With Bai Zhengchu fallen, his contracted beasts also suffered backlash and were injured.
Zheng Dong summoned Xiao Zi, Youyou, Jingjing, and other beasts to deal with these Emperor-tier contracted beasts.
At the same time, he attempted to activate the golden fan to break the confinement.
Unfortunately, after several attempts, there was no response.
Fortunately, the confinement period ended. The Overlord-tier Light Elemental Spirit recovered its normal state and dealt with the Emperor-tier contracted beasts summoned by Bai Zhengchu.
Afterward, the Five-clawed Thunder Dragon Emperor, Four-eyed Strange Frog, and Ethereal Demoness were dealt with one by one.
Dealing with these Overlord-tier contracted beasts was also simple: separate them and handle them individually.
The Four-eyed Strange Frog and Ethereal Demoness were no match for the Overlord-tier Light Elemental Spirit.
They also suffered backlash and were injured, making them even easier to eliminate.
Only the Five-clawed Thunder Dragon Emperor lasted longer.
Zheng Dong thus obtained the Heart of the Five-clawed Thunder Dragon Emperor, the Eye of the Four-eyed Strange Frog, and the Ethereal Brain, the life core of the Ethereal Demoness.
Of course, the most important item was the golden fan in Bai Zhengchu's hand.
This was a time-element treasure, known as the Fan of Confinement, which might allow Mao Mao to acquire time-element attributes through it.
Zheng Dong wanted to cultivate Mao Mao into a Space-Time Cat that mastered both time and space attributes.
Unlike Xiao Qing and Yin Xue.
Xiao Qing primarily mastered water attributes, while Yin Xue primarily mastered mental and life attributes.
It had few skills that mastered the time attribute and had not evolved in the direction of time.
This was also why Zheng Dong had always wanted to cultivate a time-attribute contracted beast.
In fact, in his heart, each contracted beast had a general evolutionary direction.
He hoped Xiao Zi would become a overlord among Starry Sky Beasts, Youyou would become the master of death-element contracted beasts, Ling'er would evolve into the World Tree, Xiao Qing would become the eternal king of the deep sea, Jingjing would become the God of Machinery, Yin Xue would master fate, and Mao Mao would grasp space-time.
Of course, the specific form they would eventually evolve into also depended on their own evolutionary progress and the resources obtained.
After putting away the Fan of Confinement and other resources, Zheng Dong walked out of the Mythic-tier relic space.
Upon arriving outside, he found himself in the suburbs of Ningcheng.
Zheng Dong had detoured all the way from Modu to this place.
Just as he was preparing to return to Modu University, a figure appeared before him: Legendary Jin Heng.
Legendary Jin Heng stood in the air.
"Where is Bai Zhengchu? Don't tell me you killed him, kid. No one would believe it if it got out!" Legendary Jin Heng exclaimed in surprise.
Zheng Dong quickly realized that Legendary Jin Heng must have arrived long ago, otherwise, he wouldn't have known that he had lured Bai Zhengchu into the relic space.
"You've been here for a long time, haven't you? You watched me being chased by Bai Zhengchu everywhere and didn't help?" Zheng Dong said irritably.
"You weren't in any danger, kid. Running around was just exercise. Besides, I'm doing this for your own good. If things don't blow up, how can we make a move against the Bai and Ye families?" Legendary Jin Heng said with a smile.
This immediately piqued Zheng Dong's interest.
"Really? Is our Special Affairs Bureau preparing to make a move against the Bai and Ye families?"
"This is not the responsibility of our Special Affairs Bureau. The Security Bureau and the Beast Tamer Corps have already taken action. After today, these two families will no longer exist.
Of course, there will be some who slip through the net. You still need to be careful, kid, lest you get retaliated against!" Legendary Jin Heng warned.
Zheng Dong frowned.
What kind of mess is this?
Knowing there would be some who slipped through the net, why didn't they catch them all? Did they just want to see me get retaliated against?
Legendary Jin Heng did not offer further explanation. After a brief chat, he left.
Zheng Dong had no choice but to return to Modu University first and then inquire about the situation of the Ye and Bai families.
The next day, Zheng Dong received news from Legendary Zeng Zuo that the Bai family was destroyed, but Bai Hongguang had gone missing, taking most of the Bai family's resources with him.
As for the Ye family, they met the same fate as the Bai family, and no one escaped.
Where did Bai Hongguang go?
Zheng Dong frowned slightly.
Bai Hongguang was also a titled Legendary, with strength no less than Bai Zhengchu's.
However, he had not inherited Bai Zhiyuan's time-element talent. Instead, he had contracted a time-element contracted beast, the Ghost-eyed Owl.
With the Ghost-eyed Owl's time-element skills, he had escaped the pursuit of Legendary Zhao Pu.
This old fellow, wouldn't he come looking for me for revenge?
Zheng Dong had no intention of leaving Modu University for now.
He planned to heal the Dark and Fire Elemental Spirits.
Subsequently, he purchased a considerable amount of dark and fire element resources online.
He also extracted the Fearful Fire from the red token to be fused and refined by the Fire Elemental Spirit.
The Light Elemental Spirit continued to refine the Orb of Light.
However, for the Overlord-tier Light Elemental Spirit to advance to the Totem-tier, besides its own growth, it also required Ling'er's level to increase further and not be affected by Ling'er.
Ling'er's growth was quite rapid, and she was now at the peak of the Emperor-tier.
However, Zheng Dong still hoped that Ling'er would mutate further and acquire more attributes.
Additionally, Zheng Dong had just become a Grandmaster and needed to consolidate for a period before he could contract Emperor-tier contracted beasts across levels.
This meant he had to suppress Ling'er's growth rate.
Of course, Zheng Dong was also looking for resources for Ling'er's further mutation.
Currently, Ling'er possessed twelve attributes: Wood, Water, Ice, Fire, Light, Dark, Dragon, Poison, Insect, Undead, Life, and Space.
With the mastery of elemental symbiosis, Ling'er could possess even more attributes.
Next, Zheng Dong planned for Ling'er to acquire the six attributes of Metal, Earth, Wind, Lightning, Time, and Spirit.
After obtaining eighteen elemental attributes, he could attempt to evolve into the World Tree.
The recently acquired Heart of the Five-clawed Thunder Dragon Emperor and the Eye of the Four-eyed Strange Frog could indeed be used for Ling'er.
The Heart of the Five-clawed Thunder Dragon Emperor was considered an eighth-level lightning-element resource.
The Eye of the Four-eyed Strange Frog could be considered a mental and time-element resource, although its effect might not be as good as single-attribute mental or time-element resources.
Additional auxiliary resources were still needed.
Therefore, Zheng Dong spent the next week purchasing various resources.
He was also attempting to deduce a method for Mao Mao to mutate and acquire space-time attributes.
Zheng Dong took out the Fan of Confinement, released Mao Mao again, and used his Beast Taming Talent, Infinite Evolution, to attempt the deduction.
Mao Mao was quite happy. It had been with Zheng Dong for a long time without being contracted.
Its growth level had gradually increased from the initial Awakening-tier to the Commander-tier, and the proficiency of its few mastered skills had also reached the Proficient level.
If this mutation were successful, it would acquire the time attribute and could be fully contracted, joining Zheng Dong's contracted beast team.
After repeated attempts, Zheng Dong finally found a way for Mao Mao to evolve and complete its mutation.
In addition to using the time-element resource, the Fan of Confinement, he also purchased several space-element resources.
This was to ensure that Mao Mao's space and time attributes could achieve balance after evolution.
Subsequently, Zheng Dong attempted to evolve Mao Mao within the Mythic-tier relic space. He first took out the Mutation Bead and the Fan of Confinement, allowing Mao Mao to adapt to the time-element power.
Under the effect of the Mutation Bead, Mao Mao gradually began to mutate.
Next, Zheng Dong had Mao Mao use the Fan of Confinement to begin its evolution.
Mao Mao needed to refine and fuse the Fan of Confinement.
For this purpose, Zheng Dong activated his Beast Taming Talent, Infinite Evolution, to assist Mao Mao.
As Mao Mao refined the Fan of Confinement, it gradually completed its mutation and acquired the time-element attribute.
With the power of the Fan of Confinement, it evolved into a Treasure-eyed Cat Demon, and its growth level also increased to the Lord-tier.
In addition, it also acquired the ultimate skill, Time Stasis.
Time Stasis could freeze the timeline of extraordinary beings, making them unable to perceive surrounding changes or use any skills.
However, with Mao Mao's current abilities, it could only use Time Stasis to freeze extraordinary beings one level higher than itself.
This meant that Mao Mao, being Commander-tier, could freeze Lord-tier extraordinary beings but could not affect General-tier extraordinary beings.
Furthermore, Mao Mao also awakened two new racial skills: Cat Demon's Eye and Time Shift.
Cat Demon's Eye was a high-tier skill that could see through various disguises and extraordinary beings in stealth.
For example, skills like Void Concealment, Spirit Concealment, and Mimicry could all be seen through by Cat Demon's Eye.
Time Shift was also a high-tier skill. Mao Mao could use Time Shift to appear at any location it had previously appeared.
However, with Mao Mao's current abilities, it could only appear at locations it had been ten minutes prior.
If Mao Mao was in the Imperial Capital ten minutes ago, it could now return to the Imperial Capital immediately, even if it was in the Starleaf Kingdom.
[Name] Mao Mao (Treasure-eyed Cat Demon)
[Attributes] Time, Space, Spirit
[Racial Level] High King
[Growth Level] Lord-tier
[Energy Value] 52625
[Skills]:
Low-tier: Psionic Exploration
Mid-tier: Void Concealment, Spatial Vibration
High-tier: Cat Demon's Eye, Time Shift, Magnification
Ultimate-tier: Time Stasis
Seeing Mao Mao's meager number of skills, Zheng Dong decided to teach Mao Mao more skills after contracting it.
Furthermore, Mao Mao needed to evolve again; a single evolution was not enough to meet Zheng Dong's requirements.
Moreover, Mao Mao's racial level was also the lowest among Zheng Dong's contracted beasts.
Afterward, Zheng Dong and Mao Mao completed the contract. Thus, apart from Ling'er and Youyou, he had contracted five contracted beasts: Xiao Zi, Xiao Qing, Jingjing, Yin Xue, and Mao Mao.
He could still contract one more contracted beast.
Zheng Dong had no intention of searching for new contracted beasts for the time being. He was expecting the spherical magnetic field he had obtained last time to soon develop consciousness.
Leaving the relic space, Zheng Dong returned to the villa.
After resting for two days, Principal Yu called him, urging him to register for the National University Student Beast Tamer Competition.
The national competition was scheduled for mid-November.
This year's venue was Wudu.
The Bai family in Wudu was already finished. The Wudu Beast Tamer Association hoped to quickly erase the Bai family's influence and had therefore increased publicity for the national competition.
The registration process was also very simple; Zheng Dong only needed to apply on the university's official website.
Modu University would select outstanding students to represent Modu University in the competition.
In fact, Zheng Dong didn't even need to apply. With just a word from Principal Yu, Zheng Dong's name would naturally appear in Modu University's representative team.
Principal Yu called simply to remind Zheng Dong not to forget about it.
Zheng Dong had not forgotten.
He remembered that the prize for this national competition was rumored to be a legendary-tier resource.
Furthermore, if Modu University won first place, they would receive a reward of 5 million and an eighth-level resource.
He wouldn't miss such a good opportunity to "reap benefits."
However, he was a bit apprehensive that the finals venue was in Wudu.
If Bai Hongguang jumped out to seek revenge, it would be troublesome.
Before the competition began, Zheng Dong found Professor Xue Yin.
He asked Professor Xue Yin to help heal the Dark Elemental Spirit's injuries.
As for the Fire Elemental Spirit, after fusing and refining the Fearful Fire, it not only recovered but also significantly increased its strength, second only to the Light Elemental Spirit.
With three Overlord-tier combat powers back under his control, Zheng Dong felt much happier.
He used Mimicry and arrived in Wudu in advance.
It was now November 7th, eight days before the national competition began.
Zheng Dong planned to make some arrangements in Wudu in secret, so that he could quickly escape if he encountered danger.
Similar to his arrangements in Modu, he planted Ling'er's split bodies in various locations in Wudu.
Even in several cities near Wudu.
This way, he could directly have Ling'er teleport him away from Wudu.
After completing the arrangements, the prizes for the national competition were officially announced.
This year's national competition was divided into individual and team events.
The champion of the individual competition would receive the legendary-tier resource, the Arrow of the Wind God.
The Wind God was said to be a very beautiful goddess from the mythical era. Her own strength was not very strong, but she had many suitors.
One of her suitors custom-made the Divine Bow of Wind for her and forged three thousand accompanying Arrows of the Wind God.
Each Arrow of the Wind God could pierce the divine body of a lower god.
As for the reward this time, it was naturally not a complete Arrow of the Wind God.
Instead, it was a broken Arrow of the Wind God.
Although much energy had been lost, it could still be considered a wind-element legendary-tier resource.
Unfortunately, among Zheng Dong's many contracted beasts, there wasn't a single wind-element contracted beast yet.
This meant that this resource could only be used for Ling'er, allowing her to acquire the wind attribute and open up a wind elemental dimensional sea.
Of course, this was all contingent on Zheng Dong winning first place in the competition.
The national competition had no age restrictions; any university student could participate.
Both Modu University and Imperial Capital University had many fourth-year students participating.
Many of these geniuses were also Grandmaster-tier Beast Tamers.
It wouldn't be easy for Zheng Dong to win first place.
While the attention of Wudu was focused on the national competition, Bai Hongguang was not idle either.
He was very bold and did not leave Wudu.
As the saying goes, the more dangerous the place, the safer it is.
After luring Legendary Zhao Pu away, he took a long detour and returned to Wudu.
The once glorious Bai family had turned into a pile of ruins.
Seeing the surrounding broken walls and ruins, images of him sitting in a rocking chair, playing with his great-grandchildren, flashed through his mind.
Besides Bai Zhengchu, he had several other sons.
The grandson of his eldest son was already three or four years old.
Currently, he didn't know the whereabouts of his great-grandchildren.
The Bai family was destroyed, and the people were scattered.
Those who should have been arrested were arrested, and only he escaped.
As he continued to traverse the ruins, the memories became more frequent, and the hatred in his eyes deepened.
"My Bai family is gone, what reason is there for Yanhuang to exist?"
Bai Hongguang walked through the ruins and arrived at the back mountain of the Bai family.
This mountain was not large and did not look conspicuous.
However, during the era of Empress Shenwu's Divine Martial Empire, this mountain was famous, known as Ghost Soul Mountain.
There was a secret realm here, connected to another world.
Unlike other otherworlds, this otherworldly realm was like hell.
It was even more terrifying than the ancient battlefield of Shendu.
Fortunately, it was later sealed by the Empress and Beast Tamers of the Divine Martial Empire era, such as Bai Zhiyuan.
Now, Bai Hongguang intended to break the seal and allow the terrifying undead living in the otherworldly realm to come to Yanhuang.