Tongyou Qi, New Talent

After returning to Qiyun Cave, Wu Tian focused his energy on the two high-grade curse techniques he had just obtained.

Even mortals could cultivate these two high-grade curse techniques, but without True Qi, their progress would be slow, making it difficult to reach a profound level.

The Fire Pupil Curse required gazing at sunlight and using 108 ancient sounds to resonate with the fire essence in the world, nourishing the eye orifices.

The Thunder Sound Curse, on the other hand, had 122 ancient sounds and 18 illustrated scrolls depicting various postures like standing, sitting, walking, and resting. Cultivating with these ancient sounds made it even more obscure.

Wu Tian observed the essence of the two curse techniques with his mind. The runes Zhu Yushuang had passed to him were incredibly mystical. Simply touching them with his mind allowed him to understand their meaning. If he encountered something he didn't understand, immersing his mind in the runes would gradually clarify it.

This was even more effective than a master's explanation, akin to a direct transmission of knowledge, truly miraculous.

When first cultivating the Fire Pupil Curse, he could only absorb a wisp of the nascent sun's purple energy at sunrise to nourish his eye orifices. Therefore, he could only begin his cultivation the next day.

Although the Thunder Sound Curse was profound and obscure, he had the System Panel. Skills recorded in the System Panel would improve with cultivation, without any mistakes or risk of qi deviation.

In contrast, it was not as limited as the Fire Pupil Curse.

Wu Tian lay on the stone chair, circulating the Thunder Sound Curse. Immediately, muffled thunder sounds echoed from within his body, as if a flash of lightning had exploded inside him. A tingling sensation spread from his internal organs to his entire body.

Before he could relax and adapt, another thunderous sound exploded.

The 122 ancient Thunder Sound Curses were like 122 bolts of lightning, forging his internal organs, purging evil qi, and refining his spirit.

He only persisted for a dozen breaths before stopping, feeling as if he had been struck by lightning and was on the verge of collapse. Both his spirit and physique struggled to endure further. Cultivating high-grade curse techniques was inherently incredibly difficult.

After sufficient rest, Wu Tian resumed cultivating the Thunder Sound Curse. Around noon, he switched to cultivating the Tongyou Spell...

The next morning, Wu Tian first cultivated the Tongyou Spell, inhaling and exhaling cyan mist. His snow-white fur became even more lustrous. As the first ray of dawn touched the land, he circulated the Fire Pupil Curse, and a wisp of the nascent sun's purple energy nourished his eyes.

After his cultivation, he went to the Canteen for a meal.

He had always been a steady and tenacious individual. Cultivating daily and feeling his gradual growth and transformation was an intoxicating experience.

Moreover, with the System Panel, every bit of progress was clearly visible, making him even less likely to slack off.

Time flowed by, and before he knew it, a year had passed since Wu Tian came up the mountain.

One night, Wu Tian circulated the Tongyou Spell, inhaling and exhaling cyan mist, his entire body enveloped in a hazy glow.

Beside him stood a burly, tall figure – Man Xiongmu, who had emerged from seclusion a month prior.

He looked at Wu Tian with surprise, "This White Dragon's talent is even more exceptional than I imagined. In just over a year, he has already mastered the Tongyou Spell."

One had to know that this speed was comparable to that of a high-grade immortal root.

Top-grade immortal roots were said to achieve Foundation Establishment in a hundred days, while most high-grade immortal roots required over a year. Mid-grade immortal roots could take three to five years with no set time, and low-grade immortal roots needed at least ten years.

The difference was immense; insufficient immortal root aptitude was simply not enough to cultivate to higher realms.

In fact, Wu Tian's current aptitude was only equivalent to a mid-grade immortal root. However, with the System Panel, he made progress daily without bottlenecks, allowing him to achieve cultivation effects comparable to a high-grade immortal root.

Under Man Xiongmu's gaze, Wu Tian inhaled and exhaled cyan mist, the eighteen ancient sounds flowing without making the slightest sound, like whispers of ghosts and gods, directly reaching the underworld, audible only to Yin Ghosts.

With each inhale and exhale, mist permeated, and the dao manifested naturally.

Before he knew it, a wisp of dark, profound aura began to form within his body, like a stream of black water, or perhaps a mysterious snake.

Once this aura formed, the surrounding spiritual energy surged, converging at more than twice the previous speed. The mist poured into Wu Tian's mouth and nose like a stream, and after entering his body, it was devoured by that wisp of profound aura.

Wu Tian's experience was now different. That wisp of aura felt like his own limbs, like a newly grown organ. With a single thought, he could control it with exquisite precision.

Originally, he could only draw upon the world's spiritual energy by casting the Tongyou Spell. But now, with this wisp of aura, he could draw upon the world's spiritual energy even without casting any spells.

This was a qualitative change, like a metamorphosis, a sublimation of life, transforming from passive to active, no longer ordinary.

A white dog had become a spirit, cultivating Tongyou Qi.

At this stage, he could be called a monster.

"No wonder they distinguish between fierce birds and savage beasts and monsters. Once they generate True Qi or demonic qi, they are fundamentally different, able to actively draw upon the world's spiritual energy, like a sublimation of life."

Wu Tian's mind merged with the Tongyou Qi, feeling incredibly liberated. It had been over a year since he obtained the Tongyou Spell, and he had finally achieved Tongyou mastery and generated Tongyou Qi.

Ding, System Prompt: Your skill Tongyou Spell has reached mastery and can awaken into a talent. Please choose one of the following three talents.

Option 1: Qi Eater. You can absorb extremely scarce spiritual energy from the world through breathing.

Option 2: Yin Eye. You can see Malevolent Spirits, Yin Ghosts, and Yin-corrupted miasma, and gain a slight increase in your suppression of ghostly beings.

Option 3: Spirit Communication. Your soul talent gains a slight boost, allowing you to sense and communicate with ghostly beings.

All three of these options are beginner talents, but their quality is clearly much higher than talents born from other skills.

Qi Eater, Yin Eye, Spirit Communication – each one is incredibly practical.

"I already have the Qi Eater talent, and it has advanced to intermediate-level Eating Radiance, Drinking Dew. This option can be directly ruled out."

"Yin Eye and Spirit Communication, both of these talents are very useful!"

Wu Tian felt a surge of joy. The Yin Eye could see ghosts and malevolent spirits, but more importantly, it could increase his suppression of ghostly beings. If it upgraded to a higher level, it might become a bane to ghosts.

"Most disciples on Skull Mountain raise ghosts. If I had the Yin Eye talent, the benefits would be immense..."

"As for the Spirit Communication talent, needless to say, just the fact that it can improve soul talent makes it incredibly tempting."

Wu Tian pondered for a moment before finally choosing Spirit Communication. "With the Fire Pupil Curse that senior imparted to me, I should be able to obtain other eye-related talents in the future, and they will be even more profound."

"Instead, improving soul talent is extremely rare."

After making the decision, the System Panel naturally changed.

Name: Wu Tian

Age: 4

Bloodline: Southern Border White Dog

Realm: Qi Nourishing Realm, First Layer 1% (Monster)

Talent: Immunity to All Poisons 10% (Intermediate), Thousand Mile Divine Speed 12% (Intermediate), Auspiciousness and Avoidance of Disaster 10% (Intermediate), Eating Radiance, Drinking Dew 15% (Intermediate), Spirit Communication 1% (Beginner)

Skills: Fire Pupil Curse 5% (High-grade), Thunder Sound Curse 6% (High-grade)

Note: Perfected skills have been hidden.

Compared to before, the current panel had undergone a massive change. With these various talents, even those monsters probably didn't possess them.

"Finally, Foundation Establishment perfected, stepping into the Qi Nourishing Realm."

Wu Tian let out a long sigh of relief. His more than a year of hard work had finally paid off. He hadn't dared to slack off in the slightest during this time, cultivating day and night. He had even been honing his Thousand Mile Divine Speed talent while traveling.

Now that he had achieved something, he felt immense joy.

"It's a pity that after the talents advanced to Intermediate, it's become very difficult to improve them. In a year, they've only increased by about 10%. The Immunity to All Poisons talent has almost stagnated."

"At this rate, it might take ten years to perfect them."

"As for those two High-grade Curse Techniques, without True Qi to empower them, even with the System Panel, progress remains slow. However, now that I have Tongyou Qi, things should proceed much more smoothly."

Wu Tian knew this was the norm. Intermediate talents couldn't improve as quickly as before. "It's difficult for other people and demons and monsters to advance their talents. I should be content with this opportunity I've been given."

"Next, I should seek further methods."

He turned around and saw Man Xiongmu looking at him with a smile.

"White Dragon, congratulations on perfecting your Foundation Establishment today and having pure Qi enter your body."

"From now on, you, this dog, can be called a monster."

Wu Tian happily wagged his tail, letting out a dog's bark.

"Woof woof woof!"

"Hahaha!" Man Xiongmu burst into laughter. "Follow me. Today, I will teach you the next stage of cultivation methods."