Meanwhile, outside.
Xu Bai took a deep breath. Two yellow Soul Rings rose unsteadily beneath his feet, and the aura around him rapidly surged until it reached a certain threshold and finally settled.
"I should be at level twenty-three... Three levels at once. No wonder a Hundred-Year Soul Beast gives such a boost."
Murmuring to himself, Xu Bai waved his fist, getting used to the overall increase in his strength.
A nine-year-old Soul Grandmaster. He wondered what level the current Chosen One of Fortune had reached at that age.
Xu Bai smiled wryly, shook his head to clear away the stray thoughts, and opened the Manual in his Sea of Divine Consciousness.
[Beast Taming top 1]: Mutated Green-Red Tiger (First)
[Attributes]: ...
[Beast Taming top 2]: Mutated Blue Silver Grass
[Current Age]: One hundred years
[Species Potential]: One thousand years
[Species Skills]: Early Wisdom (Proficient), Tenacious (Perfect)
[Evolution Direction]: Nine Tribulations Blue Silver Grass
[Current Soul Beasts Recorded in Manual]: 52 (View)
"Early Wisdom?" Xu Bai raised an eyebrow as he looked at the information displayed in the Manual.
So the little guy's intelligence... its spiritual awareness was so high because of its species skill. That made sense.
But that wasn't the point. The point was—
Xu Bai shifted his gaze to Tenacious's proficiency. "That's my little guy! I knew you had it in you, Blue Silver Grass I picked myself!"
There were two requirements for the second Method of Rebirth.
The first was reaching one hundred years. The second was having Tenacious at Perfect proficiency.
With Hundred Herb Liquid as a fallback, reaching one hundred years hadn't been a problem for Xu Bai back then.
What had truly stumped him was getting Tenacious to Perfect. Even now, he had no idea how to train it.
But now things were different. Little Blue Silver Grass had come through, and its skill met the requirement. As long as he got the materials, he could start its evolution.
It would only cost around twenty thousand Soul Coins. His little stash should be able to take it!
Thinking this, Xu Bai sent out a thought and prepared to summon both of his beasts from the Beast Taming Space.
The space rippled, and First strode out with a mighty air. As for Little Blue Silver Grass, it appeared before Xu Bai in a streak of light, roots already planted in the ground.
Xu Bai looked at First and asked sternly, "First, you didn't bully your new companion just now, did you?"
"Roar~"
As if I'd do that! I'm the Beast Tamer's most obedient beast!
The little white tiger looked righteous.jpg
Xu Bai nodded, then turned to Little Blue Silver Grass and spoke gently. "Little guy, First didn't bully you, did it? Speak up if anything happened. Don't be afraid of it. If it really bullied you, I'll cut off its food for a month."
First: ????
First: !!!!
'No, Boss is really nice to me. It promised to protect me if we run into danger.' Little Blue Silver Grass spoke in a cheerful voice, making First—who had been watching it tensely—breathe a long sigh of relief.
Good job, little buddy. Your boss will protect you with everything he's got!
The little white tiger liked this.jpg
Hearing Little Blue Silver Grass's answer, Xu Bai nodded in satisfaction.
Good. First had taken his words to heart.
He reached out to rub First's head, then turned back to Little Blue Silver Grass. "You don't have a name yet, do you? Now that you're my beast, you ought to have one. I can't keep calling you 'little guy' forever."
"Let me think of a name for you..."
Xu Bai stroked his chin and was about to ponder when Little Blue Silver Grass cut in timidly. 'Um, Beast Tamer, I already have a name.'
Xu Bai: ?????
"You came up with it yourself?"
'No, no.' Little Blue Silver Grass swayed its leaves repeatedly, then said excitedly, 'Boss just gave it to me. My name is Little Blue!'
"L-Little Blue?" Xu Bai's mouth twitched as he turned toward First with an expression halfway between a smile and a grimace.
First, who had been enjoying the attention, had already turned away and was gazing up at the sky, pretending nothing was amiss.
The sun sure was... sunny today.
"First!" Xu Bai called out sharply.
First's tail swished as it kept looking at the sun, as though it hadn't heard him.
"You... Ah, forget it. If that's the name, that's the name." Xu Bai waved a hand and sighed.
He was hopeless at naming things, so he might not have come up with anything better himself.
This worked out, too. If anyone ever brought up the name—and they were stronger than him—he could blame First.
Thinking that, Xu Bai's mood improved considerably.
"Little Blue, do you have any way to attack?" he asked.
Neither of its two species skills had any offensive ability, but surely it could manage a basic attack.
Little Blue pondered hard for a while, then gave its leaves a firm nod.
After successfully advancing to a Hundred-Year Soul Beast, it seemed to have discovered an ability hidden deep in its bloodline. It probably didn't have much power, but it still counted as an attack.
"Come on, show me." Xu Bai's heart lifted. As he'd thought, reaching a hundred years made all the difference. Even a useless Soul Beast like Blue Silver Grass had a basic attack now.
At his words, Little Blue tensed its whole body, looking very serious.
Then a vine plunged into the ground. Before long, it burst back out five meters away and tightly wrapped around an ordinary tree whose name Xu Bai didn't know.
"Is this... Blue Silver Entanglement?" Xu Bai raised an eyebrow and hurried over.
He tugged at it, but couldn't break it.
He channeled a little Soul Power, and the Blue Silver Grass wrapped around the tree snapped with a crack, splattering a little sap.
"Tsk, that brittle?" He clicked his tongue and made a quick estimate.
At this strength, it could hold a One-Ring Soul Master for a while. But if the Soul Master had a Beast Martial Soul and used Martial Soul Possession, they could probably break free easily.
As for a Soul Grandmaster, they could ignore it completely.
All right, this was very Blue Silver Grass—true to its useless reputation.
He could only pin his hopes on the second rebirth. If it couldn't gain a new mechanic, then at least it could get a few better stats.
But how could he persuade Little Blue...
Xu Bai immediately felt troubled.
After all, the Method of Rebirth would make Little Blue die once. The Manual's method was foolproof and would bring it back to life, but given how much it cherished life, it probably still wouldn't agree.
What should he do? He couldn't just trick—
Trick it!
That was it. It was the only way for now.
Little Blue had kept its promise even knowing it might be enslaved. It seemed to be the kind of Soul Beast that valued its word.
In that case, he could trick it into agreeing first. Even if it changed its mind later, it wouldn't be able to do a thing about it.
What was that saying? A gentleman could be deceived by appealing to his principles.
It wasn't very moral, but it was for Little Blue's own good...
Though maybe Little Blue didn't even want this so-called "good."
Thinking this, Xu Bai took a deep breath and returned to stand before Little Blue, a smile on his face. "Little Blue, do you want to become stronger?"