At the beginning, I cleaned the Sutra Library and completed the incomplete skills.

Chapter 209: Spirit Pet

Lin Xingyue had begun taming Yao Beasts ever since their first encounter in Xianzong Valley when she was at the second level of Qi Refining.

She was exceptionally experienced in this Dao, and in addition to the "Beast Taming Manual," she had also written down many of her unique insights.

At this moment,

it was perfectly suitable for Li Lan, a Cultivator who had never delved into this Dao before, to use it as an introduction.

He spent a day reading through the entire manual.

The numerous beast-taming methods described within greatly benefited him.

In summary,

they could roughly be divided into three types.

The first type dealt with adult Yao Beasts that had already developed sentience.

The advantage of such Yao Beasts was their high Realm; once tamed, they could immediately become a great aid in combat without needing to be re-Cultivated.

The drawback was that adult Yao Beasts already possessed their own consciousness,

and unless they willingly submitted, a Cultivator's unilateral efforts alone would not be enough to tame them.

The purer the Bloodline and the nobler the Yao Beast, the stronger their inherent arrogance.

Most high-level Yao Beasts would rather die in battle than willingly bow their proud heads to humans.

Of course, throughout history,

there have been a small number of high-level Yao Beasts willing to voluntarily submit to human Cultivators, but these were extremely rare occurrences.

In the current Cultivation World,

most Cultivators who possess Spirit Pets tame the second type: wild or specially raised Yao Beasts still in their infancy. The Zhenshan Falcon that Lin Xingyue once commanded falls into this category.

The advantage of this type of Yao Beast is that it is easy to tame, without the effort required for the first type.

The disadvantage is that such Yao Beasts have no offensive capabilities when first tamed and need to be nurtured from scratch. Moreover, Yao Beast cubs with pure Bloodlines are extremely difficult to find in the wild or in markets.

This leads to a situation where, even if such Yao Beasts are painstakingly raised, their ultimate lifespan and the Realm they can reach will not be very high.

At most, they can perform simple tasks like scouting or covering retreats, but they offer little help to their masters in combat.

Precisely because of this,

the Beast Taming lineage is so rare in the Cultivation World.

After all, with that time and energy spent on helping a Spirit Pet advance its Realm, hoping it can achieve miraculous effects in combat,

it would be better to save those Cultivation resources and use them on oneself to improve one's own Cultivation faster.

The third type is taming unborn Yao Beasts.

This type is similar to the second but slightly different.

Unborn Yao Beasts have no independent consciousness whatsoever, making the difficulty of taming them almost zero.

Furthermore, their loyalty to their master is the highest among all beast-taming methods.

Even Yao Beasts with the noblest Bloodlines can be utterly loyal, without a second thought.

The drawbacks are the same as mentioned above:

Yao Beasts with ordinary Bloodlines offer little help after being tamed.

As for unborn Yao Beasts with noble Bloodlines, markets usually keep them for themselves; why would they be willing to sell them to others?

For ordinary Cultivators who wish to tame a Spirit Pet using this method,

the only way is to search in the wild for mature Yao Beasts that have been pregnant for a long time but have not yet given birth.

However, such Yao Beasts are not foolish;

before giving birth, they usually hide themselves extremely well and rarely flaunt themselves in public.

Therefore, these unborn wild Yao Beasts are almost an unachievable existence for ordinary Cultivators.

Examples like Li Lan's, where a complete embryo was gifted by a demon Cultivator,

were quite common in ancient times when the Twelve Demon Saints and human Cultivators coexisted more harmoniously.

But in the current Cultivation World, they have completely died out.

Fortunately, Lin Xingyue had learned the Dao of Beast Taming and still possessed this "Beast Taming Manual."

Otherwise,

even if Li Lan now had this Yellow Mane Hound offspring, he probably wouldn't know how to make it useful to him.

Over the next few days, he repeatedly and meticulously studied the "Beast Taming Manual" several times.

Only after fully comprehending it,

did Li Lan begin to formally tame the beast according to the methods described within.

Placing the embryo on the meditation cushion,

Li Lan bit his index finger, then used his essence Blood to draw special runes upon it.

This method was quite similar to the legendary Blood滴認主 (Blood Droplet Recognition of Mastership),

Once completed, he would be able to achieve a spiritual connection with the Spirit Pet.

Its life and death would also be entirely within his control.

However,

Li Lan wasn't entirely sure,

whether it was the essence Blood itself or the runes drawn with the essence Blood that controlled the Spirit Pet.

Twelve hours later,

all the runes were completely drawn, and the entire process went very smoothly.

The resistance Li Lan encountered was even less than when he refined the eighty-year-old Purple Sandalwood Spiritual Bean.

A flash of light appeared on the runes on the embryo's surface,

and the un-dried bloodstains seemed to be absorbed by the pup within the womb, rapidly disappearing.

Immediately after,

a sensation appeared out of thin air in Li Lan's mind.

It was as if he had two heartbeats: one was his own, and the other came from the pup within the womb.

Although it hadn't been born yet, he could achieve a spiritual connection with it, and Li Lan could clearly feel that its life and death were truly within his control.

A murmuring sound emanated from his mind,

and Li Lan quickly understood the meaning of the pup within the womb.

"Hungry?"

He raised an eyebrow, feeling a headache coming on.

He had left in a hurry earlier and forgotten to ask that Yellow Mane Hound what their young ate during their infancy.

Li Lan had been on a Qi fast for many years now,

and besides spiritual plants, he couldn't even find a single grain of rice on him.

Moreover, a pup in an embryo probably couldn't directly consume solid food, could it?

Alas, if only he had known, he should have asked that Yellow Mane Hound for some Yao Beast milk.

Li Lan took out the black compass,

looking at the Spiritual Qi guidance flickering on it, he hesitated whether to track and catch up with the other party now.

However,

to seek out the other party again just for such a small matter would seem quite ridiculous.

Fortunately, dogs are indeed humanity's best companions.

This Yellow Mane Hound pup, even before birth, was extremely understanding.

A murmuring sound quickly resolved its master's worries.

"Hmm? There's something in my Storage Pouch that you can eat now? You smelled it?

Can you already use your Bloodline Divine Ability before birth? Good job, truly a canine demon, that nose is sharp!"

Li Lan muttered as he poured out everything from his Storage Pouch.

He had Cultivated for over thirty years, encountered countless powerful enemies, and accumulated a considerable amount of miscellaneous items from spoils of war.

Now, pouring them all out, they almost piled up into a small mountain.

"What do you want to eat? This? Or this?"

Li Lan picked up each item, asking tentatively.

After some effort, he finally figured out what the Yellow Mane Hound pup could eat.

It was a white porcelain long-necked jade bottle, containing the resin he had scraped from the five-hundred-year-old Purple Sandalwood Spiritual Tree back when he was in Xianzong Valley.

"Well, you certainly have good taste. Resin of this age is probably extremely rare even across the entire Jiuhua County.

If this item were put up for sale in a market, it would probably fetch a sky-high price."

Li Lan chuckled wryly,

but as the pup's master, he was not stingy.

He uncorked the bottle and poured all the resin onto the embryo.

As soon as the rather viscous resin landed on it, it seemed to be absorbed, just like the runes drawn with essence Blood, disappearing at a visible rate.

At the same time,

the murmuring sound in his mind took on a joyful emotion,

as if the pup in the embryo was expressing its affection to him.

"Eat well, little one. There's more if you need it."

He had collected a lot of this spiritual tree resin back then. Although some had been used to refine the improved Gathering Qi Pills over the years,

there was still plenty left, which was enough to feed the pup for a while without any problem.

Li Lan summoned a Spirit Bean Soldier and handed it several white jade porcelain bottles,

then he conjured the Eternal Life Coffin, the purple sandalwood tree core, and other items, and began his own Cultivation.

For the next year, he once again entered a monotonous and arduous period of hard Cultivation.

Aside from refining the Gathering Qi Pill,

Li Lan did not slack off for a moment.

The task of feeding the embryo pup was entirely entrusted to the Spirit Bean Soldier.

Although Cultivation was arduous,

his thirty-plus years of consistent effort had long made him accustomed to it.

Each time the Yellow Mane Hound pup was full, it would emit a satisfied purr in his mind,

and now with a Spirit Pet accompanying him, it greatly alleviated the boredom.

One day, a year later,

Li Lan's mind stirred, and he exited his Cultivation state.

The embryo, which had been as still as water, suddenly began to fluctuate violently, like boiling water.

In a short while,

with a 'plop' sound, sharp claws pierced through the embryo's surface,

and then, a fluffy head emerged from within, looking at first glance like a small yellow ball.

Its fur was short and dense, like the finest silk, radiating a soft glow under the faint light.

Its eyes were round and large, like two clear black gems,

appearing exceptionally bright beneath the yellow fur.

At this moment, its eyes were filled with innocence and purity,

as if overwhelmed by the sudden arrival into this world, unsure of what to do.

Its wet little nose continuously twitched slightly,

as if searching for something among the many unfamiliar scents around it.

Its small ears drooped halfway, occasionally swaying gently with its subtle movements.

The little creature flapped its still weak little paws, laboriously tearing open the embryo, and crawled out from within.

Finally,

it sniffed a familiar scent—its black eyes suddenly gleamed with uncontrollable joy.

The Yellow Mane Hound pup bounded and leaped to Li Lan's side, its small tail wagging rapidly from side to side like a flag in the wind,

its rhythm perfectly mirroring the beat of its inner joy.

The little dog barked incessantly as it ran, "Woof, woof, woof!"

The barks were clear and loud, full of urgency and excitement, as if calling its master's name,

or perhaps expressing its endless longing.

When it finally reached Li Lan's side,

its small body suddenly sprang up, its front paws directly resting on Li Lan's leg.

It looked up, its dark, glistening eyes full of joy and reliance,

its wet little nose continuously sniffed at Li Lan's hands and legs, its warm breath puffing against his skin, seemingly its unique way of expressing affection.

Facing such a lively, tender little creature, it was hard not to feel a sense of tenderness.

Li Lan revealed a gratified smile, reaching out to lovingly stroke the little dog's head.

"It's been a year, you little one, you've finally hatched. All that resin I fed you wasn't in vain."

"Woof, woof, woof!"

The little creature had just been born, not yet fully developed, and couldn't quite understand Li Lan's words.

But it could clearly sense that its master didn't dislike it, and was in a very good mood.

For it, Li Lan was the entire world.

If Li Lan was happy, it was happy.