Lin Mo stood before the bronze giant doors of the "Myriad Beasts Pavilion" at Qingyun Sect, his palm pressed against the cold door ring. The carved beast head of a Taotie suddenly opened its blood-red eyes, letting out a deep, muffled growl. He could feel the overwhelming breath of beasts coming from behind the door, as if hundreds of primordial giants were watching him across time and space.

  "New disciples can only stay in the Myriad Beasts Pavilion for a single incense stick's worth of time," the elder in charge declared, as a stick of blue incense flew from his sleeve, igniting itself without a flame. "Remember, it's not about humans choosing beasts, but beasts choosing humans."

  The moment the bronze door opened, the pendant in Lin Mo's arms began to tremble violently. The Myriad Beasts Pearl spun rapidly in his dantian, pulling his consciousness into a chaotic space. Countless starlights flickered in the darkness, each point of light concealing a beastly silhouette.

  "This is... the soul imprint of all spirit beasts in the Myriad Beasts Pavilion?" Lin Mo reached out to touch the nearest star, and a vibrant tiger's phantom roared forth. However, just as its paw was about to strike him, the Myriad Beasts Pearl erupted with golden light, causing the tiger to whimper and cower.

  The chaotic space began to distort, with the starlight converging toward him like shooting stars. Lin Mo felt his meridians being filled with the violent breath of beasts, and just as he was about to explode, an enigmatic rune suddenly appeared on his forehead—it was the "Tame" character recorded in the Myriad Beasts Pearl.

  "So that's how it is." He felt a flash of inspiration, forming ancient beast-taming seals with his hands. The restless beast souls immediately became docile like lambs, merging into the acupoints throughout his body as flowing light.

  In the outside world, this all took place in the blink of an eye.

  When Lin Mo opened his eyes, hundreds of beast cages within the Myriad Beasts Pavilion trembled simultaneously. The bronze bell hanging from the dome rang wildly, and the blue incense in the elder's hand was instantly burnt to ash!

  "This is impossible..." The elder staggered back, staring at the twelve beast phantoms that emerged around Lin Mo. A fully crimson fire crow circled his left shoulder, a white tiger with vertical pupils perched on his right arm, and an otherworldly beast resembling a qilin but with a dragon's tail floated above his head.

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  Suddenly, dark clouds gathered outside, and nine purple lightning bolts struck the stone statue at the eaves, causing it to crack and reveal the black iron hidden within—this was actually the "Sky-Watching Device" used by the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion to spy on various sects!

  "How dare you!" Xiao Han's furious shout came from the clouds. Sword light cascaded like a galaxy, shredding the Sky-Watching Device into powder. Yet, wisps of black mist still burrowed underground, escaping toward the forbidden area in the back mountains.

  Just as Lin Mo was about to pursue, he felt a tremor beneath his feet. Su Wan'er burst into the Myriad Beasts Pavilion, covered in blood, clutching a blood-stained jade slip. "The herb garden... all the spirit plants have been demonized!"

  When everyone arrived at the herb garden, the sight was horrifying. A thousand-year-old spirit fungus crawled on hands and feet through the soil, while the surface of the crimson fruit displayed a grotesque human face. Most terrifying was the Nine-Turn Resurrection Grass, said to have the power to bring the dead back to life—its roots were entwined around the corpses of three disciples, and the flower buds emitted a piercing wail like that of a crying baby.

  "It's the Spirit-Eating Toxic Fog," Lin Mo said, slicing open his palm. His blood transformed into golden mist under the urging of the Myriad Beasts Pearl. A shadow of the Qingluan emerged from the mist, its cry resonating through the skies, causing the demonized spirit plants to wither. However, the moment the golden mist touched the Nine-Turn Resurrection Grass, the flower bud suddenly exploded, releasing a palm-sized black moth.

  The moth's wings were covered in blood-red eyes, each pupil reflecting a different scene: the blood-colored altar in the forbidden area of the back mountains, the writhing tumors in the underground chamber of the conference hall, and a painting hanging in Xiao Han's room—the woman in the painting bore a striking resemblance to Qing Zhu!

  "Soul-Eating Moth!" Xiao Han's expression changed dramatically as he rushed over, turning his sword light into a cage to trap the moth. However, the tiny creature effortlessly pierced through the sword energy and directly entered Lin Mo's forehead.

  A storm surged in Lin Mo's consciousness. He saw the bloody night from twelve years ago: the seven elders of Qingyun Sect formed a formation, driving a couple to the edge of a cliff. The woman held a baby swaddled in her arms, hiding the very Myriad Beasts Pendant...

  "So you all knew from the beginning." Lin Mo's eyes turned blood-red, and the beast phantoms around him roared toward the sky. All the spirit beasts in the Myriad Beasts Pavilion broke free from their restraints, forming a tide of beasts that obscured the sky above Qingyun Sect.

  Xiao Han's sword clattered to the ground. He stared at the rampaging beast horde, suddenly crushing the jade pendant at his waist. The shadow that emerged in the green light was unmistakably the woman Lin Mo had seen in the illusion!

  "Senior Sister..." Xiao Han murmured to the shadow, "Your son has grown up."