You're just a single demon beast? I have a whole army of beast tamers!

Time slipped away quietly amidst the regular training, feeding, and Spirit Chicken Peak missions, and another half month passed.

Within the space, the states of the three spirit beasts were clearly different.

The water turtle remained the same as always, spending its days eating and lying around.

With no end in sight for Tier 1, its potential is truly capped at the mid-game.

But that Xuanbing Spirit Fox was completely different!

With an unlimited supply of ripe spirit eggs every day, coupled with the space's hundredfold acceleration, its growth rate is astonishingly fast.

The gray and white fur has long since faded, replaced by a white undercoat.

Only at the tips of the ears, the tip of the tail, and the joints of the limbs.

It has an icy blue sheen, giving it a mysterious and noble appearance.

Its size has also increased, and its eyes are lively.

Its aura is growing stronger every day, and it is already approaching the threshold of the mid-stage of the first tier!

Looking at myself, despite my daily arduous cultivation using over a dozen Five-Colored Brocade Eggs, my cultivation has steadily improved, but I always seem to be just one step away from the fifth level of Qi Refining.

Qin Shou knew that this was because a driving force was missing.

This driving force could have come from the advancement and feedback of one's natal beast.

"We can't wait any longer."

Qin Shou looked at the Tide-Water Turtle with its limited future, and then at the Xuanbing Spirit Fox with its unlimited potential, and made a decision in his heart.

A natal beast is the true core partner of a beast-taming cultivator, and is fundamentally different from an ordinary contracted spirit beast.

It can not only break through the bottlenecks and limitations of its master's own cultivation level,

Given enough resources, one can grow beyond the master's realm.

It can better connect with its owner's heart and soul, achieving perfect harmony.

At a high level, they can even briefly merge, unleashing power far exceeding that of their peers.

Ordinary contracted spirit beasts typically cannot exceed the cultivation level of their master.

Otherwise, they are very likely to turn on their masters due to their untamed nature and imbalance of power.

To simultaneously control multiple high-level spirit beasts,

Unless there is an absolutely powerful king beast that can exert pressure through bloodline or strength to rule over the others.

He used his cultivation technique, employing a specific method, to sever the master-servant contract between himself and the Tide-Water Turtle.

The process went smoothly; the tidal bore turtle simply raised its head in a daze.

Seemingly oblivious to what it had lost, it lowered its head and continued munching on its egg.

Years of companionship and that crucial moment of giving back,

Qin Shou felt a slight pang of emotion, but on the path of cultivation...

With limited resources, we must make the most advantageous choice.

Then, with a solemn expression, he activated the life-bound contract secret technique recorded in the "Azure Wave Beast Taming Technique".

He bit his fingertip, forcing out a drop of blood essence, which, mixed with his spiritual sense, slowly outlined an ice-blue rune and gently imprinted it on the forehead of the Xuanbing Spirit Fox.

The spirit fox seemed to sense something, raised its head, and met the Qin beast's gaze with its icy blue eyes.

Instead of resisting, it tilted its head back and allowed the rune to merge into its brow.

In an instant, a gentle thought flowed through the contractual connection.

With affection and curiosity.

The life-bound contract was easily completed!

The day after the life-bound contract was successfully concluded,

The Xuanbing Spirit Fox, on the verge of a breakthrough, suddenly experienced a surge in its aura.

He has advanced to the mid-stage of Tier 1!

Almost at the same moment, Qin Shou shuddered!

A stream of pure ice-attribute spiritual energy, connected by the life-bound contract, flowed back from the Xuanbing Spirit Fox and quickly merged into his dantian!

"boom!"

Qin Shou, who was already just one step away from success, had a certain constraint within his body gently broken with the help of this pure spiritual power!

His dantian and qi sea expanded slightly, the speed of spiritual energy circulation suddenly increased, and his aura rose accordingly!

Refining Qi to the fifth level, success comes naturally!

"It's done!"

Qin Shou opened his eyes, his gaze bright and clear. He felt his spiritual power and consciousness, which had clearly grown stronger, and a sense of joy welled up in his heart.

"Indeed, the supply of resources is sufficient to make up for the lack of qualifications!"

After seven years of arduous struggle to reach the fourth level of Qi Refining, with this unlimited supply of spirit eggs and the nourishment from his natal spirit beast, he actually broke through from the fourth level to the fifth level in less than two months!

Amidst the joy, a chill crept up my spine.

"His cultivation has progressed too quickly!"

He immediately became alert.

In the world of cultivation, rapid advancement in cultivation usually occurs in only two situations:

Either they obtained an extraordinary opportunity.

Either they harbor a secret that no one knows about.

He was Qin Shou, an outer disciple who raised chickens on Spirit Chicken Peak.

Without venturing out to explore or receiving generous gifts from elders, where would such an opportunity come from?

"We must plan ahead!"

Qin Shou's eyes sharpened. "You must quickly cultivate a sophisticated technique to conceal your true cultivation level, at least to appear normal to outsiders."

Moreover, we can't stay cooped up on Lingji Peak forever.

We need to find a plausible excuse to go out and gain experience, creating the illusion of obtaining an opportunity.

Only then can we explain the rapid increase in cultivation level.

He quickly devised a plan: a two-step approach.

After Gray Feather Roc broke through to the mid-stage of the first rank and gained some self-protection ability, he went to the market alone to buy the Breath Concealment Technique.

As for exchanging it using sect contribution points?

He didn't even think about it.

The exchange records in the sect's scripture pavilion are transparent.

A chicken-raising disciple suddenly exchanging for a concealment technique is too conspicuous.

It's tantamount to telling others, "I have a guilty conscience."

In the days that followed, Qin Shou deliberately suppressed his cultivation progress.

He continued to consume the spirit eggs and practice his cultivation techniques daily.

However, most of the newly added spiritual energy was used to repeatedly temper the meridians and strengthen the dantian.

He kept his cultivation firmly suppressed at the initial stage of just breaking through to the fifth level of Qi Refining, remaining completely unassuming.

Two weeks later, with the same ample resources for feeding,

The gray-feathered roc let out a long cry.

Its grayish feathers seemed to shimmer with a golden halo.

Successfully advanced to the mid-stage of Tier 1!

However, as an ordinary contracted spirit beast, its breakthrough did not bring any benefits to the Qin beast.

"With two mid-stage Tier 1 spirit beasts at my disposal, combined with my Qi Refining Level 5 cultivation, I finally have some ability to protect myself."

Qin Shou assessed his own strength.

But thinking back to the last time I accompanied Luo Dashan to and from the market...

Several faint, gloomy auras could be sensed in the mountains and forests along the way.

He shook his head at the occasional fluctuations of spiritual energy emanating from afar.

"It's not safe enough."

There is a high possibility that some of the robbers are at the late stage of Qi Refining.

"It will be safer to go out only after the Mystic Ice Spirit Fox breaks through to the late stage of the first tier, and even after I myself break through to the sixth level of Qi Refining, and then combine it with the Concealing Breath Technique."

Just as he was planning his next famous move, a small incident occurred within the space.

One of the earliest hen-raised chickens, which had stopped laying eggs some time ago, lay quietly in the corner, its breath gradually weakening until it finally disappeared completely.

He died peacefully in his sleep.

Qin Shou witnessed the entire process.

The carcass of the strong rooster touched the black soil,

Like the chickens he had killed before, it quickly dissolved and turned into nothingness.

But this time, he clearly saw two strands of light blue spiritual energy rising up and disappearing into the blue sphere.

The sphere's light also brightened slightly, with an increase that was even more noticeable than the combined effect of killing the four chickens previously.

"Huh? Natural death actually yields more spiritual energy?"

Qin Shou seemed to be deep in thought, "It seems that the amount of spiritual power..."

It is not only related to the monster's rank and attributes,

It also seems to be related to the natural abundance of spiritual energy within its body, or the completeness of its life essence?

Forcibly killing the enemy might cause some of their essence to be lost?

And dying peacefully in one's sleep means the complete end of life's journey, with all essence returning to the cosmos?

A realization dawned on his eyes: "It seems that, unless absolutely necessary, we should try to let these monsters raised here die naturally, as that would be more profitable."

Well, unless there's an urgent need for them to sacrifice their bodies.

This discovery deepened his understanding of space.