Given Li Jixun's personality, he had naturally treated the Mingyi Dog as nothing more than a tool. For the first two years of its life, it had eaten only scraps.
Yang Jing only needed three days of good food and drink, plus a few Blood Circulation Pills, to raise the Mingyi Dog's Affinity to 60. Without hesitation, he immediately formed a contract with it.
A mysterious, unseen aura linked the two of them together.
The Mingyi Dog raised its round little head. It keenly sensed the change and, wagging its head and tail, ran to Yang Jing's feet. It affectionately stuck out its tiny tongue and licked his shoes.
Two new buttons appeared on the otherwise simple game-like panel.
[Expend Spirit Stones or Cultivation to enhance a selected Talent, Cultivation Technique, or Skill of your Guardian Beast]
[Expend one layer of your Guardian Beast's Cultivation to gain one of its Talents, Cultivation Techniques, or Skills]
Yang Jing held the Mingyi Dog and rubbed its head.
"From now on, I'll call you Iron Head. And from this day forward, I will be your master."
Iron Head let out a happy whimper, squirming excitedly in Yang Jing's arms.
Yang Jing stroked Iron Head's fluffy head and took out his hand-copied version of the Jade Water Skill.
The Five Talisman Scripture was too slow to cultivate, making it unsuitable for using the sharing Skill. This was a Cultivation Technique Yang Jing had prepared long ago. The Jade Water Skill sounded impressive, but it was actually a dime-a-dozen technique. It had numerous flaws: the Magical Power it generated was weak, its effectiveness in Magical Combat was poor, breaking through Realms was difficult, and it offered almost no chance of reaching Foundation Establishment. Its greatest advantage was its extremely rapid progress in the Early Stage Qi Cultivation.
Furthermore, among Elixirs for the Qi Cultivation Stage, Water Element ones were the gentlest. At worst, cultivating with these pills would only result in impure Magical Power, and not much Elixir Poison would accumulate in the body. Moreover, beside the Spiritual Spring, Water Element Spiritual Qi was abundant. For someone cultivating a Water Element Technique, this was practically no different from having a Tier One Upper Grade Spirit Vein, which would be a huge boon for the Jade Water Skill.
[Expend Spirit Stones to have Mingyi Dog (Iron Head) learn the Cultivation Technique: Jade Water Skill?]
As a Celestial Demon Bloodline, the Mingyi Dog possessed a meridian system similar to that of a Cultivator, allowing it to practice most Cultivation Techniques.
This was also why Yang Jing had schemed relentlessly to obtain the Mingyi Dog, instead of first choosing a Demon to form a contract with and raise. A Demon that cultivated Magical Power became a Spirit Beast, and it wouldn't be hunted down and killed by the Law Enforcement Team on sight. It was just that Cultivation Techniques that Demons could practice were not available on the open market.
If Cultivation Techniques for Demons became widespread, it would make it easy for Demons from beyond the Six Passes Defense Line to infiltrate their ranks.
'Confirm!'
Yang Jing felt as if Iron Head had turned into a black hole. The Spirit Stones hidden in his Storage Bag began to be consumed at a rapid rate.
A moment later, "Jade Water Skill" appeared under Iron Head's Cultivation Techniques.
["Jade Water Skill" Initiate (50%)]
Iron Head felt a vast amount of knowledge flooding its mind. It felt dizzy and overwhelmed, and it took a long time to digest it all and recover.
Five Spirit Stones for 50% progress. Without hesitation, Yang Jing spent another five Spirit Stones.
["Jade Water Skill" Proficient (0%)]
Yang Jing tried spending one more. This time, the effect was halved, with the progress only jumping by 5%. He let out a breath. 'Thankfully, the Spirit Stone cost for the second level didn't double. I can still barely afford it.'
"I have already performed an Empowerment for you. This Jade Water Skill is perfect for your cultivation. You should properly sort through the knowledge I've imparted to you."
Iron Head stared in confusion with its beady eyes. The waves of knowledge surging through its mind left it bewildered. It was only after hearing Yang Jing's words that it reacted, closing its eyes to sort through the information in its head.
[Affinity]: 65
"It's a pity you've lived in the Demon Country for so long. The Evil Qi is deeply rooted in your body, your Spirit Root is tangled with Demon Power, practicing a Qi Cultivation Technique is twice the effort for half the result, and the Magical Power you cultivate will be hopelessly impure. You'll have no future to speak of."
Yang Jing said, feigning profound wisdom.
After witnessing the Empowerment, Iron Head already had complete faith in Yang Jing. It paced anxiously on the ground, spinning in circles. If it weren't for the fact that it hadn't yet Refined its Horizontal Bone, it would have probably cried out, "Master, save me!"
"The Jade Water Skill was prepared precisely for this. This technique allows for extremely fast progress, and Water Element techniques are best at nourishing the body and neutralizing Elixir Poison. First, you will cultivate the Jade Water Skill and merge the Muddy Qi, Evil Qi, and Demon Power in your body with the Magical Power from the technique. Then, I, your master, will extract that Jade Water Skill Magical Power for you. Your problems will then be naturally resolved. After that, I will teach you the Five Talisman Scripture. It is a profound and vast technique with deep meaning, far superior to the Jade Water Skill."
Iron Head's eyes immediately grew moist. It never imagined its master would have planned so far ahead for its sake.
[Affinity]: 72
The corners of Yang Jing's mouth curled up, but he quickly suppressed the smile.
"Iron Head, time is precious. Start your cultivation today."
Iron Head obediently lay down beside Yang Jing and began to absorb Spiritual Qi. In just a moment, wisps of Water Qi, like an ethereal mist, shrouded its body in a light veil, even dampening its fur.
After an unknown amount of time, Iron Head slowly opened its eyes. Feeling the shallow Spiritual Power within its body, it was so happy its little tail wagged like a propeller. It hopped and jumped in circles around Yang Jing.
Yang Jing took out a Medicine Bottle, undid the Restriction, and poured out a translucent pill. Inside the pill, a cloudy vapor seemed to rise and fall; it looked more like a Treasure Pearl than a pill. This was a Middle Grade Water Cloud Pill bought from the Celestial Treasure Tower. It was known among Water Element Elixirs for being harmless to the body, but it was slightly more expensive than ordinary Water Element Elixirs.
"Eat this pill and focus on Refining it."
[Affinity]: 78
Iron Head's small eyes grew moist again. No one had ever been this good to it. After swallowing the pill, a surging Spiritual Mechanism flowed through its meridians and was converted into Magical Power.
'Compared to the Five Talisman Scripture, *this* is what cultivation is all about.'
Yang Jing sighed with emotion inwardly. When he cultivated the Five Talisman Scripture, he was constantly on edge, as if walking on thin ice. The progress of his Magical Power was as slow as a snail. When had he ever experienced such a rapid increase in Magical Power like Iron Head?
Iron Head's aptitude was already much better than his. At this rate, it would only need less than half a month to advance to the Second Layer Qi Cultivation. This speed was incomparable to that of the Five Talisman Scripture. Advancing to the Qi Cultivation Third Layer wouldn't take long either, though he estimated that due to its impure Magical Power, it would get stuck at the Qi Cultivation Third Layer for a long time.
But he didn't care at all whether Iron Head could reach the Fourth Layer Qi Cultivation with the Jade Water Skill.
Since progress with the Five Talisman Scripture was slow, he simply focused on practicing the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Swordsmanship, using the Sword Mantra to strengthen his body. Because he wasn't stingy with nourishing his body with Magical Power and supplemented it with Blood Circulation Pills, Yang Jing had grown another bit taller over the past month. He was full of vigor and spirit, and his arms could already exert eight or nine hundred jin of force.
It was only because he met all the right conditions that he was able to achieve such an astonishing Body Forging effect.
The effects of this supplementary practice alone were already no worse than an ordinary Body Forging Technique. It was just that, unlike those techniques, his physical body didn't also possess considerable Defense Power.
But Iron Head's progress was even more astounding. With the help of an ample supply of Water Cloud Pills, it had already advanced to the Qi Cultivation Third Layer and was close to touching the bottleneck of that level.
However, due to this cultivation that disregarded all costs, Yang Jing's supply of Water Cloud Pills and Blood Circulation Pills was completely exhausted.
Yang Jing could see the progress of the Jade Water Skill in its Cultivation Technique column.
[Cultivation Technique]: "Jade Water Skill" Proficient (12%).
With the panel's boost, as long as it cultivated the "Jade Water Skill", it would progress step-by-step. Its progress had also increased by 7%, saving Yang Jing a Spirit Stone.
With good food and drink, its fur had become glossy and smooth, and its eyes glittered with intelligence. The only thing was, its size hadn't changed much. As a Celestial Demon Bloodline, a Mingyi Dog's juvenile period was much longer than that of an ordinary Demon.