Spirit Source Divine Ability

On the way back to the inn.

"Actually, the Star Demon Roc's Spirit Source Divine Ability, Blazing Star Eye, was quite powerful. Luckily, I reacted quickly at the time. Otherwise, you'd have been pierced through by now."

Li Tianming was in an exceptionally good mood today.

"Stop bragging. I could've dodged it myself." Little Yellow Chick rolled its eyes.

"By the way, once you reach the Spirit Source Realm, can you refine a Spirit Source Divine Ability? After all, you aren't an ordinary companion beast."

"How would I know? I don't even know what a Spirit Source Divine Ability is!"

In truth, the mysteries of Spirit Source Divine Abilities involved the mysteries of the second realm of cultivation, the Spirit Source Realm.

When Beast Pulse Realm cultivation reached its peak, and all eighteen beast pulses belonging to the beastmaster and companion beast had fully connected, they could use both sides' Beast Essence to open Spirit Sources within their respective bodies.

The locations of Spirit Sources depended on the companion beast. For example, Jin Yu's Spirit Sources were mostly opened in its claws, feathers, and beak.

Compared with beast pulses, Spirit Sources could gather far more Beast Essence. A beastmaster in the Spirit Source Realm possessed Beast Essence vastly more abundant than one in the Beast Pulse Realm.

Why were high-grade companion beasts so powerful?

It was because whatever grade a companion beast was, that was how many Spirit Sources it could open upon entering the Spirit Source Realm.

A First-Order Companion Beast, upon opening the Spirit Source Realm, could only have one Spirit Source, whether beastmaster or companion beast.

A sixth-order companion beast, however, allowed both beastmaster and companion beast to possess six Spirit Sources!

For example, at the first level of the Spirit Source Realm, a beastmaster with a third-order companion beast had only half as many Spirit Sources as one with a sixth-order companion beast.

Thus, even at the same realm, the latter's total Beast Essence was nearly twice that of the former. Naturally, the latter was far stronger.

Why not use First-Order and second-order companion beasts as examples?

Because companion beasts of those two grades simply could not cultivate to the Spirit Source Realm.

For example, Chen Yao definitely possessed six Spirit Sources, and all six had been cultivated to the third level.

A beastmaster at the same realm with a Fifth-Order Companion Beast only had five Spirit Sources and was absolutely no match for him.

Once Little Yellow Chick reached the Spirit Source Realm, it would presumably possess six Spirit Sources as well. The more Spirit Sources one had, the stronger one's talent was.

Moreover, Spirit Sources had an even greater function: Spirit Source Divine Abilities!

The origins of Spirit Source Divine Abilities were rather complicated.

"Companion beasts themselves have no divine abilities. Spirit Source Divine Abilities actually come from ferocious beasts."

Mindless ferocious beasts born between heaven and earth possessed powerful "Awakened Divine Abilities" by nature, so long as they were third-order or above.

For instance, the Saberback Giant Crocodile's Water Tornado on Fire Ribbon Mountain was its Awakened Divine Ability.

After slaying a ferocious beast, beastmasters could use a "refining method" to extract its Awakened Divine Ability into a Beast Soul.

Then, by guiding the Beast Soul into a companion beast's Spirit Source, the companion beast could obtain a Spirit Source Divine Ability.

In short, Spirit Source Divine Abilities were seized from ferocious beasts.

Of course, whether the refinement succeeded depended on whether the ferocious beast's Beast Soul submitted.

For example, if an elder slew a ferocious beast and extracted its Beast Soul for a junior, the Beast Soul would generally refuse to submit, resulting in refinement failure.

At the same time, the result of refinement also depended on whether the types of ferocious beast and companion beast were compatible.

The grade of a Beast Soul was determined by the grade of the ferocious beast.

A beastmaster's Spirit Sources could not house divine abilities. Only companion beasts could.

Generally speaking, however many Spirit Sources a companion beast possessed, that was how many Spirit Source Divine Abilities it could refine. This was another advantage of high-grade companion beasts.

"For example, the Six-Star Luminary Lion possesses six Spirit Sources, so it can refine the Awakened Divine Abilities of six ferocious beasts into its own Spirit Source Divine Abilities."

When a ferocious beast's Awakened Divine Ability was transformed into a companion beast's Spirit Source Divine Ability, there would in fact be some changes.

Those changes came from the influence of the companion beast's bloodline.

Simply put, the extracted ferocious beast's Beast Soul merged with the companion beast's bloodline, giving birth to an even stronger Spirit Source Divine Ability.

Spirit Source Divine Abilities belonged exclusively to companion beasts. Beastmasters could not wield them.

However, it was said that after breaking through the Spirit Source Realm and reaching the third cultivation realm, the Unity Realm, beastmasters could use the wondrous "Unity Field" to borrow their companion beasts' Spirit Source Divine Abilities.

"I'll have to wait until I reach the Spirit Source Realm to know whether I possess a Spirit Source Divine Ability." Little Yellow Chick said.

Its origin was the Primordial Chaos Giant Beast. In truth, it was more like a ferocious beast than a companion beast.

So it still did not know what its future would hold.

The only thing certain now was that divine sources could unlock its bloodline, allowing it to achieve something akin to evolution.

Li Tianming was actually greatly looking forward to the Eternal Purgatory Phoenix's Spirit Source Realm.

He felt that perhaps this Little Yellow Chick possessed bloodline divine abilities of its own.

Speaking of Spirit Source Divine Abilities, Li Tianming recalled the "Sacred Beast Battle Soul" he had once obtained in the Abyssal Battlefield!

In truth, a Sacred Beast Battle Soul was also a Beast Soul, the highest-grade Beast Soul of all!

Only ferocious beasts at the utmost level could be bestowed the title of Sacred Beast.

Sacred Beasts were existences said to Destroy Heaven and Earth, appearing only in historical legends.

How terrifying would a Sacred Beast's Awakened Divine Ability be?

Sacred Beast Battle Souls were not formed by slaying and refining Sacred Beasts. Rather, after a Sacred Beast died, if its Beast Soul went unrefined, it would naturally transform over the long passage of years.

Sacred Beast Battle Souls could likewise be refined into Spirit Sources. Since the Sacred Beast had been dead for so long, it did not possess much resistance.

Once a Sacred Beast Battle Soul was successfully refined, the Spirit Source Divine Ability obtained would definitely be terrifying. Of course, it would also be exceedingly unstable.

It was precisely that instability which had allowed Lin Xiaoting to seize the Sacred Beast Battle Soul Li Tianming had refined for Jin Yu!

Under normal circumstances, a successfully refined Spirit Source Divine Ability could not possibly be stripped away.

At that time, Li Tianming had not possessed the Sacred Beast Battle Soul for long.

Jin Yu had only just refined it and had yet to display the Sacred Beast Battle Soul's power when Mu Qingqing's betrayal struck!

Back then, Jin Yu had refined the Sacred Beast Battle Soul into the divine source within its feathers. That was why Lin Xiaoting had plucked every last one of its feathers.

"Because of the Sacred Beast Battle Soul's instability, Lin Xiaoting might not be able to fully control it even after three years."

"Once, he stole the Sacred Beast Battle Soul from Jin Yu. One day, I will take it back and return every bit of pain I once suffered to him!"

"Jin Yu, give me a little more time!"

Today, he had taken his first step in Yanhuang Academy.

Next, he still had to take part in the Ranking Battle. It was all for the day when he could personally reclaim what he had once lost!

To give himself an answer.

And to give an answer to the blood brother who had fought at his side for sixteen years, now beneath the Yellow Springs.

He had already come to the Flame Capital. That day would not be far away.

After sorting out the workings of the Spirit Source Realm, Spirit Source Divine Abilities, and Sacred Beast Battle Souls with Little Yellow Chick, Li Tianming had returned to the inn.

"Any good news?" Wei Jing asked with a smile. She seemed to be in fairly good spirits.

"No. I got eliminated by the academy. My performance was awful, and people cursed at me." Li Tianming said.

"You child, you're nearly twenty already, yet your acting is still this terrible." Wei Jing shook her head.

"That's inherited from you." Li Tianming laughed. Feeling that the timing was about right, he said, "Come on, I'll get you a big house today."

Since the money on him came from that person at the Chen Palace, Li Tianming found it inconvenient to spend it in front of her.

"Where did the money come from?" Wei Jing asked.

"I ran into an idiot during the trial today. He insisted on making a wager with me, so I didn't hold back and won a hefty sum from him."

Li Tianming told a lie. To let his mother live in a new home without worry, he felt it was a well-intentioned lie. After all, an inn was too transient a place to stay for long.

Having returned to the Flame Capital, her hometown, how could he let her live alone in an inn?

Even if Li Tianming had to sell his looks, he would still find his mother a decent place to live.

"It doesn't need to be too big. Two rooms will do." Wei Jing wanted him to save some money for cultivation.

But her reminders were useless. Li Tianming found a quiet courtyard near Yanhuang Academy.

It had four or five side rooms, along with a yard where flowers, grass, and trees could be planted. His mother's companion beast could also come out from the Companion Space to get some fresh air.

This home cost Li Tianming a hundred yellow Heavenly Pattern Jades, the price of two copies of Fire Shadow Phantom Step, but he felt it was well worth it.

Because from this day onward, his mother would no longer be a drifting wanderer.

He spent an entire day buying his mother a complete set of daily necessities, then hired a kind middle-aged woman to look after her daily life.

By the time he had settled everything, it was already late.

Though today had been busy, seeing his mother able to bask in the sun again and enjoy the stillness beneath the moonlight made him feel it had all been worth it.

This was home. This was happiness!

"Tianming, though life holds many hardships, never forget the joys of this world." She closed her eyes and enjoyed the evening breeze.

"I know. People say the sea of suffering in this world is boundless, and happiness is no more than a fleeting bubble. But as long as you hold fast to the people important in your heart, the fulfillment in your heart is the greatest happiness."

"What a sweet talker, making your mother happy." Wei Jing smiled in satisfaction.

"You're overthinking it. The important person I meant wasn't you." Li Tianming laughed.

"Then who was it?"

"Of course, it's some girl who makes my heart race, the kind I'll marry and then forget my mother for."

"Haha..."

Wei Jing burst out laughing at his teasing.

In truth, she was the most important person in Li Tianming's heart. He would even be willing to die with her; without her, life itself would have no meaning.

Of course, as he made that joke, he suddenly thought of the fairy-like girl he had encountered on Fire Ribbon Mountain.

She was also in the Flame Capital. Thinking of her ethereal tranquility, her smile, and her voice, Li Tianming suddenly missed her a little.

He wondered when they would meet again.

"Tianming, when your Ranking Battle comes, Mother wants to go watch." Deep into the night, Wei Jing suddenly said.

She had not attended such an occasion in a long time.

She had never even watched Li Tianming charge into battle in all directions.

The Ranking Battle would be Li Tianming's most important moment, and he would face truly powerful opponents.

She wanted to watch. She wanted to stand behind her son.

Because she knew that on that day, the parents and elders of many prominent clans would stand behind their children.

She did not want Li Tianming to fight alone again, with no one to rely on.

"Definitely." Li Tianming nodded.

He understood his mother's feelings.

He, too, wanted her to see with her own eyes that her child was a warrior who would sooner die than yield!

Starting tomorrow, Li Tianming would return to Yanhuang Academy and prepare for the Ranking Battle!