Celestial Beast Taming

Thankfully, Zhong Yi hadn’t been hurt. Otherwise...

The thought alone was something Lin Zhuo didn’t dare dwell on. This incident only strengthened her conviction that it was necessary to purge the Bizarre from the Lower City District.

Bizarre have always lurked in the Lower City District—and not just in Starlight City. The same was true for the Lower City Districts of other Heroic Cities.

This situation arose for a couple of reasons. First, the Heroic Cities are simply too vast. It’s already a monumental task to ensure the Upper City District remains free of any infiltrating Bizarre.

The Lower City District is a chaotic mix of all sorts, and the Bizarre living there create plausible, hidden identities for themselves.

This makes them incredibly difficult to detect unless they willingly reveal themselves. After all, in day-to-day life, they are indistinguishable from ordinary Guardian Beast Masters.

Second, the Soul Awakening Ceremony isn’t exclusively held at the Beastmaster Association. Creators who have contracted a Soul Element Guardian Beast or possess exceptionally strong Soul Control Power are also capable of conducting smaller, private ceremonies.

Deceit Beast Masters also experience the pre-awakening dreams, and a fair number of people know that these dreams are related to Guardian Beasts.

Those who notice something unusual about their dreams often go to the Lower City District and pay a hefty price for a private Soul Awakening, even though such ceremonies lack the safety guarantees provided by the specialized Awakening Masters at the Beastmaster Association.

Once it’s confirmed that they’ve awakened a Deceit Beast, they either flee the city or go into hiding in the Lower City District.

This makes the Bizarre in the Lower City District like rats in a sewer—utterly impossible to eradicate.

When Zhong Yi had designed the game’s data, he had done so from a player’s perspective.

The game didn’t have much content related to the Bizarre; after all, players wouldn’t awaken their Lifebound Guardian Beast as a Deceit Beast.

In the background lore he’d designed for the game, Zhong Yi had only stated that Guardian Beast Masters whose Soul Bases turned Bizarre upon awakening would be imprisoned. He never specified where these detainees were sent.

Zhong Yi figured that these Bizarre, imprisoned right after their Soul Base awakened, surely wouldn’t be disposed of outright.

So, Zhong Yi went ahead and asked Lin Zhuo the question that had been on his mind for a while.

Lin Zhuo’s expression didn’t flicker upon hearing Zhong Yi’s question. If anyone else had asked, she wouldn’t have just refused to answer; she would have had them arrested.

’Why would a perfectly normal person suddenly be interested in what happens to the Bizarre?!’

But even though Zhong Yi had only just become a Celestial Destiny Seeker, he was already one of Starlight City’s most pivotal figures.

For him to be interested in the fate of these newly-turned Bizarre was, in Lin Zhuo’s opinion, a good thing.

Lin Zhuo explained patiently to Zhong Yi.

"Every city has its bright side, the one bathed in light, but it also has its shadows."

"The Lower City District, still touched by the fading light, doesn’t count as the true shadow. The Bizarre live in that place untouched by light."

"And though they dwell in shadow, they are still a part of Starlight City, contributing to it in their own way."

"Seeing is believing. These Bizarre actually live within the Hidden Moon Division of our Ghost Suppression Bureau."

"Would you be interested in coming with me to see the Hidden Moon Division for yourself?"

Zhong Yi’s eyes widened in surprise. He never would have imagined that the Deceit Beast Masters who’d awakened Deceit Beasts during the Soul Awakening Ceremony would be living inside the Ghost Suppression Bureau—the very organization dedicated to suppressing and eradicating the Bizarre.

Seeing Zhong Yi’s interest, Lin Zhuo gave a soft cry, "Fu Yao!"

The red bird on her shoulder immediately took flight, transforming into a massive avian creature with a wingspan of six or seven meters.

Although its appearance and coloration hadn’t changed much, Zhong Yi noticed that the bird now had three legs protruding from its abdomen.

The little red bird was actually a Three-legged Red Crow in a mimicked form!

And clearly, even with a six-to-seven-meter wingspan, the Three-legged Red Crow was still in its mimicked form.

Otherwise, an Extraordinary Tier Three-legged Red Crow would have a wingspan exceeding ten meters.

Although a Guardian Beast’s Bloodline primarily evolves through successive enhancements in Quality, its initial Bloodline is just as crucial.

The Three-legged Red Crow is a savage creature fond of feasting on the Dragon Sinew of Dragon Species Guardian Beasts. It isn’t picky about whether the sinew comes from a Flood Dragon Species, Beast Dragon Species, or Dinosaur Species.

If the Three-legged Red Crow’s Bloodline were to evolve again, it might even be able to rip out the Dragon Sinew of a Main Dragon Species Guardian Beast and snack on it like a piece of spicy jerky.

Even though the Three-legged Red Crow was still in its mimicked form, riding on its back with Lin Zhuo, Zhong Yi could still sense the creature’s unparalleled ferocity.

Zhong Yi recalled this feeling. He had sensed something similar from among the main branches of the Crown of the Sun while directing the Resurrection Celestial Lord to heal it.

It was just that the Crown of the Sun’s main branches clearly concealed a host of ferocious beings, and it was obvious they weren’t all the same species.

"Sister Zhuo, I want to know how you can ensure the Bizarre who join the Hidden Moon Division don’t feed on the Lifebound Guardian Beasts of other masters."

In Zhong Yi’s opinion, Deceit Beasts were actually superior to ordinary Lifebound Guardian Beasts, as they could take shortcuts.

These shortcuts not only saved Deceit Beast Masters a vast amount of resources but also allowed their Deceit Beasts to increase their power rapidly.

Zhong Yi felt that even if these Deceit Beast Masters were immediately educated after their Soul Base awakened, it would be nearly impossible to fundamentally suppress the greed in their hearts.

Lin Zhuo sighed softly at his words.

"Do you know why the Beastmaster Association takes away those who awaken as Bizarre during the Soul Awakening Ceremony? The truth is, even if the Association didn’t take them, many would be... dealt with by their own families."

"Countless tragedies have occurred because of it!"

"From the moment they become one of the Bizarre, they are feared by ordinary Guardian Beast Masters, making it nearly impossible for them to reintegrate into society."

"You wanted to know how we keep the Bizarre from feeding on the Lifebound Guardian Beasts of other masters, right? Well, this Guardian Beast is the very key to the Hidden Moon Division’s existence."

As she spoke, Lin Zhuo retrieved a White Jade Flower Pot from her Storage Pouch. Seven or eight sword-like leaves, each thirty to forty centimeters long, grew from within it.

Before Zhong Yi could inspect the plant in the White Jade Flower Pot to see what was special about it, he heard Lin Zhuo continue.

"Unfortunately, the Moon Eyes Bellflower is far too demanding of its Contractor. Only twelve Deceit Holders can make the Moon Eyes Bellflower light up fifteen or more of its Moon Eyes."

"Otherwise, we wouldn’t have only twelve Deceitful Moon Medals in all of Starlight City."

Hearing Lin Zhuo’s words, Zhong Yi became even more intrigued by the plant in the White Jade Flower Pot, the one called Moon Eyes Bellflower.

He wondered what kind of Guardian Beast could not only control the Bizarre but also have such strict requirements for its Contractor.

The number of Deceit Holders in the entire city capable of making the Moon Eyes Bellflower light up fifteen Moon Eyes was even smaller than the number of Celestial Destiny Seekers.

Using his Skill, All Things Exploration, Zhong Yi instantly understood why Lin Zhuo had said this plant was the key to the Hidden Moon Division’s very existence.

He also understood why there were only twelve Deceit Holders in all of Starlight City who could earn a Deceitful Moon Badge.