I'm Just a Beast Tamer

—Great Black (Third-Rank Spirit Beast): A large, black-furred canine. Has undergone three bloodline enhancements, with its bloodline now containing traces of the Ancient Spirit Turtle, Fire Phoenix, and others.

Lifespan: 1,250 years. Possesses five Talent Slots, equipped with the "Learning," "Combat," "Mutation," and "Comprehension" talents.

Jiang Zuo glanced at Great Black’s status description. Its lifespan had reached a terrifying 1,250 years, and it had gained an additional Talent Slot.

After a moment of thought, Jiang Zuo equipped Great Black with the "Longevity" talent.

’I don’t have any better talents on hand, and living a long time is what truly matters.’

Among third-rank Spirit Beasts, a lifespan of 1,250 years undoubtedly left all others in the dust.

Unfortunately, in Jiang Zuo’s eyes, it was still a bit too short.

Great Black ran back and forth excitedly.

After advancing to a third-rank Spirit Beast, its power had soared, especially its speed, which was both fast and agile.

Driven by the surging power within its body, Great Black occasionally spat out fireballs.

Though originally a first-rank technique, the power of its fireballs had impressively risen to the third rank. Their color was also noticeably different from ordinary fireballs, appearing an exceptionally fiery red.

Just looking at them gave off a scorching sensation.

Furthermore, Great Black could spit out several fireballs in rapid succession.

If a fireball hit its target, it would explode violently, boasting considerable power and range.

In addition to fireballs, Great Black had also gained a Defense Technique: the Fiery Flame Spirit Shield.

When activated, its entire body looked as if it were wreathed in roaring flames.

With the Fiery Flame Spirit Shield active, not only was Great Black’s defense greatly increased, but the power of its Fireball Technique also grew stronger.

’Great Black can undergo a fourth bloodline enhancement!’

’The requirements are 1,500 Beast Soul Power and the blood of a fourth-rank Mutated Spirit Beast or Demon Beast!’

Jiang Zuo looked at the requirements for Great Black’s next bloodline enhancement.

’1,500 Beast Soul Power is way too much. Even if I could meet the other condition, I’ll have to wait until the Pet Beast Spirit Garden evolves from a Miniature World Prototype into a true Little World.’

Jiang Zuo shook his head.

’Spending 300 Beast Soul Power was a splurge, but 1,500 is just excessive.’

’Next up is Xiaoqing!’

Xiaoqing had been waiting off to the side, watching Great Black run wild.

Xiaoqing had always been mild-mannered, but it still felt a little anticipation for the bloodline enhancement.

Enhancing Xiaoqing’s bloodline required one thousand Beast Soul Power, but Jiang Zuo didn’t hesitate.

’Sure, saving the power to upgrade the Pet Beast Spirit Garden would have more strategic value in the long run. But that’s too far off. I’m too weak in the Cultivation Realm right now, so boosting Xiaoqing’s combat strength and potential is not a bad choice.’

With a thought, Jiang Zuo deducted one thousand Beast Soul Power.

A hazy cyan light immediately enveloped Xiaoqing.

Jiang Zuo could clearly feel a powerful bloodline aura churning violently within the cyan haze.

This continued for a while before the bloodline aura finally began to weaken and then vanished completely.

The cyan haze also gradually dissipated. But then, Jiang Zuo could feel Xiaoqing’s Cultivation begin to skyrocket.

It advanced from the late second rank to the early third rank.

And it didn’t stop there.

Mid-third rank! Late-third rank!

By the time the cyan haze had completely faded, Xiaoqing’s Cultivation had surged all the way to the late third rank!

Jiang Zuo looked at Xiaoqing.

Compared to before its bloodline enhancement, Xiaoqing’s size hadn’t changed much.

But upon closer inspection, he could see that the once-blurry patterns on Xiaoqing’s Turtle Shell had become much clearer.

Studying them closely evoked a sense of ancient, profound power.

Like Great Black, the power of Xiaoqing’s Cyan Light and Cyan Spirit Shield had also skyrocketed.

Jiang Zuo felt that very few Cultivators in the Divine Body Realm could withstand a single blow from Xiaoqing.

As for its Cyan Spirit Shield, probably not many Cultivators could break it easily.

In fact, even without using Magic, Xiaoqing’s physical defense was astonishingly high; it would be difficult for a Divine Body Realm Cultivator to even injure it.

Activating the Cyan Spirit Shield would be enough to make most Divine Body Realm Cultivators despair.

Additionally, the few Water Element and Earth Element techniques that Jiang Zuo had previously transferred to Xiaoqing had also grown in power.

However, their power was only comparable to second-rank techniques.

They were not very effective for combat, but they were excellent for feigning weakness.

The conditions for Xiaoqing’s second bloodline enhancement were not complicated; it only required 3,000 Beast Soul Power and didn’t even need additional Spirit Beast Blood.

But when Jiang Zuo saw this, he could only shake his head.

"Great Black, come here. Take this egg and incubate it."

"This is a Fire Phoenix Egg. Hatching it will be of great benefit to you!"

Jiang Zuo then called Great Black over and handed it the Fire Phoenix Egg.

Great Black had experience from hatching Xiaoqing, so it knew what to do without Jiang Zuo having to teach it.

’A Fire Phoenix Egg!’

Great Black’s eyes lit up when it heard this.

’Back when I hatched Xiaoqing, I got to ride its coattails. If I hatch a Fire Phoenix now, won’t I have another powerful ally to rely on in the future?’

Great Black immediately took the Fire Phoenix Egg and scampered off to its doghouse to begin incubating it.

’Now for my own affairs.’

’At my current cultivation speed, I should reach the Perfection stage of Qi Cultivation and forge my Dao Foundation in about seven or eight more years.’

’Right now, I have the Innate Wood Element Spiritual Soil, the Phoenix Blood Spiritual Soil, and that piece of what I suspect is Innate Earth Element Spiritual Soil.’

’I’m still missing the Water Element Spiritual Soil and the Metal Element Spiritual Soil. Searching for them myself would be too time-consuming and unrealistic.’

’I can ask the sect to notify me when they get their hands on some decent Water and Metal Element Spiritual Soil.’

Jiang Zuo mused.

Obtaining the Water and Metal Element Spiritual Soils from the Black Tortoise Dao Sect was a good option.

Of course, the Black Tortoise Dao Sect had the Five Elements Spiritual Soil, but getting his hands on top-quality soil would come down to luck.

Needless to say, with Jiang Zuo’s status and the large amount of Sect Contribution points he possessed, as long as the sect had what he wanted, he could definitely acquire it.

So, Jiang Zuo sent a message to Yan Bocheng, asking him to keep an eye out.

Yan Bocheng knew Jiang Zuo was approaching the Perfection stage of Qi Cultivation, so he had already planned to do so without needing to be asked.

Then, Jiang Zuo sent another message, summoning Cao Guangshan.

Before he entered the Phoenix Blood Secret Realm, Yan Bocheng had given him over a hundred second-rank Talismans.

These Talismans were crafted using a special method, allowing even a Qi Cultivation practitioner to activate them without infusing Spiritual Power, and their might was in no way diminished.

The consequence of this method was that these Talismans could only be preserved for five years at most.

After five years, they would gradually lose their effect.

Jiang Zuo had called Cao Guangshan over to get rid of them.

After taking care of these miscellaneous tasks, Jiang Zuo once again entered seclusion.

However, compared to before, Jiang Zuo now had an additional task: comprehending the Blood Rebirth Beast Pattern.

If Jiang Zuo hadn’t opened his Sea of Consciousness, he could only stare blankly at a fifth-rank Beast Pattern even if he had it in his hands.

But with Divine Sense, comprehending a Beast Pattern was a completely different matter.

Even a fifth-rank Beast Pattern was something Jiang Zuo could slowly decipher.

And his pace of comprehension wasn’t slow at all.

Jiang Zuo felt that he could achieve some results in ten to twenty years at most.

「Two years passed in the blink of an eye.」

During these two years, Jiang Zuo received several messages from disciples of the Internal Affairs Hall.

They were all related to the Five Elements Spiritual Soil.

𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

But whether it was Water or Metal Element Spiritual Soil, Jiang Zuo felt they were all quite ordinary.

He still had time, so he wasn’t in a hurry to make an exchange.

Although he had a lot of Sect Contribution points, these types of resources couldn’t be exchanged for an unlimited number of times.

Another half a year passed. One day, while Jiang Zuo was in the middle of his Cultivation, he suddenly felt an extremely abnormal fluctuation of Spiritual Qi on Taihao Peak.

He quickly stopped his work and emerged from his cavern residence.

High above Taihao Peak, a massive Spiritual Energy Vortex had appeared.

The Spiritual Energy Vortex, shaped like a giant funnel, was pouring down toward Great Black’s doghouse.

"WOOF WOOF!"

When Jiang Zuo arrived at the doghouse, Great Black barked excitedly at him.

After being incubated by Great Black for over two years, the Fire Phoenix was about to hatch!

Seeing this, Jiang Zuo’s spirits lifted.

’This is a Fire Phoenix!’

CRACK!

Under the watchful eyes of Jiang Zuo and Great Black, a fine crack appeared on the Fire Phoenix Egg.

A fiery red aura shot out from the crack and soared into the sky.

The next moment, a colossal illusory Fire Phoenix materialized in the sky above Taihao Peak.

Around the illusory Fire Phoenix, streams of light descended accompanied by celestial chimes.

It was a scene of auspicious heavenly signs!

But upon seeing this, Jiang Zuo’s expression changed.

’The Array on Taihao Peak probably can’t conceal a celestial phenomenon of this magnitude!’

’What should I do?’

’Should I toss the Fire Phoenix Egg into the Pet Beast Spirit Garden?’

But after a moment’s thought, Jiang Zuo knew that if he did that, the hatched Fire Phoenix would most likely have a congenital deficiency and might even suffer damage to its very essence.

With a flicker of his will, Jiang Zuo appeared outside Taihao Peak.

He glanced at the sky and then breathed a sigh of relief.

The Array on Taihao Peak had still been quite effective.

There was indeed a faint illusion of a Fire Phoenix in the sky, accompanied by streams of light and celestial chimes.

But it looked very faint, and because of its extreme altitude, it was impossible to determine its point of origin.

Furthermore, the celestial phenomenon caused by the Fire Phoenix’s birth lasted only a very short time.

Only a few seconds after Jiang Zuo had come out, the phenomenon began to fade from the sky.

Jiang Zuo suspected that many people probably hadn’t even noticed what was happening.

Seeing this, Jiang Zuo breathed another sigh of relief.

He returned to the peak and saw that the Fire Phoenix had already hatched.

The newborn Fire Phoenix was already the size of a rooster.

However, it was covered in beautiful, fiery red feathers, making it look extraordinary.

Just like Xiaoqing back then, the newborn Fire Phoenix was busily eating its own eggshell, ignoring Great Black and Jiang Zuo at its side.

Jiang Zuo carefully examined the Fire Phoenix and was shocked to discover that the newborn already had a late third-rank Cultivation!

’If it hadn’t hatched from a premature egg, it probably would have been born at the fourth rank!’

’Worthy of an Ancient Divine Beast!’

Jiang Zuo marveled inwardly.

He had looked up information on the Fire Phoenix in the Scripture Pavilion.

The Fire Phoenix was one of the more famous Ancient Divine Beasts.

However, few people had ever truly seen a Fire Phoenix, and even fewer had seen a newborn one.

The books he had read made no mention of a Fire Phoenix possessing such a high Cultivation right at birth.

After some thought, Jiang Zuo summoned Xiaoqing to establish some authority.

Jiang Zuo had a feeling that even though he had hatched the Fire Phoenix, it might not deign to acknowledge a mere Qi Cultivation practitioner like him.

Jiang Zuo’s intuition was correct. As soon as Xiaoqing appeared, the Fire Phoenix’s reaction changed.

It first looked at Xiaoqing with great vigilance. Only after sensing that Xiaoqing had no hostile intent and seemed easygoing did it relax again and resume eating its eggshell.

...

"What was that just now?"

"It looked like some kind of auspicious celestial phenomenon?"

Although the phenomenon accompanying the Fire Phoenix’s birth was brief, quite a few people within the Black Tortoise Dao Sect had still seen it.