Bloodline Shackles

Fortunately, Li Tianming still had some property in Lihuo City. After being expelled from the City Lord's Mansion, mother and son at least had a place to stay.

The new residence was a dilapidated courtyard that hadn't been cleaned in a long time, lacking many daily necessities. After half a day of busy work, Li Tianming finally managed to settle down.

He knew he wouldn't stay here long. Once he obtained the "Yanhuang Order" required to enter Yanhuang Academy, he would leave Lihuo City.

At night, only after ensuring his mother had fallen asleep peacefully did Li Tianming leave her bedroom.

"Little bro, you did pretty well today." Under the night breeze, Li Tianming lifted the Little Yellow Chick from atop his head—the little rascal had been using his hair as a nest.

"Less talk, hurry up and take out the 'Spirit Ore' you got today. I'm starving." The Little Yellow Chick was already impatient.

The Spirit Ore it referred to was the "Jade" that Li Yanfeng had "graciously" bestowed after divorcing his wife and disowning his son—enough wealth for two ordinary people to live on for a lifetime.

So-called Spirit Ore were minerals from the world, nurtured over long ages by the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and the vein essence of the land. They possessed all kinds of miraculous spiritual properties and could be used to forge weapons, among many other functions.

"Jade" was also a type of Spirit Ore. It contained vast amounts of heaven and earth spiritual energy, beneficial to both Beastmasters and their companion beasts, and thus served as a "currency" among Beastmasters. Each piece of Jade was worth far more than gold, silver, or jewels.

There were several types of "Jade" that could circulate as currency. Among them, "Fire Jade," imbued with "flame spiritual energy," was the most common in the Vermilion Bird Kingdom. There were also Gold Jade, Thunder Jade, and others—all daily-use currency that could be used to purchase many cultivation resources.

Li Tianming took out all the Jade he had received that morning and spread it on the table to count. There were about two hundred Fire Jade and fifty or so Gold Jade.

"Quite generous—enough for two ordinary people to live two lifetimes." Li Tianming let out a cold laugh.

A lifetime of affection, and this was all it had bought.

"What's this?" The Little Yellow Chick pointed at a pattern that appeared on all the pieces of Jade.

"It's called a Heavenly Pattern." On those Fire Jade and Gold Jade, there was a faint red pattern that couldn't be washed off by water. This was a "Heavenly Pattern." Only with a Heavenly Pattern could something be called "Spirit Ore."

It was said that Heavenly Patterns were manifestations of the will of heaven and earth, containing the secrets of the primordial power of the world. Many high-level Beastmasters studied Heavenly Patterns to break through their own limits and master the power of heaven and earth. Hence, the full name of the Heavenly Pattern was "Heavenly Intent Pattern."

"Heavenly Patterns come in nine colors: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, black, and white. Red Heavenly Patterns are the lowest level, while white Heavenly Patterns are the highest. Spirit Ore with white Heavenly Patterns are absolutely rare treasures of the world. It's said that white Heavenly Patterns are extremely complex, almost like pattern arrays."

So far, Li Tianming had only ever seen red, orange, and yellow Heavenly Patterns.

The Jade before him were all Spirit Ore with red Heavenly Patterns. Though the most common, they were still somewhat beneficial for Li Tianming's current level of cultivation. The heaven and earth spiritual energy contained within the Jade could be released to accelerate the transformation and condensation of Beast Vein energy.

"What Heavenly Patterns, all that nonsense—in front of me, they're just food." The Little Yellow Chick muttered, then actually hopped over, opened its beak, and tried to eat the Jade.

"Bro, don't joke around. This stuff is meant to be refined, not eaten." Seeing its stance, Li Tianming knew exactly what it was planning. Normally, Beastmasters and their companion beasts did need Jade to speed up cultivation, but first, they had to release the spiritual energy from the Jade, then absorb and refine it together.

"You don't know a thing."

What happened next shocked Li Tianming. The Little Yellow Chick opened its beak and swallowed the Jade one by one, like little candy beans.

"Not bad, nice and chewy." After eating a dozen Fire Jade imbued with "flame spiritual energy," its whole body was already smoking, its face flushed red like it was drunk, and it even let out a few burps.

"What the hell, you're eating rocks? Aren't you afraid of getting constipated!" Li Tianming stared in disbelief. He had never seen a companion beast eat Spirit Ore raw.

"Country bumpkin, no experience. This cheap stuff? I'll digest it clean in a quarter of an hour. Do I even need to crap it out?" The Little Yellow Chick burped again. Too much heaven and earth spiritual energy had gathered inside it at once, and a wave of scorching heat burst from its body. It had successfully turned into a blazing fire chicken.

It took Li Tianming a while to snap out of it. Thinking it over, this thing was a Primordial Chaos Giant Beast. Just the name sounded awesome—what was eating Spirit Ore raw compared to that?

"You should try one too. Tastes pretty good. Real men eat hard stuff like this." The Little Yellow Chick, still craving more, picked up a piece of Fire Jade and handed it to Li Tianming.

"Is that why you recklessly attacked that male Firefeather Bird during the day?"

"Scram!" The Little Yellow Chick, thoroughly embarrassed, shoved the Fire Jade into Li Tianming's mouth.

Li Tianming wanted to spit it out, but on second thought—after the bloodline reconstruction with his companion beast, he was now an Eternal Purgatory Body. If it could absorb and refine by eating raw, why couldn't he?

The Fire Jade entered his mouth, burning his throat like strong liquor, but it didn't hurt much. Then it went into his stomach, like a bowl of hot soup going down. He could clearly feel the Fire Jade begin to melt under the assault of his stomach acids, releasing a massive amount of flame spiritual energy that burned through his entire body!

Whoosh!

He opened his mouth to breathe and spat out a stream of fire, a huge amount of flame spiritual energy rushing out.

"Don't spit it out! What a waste!" The Little Yellow Chick looked at him with disdain.

Li Tianming's face was flushed red. He looked at himself, his whole body on fire, and felt like he was dreaming. He was a monster!

But there was no denying it—like the Eternal Purgatory Phoenix, he could eat Spirit Ore raw! This was one of the bloodline abilities of the Primordial Chaos Giant Beast!

"With the same Fire Jade, if I refined it normally, I'd absorb at most a third. But eating it raw like this, it feels like nothing is wasted, and the absorption is more direct. The flame spiritual energy gathers in my stomach, and when I refine it with the 'Eternal Purgatory Scripture,' it directly converts into Beast Vein energy and flows into my Beast Veins."

"At this rate, as long as I have enough Jade, my cultivation should be much fiercer."

He smiled. No wonder the Little Yellow Chick could keep eating without being blown apart by the flame spiritual energy—it was also running the Eternal Purgatory Scripture to convert Beast Vein energy while "eating." As a result, both of their Beast Vein energy was swelling rapidly.

If anyone had witnessed what was happening in that dilapidated courtyard, it would have completely overturned their worldview.

A man and a chick sat together, eating Jade one by one like they were cracking sunflower seeds, chatting idly. The key point was that both the man and the chick were on fire.

Li Tianming was now very clear that the Primordial Chaos Giant Beast lurking in his companion space was an absolutely terrifying existence. In just a short time, the abilities the Little Yellow Chick had brought him were already terrifying enough.

Massive Beast Veins, the Eternal Purgatory Body, fire attribute immunity, eating Spirit Ore raw...

"Bro, how much do you know about the Primordial Chaos Giant Beast and yourself?" Li Tianming found some wine and drank with the Little Yellow Chick, using "Jade" as a snack.

"I'm not trying to act mysterious, but I'm even more clueless than you. The moment I opened my eyes, I only knew my name was 'Eternal Purgatory Phoenix,' one of the Primordial Chaos Giant Beasts. That's it." The Little Yellow Chick was tipsy, lying on the stone table with its feet in the air.

"I once saw a vision—a dark, enormous hand." Li Tianming recalled.

"You have that dream too!" The Little Yellow Chick jolted upright, staring at Li Tianming excitedly.

"You've seen it too?"

"Of course. I've had that image ever since before I was born. So I guess I used to be something that ate the sun for breakfast, got hunted down by that dark hand, and then, at the brink of death, through some opportunity, I turned death into life and became your companion beast, surviving in another form." The Little Yellow Chick said seriously.

It seemed to have quite a few thoughts about its current situation.

Of course, that was just its guess—whether it was correct remained unknown.

"Do you know of any way to restore your power while also bringing me along, letting me become as awesome as you once were?" Li Tianming asked.

"No idea. I only know that my bloodline still hides countless things, but I need many opportunities and catalysts to dig them out," said the Little Yellow Chick.

It certainly wasn't strong now, after all, it was at the third level of the Beast Pulse Realm just like him. But undeniably, if the power hidden in its bloodline were unleashed, it would shake the entire world.

As for what catalysts were needed, Li Tianming was still pondering that.

"The symbiotic cultivation system lets us grow stronger together—that might be one catalyst," Li Tianming mused.

"True, but I definitely need more than that. For example, these Spirit Ores—I knew at a glance I could eat them raw to get stronger. But the effect of these ores is too small; there must be something more effective," said the Little Yellow Chick.

Back when it was hunted by that dark giant hand, it had transformed its life pattern. There were surely unbreakable shackles within its bloodline. So going forward, the key was to thoroughly shatter those bloodline shackles and let it truly return to its peak.

As they spoke, the pile of over a hundred Fire Jades on the table had actually been devoured by the two of them!

"Damn, I'm still craving more!" the Little Yellow Chick said greedily. Its stomach was a bottomless pit.

"Aren't there still some Gold Jades?" Li Tianming asked generously. These Jades were being put to good use, so he didn't mind spending the lifetime's worth of funds Li Yanfeng had given him in a single night.

"These are full of 'metal spiritual energy'—nasty stuff," the Little Yellow Chick said disdainfully.

It was clearly fire-attributed, so forcing it to eat metal was indeed a tall order. Li Tianming still had some appetite looking at the Fire Jades, but the remaining Gold Jades held no appeal.

"That's simple. Tomorrow I'll go to the Starfall Chamber of Commerce and exchange these Gold Jades for Fire Jades."

Both Fire Jades and Gold Jades were types of Jade, and also served as currency. But they suited different attributes of beastmasters and their companion beasts. So Lihuo City's largest commercial organization, the Starfall Chamber of Commerce, had set up a Jade exchange counter, charging only a modest fee.

"First, let's convert tonight's Fire Jades into beast essence."

Their bodies were still brimming with a massive amount of flame spiritual energy. After a night of cultivation, Li Tianming could clearly feel that he wasn't far from breaking through to the fourth level of the Beast Pulse Realm.

Only by reaching that realm would he have any real initiative in the Yanhuang Academy finals!

Talking with the Little Yellow Chick tonight had cleared up many of Li Tianming's doubts. Now that he and this Eternal Purgatory Phoenix were mutually dependent, he had a rough direction for where the two of them—one human, one chick—should head in the future!

Strengthen oneself, awaken the bloodline, break the shackles!

As for what exactly was needed, when the Little Yellow Chick encountered it, it would have the answer.

Early the next morning, after making breakfast for his mother, Li Tianming took the remaining fifty Gold Jades and headed to the Starfall Chamber of Commerce.

He had a feeling that the Fire Jades obtained from this exchange would be just enough for him and the Little Yellow Chick to break through together!

As Li Tianming left the house, Lihuo City was buzzing with excitement over the city lord's wedding. The gossip about Li Tianming and his mother being divorced and disowned had already begun to spread...