Do you know what mythical life is?

"hiss!"

Lu Pingan sat up in bed, shivering from the cold.

He tightened his clothes and looked around.

The mud walls were mottled, and beneath him was a rough wooden plank bed that hurt his bones.

"Have I traveled through time?"

A surge of emotions welled up in Lu Ping'an's heart.

This world is a world of martial artists.

In this life, he is the eldest grandson of the Lu family head of Tianhai County.

The Lu family is a prominent family in Tianhai County.

There are many martial artists in the family.

However, twelve years ago, when he went to visit his maternal grandfather with his mother, he ran into his grandfather's enemy, who injected a stream of Xuanbing Cold Poison into his internal organs, severing his path of cultivation.

The cold poison corroded his bones, and he would cough and wheeze uncontrollably whenever he was slightly overworked, requiring rare medicinal herbs to barely keep him warm every day.

His maternal grandfather was a skilled doctor, so he stayed at his grandfather's house to recuperate.

A month ago, something unexpected happened at his maternal grandfather's house. Fearing that it would affect him, they hurriedly sent someone to escort him back to Tianhai County.

However, before they even reached Tianhai County, the ship he was on was ambushed by an unknown force.

In the chaos, he was pushed off the boat, grabbed onto a piece of driftwood, and floated up and down in the icy river water, gradually losing consciousness.

When he woke up again, he was rescued by an old man in the village and taken to his home.

During these days, he also completely remembered his past life memories, no longer as in the past, where only fragmented memories would occasionally surface in his dreams.

"We need to address the health issue as soon as possible!"

Lu Pingan shivered from the cold again.

It was summer, not winter.

Even though it was already evening, it wasn't cold at all.

However, he had a cold poison lingering in his body, and he had lost all the pills he had taken with him when he left his maternal grandfather's house. As a result, his health had been deteriorating and his complexion had been getting paler over the past few days.

"The Nine Imperial Scriptures!"

With a thought, a vast ancient book unfolded in Lu Ping'an's mind.

The pages are translucent and luminous, as if countless tiny points of light are flowing around them. Upon closer inspection, they are actually the illusory images of curled-up mythical beasts, with the edges shimmering with a silvery-blue halo like a galaxy.

The cover has no elaborate patterns, only the four characters "九御道书" (Nine Imperial Scriptures) are engraved on it.

Lu Ping'an opened the Taoist book and examined it closely. He saw several lines of writing clearly appear on the first page of the book, the ink as black as lacquer, and he could understand them at a glance.

【Nine Imperial Scriptures】

Master of the Taoist Books: Lu Ping'an

Ability 1: Innate Beast Taming

You can choose a life form and contract it to become your destined beast. After the contract is made, you can switch perspectives to perfectly control your destined beast, and the beast's potential will also increase greatly.

Based on one's own capacity, the current number of beasts that can be contracted is one.

Ability 2: All Things Feed Back

You can acquire some of the talents of your destined beast, and at the same time receive feedback from your destined beast.

Ability 3: Creation of Heaven and Earth

Within a certain range, rare and precious materials suitable for one's natal beast will appear. The natal beast can sense these rare and precious materials and use them to quickly improve its own strength.

My natal beast: None available.

"My destiny is to control the beast..."

Lu Pingan's eyes flickered slightly.

With a change of heart, the Taoist texts in my mind vanished on their own.

The Nine Imperial Scriptures came with him from birth.

It only became apparent when he fully awakened his memories of his past life.

Lu Pingan took a deep breath.

This world is a vast world of cultivation, and the appearance of the Nine Imperial Dao Scriptures may be the foundation for his survival.

He suppressed his inner turmoil, got up, and left the room.

"Stone?"

Lu Pingan called out.

No one answered.

The people who saved him were an old man and two children.

The old man's name is Su Yongfu.

The two children were named Su He and Su Shi.

Su Yongfu and Su He both went up the mountain to work.

Because Su Shi was only six or seven years old, he spent most of his time playing in the village.

"First, I need to find a way to contract a natal beast and see if the Nine Imperial Dao Scripture's Myriad Manifestations Feedback can solve my physical problems."

Lu Pingan pondered to himself.

His health is too poor. Without the protection of spiritual medicine, he will be killed by the cold poison in just a few days.

As for returning to the Lu family...

The Lu family is located in Tianhai County.

He had inquired and learned that he was in Xiaoshi Village, under the jurisdiction of Yunxi County.

To get from Yunxi County to Tianhai County, you need to pass through another county, Baishan County.

Given his current physical condition, it's definitely not feasible.

Moreover, he didn't know what the situation was like in the Lu family, or whether something had happened to them as well.

"In that grove of trees west of the village?"

After Lu Pingan left the room, he could faintly hear the sounds of children playing in the grove of trees in the distance, so he walked over.

As he walked, he looked around Little Stone Village, while thinking about what kind of natal beast he should contract.

This world is inhabited by strange beasts.

But given his current circumstances, it's probably impossible for him to find a mythical beast to form a contract with.

It's estimated that the only way to find them is by looking for cats and dogs in the village.

"Haha, this is fun! Su Shi, come here, it's my turn to ride a horse."

"hurry up!"

"Giddy up! Giddy up!"

As the footsteps drew closer, the noise from the grove became clearer.

Lu Pingan looked up and saw five or six children playing a horse-riding game, but only one small, thin figure was lying on the ground acting as a horse.

It was Su Shi.

Su Shi, with his messy short hair and patched cloth jacket covered in dust, lay silently on the ground while other children rode on his backs, laughing and playing.

"Hurry up and climb! You're dawdling like a tortoise!"

The boy riding on his back shouted at him and patted Su Shi on the back of the head.

The other children burst into laughter, while Su Shi lowered his head even further, his fingers gripping the grass on the ground so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

Lu Ping'an's face instantly darkened.

He stayed at the Su family's house for two days. Although Su Shi was taciturn, he would always bring him warm water and pick wild fruits for him to eat.

Seeing him being bullied like this, a surge of anger welled up in his heart.

"Hurry up, it's my turn to ride!"

Just then, a chubby little boy shouted loudly.

Lu Ping'an's gaze fell on him, and he moved slightly.

The chubby boy was dressed in a short brocade outfit, the fabric of which was delicate and different from the coarse cloth clothes of the other children. He was obviously the child of a wealthy family in the village.

What bothered him even more was that the little boy was sitting on a tortoise that was nearly a meter in diameter.

The tortoise was grayish-black all over, with irregular protrusions and deep patterns on its shell. It had thick limbs and allowed the turtle to sit on its back, being incredibly docile.

"Mountain-walking tortoise?"

Lu Ping'an's heart stirred slightly.

In the past few days, he had inquired about the situation in Xiaoshi Village. Su Shi had told him that the landlord Li Fu in Xiaoshi Village had a tortoise-like creature in his home, which he bought specifically for his youngest son, Li Hao, to play with.

The tortoise beneath the chubby boy in the distance is a low-level exotic beast, the Mountain Tortoise.

If he were with his maternal grandfather or the Lu family, he would never choose such a low-level exotic beast as his natal beast.

But times have changed.

Given his current situation, he wouldn't dare approach even the village's stray dogs, let alone higher-level beasts.

This turtle seems like a good choice.

Lu Ping'an's gaze fell on the large tortoise that was moving slowly, and a glint of light flashed in his eyes.

Instead of rushing forward, he had a sudden thought, turned around, and quietly circled into the depths of the grove.

The foliage here is dense and the light is dim. The evening breeze whistles through the gaps in the leaves.

Lu Pingan took a deep breath, gathering the remaining strength in his body at the back of his throat.

"Woo-woo-woo-woo"

Immediately afterwards, a shrill, eerie scream suddenly rang out, like the wailing of a lost ghost or the low growl of a ferocious beast, mixed with the sound of the wind, and exploded out of the quiet grove.

The voice was shrill and hoarse, sending chills down one's spine and making one's hair stand on end.

The children who were playing froze instantly, their smiles vanishing.

Xiaoshi Village is located in a remote area, and wild animals often appear in the mountains behind it. The old people in the village often tell the children stories of ferocious beasts eating people. Hearing such a strange cry, they were terrified.

"A ghost! A ghost is screaming!"

"There's a monster!"

Someone shouted first, and the children instantly panicked. They no longer cared about the horse riding game; they were all terrified, their faces pale, and they scrambled out of the room.

Li Hao went even further, screaming as he rolled off the turtle's back and scrambled out of the forest.

He ran quite a distance before remembering his tortoise, and called back, "Silly tortoise! ​​Hurry up and catch up!"

But the big tortoise was already slow-moving, and it was startled by the sudden strange cry, so it shrank its neck and crawled even slower.

It moved its limbs slowly, unable to keep up with Li Hao's pace at all.

In the blink of an eye, the once noisy grove was now empty except for the large turtle with its neck tucked in, and Lu Ping'an slowly emerging from the shadows of the trees.