A Mortal's Start in the Spirit Beast Mountain

The cultivation of a natal spirit beast is similar to that of a natal magic weapon, except that it cannot be nurtured in the dantian.

Through special soul connection and secret techniques, a cultivator's body can withstand the infusion of spirit beast's divine powers, thereby gaining control over most of the spirit beast's divine powers.

The power unleashed in this way can reach 70-80% of its original strength, and as the fusion between the body and the spirit beast's power deepens, the power will continue to rise.

This reminded him of the Cold Toad Master—the one who cultivated the ancient beast, the Azure Blood Cold Toad, into his natal spirit beast. His body was filled with cold poison and supernatural powers, and few could rival him except for Nascent Soul stage cultivators.

While this secret method has fatal flaws—the death of one's natal spirit beast will severely injure the cultivator, even causing a significant drop in cultivation level, and the advancement speed of demonic beasts is too slow, with many cultivators in the Spirit Beast Mountain unable to cultivate a demonic beast above level five even after their lifespan has run out—Luo Ming has the Spirit Gathering Cauldron to help him, which is enough to allow his spirit beasts to keep up with his advancement pace.

Moreover, if he were truly in a desperate situation where the spirit beast were to die, he himself would most likely be unable to escape. But with the spirit beast's divine power as a boost, he would have more confidence whether he fought or fled.

"Hehe, if I can cultivate all four spirit beasts into my natal spirit beasts, wouldn't I be invincible among those of the same level?" Luo Ming gazed at the sea of ​​clouds outside the cave and was already imagining the scene after he formed his core.

For many cultivators in the Spirit Beast Mountain, the cost of cultivating a natal spirit beast is too high. It only increases some supernatural abilities and does not benefit their own cultivation. Instead, it becomes a burden. After all, high-level resources are rare, and if they are lucky enough to obtain them, they will definitely use them on themselves first.

However, with the help of the Spirit Gathering Cauldron, Luo Ming was not worried about his cultivation level; what he was most concerned about was his insufficient combat strength.

In order to successfully use his secret techniques after forming his core, he had to accelerate the cultivation of his spirit beasts. Among them, the Fat Sun Bird's cultivation speed was the fastest. Nourished by the essence of the Demon-Attracting Grass and tempered by the Spirit Gathering Cauldron's primordial fire, its bloodline evolved by leaps and bounds. Luo Ming even felt that it could break through to the next realm earlier than him.

January passed in the blink of an eye. At the foot of the mountain outside Luomingdong, fishermen often rested, and children chased and played on the shore. Among them was a little girl with pigtails who would often look up at the cloud-shrouded mountain peak with her eyes full of expectation.

Suddenly, a loud roar echoed through the valley, and a powerful aura of a demonic beast swept in, stirring up the clouds and mist that shrouded the cave. The fishermen at the foot of the mountain panicked and fled the area, but the little girl remained standing there, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"It's just advancing to the third level, is it really necessary to be so ostentatious?"

Luo Ming stood before the cave, helplessly watching the azure dragon circling and swimming outside the formation. Over the past month, the azure dragon, nourished by the essence of demonic beasts and the essence of demon-attracting grass in the Spirit Gathering Cauldron, had completely completed its bloodline accumulation and successfully broken through to the third level.

Its size surged to over twenty zhang, its blue scales, the size of a bowl, gleaming with a cold, eerie light. With its sheer aura, it firmly held the top position among the four spirit beasts, revealing the overwhelming power of its dragon bloodline.

"It seems that the enhancement of bloodline power after the essence of the demon beasts was nourished by the Spirit Gathering Cauldron far exceeded expectations." Luo Ming looked at the Azure Dragon with anticipation in his eyes, looking forward to what it would look like after advancing to the fifth level.

"Sigh, this Beast Soul Talisman is really hard to refine. It seems like a lot of demon souls will be wasted." After observing the Azure Dragon's condition for a while, Luo Ming returned to the secret chamber to begin experimenting with the Beast Soul Talisman.

As the days went by, ever since that dragon's roar, the fishermen at the foot of the mountain often heard the roars of various monsters coming from the valley, which frightened them so much that they dared not approach the area again.

Although the little girl was afraid, she still often came alone, sat under the old locust tree at the foot of the mountain, quietly watching the distant clouds and mist, waiting for the wind fox beast to come out and play with her.

Luo Ming was somewhat puzzled as to why the Wind Fox Beast liked to be close to the little girl, but he didn't dwell on it.

The Wind Fox Beast was the most elusive of his four spirit beasts. Apart from cultivating, it loved to roam around the island as if it were patrolling its own territory.

After advancing to the third level, the Azure Dragon became even more unruly, often running away for days without returning, having already forgotten the painful experience of being trapped.

However, every time it returned from its outings, it would bring back some spiritual items, such as minerals containing rich spiritual energy or some hundred-year-old spiritual clams. Luo Ming didn't stand on ceremony and kept all the ones that he thought were good for it.

Recently, the Zhiyang Bird has preferred to stay on the mountaintop, especially when the sun rises in the morning, almost without fail, rain or shine. Luo Ming simply set up a spirit-gathering array on the mountaintop and stockpiled a batch of fire spirit stones for its cultivation, so that the Zhiyang Bird could temper its primordial fire.

What Luo Ming couldn't figure out the most was the Xuan Turtle.

This creature has grown increasingly large. Since advancing to level two, its appearance has changed from that of an ordinary Xuan Turtle. Golden patterns have begun to appear on its back, and now these golden patterns cover one-third of its back.

Each time this creature absorbed the essence of the Demon-Attracting Grass, it would sink to the bottom of the pool in front of the cave, remaining motionless like a black boulder. Sometimes, when Luo Ming used his divine sense to investigate, he could only perceive its faint yet unusually steady aura, as if it were undergoing some kind of profound transformation.

Although it moves slowly, its cultivation level is increasing at an alarming rate, showing signs of catching up with the Wind Fox Beast, and it is now close to reaching the peak of the second level.

The reason for their rapid progress is not only due to the stimulation of their bloodline by the essence of the demon-attracting grass, but also because Luo Ming frequently fed them the essence of demon beasts. After all, the demon beast resources here are abundant, especially water-attribute demon beasts, which enabled the Azure Dragon and the Black Tortoise to progress rapidly.

However, the Wind Fox Beast belongs to the wind attribute, and wind attribute monsters are rare here. It's impossible for its master to go to the outer sea to catch the Wind Rift Beast.

Watching the spirit beasts steadily advance in their respective levels, Luo Ming felt gratified. This feeling of gradually increasing strength gave him more hope on the monotonous path of cultivation.

"Excellent, excellent! Everyone is making progress, how can I, as the host, fall behind?"

Luo Ming sighed, turned around and walked into the cave, where he honed his mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation while studying the crafting of Beast Soul Talismans.

Time flies, and eight years have passed in the blink of an eye.

The Luoming Cave, once shrouded in mist and occasionally echoed with the roars of beasts, seems largely unchanged. However, the small fishing village at the foot of the mountain has now expanded into a sizable town, bustling with people.

Because Luo Ming was so low-key, if it weren't for the occasional appearance of the Azure Dragon in the vicinity, these mortals would probably have forgotten about Luo Ming's existence. However, the island's residents felt a mixture of awe and gratitude towards this "Immortal Master" who lived on the mountain—because for the past eight years, the nearby seas had been calm and tranquil, and even ferocious sea beasts rarely approached.

Deep within the cave, the originally misty spiritual energy gradually subsided.

Luo Ming opened his eyes, a flash of brilliance in them. His aura was harmonious and profound, twice as strong as it had been eight years ago, indicating that he had successfully broken through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment. He slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, feeling the surging magical power within his body, a look of satisfaction appearing on his face.

"After eight years of arduous cultivation, I've finally reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment," he murmured to himself, his voice echoing in the silent stone chamber.

He is not even fifty years old yet, but he is already in the late stage of Foundation Establishment. There is still a great chance that he will advance to Core Formation before he turns one hundred. He remembers that Old Demon Han did not condense his Golden Core until he was over one hundred and twenty years old.

With a thought, his divine sense spread out like mercury, instantly covering the entire cave and the surrounding eight hundred feet.

The hustle and bustle of the town at the foot of the mountain, the sound of waves crashing on the shore, and even the subtle flow of spiritual energy in the air are all clearly reflected in my heart.

"Hmm?" He raised an eyebrow, his attention drawn to the unusual activity outside the cave.