Chapter 58: The Guardian Holy Beast

"Enlightenment realm."

Seeing White Fur asking about his cultivation level, Chen Xuan instantly understood what it meant. If his cultivation level had been low, the beast probably would have fought back.

"Enlightenment realm!"

White Fur swallowed hard.

If the opponent had been in the Golden Core or Nascent Soul realm, it might have still stood a chance. If it were the Deity Transformation realm, it could only run. It never expected the opponent to be in the Enlightenment realm.

Now, running was completely out of the question.

"Uhm... Senior, I have never harmed anyone. Can I leave now?" White Fur asked tentatively.

"You sneaked in and ate other people's spiritual herbs, and you still claim you haven't harmed anyone?"

Chen Xuan let out a cold snort. "I don't care about other people's spiritual herbs, but you ate mine! How do you plan to compensate me?"

"Compensation!"

White Fur wailed inwardly. Whenever it encountered natural treasures in the past, it simply devoured them on the spot, leaving zero inventory. It had nothing at all to offer Chen Xuan as compensation.

"Since you can't afford to compensate, pay with your life!"

As he spoke, Chen Xuan raised the Flood Dragon Staff. "That fur of yours isn't bad. Once stripped, it can be made into a tiger-skin coat. And your meat—stewed, it will help strengthen my disciple's bones."

"Skin me and eat my meat?!"

White Fur was so scared its legs turned to jelly. "I'll compensate! I know how to compensate!"

"Oh? Let's hear it."

Chen Xuan looked at it with a mixture of amusement, wondering what kind of idea this white tiger could come up with.

"I heard that human sects all have gatekeepers. I will guard the gate for Senior for ten years as compensation," White Fur said hurriedly.

"Guard the gate?"

Chen Xuan pinched his chin.

Normally, sects possessed guardian divine beasts. Previously, the Profound Elixir Sect's guardian beast had been a spiritual bird, but Ye Xueyan had taken a fancy to its spiritual feathers and killed it. Later, a mongrel from the Ye family had taken over that position.

After he severed ties with the Ye family, that dog had been chased away as well.

At present, the Profound Elixir Sect lacked a guardian beast.

This white tiger possessed decent cultivation. Although a bit cowardly, it was at least capable of putting up an imposing facade, and ordinary cultivators wouldn't dare provoke it upon seeing it.

"You may come to the Profound Elixir Sect to guard the gate," Chen Xuan said, his tone shifting, "but ten years is not enough."

"Then how many years does Senior think is appropriate?" White Fur asked tentatively. Beast lifespans were generally longer than those of humans; with its Deity Transformation cultivation, it could live for at least ten thousand years.

If Chen Xuan asked for thirty or fifty years, it wouldn't be much of a deal to it.

Chen Xuan raised a single finger.

"What? A hundred years?" White Fur's jaw dropped. It hadn't expected Chen Xuan's appetite to be even bigger than its own—he actually wanted it to guard the gate for a century.

Although it was a beast, one hundred years was still a considerable length of time for it.

"Wrong. One thousand years," Chen Xuan shook his head and said.

"One—one thousand years?!!"

White Fur felt even more dizzy. Chen Xuan certainly knew how to make outrageous demands, casually asking for a millennium.

This meant spending one-tenth of its entire beastly lifespan cooped up in the Profound Elixir Sect.

"What? You refuse?"

Chen Xuan raised the Flood Dragon Staff in his hand, his aura erupting. "Every single one of my spiritual herbs is a rare treasure once in a millennium. You ate so many of mine, so making you guard the gate for a thousand years is already letting you off easy."

"A dragon... A dragon!!!"

White Fur hadn't noticed it before, but as Chen Xuan's aura burst forth, it actually sensed a faint trace of dragon bloodline presence.

Hadn't the dragon race all ascended?

Among the four great bloodlines of the demon race, the dragon race possessed the most noble aptitude. As early as the ancient era, all dragons had ascended to the immortal realm, and their figures had long since vanished from the mortal world.

Yet now, it felt the aura of the dragon race emanating from Chen Xuan.

Could it be that Chen Xuan was a descendant left behind by the dragons?

But Chen Xuan was a human!

However, rumor had it that the dragon race was notoriously lustful and possessed extremely formidable reproductive capabilities, capable of procreating with any race whatsoever.

Perhaps Chen Xuan was the offspring born of a dragon and a human.

"I—I agree."

Daring not to resist, White Fur could only nod in consent.

"Consider yourself sensible."

Chen Xuan put away the Flood Dragon Staff, then produced a contract. "Sign it. If you dare go back on your word, I will strip your hide and eat your meat."

"A demonic beast! A demonic beast has come!"

"A white tiger! Such a huge white tiger! Its claws are even bigger than Senior Sister's!"

"Quickly notify the elders! A demonic beast has entered the sect!"

"Wait, there seems to be a person following beside that white tiger... Is that the Sect Master?!"

"The Sect Master?!"

"Oh my god, has that demonic beast captured our Sect Master?!"

Within the Profound Elixir Sect, disciples were gripped with terror upon catching sight of the gigantic white tiger, immediately triggering signal talismans to alert the elders within the sect.

"Where did this demonic beast come from, Daring to trespass in my Profound Elixir Sect!"

A stern shout rang out as Liyangzi sped over from the distance. Catching sight of the massive white tiger, his heart skipped a beat as well, but upon noticing Chen Xuan walking alongside the beast, his expression turned deadly serious.

"Sect Master, if you are being threatened by this white tiger, just blink your eyes! Even if it costs me this old life of mine, I will rescue you," Liyangzi said hurriedly.

Chen Xuan was left speechless.

When had Liyangzi learned how to make jokes?

"Old Yang, you've misunderstood," Chen Xuan said with a smile.

"Old Yang?"

Hearing the form of address Chen Xuan used for him, Liyangzi felt a warm, comforting sensation bloom in his heart. The Sect Master truly regarded him as a friend.

"Sect Master, what is the deal with this white tiger?"

Liyangzi sized up the white beast. Its shoulder height exceeded three meters, its claws were larger than his own head, and its exposed fangs appeared sharper than swords.

Furthermore, it radiated an unfathomable aura.

Its cultivation was likely at least in the Nascent Soul realm.

"Doesn't the sect lack a guardian demonic beast? From now on, White Fur will be responsible for the gatekeeping duties of the Profound Elixir Sect. Take it to familiarize itself with the surroundings," Chen Xuan smiled and added, "If it does anything detrimental to the sect, just let me know, and I'll skin it so you can make tiger-head soup."

"A guardian divine beast?"

Liyangzi instantly grasped Chen Xuan's intent. Ever since Ye Xueyan had killed the Profound Elixir Sect's previous guardian beast, the position of guardian divine beast had existed in name only.

He never expected Chen Xuan to actually procure a white tiger.

"So that's how it is. Sect Master, may I ask what realm of cultivation this White Fur possesses?" Liyangzi probed cautiously.

"Not high. Just the Deity Transformation realm."

"Deity... Deity Transformation!"

Liyangzi was struck dumb with astonishment. Demonic beasts were not naturally adept at cultivation and generally focused solely on refining their physical bodies.

Consequently, their cultivation levels were universally low.

It was rare to find any exceeding the Nascent Soul realm.

Let alone a Deity Transformation realm demon king—such entities virtually never appeared within human territories.

Yet Chen Xuan had somehow brought back a Deity Transformation demon king to serve as the sect's guardian beast.

"Heavens! That white tiger is actually a Deity Transformation demon king, and it was even captured by the Sect Master to act as our guardian beast! This is too majestic!"

"A Deity Transformation demon king as a guardian beast? Even the three major sects at their peak couldn't pull that off. Probably only the sacred grounds possess such might."

"The Profound Elixir Sect has actually welcomed a Deity Transformation demon king! In the future, when I go out and run into disciples from other sects, I'll have something bragworthy to talk about."

The mass of Profound Elixir disciples all wore expressions of intense excitement.

Filled with boundless admiration for Chen Xuan capturing a Deity Transformation demon king, many of the disciples saw their filial piety values toward Chen Xuan increase significantly.