Inside a cave abode on Lesser Yang Peak.
Chen Shuangbai returned to the room where he had placed the bird egg. He set the three condensation formation plates in three corners of the room, forming a stable triangle, then took out three low-grade Spirit Stones and embedded them in the plates.
Three humming sounds rang out.
A cold light lit up on each of the three formation plates. A short while later, the temperature in the room began to drop noticeably.
Chen Shuangbai estimated that it would take about an hour to bring the temperature down to something close to the snowy mountain's. He then took out some more materials, preparing for the next step in taming the Demon Beast.
Acknowledgment of a master.
There were only three ways for cultivators to have Demon Beasts acknowledge a master.
Blood Pacts, beast rings, and command talismans.
A Blood Pact was sworn with the Essence Blood of both parties, with the cultivator as the master and the Demon Beast in a subordinate role. The latter was subject to the former's control, but comparatively speaking, their relationship leaned more toward a partnership.
The other two methods were much the same.
They were somewhat more heavy-handed.
Whether it was a beast ring or a command talisman, both forcibly extracted a wisp of the Demon Beast's soul and combined it with Essence Blood to form a seal. Whoever held the beast ring or command talisman could command the Demon Beast at will.
After giving it some thought, Chen Shuangbai decided to use a Blood Pact.
A Blood Pact was a little gentler, and it could also win a Demon Beast companion's wholehearted loyalty.
He had already bought the contract required for a Blood Pact from the Expenditure Hall some time ago, and the process of signing it went smoothly.
As soon as the pact was complete, Chen Shuangbai sensed the vigorous life within the egg.
He could not help feeling a little surprised.
"Who knows how long it sat in that cold, damp snake cave, yet it still has plenty of vitality. Maybe it'll be a strong little fellow when it hatches."
Through the connection established by the pact, Chen Shuangbai soothed the life developing inside the egg.
Then he made another trip to the Expenditure Hall and exchanged Merit Points for some Cold Jade.
Cold Jade was jade that had been washed by the bone-chilling waters of the Shattered Star River in the Rime Forest, leaving it imbued with a rich spiritual essence of the ice and water paths.
It was generally made by cutting ordinary jade into neat pieces, then placing them in the Shattered Star River and letting the flow of time shape them naturally.
Cold Jade was classified by age: ten years, fifty years, a hundred years, a thousand years, and so on.
It was said that every year, the sect placed a batch in the river, then retrieved a batch that had been placed there on an earlier schedule and sent it wherever it was needed.
But Cold Jade did not come cheap.
Chen Shuangbai was also running low on Merit Points, so for the time being, he could only buy three pieces of five-year Cold Jade. He placed them around the bird egg to nurture the little fellow's bloodline.
Looking at the bird egg flickering faintly with blue light, in harmony with the three pieces of Cold Jade around it, Chen Shuangbai could not help smiling.
Before he knew it, the sky had darkened.
Chen Shuangbai came to the meditation cushion in the very center of the cave abode, sat cross-legged, and began his cultivation for the day.
He had chosen this cave abode because of an opening in its ceiling, through which he could look straight up at the sky outside.
By day, it could draw in the light of the heavens; by night, it could draw in moonlight.
As Chen Shuangbai sat cross-legged beneath the moonlight, the many mysteries of the Moon-Worshipping Clear Illumination Method surfaced in his mind. He began circulating his Law Power through the greater and lesser celestial circuits. The twelve phases of the moon succeeded one another in his mind, while a continuous stream of yin-aspected Law Power, clear and pure, ethereal and nourishing to the soul, nurtured his body.
Perhaps it was due to the Cultivation Method's effect of nurturing body and spirit, but the seventeen-year-old Chen Shuangbai, illuminated by moonlight and bathed in a glow like jade, looked like an immortal from the moon, his bearing captivating.
In his everyday dealings with others, he was also refined and courteous, neither servile nor overbearing, always observing proper manners. He had the air of a graceful young gentleman, gentle as jade.
Quite a few outer sect senior and junior sisters had already begun asking about him in secret.
The road of cultivation had many forks.
No one knew how many people had been stymied by Foundation Establishment, the very first hurdle.
Those Jade Spring disciples who could not achieve Foundation Establishment had only two choices.
The first was to take a post in the outer sect and devote themselves to serving the sect, earning Merit Points to one day exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill and try Foundation Establishment again.
The second was to receive a decree from the sect and descend the mountain in search of a place with a faint trace of Spiritual Qi, establish a Lineage, expand the sect's territory, and offer tribute at regular intervals.
Chen Shuangbai wanted neither.
He wanted to attain the Dao and live forever.
The night passed without incident.
When the jade rabbit set and the golden crow rose, Chen Shuangbai ended his cultivation, got to his feet, and slowly opened his eyes. A rippling, jade-like light could be seen within them, a striking sight.
This was a manifestation of a cultivator's essence, Qi, and spirit.
Chen Shuangbai regulated his breathing for a little longer before withdrawing the strange light from his eyes.
After letting out a long breath, Chen Shuangbai took a Grain Avoidance Pill from his storage ring, intending to swallow it with some water. But on second thought, he put it down, left the cave abode, and headed for Sapphire Blue Peak, where the dining hall was located.
Cultivators at the Qi Refining Stage could not yet give up grains entirely and live on Grain Avoidance Pills alone.
Chen Shuangbai thought that he had not seen Fu Qianlan or He Qi for quite some time, so he decided to invite them to a meal at the dining hall and catch up with them.
Sapphire Blue Peak, where the dining hall stood.
Chen Shuangbai contacted the two through his Jade Spring disciple's jade token, and they soon met at the dining hall.
"Old Chen!"
He Qi waved from afar and came running over, a jingling and clattering sounding from him. When he got closer, Chen Shuangbai saw that he was wearing some new accessories from who knew where, clattering as he moved.
Fu Qianlan arrived a little later.
The young lady of the Fu Household had grown ever more beautiful, though not in a delicate way. Her hair was tied in a high ponytail, and she carried herself with an air of competence. Evidently, she had done well working at the Expenditure Hall recently.
"A-Bai."
Fu Qianlan gave a gentle smile and greeted him.
Chen Shuangbai nodded slightly.
The three entered the dining hall, found a secluded spot to themselves, and ordered a tableful of Spirit Cuisine. As they ate, they chatted about what they had been doing lately.
He Qi was a chatterbox. Once he started talking, he could not stop.
So most of the time, he was the one talking, with Chen Shuangbai and Fu Qianlan occasionally adding a word or two.
"Let me tell you, not long ago, I killed a Demon Beast at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer with my own hands!"
Their attention was immediately drawn to him, and they looked at him inquisitively.
He Qi puffed out his chest slightly and said, "The sect's cold pool attracts a kind of Demon Beast called a Crimson Star Snake. These beasts love the cold fish in the pool and are always trying to sneak in and steal them."
"One of the Jade Guarding Hall's duties is to guard the cold pool and make sure nothing goes wrong with the cold fish being bred there."
The cold pool was an important site of the sect.
It was a spiritual pool deep underground. Because it had abundant moisture and Spiritual Qi, it regularly produced top-grade water- or ice-aspected spiritual materials that only members of the Jade Spring Sect could use. That was why it needed guards.
The Jade Guarding Hall belonged to the Abyss Suppression Hall, one of the three great halls, which also had the Evil Hunting Hall and the Artifact Forging Hall under its command.
The Evil Hunting Hall and the Jade Guarding Hall were known as the Jade Spring Sect's instruments of force.
The former dealt with external matters, the latter with internal ones.
Those who could enter either hall were all outstanding in combat and resolute in character.
Among the sect's nine halls, many disciples who enjoyed combat favored these two.