Variant Beast

Biodata

Origins and Growth

• Acquired mutation: Most variant beasts originate from ordinary creatures that consume spirit grass, spirit medicine, or spirit ore 116.
• Inherited origin: A smaller number are born through the breeding of existing variant beasts 116.
• Continued growth: Spirit medicines and ores remain major resources for strengthening them. Newly exposed spirit ore can attract beasts from deep within the mountains 116.
• Further mutation: An established variant beast can apparently change again. White Marten develops new forehead markings and becomes so fast that Zhao Er can no longer follow its movements even after reaching Bone Tempering 60 63.
• Evolution aids: Blackwater Fruit is described as the best aid to evolution for Poison-Type Variant Beasts and often grows near Blackwater Strange Serpents 49.
• Growth-supporting equipment: The Beast Taming Lineage sells identification tags forged from spirit ore that can also help variant beasts grow 146.

Documented Power Benchmarks

Characteristics and Abilities

Enhanced Animal Traits

Mutation generally strengthens traits associated with the original animal, including strength, speed, and toxins. A tiger’s existing prowess as a predator consequently makes its mutated form especially dangerous 91.

• Strength: The Blackwater Strange Serpent shatters a rock with its tail 47.
• Defense: The Rockhide Tiger withstands halberd attacks and a reinforced punch to the eye without its skull being penetrated 91.
• Speed: White Marten’s movements exceed what ordinary martial artists can match or track 60 63.
• Endurance: The Dragonblood Horse can sustain prolonged exertion and outlast the Martial Academy’s flying mounts 147 173.

Venom and Poison

Variant beast toxins have distinct properties rather than differing only in potency. Zhao Er consequently seeks a broader selection of toxins for different opponents 60.

• Corrosion: Blackwater venom can dissolve stone and generate poisonous smoke around its user 49.
• Paralysis: The spiders around the Red-Patterned Poison Spider’s cave carry venom with corrosive and paralyzing effects 69.
• Disrupted qi-blood: Li Qi’s Fire-Element Heavenly Dragon releases venom that makes an inhaler’s qi-blood run wild; its bite also causes intense pain 147.
• Cultivation danger: Even weak variant beast toxins are considered unsuitable for ordinary Five Poisons Art practitioners, whose bodies cannot withstand them 77.

Elemental Force and Mobility

• Fire-Element Inner Force: The Dragonblood Horse empowers its stomps, kicks, and bites with fire-element force, producing explosive attacks and bursts of speed 147 148.
• Aerial movement: Flying variant beasts carry groups of martial artists while preserving their passengers’ energy for combat 172 173.
• Terrain traversal: Zhao Er’s Dragonblood Horse can cross water and treetops without slowing and remain airborne over short distances 162 172.
• Defensive mist: Tai Sui Variant Beasts spray vision-obscuring black mist when confronted by powerful enemies 134.

Known Varieties

Materials and Cultivation Uses

Essence Blood and Zhao Er

• Recovery and cultivation: After applying and drinking Rockhide Tiger essence blood, Zhao Er recovers from injuries and gains 180 Essence Reaping Art experience 91.
• Breakthrough preparation: He obtains five bottles of Meridian Opening Realm variant beast essence blood to replenish his body during rapid increases in strength 173.
• Not universally available: The Red-Patterned Poison Spider has no essence blood, while the Golden-Backed Heavenly Dragon has too little to collect efficiently 61 74.

Hunting and Trade

• High mortality: Martial artists regularly enter the Clear Radiance Mountains to hunt variant beasts, but successful returns are rare and many hunters die there 64.
• Information market: Even a beast’s location can fetch a substantial payment. Evil-path martial artists exploit this demand by selling leads that lure hunters into fatal ambushes 64 68.
• Counterfeit materials: False variant beast materials circulate in County Town, prompting Sun Yuanying to test Zhao Er’s serpent hide and essence blood before buying them 51.
• Mine security: Southern Mountain Mine guards must secure newly discovered spirit ore before killing attracted beasts. A great bell summons nearby guards if the beast is too strong 116 119.

Documented Transactions

Taming and Human Partnerships

Beast Taming Lineage

• The Martial Academy’s Beast Taming Lineage captures, raises, and domesticates variant beasts across several mountain peaks 146.
• Its businesses include young battle pets, adult mounts, breeding stock, boarding, training, and identification tags 146.
• Its combat approach emphasizes fighting alongside a beast to create a two-against-one advantage 147.
• Flying mounts must be raised from infancy and consume immense resources; heavy passenger loads reduce their speed, and their endurance falls well below the Dragonblood Horse’s 173.

Notable Partnerships

• Zhao Er and White Marten — Initially described as partners rather than owner and pet. White Marten scouts the mountains and assists in hunts while retaining its independence 60 63 69.
• Zhao Er and the Dragonblood Horse — Zhao Er tames it by enduring its attacks and remaining mounted through its attempts to throw him. Simply beating it into submission would not secure its cooperation 147 148.
• Li Qi and her scarlet centipede — Both possess Meridian Opening Realm strength; the centipede is an important part of her fighting power 147 176.

Other Applications and Classification

• Medicine King Valley: According to Li Qi’s intelligence, its practitioners can combine variant beasts with their bodies through medicine-refining methods to acquire abilities such as flight, aquatic movement, poison emission, or enhanced strength and defense 172.
• Not every unusual creature is a variant beast: Li Qi explicitly identifies her tiny treefolk as a mutated wood-element spirit, neither a variant beast nor spirit medicine 172.