Chapter 1: Rescue (Part 1)

Ezek managed to drag Meili out of the trap, only to discover that she was severely injured. He also realized how careless he had been. He crawled over to her and bit out each metal spike, allowing her to return to her human form so he could treat her better. Both of them had high-grade talismans given to them by Guo Shier and the others as life-saving aids.
Meili swallowed several talismans in succession and then took out more to apply to her wounds. At this point, Ezek dared not return to his human form, as it would greatly reduce his strength. He used his massive body to shield Meili, looking anxiously upward at the canyon where a group of enemies was located.
Ezek was too busy taking care of Meili to think clearly. Used to having teammates around to assist him, he was now on his own with her. Her injuries left him at a loss.
Hole stared coldly at the bottom of the canyon. Guldan noticed a hint of greed in his indifferent gaze. In fact, Guldan also desired those two spirit beasts below. If he could capture them, he believed his strength might rival Lord Hole’s.
Mayer sat aside, panting heavily. He was lucky to have a friend who helped him escape from the air. Looking at Ezek below, he swallowed hard, scheming in his mind to obtain one of the spirit beasts from Lord Hole—otherwise, he would suffer a huge loss. Once a Beast Master lost their spirit beast, their strength would drop by at least 80%, leaving them powerless.
“Rise!”
Hole suddenly pressed his hands downward, unleashing a tremendous force that made the entire canyon shake. Thick steel cables shot out from both ends of the canyon, quickly sealing off the sky above it. Giant steel pillars rose from the ground, and countless beams of light intertwined to form a massive light net.
The Beast Masters’ unique trap was finally complete. Ezek roared as Meili was barely breathing. Fortunately, high-grade aberrant talisman beasts had extremely strong vitality and were not in immediate danger. Ezek finally realized that he couldn’t handle this trap on his own. Even if his enemies couldn’t kill him, they could wear him down to death if they trapped him. He immediately sent out a distress signal.

Fortunately, as the first message token passed through the gap in the Beast Trapping Array, the second one was blocked. The first token was sent to Li Ran, the second to Qi Wu Zhen, and the third was intended for Guo Shier. Yet only the first token was actually sent, which was why neither Guo Shier nor the others received the distress message.

Aizek stared with his crimson eyes at the light network above. It was clear the opponent had no intention of attacking immediately but rather wanted to trap them. He suddenly stood up, and with a loud crash, his massive body collided with the light network.

An immense force pressed down violently, and amidst the thunderous sound, Aizek crashed down hard.

Boom!

His huge body struck the canyon, crushing countless trees and boulders into fragments, sending up a huge cloud of dust. Aizek roared in anger. Of course, he wasn’t willing to give up.Fulu light flowed throughout his body, forming a massive orb ofFulu light in his mouth, which he ejected with his roar.

That orb ofFulu light turned into a meteor and struck the light network of the Beast Trapping Array. With continuous explosive sounds of tearing, the network trembled violently. Disappointed, Aizek realized that his strength wasn’t enough to tear through the network’s encirclement.

After several failed attempts, Aizek finally despaired. Protecting Mei Li, he stared at the top of the canyon, where a group of enemies were located. He inwardly regretted his carelessness. If he hadn’t fallen into the trap, he wouldn’t have feared those enemies at all. But trapped by the array, he couldn’t fully utilize his strength. He could only place his hopes on Li Ran. If someone could come to his rescue outside, he believed he could escape.

Hall smiled satisfactorily, showing no hint of hiding his excitement. “What a formidable spirit beast! Haha, as long as I can capture it successfully… everyone involved in the battle will be rewarded!”

Gurdan asked, “Is Lady Qinis also coming?”

Hall replied, “She’s away for a while. She was here when setting up the array. She’s gone to invite a few old friends. With just my own strength, I still can’t subdue those two advanced spirit beasts.” As for the other Beast Tamer clan members, he simply ignored them—he was the top expert in their clan.

This operation attracted many top experts from the Beast Tamer clan. Hall was one of the most powerful experts in this region, yet even he wasn’t sure he could defeat Aizek and Mei Li. He needed not only the array but also the help of other top experts from the clan. Although the cost was high, capturing Aizek and Mei Li was worth any price.

According to the understanding of the Beast Tamer Clan, a spiritual beast with runes on its body was considered a top-tier one. Moreover, the spiritual beast discovered this time could even transform into human form—it was the most powerful spiritual beast in their legends. If they could obtain such a beast, their strength could reach an astonishing level.

Since the Trap Array had been set up in a hurry, Hall had to reinforce it once again. Ezekiel missed another opportunity. If he had continued to struggle and attack, he might have broken through the Trap Array, but he gave up after just a few attempts. His attention was focused on Beauty; her injury left him utterly distraught.

As a top-tier Abnormal Rune Beast, Beauty gradually regained consciousness after having the steel spikes removed from her body and taking the life-saving rune pills. Her wounds also began to heal quickly. Abnormal Rune Beasts had extremely strong vitality, making it extremely difficult to kill them. With Ezekiel’s protection, Beauty was temporarily out of danger.

Ezekiel still dared not transform into human form. Doing so would greatly reduce his strength, and he needed to protect Beauty, so he certainly couldn’t take risks. But if he didn’t transform, he couldn’t observe Beauty closely—after all, their sizes were vastly different. If Beauty were a tiny ant, he would be like a large dog beside it. Ezekiel could only communicate through soul vibrations, constantly asking, “Are you feeling better? Are you feeling better?” His soul vibrations carried an air of anxiety.

Beauty’s soul vibrations were weak: “I’m fine… Ezekiel, kill them!” She hated those people from the Beast Tamer Clan deeply. It was the first time in her life that she had suffered such a loss.

Hall quietly reinforced the array and finally breathed a sigh of relief. At that moment, his helpers arrived, and he went to greet them with laughter. They were three top experts from the Beast Tamer Clan—one woman and two men. The woman was Chynis, a famous array master of the Beast Tamer Clan and a stunningly beautiful woman. The other two men were also top experts; the older one was Uris, and the middle-aged one was Os.

Chynis asked with a smile, “Was it successful?”

Hall laughed loudly, “It’s half successful. I never expected to encounter a top-tier spiritual beast here. Haha, I guess I’m just very lucky.”

Chynis said, “I want that injured one… Hm? Why is there only one spiritual beast?”

Gordan said obsequiously, “Lady Chynis, the spiritual beast you mentioned has transformed into human form and is hiding below. It seems to be severely injured…”

Chynis’s expression changed slightly as she asked, “Is it not in life-threatening danger?”

Hall laughed and said, “This kind of spiritual beast isn’t that easy to kill.” With lingering fear, he glanced down at the huge trap in the canyon—a massive pit from which a giant steel cone dripping with blood could be seen. He knew well that it wasn’t an ordinary steel cone but one infused with the secret techniques of the Beast Tamer clan, possessing extreme piercing power; otherwise, it wouldn’t have injured Mei Li.

A glint appeared in Uris’s eyes as he saw Ezek’s enormous frame and murmured, “What a huge spiritual beast! I’ve never seen anything so terrifying before…”

Oss’s expression was even worse. He stared intently at Ezek for a long time before saying, “Hall, your luck is unbelievable—to discover something like this… Ah, what a pity…”

Hall laughed excitedly, “Haha, Oss, don’t worry. As long as you help me subdue this spiritual beast, I’ll compensate you—sure to satisfy you!”

Although Oss wasn’t satisfied—what compensation could compare to obtaining top-tier spiritual beasts?—these two top-tier beasts weren’t his discovery, so he couldn’t intervene forcefully. Since Hall’s strength wasn’t inferior to his own, and he was friends with Chynis, he could only sigh and say, “After seeing this spiritual beast, I have no other thoughts… Ah, congratulations!” It was already the second time he had sighed.

Hall couldn’t help but laugh loudly. His cheeks ached from laughing, yet he still couldn’t stop.

Oss asked, “What should we do?”

Hall replied, “First, drain its strength…” The usual method used by the Beast Tamer clan to subdue spiritual beasts was to exhaust their strength first, which made subjugation possible. There were many secret techniques unique to the Beast Tamer clan involved.

Led by Hall and Chynis, with Oss and Uris cooperating, these four top experts of the Beast Tamer clan began attacking Ezek. The attacks weren’t fatal but aimed at wearing down Ezek’s strength through the Trap Formation. Of course, this couldn’t be accomplished in a day or two—taming a spiritual beast wasn’t easy, let alone two top-tier ones.

Ripples flickered across the light network. Though not very clear, it exerted considerable pressure on Ezek. From the moment the Trap Formation appeared, he had already suffered some losses. Now that the entire network was stable, he dared not act rashly. With his keen intuition, he understood that if he relied on passive defense, he might hold out for a long time, but if he became impatient and attacked, he might not last much longer. His only hope was that someone would come to rescue him. He could only count on Li Ran receiving the message token.

Beauty jumped onto Ezek’s back and then teleported to his head. Her soul trembled slightly as she said, “Shall we try to break through together?” Her body was still a bit weak, and staying in her transformed form would help her recover faster, so she didn’t want to return to her original form to fight for now.