"Elder Dao Yi."
Upon arriving at Beast Peak, Elder Dao Yi stepped out at once. Lin Tian hurriedly bowed in greeting. Among all the elders of the Xuanwu Sect, he held Elder Dao Yi in particularly high regard.
"You little brat—you've stirred up a colossal disaster this time," Elder Dao Yi said urgently the moment he saw him.
Lin Tian was utterly dumbfounded by those words. During this period, he had been exceptionally well-behaved, doing nothing out of line. More importantly, since entering the Xuanwu Sect, he had barely set foot on Beast Peak at all—how could he possibly have caused trouble here?
"Elder Dao Yi, what exactly is going on?" Lin Tian asked earnestly, his face filled with confusion.
"What's going on? You'd better ask this fellow yourself," Elder Dao Yi replied, his expression one of deep helplessness. With a casual grab, he pulled over a three-tailed spirit cat.
At the sight of the three-tailed spirit cat, Lin Tian blinked in surprise. Having been busy lately, he had paid it little attention. What he never expected was that, during his absence, the cat had run off to Beast Peak. Even more astonishing was the fact that its cultivation had already broken through to the ninth layer of Qi Refinement—hardly inferior to his own.
"Sabian? What on earth is going on here?" Lin Tian asked, staring at the seemingly harmless little cat, growing increasingly perplexed.
"Your spirit beast has gotten every single feline-type spirit beast on Beast Peak pregnant," Elder Dao Yi said irritably. "Even our peak master's Azure-Eyed White Tiger is carrying his offspring."
And it was not only the peak master's tiger—among Elder Dao Yi's own spirit beasts was a feline Netherworld Tiger, which had likewise conceived the bloodline of this very three-tailed spirit cat.
"What did you say?" Lin Tian was completely stunned. He knew Sabian was no ordinary spirit beast, but this was beyond outrageous—utterly bestial. Just imagining that all the future cubs on Beast Peak would be Sabian's descendants made his head throb in agony.
"You tell me—how could you be so capable?" Lin Tian muttered, his emotions in utter turmoil. Now that the damage was done, expecting the people of Beast Peak to forgive him was utterly unrealistic. Yet how he was supposed to quell their fury left him completely at a loss.
If the contract could be dissolved, Lin Tian would genuinely have considered doing so at that very moment.
"There is, in fact, a way to remedy this," Elder Dao Yi said with a heavy sigh as he looked at Lin Tian's troubled expression. "Beast Peak possesses a secret technique that can accelerate the birth process of spirit beasts. However, it causes irreversible damage to their bodies. That said, if the beasts consume Nurturing Beast Pills from Alchemy Peak afterward, the harm can be reduced to a minimum."
"Nurturing Beast Pills?" Lin Tian repeated, his emotions growing complicated. He had little to no connection with Alchemy Peak. Asking him to obtain such pills now was nearly impossible.
"How many Nurturing Beast Pills would be required?" Lin Tian asked hesitantly.
"If nothing unexpected happens, about twenty pills," Elder Dao Yi replied with difficulty. "At their current price within the Xuanwu Sect, each pill costs roughly one hundred thousand contribution points."
"One hundred thousand points per pill?" Lin Tian nearly cursed aloud. That meant twenty pills would require a full two million points. Though he did possess a fair number of points, two million was far beyond his reach. Spending such a sum solely on Nurturing Beast Pills was simply inconceivable.
"Is there truly no other way?" Lin Tian asked sincerely.
"If there were, I wouldn't be this anxious to summon you," Elder Dao Yi said earnestly. "Right now, the disciples affected on Beast Peak have already banded together, demanding an explanation from you. If this matter isn't resolved, it will be impossible to quell their anger."
Hearing this, Lin Tian felt a wave of helplessness wash over him. He had never expected the disciples of Beast Peak to unite so thoroughly at such a moment. Yet from Elder Dao Yi's words, he also caught another implication: the collective hostility toward him was likely being stoked by someone behind the scenes. Sabian's outrageous behavior had merely handed them the perfect excuse.
If he failed to resolve this matter, whoever was pulling the strings would undoubtedly exploit it further, making his future within the Xuanwu Sect increasingly perilous. Yet resolving it required two million points—an amount he could barely scrape together, and even then, he would never agree to spend it all on Nurturing Beast Pills.
"Lin Tian, aside from that method, there is another way," Elder Dao Yi said at last, seeing Lin Tian's distress. He, too, understood that someone was deliberately targeting Lin Tian. Under normal circumstances, he would never resort to such a measure, but matters had now reached a point where he could no longer afford restraint.
"What way?" Lin Tian's eyes lit up as he asked immediately.
"For others, it might be extremely difficult," Elder Dao Yi said, leaning in to whisper. "But for you, it may not be so hard."
As Lin Tian listened, his expression gradually shifted. He had never expected Elder Dao Yi to devise such a solution—yet for him, it was undeniably a difficult choice.
Just then, disciples of Beast Peak began rushing over one after another. Clearly, news of Lin Tian's arrival had already spread. They had come for one thing only: to demand justice from him.