I'm Just a Beast Tamer

"This Zhou Yong’s Beast Taming Talent is truly extraordinary. It’s just a shame his Cultivation is a bit low."

"Let’s see how he performs. If he continues to produce Beast Taming Secret Manuals of similar quality, we can send him an Immortal Spirit Fruit and grant him another opportunity for a Spiritual Energy Infusion."

In a rustic stone hall, an elder looked over the Divine Sense Jade Tubes a subordinate had handed him.

After examining them one by one, Wei Rulin nodded when he came to the information about Jiang Zuo.

He was the Celestial Eye Black Pupil’s elder in this Secret Realm.

Though his Cultivation was only at the early Three Flowers Realm, he was already the most powerful person in the Secret Realm.

Among the Outer Sect Disciples sent here in recent years, Jiang Zuo possessed the most unique talent.

As a result, Jiang Zuo’s progress within the Secret Realm was closely monitored.

Jiang Zuo had lived up to their expectations by producing a Beast Taming Secret Manual. Although Wei Rulin was no expert on the subject, a brief glance was all it took for him to know the manual was of the highest possible quality.

Assuming its contents were correct, improving upon it would be next to impossible.

The upper echelons of Celestial Eye Black Pupil also placed great importance on Zhou Yong’s talent.

As long as he could continue to prove himself, the leaders of Celestial Eye Black Pupil were prepared to invest a massive amount of resources in him.

Jiang Zuo had no idea such a great opportunity awaited him.

After writing the Taming Secret Manual for the Xue Haiqing, he immediately moved on to another objective.

This time, he accepted a mission to complete the Secret Manual for a second-tier Spirit Beast.

This way, Jiang Zuo could once again openly enter the hall of secret manuals, giving him the chance to sneak peeks at the remaining books.

In addition, Jiang Zuo was preparing to set another one of his plans in motion.

Stealing Spirit Beast Blood!

He would use Spirit Beast Blood, offer it to the Desolate Heaven Beast Bone Armor, and exchange it for Beast Soul Power!

Back in the Black Tortoise Dao Sect, it hadn’t been convenient for him to make a move.

But here in Celestial Eye Black Pupil, he had no such qualms.

Spirit Beast Mountain was home to a vast number of Spirit Beasts. If Jiang Zuo stole a little blood from some of them, it would be impossible for anyone to notice, given his methods—as long as no one was watching him.

And here, of course, no one would be watching him.

As long as Jiang Zuo was careful, he wouldn’t have to worry about being discovered.

And so, every once in a while, Jiang Zuo would secretly procure the blood of a Spirit Beast and offer it to his Desolate Heaven Beast Bone Armor.

A first-tier Spirit Beast provided 30 points of Beast Soul intelligence, while a second-tier one gave 50 points.

Watching his Beast Soul Power steadily increase thanks to the freeloaded Spirit Beast Blood, Jiang Zuo felt a deep sense of satisfaction.

’Staying here instead of rushing to leave was definitely the right call.’

And this was just from stealing the blood of low-tier Spirit Beasts. Spirit Beast Mountain still had plenty of third and fourth-tier Spirit Beasts.

’If I could get my hands on all of their blood, I wonder how much my Beast Soul Power would increase.’

In addition to stealing Spirit Beast Blood, Jiang Zuo would also steal entire Spirit Beasts and toss them into his Pet Beast Spirit Garden.

For instance, he had secretly sent two pairs of Xue Haiqing into it.

Jiang Zuo wasn’t worried about being discovered.

Most of the low-tier Spirit Beasts on Spirit Beast Mountain were basically feral.

No one would notice if a few went missing.

No one had the time to go around counting wild Spirit Beasts.

「Nearly two more years passed.」

Jiang Zuo submitted the Taming Technique he had written for a second-tier Spirit Beast.

"’He really is a Beast Taming genius!’"

"’Having him just complete Taming Techniques for first and second-tier Spirit Beasts is too much of a waste. We should have him ascend to the Divine Body Realm as soon as possible so he can write a Taming Technique for a third-tier Spirit Beast. That would be far more valuable!’"

"’Send an Immortal Spirit Fruit to him. After he consumes it, have him go to the Divine Gift Room to cultivate for seven days!’"

After reviewing Jiang Zuo’s latest Taming Technique for the second-tier Spirit Beast, Wei Rulin no longer hesitated.

Celestial Eye Black Pupil had no shortage of cultivation geniuses, but they had never seen a Beast Taming genius comparable to Zhou Yong.

Investing resources in Zhou Yong was worth it, even if it cost several times more than it did for other geniuses.

Soon, in the mission hall and in front of numerous disciples, Jiang Zuo was awarded a golden fruit.

"An Immortal Spirit Fruit! That’s a rare Spirit Fruit capable of elevating a Metal Spirit Root to a high grade!"

"As long as we contribute to the Immortal Sect, it truly won’t treat us unfairly!"

The Spirit Beast Mountain disciples who witnessed this were all stirred with excitement and gratitude.

It was as if they were the ones receiving the reward.

Jiang Zuo was stunned. He never imagined Celestial Eye Black Pupil would be so generous.

Celestial Eye Black Pupil had just casually rewarded him with an Immortal Spirit Fruit—something the Black Tortoise Dao Sect could never have produced.

’If I weren’t a Five Elements Spirit Body, this so-called reward would be completely useless to me.’

The Celestial Eye Black Pupil organization was simply too magnanimous. They gave far too much.

And then, when Jiang Zuo heard he could go to the Divine Gift Room to receive a Spiritual Energy Infusion for seven days, he once again found himself praising the great Master of the Black Eye.

’Your believers are truly far too generous!’

The Divine Gift Room was a sealed cultivation hall. After Jiang Zuo went inside, the entire hall sealed itself completely.

Jiang Zuo sat in the very center and immediately felt an incredibly dense stream of Spiritual Power flowing into his body from beneath him.

During normal Cultivation, a Cultivator needs to absorb Spiritual Qi and use a Cultivation Technique to convert it into Spiritual Power before it can be refined into their Qi Sea.

It’s a very inefficient process.

This Divine Gift Room, however, used a special Array to bypass that step entirely.

During a Spiritual Power Infusion, the degree of improvement depended entirely on how much one could absorb.

Possessing the Five Elements Spirit Body, Jiang Zuo could absorb as much as was supplied.

Jiang Zuo’s Cultivation immediately began to soar at an unimaginably terrifying rate.

Within his Qi Sea, Jiang Zuo’s five Dao Foundation islands expanded rapidly, at a rate visible to the naked eye.

’This Spiritual Power Infusion feels rather brutish.’

’If it were any other Cultivator, their body would probably be damaged quickly, causing their absorption rate to slow.’

’They’d have to recuperate for a while afterward just to recover.’

’For me, though, it’s a trivial matter.’

As Jiang Zuo received the infused Spiritual Power, he observed the changes in his body.

He possessed the Five Elements Spirit Body and also cultivated the Body Freedom Technique.

This level of damage was nothing to him.

Day by day, Jiang Zuo’s Cultivation rose steadily.

Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.

Jiang Zuo’s Cultivation advanced from the initial stage of the Dao Foundation, to the middle stage, and then all the way to the late stage!

In just seven short days, he had saved himself a century of bitter Cultivation.

While it was a testament to Celestial Eye Black Pupil’s formidable methods, what was even more monstrous was Jiang Zuo’s own aptitude.

However, upon leaving the Divine Gift Room, Jiang Zuo immediately entered closed-door cultivation.

’As expected, most of the world’s Rapid Techniques come with drawbacks!’

Looking at his Qi Sea, Jiang Zuo couldn’t help but sigh.

His Cultivation had skyrocketed in just seven short days.

But as the infusion neared its end, Jiang Zuo had discovered a major drawback to the Spiritual Power Infusion.

He discovered that his expanded Dao Foundation within his Qi Sea was too unstable.

It looked and felt incredibly flimsy, to the point that it endangered the Dao Foundation itself.

Furthermore, when Jiang Zuo tried to circulate the several Celestial Tier Cultivation Techniques he practiced, he felt a distinct sense of blockage.

’Anyone else in his situation would likely have been crippled.’

’Celestial Eye Black Pupil wouldn’t use this method to harm me. The only explanation is that the amount of Spiritual Power I absorbed was simply too vast for my own insufficient foundation, which led to this result.’

’It seems the Spiritual Power gained from a Rapid Technique can’t exceed a certain proportion of one’s existing Spiritual Power, or it creates a massive hidden danger. I’ll take this as a lesson learned,’ Jiang Zuo mused.

His situation was dire, but for him, it still wasn’t an insurmountable problem.

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Jiang Zuo estimated that it would only take him a decade or so to fix the issues with his Dao Foundation, leaving no lingering ill effects.

While quietly cultivating to mend his foundation, Jiang Zuo also worked on writing a new Taming Technique.

At the same time, Jiang Zuo began to ponder his exit strategy.

’This place must be a Secret Realm. I’ve been here for over a decade, but I’ve hardly seen any Cultivators at the Divine Body Realm.’

’This suggests that the Secret Realm most likely restricts entry to Cultivators at or below the Dao Foundation realm.’

’In other words, the moment I break through to the Divine Body Realm, I’ll need to be ready to make a run for it,’ Jiang Zuo thought.

He understood the basic rules of Secret Realms well enough.

Having made up his mind, Jiang Zuo continued to cultivate wholeheartedly.

「Another two years passed in the blink of an eye.」

Jiang Zuo had now been in this Secret Realm for nearly sixteen years.

That day, Jiang Zuo’s expression turned a little strange as he looked at the message he had just received.

An elder calling himself Elder He was actually ordering him to attend a matchmaking event, and he had even specifically mentioned that it was for the sake of the great Master of the Black Eye.

Even if Jiang Zuo didn’t want to go, he had no choice but to attend when it was framed under such a righteous cause.

The so-called matchmaking event was a bonfire party hosted by Old Man He.

After Jiang Zuo arrived and looked around for a moment, he understood. Celestial Eye Black Pupil wanted its Cultivators to produce more offspring.

After all, abducting talented disciples from other sects in the outside world was not a sustainable, long-term solution.

After every period of activity, Celestial Eye Black Pupil would face a severe crackdown from the major sects.

During these crackdowns, even they had to lie low and dared not make a move, otherwise the losses would outweigh the gains.

However, the offspring born within the Secret Realm were free from such concerns.

Under their parents’ influence, these offspring would almost certainly grow up to be devout believers of the Master of the Black Eye.

Elder He, playing the role of matchmaker, had gathered a large number of young Cultivators.

The Cultivators included both men and women.

On the other side were the native believers of the Secret Realm, mostly young men and women at the Qi Cultivation stage.

"Everyone! For the great Master of the Black Eye, and to fight against the heretics, we need more believers!"

"Bearing offspring is one of the ways you can contribute to the Master of the Black Eye!"

"Therefore, here tonight, every single one of you must choose a partner!"

Elder He spoke to the crowd with stern righteousness, his expression showing he was not joking in the slightest.

A few people in the crowd had their doubts about Elder He’s speech, but they quickly came to feel that what he said was reasonable.

And so, one by one, they went in order and chose a partner they found pleasing to the eye from among the young men and women, and led them away.

Soon, it was Jiang Zuo’s turn.

"Elder He, my time is precious. I believe I can make far greater contributions to the great Master of the Black Eye on my own!"

"Getting married and having children would only waste my time!"