Chapter 298: Become My Art Piece!

A piece of jade as white as jade appeared in Zhang Lingxue's hand; this was the authority to control the Secret Realm.

As long as one gripped the jade and moved their mind, a massive space gate would appear.

However, closing this space gate took nearly five seconds, which was enough for the extremely fast Thunder Bird to shuttle back and forth through the space gate several times.

Therefore, an effective method had to be devised.

How to successfully lure the Thunder Bird into the Secret Realm had become a very urgent problem at present.

"Then I will trouble you, Senior Brother. This is a large-scale Secret Realm Space I brought specifically; it is enough to accommodate the entire Thunder Bird tribe."

Facing the Exotic Beast war, Pet Beast Masters do not kill every Exotic Beast; they generally screen out those that can be tamed, such as Thunder Birds, Earth Savage Bulls, and so on.

For these Exotic Beasts with utility value, the primary method used is capture.

The Pet Beasts at the Nantianmen Fortress breeding farm are transformed from wild Exotic Beasts.

In places like Nantianmen Fortress, several large Secret Realms are kept in reserve, existing specifically for the purpose of capturing Exotic Beasts.

This not only alleviates some of the pressure on the Yishou Zhanchang but also provides researchers with excellent research material.

They can also be tamed and sent to the Imperial Capital Research Institute to develop even more powerful Exotic Beasts.

The Thunder Bird, an Exotic Beast capable of chasing and devouring lightning, is a good research topic.

Zhang Jian rubbed his throbbing brow: "Junior Sister, do you and Ye Bai have a way to develop a bait that can lure the Thunder Bird into the Secret Realm? This could buy us quite a bit of time."

Zhang Lingxue did not reply with a yes, nor did she reply with a no.

"Senior Brother, let me handle the matter of the Corpse Speaker first.

Dealing with the desecration of the heroic spirits is more important."

"The Thunder Birds are currently just gathering together and have not yet launched an attack."

"Everyone can observe a little longer."

"I will handle the matters at hand as quickly as possible and return urgently to support you all."

"Rest assured, regarding the bait, I will think about it while I act; I will absolutely not delay your important task."

Sunlight passed through the thick clouds, casting mottled spots of light that reflected off the Thunder Birds' feathers, giving rise to layers of metallic luster.

They either dove down or suddenly soared upward, tacitly maintaining a certain distance from one another.

Thunder Light Flicker in the sky; a massive number of Thunder Birds obscured the entire sky, presenting the posture of black clouds pressing down on the city, threatening to destroy it.

The Thunder Birds were like black lightning, carving deep trajectories across the firmament.

Their wings flapped in the air, emitting bursts of clapping sounds that resounded through the clouds.

The dense flock of Thunder Birds, like dark clouds before a Rainstorm, occupied the entire sky in a thick mass.

The wind whistled over the Thunder Birds, carrying their shrill cries far away, and the Pet Beast Masters guarding Nantianmen Fortress all swallowed their saliva at once.

This was the final tranquility of a stormy night; one did not know when the seemingly calm sky would deliver a swift strike.

Taking advantage of this interval, the Pet Beast Masters flocked to the medical room to treat their Pet Beasts in an orderly fashion, maintaining their strongest combat power.

When the great battle begins in a moment, there will be no time to recover.

As the sun in the sky gradually sank to the west, the Thunder Bird flock began to change formation; they became more compact, as if gathering before the arrival of nightfall.

Thunder Light circled in the air; they seemed to be secretly brewing a major move.

The Flame Leopards that had originally attacked like a tide suddenly stopped their offensive; the Lava Dragon Turtle had already fallen into a deep sleep, so it did not know that these Flame Leopards were still lingering outside the moat.

They were in no hurry to attack.

These Flame Leopards were each as large as a calf, with a large amount of blue flame wrapped around their bodies.

Fire-red patterns appeared on their bodies, looking exceptionally beautiful.

Wherever they passed, the ground turned entirely into scorched earth, and a smell of burning wafted over.

And the Exotic Beasts parasitized by Spores were burned to ashes before they could even get close to the Flame Leopards, their crystal cores scattered all over the ground, to be absorbed by the Sun Flower Emperor hiding on the ground.

Oh my goodness, it's so hot, it's burning me to death.

The Sun Flower Emperor waved its curled, scorched leaves, looking slightly helpless.

The Spore tactic designed by Ye Bai had completely failed.

On land scorched by fire, the Spores simply could not survive.

However, this was also within Ye Bai's calculations; after all, fire-attribute Exotic Beasts would certainly appear in the Beast Tide.

They are the nemesis of the parasitic Spores.

Even the brave and battle-hardened Stone Lion, when approaching the Flame Leopards to attack, would be melted by the flames on the Flame Leopards' bodies.

However, these Flame Leopards were watching the fire from the other side; they stopped to rest, their fire-red eyes staring fixedly at the Nantianmen Fortress on the other side of the moat.

The Flame Leopards stood on the riverbank, their eyes like torches, reflecting the rushing river water.

Their robust bodies flashed with dark blue light on the gloomy ground.

The moat, like a winding silver ribbon, flowed rapidly under the gaze of the Flame Leopards, slapping against the stones on the bank and splashing countless white waves.

They saw the water-type Exotic Beasts swimming in the depths of the river, as well as the corpses of those Exotic Beasts that had been parasitized by Spores, bobbing up and down in the river water.

These Exotic Beast corpses were covered in colorful mushrooms, and under the manipulation of the Spores, they climbed out of the river water, soaking wet.

As soon as these Exotic Beasts stepped into the scorched earth, blue flames erupted all over their bodies; they were burned away directly by the flames, and their crystal cores fell to the ground.

The Flame Leopards opened their mouths one after another and let out low roars, as if to intimidate the undead climbing out of the river water.

Its sharp Zhua curved slightly, the muscles all over its body tensed tightly, making an attack posture, ready to exert force and leap up at any time, like a fire meteor, to rush across the moat.

However, they did not move, only observing quietly, seemingly waiting for the best opportunity.

"Report, Officer. Currently, the sky is being covered by Thunder Birds, while the ones responsible for the ground attack are the Flame Leopards."

"They seem to be fearing the rushing moat and are circling outside the moat, eyeing it covetously."

The Pet Beast Master in charge of intelligence reported the current situation to Zhang Jian through something like a telephone bug.

"The Flame Leopard is a very intelligent type of Exotic Beast; they seem to be waiting for the Thunder Birds to strike first, then waiting for the best opportunity to attack."

"The Lava Dragon Turtle seems to have fallen into a deep sleep, so its control over the Exotic Beast swarm has begun to wane."

"The Flame Leopard seems to be resisting the Flame Dragon Turtle's control, only it doesn't dare to do so too blatantly."

"This seems to be good news for us."

Nearby, Exotic Beast ethologists and Exotic Beast emotion analysis experts are observing the state of the Beast Tide; they must use the knowledge they have acquired to provide the most accurate attack plan.

Meanwhile, numerous top professors at the Imperial Capital Research Institute are analyzing the feasibility of taming the Thunder Bird and the Flame Leopard.

Both the Thunder Bird and the Flame Leopard are top-tier choices, whether in terms of appearance or combat power.

They have begun planning in the Laboratory for bait that can lure the Thunder Bird and the Flame Leopard.

This is a major event for the entire Yan Country; all research institutions and logistics departments have begun to operate. Various medical resources are being sent one after another to Nantianmen Fortress.

They all know the importance of this battle.

Zhang Jian sits in the main seat, closing his eyes to rest his mind; he is secretly thinking about what should be done next.

The current situation at Nantianmen has already been transmitted to the Imperial Capital, where the top-tier think tanks are analyzing the battle situation.

The aura of the Lava Dragon Turtle has begun to weaken, and the Flame Leopard, which was originally intimidated by the Lava Dragon Turtle, has also gradually recovered.

It would be great if this group of Flame Leopards could be trapped in a Secret Realm; this would not only weaken the Beast Tide, but Pet Beast Masters would also have one more Pet Beast they could contract.

The appearance of the Flame Leopard is still quite good; whether used as a mount or a main combat Pet Beast, it is a good choice.

Relative to the usage restrictions of Beast Cards, all Exotic Beasts taken into a Beast Card must not have feelings of resistance; Exotic Beasts that are in a voluntary or unconscious state are the easiest to be taken into a Beast Card.

If an Exotic Beast struggles, or uses skills during the process of being taken into a Beast Card, this will cause huge damage to the space of the Beast Card, and it is very likely that the Beast Card will instantly shatter, forming a spatial storm.

And using a Secret Realm also has a major limitation: the largest a general spatial gate can be is only ten meters by ten meters.

Unless a special space stone is used to expand the spatial gate.

The number of Flame Leopards is in the thousands or tens of thousands; so many Flame Leopards passing through a spatial gate might cause a blockage phenomenon.

If one could find a type of bait that the Flame Leopard finds hard to resist, it would be great to lure the Flame Leopard to enter the Secret Realm Space voluntarily.

"Let's remain still for now; when the Thunder Bird begins to attack, first activate the protective shield to consume a portion of the Thunder Bird's electrical current."

"Our goal is to store enough electrical energy and capture the Thunder Bird and the Flame Leopard."

"General Han Yan, please take a count; how many Secret Realms do we currently have? Bring them all out."

The Flame Leopard can also be considered a relatively rare Exotic Beast; its evolved form, the Flame Cloud Leopard, even treads on auspicious clouds and flies in the sky.

It is rare to have such a large population of Flame Cloud Leopards; one must find a way to capture some.

It just depends on whether those experts and professors at the Imperial Capital Research Institute can formulate a feasible plan.

Zhang Jian has a faint premonition that time is running out.

Once the Lava Dragon Turtle wakes up from its deep sleep, it will once again summon the Exotic Beasts to launch an attack.

Now is just a moment of respite.

The twilight darkens, the sky appearing as if stained with a layer of deep ink blue, and countless golden and silver snakes slither in the air, emitting bursts of thunder.

Even with the Thunder Bird obscuring the sky, the setting sun still spills onto the earth through the gaps.

Inside Yingxiong Muyuan, the pines and cypresses stand tall like soldiers in formation, silent and solemn.

The stone tablets are mottled, with time carving deep traces upon them.

Within the cemetery, petals drift down with the wind from time to time, gently covering the tombstones of the heroes.

Bunches of long-withered wildflowers are scattered in front of the graves.

In the distance, countless death-announcing crows cry out above the cemetery, their voices echoing in the tranquil cemetery, adding a touch of desolation.

They are the guides of the underworld and the requiem-bringers for the dead.

It is just that today seems somewhat unusual; streams of black airflow are sinking beneath countless tombstones.

The ground beside a tombstone suddenly splits open, and a large number of corpses struggle and scramble to crawl out from the crack.

They have been transformed into undead, their hollow eye sockets looking around in all directions without focus.

Countless death-announcing crows land on the corpses one after another; they use their sharp beaks to peck at the corpses, devouring them one by one.

Suddenly, a corpse stretches out a powerful hand, tightly grabbing the head of a death-announcing crow and twisting it violently.

This fourth-rank Exotic Beast is instantly killed by having its head twisted off, and black blood falls from the headless body.

The corpse is devouring the blood of the death-announcing crow in large gulps, further stimulating their desire to feed.

The sound of chewing bones comes from the cemetery; after being 'full and satisfied', they seem to sense an inexplicable summons, and their bodies sway as they walk toward the distance.

Deep within Yingxiong Muyuan, 'people' wearing black robes and moving stiffly are lined up one by one; they are arranged in pairs, emitting a rotting, foul stench from their bodies.

Due to being buried for too long, many corpses have rotted, forming piles of white bones.

Only those who were sixth-rank powerhouses or above could possibly have their bodies remain uncorrupted and be made into corpse puppets; the death-announcing crows have already screened a batch of qualified 'tools' for the Corpse Speaker.

The Corpse Speaker's eyes are blocked by his own hair; he is holding a huge iron shovel, digging up a coffin.

This is the coffin where a seventh-rank powerhouse lies in slumber.

"Soon, it will be soon; my army of corpse puppets will soon be formed."

"Thunder-type Pet Beast Master Lei Ou, you will become a corpse puppet I carefully craft, to fight on the battlefield for me."

"The more corpse puppets there are, the stronger my power will be."

"Hahaha."

A hint of madness appears in the eyes of the Corpse Speaker.

Just at this moment, the sound of wings flapping comes from the air, and the sound is getting louder and louder, as if someone is coming.

The Corpse Speaker is a person with high vigilance; he raises his head and looks toward the sky.

Two black shadows gallop over from the distance.

He licks his slightly dry lips.

"A few more have come to throw their lives away."

"It just so happens that the corpse puppet I painstakingly crafted was lost by the Eternal Songstress Zhang."

"Let's take the person who disturbed my mood as a sacrifice for the corpse puppet."

As the black shadow drew closer, the Corpse Speaker looked up and suddenly discovered a purple poisonous dragon butterfly covered in dragon scales.

And there was also a Guangming Nüshen Die, its entire body emitting a faint, luminous white glow, as if an angel had descended.

He saw who was standing on the back of the butterfly-type Exotic Beast! Was it her?

How could this person have come to Nantianmen Fortress?

As a well-known researcher in the Yan Country and a rising star, the Corpse Speaker had been infatuated with her beauty for a very long time.

Unfortunately, she was protected by high-level Pet Beast Masters, and the Corpse Speaker had tried several times without success, which had become a regret in the Corpse Speaker's heart.

But that is fine too; having lost Zhang Jie, there is another person who has rushed over like a moth to a flame.

"Zhang Lingxue is even more beautiful than Zhang Jie, and even more suitable to be made into a corpse puppet."

The most perfect work of art was now within reach; the Corpse Speaker licked his lips, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

Seeing the perfect work of art, the Corpse Speaker appeared extremely excited.

"Go, my little darlings, capture her and turn her into one of your own."

(End of this chapter)