Skill Deduction! Another Leap in Strength!

After Ye Quan left, Lu Yun opened the secret manual and gave it an initial read-through.

This beast-taming secret art had already been recorded on the panel.

Skill: [Spirit Taming Art] (Beginner).

Next, he began burning his lifespan, raising this secret art to the Mastery realm.

[Lifespan -1.]

[Spirit Taming Art] (Mastery).

A vast amount of beast-taming knowledge suddenly appeared in his mind, and he gained a thorough understanding of how to inscribe all manner of runes.

This kind of spirit beast egg was the most suitable for nurturing as a spirit pet.

Once a spirit-binding rune was inscribed upon a beast egg, the creature would never be able to betray its master. Such beast eggs were also the most sought-after by martial artists.

He hesitated no longer. After biting open his index finger, he pressed it against the beast egg and began inscribing the rune.

As his finger moved, streaks of blood-red runes gradually covered the entire beast egg, carrying an aura of mystery.

The beast egg began to throb rhythmically. The blood-red color on its surface also faded, gradually being absorbed into it.

Lu Yun suddenly felt that he had formed a faint connection with the beast egg.

A surge of joy and longing came from the depths of its mind.

The instant the connection between them formed, the panel suddenly changed.

Bound Exotic Beast: Black-Scaled Python [Unhatched].

Bloodline: Exotic Species [Supreme] (91%).

Description: Contains an extremely faint trace of dragon bloodline. Naturally favored by water, it possesses considerable might when fighting in its deep-sea home ground after reaching adulthood.

Talents: Water Control (Mid Grade), Giant Strength (Mid Grade).

Beast bloodline grades: Ordinary Species, Exotic Species, Spirit Species, Divine Species...

Each grade was further divided into low, mid, high, and supreme grades.

After reading the beast egg's description on the panel, Lu Yun was delighted.

He had never expected this beast egg's bloodline to be so exceptional, reaching the level of a supreme-grade exotic beast.

It was only a step away from becoming a true spirit beast.

Moreover, it had yet to hatch, so its bloodline grade still had room to improve.

Not only that, it possessed two mid-grade talents. An ordinary exotic beast would generally awaken only one low-grade talent.

Thinking of the mother beast's origin blood essence still in his possession, perhaps feeding it to the beast egg would bring a pleasant surprise?

Over the next four days.

Lu Yun did not leave its side, using his own blood each day to inscribe runes upon the beast egg.

After several days of uninterrupted nurturing, the soul inside the beast egg had been completely brought under Lu Yun's control.

The master-servant contract was officially formed.

That afternoon.

Looking at the beast egg, whose life aura had grown increasingly rich, Lu Yun wore a satisfied expression.

Over the past few days, he had already finished processing that dead giant python, leaving behind only its purest blood essence.

Then, he took out the python's blood essence and evenly smeared it over the eggshell's surface.

An intense longing and hunger suddenly came from within the beast egg.

Lu Yun immediately increased the amount of blood essence he fed it.

Before long, the entire small bowl of blood essence had been completely absorbed by the beast egg.

This was the blood essence of an exotic beast at the peak of Bone Forging, and it contained no small amount of energy.

The potential displayed by this beast egg even surprised Lu Yun.

At that moment, the panel's description changed again.

Bound Exotic Beast: Water Boa (Mutated) [Unhatched].

Bloodline Grade: Spirit Species [Low Grade] (5%).

Talents: Water Control (High Grade), Giant Strength (High Grade).

"It really evolved?"

Looking at the beast egg, whose life aura had increased dozens of times over, Lu Yun was deeply astonished.

Not only had it transformed from an Exotic Species into a Spirit Species, even its talents had changed from mid grade to high grade.

But on second thought, it was only natural. This Black-Scaled Python had already possessed exceptional talent, and its bloodline had been only a hair's breadth away from mutation.

With the final push from the mother's blood essence of the same origin, its mutation into a Water Boa was only to be expected.

This was truly a case of planting willows without intending shade, only for them to grow lush and green. Back when he collected the giant python's corpse from the riverbed, he had merely intended to trade it for some origin stones.

He had never expected such a harvest. It was simply an unexpected delight.

Spirit Species and Exotic Species were practically two entirely different creatures, with an enormous gap in potential and strength.

This Water Boa would likely surpass its mother's strength in a very short time.

It would also become one of Lu Yun's greatest helpers in the deep sea.

Just then, the beast egg began to sway gently.

"Crack..."

After a soft sound, a flat, pitch-black snake head poked out through a crack in the eggshell.

Then, in only a few breaths, a small snake over a meter long and two fingers wide crawled out of the shell.

Immediately afterward, it began devouring the eggshell at great speed, its body visibly growing larger.

By the time it had finished eating the shell, its body had already grown to two meters long.

The little Water Boa flicked its tongue, its gaze toward Lu Yun filled with intimacy.

Lu Yun carefully examined its body and discovered that a pair of small bumps had formed on its belly.

They seemed to be incubating claws, a rather miraculous sight.

"Looks like Spirit Species truly are extraordinary. It was born with a trace of dragon nature. Its strength has probably already reached Bone Forging."

"Hungry... so hungry..."

A powerful signal suddenly came from the Water Boa's mind.

Lu Yun immediately took out a small piece of the Short-Tailed Crocodile's body and tossed it over.

The Water Boa immediately began wolfing it down, while the qi and blood around its body continued to rise rapidly.

"You're black as soot. From now on, I'll call you Black Rock."

He directly gave it a name.

Over the next five days.

Black Rock's appetite was astonishing. It devoured the entire Short-Tailed Crocodile carcass cleanly.

Its body swelled to over five meters long, and its pair of blood-red eyes looked exceptionally ferocious.

After fully digesting its mother's origin essence and the Short-Tailed Crocodile, Black Rock's strength had reached the middle stage of Bone Forging. Combined with a Spirit Species' Water Control talent, it was likely no weaker than its mother beneath the water.

With such strength, combined with Lu Yun himself, their safety at the riverbed greatly increased.

Moreover, Lu Yun had placed Black Rock at the bottom of the tributary on the very day it hatched.

He planned to take Black Rock and continue exploring the riverbed of the Cang River.

In the days that followed, Lu Yun often left early and returned late, gathering spirit herbs from the riverbed in great quantities.

Whenever he encountered Internal Strength or Bone Forging exotic beasts along the way, he killed them all and tossed their corpses to Black Rock.

In just over twenty days, the ordinary exotic beasts in the nearby rivers had truly suffered a calamity.

Lu Yun's remaining lifespan began increasing at a rapid pace.

Time flowed like water.

Only one day remained until the Centurion selection battle.

That night, in a secluded corner outside the military camp dormitories.

Lu Yun leaned quietly against the wall, checking his remaining lifespan.

Remaining Lifespan: 88 years.

After frantically gathering spiritual treasures from the riverbed these past days, he had finally scraped together more than eighty years of lifespan on the last day.

His speed and defense were still mid-grade skills, leaving obvious weak points.

If he encountered Xiao Longcheng, who cultivated a high-grade movement technique, the gap in speed would become even greater.

He intended to make up for his final shortcomings.

Otherwise, no matter how great his strength was, it would be useless if he could not hit anyone.

Then Lu Yun immediately tapped the plus signs after [Copper Skin Iron Bones] and [Shadow Following].

"Buzz..."

His lifespan began burning wildly, and countless martial arts insights flooded into his mind.

[Lifespan -1, Lifespan -1...]

Only after eighty years of lifespan had been consumed did the insights gradually cease.

[Two high-grade martial arts are being generated. Please rename them.]

"Name them [Indestructible Vajra Body] and [Snow-Treading Without Trace]."

He immediately renamed the two high-grade martial arts.

Skills: [Indestructible Vajra Body] (High Grade) (Minor Mastery), [Snow-Treading Without Trace] (High Grade) (Minor Mastery)...

Remaining Lifespan: 8 years.

Seeing that all his skills had been deduced into high-grade ones, a surge of bold spirit rose in Lu Yun's heart.

Now, his speed, strength, and defense no longer had any obvious shortcomings.

Even when facing a genius like Xiao Longcheng, he felt no fear whatsoever.