Choosing a Spirit Beast

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Chapter 33: Choosing a Spirit Beast

Azure waves stretched into the distance, beneath a boundless heaven.

The magnificent sea seemed to meet the firmament. At the center of this endless, mirror-green expanse rose a majestic immortal island beyond ordinary imagination, like a jade pillar supporting the heavens and piercing the highest skies.

Small islands of every shape dotted the sea like stars across a chessboard. Some resembled turtles crouching in the ocean, others great rocs spreading their wings, and still others winding snakes, but all clustered around the immortal island like stars surrounding the moon.

Boom!

As a gentle breeze swept past, mighty waterfalls poured from the peaks of countless small islands, dissolving into clouds of mist that mingled with the vapor above the sea, then formed magnificent waterfalls surging skyward.

"Creating things from nothing, building islands with formations." Xu Ziqing sighed in admiration. "The methods of a fourth-tier formation master truly defy imagination."

As far as she knew, the Spirit Beast Pavilion had specially invited a fourth-tier formation master to establish a grand formation, giving its spirit beasts the best possible environment to grow.

This formation master had first used a True Lord-level formation to divide the spiritual vein, condensing it into the Five Elements Immortal Islands of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, named Fengsui, Green Vine, Mystic Falls, Sulfur Reef, and Flowing Soil, respectively.

Then, using the five great immortal islands as the core of the formation array, the master drew upon the power of the sun, moon, and stars to condense countless smaller islands, creating an exceptionally unusual grand formation within a formation.

The strange spectacle on Mystic Falls Island-waterfalls flowing upward into the clouds before turning into rain that showered the land-was designed to help the fourth-tier grand formation draw in the spiritual energies of heaven and earth and nurture Stellar Essence capable of awakening spiritual intelligence.

"Not bad." Chen Beiwu did not care how powerful the fourth-tier formation was. All he cared about was whether he could find a Companion Beast that suited him on this trip.

Following the directions in the jade slip, he turned toward a snake-shaped island. "The Azure-Wave Spirit Carp are in Zone Jiayin Eighteen on Mystic Falls Island, about forty-five li from the teleportation formation. It should be that way."

A short while later, Chen Beiwu and Xu Ziqing arrived at a lake spanning several hundred li, with layers of enormous boulders piled along its banks.

"Someone got here before us." Xu Ziqing tilted her head to glance at three figures standing on the boulders.

"That's normal. Azure Spirit Newts are gentle creatures, very popular with cultivators who have water spiritual roots."

Just as Chen Beiwu finished speaking, a juvenile Azure Spirit Newt suddenly leaped from the lake.

Its slender body was about three feet long and looked as though it had been carved entirely from jade, refracting a faint blue glow in the sunlight.

[Species]: Azure Spirit Newt

[Attributes]: Water, wood

[Bloodline]: Second-tier upper-grade (spirit beast)

[Talent]: Vitality of Water (adept at strengthening the vitality of plants and healing)

[Possible evolutions]: Jade-Scaled Giant Newt (third-tier lower-grade Treasure Beast), Azure-Water Dragon Newt (third-tier upper-grade Treasure Beast)...

[Assessment]: Azure Spirit Newts have gentle temperaments and fin-like wings on their backs. They enjoy leaping out of the water to glide. Consuming flood dragon blood essence can mutate their bloodlines, giving them a chance to transform into Azure-Water Dragon Newts.

At that moment, the white-robed cultivator on the boulder leaped forward, reaching out to catch the newt.

Whoosh! The azure figure that had leaped from the water abruptly accelerated, narrowly dodging his hand.

"Damn it! I refuse to believe I can't catch this newt!" The white-robed cultivator stripped off his outer robe and jumped into the lake.

Seeing this, the other two Qi Refining cultivators followed his example, jumping into the lake to catch fish alongside him.

"Do you want to give it a try?" Xu Ziqing looked at Chen Beiwu expectantly.

Fishing was out of the question. Chen Beiwu had livestreamed himself fishing for an entire year without catching a single fish. Diving in to catch them was more practical.

"You're underestimating me. How hard could catching fish be?"

Chen Beiwu had no habit of stripping in public. He mobilized the magical power within his body, his fingers flying through hand seals.

The next second, twenty-six streams of water shot skyward, forming overlapping curtains of water that trapped the Azure Spirit Newts swimming in the lake together.

Swept to the surface by the rampaging currents, the white-robed cultivator looked up to see five immobilized Azure Spirit Newts inside the water prison, squeaking frantically for help.

"That works too?" The white-robed cultivator froze, staring at Chen Beiwu.

Buddy, you really are reckless. Strength alone isn't enough to contract a Companion Beast at the Spirit Beast Pavilion.

Out here, it's all about your background and who backs you.

These Azure Spirit Newts might have been born only recently, and they couldn't even beat a third-level Qi Refining cultivator, but they have parents behind them.

Adult Azure Spirit Newts are all Second Realm Lesser Demons with over fifty years of cultivation, their strength comparable to Foundation Establishment Rogue Persons.

The patriarch of the Azure Spirit Newt clan is a Third Realm Demon General with over five hundred years of cultivation, as powerful as a Golden Core True Person.

Doing this right in front of their parents-wasn't this fellow Daoist afraid of getting beaten up and then thrown out?

Sure enough, a vast shadow suddenly appeared beneath the lake's surface.

Splash! As the surface of the lake abruptly sank ten feet, an enormous creature about a hundred feet long emerged, revealing blue, slit-pupiled eyes that quietly watched the Azure Spirit Newts inside the water prison.

Good thing I didn't use force. The white-robed cultivator held his breath, overwhelmed with relief.

"This..." Xu Ziqing looked at Chen Beiwu.

"Don't worry,

it's fine." Chen Beiwu glanced at the menacing giant beast and walked toward the water prison without a change in expression.

He had read the information in the jade slip and knew the Spirit Beast Pavilion's rules. How could a fish scare him?

"Deep green, dark green, pale blue, blue, deep blue."

After identifying the precise fortune grades of the five young newts, Chen Beiwu changed his hand seal. The water prison collapsed with a crash, and the five azure figures swiftly darted toward the giant beast.

Pushing the frightened young aside with evident disdain, the giant beast gave Chen Beiwu a long look before slowly submerging. Peace returned to the vast lake.

"That scared me to death." Xu Ziqing gently patted her chest. For a moment, she had thought something was about to go wrong.

"It's fine. We didn't break any rules. The Second Realm Lesser Demons in the Spirit Beast Pavilion can't attack us," Chen Beiwu said calmly.

The Spirit Beast Pavilion had many rules, the most serious of which prohibited harming spirit beast young without cause. His Water Prison Spell had merely restricted the young newts' movements without injuring them, so it did not constitute a violation at all.

"It's not about whether you broke the rules." Xu Ziqing said earnestly, "Contracting a Companion Beast requires gaining the young spirit beast's approval. What you did could easily frighten the young newts."

"If they can't withstand even a test of this degree, it means these young newts have completely lost their wild nature." Chen Beiwu shook his head.

Choosing a Companion Beast at the Spirit Beast Pavilion was not a one-sided selection, but a mutual one. A cultivator had to gain the spirit beast's approval to successfully establish a contract.

But Chen Beiwu had always believed that, compared with gaining a spirit beast's approval, the most important thing was finding a Companion Beast whose talent, bloodline, disposition, and fortune all suited his preferences.

He had deliberately restrained the power of the Water Prison Spell he had just cast, making it roughly strong enough to bind a fourth-level Qi Refining cultivator.

The young newts had a natural affinity for water and wood. If they had resisted with all their strength, they could have broken through the weakened Water Prison Spell in moments, but they had not.

Faced with a sudden crisis, the young newts' first response had actually been to call for backup rather than unleash their demonic power and resist.

Of course, that might also have been because Chen Beiwu had not put enough pressure on them to make them feel their lives were in danger.

Even so, their disposition alone was enough for Chen Beiwu to eliminate the gentle Azure Spirit Newts from consideration.

(End of chapter)