Chapter 146: Refinement Technique; Arrival of the Little Packrat’s Father

Translator: Minotauruz

Situ Cang and his men failed to notice the invisible Transmittance Talisman under the little packrat’s paw.

In their eyes, this little packrat who had always tagged alongside Jun Xiaomo was only looking at them in fear and trepidation as its body quivered uncontrollably. It no longer presented itself with that pride and arrogance as it had done in the past when it had nuzzled against Jun Xiaomo’s bosom.

Yu Wanrou was particularly delighted seeing this. She stared at the little packrat as a vicious and macabre gaze flashed across her eyes.

She had already guessed the little packrat’s identity by now – ever since she saw this little packrat in Yao Mo’s bosom, she had found it to be extremely familiar. Who would have thought that it would be the very same one that she had lost some time ago?

Yu Wanrou never liked it when her things were touched by other women. She could not stand it – even if this “thing” were no more than a mere little pet.

Furthermore, this little packrat ought to have been hers to begin with. It was something that her martial brother Ke had bought as a birthday gift for her. What basis did this little packrat have to treat Jun Xiaomo with a far better attitude than it had ever treated her with?

Every time she thought about how her little packrat had scratched her, Yu Wanrou could not help but feel a sense of indignation swell up within her heart. She could hardly resist the urge rising up within her heart to torment this little beast with far more vicious and sinister methods. She was going to thoroughly etch in its bones the consequences of baring its fangs at its master and owner.

Truth be told, Yu Wanrou had in fact already put this matter behind her and forgotten all about the little packrat when Ke Xinwen said that he could no longer locate its whereabouts within Dawn Sect. But right now, a renewed sense of hatred swelled up in her heart, and Yu Wanrou decided that she was not going to let off this little packrat no matter what.

Since its owner has run away, then this little packrat should naturally receive all the punishment in its owner’s stead. Yu Wanrou’s “soft and charming” smile broadened, but the true contemplations of her heart could be seen through the frigid intent in her eyes.

She hated Jun Xiaomo. Previously, her jealousy for Jun Xiaomo’s background had been far greater than her hatred for Jun Xiaomo. But given how things had unraveled, her hatred had swelled so much that it had now far exceeded her immense jealousy for Jun Xiaomo.

In fact, every time she was reminded of the fact that she had attempted to seduce Yao Mo, she would develop a sense of anger, frustration and indignation towards Jun Xiaomo. Jun Xiaomo must’ve looked at me as though I was some clown to her. She must even have been looking at me with such contempt and mockery in her heart!

Yu Wanrou longed to tear Jun Xiaomo to shreds. But given how they were temporarily unable to locate Jun Xiaomo, she did not mind ventilating some of her frustrations on Jun Xiaomo’s little packrat first.

Yu Wanrou was not the only one who had thought this way. Jun Xiaomo, Rong Ruihan and Ye Xiuwen had once again eluded capture from right under everyone’s noses – this was undoubtedly akin to a tight slap to their faces.

If it had happened only once, they could attribute it to the complacency and carelessness of Situ Cang and his men. But this was the second time.

Furthermore, Situ Cang had sent out several teams of men to surround and assault Jun Xiaomo and the rest in order to wear them down in a battle of attrition. Situ Cang had even personally supervised their assault and directed the assailant from the sidelines.

Yet in the end, Jun Xiaomo still somehow managed to slip out of their encirclement and escape together with Rong Ruihan and Ye Xiuwen using a Teleportation Scroll.

Situ Cang squinted his eyes as he remained taciturn. Moments later, he waved his hand, gesturing to his lackeys to capture the little, white packrat on the ground.

His lackeys immediately understood what their master meant, and they tiptoed towards the little packrat as they slowly made their way towards it... Truth be told, there was no need for them to do that to begin with, because the little packrat had already been watching them intently.

Under its thick coat of fluffy fur, the little packrat’s black, beady eyes had been trained on Situ Cang’s lackeys as they made their way over. It had also begun to muster its strength in its hind legs.

Squeak squeak!

Just as Situ Cang’s lackeys pounced at it, the little packrat kicked powerfully with its hind legs and shot out among their midst.

“Quickly catch it!” The leader of Situ Cang’s lackeys called out anxiously.

Everyone immediately scrambled to capture the little packrat.

This time, it was no longer only Situ Cang’s lackeys who were involved – even the Dawn Sect disciples had joined in the fray as they attempted to pounce on the little packrat’s body.

When the assailants were persecuting and attacking Jun Xiaomo and Ye Xiuwen earlier, the Dawn Sect disciples had refrained from acting because of their identity. But now, given that the target of their capture was no more than a small creature, they could hardly care less any longer.

Even then, they could never have thought that such a small ball of fluff would be so difficult to capture. Not only was it nimble and quick on its feet; its entire body was incredibly round and slippery – some had touched it, but none were able to successfully grab hold of it.

The little packrat had imbued its body with its demonic energy. Despite their concerted efforts, the little packrat still managed to slip out from their grasp time and again. In the end, the Dawn Sect disciples and Situ Cang’s lackeys could only scramble about chaotically to no avail.

In the end, Situ Cang was forced to make a move himself. With one move, Situ Cang tossed out a Confinement Array, the little packrat was instantly bound in place, motionless.

The little packrat who had once experienced the effects of Jun Xiaomo’s Confinement Array: ......

I...I...I hate Confinement Arrays the most!!!

Furthermore, the Grand Vizier’s Confinement Array was different from Jun Xiaomo’s. Jun Xiaomo had only restricted the little packrat’s movement within the domain of the array in order to keep from running into any dangers. On the other hand, the Grand Vizier’s Confinement Array was designed to put pressure on the trapped object.

The immense pressure bore down heavily on the little packrat’s back, forcing it to squeak in pain and discomfort.

It scratched at the Confinement Array with its claws. But when it finally discovered that there was no way he could stand up and break free of this immense and fearsome oppressive force, it curled up its body into a ball and shrunk to the ground.

Situ Cang squinted as he sized up the little packrat for a bit. Then, he laughed sardonically, “As expected, Dawn Sect is really full of degenerates. Even the pets you rear are vermin that thrive on demonic energy.”

“Demonic energy?!” The Dawn Sect disciples were initially indignant at Situ Cang’s contemptuous comments about their sect. But when they heard his second statement, they were completely stunned, “Could this packrat be a demonic packrat, and not a spiritual packrat?”

Situ Cang chuckled coldly, “Its body is undoubtedly emanating demonic energy.”

“Hmph. The degenerates are those from Heavenly Peak. It’s got nothing to do with us.” Ke Xinwen rebutted with indignance as several other disciples threw glances of praise at him.

Situ Cang immediately glared at Ke Xinwen. He shivered, and then immediately grew taciturn.

“Heavenly Peak is one of the Peaks within the Dawn Sect. Are you saying that this Sovereign is wrong? Rather than dispute over trivial and inconsequential things like this, why not let this Sovereign take a look at that little beast over there?” Situ Cang refuted, before making a suggestion.

Everyone stared at each other blankly. In the end, it was the person who had spoken last, Ke Xinwen, who walked over to the Confinement Array and picked up the little packrat.

Squeak squeak squeak! The little packrat began to struggle for its life. It wanted to break free from Ke Xinwen’s grasp, but it was rendered completely helpless because Ke Xinwen had grabbed it from its tail. After struggling for a brief moment in vain, the little packrat even found itself getting slightly dizzy from all the blood that had flowed to its head.

Squeak squeak... It called out dolefully, before it curled itself up once again, giving up on any further thoughts of struggling.

Ke Xinwen presented the plump little packrat to Situ Cang, but Situ Cang did not receive it immediately. Instead, he instructed nonchalantly, “Hold onto it first.”

As he said that, Situ Cang retrieved six talismans from his Interspatial Ring and tossed them into the air.

Then, he made a complex series of hand seals in a flash. In the next moment, the six talismans in the air floated about and neatly arranged themselves to form a six-sided star formation.

Having formed this six-sided star formation, the talismans continued to rotate slowly in mid-air as they glowed with a faint garnet light.

It was obvious that this was a formation array – a formation array formed by the use of multiple talismans.

“Place that little beast inside.” Situ Cang instructed.

Place it inside? How do I place it inside? Ke Xinwen stared blankly at the six-sided star floating in mid-air, and he could not wrap his head around Situ Cang’s instructions.

Despite his hesitation, Ke Xinwen toted the little packrat and drew closer to the six-sided star.

Just as he drew within half an arm’s length of the six-sided star, he suddenly felt an incredible suction force emanating from the heart of that six-sided star.

It was at this moment that he finally understood the meaning of “place it inside”. This little packrat was going to be sucked in by that mysterious force.

The little packrat also experienced that fearsome suction energy at this moment. It immediately began to squeak in fear.

Ke Xinwen chuckled coldly, “What are you calling out for? You should already have expected this when you decided to follow Jun Xiaomo at the beginning.” As he said that, he tossed the little packrat towards the six-sided star.

Within moments, the little packrat was drawn into the heart of the six-sided star. Even Ke Xinwen had to exert considerable force before he managed to escape its ferocious suction force.

That’s truly fearsome. I wonder what the consequences of being sucked in there would be. Ke Xinwen shuddered to himself as he thought. Then, he turned his attention back towards Situ Cang.

At this moment, Situ Cang’s eyes were already half-closed, and his mouth began to move slightly as he muttered a mysterious and unrecognizable mnemonic.

The six-sided star began to glow brighter and brighter. As the garnet light began to engulf the little packrat, its fur and skin began to look as though it was being immolated. Then in the next moment, an immense wave of excruciating pain swept over the little packrat as it began to squeal.

Everyone was shocked at this sight, and nobody knew what exactly Situ Cang was doing right now.

Did he intend to torment this little packrat to death?

Could it be that the Grand Vizier was trying to take out his frustrations at the escape of the Jun Xiaomo trio on this poor little packrat?

These thoughts began to sprout out in the hearts of the Dawn Sect disciples and the Grand Vizier’s men.

But, in reality, Situ Cang’s considerations had far exceeded the contemplations of the other people around – Situ Cang’s intentions were to “refine” the little packrat.

Refining spirit and demonic beasts was an incredibly cruel process. This was because the cultivator would have to resort to extreme methods to forcibly rip out the spirit or demonic beast’s soul from its body. Furthermore, the beast would have to lose its consciousness under the baptism of excruciating pain so that the newly congealed entity would be fully compliant with the cultivator refining it.

That’s right – the refined beast could only be referred to as an entity or a thing. This is because it would no longer possess any form of conscience or awareness, and it would function as an existence no different from a spirit tool.

Naturally, Situ Cang never had the intention of refining the little packrat into a powerful offensive spirit tool. Based on his assessment, the little packrat was nothing more than a cute, adorable little pet. Therefore, there was no chance of it ever becoming a powerful spirit tool for the Grand Vizier’s use to begin with.

His main goal right now was to use the little packrat to lure Jun Xiaomo out of hiding. He could tell that Jun Xiaomo cared immensely for this little pet of hers.

He could even imbue the little packrat’s body with some powerful formation arrays so that when Jun Xiaomo picked up the little packrat, he could detonate these formation arrays remotely and wipe the Jun Xiaomo trio off the face of this earth!

Situ Cang longed to see Jun Xiaomo’s expressions when she finally realizes that the little pet in her bosom had been the cause of her demise.

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

I bed it would be filled with incredible astonishment and despondence, huh?

A smile crept up Situ Cang’s lips as he thought to himself.

However, he soon realized something unusual about this situation. Logically speaking, a low-grade spirit beast like the demonic packrat would not take such a long time to refine.

Yet in reality, an incense stick of time had passed, and apart from the growing intensity of demonic energy emanating from the little packrat’s body, he did not notice any signs of progress in his refinement.

Situ Cang furrowed his brows and recited a few more lines of his mnemonic. Then, he pointed his finger towards the six-sided star and imbued it with more spiritual energy.

Squeaaaaak—The little packrat’s squeal grew even more shrill.

Just then, an infuriated voice boomed out from mid-air –

“Who dares to hurt my child?!!!”

As this infuriated shout roared out, several onlookers whose cultivation levels were too low immediately spat out blood as their knees buckled and they collapsed onto the ground.