“This son of a bitch, Chen Er Liu Zi, who has no asshole and is utterly devoid of virtue, is too much of a coward, isn’t he? He fainted from fright when a wild boar charged at him?”
“The key is that Little Black Tiger was protecting him. Even if the heavily injured wild boar charged, it wouldn’t have been able to hurt him. He’s such a coward.”
“This scoundrel was always a lazy coward. On normal days, he’d just rely on Little Black Tiger to flirt with civilian women and bully ordinary folk.”
“Heaven is blind! Such a coward not only got to study for three years at the Immortal Spirit Cave Miscellaneous Service Office but also contracted this Black Tiger cub worth a hundred gold. It’s simply an outrage!”
“Who told you his sister is the concubine of the Zhao Clan Chief’s third son in Dayang County?”
“I heard that his sister is only Zhao San Shao’s concubine. Although she’s favored, because she often helps this good-for-nothing scoundrel, she’s disliked by her mother-in-law and frequently bullied by Zhao San Shao’s three wives. Who knows how much grievance she’s suffered? I feel bad for her.”
“You just want to feel her body.”
“Enough talk, quickly skin and butcher it! It’ll be dangerous if the mountain spirits come after the scent of blood.”
In a daze, Chen Changqing heard a group of men discussing, their voices ethereal, as if separated by a layer of film.
Following these voices, Chen Changqing felt as if his Soul was recalled, and some memories gradually resurfaced.
He was a 996 urban cubicle slave.
Ten days ago, he was fired by his company.
Yesterday, he got divorced.
He was drinking alone at home.
And then… he blacked out.
“Awooo, awooo…”
A tender voice sounded.
Such a familiar, kind voice.
Chen Changqing was very curious. Immediately, a wave of unfamiliar memories flooded into Chen Changqing’s mind again.
This person was also named Chen Changqing.
When he was three years old, his parents were killed by evil spirits.
His sister, only twelve years old, raised him.
Four years later, his sister, with him as a burden, married the third young master of the Zhao Clan as a concubine.
Nine years later, his sister begged her brother-in-law to send the sixteen-year-old Chen Changqing to study at the Immortal Spirit Cave Miscellaneous Service Office.
But Chen Changqing was utterly useless, incredibly lazy, neglecting his Cultivation and martial arts, spending his days eating, drinking, and playing.
Three years later, Chen Changqing, having achieved nothing, left the Miscellaneous Office. His sister again begged her brother-in-law to arrange for him to be a constable in the county yamen.
Yet, he still didn't cherish the opportunity, drinking, fighting, stealing chickens and dogs, swindling, harassing women—committing all sorts of wicked deeds.
Some time ago, Chen Changqing stole the undergarments of Wang County Magistrate’s youngest daughter. His enraged sister slapped him twice and sent him back to their hometown, Qingshi Town.
Afterward, he began to bully men and women, steal chickens and dogs, drink and fight, swindle, and harass women in Qingshi Town.
His contracted Spirit Beast, Little Black Tiger, had formidable combat power. In the entire town, few could match Little Black Tiger.
In a short time, he became the infamous scoundrel of Qingshi Town, hated by dogs and humans alike.
Recently, he gambled in town and owed Zhao Erhu, the town bully, eighteen thousand copper coins. Zhao Erhu demanded he repay it within a month.
If he couldn’t repay, he would kill his Little Black Tiger and sell its corpse.
Contracted Spirit Beasts and their masters are connected by Soul. If a contracted Spirit Beast is killed, the master, even if not dead, will become an idiot.
Chen Changqing borrowed money everywhere, but no one would lend to him.
He wrote to his sister, but she ignored him.
To repay Zhao Erhu’s debt.
He joined Zhao Erhu’s Ming Que Hunting Squad and entered the mountains for the first time today to hunt.
Upon entering the mountains, they encountered a group of wild boars.
During the fierce battle, seeing a blood-soaked wild boar charge at him with a screech, he instantly went blank with fear.
His vision went dark, and he fainted.
He died on the spot.
Chen Changqing finished processing the unfamiliar memories.
He discovered that within his mind space.
A bowl-sized, pitch-black lotus floated, black flames slowly burning on its petals.
When his Divine Thought touched the black lotus, a few lines of golden characters appeared above the flames.
“Soul Devouring Creation Black Lotus”
“Master: Chen Changqing”
“Magic Cultivation: None”
“Physical Body Cultivation: Body Refining Level 0 (86/100)”
“Spell: None”
“Skills: Archery Level 0 (56/100), Climbing Level 0 (32/100), Calligraphy Level 0 (18/100)”
His Divine Thought continued to touch it, and a few more lines of characters appeared.
“The Soul Devouring Creation Black Lotus, by burning the living Soul and spirit, can extract a trace of the Universe’s Creation power,
allowing every bit of the master’s effort to align with the Creation of Heaven and Earth, yielding ten times the reward,
and there is no upper limit to the Cultivation and comprehension of Spells.”
One effort, ten times the reward?
And no upper limit to Cultivating Spells?
Chen Changqing found it somewhat unbelievable.
At this moment.
The black lotus slowly burned, and a phantom of a wild boar entered the pitch-black lotus.
The wild boar phantom transformed into a trace of milky-white liquid, landing at the base of the black lotus.
That black lotus seemed to be the black lotus he bought at an antique market two years ago, which he couldn't find after waking up one day.
Chen Changqing's consciousness gradually cleared. He heard the tender “awooo, awooo” sound beside his ear. He struggled to open his eyes and saw a skinny black tiger cub rubbing his face with its wet nose.
That Little Black Tiger was a foot tall, its entire body as black as ink, with only a silver-white pattern on its forehead that appeared exceptionally lively.
This was precisely the contracted Spirit Beast from his unfamiliar memories, Chen Changqing's Black Tiger cub, Little Black.
The scrawny little tiger saw him wake up, joyfully bounced around, wagging its tail like a whirlwind, and pounced on him, rubbing its furry head against his face.
Chen Changqing sat up in one swift motion and looked around. Several hunters were quickly butchering the wild boar.
There was also a Purple Sable the size of a dog, a Yellow Weasel the size of a rabbit, a half-meter-tall gray bird, and three Wolfhounds about one meter tall, currently eating the pig heart, pig lungs, pig liver, and pig intestines.
These were the six hunters of the Qingshi Town Nether雀 Squad from the unfamiliar memories, along with their contracted Spirit Beasts.
Chen Changqing rubbed his eyes vigorously, stood up, and looked at the surrounding hunters and various Spirit Beasts, completely bewildered.
Transmigration?
He really Transmigrated?
He must have Transmigrated.
In this world, demons run rampant, and ghosts are everywhere.
However, the Human Race can also Cultivate Immortality.
Even ordinary people without Spiritual Root can contract Spirit Beasts using Fusion Spirit Beast Charms and become Beast Masters.
As a Beast Master’s Spirit Beast grows, it will provide feedback to the master, increasing their Cultivation and Lifespan.
When the physical and spiritual Qi mist condenses into a trace, reaching the Qi Refining First Layer standard, one can be called an Immortal Beast Tamer.
His predecessor was a Beast Master; the spiritual Qi mist in his body had not yet condensed into threads, and his Cultivation had not even reached the Qi Refining First Layer.
His personal combat power was extremely weak, but his contracted Spirit Beast, Little Black Tiger, had combat power comparable to a typical Qi Refining Second Layer Cultivator.
The combined strength of one person and one tiger was nothing in the entire Immortal Realm.
But in Qingshi Town, where the total number of Beast Masters was only twenty-some, they could rank in the top ten.
And that was only because he himself was too weak and held them back.
Otherwise, they could have ranked fifth.
His predecessor, with Little Black Tiger, was one of the notorious villains in Qingshi Town, known for drinking, fighting, harassing women, and oppressing the common people.
Chen Changqing closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into his mind.
In the mysterious mind space, a large black lotus was slowly burning.
His Divine Thought touched it again.
The previous information reappeared.
Chen Changqing was incredibly excited.
If one effort could yield ten times the reward.
And there was no upper limit to Cultivating Spells.
Then his future was boundless.
“Awooo, awooo.” Little Black Tiger rubbed Chen Changqing with its head and gestured with its paws.
Chen Changqing had assimilated his predecessor’s memories and understood Little Black Tiger’s gestures and howls.
Little Black Tiger told him that it thought something had happened to Chen Changqing and it was almost scared to death.
“This contracted Spirit Beast is too spiritual.” Although he knew from his predecessor’s memories that Spirit Beasts were quite spiritual, seeing this skinny Little Black Tiger being so spiritual still felt very magical.
Chen Changqing rubbed Little Black’s head. He seemed to have fused with his predecessor’s Soul, feeling an unusual closeness to this Little Black Tiger: “Little fellow, I’m fine.”
Little Black also joyfully rubbed Chen Changqing’s hand with its head: “Awooo, awooo.” (I’m so happy.)
“Chen Er Liu Zi, you’re awake! I thought you were scared to death by the wild boar.” A rough voice interrupted his thoughts.
Chen Changqing looked up and saw a burly middle-aged man walking towards him.
This middle-aged man was Zhao Erhu, the captain of this Ming Que Hunting Squad, an Immortal Beast Tamer at the Qi Refining Second Layer.
His contracted Spirit Beast, Nether雀, had the Cultivation of a Small Demon Fourth Layer.
Zhao Erhu’s Archery was extraordinary, his blade skills impressive, and he possessed many talismans.
Combined with his Spirit Beast, Nether雀, his overall strength far surpassed that of a typical Qi Refining Fourth Layer Cultivator.
He was the second strongest person in Qingshi Town and also the number one bully in Qingshi Town.
It was said that he was the illegitimate son of a Zhao Clan member from Dayang County.
Some time ago, Zhao Erhu set a trap and won all of his predecessor’s money, also putting his predecessor in heavy debt with high-interest loans.
He then forced his predecessor to enter the mountains to hunt and earn money to repay his debt.
Listening to Zhao Erhu’s taunting words, Chen Changqing wanted to hit him, but in the end, he forced a smile: “I’m fine.”
His and Little Black Tiger’s combat power could rank in the top ten in Qingshi Town, but they were still far too inferior to Zhao Erhu.
Moreover, the other five hunters in this Ming Que Hunting Squad were all Beast Masters. Although their contracted Spirit Beasts’ combat power was not as good as Little Black’s, their individual combat power was all stronger than his.
When one is under someone else’s roof, one must bow one’s head when necessary.
“Chen Er Liu Zi, since you’re awake, don’t just sprawl on the ground like a lazy pig. Quickly climb up the tree and keep watch!” Zhao Erhu’s voice sounded again, with impatience in his tone.
Chen Changqing stood up, picked up the bow and arrows beside him, slung them over his back, walked to a large tree, and quickly began to Climb it.
Although his Physical Body quality was not as good as the other members of the Ming Que Hunting Squad, it was still nourished by spiritual Qi mist, making him much stronger than ordinary people.
He climbed trees as agilely as a monkey.
At this moment, Chen Changqing felt the black fire lotus reappear in his mind, its pitch-black flames burning fiercely.
Strands of mysterious energy surged into his body.
His mind instantly became exceptionally ethereal and incredibly clear.
His breathing was steady, but his heartbeat subtly quickened. The flames of the black fire lotus in his mind burned even more intensely.
The black flames flickered, and two lines of small characters quietly appeared.
“Climbing +1.”
“Physical Body Quality +1.”
Some Climbing techniques flooded into his mind, and a warm energy surged into his limbs and bones, slowly strengthening his body.
Chen Changqing’s eyes brightened, and his heart was invigorated.
That was the power of Creation; it was indeed powerful.
Chen Changqing climbed quickly, continuing to ascend the tree. In a moment, he had climbed high up and stood on a high branch.
“Awooo, awooo.”
Little Black Tiger actually followed him up, rubbing against Chen Changqing with its head.
Chen Changqing rubbed Little Black’s head and said, “Little Black, quickly go down and eat the wild boar meat.”
As Little Black grew, it would provide feedback to him, and he would also grow with it.
His body, without a Spiritual Root, if he wanted to achieve Immortal Ascension.
He could only rely on Little Black’s growth feedback.
Now, his physical and spiritual Qi mist was already very dense. It wouldn’t be long before it condensed into threads, and he would advance to the Qi Refining First Layer.
At that time, he would be the fourth Immortal Beast Tamer in the town.
“Awoo.” Little Black was very obedient. Its scrawny limbs turned into a blur, and in a moment, it had swooped down, swiftly darting past a Wolfhound that was gnawing on a wild boar heart.
Then, the large pig heart in the Wolfhound’s mouth ended up in Little Black’s mouth.
The Wolfhound was stunned, then enraged, but upon seeing Little Black, the anger in its eyes quickly faded.
Little Black Tiger was still small and scrawny, but it was a genuine Spirit Beast, extremely fast and agile, with combat power significantly stronger than the Wolfhound’s.
Except for Captain Zhao Erhu’s Nether雀, the contracted Spirit Beasts of the other hunters were no match for Little Black Tiger.
“This Little Black Tiger, so thin yet so powerful. What will it be like when it’s an adult?” The surrounding hunters were filled with envy and jealousy.
Spirit Beasts also have different Aptitudes.
The higher the Aptitude, the greater the growth potential, and the fiercer the combat power.
Like everyone’s Wolfhounds, they were crossbred from Spirit Beast Bloodthirsty Demon Wolves and dogs, barely counting as Spirit Beasts. Their combat power was only about 30% stronger than that of ordinary gray wolves.
The spiritual Qi they provided as feedback to their masters was quite limited. Even when fed until adulthood, the spiritual Qi feedback would hardly allow the master’s internal magical Qi mist to condense into a thread, reaching the Qi Refining First Layer standard.
The Yellow Weasel and Purple Sable provided even less spiritual Qi.
But Chen Changqing’s Black Tiger cub was a genuine Spirit Beast. It would reach adulthood at ten years old, and it was only three years old now, still a baby, yet its combat power was already stronger than their adult Wolfhounds.
When fed until adulthood, its combat power would completely crush everyone’s Wolfhounds.