Skill Training

Two days later, in the wilderness.

Xu Bai stood with his hands behind his back. As his soul ring rose beneath his feet, he no longer concealed the aura of a first-ring soul master. The intensity of his presence was so strong that the passing microorganisms could not even lift their heads.

Beast Taming Space, open!

I've decided on you, come out, First!

As ripples stirred in the space behind him, First, having been summoned, walked out slowly with a swaggering, arrogant gait.

"First, do you know why I called you out?"

Xu Bai asked calmly.

'I know!'

First revealed a bloodthirsty expression and let out a fierce roar that startled a large flock of birds in the distance: 'Who is the Beast Tamer going to kill?'

Xu Bai stumbled, raised his hand, and slapped the tiger on the head. "Who did you learn that from? Asking me who to kill—with your cultivation just having entered the hundred-year level, who could you possibly kill? You might not even be able to beat a slightly stronger first-ring battle soul master."

First felt aggrieved.

Then why were you so formal when you summoned me? I thought we were going to fight...

Xu Bai glanced at First and said calmly, "Today is the first time I'm helping you train your racial skills, so naturally, I have to be a bit more formal."

Training racial skills?

First was puzzled. Can this stuff even be trained?

"Why wouldn't it be?"

Xu Bai shook his head and said, "When you use your Metal Spirit Power, haven't you noticed that it's hard to control? That is a sign that you haven't mastered the skill."

"Now that I'm helping you train, once your proficiency improves, you might be able to pull metal from the earth beneath your feet to fight your enemies with just a single thought."

First fell silent upon hearing this. In its mind, it couldn't help but picture itself letting out a roar, pulling tens of thousands of metal pieces from the ground, and beating its younger brother to a pulp.

Then, it looked at Xu Bai with a determined expression:

'Beast Tamer, I want to learn this! Train me hard!'

Xu Bai held his forehead, beginning to wonder if teaching First how to read was the right decision.

Although First was quite gifted when it came to literacy, what exactly had it been reading these past two days?

With a soft sigh, Xu Bai raised his hand slightly and tossed several iron balls he had crafted out of his Beast Taming Space, creating quite a few craters in the ground with a series of "bangs."

"The training content is simple: one phrase—master concentration."

Seeing First's confused expression, Xu Bai explained, "I've brought out twenty iron balls of various sizes. What you need to do is control one of them in the air without affecting the others."

First frowned, looking at the pile of iron balls, and felt it was going to be difficult.

"It's fine, let's start with something simple."

Xu Bai smiled, raised his hand to retract the iron balls back into his Beast Taming Space, leaving only two similar-sized ones on the ground. "Start, First! Use your Metal Spirit Power!"

First looked solemn. With a thought, it released the power within its body.

The next moment, a faint golden light dissipated, covering a radius of over ten meters.

"Awoo—"

First let out a soft cry. The golden light trembled, and driven by this strange power, the two iron balls on the ground miraculously floated up.

It wasn't just the two iron balls that floated, but also the tiny metal-attributed particles within a ten-meter radius.

"First, put one of the iron balls down, or simply cancel your control over it," Xu Bai prompted at the right moment.

Hearing this, First tried hard to control them, attempting to drop one of the balls.

But things went against its wishes; when it tried to drop one, the other ball and all the tiny particles descended along with it.

Seeing it couldn't be done, First tried to simply withdraw its control over that one ball.

However, it would have been better if it hadn't tried; as soon as it withdrew, all the golden light was pulled back.

With a "thud," both iron balls hit the ground at the same time.

First refused to accept defeat and tried several more times, but each attempt ended in failure.

First: ε(┬┬﹏┬┬)3

Beast Tamer, I've been bullied by my own skill...

It looked at Xu Bai pitifully, seeking comfort.

"Don't be discouraged. Failure is normal."

Xu Bai reached out and rubbed First's head, offering a hint: "That power comes from within you; it is of the same origin as you. When you use that power, try to treat it as your own limbs, not as a tool."

Hearing this, First nodded as if it understood, then regained its confidence and continued to practice.

Then, it failed again. This continued for nearly the entire morning until it was completely exhausted.

Looking at First, who was so discouraged that it was crouching to the side drawing circles, Xu Bai stepped forward and patted its head. "Failure is the mother of success, and this has only been one morning. With your talent, I believe you will succeed before long."

First continued to draw circles, seemingly still unable to pull itself out of the pain of failure.

Xu Bai fell silent for a moment, then tentatively suggested, "How about this? Stop being sad. How about we have a good meal today?"

It worked!

Diyi performed a lightning-fast "Sichuan Opera face-change," appearing before Xu Bai in an instant, its eyes glowing as it stared at him.

Xu Bai: ?????

Looking at this white tiger, which lost all sense of composure the moment food was mentioned, a giant panda named A-Bao inexplicably surfaced in Xu Bai's mind.

In that moment, a flash of inspiration struck; he felt he finally knew how to train Diyi.

The next day, at the same time and place, Xu Bai released Diyi once more.

"Diyi, after a whole night of deep reflection, I've decided to change your training method."

Xu Bai stood with his back to Diyi, hands clasped behind his back, adopting the air of a master.

However, such a pose on an eight-year-old's body didn't inspire respect; it only made one find it amusing.

Of course, Diyi wasn't human. At this moment, it was looking at Xu Bai with pure adoration, sighing internally that a Beast Tamer was truly a Beast Tamer—to think he'd come up with a new training method in just one night.

"I call this training method the A-Bao Training Method."

Xu Bai turned around, took a jar of honey from his Beast Taming Space, dipped a spoon into it, and held it out to Diyi with a smile.

"Come, Diyi, taste this and tell me how it is."

His smile was gentle, but in Diyi's eyes, it carried a hint of malice, making it shiver for no reason and feel as if something bad was about to happen.

Diyi instinctively wanted to refuse, but once the sweet fragrance of the honey hit its nose, all caution was thrown to the wind.

My Beast Tamer is so good to me; he wouldn't hurt me, would he?

With that thought, it opened its maw and swallowed the honey-coated spoon in one gulp.

Delicious! The Beast Tamer really wouldn't hurt me!

Diyi's pupils dilated slightly, a look of pure bliss washing over its face.

Xu Bai nodded in satisfaction. This jar of honey was Century-Old Gilded Royal Honey, which had cost him a full twenty gold soul coins; in terms of flavor, it was the absolute best among honeys.

He didn't believe that after tasting this, Diyi wouldn't be hooked.

Beast Tamer, I want more!

After licking the spoon clean, Diyi rubbed its head against Xu Bai, looking up at him with large, watery eyes.

"Don't rush, this whole jar is for you." Xu Bai pulled a malicious smile. "Now, try this and see how it is."

As he spoke, Xu Bai took another ceramic jar from his Beast Taming Space, filled with an unidentified yellowish-brown powder.

Getting closer, one could smell a pungent scent of traditional Chinese medicine.

Glancing at the impatient Diyi, Xu Bai dug out a large spoonful from the jar and held it out.

As the spoon drew near, the scent of the medicine hit its nose. Diyi frowned, instinctively wanting to back away.

But out of trust for its Beast Tamer, it gathered its courage and swallowed it in one go.

Then, Diyi's eyes snapped wide open, only one thought flashing through its mind:

The Beast Tamer wants to kill me...

Bitter. It was so bitter it pierced the heart and turned the soul upside down.

It dared to swear to the heavens that it had never tasted anything this bitter in its entire life.

"Awoo!"

Diyi spat the spoon out violently, its tongue stained dark brown, and lunged toward the jar of Royal Honey at Xu Bai's side.

But Xu Bai had been prepared; the moment he saw Diyi shift its gaze, he had already tucked the jar away.

"Awoo~"

Seeing its life-saving Royal Honey taken away, Diyi let out a mournful howl, glared at Xu Bai with indignation, and then turned its attention to the grass at its feet.

Since they were in the wild, the grass grew lush and thick, at least half a foot tall.

Diyi took a bite, tearing off a mouthful of grass and chewing frantically, trying to use the bitterness of the weeds to suppress the intense, lingering bitterness in its mouth.

Seeing this, Xu Bai raised an eyebrow, looking at the unidentified yellow powder in the jar, a thought suddenly occurring to him:

"Is this stuff really that bitter?"

Gentian Coptis Powder was known as the bitterest thing in the plant kingdom for its age.

This jar was ten-year-old Gentian Coptis Powder; though it was only ten years old, it had cost him thirty gold soul coins.

After a long while, Xu Bai looked away. Diyi's display was just too miserable, stripping him of the courage to be curious.

"Diyi, don't blame me. I'm doing this for your own good..."

Xu Bai muttered in his heart to comfort his remaining conscience, then began preparing the training props for Diyi.

He took out two sets of small iron balls, coating one set in Royal Honey and sprinkling the other with Coptis Powder.

Using the temptation of food combined with the fear of Coptis Powder, Xu Bai sought to stimulate the potential hidden deep within Diyi.

Just as Xu Bai finished his preparations, Diyi finally managed to catch its breath.

It looked toward its Beast Tamer with teary eyes, wearing an expression of grievance as if to say, "How could you betray me?"

I'm doing this for its own good...

Silently repeating this to himself, Xu Bai instantly regained his confidence. He glared at Diyi and said crossly, "Do you think I'll soften my heart just because you make that face? Training starts now, or else this is all you'll be eating from now on."

As he spoke, Xu Bai kicked the pottery jar filled with Coptis Powder.

"Awoo—"

Diyi let out a howl of utter despair; if it had to eat this for every meal, it might as well just die.

"Of course, if you perform well and the budget allows, I can buy you a jar of Royal Honey every month."

Xu Bai continued, knowing that after the stick, he naturally had to offer a carrot.

Otherwise, being hit with stick after stick would be more than anyone could bear.

Sure enough, upon hearing that it could have Royal Honey every month, Diyi perked up again.

Betrayal?

That didn't exist!

Its Beast Tamer was its benefactor, after all; how could a benefactor ever betray it?

"Since you're in such good spirits, let's begin the training."

Xu Bai chuckled, "The content is the same as last time, only I've added rewards and punishments. As for which one you get, that depends entirely on you."

"Oh, and one more rule: if the iron ball hits the ground, you don't get to eat what's on it."

With that, he took out two iron balls—one coated in Royal Honey and the other covered in Coptis Powder.

"Start your performance, Diyi!"

At these words, Diyi's expression instantly turned serious. It took a deep breath and activated its Metal Spirit Power.

Golden light rippled outward, and the two iron balls, along with tiny particles containing iron elements within the range, slowly began to float.

Diyi stared at the iron ball coated in Royal Honey with eyes full of longing. It opened its mouth, focused its mind, and controlled that specific iron ball to move toward it.

Then, both iron balls began to move simultaneously.

Seeing this, the fear previously instilled by the Coptis Powder washed over it again, causing its focus to slip for a split second.

But in that mere moment of distraction, both iron balls lost control and plummeted straight down.

By the time Diyi snapped back to reality, the Royal Honey iron ball was a mere 0.01 centimeters from the ground.

The Beast Tamer's words still echoed in its ears.

If the iron ball hits the ground, you don't get to eat what's on it.

The Royal Honey couldn't be eaten...

Couldn't be eaten...

For Diyi, who valued food more than its own life, this was absolutely unacceptable.

"Awoo!"

With a tiger's roar, Diyi instantly unleashed its body's potential, releasing its Metal Spirit Power once more.

"Diyi, you actually succeeded..."

Xu Bai's voice, filled with surprise, rang out, causing Diyi—whose eyes were fixed solely on the Royal Honey iron ball—to snap back to reality.

It saw that the faint golden light, which usually covered a radius of over ten meters when using its Metal Spirit Power, was now reduced to a mere thin line.

The source of the line was Diyi, and the other end was tethered to the Royal Honey iron ball, which was now being controlled by it as it slowly floated upward.

I actually succeeded...

Diyi murmured, feeling a moment of daze, as if all of this were unreal.

It never expected that something it couldn't do no matter what yesterday, it would manage to achieve after only a single day...

"That's right, Diyi, you're a genius!"

Xu Bai said with a smile. He had assumed that even with this training method, it would take Diyi at least another day or two to manage it; he hadn't expected Diyi to succeed on its very first attempt.

Of course, look who I am.

Diyi proudly raised its head, then began to happily lick the Royal Honey off the iron ball.

Perhaps it wasn't just his imagination, but the Royal Honey on the iron ball seemed even sweeter and more fragrant than the first time it had tasted it.

Once Diyi had licked the iron ball clean, Xu Bai took out two clean iron balls and said, "Diyi, try again. Let's see if you can do it."

"Awoo~"

Diyi responded, activating its Metal Spirit Power.

The next moment, faint golden light permeated the air and began to spread.

Seeing this, Di Yi hurriedly focused his mental energy. The diffused golden light began to gather, subsequently transforming into a faint ray that seized control of one of the iron balls in Xu Bai's hand, causing it to slowly float.

"Very good!"

Xu Bai gave his affirmation, then suddenly thought of something. With a flicker of his mind, he opened the Manual within his sea of consciousness:

[Beast Taming]: Mutated Green-Red Tiger (Di Yi)

[Attribute]: Metal

[Current Age]: 100 years

[Racial Potential]: 1,000 years

[Racial Skill]: Metal Spirit Power (Proficient)

[Evolution Path]: None

[Currently Recorded Soul Beasts]: 7 (Viewable)

Xu Bai nodded. The Manual had indeed changed; the proficiency of Metal Spirit Power had shifted from Novice to Proficient.