"Woof, woof, woof!"
Chen Beiwu returned to his front door, and a burst of excited barking came from inside.
"Quiet, Iron Egg." The moment he spoke, the barking stopped.
"Click!"
Chen Beiwu pushed open the door, and a dark blur instantly pounced at his feet. It moved so fast that only a Late Qi Refining cultivator could have seen it clearly, and even then only slightly-but it couldn't escape his hands.
"Woof." Iron Egg didn't resist. He gently rubbed against Chen Beiwu's palm, looking docile.
"What is it? Are you hungry?" Chen Beiwu chuckled.
"Woof, woof." Iron Egg barked twice, indicating he wasn't hungry at all.
"Even if you're not hungry, you can still eat a little more and grow big and strong." Chen Beiwu crouched down and gently stroked Iron Egg's fur, which was like black satin in the night.
Iron Egg was a black dog, his glossy, jet-black fur covering his entire body, except for his paws, which were dotted with white fur.
These white markings were like flawless snow. From a distance, he looked quite like Black Cloud Covering Snow.
But more than that, what drew Chen Beiwu's attention most was Iron Egg's hind legs, limp and sprawled on the ground.
"I'm already at the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining. I can apply to the school to buy some Bone-Tempering Powder," Chen Beiwu said softly. "When I get it, you can try some and see if it works."
"Woof, woof."
At that, Iron Egg immediately barked twice. His sturdy, powerful forelegs stood upright like two black spears, showing that he was strong.
So what if his hind legs couldn't move? He still had his forelegs.
"Don't refuse. You're doing as I say."
Noticing Iron Egg's stubbornness, Chen Beiwu flicked his forehead with a fingertip, then stood and headed toward the Cultivation Room.
Iron Egg gave a low growl and obediently followed Chen Beiwu.
In the Immortal Alliance era, every parent who hoped their child would rise to success and didn't want them to fall behind others carved out a Cultivation Room at home.
There was no helping it. After tens of thousands of years of development and exploitation by the Immortal Alliance, most of the Spirit Vigor that had once filled Heaven Abyss Star had been claimed by the state. Only enough was left to ensure that Spirit Vigor never ran dry within the Immortal Alliance's territory, with certain special areas excepted.
These days, if cultivators wanted to absorb spiritual energy to practice, they had to purchase a permit from the Immortal Alliance authorities to build a Cultivation Room and pay a monthly fee for the spiritual energy.
Yet some ordinary cultivators always tried to save money by sneaking off to the wilderness to absorb spiritual energy. Such theft triggered a response from the Immortal Alliance's formations, and they were almost always caught.
As far as Chen Beiwu knew, Far Sky County alone detained hundreds or even thousands of people every year for seven days and fined them as a warning for stealing spiritual energy.
That showed just how impossible it was to cultivate without money in the Immortal Alliance era!
The Cultivation Room in Chen Beiwu's home wasn't particularly high-grade; it was only Middle-Grade First Tier. Even so, the permit to build it had cost twenty Low-Grade Spirit Stones back then.
The Immortal Alliance also charged around one Spirit Stone each month for spiritual energy, which came to twelve Spirit Stones a year.
A single Spirit Stone could be exchanged for one Spirit Origin at the Immortal Alliance Bank, and one Spirit Origin could be exchanged for ten cents or one hundred points.
At the school cafeteria, Chen Beiwu only had to spend a few cents for a meal of three dishes and a soup, with both meat and vegetables.
This little guy is as loyal as ever.
Before closing the Cultivation Room door, Chen Beiwu glanced at the faint glow, half green and half blue, above Iron Egg's head.
That glow represented Iron Egg's Fortune, which had nearly reached Second Tier.
By rights, Fortune was ethereal and beyond the sight of ordinary people. But Chen Beiwu was different. He had the top-tier cheat, Nine-Breath Chaos, passed down through his family. It let him see the Fortune of all things under heaven and on earth, and even turn his own Fortune into Fortuitous Encounters.
Iron Egg was the result of a Fortuitous Encounter Chen Beiwu had triggered and picked up five years ago.
Back then, he had been a middle school student. On his way home, a large freight truck suddenly went out of control and struck a black bundle that had darted into the road. By sheer coincidence, the black bundle landed right at Chen Beiwu's feet.
Without hesitation, Chen Beiwu scooped up the black bundle and rushed to the Veterinary Hospital for emergency treatment.
After the operation, the doctor gave him one good piece of news and one bad one.
The good news was that the surgery had gone smoothly, the injured puppy's vital signs were stable, and his life wasn't in danger.
The bad news was that the puppy's hind legs hadn't been injured in the accident. He had been born disabled, and treatment would cost a great deal. There was also a very real chance he wouldn't survive.
So Chen Beiwu brought the black pup home and gave him the lowly name Iron Egg, hoping he would survive and grow strong.
Iron Egg hadn't let Chen Beiwu down. He grew taller by the day, and his constitution grew stronger by the day.
A year ago, a brick kiln caught fire and collapsed. Iron Egg risked his life to carry Chen Beiwu's unconscious father out of the raging flames.
From then on, Iron Egg's standing in the family rose considerably, and Chen Beiwu had even begun to consider contracting him.
The difference between a Mortal Beast and an Exotic Beast was whether it possessed Dao Practice.
Iron Egg had rescued his father from the sea of flames, which meant he was an Exotic Beast with a little Dao Practice.
Unlike cultivators, whose strength was divided by cultivation realm, the Immortal Alliance preferred to classify demonic beasts by their Dao Practice. A beast's Bloodline Tier was only the upper limit of the Dao Practice it could theoretically attain; it didn't represent its actual strength.
For example, beasts without Dao Practice were called Zero-Tier Mortal Beasts. They could never attain Dao Practice in their lifetime unless they encountered an opportunity.
First-Tier Mutant Beasts could generally attain Dao Practice once they reached adulthood. Cultivators called such beings Spirit Monsters, and their strength was equivalent to that of ordinary Qi Refining cultivators.
Second-Tier Spirit Beasts could theoretically possess at least fifty years, but fewer than five hundred, of Dao Practice. Cultivators called such beings Lesser Demons, and their strength was equivalent to that of Foundation Establishment Rogues.
Third-Tier Treasure Beasts could theoretically possess at least five hundred years, but fewer than a thousand, of Dao Practice. Cultivators called such beings Demon Generals, and their strength was equivalent to that of Golden Core True Persons who had transcended the ordinary.
Dao Practice was difficult to measure. Chen Beiwu could only roughly estimate that Iron Egg had less than ten years of it, making him a Lesser Spirit Monster.
But since Iron Egg's Fortune was already close to Second Tier, that meant he had the potential to break through his Bloodline Shackles, become a Second-Tier Spirit Beast, and advance to a Lesser Demon.
It was just that Iron Egg was fond of flames and liked eating scorching-hot things, clearly making him a Fire-Element Exotic Beast. Chen Beiwu, on the other hand, had Water and Wood dual Spiritual Roots. Their attributes didn't match; it was no exaggeration to say they were completely incompatible.
That was precisely why Chen Beiwu had agonized over it several times before giving up on the idea of contracting Iron Egg.
A cultivator's first Beast Companion was crucial. It affected their future cultivation speed and how difficult it would be to break through their cultivation realm.
Even if he contracted an unascended Fire-Element Exotic Beast, it would be as useless as a chicken rib-and might even become a burden to him.
That was because Chen Beiwu's Spiritual Root aptitude was anything but ordinary. He had Water and Wood dual Earth Spiritual Roots, an extremely rare aptitude in Far Sky County.
What was an Earth Spiritual Root?
The Immortal Alliance classified cultivators' Spiritual Roots into six levels based on their purity: Immortal, Heavenly, Earth, True, Mixed, and False.
If the purity of any one of a cultivator's Five Phases Spiritual Roots was above forty, they were considered to possess a True Spiritual Root of that attribute. If its purity was above sixty, they were considered to possess an Earth Spiritual Root.
When a cultivator had Spiritual Roots of different attributes and different levels, the highest level applied. Chen Beiwu's Spiritual Root attributes were: Metal 15, Wood 76, Water 79, Fire 18, Earth 17.
If Chen Beiwu's Water Spiritual Root purity could rise by just one more point to reach 80, he wouldn't be the owner of Water and Wood dual Earth Spiritual Roots, but the owner of a Water Heavenly Spiritual Root.
As for the legendary Immortal Spiritual Root, a cultivator's Spiritual Root purity had to break through 99-the limit of a Heavenly Spiritual Root-and reach the legendary purity of 100.
Anyone with a Spiritual Root of this level could take the Immortal Examination without sitting the Immortal Alliance College Entrance Examination. They could even be guaranteed admission to one of the Five Great Grotto-Heavens and become a future successor of the Immortal Alliance.
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