Taming beasts required winning their trust enough to make a contract with them. Methods varied from winning loyalty through gifts to brute force, since spirit beasts possessed intelligence and also had their own tradition and values.
However, what many didn't know is that, aside from Beast Tamers, there were also two other professions related to Spirit Beasts. The first one was Beast Summoner, that relied on Mystic Arts to create and project powerful Spirit Beasts, and sometimes even demons.
Those were only copies of the original monsters, but capable of carrying their might, fueled by the Spirit Energy or Rare Energies of the cultivator. They wouldn't be able to last forever, usually having a short time limit before disappearing.
The third, most mystical and rarest, was the Spiritual Beast Oracle. On the lower realms, only a handful of people knew of them, and those probably all came from the Upper Realms. Anybody else would mistake the Oracle for a Beast Summoner.
Oracles were in truth a mix between Tamers and Summoners. They were able to communicate directly not only with Spirit Beasts, regardless of their natural language, but also with Spirit Beasts Souls, tearing apart the bridge between heaven and earth.
Aside from behaving like a Beast Tamer and being capable of summoning beasts like a true summoner, the Oracle was able to activate special treasures called [Jade Spirit Beast Tokens].
When the bond between a Spirit Beast and another being reached the apex an superior connection was formed. It was a true bond of friends.h.i.+p and love, capable of transcending time and defying the heavens. When such a Spirit Beast dies, its soul is bound to the cultivator, even though he is unable to sense it in normal cases.
A Spiritual Beast Oracle is capable of taking that soul and transferring it to the Jade Spirit Beast Token. The token then becomes a Jade Guardian, a spirit capable of protecting its owner from harm.
However, Ming Ren knew that wasn't the true capability of the Oracle. When he reached greater heights, he was capable of summoning out the soul of the spirit beast in its true form and body. It wasn't merely the soul or a temporary invocation, but the true spirit beast itself revived!
Spiritual Beasts Oracles were already extremely rare. There wasn't a special bloodline or talent to it. It was truly a power gifted by the heavens, known as the [Beast G.o.d's Blessing] in the Upper Realms. Not only that, the Jade Token itself needed an extremely skilled refiner to be created. It wasn't a simple process, and the stronger the beast, the stronger the container had to be.
At the Lower Realms, it was a power with way too many unreachable requirements. But at the Upper Realms, it was a power that could dominate an era. If the body of the Spirit Beast residing in the token was destroyed, along as the token itself was fine, it could be remolded. If the token was destroyed, as long as the soul of the beast itself remained, it could be bound again.
How could Ming Ren not be surprised when this girl pulled out a Jade Spirit Beast Token and summoned its [True Spirit And Body]? Not its soul, but the true Spirit Beast. This was beyond the Beast G.o.d's Blessing!
But this group merely thought of it as a common summoning treasure with merely a spirit beast pet. It was only valuable to those low-ranked clans, so they weren't afraid of showing it to outsiders. Also, only that girl could activate it. If anyone else tried, it would be merely a common jade. If they knew its real value, would they even carry it around?
"Little Red," the green-haired girl shouted, and the White Rabbit raised its ears and opened its eyes wide. At the same time, its Divine Sense spread around.
Ming Ren wanted to faint. This wasn't a mere spirit beast… it was a Divine Beast! What it spread wasn't Spirit Sense, but Divine Sense. An inborn Divine Beast that died at the Spirit Realm, or somehow lost power until it stayed in that lower realm.
Divine Beasts surpa.s.sed the Heavenly Palace realm, beings that were extremely rare even in the Upper Realms. How in the heavens did he find one here?!
The Elder watched Ming Ren with curiosity. This young man was very stable before, extremely composed. Why is he looking like he is going to faint right now? Is he that hungry?
Little Red finished scanning the surroundings then shook its head and went back into the Jade Spirit Beast Token. The token that had crumbled before reconstructed itself.
"There, are you happy, Little Fu? Little Red is never wrong!" The green-haired girl said with a smile.
"Don't call me Little Fu! Fine, he can stay a bit. Lin Shu, you give him some spices, bowl, and a cooking pot." Little Fu then pointed at Ming Ren, "But we won't eat with you! Who knows what you might do to the food! And you eat over there!"
Everyone looked at the Elder, who sighed and nodded. This Little Fu, must he always be this rude?
The other girl, much smaller in stature, took out some things from the bag such as spices, a bowl, and a cooking pot, then pa.s.sed them on to Ming Ren with a smile.
"Thank you," Ming Ren smiled and bowed, and the girl slightly blushed. He was quite handsome after all.
Since they didn't object to Little Fu, Ming Ren also didn't insist. He took the Scaled Green Beast and moved further. Even if he wanted to inquire about the girl and the Spirit Beast Jade Token, it would only give birth to suspicion.
Before, inside the Bright Scripture, Ming Ren didn't really need to eat, so he skipped it completely. However, cooking was also one of the things he studied. He once fed thousands of troops that were going to battle. At a Royal Banquet of some obscure nation, he was the royal cook. He read thousands of books on the subject, and fed thousands of people!
'Do I Really need to finish this all by myself?' Once he prepared the dishes, it would be a waste to put them back into his s.p.a.ce Ring. Cultivators ate a lot more than common people, and although the s.p.a.ce Ring was an amazing treasure, at this level it still had flaws. It wouldn't preserve the taste and purity of things forever.
Ming Ren went into the woods, took out his unranked peak sword, and made a huge fire, a medium fire, a support for the meat, and a very large pointed stake. It was dangerous to make such a big fire, but he had his Spirit Sense up, why would he be afraid?
The Elder wanted to remind him about it at first but didn't. The boy was extremely confident to walk around The Wandering Wood by himself, so he probably had a few tricks up his sleeve. In any case, Little Red already scanned the surroundings.
Little Fu looked at Ming Ren and laughed, "What an idiot. Does he want to attract every Spirit Beast in the area? Even if we light a fire, it's a small one! How is he even planning to cut through the Scaled Green Beast exterior anyway, to get to the meat? Look, it doesn't even have any signs of exterior wounds. It probably died naturally."
There was no point in thinking about it too deeply, so Ming Ren raised the sword in his hand. The moment he got serious the air around him seemed different, sharper.
Little Fu burst in laughter, "ha ha hahaha... that's so funny, using a sword to cut a Green Scaled Beast? Does he think that sword is a treasure or something? It looks pretty normal to me!"
The Elder sighed and kept looking at Ming Ren. Wait until I report your behavior to the Patriarch, Little Fu, let's just see who will keep laughing then…
Ming Ren would rather use a butcher's knife, but where would he find one sharp enough? He could only do things this way.
With a kick, Ming Ren tossed the beast upward in the air.
Elder, Litte Fu, others: '?????"
Without stopping, he weaved the sword up and down at maximum speed, slas.h.i.+ng as he moved around. It looked like a beautiful dance, and both Lin Shu and the green haired girl couldn't help but become mesmerized.
Ming Ren Style Sword Arts - Dance Of The Clear Sword!
Each slash looked random but he aimed at the weak spots of the beast, avoiding the scales and cutting only skin and flesh. Soon the scales fell to on side and the rest of the body to the other. Before the rest of the body could land on the ground, Ming Ren once again kicked it upward. This time, without the scales, he cut it open easily, raising the very large stake and letting it fall on it.
Elder, Little Fu, others: '?????'
Finally, he put it on the support and finished cleaning the insides, saving the good parts. Not a single drop of blood fell on him, but somehow some of it landed on purpose inside a circularly shaped scale. Ming Ren took the cooking pot, tossed some spices in and also some of the herbs he picked up earlier. When he was done, he tempered the meat and put it over the large fire using the support.
Roasted Green Scaled Beast meat-on-stick!
In the cooking pot, he used some of the creature's blood along the good parts of his inner organs together with the rest of the spices and put it on the other fire.
Green Scaled Beast b.l.o.o.d.y Stew!
Little Fu and the others were flabbergasted. Was this young man in front of them a Master Cook?
A Spirit Beast was extremely nouris.h.i.+ng to a cultivator since it also absorbed the Qi of Heaven and Earth and cleansed its impurities besides strengthening its body.
But most cooks would only use the meat and waste the rest of the resources. Ming Ren not only used the meat but everything else that benefitted the cultivator, including its blood and inner organs.
"S-Show off! It probably doesn't even taste go-" Before Little Fu could even finish a heavy irresistible aroma filled the air. It was sort of familiar, but sort of unknown, and his mouth instantly filled with water. The stew!
He was still going to suppress his urges and talk badly about it when another aroma came with the killing blow. The Roasted lizard meat!
Lin Shu couldn't help but ask, "Elder, should we eat together…?"
She really wanted to but didn't dare be too forceful about it.
The elder was also tempted, "Little Fu, how ab… Little Fu?"
When he looked to the side, Little Fu was already gone!
The green haired lady giggled and pointed to the front.
Little Fu was already over at Ming Ren's Place carrying his bowl!
"Hehe, good brother, why are you going to eat over there alone, we must eat together!"
Elder, Ming Ren, and the rest: 'SHAMELESS!!!!'