Chapter 117: Fengli

“Draw a beast contract formation?”

Uesugi Emiko blinked, then exclaimed in surprise: “Cang Jun, you can draw formations? Are you a formation master?”

Cang Luo shook his head and smiled: “No. Have you ever seen a formation master who can wield martial techniques?”

Uesugi Emiko thought about it, then frowned: “But Cang Jun, you’re only at the Martial General cultivation level? Can someone at that level even draw formations?”

According to her knowledge—or rather, the universal consensus of the Yuanwu Continent—the martial path there had developed for over two thousand years, and everything related to cultivation had standardized levels and classifications.

For instance, even the lowest-grade Yellow Lower-tier formation required immense Yuan energy and Yuan awareness; unless one was born with a naturally blocked meridian system, one needed at least a Martial Spirit cultivation level to draw it.

Of course, nothing is absolute—there are always a few prodigies in this world.

Before coming to Chu, Uesugi Emiko had heard that the Seven Nations of Huaxia never lacked geniuses; with so many people, geniuses naturally multiplied.

Some of the greatest prodigies had grown by fighting across tiers, and there were indeed those who could draw formations even at the Martial General level; a rare few could even draw them at the Martial Warrior level.

At the Martial Warrior level, one struggles even to activate a beast summoning formation—yet some could draw formations entirely on their own!

How terrifying!

When Uesugi Emiko first heard these things in Japan, she was utterly stunned.

The Seven Nations of Huaxia were so powerful—no wonder they had unified the Yuanwu Continent.

Four Martial Saints!

Nearly a hundred Martial Emperors!

Hundreds, even thousands of Martial Emperors!

Countless Martial Kings!

Meanwhile, in Japan, even Martial Emperors were few and far between—there wasn’t a single Martial Emperor at all...

Thinking of this, Uesugi Emiko looked at Cang Luo. In her eyes, though he was strong—able to dominate among second-tier beasts and even fight third-tier ones—he still didn’t qualify as a genius.

Besides, Cang Jun was already twenty-two. At twenty-two, he was only at Martial General third tier—his martial talent was abysmal, even worthless.

His current strength was all earned through sheer time and grinding.

With such terrible talent, such a waste, how could he claim he could draw formations?

Uesugi Emiko had only learned Cang Luo’s age these past few days; she had been probing him about his homeland, and during their conversation, he had casually revealed his age.

At the time, she had been shockingly stunned—he was six years older than she’d assumed! She had thought he was barely one or two years her senior.

She, she had lost her body to a waste...

Uesugi Emiko felt a pang of injustice, but for the sake of investigating the secret realm and Japan’s rise, this slight injustice meant nothing.

Cang Luo, of course, had no idea what Uesugi Emiko was thinking—he was now preparing to draw the beast contract formation.

The formation medium was ready: the hide of a second-tier beast. The ink for drawing the formation was being mixed.

Cang Luo gathered Gangqi in his palms, enclosing a second-tier beast core within it, then crushed it. The moment the core shattered, it emitted a faint explosion.

The powdered core was used to mix the ink, ground with water—but it wasn’t enough, so Cang Luo added a bit of beast blood from the Fengli, and now it was ready—he could begin drawing.

Cang Luo had drawn the beast contract formation once before when he tamed Erha, and had practiced a few times since; now, with materials on hand, it was effortless.

He completed the drawing in just three minutes, but it was still just a drawing—not yet a formation. He still needed to infuse it with Yuan energy.

This time, he spent ten minutes. With a flash of silver light, the beast contract formation was complete.

“Done!”

Cang Luo checked it thoroughly, found no flaws, then handed it to Uesugi Emiko.

“That’s it?”

Uesugi Emiko took the beast hide numbly. The instant her fingers touched it, she sensed a strange energy slowly flowing through the formation—without the slightest resistance—proof that it could activate smoothly.

Cang Jun could draw formations!

Uesugi Emiko couldn’t understand it, so she thought again of Cang Luo’s homeland—that mysterious secret realm.

In the end, she attributed his ability to draw formations to some technique from the secret realm.

Seeing her stunned, gazing at him with awe, Cang Luo felt pleased and grinned: “Hui-mei-zi, tame this Fengli.”

“Hai!”

Uesugi Emiko snapped back to attention, nodded firmly, and began preparing to tame the Fengli—dripping her own blood and the Fengli’s onto the formation.

Then, she pressed her left hand on the formation and her right hand on the Fengli’s head, slowly pouring in Yuan awareness and Yuan energy...

A few breaths later, the beast contract formation on the hide suddenly blazed with brilliant silver light.

Instantly, the Fengli woke up—but it was tightly bound by vines, so it could only thrash its claws wildly.

Clearly, it refused to be tamed—it was resisting.

Too bad. Its resistance was useless. Its Yuan awareness was weaker than Uesugi Emiko’s—it had no choice but to be tamed.

Generally, a human martial artist and a beast of the same tier were roughly equal in strength, but there was one clear difference.

Beasts: strong bodies, weak Yuan awareness.

Human martial artists: weaker bodies than beasts, but far stronger Yuan awareness.

Thus, human martial artists usually succeeded in taming beasts of the same tier as their beast companions.

This Fengli was no exception—it was a second-tier beast, and Uesugi Emiko was at Martial General first tier, a second-tier martial artist—her Yuan awareness naturally surpassed the Fengli’s.

Soon, after a brief struggle, the Fengli suddenly went still—tamed by Uesugi Emiko.

After being tamed, its once-fierce gaze instantly softened—but only toward Uesugi Emiko.

When it looked at Cang Luo, it still bared its claws and glared fiercely.

It held a grudge—it remembered being captured by Cang Luo.

Seeing this, Cang Luo didn’t hesitate—he slapped it hard, sending it reeling, its fierce glare instantly replaced by teary eyes.

Cang Luo deliberately growled: “Dare to glare at me? Do you know who I am to your master? Do you think I won’t skin you and make a fur coat?”

The Fengli seemed to understand—it shrank back, kicking its legs and scrambling into Uesugi Emiko’s arms, trembling.

Uesugi Emiko immediately comforted it, hugging and stroking it.

Once it realized it was safe, the Fengli, emboldened by its master’s protection, began glaring at Cang Luo again—this time sneakily.

Cang Luo saw it, but ignored it—he was still searching for beasts. Uesugi Emiko had found her beast companion; his own was still missing.

At that moment, Uesugi Emiko suddenly said: “Thanks to Cang Jun these past days—if not for you, I wouldn’t have been able to tame a beast, and I might not even have survived to return to my sect...”

Cang Luo frowned slightly but said nothing. He knew what she was hinting at—her beast companion was tamed, but her senior brother still hadn’t appeared; he’d likely already returned to the Five Elements Palace.

If so, then she had no reason to remain in the Beast Forest—she would return to the Five Elements Palace.

After all, she was a disciple of the Five Elements Palace—she couldn’t follow Cang Luo back to the Profound Heaven Sect.

Uesugi Emiko hesitated, then declared firmly: “Cang Jun, I must return to my sect.”

Cang Luo had expected this. He made no effort to stop her, speaking calmly: “I’ll see you out of the Beast Forest. May we meet again.”

“We will. We definitely will.”

Uesugi Emiko nodded firmly: “As soon as I have time, I’ll come to the Profound Heaven Sect to find you.”

Of course she would seek him out—the secret realm’s secrets were still unexplored.

Over these ten days, she had tried every means to extract more information about the secret realm from Cang Luo—even sacrificing her body to do so.

But Cang Luo always evaded, changed the subject, refused to say more.

With no other options, she had to wait until she returned to the Five Elements Palace and sent word to Japan, urging the Imperial Court to dispatch powerful figures to investigate.

Now that the beast was tamed, she could return.

“Mm. I’ll visit the Five Elements Palace when I have time.”

Cang Luo said coolly, his expression unreadable. He turned and walked toward the nearest exit of the Beast Forest; Uesugi Emiko hurried after him.

The entire journey, they walked in silence.

Cang Luo remained quiet because he was upset. He spoke lightly, pretending indifference to her departure—but in truth, he felt a pang of loss.

After all, she was his woman.

Uesugi Emiko stayed silent because she was still thinking about the secret realm—wondering how to report it to the Japanese Imperial Court, how to make them believe her...

As she thought, the Fengli in her arms suddenly leapt to the ground. Its eyes, ringed by dark circles, flashed open—something had caught its attention.

Cang Luo and Uesugi Emiko both stopped to watch. The Fengli sniffed furiously, then dashed toward a hole the size of a washbasin.

The Fengli moved swiftly, darting to the hole’s mouth in seconds.

Then, it suddenly revealed a pair of blue-glowing Gangqi claws and let out a sharp, piercing meow into the hole—then turned back and meowed at Uesugi Emiko.

Cang Luo noticed its excitement and asked: “What did it find? Prey?”

Uesugi Emiko frowned, listening to the meows, then said uncertainly: “It says there’s a beast inside—a sworn enemy. It wants our help.”

Cang Luo found it amusing and grinned: “If it’s a sworn enemy, then the beast inside must be second-tier. Heh—another second-tier beast core.”

Saying this, he drew his third-grade longsword and advanced slowly toward the hole.

But at that moment, Cang Luo noticed through his satellite view that a patch of green grass behind the Fengli suddenly shifted.

Instantly, a beast—neither dog nor rat—slipped soundlessly out of the disturbed grass, leaving behind a hole.

The beast was about 1.2 meters long, with short, sturdy limbs, a tiny tail, a low-slung head, and a streamlined, powerfully built body.

Its fur was two-toned: from forehead to back, it was gray-white; the rest—including limbs, tail, belly, and face—was black.

Cang Luo stopped walking, staring at the beast: “Pingtouge?”

“Pingtouge?”

Uesugi Emiko murmured, following his gaze, puzzled: “Isn’t that a second-tier beast—a ground badger?”

No sooner had she spoken than the ground badger she named spotted them and vanished back into the earth, then burst out of another hole nearby.

The Fengli saw it at once, flashing its blue-glowing claws and charging toward the badger.

The badger, undaunted, also revealed a pair of Gangqi claws.

Unlike the wind badger, the earth badger’s Gangqizhao were earth-yellow and shorter, yet appeared more powerful.

The next moment, the two second-stage beasts clashed, their cyan and earth-yellow Gangqizhao rapidly exchanged blows, emitting sharp shrieks of tearing wind.

After a brief direct confrontation, the earth badger clearly faltered and promptly burrowed back into the ground, then emerged from another burrow.

The wind badger couldn’t catch it and shrieked in frustration.