Chapter Six: Spirit Beasts Tamed in the Spirit Beast Garden

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After breakfast, having sent the two junior brothers off to rest and tasked his junior sister with handling daily sect affairs, Jiang Yan resumed his vigil over his master Ding Yuan’s spirit. According to custom, a disciple should keep vigil for no less than three days to demonstrate sincerity—some even watch for seven—before burying their master. Jiang Yan decided on a three-day vigil, after which all matters of the sect must return to order.

Sitting before his master’s spirit tablet, Jiang Yan closed his eyes and began cultivating the Azure Wood Method. He had practiced the lower first-grade Azure Wood Method for over three years now, and ever since he cleared his meridians two years prior, forming a small circulation of spiritual energy, his realm had stabilized at the first stage of Qi Refinement. According to his late master’s estimate, Jiang Yan could reach the second stage of Qi Refinement in as little as ten years, or fifteen at most.

But now, with access to a higher-tier Azure Wood Method, Jiang Yan believed he could soon break through to the second stage.

He had already memorized the incantations for the lower first-grade Azure Wood Method by heart. Opening the manual, he skipped straight to the intermediate first-grade techniques.

“In the east, wood gives birth. Azure wood heralds vibrant life and flourishing vitality. Upon opening the first meridian and forming the lower first-grade Azure Wood Method, a small circulatory loop is established within the body…”

The lower first-grade Azure Wood Method formed a single spiritual energy circuit within the practitioner, allowing one to reach up to the third level of Qi Refinement at best. Jiang Yan’s master, Ding Yuan, had relied on this very method, painstakingly accumulating spiritual energy over decades, to elevate himself to the third stage. If Jiang Yan depended solely on the lower first-grade method, he might reach the second stage in ten years, and the third in thirty, but by then, further advancement would be hopeless.

The intermediate first-grade Azure Wood Method, however, would form five spiritual circuits within, working together with the original, propelling the practitioner to the sixth stage of Qi Refinement. In comparison, it was vastly superior to the lower first-grade method.

After committing the new pathway to memory, Jiang Yan closed his eyes and began his cultivation.

Slowly, he guided the spiritual energy through his sole meridian, letting it circulate as he absorbed more from the air, swelling the energy within and preparing to break open a second meridian.

About an hour passed before his spiritual energy reached saturation and his mind was at its sharpest. Jiang Yan decided to attempt the breakthrough.

With conscious intent, the flow within his meridian began to accelerate, moving faster and faster. Jiang Yan paid careful attention to every fluctuation, seeking the breakthrough point for the second meridian.

As his spiritual energy revolved at increasing speed, his body temperature began to rise. Soon, sweat beaded densely on his brow, dripping onto the mat before him and quickly forming a small damp patch.

Time slipped by. His energy churned at an intense pace, yet the subtle shift described in the manual eluded him. His temperature soared higher, moisture fleeing his body at an alarming rate. The sweat barely surfaced before turning to steam, enveloping Jiang Yan in a misty white aura.

The heat radiating from him even warmed the air around, causing the damp patch on the mat to evaporate into vapor. From a distance, Jiang Yan looked like a great cauldron of boiling water, sending up clouds of white steam.

“Boom, boom—” Two explosive peals sounded in his ears, like thunder at dawn and dusk, reverberating powerfully.

He had broken through. After all his effort, Jiang Yan had finally succeeded. The second meridian had opened, and he had ascended to the second stage of Qi Refinement.

Immersing his mind within, Jiang Yan examined the routes of spiritual energy—and his jaw dropped in astonishment.

Inside, there were not one, but two entirely new meridians.

Those two thunderous booms he’d heard—his spiritual power had breached two barriers in succession, leaping past the limits of both the second and the third stage of Qi Refinement in one stroke.

He’d overdone it this time…

To suddenly become a third-stage Qi Refinement adept left Jiang Yan more than a little dazed.

With a thought, he called up his status display to confirm if he had truly reached the third stage.

Name: Jiang Yan
Sect: Mount Hua
Position: Sect Leader
Cultivation: Qi Refinement, Stage Three
Weapon: None

Jiang Yan broke into a cold sweat—he was indeed at the third stage. Three years with no progress, and now a double leap! Just beginning the intermediate Azure Wood Method had opened two meridians at once. If he cultivated it for a while longer, he couldn’t help but imagine—fourth stage, fifth stage…

Withdrawing a secret manual for the Azure Wood Method from the Sect Leader’s ring, Jiang Yan caressed its cover, thinking of his late master Ding Yuan. His master, with only a single lower first-grade manual, had labored for decades to reach the third stage, only to fall at last in battle, standing in for the disciples of the Golden Flame Sect during a demon hunt.

And yet Jiang Yan, after only a few days with the Sect Leader System, had already surpassed his master’s lifelong achievement.

Touching the Sect Leader’s ring with resolve, Jiang Yan steeled himself. In three years, if Mount Hua did not break free from its vassal status, he too would have to replace the Golden Flame Sect’s disciples in the demon hunts. For the sake of the sect, and his own life, he must reach the fourth stage within three years and elevate the sect to an unranked, first-rank, or even second-rank status.

The thought brought a smile to Jiang Yan’s lips. Fortunately, his transmigration had come with the Sect Leader System. With the system’s rewards for completed tasks, he had built the mountain gate and the spirit beast garden. Thanks to these rewards, in a single day he had broken through twice, reaching the third stage and standing only a step from the fourth. Once he broke through again, Mount Hua would finally shed its vassal chains.

Determination shone in Jiang Yan’s eyes. With the system’s aid, he was confident he could reach the fourth stage within this year, or perhaps even sooner.

Yet, Jiang Yan’s expectations were a touch fanciful. His double breakthrough on his first attempt was only possible because his accumulated spiritual power had already reached the peak before breaking through, and the system’s gift of an intermediate Azure Wood Method was a top-tier technique. Without external help or elixirs, it would take at least a year to cross from the third to the fourth stage.

Suddenly, Jiang Yan felt thirsty—no, parched, as if he’d gone three days in a desert without water. He grabbed the jug on the table and drained it in one gulp, only then alleviating his thirst.

During his advancement, the rapid circulation of power had overheated his body and drained it of water. Were it not for his cultivator’s physique, the severe dehydration alone could have killed him. No wonder his thirst was so intense.

“Ding! The earthworm in the Spirit Beast Garden has evolved into a first-grade spirit beast.” The system’s voice startled Jiang Yan mid-drink.

Startled, he realized a spirit beast had evolved in the garden. Though the garden could tame wild beasts into spirit beasts, he hadn’t actually stocked it with any animals. Anxious and curious, he hurried to the Spirit Beast Garden. There, lush grass flourished among rocky outcrops, and the clouds cast shadows as the Hound of Heaven and Cloud Shadow played together. But where was the spirit earthworm?

Fixing his gaze on the garden, its information appeared before his eyes:

Special Building: Spirit Beast Garden
Grade: First-grade—can house five first-grade or three second-grade spirit beasts
Current Beasts: Two Hounds of Heaven, one Spirit Earthworm
Function: Raise spirit beasts, improve their grade
Bonus: Increases advancement speed by 0.5%, supports wild beasts’ evolution into spirit beasts

So there really was a spirit earthworm. Jiang Yan looked around but found no sign of it, so he decided to use the Beast Summoning Mirror to call it forth.

The Beast Summoning Mirror was a bronze disc that appeared after the garden was built and the first spirit beast evolved. It was set in a pillar at the entrance, white and lustrous like jade. Jiang Yan pressed his palm upon it, channeling his spiritual power. Instantly, it displayed the locations of the spirit earthworm and the Hounds of Heaven. Ignoring the hounds, Jiang Yan searched for the earthworm.

After a while, he realized the earthworm was burrowed underground, which was why he hadn’t seen it. Focusing his energy, he called for the spirit earthworm.

Obeying his summons, the earthworm wriggled out of the soil, plump and red as a thread, and crawled through the grass to Jiang Yan’s feet. As he gazed at it, the earthworm’s information appeared:

Spirit Beast: Spirit Earthworm
Grade: First-grade, lower tier
Unique Skill: Loosens soil and increases spiritual energy concentration in fields; continuous use can raise the grade of spirit fields

A spirit earthworm that could improve spirit fields—this auxiliary function of the Spirit Beast Garden had exceeded Jiang Yan’s expectations. In just a single day, the garden had produced a first-grade spirit earthworm.

Jiang Yan decided to immediately develop the sect’s spirit fields and put the earthworm to work. But as he thought of cultivating the fields, he suddenly remembered—they had no spiritual grain seeds in the sect…