Chapter Ten: The Flying Spirit Beast

Jiang Yan glanced at the excited Nanmen Luo and smiled slightly, saying, “Of course. If you manage to break through to the second stage of Qi Refinement today, I’ll reward you with the Bone-Easing Pill right away. But if you break through tomorrow, then you’ll have to wait until tomorrow for your reward.”

The colors of black and red deepened on Nanmen Luo’s ugly face; a hint of determination flashed in his pitch-black eyes. Without another word, he closed his eyes and began cultivating with all his might, striving to reach the second stage of Qi Refinement.

Mu Yun’s round face showed less astonishment as his small eyes darted back and forth. These past few days, strange events had repeatedly befallen the sect leader. From the news of their master’s death, the mysterious black short sword on the stone tablet that night, the sudden appearance of the mountain gate on the way up the mountain, the spirit beast garden atop the peak, the training grounds beneath their feet, the profound techniques imparted recently, and now the Bone-Easing Pill, seen only in the alchemical compendium—each detail was carefully tallied in Mu Yun’s meticulous mind. Could it be, as Sister Wan had suggested, that their senior brother had inherited the legacy of a powerful talisman master?

Mu Yun watched as Tang Wan tucked the Bone-Easing Pill away, curiosity growing ever stronger, until he could no longer restrain himself. “Sect leader, the Bone-Easing Pill can cleanse the marrow, reshape the bones, and alter one’s appearance. Even when Master was alive, the sect never possessed a single Bone-Easing Pill. How is it that you...?”

Jiang Yan waved off Mu Yun’s question and pointed to the six-star platform beneath his knees, smiling. “Mu Yun, do you know what you’re standing on? Do you know its purpose?”

Mu Yun’s round face froze, unsure of Jiang Yan’s intent, but replied honestly, “I do not know.”

Jiang Yan stood tall and looked down at Mu Yun. “Mu Yun, this place is called the training grounds, and the platform under your feet is the Six-Star Platform. The training grounds can increase your chances of breaking through barriers during advancement and accelerate your cultivation. As for the Six-Star Platform, if you reach the peak of Qi Refinement, it will help you break into the Foundation Establishment stage and become a master of Foundation Establishment.”

“A Foundation Establishment master?” Tang Wan, Nanmen Luo, and Mu Yun cried out in unison.

Mu Yun stared wide-eyed at Jiang Yan, not blinking. A Foundation Establishment master—such a powerful existence! In all of Linqing Prefecture, with tens of thousands of cultivators and thousands at the peak of Qi Refinement, only the main sect, Golden Flame Sect, boasts three Foundation Establishment masters. The rarity of such experts, and the difficulty for peak Qi Refinement practitioners to succeed in establishing their foundation, is well known. Yet his senior brother claimed the platform could help them advance to Foundation Establishment. Mu Yun’s mind spun with confusion.

Nanmen Luo was full of astonishment; the promise of the Bone-Easing Pill had already been startling, but now the sect leader spoke of enabling peak Qi Refinement practitioners to advance to Foundation Establishment. Nanmen Luo’s thoughts were utterly consumed by shock.

Tang Wan covered her lips with her slender hand, staring in awe at the tall and elegant Jiang Yan. Foundation Establishment masters were figures spoken of but rarely seen. Linqing Prefecture knew of them in name, but almost no one had ever glimpsed such a person. Yet the sect leader claimed he could help peak Qi Refinement practitioners become Foundation Establishment masters…

Jiang Yan was quite satisfied with their reactions. He stepped down from the Six-Star Platform, issuing instructions without turning back. “Sister Wan, stabilize your realm over the next few days. In ten days, Nanmen Luo will stand guard for you as you take the Bone-Easing Pill…”

…

Jiang Yan gazed at the square fields before him, both amused and helpless. Constructing the mountain gate, spirit beast garden, and training grounds had been smooth sailing, but now, trouble arose when it came to cultivating the sect’s spiritual fields.

Within the neat plots, large clumps of earth had been overturned along with the turf, grass-side down, lying on the fields. According to the requirements for spiritual field construction, this was only half the task: the clods needed to be crushed, the fields tilled ten times with spiritual worms, spiritual stones ground into powder and sprinkled over the earth, and the spirit grain seeds sown—only then would the construction be complete.

But after countless attempts to command the wooden puppets, Jiang Yan had failed to accomplish the task of breaking up the clods. Resigned, he called up the transparent information interface and checked the spiritual field construction task, finally realizing that the wooden puppets needed to be equipped with hoes to crush the earth and level the fields.

To find a hoe, he would have to go down to Qingyang Town, half a day’s journey from Mount Hua. With the day already waning, Jiang Yan abandoned the idea of heading down the mountain today, put away the wooden puppets, and decided to tackle the sect hall construction task instead.

Jiang Yan activated his spiritual power to drive the wooden puppets, then turned his hand and took out the sect hall blueprint from the sect leader’s ring. Muttering incantations, he formed a sword with his right fingers and pointed at the blueprint in his left hand, uttering, “Hasten…”

With a rustle, the sect hall blueprint drifted lightly to the ground. Unexpectedly, after reciting the incantation, the blueprint did not expand in the wind but settled softly outside their residence.

Jiang Yan tried several times, but each time the result was the same—the blueprint fluttered to the ground without any reaction. Eventually, the four wooden puppets exhausted their spiritual power and shrank back to their original forms. Jiang Yan still had not managed to activate the sect hall blueprint.

Helpless, Jiang Yan pulled up the transparent information interface again, checking the sect hall construction task in the side missions to find the cause. After reading the task description, he couldn’t help but smile wryly.

Before construction could begin, three sacrificial offerings—pig’s head, horse’s head, and ox’s head—were required to make a ritual to heaven. Without this ritual, the sect hall construction could not proceed.

“Well, looks like I must go down the mountain after all. Offerings, hoes—these can only be purchased in town,” Jiang Yan thought, putting away the blueprint.

He looked up at the sky; the sun was already slanting west, and the mountain breeze had begun to stir. With less than half a day before dusk, if the wooden crane were intact, he could have used its flying ability to travel through the night. But now, the damaged wooden crane had yet to be repaired.

Abandoning the thought, Jiang Yan pondered whether he should go down the mountain himself tomorrow or send Uncle Chen instead, when suddenly the sect leader system’s prompt rang in his ears.

“Ding! The spirit beast garden’s hawk has evolved into a Grade One, Lower Tier flying spirit beast—the Golden-Eyed Eagle.”

The system’s voice sounded again, informing Jiang Yan that another hawk in the spirit beast garden had evolved into a spirit beast.

Jiang Yan frowned; yet another animal had evolved into a spirit beast. It seemed the spirit beast garden’s defenses needed strengthening. The garden could house five Grade One spirit beasts and three Grade Two spirit beasts. If these useless little animals kept sneaking in and evolving, occupying the garden’s slots, the sect leader system might eventually change certain task rewards, no longer using spirit beasts as prizes. That would be a real loss—after all, the system’s rewarded spirit beasts were purebred and authentic, unlike the artificially spawned spirit worms.

Entering the spirit beast garden, Jiang Yan saw the snow-white Howling Heaven Dog sitting side by side with Cloud Shadow, both gazing at a black, golden-eyed eagle within the garden.

The eagle was as tall as a person, its broad back raised high, about half a meter wide—just enough for someone to sit astride.

Jiang Yan fixed his gaze on the Golden-Eyed Eagle, and the transparent information interface appeared before him.

Spirit Beast: Golden-Eyed Eagle
Grade: Grade One, Lower Tier
Unique Skill: Gale—can temporarily increase flight speed