Lin He was a transmigrator. He had originally been an ordinary college student who loved reading, especially webnovels on a certain website. The one he read most was the famous A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality.
He would revisit it almost every so often, rereading the Human Realm arc more than anything else. He knew its various plots and adventures like the back of his hand.
Once, he stayed up all night reading the novel and eventually fell asleep. When he woke, he had transmigrated into the world of the book, becoming a disciple of Yellow Maple Valley with dual spiritual roots of metal and fire.
Lin He knew all too well how cruel this world of mortal cultivation was. Even Han Li, the original protagonist who possessed the Mystical Little Bottle, had been chased everywhere and endured countless tribulations before becoming a Dao Ancestor. Readers had jokingly dubbed him Han Runrun.
That went doubly for Lin He, who had no Mystical Little Bottle. With his dual spiritual roots, he might have a chance at Foundation Establishment, but without some extraordinary opportunity, Core Formation was probably impossible.
Just as Lin He was thinking this, he suddenly gained a portable space. Hidden within it was the Starlight Empowerment Method, which could harness the energy of the stars filling the sky to rapidly raise the rank of spirit beasts.
"From what I've observed, gathering one drop of spirit liquid takes seven days, and only three drops can accumulate at most. When the fourth drop forms, the first accumulated drop disappears. In short, it can only hold three drops of spirit liquid at a time."
The instant the spirit liquid formed, an icy notification sounded in his ears.
"Friendly reminder: nurturing a rank-one spirit beast requires one Low-Grade Spirit Stone." "The system has detected a Lower Level One Demon Beast, a Three-Eyed Fire Wolf. Would you like to expend one Low-Grade Spirit Stone to nurture it to the middle tier of rank one?"
Lin He had not brought a spirit beast on his previous visit, so naturally, the second notification had not appeared. Even so, the first notification had taught him the importance of spirit stones.
Thus, during the four months since he joined the sect, he had frantically taken on sect assignments. Aside from his necessary daily cultivation, he spent no spirit stones at all. Only through this had he managed to save eleven spirit stones in such a short time.
"It's way too hard to save up spirit stones."
Among Yellow Maple Valley's Qi Condensation disciples, apart from those with family backing, ordinary disciples earned only two or three spirit stones a month. After expenses, almost nothing remained. Lin He had strained with every ounce of strength he possessed just to save eleven spirit stones, and even that made him an exceptionally good saver among Qi Condensation disciples.
"No wonder those low-level disciples can only use Low-Grade Magical Artifacts and Mid-Grade Magical Artifacts. You hardly ever see a decent High-Grade Magical Artifact. It makes sense, though. A High-Grade Magical Artifact costs over a hundred spirit stones. Even without eating or drinking, you'd have to save for more than thirty months."
Snuffing out these stray thoughts, Lin He looked at the three Low-Grade Spirit Stones remaining in his hand. He decided to go all in!
"Going all in is a kind of wisdom! But before that, I need to complete the master-binding ritual."
The higher a spirit beast advanced, the harder it became to control. If it was only one or two minor realms above its master, things were still manageable. But if it was a whole major realm higher, there was a strong chance it would refuse commands, or even rebel and kill its master. Such blunders were not unheard of in the cultivation world, and naturally, Lin He intended to avoid one.
He followed the book's instructions to the letter, dripping out his own essence blood to complete the master-binding ritual. Sure enough, the moment the ritual was complete, he clearly sensed that the Three-Eyed Fire Wolf's gaze had softened considerably. Its earlier air of extreme reluctance was gone as well.
"All right, everything is ready. All that's missing is the east wind!"
Directly beneath the funnel was a recess just large enough to hold a spirit stone. Without a second thought, Lin He slipped one in, and an astonishing sight unfolded!
The spirit stone instantly transformed into a strange energy and vanished inside the recess. Immediately afterward, a terrifying suction erupted from the bottom of the funnel suspended in the air. The Three-Eyed Fire Wolf's body was dragged helplessly upward, aligning perfectly beneath the funnel's opening.
The green liquid at the top of the funnel began to flow down and out through the bottom, landing squarely on the Three-Eyed Fire Wolf. At first, terror showed on the wolf's face. Faced with this unknown, overwhelming power, it could not resist in the slightest despite exerting all its strength, and fear seized it.
Yet a moment later, as the green liquid seeped into its body, a powerful warm current seemed to sweep through every part of it. The Three-Eyed Fire Wolf howled with pleasure. Soon, an astonishing surge of spiritual power erupted from within it. Sensing that this power was no weaker than that of a mid-stage Qi Condensation cultivator, Lin He finally breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. He knew his gamble had paid off!
Though suspended in midair, it was actually only a dozen or so meters above the ground. Once the empowerment was complete, the suction vanished, and the Three-Eyed Fire Wolf dropped straight down. Whatever material the ground was made of, not a single crack appeared. Of course, a fall from that height could not kill the wolf either. It merely swayed a little before recovering.
Now bound to its master, the Three-Eyed Fire Wolf ran affectionately to Lin He's side. Its speed and strength had already surpassed what they had been before. It circled his legs, expressing its excitement.
Seeing its greater speed and its more powerful, agile limbs, Lin He smiled in satisfaction.
"Little fellow, judging by your reaction, that must have felt pretty good. Want to do it twice more?"
The Three-Eyed Fire Wolf grew immensely excited at his words. Lin He hesitated no longer and repeated the process. A few minutes later, after two consecutive rounds of nurturing, the wolf had advanced to Peak Level One. Its strength was equivalent to peak Qi Condensation, and only a hair's breadth separated it from a Level Two Demon Beast.
At this point, Lin He clearly sensed something unusual. Controlling the Three-Eyed Fire Wolf was no longer as effortless as before. He had a feeling that if it advanced to rank two, he would immediately lose control over it.
It was only a feeling, but judging by the experience accumulated in the cultivation world over so many years, it was hardly impossible. Never mind that Lin He had no spirit stones left-even if he did, he would not dare let it advance again.
Under the light of the stars filling the sky, tiny specks of starlight were still gathering at the top of the funnel, slowly forming spirit liquid.
Lin He stopped watching it. Instead, he drew a length of incense he had prepared in advance from his sleeve and lit it. The Three-Eyed Fire Wolf remained oblivious, even approaching to take a deep sniff. Before long, it collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
"This Soul-Numbing Incense really works well. It took effect so quickly. Now, next..."
Lin He took out a saber and a sword, the low-level magical artifacts he had been given upon joining the sect. Yet when he struck with them, they could not break through the defenses of this Peak Level One Demon Beast at all.
"You really are tough. But surely your neck can't be that tough too."
As he spoke, Lin He had already begun striking. Sure enough, its neck was nowhere near as tough as its body. After some effort, he separated the wolf's head from its body, and the Three-Eyed Fire Wolf lost every last trace of life.
The Three-Eyed Fire Wolf, which had been so affectionate toward him only moments earlier, was soon slain by his own hand. Yet Lin He's face remained expressionless, without the slightest trace of
guilt. He appeared utterly cold and heartless, even calmly weighing the gains and losses.
"To get my starting funds, I have to sell this Three-Eyed Fire Wolf. Although you'd be worth quite a bit alive, you're already bound to me, so no one else can command you. I can only exchange your materials for spirit stones."
With a sigh, Lin He put the dead Three-Eyed Fire Wolf into the tenfold-capacity Storage Bag he had been given upon joining the sect.
With another wave of his hand, Lin He returned to his residence. He did not hurry to the Market. Instead, as usual, he went to see Senior Brother Wu, who patiently explained spells.
Sure enough, as soon as he arrived, he saw a young man with ordinary features and dark skin.