Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Spirit Beast Bloodline
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Holding the jade slip, his spiritual sense poured into it. Instantly, a book materialized in his mind.
[Yun Clan Miscellany]
Judging by the book's introduction, this was a compendium of basic knowledge about the Tiannan Region's cultivation world, painstakingly compiled by the Yun Clan. It was all-encompassing and covered a wide range of topics.
Cultivation realms, the hundred arts of cultivation, heavenly materials and earthly treasures, magical artifacts and pills, spirit pets and puppets... all were included within.
Chen Jianghe examined them one by one.
The first part was a regional gazetteer, primarily introducing the geography of the Tiannan Region and the territories of various factions.
The Tiannan Region was vast, spanning ninety thousand miles from north to south. A seventy-thousand-mile river crossed it from east to west, cutting the region in half.
This divided the Tiannan Sect into a Southern Branch and a Northern Branch.
The Mirror Moon Lake Yun Clan was located within the jurisdiction of the Tiannan Sect's Southern Branch. The immortal sect examination that Gao Peiyao had participated in was held by the Southern Branch.
Chen Jianghe spent a day memorizing the contents of the gazetteer. He was only staying with the Yun Clan temporarily and would have to leave sooner or later.
The gazetteer would be of great use to him.
It would prevent him from being completely ignorant when he eventually left the Yun Clan to travel the Tiannan Region.
The second part was about heavenly materials and earthly treasures, recording the various precious items that the Yun Clan ancestors had encountered.
Treasures like spirit grasses, immortal stones, and rare flowers... The heavenly materials and earthly treasures recorded within were mostly accompanied by illustrations.
Chen Jianghe also committed these immortal materials and precious treasures to memory, thinking they might be useful in the future.
Then came the section on the hundred arts of cultivation.
“One can only begin to learn alchemy and artifact refinement at the middle stage of Qi Refining, and array formations actually require the late stage of Qi Refining!”
Opening the section on the hundred arts of cultivation, the first things that caught his eye were the four great arts: arrays, artifacts, alchemy, and talismans.
The basic requirement to study artifact refinement and alchemy was actually a middle-stage Qi Refining cultivation.
This was because both artifact refinement and alchemy required alchemical fire, but alchemical fire was a flame only possessed by Core Formation masters.
Therefore, other unique flames had to be used as substitutes, such as earth fire, which was the fire from the earth's core drawn out through the medium of an array formation.
Although an array formation could draw out the earth's core fire, a cultivator was still needed to control these flames, which consumed a large amount of spiritual power.
The spiritual power of an early-stage Qi Refining cultivator was simply insufficient to sustain the consumption.
As for the art of arrays, a cultivator needed to be at the late stage of Qi Refining to even begin to comprehend it.
This was because the art of arrays had extremely high requirements for spiritual sense and was particularly draining on the mind.
Talisman crafting, by comparison, was much simpler. One could attempt it in the early stage of Qi Refining. Most importantly, in its early stages, it didn't require a legacy like the other arts.
Of course, talisman crafting only didn't require a legacy in the beginning.
If one wished to become a first-tier high-grade Talisman Master, a corresponding first-tier talisman crafting legacy was still necessary. Otherwise, one could spend a hundred years and still fail to create a high-grade spirit talisman.
Chen Jianghe had just started with talisman crafting and could barely draw a low-grade Water Arrow Talisman. High-grade spirit talismans were still a distant goal.
Therefore, a talisman crafting legacy was not an urgent need.
Once his cultivation level increased and his talisman crafting skill reached the first-tier middle-grade, he would then find a way to obtain a legacy.
From the moment he stepped onto the path of cultivation, he had resolved to plan his immortal journey with a steady, gradual, and solid approach.
After that were other cultivation arts such as medicinal cuisine, medicine, puppetry, brewing, spirit planting, beast taming, and spiritual construction.
Although Chen Jianghe didn't plan to delve into these, he still read through them carefully, at least to gain a basic understanding of each art.
Further on were sections on magical artifacts, pills, and spirit beasts.
“It seems that portly shopkeeper didn't lie to me. Spirit beasts generally don't have cultivation techniques passed down through legacies.”
The [Yun Clan Miscellany] recorded that spirit beasts' cultivation was divided into nine tiers, from low to high, corresponding to the nine major realms of cultivators.
A third-tier spirit beast (or demon beast) would have its spirit core transform and descend to its dantian, condensing into a demon core. At this stage, it could speak human language.
A fifth-tier spirit beast (or demon beast) would undergo a tribulation to take human form. Upon success, it could shed its beastly form and become indistinguishable from a human cultivator.
Furthermore, a spirit beast of the same realm was stronger than a cultivator. For example, a second-tier spirit beast could defeat a Foundation Establishment Ancestor who lacked suitable magical artifacts.
Another point was that spirit beasts, like cultivators, possessed innate talent, and their hierarchy was even stricter than that of cultivators.
A cultivator's talent was determined by the quality and number of their spiritual roots.
A spirit beast's talent, however, was determined by the purity of its bloodline, and it cultivated through the inheritance of that bloodline.
Bloodline purity was divided into nine grades, from one to nine, from lowest to highest. The higher the bloodline grade, the greater the potential.
Most beasts in this world had first-grade bloodlines. It was very difficult for them to awaken their intelligence and begin cultivation.
Beasts with second-grade bloodlines were naturally able to absorb spiritual energy. As they did, their intelligence would gradually awaken, allowing them to successfully enter the tiers of cultivation and transform into spirit beasts.
However, without a great opportunity, a beast with a second-grade bloodline could only ever reach the first tier as a spirit beast.
Beasts with third-grade bloodlines were born with intelligence, and their cultivation speed was very fast. They could generally cultivate to become second-tier spirit beasts.
A spirit beast with a third-grade bloodline had never appeared within the territory of Mirror Moon Lake.
The only recorded instance in the [Yun Clan Miscellany] was at an auction in Qinghe Market City, where one was bought by the Beast Taming Immortal Zhou Clan for the high price of three thousand two hundred spirit stones.
This was considerably more valuable than a Foundation Establishment Pill.
“The little green fish has a second-grade bloodline, so Xiao Hei's must be first-grade. He was forced to transform into a spirit beast.”
“But why does it feel like Xiao Hei's cultivation speed isn't slow at all after becoming a first-tier spirit beast?”
After becoming a spirit beast, Xiao Hei had only consumed one Spirit Nurturing Pill. At most, that was equivalent to seven or eight years of hard cultivation.
Yet, the fluctuations of his spiritual power gave Chen Jianghe the impression that he was at the second level of Qi Refining and about to reach the third.
In other words.
Xiao Hei's cultivation speed was nearly twice as fast as his own.
This was completely unlike what was recorded in the [Yun Clan Miscellany], which stated that spirit beasts with first-grade bloodlines cultivated extremely slowly.
It even seemed a notch faster than a second-grade bloodline.
But it didn't quite reach the level of a third-grade bloodline.
“Could it be because of the [Three Revolutions Demon Ascension Art]?”
Normally, only demon beasts with fifth-grade bloodlines or higher would have inherited cultivation techniques. Xiao Hei, due to the mark on his spiritual platform, had obtained such a legacy technique.
Chen Jianghe thought it over and over. The only thing that could have increased Xiao Hei's cultivation speed was the [Three Revolutions Demon Ascension Art].
“If it's really as I think, doesn't that make my golden finger even more powerful!”
The faster Xiao Hei cultivated, the more it would benefit Chen Jianghe. Not only would he have a powerful spirit pet.
His own lifespan limit would also increase.
Immediately, Chen Jianghe turned his spiritual sense inward to his spiritual platform and communicated with Xiao Hei, who was currently feeding the fish.
“Xiao Hei, have you felt any changes after cultivating the [Three Revolutions Demon Ascension Art]?”
“Changes? Does doubling my spiritual power count?”
“...”
Chen Jianghe rolled his eyes.
The Yun Clan's core technique, the Origin Condensing True Water Scripture, only increased spiritual power by thirty percent.
Yet the [Three Revolutions Demon Ascension Art] had doubled Xiao Hei's spiritual power. It was obvious that the [Three Revolutions Demon Ascension Art] was stronger than the Yun Clan's Origin Condensing True Water Scripture by more than just a little.
“Two-legged beast master, I feel like if I eat one more Spirit Nurturing Pill, I can reach the peak of the first-tier initial stage.”
Xiao Hei's excited and joyful voice came through the mark on his spiritual platform.
Chen Jianghe was stunned, somewhat dumbfounded. The peak of the first-tier initial stage was equivalent to the third level of Qi Refining.
It had only been a little over six years since Xiao Hei became a spirit beast, and he was already about to become a spirit beast comparable to the third level of Qi Refining?
Seven years for him was equivalent to fifteen years for Chen Jianghe.
Could it be that the [Three Revolutions Demon Ascension Art] bestowed by the mark on his spiritual platform could enhance a spirit beast's innate bloodline...