The beast garden, though called a garden, was actually a mountain that had been hollowed out and was used to house and imprison countless demon beasts.
Looking at the beast garden that was constantly emitting the roars of demon beasts, Zhang Chen took a deep breath and walked to the entrance of the foot of the mountain.
There were a dozen or so disciples guarding the entrance, and every one of them was at the sixth level of Qi cultivation.
Occasionally, other disciples would come and go. They must have accepted the mission to collect demon blood.
It was said that there was a Foundation Establishment stage elder in the beast garden, but Zhang Chen didn't see anyone.
"Senior Brother, I've accepted a mission to collect demon blood and have come to report."
Zhang Chen took out his identity token and handed it to the guard in charge of registration.
The guard took the token and after confirming it, he took out a token and a bottle and explained.
"This is the array formation token. After inputting spiritual power, you can control the beast garden's array formation, which will turn into chains to restrain the demon beasts. This bottle is a blood storage bottle. Injecting spiritual power can activate it to absorb demon blood.
"Your mission today is to go to Cave 29 to collect blood and fill the blood storage bottle. Be careful not to let the demon beasts die."
At this point, the guard's tone became fierce. "If you pocket the demon blood, you will replace the demon beast."
"Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother. I understand." Zhang Chen took the token and bottle and bowed before walking towards the beast garden.
Excessive politeness wouldn't offend anyone, especially in the demonic sect where everyone was influenced by their cultivation techniques and their mental state might not be normal. It was very likely that they would hold a grudge over a small matter.
There were caves at intervals on the mountain in the beast garden, and each cave was labeled with a number, making it easy to identify.
His mission was to go to Cave 29 and collect blood, so all he had to do was find the cave with the corresponding number.
On the way, Zhang Chen studied the blood storage bottle in his hand.
Although the bottle was only the size of his palm, his consciousness sank into it and he could sense a space the size of a water tank.
Other than storing blood, the blood storage bottle could also prevent the loss of the spiritual energy in the demon blood. It was a must-have item for disciples of the Blood God Sect when going out on missions.
"This is good stuff. It's a pity that I have to return it after using it." Zhang Chen played with the blood storage bottle lovingly, thinking that he should get one for himself in the future.
Soon, Zhang Chen arrived at Cave 29.
"Roar! Roar! Roar!"
"Hiss, hiss, hiss~"
There were constant angry roars and hisses of demon beasts coming from inside the cave, accompanied by a strong stench that assaulted the senses.
The huge cave was like a giant mouth waiting to devour anyone who entered, making people feel afraid.
Zhang Chen did not dare to be careless and walked cautiously into the cave.
This was a wide tunnel with stone chambers on both sides that served as prisons for captive demon beasts.
There were no fences. Instead, there was a transparent light film shimmering with blood light, also known as an array formation.
The first stone chamber held a tiger demon with a cultivation level of around the fifth level of Qi cultivation.
The tiger demon crouched, poised to attack, as it stared fiercely at Zhang Chen. The black demonic qi around its body seemed to be material as it bared its fangs and brandished its claws.
Suddenly, the tiger demon moved.
"Roar!"
The tiger demon let out a deafening roar and pounced on Zhang Chen. Its demonic qi swept around like a raging wind, chilling to the bone.
Zhang Chen, seeing a demon for the first time, was frightened by its imposing manner and was momentarily stunned.
"Bang!"
"Ahh~"
The tiger demon slammed into the light film and cried out in pain.
Watching the tiger demon climb up again, Zhang Chen finally came to his senses. His face was full of lingering fear.
"Fortunately, there's a formation blocking it. Otherwise, I would have died in the tiger's mouth just now."
At this moment, Zhang Chen realized his shortcomings. As a time traveler, he had never faced a real tiger, let alone a tiger demon.
The terrifying aura made his mind blank and his thoughts stagnant.
In addition, he had not been in this world for long, and his mind had not yet adapted. Faced with unexpected situations, even with his strength, he didn't know how to use it.
Perhaps this blood collection mission was a good opportunity for him to train.
If he could not overcome the fear in his heart, hunting demons in the future would be more dangerous than beneficial.
"Phew~"
Zhang Chen took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He looked directly into the tiger demon's eyes and faced his fear.
The tiger demon felt the provocation and stirred up its ferocity. It pounced on Zhang Chen repeatedly, but it was blocked by the light film each time.
As he watched the tiger demon howling helplessly, Zhang Chen's fear slowly disappeared, and he even felt like laughing.
However, he kept reminding himself that this was because of the protection of the array formation and he must not underestimate the demon beasts.
After calming down, Zhang Chen prepared to collect the demon blood.
He infused spiritual power into the formation token, and with a thought, the light film turned into chains of blood, binding and restraining the tiger demon.
"Roar! Roar!"
The tiger demon struggled with all its might, but it was in vain.
Zhang Chen did not approach rashly. He raised his hand, and blood gushed out, condensing into a whip in his hand.
"Crack!"
The blood whip struck the tiger demon's body fiercely, causing its flesh to split open.
"Roar!" The tiger demon roared in pain, its ferocity increasing instead of decreasing.
Zhang Chen had no intention of abusing the tiger demon. He took out the blood storage bottle and infused it with spiritual energy.
The blood storage bottle flashed with blood light, producing a suction force that caused fresh blood to continuously flow out of the tiger demon's wounds and into the bottle.
As the blood flowed out, the tiger demon's breath became weaker and its cries grew quieter. Its struggling became weaker and weaker.
After a while, Zhang Chen felt that it was enough and stopped transmitting spiritual energy to the blood storage bottle.
Without spiritual energy, the suction force of the blood storage bottle disappeared, and the tiger demon's wounds stopped bleeding.
Zhang Chen's consciousness sank into the bottle, which now contained about a bucket's worth of demon blood.
"Good, next one."
Everything went smoothly. Zhang Chen nodded in satisfaction as he walked towards the adjacent stone chamber.
Imprisoned inside this chamber was a deer demon with beautiful yet dangerous white jade antlers.
The deer demon lay on the ground, looking very weak. Its aura was around the third level of Qi cultivation. Its smooth fur was covered in scars. Clearly, it was frequently bled.
Zhang Chen did not let down his guard because of this. He infused spiritual power into the formation token.
"Yoo, yoo, yoo…"
The deer demon, bound by the blood chain, screamed in misery, flailing its hooves and struggling with all its might.
"Ah~"
Zhang Chen sighed. He and these demons were so alike, except for the fact that they were kept in captivity in a different way.
The only thing he could do was to become stronger, strong enough to control his own fate.
Zhang Chen's hands did not stop moving. The blood in his hands condensed into a sword which he used to make a cut on the deer demon's hind leg.
The rest of the blood collection went relatively smoothly, and with Zhang Chen's carefulness, there were no dangerous situations.
Half a day later.
"The blood storage bottle is full. Senior Brother, please check it." Zhang Chen respectfully handed over the blood storage bottle.
The guard took the blood storage bottle and scanned it with his consciousness. After confirming that there was no mistake, he nodded. "Return the array token to me and you can leave."
"Yes, Senior Brother." Zhang Chen returned the array token.
The guard disciple no longer paid attention to him, and Zhang Chen tactfully turned around to leave.
Today's mission was completed, and he had overcome his fear of demon beasts. The only flaw was that he did not run into any inner sect disciples.
Zhang Chen did not forget his other goal. He wanted to become the spokesperson for selling demon blood outside the sect as an inner sect disciple.
But he couldn't stay near the beast garden all the time, for fear of being misunderstood as a spy or having ulterior motives.
However, this was only the first day. The mission deadline was a month away. There was no need to hurry.