Mysterious Beast Tower (Seeking Follow-up Reading)

Mysterious Beast Tower (Seeking Follow-up Reading)

The Ye Family's Ancestral Hall had also been built against the mountain, standing two stories tall. Two True Dragons Seizing Pearl were carved upon the tiled roof.

They looked lifelike atop the glazed tiles, their presence magnificently imposing!

At the entrance stood a large incense burner, from which thick blue smoke rose like a soaring flood dragon.

This was not Ye Jingcheng's first visit to the Ancestral Hall. He had come once when he had first entered the mountain, but back then, he had only been a child barely past ten.

There had not been such a large incense burner that time either.

Ye Xingliu continued walking, bypassed the incense burner, and entered the Ancestral Hall.

Ye Jingcheng followed close behind.

As he passed the rising blue smoke, Ye Jingcheng found the sandalwood incense exceptionally pleasant, making him want to take several more breaths. Yet in the next moment, he discovered that his consciousness was weakening, gradually becoming hazy.

His head grew heavier as well, and a stool appeared behind him.

He collapsed onto it.

"Who are you?" Ye Xingliu's icy voice rang out.

"Ye Jingcheng!" Ye Jingcheng answered mechanically and instinctively. He could no longer control his thoughts or think; he could only respond numbly.

"Why did you come to the Ye Family?"

"To cultivate and attain immortality!"

Ye Xingliu's expression changed, but the next moment, he heard Ye Jingcheng add:

"This is also my home. I grew up here from childhood!"

Only then did Ye Xingliu nod. He lightly tapped Ye Jingcheng between the brows with a finger.

With that tap, Ye Jingcheng's body suddenly relaxed. His head felt even more muddled, and within a few breaths, he fell into a deep sleep.

In his dream, Ye Jingcheng saw more of the Ye Family's spirit beasts. He saw himself successfully reaching Foundation Establishment in the Ye Family, saw his Fourth Brother, Ye Jingyu, become the family head, and saw the Ye Family flourish.

The dream was extraordinarily long.

And extraordinarily beautiful.

Until several coughs sounded.

Only then did Ye Jingcheng awaken from the dream. Ye Xingliu was still dressed in an immaculate Family Daoist Robe, seemingly having waited for a long time.

The return of his consciousness still left his body somewhat uncomfortable.

"Family Head..."

Yet Ye Xingliu solemnly said again:

"Jingcheng, everything you see, hear, and feel next is the Lineage's highest secret. Remember, you must not reveal even the slightest bit to outsiders—not even to the rest of the Lineage. Anyone who violates this will be purged by the Lineage and have their cultivation reclaimed. Do you understand?"

"Jingcheng understands!" Ye Jingcheng nodded. He also rose from the stool and followed behind Ye Xingliu.

After saying this, Ye Xingliu stepped into the Ancestral Hall. Ye Jingcheng hurriedly followed him inside.

Before them were still numerous ancestral tablets, an Eight Immortals table, an offering burner, two red candles, and three prayer cushions.

"Sit on the prayer cushions!" Ye Xingliu continued to command, taking the first seat on one himself.

Ye Jingcheng nodded as well. He knew that he seemed to have been tested just now.

What came next might be the Lineage's true secret.

Sitting on the prayer cushion, Ye Jingcheng seemed to hear waves of chanting.

Yet he could not make out the words of the chant. They were exceedingly complex.

He tried to listen more closely, but in the next moment, he looked up again! He was startled to find himself inside a pagoda. Around the pagoda no longer hung ancestral tablets!

Instead, spirit beast statues hung everywhere!

They were lifelike, some seated, some standing, some flying, some still.

"Jingcheng, leave behind as many Spirit Patterns as possible!" A voice sounded in his mind.

Ye Jingcheng still did not understand, but he engraved those words deeply in his heart!

Boom! A cracking sound suddenly rang out.

Cracks began to appear across the stone statues, followed by chunks of stone falling away. Once all the stone had fallen off—

Those spirit beasts charged viciously at Ye Jingcheng. The sight was simply beyond belief! Ye Jingcheng immediately fled in panic. Those savage beasts were clearly no ordinary beasts, but the space within the tower was limited, and he was soon struck!

Boom! A trembling sensation spread through him as the spirit beast passed directly through his body.

A faint Spirit Pattern of spiritual light appeared upon his body.

The Spirit Pattern was still fading at a speed visible to the naked eye.

But in the next moment, several more spirit beasts charged into him!

With every collision, he felt several degrees more dizzy.

And another Spirit Pattern would appear on his arm.

Three small Spirit Patterns then merged into a Spirit Pattern three inches long.

When three Spirit Patterns three inches long appeared, they transformed into one Spirit Pattern five inches long.

But by then, Ye Jingcheng felt as though his head were about to explode.

After two more spirit beasts passed through him, Ye Jingcheng had one five-inch-long Spirit Pattern and two one-inch-long Spirit Patterns on his arm.

At that moment, the pagoda suddenly vanished, and Ye Jingcheng returned to the Ancestral Hall once more!

Pain still showed on his face.

"Not bad! Your Beast Communication Mark is as much as five inches long!" Ye Xingliu saw the Spirit Pattern on Ye Jingcheng's hand and could not help praising him.

As if seeing Ye Jingcheng's confusion, Ye Xingliu also bared an arm. A five-inch-long Spirit Pattern appeared upon it.

In the next moment, it easily vanished from his arm again.

"This kind of Spirit Pattern is called a Beast Communication Mark. It is also the Lineage's greatest secret. Once your Spirit Pattern has completely stabilized, you will be able to control it freely like I do, concealing it either inside or outside your body!"

"Its greatest benefit is that it allows spiritual power to circulate between humans and Monster Beasts!"

"If the difference in cultivation between a cultivator and a Monster Beast is too great, this Beast Communication Mark can rapidly narrow that gap, until eventually there is no gap at all!"

"Of course, this rapidity merely means several times faster than usual. It can even be considered a sharing of the spirit beast's talent!"

"Furthermore, many of the Lineage's beast-taming secret arts are related to the Beast Communication Mark. You are only at the Qi Refinement Stage now, so you cannot access them yet. It is enough that you know of them!" Ye Xingliu explained one point after another.

By now, a towering wave had already surged within Ye Jingcheng's heart.

His previous doubts were resolved as easily as splitting bamboo.

The Ye Family did not care about Spirit Roots because, so long as they had a highly gifted spirit beast, they could use shared spiritual power to raise a cultivator's talent to a higher level as well.

Even if a spirit beast's growth slowed after adulthood, they could inherit the Ye Family's spirit beasts.

Take Ye Jingcheng, for instance. If nothing unexpected happened, his cultivation progress would only continue to be pulled forward by the Crimson Flame Fox! With the Beast Communication Mark, he would keep benefiting from it.

Once the Crimson Flame Fox normally reached adulthood, it could attain Foundation Establishment Late Stage.

Of course, to Ye Jingcheng, this felt even more dreamlike! The Treasure Book within him was meant to enhance spirit beast talents. From one tail to two tails, and even nine tails in the future, it would absolutely be a leap in quality.

Most crucially, Monster Beasts improved mainly through powerful bloodlines, and almost entirely by eating!

"This is the method for using the Beast Communication Mark. Record it once now, then destroy the Jade Slip!" Seeing that Ye Jingcheng had no further questions, Ye Xingliu took out a Jade Slip.

"Thank you, Family Head!"

"When there are no outsiders around, just call me Third Uncle. Our Ye Family is not so distant!"

Seeking follow-up reading, seeking follow-up reading, esteemed readers—especially next Tuesday!