast mounts.

Along with this, he bought several versions of the Demon Beast Atlas and some beast taming books from local bookstores to enrich the Zhou Family’s collection.

The "Beast Taming Sect" is famous for beast taming; regarding their knowledge of the world’s demon beast types, few can compare to them.

Though the texts they sell can’t be as rich as those in their sect’s collection, for a cultivator like Zhouyang from a "small rural place," they are quite useful.

For instance, it was after reading the texts sold by the "Beast Taming Sect" that he learned the Eagle Lion Beast could mate and breed with demon beasts like ligers and leopards. Though the hybrid offspring may not be as formidable as the Eagle Lion Beast, they still have a possibility of becoming Tier Three Demon Beasts.

More miraculously, if the Eagle Lion Beast is a female, there’s a good chance of breeding pure Eagle Lion Beasts.

Before this, Zhouyang was curious about how such demon beasts reproduce, as they were standard solitary creatures and extremely rare, making it difficult to find mates.

He even checked the gender of his Eagle Lion Beast and regrettably found it was male.

While strolling around the Ten Thousand Beasts Immortal City, he discovered some interesting places, specifically stores dedicated to breeding demon beasts.

Such stores usually house various rare demon beasts, both male and female. If other cultivators bring female beasts to seek male beasts for breeding, they must pay a "breeding fee" to the store.

If someone like Zhouyang brings a male Eagle Lion Beast with a broadly compatible and remarkably superior bloodline to the store, the store will give him a generous "breeding fee" based on the number of female beasts for breeding.

Of course, this "breeding fee" isn’t easily obtained; only after confirming that the female beasts are pregnant will the store provide it.

And it’s well-known that the more powerful the bloodline and strength of a demon beast, the harder it is to reproduce.

The Eagle Lion Beast’s bloodline isn’t as strong as a Flood Dragon’s but is still exceptional. Coupled with the low fertility rate due to hybrid breeding, female beasts would have to toil for months and years to possibly conceive.

So even though Zhouyang was tempted by the effortless "breeding fee," he didn’t have the time to wait here, and ultimately missed this money-making opportunity.

Besides such stores for breeding demon beasts, the Ten Thousand Beasts Immortal City has many places selling demon beasts, including gentle-tempered transport demon beasts and pet demon beasts.

The transport demon beasts mainly include animals like oxen, horses, mules, elephants, deer, sheep, pigs, and birds like cranes, geese, and swans, while pet demon beasts are primarily small-sized demon beasts. Both types of demon beasts are sold below Tier Three.

If one wants to buy Tier Three demon-beast-level transport mounts, they can only wait for the "Beast Taming Sect" to hold the "Spirit Beast Auction" once every decade, where many Tier Three and even Tier Four spirit beasts are auctioned.

If time allows, Zhouyang wouldn’t mind staying a few more years to see what the "Spirit Beast Auction" is like and gain some insight.

Unfortunately, given time constraints, he could only quickly tour the Ten Thousand Beasts Immortal City before riding the Eagle Lion Beast with Xiao Ying out of the city, heading towards Daoxuan Country where the Profound Sun Immortal Sect is located.

The Eagle Lion Beast is long and wide, accommodating ten or so people without feeling crowded, and carrying only Zhouyang and Xiao Ying doesn’t impact its flying speed.

With the prowess of the Eagle Lion Beast, a Tier Three Top Grade Demon Beast, it can fly over three thousand miles in an hour at its fastest, and under normal circumstances, it can still traverse seventeen to eighteen hundred miles in an hour.

Zhouyang and Xiao Ying sat on the back of the Eagle Lion Beast, letting it carry them through the skies thousands of feet above the ground, without even needing to cast a magic shield against the raging winds.

Because the Eagle Lion Beast, a demon beast of wind and fire attributes, could form a "fixed wind" area on its back simply by using a bit of magical power, meaning Zhouyang and Xiao Ying didn’t have to worry about the wind disturbing their clothes.

Only now did Zhouyang understand why experts like Cyan Yang Daoist who were masters of the Ninth Layer Golden Core would also tame creatures like the Single-horned Cyan Ox as their mounts.

Having a reliable spirit beast as a mount is more than just a matter of prestige; it is a convenient helper on long journeys.

For instance, now with the Eagle Lion Beast handling everything, Zhouyang could focus entirely on teaching Xiao Ying the sword control skill.

The flying sword Xiao Ying practiced with was refined by Zhouyang during his time in Ten Thousand Beasts Immortal City, from the Tier Three Spirit Wood he obtained while cutting down trees in the Broken Cloud Mountain Range. Although only a Tier Three Lower Grade Flying Sword, it matched her spirit root attribute and magical power exceptionally well.

Zhouyang learned sword flight very quickly, having old Clan Leader Zhou Minghan personally teach him, taking only two months to master it.

Compared to her talent in sword control, Xiao Ying’s talent in alchemy was much superior. Even under Zhouyang’s personal guidance, two months showed little progress.

Seeing this, Zhouyang could only silently sigh.

In some sense, heaven is fair. It endowed Xiao Ying with a Top-grade Spiritual Root and extraordinary talents in alchemy and spirit planting but left her with ordinary combat skills.

For a cultivator, combat talent is crucial; a prime example is Jia Yunzhen, who taught Zhouyang sword control.

Jia Yunzhen, a loose cultivator, neither excels in alchemy nor artifact refining, yet his combat talent is exceptionally outstanding.

Even without mastery over various cultivation skills, he gained considerable fame and respect from many cultivators due to his formidable strength.

By nature, Xiao Ying disliked combat and fighting with magic. Given her performance in sword control, it was clear her combat talent was lacking.

After recognizing this, Zhouyang discarded the thought of involving Xiao Ying in magical combat.

Nonetheless, despite the slow learning pace, under Zhouyang’s careful instruction spanning four months, Xiao Ying finally mastered the sword flight technique.

"I did it, Brother Zhou, I finally learned sword flight!"

With the excitement similar to Zhouyang’s own when he first learned sword flight, Xiao Ying jumped off the Eagle Lion Beast and flew on her sword for a minute or two before returning to its back, embracing Zhouyang’s arm excitedly.

After months of companionship, especially during this period of sharing the same mount, Xiao Ying was no longer as shy as before.

Though neither spoke openly, a mutual feeling lingered between them, making them both aware of their affections, yet neither currently considered unveiling those feelings.

"Good thing you’ve learned; we’re about to enter Daoxuan Country. Once we reach Immortal Sun City and meet Elder Cao, we can return to the Boundless Desert Sea Cultivation Realm!"

Relieved, Zhouyang smiled, his gaze filled with anticipation as he looked towards the lands ahead.

Although he had left the Boundless Desert Sea Cultivation Realm only a few years ago, the desire to return grew strong as he had gained so much during this journey in the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm, promising to elevate the Zhou Family swiftly upon his return.

The words he once said atop Jade Spring Peak to old Clan Leader Zhou Minghan might just become reality in a few decades.

"Oh, Brother Zhou’s hometown? The endless desert sea, and the lively oasis within it—I really want to see the beauty of the desert you mentioned!"

Curiosity flashed in Xiao Ying’s beautiful eyes, as anticipation appeared on her charming face.

Is this loving the house and its crow?

Seeing the girl’s look filled with curiosity and expectation, Zhouyang felt a rush of embarrassment, inexplicably burdened with deep guilt.

He knew the truth; the Boundless Desert Sea Cultivation Realm might have desert beauty, but it was far from a wonderful place.

He worried whether Xiao Ying might regret going there with him someday.

"I hope you won’t get tired of the desert scenery and blame Brother Zhou for taking you to such a place!" he sighed with complexity.

However, the girl didn’t grasp the depth of his words, merely tilting her head, shaking it repeatedly: "No way, Ying’Er will never blame Brother Zhou in a lifetime!"

Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om