Compared to ordinary animals, demonic beasts had the advantage of purer bloodlines and a higher likelihood of mutation. This granted them greater intelligence than ordinary animals but also stripped them of their primal instincts.
If these were ordinary animals, they would face an enemy without fear, even if they knew the opponent was many times stronger.
However, with their newfound intelligence, these demonic beasts had gained emotions like fear, dread, and a tendency to bully the weak while fearing the strong, contrasting sharply with their former ferocity and fearlessness.
This was why these demonic beasts, having witnessed Chu Qingyi kill the Lion-Tiger Beast in a single move, did not attempt any counterattack. They knew the enemy before them was exceptionally powerful, and a direct confrontation would only lead to pointless sacrifice.
Seeing that Chu Qingyi showed no intention of attacking, the Sword Wolf Beasts prepared to tuck their tails and flee in panic.
But Chu Qingyi was not about to give them that chance. With another swift move, she struck their legs precisely, using just enough force to render them immobile.
"Awoo..."
The Sword Wolf Beasts let out pitiful howls, the fear in their eyes growing even more intense.
Now, even if they wanted to escape, they were completely unable to do so, left at the mercy of Chu Qingyi.
To uncover the truth, Chu Qingyi observed the Sword Wolf Beasts up close. After careful examination, she found nothing unusual.
"What's going on?" she murmured to herself, her delicate brows furrowing slightly.
She extended her slender, jade-like hand, bringing her index and middle fingers together. Channeling her immortal energy to her fingertips, she gently traced them over the Sword Wolf Beast's skin.
The moment her fingers made contact, she could feel its body shudder violently, its howls growing even more agonized.
Closing her eyes, she focused on the flow of energy as her fingers moved, sensing the condition within the Sword Wolf Beast's body.
A few moments later, she withdrew her immortal energy and slowly opened her beautiful eyes.
Strange...
Just now, she had used an immortal technique to probe the Sword Wolf Beast's internal state, but after all that effort, she had gained no results.
The Sword Wolf Beast's body was completely intact, with no abnormalities whatsoever. Apart from the injuries to its limbs inflicted by her, all its organs were perfectly normal.
Unwilling to give up, she proceeded to examine the other Sword Wolf Beasts one by one, but still found nothing.
Perplexed, her expression filled with confusion, her intuition told her there must be something she had overlooked.
After another careful examination, she still came up empty-handed.
Just as she was about to give up, in the moment she stood up, her body suddenly froze. Realizing something belatedly, she hurriedly crouched down and looked into the sword wolf beast's eyes.
The gray-green pupils were filled with fear, mixed with a hint of intelligence that could only be seen in human eyes.
Unaware of what was happening, the sword wolf beast dragged its injured hind leg, struggling to retreat backward.
But with all its tendons severed, pain continuously surged from its leg, making it impossible for it to move forward even a little.
Chu Qingyi once again channeled her immortal energy, causing the circulation of her innate immortal qi to suddenly accelerate. Strands of pure immortal energy rose like steam, and in the next moment, her pupils instantly bloomed with a peculiar pale golden light, as dazzling as the sun high in the sky.
Upon closer inspection, one could see that her pupils seemed to have transformed into golden six-pointed stars, spinning rapidly within.
Her robes fluttered without wind, and her cascading black hair swayed gently. Her entire demeanor underwent a transformation at that moment, resembling a majestic war goddess from the highest heavens, sacred and inviolable.
"Roar! Roar! Roar!"
The Sword-Wolf Beast stared at Chu Qingyi in utter shock, its body trembling uncontrollably. Its pupils widened to their limits in fear, as if it had seen something terrifying, and desperate, piercing howls erupted from its mouth.
A moment later, the golden light in Chu Qingyi's eyes gradually faded, and her imposing aura completely receded.
"So that's how it is..." she murmured to herself.
As soon as the words left her lips, the Sword-Wolf Beast before her finally succumbed to its terror and collapsed, unconscious.
Having unraveled the mystery, Chu Qingyi gazed at the several demon beasts before her, lost in thought.
Just then, Li Ye, who had been separated from her for quite some time, sensed the commotion and hurried over.
He saw Chu Qingyi crouching before a few demon beasts. One of the Sword-Wolf Beasts had already fainted, while the others huddled nearby, trembling as if they had endured some horrifying ordeal.
"Qingyi, what happened? These demon beasts..." Li Ye asked, puzzled.
Chu Qingyi stood up and replied calmly, "It's nothing. I just dealt with a few demon beasts. By the way, did you find anything on your end?"
"I almost reached the end, but aside from seeing some demon beasts gathered together, I found no clues at all," Li Ye shook his head in frustration.
"That's exactly it," Chu Qingyi's brilliant eyes sparkled, and the smile on her lips deepened.
"Exactly it? What do you mean?" Li Ye scratched his head, utterly confused.
After parting ways with Chu Qingyi, he had headed east as agreed, but after searching for half a day, he found nothing. He had even nearly stumbled into a pack of demon beasts.
Strangely enough, these demon beasts never gathered in such large numbers, yet today he had encountered dozens of them moving together.
Although most of them were only at the low or mid Yellow Tier in strength, their combined force was still terrifying. If entangled with them, it would have taken considerable time and effort to break free.
At the time, Li Ye watched as demon beasts passed by one after another in the distance, feeling a chill run down his spine. To avoid conflict, he had no choice but to take a detour.
As he neared the edge of the forest, he sensed some commotion not far away. Thinking it might be related to their investigation, he decided to check it out. To his surprise, it turned out to be Chu Qingyi causing the disturbance.
Upon arriving, he saw several demon beasts cowering on the ground, with Chu Qingyi deep in thought. The surroundings clearly bore signs of a struggle.
He couldn't help but wonder: logically, Qingyi should have been more cautious than him. There was no reason for her to engage with these demon beasts.
"What you said—about the demon beasts gathering in large numbers—is correct," Chu Qingyi said calmly.
Her words interrupted Li Ye's train of thought. Curious, he asked, "Although it's strange for them to gather like this, what exactly is the problem?"
"Come and see." Chu Qingyi beckoned, signaling him to step forward.
Puzzled, Li Ye followed her gaze, his eyes settling on the shivering Sword Wolf Beasts.
He scrutinized the creatures up and down but couldn't pinpoint anything unusual.
"Look closely at their eyes," Chu Qingyi reminded him, noticing his confusion.
Only then did Li Ye focus, staring intently into the pupils of one of the Sword Wolf Beasts.
At first glance, there seemed nothing out of the ordinary about their pupils. Their gray-green eyes were filled with fear and despair, speckled with mottled black dots that gave them a somewhat chaotic appearance.
Just as Li Ye was growing perplexed, he suddenly noticed that deep within the Sword Wolf Beast's pupils, there seemed to be a thick layer of dense fog. Staring too closely made him feel dizzy and disoriented.
Drawn in, Li Ye quickly steadied his mind. Once calm, his expression grew more serious.
Sensing something amiss, he activated an internal cultivation technique, channeling a wisp of pure spiritual energy into his eyes before looking again at the Sword Wolf Beast's eyes.
This time, he finally discovered the source of the problem.
Deep within the Sword Wolf Beast's pupils, a layer of gray "mist" enveloped everything. Though called mist, it was actually a dense network of intricate, obscure patterns intertwined to form a deep gray web. Faint gray light flickered intermittently, sealing off what little intelligence the Sword Wolf Beast possessed.
Looking even closer, within this web, there appeared to be a miniature version of the Sword Wolf Beast, cowering in a corner, listless and trembling with fear as it stared at the web before it.
Li Ye fixed his gaze on the obscure patterns of the web, feeling a wave of dizziness wash over him.
"This... this is a Slave Seal?!" he exclaimed, taking several steps back in disbelief.
Chu Qingyi neither confirmed nor denied it.
In truth, she had already discovered before Li Ye's arrival that every one of these Sword Wolf Beasts had been implanted with a Slave Seal. However, Slave Seals were exceedingly rare, leaving her somewhat doubtful. Now, hearing Li Ye reach the same conclusion, she was certain these creatures had indeed been marked with Slave Seals.
The Slave Seal was an extremely secretive mystical art in the Profound Realm. It was called a mystical art because it was created and utilized by a powerful figure in the cultivation world. However, as its use spread, many with ill intentions twisted its purpose, using it to commit acts that defied the natural order.
Initially, the Slave Seal was designed to strengthen the bond between beast-summoning cultivators and their spiritual beasts, even achieving a state of unity and shared consciousness. But for unknown reasons, it was later exploited and modified by those with malicious intent, turning it into a means to forcibly subjugate beasts. Some even went so far as to implant Slave Seals in humans, stripping them of their free will and forcing them to obey the commands of their masters without question.
Centuries ago, several individuals who had mastered the Slave Seal to perfection emerged. Though their personal strength was not exceptional, they were protected by numerous people implanted with Slave Seals, using the power of the seal to commit atrocities that outraged both mortals and immortals alike.
In the end, these individuals with malicious intentions were jointly eradicated by other powerful figures in the Mysterious Continent, thus eliminating the hidden dangers brought by the Slave Seal at that time.
To prevent such tragedies from recurring, later generations destroyed all ancient texts and records containing the cultivation methods of the Slave Seal, ensuring that those with ill intentions could not exploit them to commit further atrocities.
To this day, there has been no news of the Slave Seal for a long time. Chu Qingyi and Li Ye only learned about it by chance from Chu Tiannan's words.
At the time, they regarded the Slave Seal as nothing more than a speck of dust in history. But who could have imagined that, centuries later, the Slave Seal would make a comeback!
Judging by the current situation, it's likely not just these few Sword Wolf Beasts that have been implanted with the Slave Seal. The beast horde Li Ye encountered earlier was probably also influenced by the Slave Seal, as were the demonic beasts attacking humans outside Jinling City—most likely sharing the same fate as these Sword Wolf Beasts.
Chu Qingyi and Li Ye wore grave expressions, silently staring at the Sword Wolf Beasts.
Though they didn't know who had implanted the Slave Seal in these demonic beasts or what sinister plot lay behind it, they knew they had to completely thwart this person's plans before they could be set into motion.
"The Slave Seal should only force those implanted with it to obey the commands of the one who placed it, but these demonic beasts seem to be more than just obedient," Li Ye remarked.
"Yes, in the past, the Slave Seal only allowed the implanted to stay by the side of the one who placed it, and the number of seals a single person could implant was limited, or they would suffer backlash," Chu Qingyi nodded in agreement.
"But these demonic beasts... along with those we haven't seen, there must be thousands of them..." Li Ye shuddered, voicing a fact he himself was reluctant to face.
"That's what puzzles me too," Chu Qingyi sighed, as the reality before them clearly exceeded their understanding.
"Moreover, from what I've observed, the Slave Seal in the eyes of these Sword Wolf Beasts seems slightly different from what my father described. It's only the pattern that differs, but I'm not entirely sure how its effects have changed," Chu Qingyi added.
"I noticed that too. My master once told me that the Slave Seal is usually light gray, but what we're seeing now is dark gray, and the pattern is obscure and incomprehensible," Li Ye nodded gravely. The situation had clearly surpassed their expectations.
"Perhaps this small change has significantly altered the effects of the Slave Seal compared to the past," Chu Qingyi agreed.
Li Ye looked down at the dying Sword Wolf Beasts, and with a thought, strands of immortal energy converged into sharp, unyielding blades, piercing through their bodies one after another.
In the blink of an eye, the Sword Wolf Beasts, which had been whimpering softly, fell silent.
Having identified the crux of the problem, they decided it was better to grant these creatures a swift end rather than watch them suffer.
"But why would someone go to such lengths to implant the Slave Seal in demonic beasts? Wouldn't it be more powerful to implant it in cultivators? If some reclusive super-powerful cultivator were implanted with it, wouldn't the effect be ten thousand times stronger than with these demonic beasts?" Li Ye wondered aloud.
"Have you ever considered that the one stirring up trouble behind the scenes might not be human at all?" Chu Qingyi answered with an unrelated question.
"Not human?" Li Ye grew even more confused and blurted out, "If it's not human, then what is it?"
After saying this, he seemed to recall something and froze on the spot.
It was only then that he realized the purpose of their visit was to investigate the Mystic Spirit Python.
If it wasn't a human manipulating things behind the scenes, then the Mystic Spirit Python became a prime suspect. This perfectly explained why the slave seals weren't applied to humans but were instead implanted in demon beasts.
After all, the Mystic Spirit Python itself was a demon beast. For it, controlling demon beasts would be far easier than controlling humans. Moreover, compared to humans, demon beasts would be less wary of other demon beasts, which would greatly facilitate its actions to some extent.
But another question arose: How did the Mystic Spirit Python come to know the cultivation method for slave seals?
"If we follow our earlier speculation, all of this should be the work of the Mystic Spirit Python," Chu Qingyi said calmly, seeing his expression of sudden understanding.
"But aren't we demonizing the Mystic Spirit Python too much? While it might be possible for it to break through in terms of strength, the matter of these slave seals is truly unbelievable. Not to mention that the slave seals were originally created by a great master to better subdue demon beasts—whether they can even be cultivated by demon beasts is uncertain. And even if the Mystic Spirit Python managed to break through by chance, it couldn't possibly have implanted slave seals in so many demon beasts all at once. So, aren't our speculations a bit like unnecessary worry?" Li Ye frowned as he spoke.
Hearing this, Chu Qingyi fell silent.
In truth, she also felt that if a demon beast could truly accomplish what they imagined, it would at least need to possess Heavenly-tier strength or be a rare, extraordinary demon beast with ancient bloodline heritage.
Such demon beasts were extremely rare in the Profound Mechanism Continent. Only a few families of demon beasts, inheriting ancient bloodlines, lived in seclusion, maintaining a peaceful coexistence with humans.
If such a demon beast were to emerge, various factions would inevitably take notice and would never allow it to carry out such unnatural acts within their territories.
Furthermore, the Mystic Spirit Python, whether in terms of talent or strength, had no connection to the aforementioned types of demon beasts. In such a short time, it would already be remarkable for the Mystic Spirit Python to break through a few minor realms—how could it possibly reach such a level?
Thus, after hearing Li Ye's doubts, Chu Qingyi also fell into deep thought.
"Regardless, the information we've gathered today is enough for us to digest for a while. As for the Mystic Spirit Python, until we find its traces, we shouldn't jump to conclusions too easily," Li Ye said with a furrowed brow. "Also, I plan to take these Sword Wolf Beasts back to the Punishment Division for a thorough examination."
"That's fine," Chu Qingyi nodded in agreement.
She figured that after Li Ye brought the information back, the Punishment Division would likely be busy for some time and would dispatch many people to investigate the matter. Other factions would inevitably get involved in this mess as well. Once they made some discoveries, the truth would probably come to light.
For now, this was the best approach.
Chu Qingyi thought to herself as she watched Li Ye gather the few Sword Wolf beasts into the specially crafted Spirit-Binding Nets of the Punishment Department, then proceed to clean up the surrounding traces.
After completing these tasks, the couple returned together to Jinling City.
"Then... are you heading to the Punishment Department now?" Chu Qingyi's tone was as calm as still water, revealing no trace of emotion.
Li Ye, walking beside her, paused for a moment, unsure how to answer her question.
For a moment, the atmosphere grew awkward.
Chu Qingyi's small hands clenched tightly at her dress; beneath her seemingly composed expression, emotions surged like a turbulent sea.
She hadn't forgotten that just yesterday, Li Ye had personally said he would stay at home for a few days. Yet, given the current situation, it seemed he was likely returning to the Punishment Department once more...
Her heart was a whirlwind of conflicting emotions—reluctance to see him leave, yet also a sense of confusion about how to face him.
She knew that if she asked him to stay, he would undoubtedly choose to remain without hesitation. But for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to speak the words.
"Qingyi, these few demon beasts..." Li Ye finally began to speak.
"It's fine. Official duties come first. Remember to tell me the results once you've finished your investigation." Chu Qingyi cut him off before he could finish.
In truth, the moment he started speaking, she already knew his decision.
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