I'm Just a Beast Tamer

The Sword Pill looked like a metal sphere. The one Jiang Zuo obtained had a faint, fiery-red metallic sheen.

Jiang Zuo knew nothing about Sword Pills, but this one had been hidden in the deepest part of the Sword Tomb, so he figured it had to be something good.

Jiang Zuo stirred his Divine Sense, attempting to control the Sword Pill with the completely unfamiliar Divine Sense Sword Control Technique.

As a result, the Sword Pill effortlessly levitated, looking almost cheerful as it circled around Jiang Zuo.

Jiang Zuo played with it for a while and became much more proficient with the Divine Sense Sword Control Technique.

’As expected of something drawn to my Divine Sense. It’s a perfect match for Divine Sense sword control.’

After playing with it a bit longer, Jiang Zuo put it away, satisfied.

Jiang Zuo had always relied on brute strength and rarely used weapons.

Although this Sword Pill looked like a round metal ball, Jiang Zuo could sense it was incredibly sharp.

From now on, this Sword Pill would be a formidable weapon in Jiang Zuo’s hands.

After obtaining the Sword Pill, Jiang Zuo felt that the Sword Qi and Sword Intent within the Sword Tomb had all but vanished.

When he tried to interact with the other Flying Swords, he got no response.

Seeing this, Jiang Zuo lingered no longer and headed for the mountainside on the other side of Luofeng Mountain.

There, he could obtain a Fire Element Spirit Seed.

Along the way, Jiang Zuo encountered many more Divine Body Realm Demon Beasts.

Jiang Zuo tried using his Divine Sense to control the Sword Pill and attack. He found he could easily injure these Divine Body Realm Demon Beasts.

The only downside was the considerable consumption of Divine Sense, meaning Jiang Zuo could only use it at critical moments in battle.

Even so, the time Jiang Zuo spent traveling was greatly reduced.

「A little over two hours later.」

From a great distance, Jiang Zuo saw a tall, fiery-red tree.

As he drew a little closer, he felt a biting wind pressure coming from ahead.

The closer he got to the fiery-red tree, the stronger the wind pressure became.

However, it wasn’t just the wind pressure; the accompanying Spiritual Qi was also growing richer.

The Spiritual Qi in the Phoenix Blood Secret Realm was already rich, but the Spiritual Qi here was several times richer than anywhere else.

After walking a little further, a large clearing opened up before him.

Halfway up Luofeng Mountain, there was a huge, semi-cylindrical hollow, and at its center stood the fiery-red tree.

However, Jiang Zuo couldn’t get close.

The fiery-red tree was over a hundred meters tall. Below the sixty-meter mark, a current of blood-colored Spiritual Qi slowly spun counter-clockwise around the tree, forming a ceaseless Spiritual Energy Vortex.

This Spiritual Energy Vortex created immense wind pressure, making it impossible for any plants to survive in the vicinity.

Within the swirling Spiritual Qi, one could occasionally spot red Spirit Cores, leaves, and withered branches.

Every so often, withered branches, leaves, or Spirit Cores would fall from the fiery-red tree into the Spiritual Energy Vortex below.

And from time to time, withered branches and leaves would be flung out from within the Spiritual Energy Vortex.

’It seems these are materials that failed to become Spirit Cores.’

Jiang Zuo looked at the withered branches and leaves that had been flung out.

The Spirit Seed used for advancing to the Divine Body Realm didn’t necessarily have to be a seed or a Spirit Core.

Withered branches or leaves could also be Spirit Seeds, as long as they could be refined into a Cultivator’s Dao Foundation to sprout and grow.

However, compared to withered branches and leaves, the most common types of Spirit Seeds in the Cultivation Realm were still seeds and Spirit Cores.

Jiang Zuo had learned about the birth process of Spirit Seeds in the Scripture Pavilion.

Spirit Seeds were typically born in one of three ways.

The first was like the scene before him: being baptized by rich Spiritual Qi over many years.

The second was absorbing the essence of the sun and moon in a place with no shortage of Spiritual Qi.

The third was enduring the erosion of endless ages in a place with at least some Spiritual Qi.

From this, it was clear that creating a single Spirit Seed, no matter the method, was no easy task.

Even with the great Array established in the Phoenix Blood Secret Realm by the founder of the Phoenix Feather Sword Pavilion, it could only provide Spirit Seeds for five disciples every sixty years.

Therefore, in the Cultivation Realm, the Divine Body Realm was the first major threshold a Cultivator had to face.

Insufficient aptitude and the inability to find a Spirit Seed.

These two reasons alone blocked the vast majority of Cultivators from ever reaching the Divine Body Realm.

’Getting a Spirit Seed is simple. I just have to walk into the Spiritual Energy Vortex.’

’The Spiritual Energy Vortex will pass through my body. Different people will face different levels of pressure inside.’

’Some will face immense pressure almost immediately and be pushed out by the vortex before they even have a chance to find a Spirit Seed.’

’Others will feel very little pressure, giving them not only enough time to find a Spirit Seed, but also to pick and choose.’

’Ultimately, this is just another way to test one’s aptitude.’

With these thoughts in mind, Jiang Zuo strode into the blood-colored Spiritual Energy Vortex.

Inside the Spiritual Energy Vortex, his vision was filled with swirling, blood-colored Spiritual Qi. He couldn’t see far, only the objects that whipped past his eyes.

Jiang Zuo felt a chill as vast amounts of Spiritual Qi seemed to pass right through his body.

The pressure he felt, however, was extremely weak.

His Five Elements Spirit Body had never let him down when it came to demonstrating his aptitude.

Spirit Cores, withered branches, and fiery-red leaves constantly whipped past him. He could grab one just by reaching out his hand.

But Jiang Zuo couldn’t tell which one was the best.

Naturally, Spirit Seeds could be graded as supreme or ordinary. A supreme Spirit Seed would make future Cultivation much easier, and some could even be used to cultivate special Divine Techniques.

After a moment of thought, Jiang Zuo took out the piece of Innate Spiritual Soil.

Once out, the thing found itself in a place brimming with rich Spiritual Qi and immediately began to frantically devour the blood-colored Spiritual Qi.

Jiang Zuo didn’t stop it.

’There’s definitely one, maybe even several, Spirit Veins beneath the Phoenix Blood Secret Realm. No matter how much this thing swallows, it won’t make a dent.’

A Spirit Core flew by, and the Innate Spiritual Soil seemed tempted. But when it realized it was being held by Jiang Zuo and couldn’t move, it gave up and went back to passively devouring Spiritual Qi.

Seeing this, Jiang Zuo knew he was onto something.

However, Jiang Zuo didn’t dare let this thing actually devour a Spirit Seed. If it was counted as him taking one, he would be disqualified.

Different Spirit Seeds zipped past Jiang Zuo, and the Innate Spiritual Soil showed varying levels of impulse towards them.

Sensing he wouldn’t face much pressure for a while, Jiang Zuo didn’t rush to grab any of these Spirit Seeds.

And so, more than an hour passed.

The Innate Spiritual Soil, which had been quietly devouring Spiritual Qi, suddenly twitched violently, wanting to lunge toward a withered branch that was rapidly approaching.

Seeing this, Jiang Zuo acted without hesitation, snatching the withered branch from the Spiritual Energy Vortex.

The moment he grabbed the branch, a powerful pressure slammed into him, pushing him out of the Spiritual Energy Vortex.

Jiang Zuo steadied himself and looked down at the withered branch in his hand.

It was a segment of blood-red withered branch. Inside the blood-colored Spiritual Energy Vortex, it had been difficult to notice anything special about it.

But upon closer inspection outside, he could see a dark red Spiritual Light faintly flowing within the branch.

The Innate Spiritual Soil seemed extremely interested in this withered branch, constantly struggling to break free from Jiang Zuo’s grasp.

Jiang Zuo didn’t indulge it and simply tossed it back into his storage bag.

He then carefully stored away the blood-red withered branch as well.

’Next up is the Enlightenment Tower,’ Jiang Zuo thought.

He had gained quite a lot since entering the Phoenix Blood Secret Realm, but only about a day and a half had passed.

’After I come out of the Enlightenment Tower, I’ll still have plenty of time to explore the rest of the Phoenix Blood Secret Realm and see if there’s anything else good I can take with me.’

The Enlightenment Tower was located at the very end of the Phoenix Blood Secret Realm.

Because it was far away and they couldn’t spend much time inside, the disciples of the Phoenix Feather Sword Pavilion had always made their way to the Enlightenment Tower last in previous years.

There were many Divine Body Realm Demon Beasts along the path, but he could bypass most of them.

Only for the few that were too troublesome to go around did Jiang Zuo fight his way through directly.

Soon, a large, grayish-white stone forest appeared ahead, with massive stone pillars standing within it.

Jiang Zuo could tell with a glance that these stone pillars were part of a complex Array.

If he hadn’t known it was safe, he wouldn’t have dared to enter so casually.

About halfway through, Jiang Zuo’s Divine Sense suddenly twitched.

His body flickered, and then three attacks shot toward him from three different directions.

If he hadn’t detected them in time, he surely would have been hit.

"This guy... he can even detect an ambush like this?"

The sullen voices of Yan Yuming and his two companions sounded out.

They hadn’t expected their ambush, which they thought was foolproof, to fail.

"You’ve advanced to the Divine Body Realm?"

Jiang Zuo glanced over, a little surprised.

The three of them were now all emitting Spiritual Power fluctuations different from the Dao Foundation realm.

"Attack together! I refuse to believe the three of us, all in the Divine Body Realm, can’t handle him alone!"

Yan Yuming ignored Jiang Zuo and gave a cold command.

The three immediately began to close in on Jiang Zuo from different directions.

Jiang Zuo didn’t wait for them to surround him; instead, he charged toward the one in the middle.

This person wasn’t afraid. He prepared to exchange a few blows with Jiang Zuo and wait for Yan Yuming and the other to provide support.

When a Cultivator advanced from the Dao Foundation to the Divine Body Realm, not only would their Spiritual Power surge, but their physical defense and recovery abilities would also increase dramatically.

Outside the Phoenix Blood Secret Realm, a Divine Body Realm Cultivator could already fly freely.

Although they couldn’t fly in the Phoenix Blood Secret Realm, he was still confident he could hold Jiang Zuo off for a little while.

"AH!"

But neither he nor Yan Yuming ever expected a sudden, miserable scream to come from their companion who was farthest from Jiang Zuo.

They whipped their heads around and saw their fellow disciple lying in a pool of blood as a streak of red light flew back toward Jiang Zuo.

"The Sword Control Technique!"

Yan Yuming cried out in horror.

As a disciple of the Phoenix Feather Sword Pavilion, he of course recognized this technique.

"Go!"

Yan Yuming no longer hesitated and chose to exit the Secret Realm.

No matter how unwilling he was, he knew that staying any longer meant certain death.

Only those who had opened their Sea of Consciousness and possessed Divine Sense could use the Sword Control Technique.

They had only just advanced to the Divine Body Realm. Fighting an expert who had opened their Sea of Consciousness and mastered the Sword Control Technique was utterly hopeless.

Besides Yan Yuming, the other two—including the disciple who had been severely wounded by the Sword Pill—also chose to exit the Secret Realm.

At this point, Jiang Zuo was the only person left in the Secret Realm.

’Heh heh, not bad. If I hadn’t gotten this Sword Pill, dealing with three Divine Body Realm cultivators would have been quite troublesome.’

Jiang Zuo put away the Sword Pill, admiring it fondly.

After detecting the ambush, he had immediately released the Sword Pill. When that Sword Pavilion disciple passed by, he had the Sword Pill launch a surprise attack, severely wounding him in one fell swoop.

If that disciple hadn’t reacted so quickly, he would have lost his life right there.

With no one left to obstruct him, Jiang Zuo passed between the giant stone pillars and arrived at the center of the stone forest, standing before an ancient, tall tower.