Lucas looked at the greatsword in his hand and said to Drake, "Master, you must be one of the finest weaponsmiths in this world."
Drake was very pleased with Lucas's praise. He had now fulfilled his forebears' dying wishes. He had also obtained battle qi from Lucas through an exchange, and now he had traded this method of dissolving Magic Beast Cores for a method of forming contracts with magical beasts.
He had also cleared some obstacles from his grandson's path to greater strength. The things he had just accomplished were the most satisfying achievements of his life. Now that the tribe's strongest warrior in a hundred years had praised him, he could also count his goal of making a name for himself as fulfilled. He immediately laughed happily, then said, "This may be my last time forging a weapon. My grandson doesn't much like this work. And now that I've passed this craft on to Benny, my life is complete. Next, it's time for me to enjoy my remaining years here in the tribe!"
Lucas understood that Drake had fulfilled most of his life's ambitions. After congratulating him, he left.
Lucas was extremely satisfied as he left. Now he had these dissolved Magic Beast Cores in liquid form. That meant he could try continuing to draw talismans, which also meant he had another path to cultivating the Death Edict through nurturing corpses.
No one could turn down another path to greater strength. That very evening, Lucas said goodbye to his family. He wanted to find a place where yin energy gathered as soon as possible and attempt his grand undertaking of nurturing corpses.
This time, Lucas's journey of training was different from his last. This time, he killed every magical beast he encountered, regardless of its attribute. He needed to stock up on Magic Beast Cores and magical beast hides to cultivate his Death Edict!
Before he knew it, Lucas once again arrived at the waterfall he and the little bear Anton had visited last time. When the little bear saw the place, he said to Lucas, "Boss, we're back here again."
Lucas nodded and said to the little bear Anton, "Since we're here, let's observe it first. Once we've checked that there's no danger, we'll train here."
Over the next month, Lucas and the little bear Anton took turns watching the waterfall. After seeing no creatures emerge from there, he and the little bear Anton once again entered the cave with the spatial rift.
After Lucas entered the cave, he found no signs that any other creatures had cultivated there. Nor were there any traces of anything having emerged from the rift, which eased his mind considerably.
Lucas dug out a platform here for a coffin. The snake magical beast had most likely chosen this place to cultivate because it liked cool, shaded places. Since this place was underwater and no sunlight reached it year-round, its yin energy was rather dense. Together with the effects of the tides, which drew and accumulated many of this continent's elements here, it was very suitable for corpse refinement.
Lucas found a large rock here and carved a stone coffin. Since he had not found a death-attribute magical beast, he had to use a solution made from a dark-attribute Magic Beast Core to draw a Soul-Calming Talisman and a Soul-Burying Talisman.
After obtaining this Magic Beast Core solution, Lucas had experimented and discovered that, because the energy in talismans drawn with it came from the Magic Beast Core, he generally had to redraw them every two months. Since he had only had a short time, Lucas had not worked out through experimentation a formation that could use a whole Magic Beast Core together with talismans drawn using the solution. Still, his current method was sufficient for now.
After Lucas had prepared everything, he used Soul Transmission to contact the little bear Anton, asking him to bring in a dark-attribute snake magical beast he had knocked unconscious. After placing it in the coffin he had prepared, Lucas used his Wielding Something Light as Though It Were Heavy technique to shatter all of the snake magical beast's hearts.
When Lucas sensed that the snake magical beast's soul was trapped inside the coffin by the Soul-Burying Talisman he had drawn and could not escape, he felt much more at ease. After this, he would only need to return every two months to redraw the talismans.
Then he would be able to find out whether he could refine a zombie. Of course, Lucas could not remain idle during this time. This waterfall was just right for training. He could resume the training he had not completed last time while refining the corpse.
Lucas built a small cabin for himself and the little bear not far from the waterfall, planning to live here for a long time.
Every morning, Lucas practiced Heavy as Light with his greatsword beneath the waterfall. He also tried to cleave the waterfall apart with his greatsword, which was another way of training his control. A greatsword emphasized imposing momentum and heavy force, but that did not mean it could not also emphasize speed.
In the afternoons, he tried practicing the Tai Chi Fist of his previous life in the pool. The resistance underwater was very pronounced. This style of boxing, which used an opponent's force against them, gave Lucas a clear sense of the realm of Heavy as Light. At night, he continued meditating by moonlight to replenish and improve his spiritual power! Once two months had passed, he went to renew the talismans drawn with Magic Beast Core solution.
As time passed, Lucas could also sense that, thanks to the nourishment from the Soul-Calming Talisman he had arranged, the snake magical beast's soul began to grow slowly after a brief period of weakness. And under the soul's instinctive influence, although it could no longer continue absorbing the elements of the world from the Magic Beast Core inside its body,
the soul still instinctively remained within its already rotting corpse. What followed was that the soul slowly began to grow and passively strengthen the bones of the corpse it had merged into.
Lucas also gained a great deal over these two years. During this time, thanks to Tai Chi's martial approach of using an opponent's force against them, he comprehended Heavy as Light. He also cultivated his battle qi to the strength of the eighth level. Now, Lucas had the strength to fight that ninth-level snake magical beast from back then. He certainly would not be so weak that he had to rely on that spatial rift to save his life, as he had before.
Today was also the day Lucas planned to open the coffin and inspect the results of his two years of corpse refinement. Lucas had the little bear Anton open the coffin while he prepared to respond at any moment.
After the coffin was opened, the muddleheaded snake corpse suddenly saw a little light shining through the spatial rift. It charged straight at the little bear Anton.
Anton had also grown considerably over these past few years and was already a seventh-level magical beast. This corpse zombie refined from a fifth-level snake magical beast was still no match for him, but he remained very careful so as not to damage his boss's toy. Yet as Lucas observed the snake zombie fighting Anton, it was furiously consuming its soul power.
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