By the vast lake, a dense mass of wild beasts stood today, subdued into silence by the presence of hundreds of magic beasts—no trace of clamor.
Thorne stirred waves in the lake, encircling the beasts with clusters of spiritual water, rapidly enhancing their physiques.
This spiritual nurturing lasted three days until all beasts reached their peak condition. Then Thorne acted.
"Use skill: Awakening."
Red beams shot into the beasts, triggering wondrous changes. A leopard grew larger, its black fur turning red, faint flames flickering from its breath.
A rhino's body gleamed with dark light, clashing against its kin with a steely ring.
Wild horses and deer also awakened their bloodlines.
Even Huang Tribe members who hadn't awakened before joined this time.
Seeing the critical moment, Thorne didn't hesitate to use his second skill.
"Use skill: Blessing."
Gentle white light bathed all creatures onshore. Instantly, some beasts completed their bloodline awakening, and some Huang Tribe members sprouted double wings.
The awakening lasted over five hours, concluding for all.
Despite Thorne's aid, of the five thousand-plus beasts, only about three thousand succeeded.
Soon, Tylen reported after tallying the results.
"Lord Lake God, five thousand beasts participated. Four thousand awakened successfully: 800 Flame Leopards, with 200 unexpectedly awakening Shadow Leopard bloodlines; 1,200 Ironclad Rhinos; 1,000 Red Flame Windchasers; and 800 Wood Spirit Deer."
Thorne was fairly satisfied. Fewer Flame Leopards than hoped, but Shadow Leopards were a bonus—perfect for surprise attacks.
"And the Huang Tribe's awakening?"
"Of 220 participants, 200 succeeded, but only 40 awakened royal bloodlines."
This surprised Thorne. He'd assumed all Huang Tribe members would awaken royal bloodlines, but most bore common elven ones.
"Lead the Huang Tribe to manage the magic beasts. Once they adjust, proceed to those sites for training as planned."
From the scouted locations, Thorne picked four near the lake as secret training bases. With proper methods and these beasts at Mortal Tier Level 1, the few Huang Tribe members should manage—especially since Thorne's awakened and blessed beasts were fiercely loyal, rebellion unthinkable.
For practical training, Thorne mandated each of the four teams bring back at least 1,000 magic beast corpses monthly, or lose that month's Blessing privilege.
This reward-punishment system spurred rigorous training. Though exhausting, monthly spiritual water baths and Blessings offset the fatigue.
Nurturing these beasts made Thorne rich—four million energy points in the system. He upgraded to Level 10, aiming for Spiritual Lake, but hit a snag.
Advancing to Spiritual Lake required more than points—he had to refine all the lake's water into pure spiritual water.
"What a scam! How long will this take?" Thorne lamented, eyeing his once-proud expanse with despair.
Yet he grasped the system's intent. Refining was a process to master his "body." Only then could he truly know himself and proceed to create tributaries.
Once idle beyond monster-hunting, Thorne now toiled daily. Despite constant refining, the water level barely dropped.
"This'll take months," he sighed mid-task.
He could wait—beast training needed time too. He maxed out all skills, and when refining tired him, he experimented with combos, boosting their power.
Two months passed, winter arriving. The desert saw no snow, but fierce, frigid winds blew.
The four beast armies completed Thorne's tasks, losing some numbers. Quality trumped quantity—1,000 honed beasts outfought 2,000 from the tide.
Their 8,000 beast corpses fed the Ghost Thorn Tree and Magic Dragon Gecko first, then the lake for Thorne to devour.
In two months, the tree hit Mortal Tier Level 10, matching Thorne, while the gecko reached Level 9.
From 4,000 beasts, over 3,000 remained. With unlimited spiritual energy and Blessings, the weakest were Level 2, the strongest Level 5.
Among the 200-plus Huang Tribe, Tylen was Level 7, others Level 4 or 5. The desert hindered their elemental cultivation—Thorne's spiritual energy aided beasts more than them.
But their beast-training expertise, backed by Thorne's authority, kept the beasts obedient.
"Starting today, all beasts unite for coordination, forming the Sinking Sand Army. Train a battle formation within a month—I'll check your results next month," Thorne declared after this month's Blessing.
The Sinking Sand Army's creation marked Thorne's first step toward his own faction.