Beast Taming: the More the Better

Chapter 1262: Chapter 518: Goodbye, Qintian Monitor! Battle for the Gu King!

Looking exactly like a tour guide holding a little flag for some tourist group, he led a few old men and youngsters—along with the beautiful girl Qin Xiaoxue bringing up the rear, of course. Forming a long line, they headed toward the valley hidden among the overlapping peaks at the foot of the mountain.

"Chief Supervisor, what are they doing?"

Zhang Chaofan walked up, only to receive a glare from Huang Tianbing. "Cut the nonsense. Who knows what classified operations the big shots of our Dragon Nation are up to?"

The two Zhang Family brothers exchanged a glance, a tacit understanding forming in their minds as they thought, "With this kind of setup, what kind of classified operation can this possibly be?"

...

The winding mountain paths were nothing to the few people present. After summoning their Pet Beasts, they reached their destination in less than five minutes.

And upon arriving, they found it was truly a world of its own.

Meanwhile, Qin Erlong smiled and began to explain. "The Shattered Stone Mountain Range has dense forests, so there are actually quite a few wild Insect-type Pet Beasts. However, it’s hard for them to gather in large numbers because the conditions in the mountains and woods are too complex.

"But this place is different. The terrain here blocks out the sunlight, so Insect-type Pet Beasts are already in the majority. At the same time, a massive cluster of Poison Firefly Grass has formed within the valley.

"Because of this, ordinary Pet Beasts refuse to enter, making it a paradise for countless Poison Pets and Insect-type Pet Beasts."

Speaking of this, Qin Erlong seemed to recall something. He smiled at Su Ping and added, "Oh, right. That Giant Rock Mountain Elf you took away during the provincial exam was caught right around here. Otherwise, I never would have found such a hidden place."

Hmm? Hearing this, Su Ping was slightly taken aback. So this was where Tai Shan came from. No wonder he felt this route was somewhat familiar. Back then, Qin Erlong had mentioned this place to him, and he had roughly glanced over the map. He had just never been here in person and eventually forgot about it. He hadn’t expected to end up stumbling upon it purely by coincidence.

Speaking of which, ever since the developments at the Heart of Earth and Rock Heart, Tai Shan had been sleeping in his Beast Taming Space. The big guy loved to sleep. First, it was the Yuan Magnetic Gold Mine Vein at the Heart of Machinery, and later the Heart of Earth. In the end, it was chased away both times. Now it was staying in his Beast Taming Space, which was a relatively peaceful arrangement.

However, Su Ping didn’t dwell on it. Tai Shan seemed to harbor some sort of secret, but that was about it. In comparison, everyone present—including Su Ping—was undoubtedly far more interested in the Five Poisons Cauldron.

Sure enough, as they walked into the valley, a faint silence enveloped them, and an indescribably sweet, metallic scent of blood and poison permeated the air. This was a genuine paradise for Poison-type and Insect-type creatures! And it was exactly the treasured land Su Ping was looking for!

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the Five Poisons Cauldron was brought out once again.

"Su Ping, how do you use this thing?"

Meeting Zhu Hong’s curious gaze, Su Ping let out a cheeky chuckle. Then, wincing slightly at the impending pain, he took out a small knife and sliced his finger. Under the blade forged from special materials, a streak of crimson flowed out.

Several drops of fresh blood dripped down into the Five Poisons Cauldron. At the same time, spiritual power that felt almost tangible surged into it. The spiritual power acted like firewood fueling the cauldron. In an instant, wisps of multicolored smoke bloomed from its surface.

Without a second thought, Su Ping picked up the Five Poisons Cauldron and hurled it into the valley with all his might, throwing it like a shot put. Turning back around, he met everyone’s dumbfounded stares and pulled a table out of his Beast Taming Space.

At the same time, Little Flame appeared. Su Ping snapped his fingers. "Little Fire, time to work!"

Little Fire did a flip, and a ball of Flame appeared out of thin air, Burning amid the dead leaves in front of them without spreading outward in the slightest.

Su Ping sat by the fire and took out the fish he had stored away earlier, along with some Fierce Beast Meat he had prepared in advance, from his Beast Taming Space. Only then did he smile. "Everyone, the Five Poisons Cauldron will take a while. Plus, if there are an exceptionally large number of Insect-type and Poison-type Pet Beasts, it’ll probably take even longer. Let’s eat while we wait."

Everyone nodded in agreement. However, even though Su Ping was calmly roasting the fish and meat over the fire—making them sizzle with grease and exude a mouthwatering aroma—everyone still kept their eyes fixed on the valley.

Su Ping cast a speechless glance at these reckless, oblivious people. He highly doubted they would still be able to stomach their food once they saw what was about to unfold.

As it turned out, Su Ping’s foresight was completely correct.

The Five Poisons Cauldron was truly worthy of being the life’s work and ultimate treasure of the King of Nanzhao, the Five Poisons Saint Sovereign, Situ Feng.

As streams of Five Poison Smoke slowly diffused and vanished into the air, a faint RUSTLE RUSTLE began to emerge from the edges of the valley’s jungle.

At first, everyone could only see slight movements beneath the Poison Firefly Grass. However, as the sounds grew louder and louder, it felt as if the entire jungle within the valley—and even the earth itself—began to tremble.

At this point, the concealment provided by the Poison Firefly Grass completely lost its meaning.

A scalp-numbing scene unfolded before everyone’s eyes. Pitch black, multicolored, snow white—all sorts of colors! Slithering bodies, a thousand legs, eight claws, leaping forms—all kinds of movement methods!

The entire valley transformed into a vast playground for Poison Pets! There were even numerous silhouettes descending from the sky amid a chorus of BUZZING.

Any normal person—even a powerful Beastmaster who didn’t need to fear these Poison Insects—would feel a visceral, instinctive revulsion. The vast majority of people simply couldn’t stomach this sight.

Everyone turned their heads to look at Su Ping. He had his back to the valley and was already sprinkling salt and chili powder onto the fatty meat of the Demon Scale Ribbon Fish.

Sensing their gazes, he flashed a grin. "If there really are that many of them in this place, this should just be the beginning. Want a bite?"

Su Ping was right yet again. If one were standing above the valley at this moment, they would witness an utterly horrifying spectacle.

Countless Poison Insects and venomous creatures were crawling toward that mere human-head-sized cauldron. It was as if the most important thing in the world lay inside. Even if they were merely moths drawn to a flame, they surged forward with suicidal abandon.

And that head-sized little cauldron was bizarre. If the dense horde of Poison Insects were piled up, they would likely cover hundreds of square meters and reach a story high by now. Yet, it was as if the little cauldron would never overflow. Many times, the bodies of the Poison Insects were clearly too large to fit through the opening. But right before entering the Five Poisons Cauldron, they seemed to shrink dramatically and slip right in.

That little cauldron acted like a cage with no exit. The teeming masses of Poison Insects entered one by one, and it absorbed them all without exception.

To the enduring fascination of the onlookers, this spectacle continued for a full half hour.

After half an hour, only a scattered few Poison Insects in the valley were still crawling toward the Five Poisons Cauldron. Not only had their numbers dwindled significantly, but it was also apparent that the cauldron had lost much of its attractive pull on them.

A petal spider crouched in front of the Five Poisons Cauldron, swaying slightly, in no rush to enter. Based on his experiments over the past few days, all of this indicated that the Five Poisons Cauldron’s activation time was nearly up. At the same time, it was time to check inside and inspect the results.

With this in mind, Su Ping wiped his mouth and finally stood up. Of course, he had absolutely no intention of retrieving the thing himself. The trauma this object had given him was still fresh. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the greatest life-or-death crisis he had faced in his entire life was brought upon him by this very thing!

"AWOOO!"

Xiao Qing’s silhouette appeared. Like a phantom flame, she ran over to the Five Poisons Cauldron, scooped it up in her mouth, and trotted back over.

Aside from storage, the internal space of the Five Poisons Cauldron served as an arena for Poison Insects to engage in Gu combat. That was exactly why it had nearly knocked Su Ping out last time. A massive amount of toxicity lingered inside.

Fortunately, after so many days of study, Su Ping had managed to figure out a few things about it.

Xiao Qing set the Five Poisons Cauldron down squarely. Meanwhile, Su Ping took out a spatial probe and connected it to a camera and a monitor.

Instantly, the live feed of the cauldron’s internal space appeared before everyone’s eyes!

An unprecedented battle for the title of Gu King came into view.