The Master of Beasts

Chapter 1027 - 368_2

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle."

"Failed again?"

Chen Jiuge looked at the smoking great array with a hint of impatience on his face. Due to the rapid increase in cultivation, he wasn’t entirely smooth in mana control, which was something he had anticipated.

Thinking is one thing, but repeated failures still left Chen Jiuge in a bit of a bad mood.

"There’s enough for two more tries, give it another shot. If it still doesn’t work, I’ll focus on controlling mana first."

Perhaps it was a stroke of luck, but on the last attempt, the Blood Refining Array was finally completed.

The array covered an area of ten meters in diameter and, the moment it was completed, it lit up with a flash of blood light.

"It’s succeeded. Next comes the blood refining!"

"Clang!"

Pouring two barrels of Fierce Beast Blood into the array, the blood didn’t seep into the ground; instead, it actively rushed toward the Strong Bear at the center of the array.

Chen Jiuge’s hands moved continuously, intricate gestures forming one after another. With the final gesture completed,

the blood in the array suddenly split into eight strands, rapidly wrapping themselves around the Strong Bear’s body.

The blood slowly seeped into the Strong Bear, and though it was unconscious, it seemed to sense intense pain, letting out a roar of anger, but due to the Blood Refining Array, it couldn’t break free.

The Strong Bear’s roar was chilling, but thanks to Chen Jiuge’s prior instructions, no one disturbed them.

As time passed, the eight strands of blood were nearly fully absorbed by the Strong Bear, and at this moment, Chen Jiuge forced a drop of Essence Blood from his fingertip, sending it toward the bear’s forehead.

Although it’s not a contract, it allows for a certain degree of control over the Strong Bear, serving as an alternative form of Beast Taming Technique. However, the cost is significant, and the number of controlled beasts cannot be too many.

A cultivator can possess up to nine drops of Essence Blood at most, and even a single drop is quite a significant loss for a cultivator, not to mention that the recovery rate of Essence Blood is slow; the higher the cultivation, the slower the recovery.

As the Essence Blood lands on the Strong Bear’s forehead, its expression begins to gradually calm down.

An hour later, with the sky darkening, the entire Blood Refining Array erupted with a brilliant red light. The Strong Bear let out a roar, and its body began to undergo significant changes.

Its body grew from less than one zhang to hesitantly two zhang, with muscles that had always been its hallmark, tightening even further into fearsome bulges.

Originally a Third Level in cultivation, it leaped directly to become a Sixth Level Fierce Beast!

"Hiss, this effect is somewhat terrifying!"

Seeing the Strong Bear respectfully crouching beside him, Chen Jiuge patted its big head, sensing the immense Qi-Blood emanating from it, even without testing it, Chen Jiuge could estimate the tremendous power contained within it.

"The Blood Refining Technique’s effect is so strong, why haven’t the major powers researched it? Could they have overlooked it? That shouldn’t be the case!"

Chen Jiuge felt somewhat puzzled in his heart.

What Chen Jiuge didn’t know was that the Blood Refining Technique had very stringent requirements, and the success rate was frightfully low.

A drop of Essence Blood is no simple loss for a cultivator, and when combined with the dismal success rate, it’s enough to make one cry upon hearing it!

That Chen Jiuge could succeed in one attempt was actually thanks to the Chaos Pearl. Although the Chaos Pearl is now dormant, as its host, Chen Jiuge had long been imbued with its Origin power, meaning that Chen Jiuge’s mana contained a certain amount of Chaos Qi.

Chaos Qi, for Fierce Beasts and Spiritual Beasts, forms an excellent energy source for bloodline evolution.

This is why Chen Jiuge was able to succeed on the first try, and could likely succeed again in the future.

"Never mind, this is a good thing after all!"

"The Fierce Beasts cultivated by Blood Refining Technique are quite powerful. Though the cost is significant and the number that can be refined isn’t large, they do serve to bolster one’s combat power!"

"Perhaps I could place these Fierce Beasts in the farm!"

Chen Jiuge mused, knowing that the Fierce Beasts refined through the Blood Refining Technique had greatly strengthened physical bodies, and with the Yellow Springs Qi dispelled, their Spiritual Wisdom was relatively high. While not comparable to humans, they could follow simple orders, and as time and cultivation progress, it wasn’t impossible for them to become Spiritual Beasts.

Moreover, because of the strong physical bodies, Fierce Beasts refined by the Blood Refining Technique had better survival capabilities. While their fighting technique was somewhat basic, they were indeed suitable as guards and meat shields!

Crucially, the Fierce Beasts refined by the Blood Refining Technique weren’t limited by the Beast Master’s cultivation!

With any Beast Taming Technique, a Beast Master’s beasts could only surpass their level by one rank at most; of course, a Ninth Level Beast Master couldn’t cultivate a Limit-breaking Level Fierce Beast. Even if they could, the contract backlash would likely lead to the Beast Master’s immediate death.

But the Blood Refining Technique doesn’t have this concern. However, the beasts refined by this technique may have lower loyalty and require the Beast Master to spend time building relationships to prevent betrayal.

"Looks like I’ll have to stay at the farm from now on!"

Fierce Beasts have low Spiritual Wisdom and are easily irritable. The control ability of the Blood Refining on them isn’t as strong as a Beast Taming contract, and if Chen Jiuge isn’t around, there’s a high chance of a disturbance.

........

A month later, the Hundred Beasts Pavilion recruitment held by Xi had yielded some results.

The outer circle is different from the inner circle. In the inner circle, there are no orphans wandering around. Children who’ve lost their parents are taken in by orphanages, and those with good aptitudes are often adopted by influential families to be raised as guards or Death Warriors.

The outer circle, however, is different. It’s not that there are no orphanages in the outer circle, nor do the forces in the outer circle need Death Warriors as guards.

Rather, the outer circle is too chaotic—the orphanages aren’t even safe, let alone provide enough food.

Training Death Warriors and guards is too costly; outer circle forces simply don’t have the time or resources.

Given that Dusk Main City is one of the top ten main cities, a Fourth Level Cultivator is considered presentable, but to train a child into a Fourth Level Cultivator can take a decade if they’re proficient, or several decades if not.

And who knows if forces in the outer circle can last several decades? Compared to inner circle forces that have existed for thousands or even tens of thousands of years, the oldest forces in the outer circle have only been around for over a thousand years.

"My name is Chen Jiuge, and I’ll be your teacher from now on!"

The children below varied in age, with the youngest around six or seven and the eldest about ten.

Despite their young ages, they’d all experienced real hardship and knew how precious this opportunity was.

Nodding in satisfaction, Chen Jiuge instructed the distribution of the basic Beast Taming cultivation technique and the introductory martial arts technique for Martial Artists.

"These two books represent two paths: Beast Master and Martial Artist!"

"Follow your inner choice and select one to cultivate!"

These children had been selected due to their robust physical conditions and spirited vigor.

Martial Artists require physical talent, whereas Beast Masters need mental talent, making these paths suitable for them.

"Yes, sir!"

"You can call me teacher," Chen Jiuge corrected.

"Yes, teacher!"

After handing over the two cultivation techniques, Chen Jiuge left them alone.

These symbols would take at least decades to exhibit their effects; for now, it’s just an experiment.

Compared to these children, Chen Jiuge had more pressing matters, specifically the cultivation of Blood Refining Fierce Beasts.

With the aid of many spiritual materials to replenish Qi-Blood, the previously lost drop of Essence Blood had been restored, and now he could attempt to refine a second Blood Refining Fierce Beast.

Furthermore, during a month’s recuperation, the cultivation of Moon Shadows had been completed. The Yue Family was very satisfied and offered a generous payment, leaving Chen Jiuge with no complaints.

As for the second transaction, there’s no rush—it’s only been a month and not all ten Moon Shadows have been sold, nor has any customer feedback been received. Whether to continue cooperation isn’t urgent now.

The Blood Refining Technique primarily strengthens the beast’s physical body, which comes with different traits, the simplest being strength, speed, and physique.

Beyond these, there are many strange physical powers, all within the Blood Refining Technique’s enhancement range. However, as the peculiarity of the physical power increases, so does the required amount of Fierce Beast Blood, and the higher the chance of failure.

This time, Chen Jiuge plans to cultivate none other than a Moon Shadow!

The Moon Shadow’s abilities are decent, especially after Chen Jiuge’s cultivation and enhancement, with speed being particularly frightening, and the power unleashed under moonlight exceeding that of its peers, making it well worth cultivating.

Additionally, the Moon Shadow’s appearance isn’t low, and it can even disguise as a human, advantages not usually found in ordinary Fierce Beasts.