I'm Just a Beast Tamer

Jiang Zuo stroked Great Black’s head.

He wanted to tell Great Black that it wasn’t his fault.

But the fact remained that the mother dog had died from malnutrition because of Great Black.

Why it happened, Jiang Zuo couldn’t say for sure, having only seen a blurry image of the event.

Logically, Great Black’s bloodline shouldn’t have been powerful enough to kill its mother.

The Eighth Generation Great Black should have found some food for the mother dog back then, so she wouldn’t have died from malnutrition.

This scene had left too deep an impression on Great Black’s mind. Jiang Zuo knew that no matter what he said, it would be useless.

Even with a person, you can’t resolve deep-seated trauma with just a few words, let alone with a dog.

Great Black was far from being able to understand every word Jiang Zuo said like a human could.

The best way to help Great Black overcome this fear would be for Jiang Zuo to perform a bloodline enhancement on a female dog, to make Great Black feel that the mother was equally strong and that he wouldn’t have to worry about her being too weak and dying while giving birth.

But Jiang Zuo had no intention of doing that.

He was currently in dire need of Beast Soul Power.

A few days ago, he recalled that he could perform another bloodline enhancement on Xiaoqing. That way, Great Black could use better Spirit Beast Blood, and his own attributes would get another boost.

But when he tried, the system directly notified Jiang Zuo that he had insufficient Beast Soul Power. Xiaoqing’s first bloodline enhancement required a full one thousand Beast Soul Power!

Jiang Zuo was stunned. ’Is the bloodline enhancement for a Spirit Beast really this ridiculous?’

This led to a change in Jiang Zuo’s plans.

He had originally thought that if Great Black could produce an heir with an excellent bloodline, raising one more wouldn’t be a problem.

Now that he had Xiaoqing, Jiang Zuo couldn’t spend Beast Soul Power carelessly.

If Great Black’s offspring couldn’t be raised like Great Black himself, their lifespan would only be a few decades, a reality Jiang Zuo didn’t want to face.

Besides, he was still single himself. ’Great Black’s trauma will just have to be healed by time!’

’As long as one lives long enough, nothing is a problem.’

...

「In the blink of an eye, over six months passed.」

That evening, Jiang Zuo looked at the text prompt that appeared before his eyes and nodded in satisfaction.

The Beast Pattern Engraving skill had reached Lv. 3.

——Beast Pattern Engraving Lv. 3 (0/5000): You have a deeper understanding of Beast Patterns and your technique is more adept. You can reduce some of the burden engraving places on a Pet Beast and decrease your own consumption.

Jiang Zuo tested it out briefly. The benefits from leveling up Beast Pattern Engraving were even better than he had expected.

First, his Spiritual Power had increased by a small amount. Second, he had a deeper understanding of Beast Patterns; when he observed them now, they appeared much clearer.

Third, the Spiritual Power he consumed had decreased slightly. Combined with the increase in his total Spiritual Power, performing non-consecutive Beast Pattern Engravings now had very little effect on him.

The only aspect that didn’t meet his expectations was the reduction of the burden on the Pet Beast; the effect was less than Jiang Zuo had anticipated.

But anyone who understood the principles of Beast Patterns would know this was unavoidable.

The power of a Beast Pattern originated from its mystical characters. Unless Jiang Zuo could change those mystical characters, it was impossible to significantly reduce the burden.

It was like asking someone to approach a great fire. No matter what, you couldn’t make them ignore the searing heat of the flames. At best, you could only have them approach from a different angle to lessen the fire’s effect.

And the closer they got, the harder it would be to reduce the impact.

Still, leveling up a skill was always a happy occasion.

Jiang Zuo called for Great Black and Xiaoqing, preparing to grill fish by the river and make a delicious meal to celebrate.

However, before the fish was even cooked, Great Black shot to his feet, staring warily downstream toward the southwest of the Li River.

’Someone’s coming!’

Wen Shulin and Zhuang Ruying’s villa was due south downstream, so it couldn’t be them.

Besides, Great Black wouldn’t react like this to an ordinary person.

With a thought, Jiang Zuo had Xiaoqing hide in the Li River.

"Fangxiang Mountain, don’t even think about escaping! Even if you jump into the Li River, you won’t get away from me!"

Two figures quickly appeared in Jiang Zuo’s line of sight.

One was chasing, the other fleeing. The man running away at the front appeared to be Fangxiang Mountain.

Jiang Zuo had heard of Fangxiang Mountain. He was the master of Lizhou’s largest martial arts school, the Xiangshan Martial Arts Hall. As Jiang Zuo recalled, he had already been a Meridian Passage Martial Artist over a decade ago.

In the evening twilight, Fangxiang Mountain was wreathed in Blood Qi, and his condition looked extremely abnormal.

Jiang Zuo didn’t recognize the man chasing Fangxiang Mountain, but being able to pursue him meant he was even stronger, at least a Meridian Passage expert.

"Hahaha! Xia Shiyuan, you can’t kill me! My Blood God Skill has reached Great Success! As long as I follow the Li River back to Lizhou, you’ll no longer be my match! The one who dies then will be you!"

Fangxiang Mountain laughed maniacally, showing no fear of Xia Shiyuan.

"Hmph! A Demon Skill that you cultivated by sacrificing hundreds of your peers for a breakthrough, and you dare call it a Divine Skill! You fantasize about returning to Lizhou to sacrifice even more people? You won’t get the chance!"

Xia Shiyuan was seething with Killing Intent.

Fangxiang Mountain had followed the trend, building a larger, better-equipped martial arts hall outside Lizhou City, in the area where many wealthy people had built their villas and manors.

Today was its grand opening, and Fangxiang Mountain had invited numerous fellow practitioners of the Martial Dao to attend the ceremony.

Lizhou was a major border city of the Cao Kingdom, home to a garrison of the National Border Defense Army. As its Grand Commander and an expert at the Perfection stage of Meridian Passage, Xia Shiyuan had naturally been invited by Fangxiang Mountain as well.

But just as he was about to leave, something suddenly came up within the Garrison Army, and Xia Shiyuan had to go deal with it first.

After arriving at the barracks and handling the matter, Xia Shiyuan quickly sensed that something was amiss.

The incident with the Garrison Army seemed to have been deliberately orchestrated.

Someone had intentionally used this method to keep him at the barracks.

Xia Shiyuan keenly sensed that something was about to happen at the Xiangshan Martial Arts Hall.

He rushed over at once, but he was still too late.

Who knows how long Fangxiang Mountain had been preparing for this day.

Inside the new martial arts hall, a mountain of corpses stood in a sea of blood. Hundreds of guests had all become cultivation resources for Fangxiang Mountain.

Among them were many of Xia Shiyuan’s good friends.

Fangxiang Mountain was clearly very wary of Xia Shiyuan, feeling that the methods he had prepared might not be enough to kill him.

That was why he had fabricated an incident beforehand to lure Xia Shiyuan away.

By the time Xia Shiyuan arrived, it was all over.

To Xia Shiyuan’s shock and fury, he discovered that in just one short hour, Fangxiang Mountain had gone from an ordinary Meridian Passage Martial Artist who had only opened two Viscera Qi Veins to a Great Success expert who had opened all Five Viscera Qi Veins.

Not only that, but Xia Shiyuan could also tell that if Fangxiang Mountain were supplied with more Blood Qi, it wouldn’t take him long to break through to the Inner Breath realm.

And judging by his actions, Fangxiang Mountain’s next move was to return to Lizhou City and use the common people there to break through in one fell swoop, becoming a Martial Arts Grandmaster.

How could Xia Shiyuan allow such a thing to happen before his very eyes? He immediately struck out in anger, determined to kill Fangxiang Mountain.

Fangxiang Mountain knew he was not yet Xia Shiyuan’s match, so he could only flee.

However, thanks to the massive amount of Blood Qi absorbed through his Blood God Skill, Fangxiang Mountain’s body was brimming with power, despite having only just opened his Five Viscera Qi Veins. Even when Xia Shiyuan managed to catch up, he would be blocked by a technique that recklessly consumed Blood Qi, allowing Fangxiang Mountain to quickly pull away again.

This chase brought them all the way to the banks of the Li River.

Both men were incredibly fast, and in the blink of an eye, they were less than a hundred meters from Jiang Zuo.

"Fisherman over there, it’s dangerous! Jump into the Li River and flee—"

Xia Shiyuan shouted sharply as he saw Jiang Zuo from a distance.

However, just as Xia Shiyuan cried out, another figure appeared upstream on the Li River, approaching Jiang Zuo, Fangxiang Mountain, and Xia Shiyuan from the direction of Lizhou at astonishing speed.

"Xu Wuan? You’re just in time! Help me stop Fangxiang Mountain! This bastard cultivated the Blood Demon Skill; all the disciples your Xu Family sent to the ceremony have been killed by him!"

Xia Shiyuan’s voice was filled with joy when he saw the newcomer clearly.

But the words had barely left his mouth when his expression changed drastically, and he raised his Cold Iron Shattering Mountain Saber.

CLANG!

The newcomer didn’t try to stop Fangxiang Mountain at all. Instead, he swung his sword straight at Xia Shiyuan.

Xia Shiyuan could only raise his saber to block, allowing Fangxiang Mountain to pull away from him.

"Xu Wuan, you’re actually in league with Fangxiang Mountain?"

Xia Shiyuan’s face darkened as he stared at the white-templed Xu Wuan and roared in anger.

"Hahaha, so it was you, Xu Wuan, who was helping me in secret! Well, who could refuse the temptation of becoming a Martial Arts Grandmaster!"

"If we slaughter Lizhou City, not only will I advance, but it won’t be a problem for you, Xu Wuan, to be promoted to an Inner Breath Grandmaster either!"

After a moment of surprise, Fangxiang Mountain burst into even more maniacal laughter.

"Xu Wuan, you hold off Xia Shiyuan for now. I consumed too much energy just now. Let me absorb the Blood Qi of this man and his dog to replenish myself, then I’ll join you in taking down Xia Shiyuan!"

Fangxiang Mountain proceeded to explain his logic to Xu Wuan.

Xu Wuan was also at the Great Success stage of Meridian Passage, but he was old and would be no match for Xia Shiyuan.

If Fangxiang Mountain abandoned Xu Wuan and left alone, Xu Wuan would certainly not agree to it.

The best solution now was to join forces with Xu Wuan and kill Xia Shiyuan.

The man and dog before him were the perfect targets to replenish his Blood Qi and prevent any accidents during the fight.

With a flicker of his body, Fangxiang Mountain transformed into a bloody shadow and lunged at Jiang Zuo and Great Black.

Jiang Zuo’s expression turned cold.

Against an expert at the Great Success stage of Meridian Passage, Great Black was too weak. He couldn’t possibly dodge, and a single touch would mean death.

Jiang Zuo immediately took a sharp step forward, grabbed Great Black, and tossed him into the Li River.

In that brief moment of delay, Fangxiang Mountain’s hand clamped down on Jiang Zuo’s shoulder.

"Foolish. Worrying about a dog when you’re about to die!"

Fangxiang Mountain sneered and activated his Cultivation Technique.

With his Blood God Skill at Great Success, this person would instantly turn into a dried corpse, all of his Blood Qi drained and absorbed.

Huh?

’Something’s wrong!’

’Why can’t I absorb anything?’

Fangxiang Mountain sensed that something was amiss and instantly became vigilant.

He whipped his head toward Jiang Zuo, only to be met by a pair of indifferent eyes.

’Not good!’

Fangxiang Mountain hastily tried to retreat.

But it was too late.

THUD!

Fangxiang Mountain felt his body jolt violently, as if his chest had been struck by lightning.

He looked down and saw, in utter disbelief, a fist-sized, bloody hole in his chest!

Not far away, Xia Shiyuan and Xu Wuan heard the strange sound and simultaneously whipped their heads around to look.

And both their eyes, in perfect unison, filled with the same expression of utter disbelief.