CHAPTER 754 TAMING THE BEAST
By now, Rocky was far away from the Holy Dragon Empire. He was in the Barren City of the Timber
Deity Empire. Back home, the whole world was upside down, but Rocky had no idea. He didn't even
know that he had an unborn child with Isis.
For the meantime, he went about his work as usual. He was cleaning the beast stable, his hair sun-
bleached to a slight golden shade, beads of sweat breaking on his brow. He heard a sudden
commotion from the entrance of the beast farm. Turning around, he saw a group of people walking in.
Among them, Rocky could tell one had reached the Heavenly Stage, judging by the aura of the man.
He was a tall, heavyset man, about forty years old and carried himself with the air of a naturally
confident, courageous guy—a born leader.
Flanking him on either side was Mary and Willie. Right behind them followed a dozen spirit
manipulators in black robes. Apparently, they were disciples of the Xiao Clan, almost all ranking at the
Mortal Stage. Only one or two ranked beyond the preliminary level of the Earthly Stage.
The group at the back was pulling a cage, in which a young spirit-manipulated beast was locked. The
beast had just entered the primary stage. All over its body were fins, sharp as swords. Though it was
still growing, it already had the shape of a huge leopard. Its four limbs were short but powerfully built.
On the top of its head, there was a blade-shaped horn, with its sharp edge blazing. It seemed to be a
difficult beast to fight head-on. Every part of its body was a dangerous weapon, which could slice an
enemy to pieces.
'It is a Magic Sword Panther. In a place like this, it's the kind of war beast that could reach a five-star
level. Although, it comes in at a modest twentieth in war beast rankings, for ordinary spirit manipulators,
it's no doubt a top-grade war beast, ' thought Rocky. The moment he saw the creature in the cage, he
immediately got a clue to its potential. To him, the Magic Sword Panther was just one kind of good war
beast. But it was not good enough, compared to his own Robin, let alone Uriah and Rainbow Glow
Unicorn. They were his best beasts. Top-notch beasts, by any standards.
"Mr. Chris, I still can't believe you caught such a rare Magic Sword Panther. If word of it gets out there,
I'm sure spirit manipulators from the Timber Deity Empire will be at your door, scrambling for it," Willie
complimented. His flattering face aside, what he said was true. The Magic Sword Panther indeed was a
rare spirit-manipulated beast.
As a highly respected leader, Chris was actually the second in command of the Xiao Clan—Raef's
deputy.
As the second in command of the clan, Chris's responsibility was to evaluate beasts. He was also a
very gifted disciple of a famous sect with a long-standing history. At the sixth grade of beast evaluation,
he could identify almost any high-level beast.
The Magical Beast House being a leading beast farm boasted of hosting one of the best senior
evaluators ever. The same way the Super Beast Farm had Weldon, the Magical Beast House had
Chris. Each farm's reputation depended on their beast manipulation and evaluation skill levels. It was a
cut-throat competition between farms to hire only the finest skill-sets, gifts, and abilities among beast
evaluators—no wonder the Xiao Clan so highly regarded Chris.
"You've had a hectic day. Please have some rest now," Mary advised.
"Not that it was hard work. But to catch this Magic Sword Panther, we sacrificed four disciples." Chris
shook his head and said with a sorrowful face. But this sacrifice was unavoidable. If they wanted to get
those high-level spirit-manipulated beasts, they'd have to pay the price. All they could do was to
compensate for the loss to the disciples' families. That was the only way they could keep improving as
a group, both in skills and assets.
"I'll have my men inform the families of our departed disciples. We also need to arrange for proper
compensation straight away," Mary said. She also empathized with the families of the disciples who
had lost their lives in the line of duty. She wanted to ensure befitting compensation.
"Thank you, Miss Mary," said Chris politely. Then he turned to look back and added, "This Magic Sword
Panther is hot-tempered and hard to control. We still have to lock it with iron chains until we tame it
successfully." As he spoke, he waved his hand, calling other spirit manipulators to come closer.
Over a dozen disciples of the Xiao Clan immediately surrounded the cage. They tightly grabbed the
beast by the iron chains with which they had bound it. Acutely aware of how violent the beast's temper
could get, they handled everything with extra care. The beast had the temper of a simmering pot, hot
burning, ready to bubble up and blow things over at any moment. If not handled well, it was an inferno
that could get out of hand quickly, anytime.
So the disciples went about as much caution as they possibly could. Slowly, they opened the cage,
pulling the Magic Sword Panther out. As soon as the door swung open, the leopard roared and jumped
with all the strength it could muster. Although it had looked docile along the way, it began to act violent
all of a sudden. Anyone who came close, it threatened to fling itself at and rip them apart. Even though
it was only a cub, its strength was on another level.
It spread out its sharp fins like swords threatening to cut up the disciples. Then without warning, it flung
its body, throwing two of the disciples into the air, chains still in their hands. Its burden was eased a bit.
Then, it angrily charged towards the other disciples who were still standing with the chains firmly
gripped.
The panther's swift actions and mad rage caught the disciples off guard. On their faces, you could tell
they were scared stiff, even though they had tried to hold on. At last, the chains slipped through their
shaky hands and dropped on the ground.
With some of the restraining chains and fetters broken, the beast got enough power to shake off some
more. Then with burning ferocity, it repeated the same jerking movements. Each movement was more
powerful than the previous one. In a few minutes, it shook off the rest of the disciples.
Pretty quickly, the situation was getting out of hand. Realizing this, Chris rushed up, intending to stop
the young Magic Sword Panther. But as soon as the panther saw him, it took off into the depths of the
beast farm and began to play hide-and-seek with him.
Although the beast was only a half-grown and had been caged for a while, it didn't show any signs of
slowing down soon. Several minutes passed, but Chris failed to catch it still.
"Why are you still standing there? Come with me and help!" Mary shouted at the disciples who were
standing still, watching. She sensed the disciples lacked enough experience, and they needed more
training. It took great skill, calm nerves, and the reflexes of a qualified spirit manipulator to handle a
situation like this.
At her command, the disciples came to themselves, rushed to grab the chains, and joined in the chase
behind her.
Rocky stood in the beast stable, watching the chaotic crowd. When he sensed the disciples from the
Xiao Clan were in deep trouble, he couldn't help shaking his head. 'What a mess! If I were him, and I
even a fraction of his entire team, calming the young panther down would be a cinch.' A sarcastic smile
crept on his face.
His smile lingered only for a moment before the panther noticed him. Without warning, it turned around
and ran towards the beast stable. C0ntent © 2024 (N/ô)velDrama.Org.
"What are you doing there? Run! Don't stand still... " Seeing the panther run towards the beast stable,
where a servant was standing, Mary's face changed. She shouted at Rocky, warning him to run for his
life, as fast as he could. If the beast got to him, she feared it would maul him to death. For Mary, Rocky
was but an ordinary servant. If he faced off with the panther, it would not make light work of him. And
Mary was not ready for more casualties to the same beast, as she had already lost dear disciples.
However, the panther moved so fast that by the time Mary called out, Rocky was within an arm's reach.
Chris tried his best to catch up with it, but he was way too far behind. Rocky seemed to them a man
doomed to die next second!
Everyone watching was petrified, fearing the worst for Rocky. They all held their breath, seeing there
was nothing they could do to save him. Unable to bear witnessing his tragic death, some of them
closed their eyes. But what happened next took everyone's breath away.
Instead of attacking Rocky as they had also feared, the Magic Sword Panther crumbled to its knees. As
though it were some powerless creature, it let out a weak cry, showing complete submission to him.
Almost everyone present was shocked, including Chris.
"Holy cow! What's going on?" After a silent moment of awe, Mary stared at Rocky and the Magic Sword
Panther in disbelief. Docile and tame, it was still kneeling there, right in front of him. Like everyone else
around here, the surprised look on her face was obvious. She didn't know why the panther did that.
At her side, Chris, too, was dumbstruck. In all his years of hunting experience, this was the first time
that he saw such a thing. 'How on earth did a bad-tempered Magic Sword Panther suddenly turn so
weak and powerless? I mean, to the point of kneeling before an ordinary man?' Questions ran through
his mind. Questions that for the life of him, he did not even have the slightest idea.