"Not bad, it's a Mystic-Grade Origin Meridian."
Seeing the Innate Water-Form Essence shining brightly within Golden Egg's Origin Meridian, Chen Beiwu felt a rush of joy.
Companion Beast Origin Meridians were divided into five grades, ranked from lowest to highest: Inferior, Mixed, True, Mystic, and Heaven.
Inferior-Grade Origin Meridians were relatively common among Zero-Tier Mortal Beasts, because their Innate Five-Element Essence had already been lost.
These Origin Meridians could neither increase a cultivator's Spiritual Root Purity nor improve the efficiency with which they refined the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth.
Mixed-Grade Origin Meridians were a little better than Inferior-Grade ones. Their Innate Five-Element Essence was impure and had transformed into Postnatal Five Phases Origin Essence, but they were still barely usable.
They generally appeared in First-Tier Variant Beasts. They could not increase a cultivator's Spiritual Root Purity either, but they could improve the efficiency of spiritual energy refinement by ten to twenty percent.
A True-Grade Origin Meridian contained a complete strand of Innate Five-Element Essence. It generally existed only in Second-Tier Spirit Beasts, and could provide a small increase to the contracted cultivator's Spiritual Root Purity (postnatal) while improving their spiritual energy refinement efficiency by forty to fifty percent.
The Mystic-Grade Origin Meridian inside Golden Egg was even more remarkable.
As the saying went, "The essence of the Five Phases contains the undying; only innate primordial Qi is truly mystic."
Mystic-Grade Origin Meridians contained a trace of Heaven and Earth Dao Rhythm and generally appeared only in Third-Tier Treasure Beasts.
An Origin Meridian of this grade could not only increase a contracted cultivator's Spiritual Root Purity by three points (innate), but also double the efficiency with which they refined spiritual energy.
What did that mean?
Simply put, the Origin Meridian inside a Companion Beast was equivalent to a Spiritual Root Purity amplifier.
The increase in Spiritual Root Purity provided by a True-Grade Origin Meridian could not break through the contracted cultivator's Spiritual Root limits, such as improving them from a True Spiritual Root to an Earth Spiritual Root.
But because a Mystic-Grade Origin Meridian contained a trace of Heaven and Earth Dao Rhythm, it could transform the postnatal into the innate, and thus break through the contracted cultivator's Spiritual Root limits.
That meant Chen Beiwu's Water Spiritual Root Purity was now not 79, at the Earth Spiritual Root level, but 82 with the Mystic-Grade Origin Meridian's increase, giving him the aptitude of a Heavenly Spiritual Root.
The Mystic-Grade Origin Meridian alone is already this terrifying. I wonder just how outrageous the legendary Heaven-Grade Origin Meridian is!
Chen Beiwu extinguished the distracting thoughts in his heart, stirred his Divine Sense, and looked at Golden Egg's second meridian: its Attribute Meridian.
The Five-Phases Attribute Meridian reflected a Companion Beast's Bloodline aptitude. It was equivalent to the Five-Element Spiritual Roots of human cultivators, but difficult to investigate.
So the Immortal Alliance roughly divided Demon Beasts according to the upper limit of their Bloodline grade: Variant Beasts, Spirit Beasts, Treasure Beasts, and Mystical Beasts. The classification did not depend on individual aptitude.
However, after a cultivator formed a Companion Beast Contract, they could judge the strength of their Companion Beast's Five-Phases Attribute Meridian based on their own Spiritual Root Purity.
"Metal 89, Wood 82, Water 93, Fire 18, Earth 79."
When Chen Beiwu "saw" Golden Egg's Five-Phases Attribute Meridian through the Companion Beast Seal, his heart trembled.
By the Immortal Alliance's standards, the aptitude displayed by Golden Egg's Attribute Meridian was equivalent to a human cultivator's Heavenly Spiritual Root-and it had Heavenly Spiritual Roots of Metal, Wood, and Water. Its aptitude far surpassed his own.
So this was what a Golden Legend was worth!
"Phew!"
Chen Beiwu exhaled a breath of stale air, suppressing the turmoil within him.
After taking a moment to calm down, he urged his Divine Sense to look at Golden Egg's third meridian: its Technique Meridian.
Heaven steals from all things; all things steal from living beings.
Demon Beasts were different from cultivators. They did not cultivate a Golden Core or study the Dao Treasury. Instead, they used their Bloodline as a guide to steal Heavenly Secrets, condensing Dao Marks inside their bodies and eventually forming a Technique Meridian.
The Technique Meridian inside a Demon Beast contained both the Dao Practice it had accumulated over years of cultivation and the Innate Spells it had obtained by stealing Qi from Heaven and Earth.
But Dao Practice was difficult to cultivate, and the length of a Demon Beast's cultivation did not represent how much Dao Practice it possessed.
For example, some Fourth-Tier Mystical Beasts with terrifying Bloodlines could accumulate a thousand years of Dao Practice in just several hundred years of cultivation and successfully advance to Fourth-Realm Demon Kings.
But some First-Tier Variant Beasts with inferior Bloodlines could cultivate bitterly for a thousand years and accumulate only forty-nine years of Dao Practice. They could not even break through to become Second-Realm Lesser Demons.
"Golden Egg has only ten years of Dao Practice?" Chen Beiwu was a little surprised.
The Demon-Beast Observation Dao lay in the Origin, in the attribute, in the marks, and in the meridians.
For every year of Dao Practice a Demon Beast accumulated, the number of basic Dao Marks in its Technique Meridian increased by one.
To make realms easier to measure, contracted cultivators referred to one Dao Mark in a Companion Beast's Technique Meridian as one year of Dao Practice.
Golden Egg's Technique Meridian had only ten basic Dao Marks, which meant it had ten years of Dao Practice. It was equivalent to a first-realm Spirit Monster, an especially weak Lesser Spirit Monster among Spirit Monsters. Its realm was probably about the same as Iron Egg's.
However, the Divine Sense Golden Egg had unleashed when it formed the Contract could rival that of a Second-Realm Lesser Demon. That showed its Innate Talent was exceptional, and the Innate Spell contained in its Technique Meridian was definitely extraordinary.
Thinking of this, Chen Beiwu extended his Divine Sense into the depths of the Technique Meridian, sensing the Innate Spell hidden deep within.
[Innate Talent]: Flowing Golden Scales
[Grade]: Second-Tier Supreme-Grade Spirit Art
[Effect]: Its scales are like gold, yet also like flowing water. They possess both the flexibility of water and the ferocity of metal. They can enhance the physical body and Divine Sense according to the strength of one's Dao Practice, ignore First-Tier Variant Arts, and nullify some of the damage from Second-Tier Spirit Arts.
Note: Golden Scale's foundation lies in its scales. The stronger the defense of its scales, the more the power of its Innate Spirit Art [Sea Absorption] multiplies.
It's actually a Second-Tier Supreme-Grade Spirit Art. Chen Beiwu's spirits lifted.
Second-Tier Spirit Arts were the hallmark of Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
Qi Refining cultivators were not strong enough. If they forcibly released a Second-Tier Spirit Art, they would only suffer for it.
At best, their Divine Sense would be completely depleted; at worst, the art would backfire and kill them.
Even if one took the most optimistic view, and a Qi Refining cultivator had exceptional talent and managed to release a Second-Tier Spirit Art by sheer luck, the completed art would be like a fire without fuel. It would be nearly impossible to unleash its power, and might not even be as powerful as a First-Tier Supreme-Grade Spirit Art.
But Innate Spells awakened by Demon Beasts were different.
No matter how weak their Dao Practice, Demon Beasts could release their own Innate Spells as naturally as moving a limb. They would not suffer a backlash from the art; at most, its power would be greatly reduced.
That was because these spells were instincts hidden in their Bloodlines, and also proof that Demon Beast Bloodlines enjoyed unique advantages on Heavenly Abyss Star.
Protected by the Second-Tier Supreme-Grade Spirit Art [Flowing Golden Scales], Golden Egg could claim to have unmatched defense among first-realm Spirit Monsters, even with its meager ten years of Dao Practice.
Thinking of this, Chen Beiwu continued probing deeper into the Technique Meridian with his Divine Sense.
His instincts told him that Golden Egg's talents went far beyond this.
[Innate Talent]: Sea Absorption
[Grade]: Second-Tier Supreme-Grade Spirit Art
[Effect]: The sea embraces a hundred rivers, swallowing all things to nourish itself. Golden Scale could use Sea Absorption to devour Demon Beasts, Spirit Arts, magic artifacts, talismans, spiritual energy, and all manner of things, using them to strengthen its own Innate Talent, Flowing Golden Scales.
Sensing the effects of the Sea Absorption Spirit Art, Chen Beiwu was slightly stunned.
Flowing Golden Scales could increase the power of Sea Absorption, and increased power in Sea Absorption could in turn bolster the defensive strength of Flowing Golden Scales.
It was no exaggeration to say that, when combined, these two Supreme-Grade Spirit Arts were like a left foot stepping on the right foot: they could continually reinforce one another and keep growing.
"Fantastic. So this is the kind of strength a Golden Legend should have."
Chen Beiwu withdrew his Divine Sense and opened his eyes. He looked at Golden Scale as if he were looking at a monster.
His gamble had paid off!
With a Companion Beast of this grade, his future would be even brighter.
"Gurgle."
Golden Egg blinked in confusion.
It didn't know what its contracted cultivator was so excited about. It only knew that it was hungry again.
Before you continue