Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 15 Beast Taming Techniques

“Pu County is mountainous and teeming with monsters. I think the art of beast taming is more useful than alchemy or weapon crafting.”

Upon hearing Li Xiangming's explanation, Li Chengzhi nodded in agreement.

Since the younger generation has their own ideas, he has nothing to say.

Li Chengzhi took out a jade slip, and in an instant, three book-shaped phantom images appeared on the jade slip, along with elegant large characters.

"My Li family has collected three beast-taming techniques: the Spirit Taming Technique, the Beast King Heart Sutra, and the Myriad Spirits Manual."

"Among them, the Spirit Control Technique is the most comprehensive and has the lowest cultivation difficulty, but its effect is average. Even if you cultivate it to a high level, you can only tame two or three small demons in the Spirit Awakening stage."

"The Beast King Heart Sutra is slightly incomplete, but it retains the most core chapter on Beast Taming, as well as a special mental cultivation method. Practicing it can greatly enhance the effect of beast taming. However, the cultivation threshold is several levels higher than that of the Spirit Taming Great Art. The mental cultivation method inside is easy to learn but difficult to master, and it takes up a lot of time. You need to think it through carefully."

"Finally, there is the Myriad Spirits Manual, which was passed down from our Li family ancestors. It is extremely profound. An ancestor of our Li family used it to tame a monster in the Bone Fusion stage."

A monster in the Bone-Melting Stage?
Li Xiangming was taken aback.

It should be noted that monsters in the Bone Fusion stage are at least three to five hundred years old, and their intelligence is already mature. The difficulty of taming them is exponentially greater than that of lesser monsters in the Spirit Awakening stage.

Previously, Li Xiangming was shocked when the black-robed man on the Pu River controlled a snake demon in the Bone Fusion stage.

He also told his father, Li Qianhe, that to find out the identity of the man in black robes, all they needed to do was investigate the top beast-taming sects in the two prefectures.

Because it's not a top-tier beast-taming lineage, it's incredibly absurd to think that one could achieve this.

Unexpectedly, the Li family also possessed beast-taming techniques capable of achieving such a level.

Li Chengzhi, unaware of Li Xiangming's thoughts, saw his shocked expression and assumed he longed for it, so he snorted and said, "Don't think it's easy. In the past four hundred years, only one person in my Li family has mastered the Myriad Spirits Manual. This technique is too complicated and lacks many key descriptions. Cultivating it is like ascending to heaven. Even if you want to choose it, I will not agree."

Li Xiangming snapped out of his daze and hurriedly said, "Seventh Uncle, don't worry. I know my own limitations. The Myriad Spirits Scroll is not something I can get my hands on. I won't choose it, I won't choose it!"

Besides the Myriad Spirits Manual, all that's left are the Spirit Control Technique and the Beast King's Heart Sutra.

After thinking for a moment, Li Xiangming pointed to one of the phantom figures and said, "Seventh Uncle, I'll choose this one."

"Spirit Control Technique?"

Li Chengzhi was quite surprised. Young people like to choose the best, and even though he tried to dissuade them, many still tried to cultivate the Myriad Spirits Manual. Since this thing was included in the Scripture Pavilion, it was meant to be seen by people. His words just now were just to scare them. If they insisted, he couldn't say that they couldn't learn it.

Most people, intimidated, will settle for second best and choose the Beast King Heart Sutra, which is also recommended by Li Chengzhi. On the contrary, only those who lack confidence choose the Spirit Control Technique.

"This is it, thank you for your help, Uncle Qi."

Li Xiangming finally realized that he had his own ideas. Beast taming was ultimately an unorthodox path, a means to assist in the smooth progress of cultivation. He couldn't spend too much time on it.

The methods in the Beast King Heart Sutra need to be used in conjunction with the Heart Sutra, which is enough to deter him. As for the Myriad Spirits Manual, even with notes left by predecessors, it still cannot cover up the fact that it is incomplete. He does not have that much energy to study a bunch of seemingly plausible texts.

Only the Spirit Control Technique has a complete lineage, has been studied by many clansmen, leaving behind a wealth of experience, and most importantly, it is easy to learn, meaning he can quickly get started.

Regarding the art of beast taming, Li Xiangming had a clear understanding of his own position: he only needed to learn the basics, and his focus should still be on the Hunyuan Ruyi Jin and water-based spells.

"Here's 500 merit points."

Li Chengzhi fiddled with the jade pendant in Li Xiangming's identity for a while, and then handed over the jade slip.

"Remember, bring it back in three days. You are not allowed to keep a copy or leak it. The consequences are clearly written in the clan rules, you know that."

"clear."

After leaving the Sutra Repository, Li Xiangming returned to his own courtyard and first went to check if there were any problems with the seal on the pig demon.

He had nowhere to put the two pigs, so he had to leave them at home for the time being.

To prevent the two pigs from running outside and causing trouble for the clansmen, he specifically asked Li Chenglu for a few demon-trapping talismans—Li Chenglu was in charge of the family's talisman room and often gave some low-value talismans to the younger generation of the fourth branch of the family.

As a low-level sealing talisman, the Demon-Trapping Talisman is inexpensive to produce; ten can be bought for one spirit stone in the market.

However, this does not mean that the Demon-Trapping Talisman is useless. On the contrary, its principle is the prototype of the talisman array - by linking several Demon-Trapping Talismans together to form a seal, the trapped person cannot escape as long as they cannot break through the magical barrier generated by the talisman.

In the early stages of the Pig Demon's awakening, bound by four Demon-Binding Talismans, it was utterly helpless, unable to get help from heaven or earth.

However, the Demon-Trapping Talisman also has a major drawback. It is not an instant-cast talisman; it takes several incense sticks' worth of time to take effect after being set up. It is far inferior to Ma Houchen's Golden Thread Soul-Locking Array and lacks practical combat value.

Moreover, the demon-trapping talisman has a limited lifespan. Once the trapped demon struggles, it will continuously consume the magic power within the talisman, which needs to be replenished in time. This is also a great burden for cultivators.

It's only suitable for short-term emergency use. Li Xiangming squatted down in front of the pig demon, watching it bar its teeth and snarl. He ignored its bad breath and checked its body, finding it to be fairly healthy, so he left it alone.

In a few days, he plans to find a deserted mountaintop outside Tailai Peak to build a pigsty.

Keeping it at home is really inappropriate.

Then Li Xiangming began to study the Spirit Taming Technique, which recorded the origins, habits, and taming methods of many demonic beasts.

The best taming method is to start raising them from infancy, using affection and mutual benefit rather than coercion.

But reality often doesn't provide such conditions. For example, the pig demon under Li Xiangming's command has become a prisoner and almost hates him to death. How can they develop feelings for each other?

In response to this situation, the Spirit Control Technique also provides a solution, namely the Spirit Control Incantation.

The Spirit Control Spell is a special spell in which the practitioner imprints a small portion of their divine consciousness onto the soul of a demon using a spell seal, thus controlling the life and death of the imprinted being in an instant.

Seeking good fortune and avoiding misfortune is both human nature and animalistic instinct. Once branded with a spirit-controlling spell, fear can become the driving force for obeying commands.

However, fear can control a puppet, but it is not enough to make it an aid. To completely tame it, a great deal of training is required.

There's no need to worry about that. The jade slip that Li Chengzhi gave us contains not only the Spirit Taming Technique itself, but also notes of insights left by predecessors, recording many successful cases of taming spirits.

Just copy what they do.

The key is the Spirit Control Spell, which involves the soul. If you're not careful, the person who received the spell will die instantly.

Among these many notes of insights, most people went through fifty or sixty failures before learning the Spirit Control Spell, with the fastest failing twenty-three times.

Every failure meant the death of a monster.

Fortunately, I was on duty in the Yin District, so I could benefit from my position while learning.
-
Three months later.

An unnamed hilltop within the Dangui Mountain area.

Li Xiangcheng stood there with a stern face, holding a sow the size of an adult.

Across from him, Li Xiangming observed the sow's abdomen with great interest.

"Are you done yet, Nineteenth Brother?"

Li Xiangcheng's tone was full of disdain.

"Well, just as I expected, this one is the most favored and got pregnant first."

"Nineteenth Brother, what are you doing fiddling with these things?"

Li Xiangcheng was very puzzled.

"You'll find out later. Help me take it to the separate pigpen, and remember to clean the pen."

Li Xiangcheng let out an "Ah!" and his face instantly fell.

"Do you want to learn Yin Force well?"

"think."

"Why don't you go quickly then?"

"Hey!"

Watching Li Xiangcheng's retreating figure, Li Xiangming couldn't help but laugh out loud. The little guy had been brought here as a laborer for more than half a month.

Speaking of which, Li Xiangming has made considerable progress in his practice of the Spirit Control Technique these past few days, and has successfully branded the pig demon with the Spirit Control Spell.

But this guy was a stubborn fool, not afraid of death. As soon as the demon-trapping talisman was removed, he tried to escape. After being taught a lesson a few times and experiencing the pain of the soul, he became more obedient, but also became lazy and ignored Li Xiangming's orders, spending his days eating and sleeping.

Li Xiangming didn't want to really kill it, so he reluctantly accepted it, since he only considered the pig demon a breeding pig anyway.

After that, he ran all over the mountains, capturing any sows he encountered, whether they were wild animals or monsters, and sending them to the pig demon, which caused quite a stir.

Fortunately, the pig demon lived up to expectations and got one of the pigs pregnant, directly confirming Li Xiangming's conjecture.

This thing is indeed a mutant species capable of mass reproduction.

(End of this chapter)