Humanity's oldest and most intense emotion is fear, and the oldest and most intense fear is of the unknown.
Deep sea...
In the deathly silent abyss, something slowly sinks!
No strength left...
All he could do was endure the near-suffocating pain, staring up at the shimmering water surface above—where the sunlight refracted and split, distorting into nine overlapping suns stacked together.
Pale radiance poured down, illuminating the writhing shadows in the depths of the abyss, as if the dark mother goddess had opened her arms in embrace...
"No!"
The anguished roar startled a pair of birds on the peach blossom tree just about to get intimate; they cursed under their breath and flew off.
Lu Yu, wearing sunglasses and napping against the tree trunk, jolted awake as if surfacing from drowning. He gasped desperately, gulping air to ease the suffocating palpitation gripping his heart.
Looking around—tall peach trees stretched out, branches laden with blooming blossoms like patches of rouge clouds drifting in pink haze, painting a picturesque spring landscape as if an artist had brushed an entire river of mountains in bloom.
Good, he was still in the pet beast nurturing base in Dayuan City!
He collected himself and noticed a girl in a white dress standing in front of him, clutching an envelope decorated with heart patterns. She had a pure, delicate appearance, a soft and supple figure, clearly well-endowed, and eyes like a frightened rabbit—timid and shrinking.
Lu Yu realized he'd scared her. He quickly adjusted his expression, forced a smile, and said:
"Classmate, is there something you need from me?"
The stunned girl stammered:
"Um… I wanted to give you… this letter…"
Recalling his earlier shout of "No!", she panicked, unsure whether to hand over the confession letter.
From her slightly higher vantage point, she inadvertently caught a glimpse of his eyes beneath the sunglasses—bloodshot and veined.
Like a wounded beast…
Feral madness!
Memories of the rumors flooded back, and fear surged through her like a tide. She instinctively stepped back several paces, then realized her reaction was rude. Caught between advancing and retreating, she ultimately deflated and chose to leave.
She walked over to a large rock in the distance, where another girl in sportswear with a round face waited, riding atop a white frost wolf. She reached out and pulled the white-dressed girl up, grumbling:
"I told you not to go near that weirdo. During the beast-taming awakening ceremony, he suddenly screamed that there were nine distorted suns in the sky—what a nutcase. Then he even applied to go raise pigs on his own, completely wasting his bright future…"
"But those are Silver-spirituality transcendent Peach Pigs…" the white-dressed girl weakly protested.
"See? You're still defending him. No matter what kind of transcendent creature it is, raising pigs is raising pigs. My dad said the only proper path is nurturing pet beasts. Don't get too close to someone who's willingly fallen so low. Being handsome doesn't put food on the table. You're so cute—you'll have plenty of suitors. And if not, you can just be with me!"
With that said, the white-dressed girl didn't know how to respond. She blushed and lowered her head.
"Frost Snow Wolf, let's go!"
The round-faced girl shot a glance at Lu Yu, who was staring blankly under the tree. A complicated emotion flickered across her face—anger at his lack of ambition, and a subtle, almost gleeful satisfaction at seeing someone once so out of reach now stained and fallen into the mortal dust.
But now, to her, Lu Yu was just roadside weeds. Birds and fish traveled different paths.
The two rode away on the snow wolf, leaving the peach blossom grove behind.
Lu Yu paid no mind to their conversation. He leaned his head back against the trunk, gazing up at the dreamy peach blossoms drifting like clouds, pinched the bridge of his nose to ease the throbbing pain in his eyes, and murmured:
"It's only been three months since I came to this world… I've already lost count of how many nightmares this makes."
Lu Yu was a transmigrator. In his previous life, he'd grown up in an orphanage but, through sheer effort and a thick-skinned mastery of social cunning, managed to make a fortune selling children's clothing before turning thirty.
Then, from sheer overwork, in the blink of an eye—he transmigrated. He entered the body of an alternate-world counterpart who looked and was named exactly the same, and fused with the original memories.
Though the crossing was abrupt, Lu Yu took it calmly.
Come like stormwinds, go like fine dust.
That was his philosophy of life.
From the memories, he learned this was a beast-taming world vastly larger than Earth.
In this world, all things possessed spirituality!
Whether beasts on land or birds in the sky, lakes, storms, lightning—even the radiance of the sun and moon, or machines—could all awaken spirituality and become transcendent beings.
Creatures imbued with spiritual power could continuously evolve toward the extraordinary, gaining abilities like fire, thunder, light and darkness. They achieved leaps in life tier, and the mightiest could wield god- and demon-like powers: moving mountains, filling seas, summoning winds and rains.
Humans, legend said, could once freely manipulate spirituality in ancient times—but history was too distant. The only evidence lay in fragmented archaeological records, which most dismissed as the delusions of ancients.
The reason for such skepticism was simple: directly devouring too much spiritual power caused bizarre mutations in humans, turning them into grotesque, inhuman monsters.
In those ancient eras, weak yet spiritually rich humans naturally became the favorite prey of countless monstrosities. Tribes were frequently raided, leaving fields of white bones.
For a long stretch of history, humans could only offer sacrifices to powerful entities in exchange for protection, barely clinging to survival.
Until one sage discovered humanity's unique gift: by contracting transcendent beings, they could open a Beast-Taming Space that accelerated the growth of contracted beasts. Through the space and the pet beast acting as a filter, humans could perfectly absorb spiritual power without risk.
From then on, the balance flipped!
Countless human geniuses rose, driving out monstrosities, establishing human cities. To this day, a brilliant civilization had bloomed.
The profession of Beast Tamer—key to humanity's rise—after long ages of refinement and development, branched into combat, nurturing, healing, potion-making, divination, and more. Pet beast powers were subdivided and integrated into every facet of human society.
Powerful beast tamers sheltered entire cities, protecting ordinary people from transcendent threats. They even ventured further, pioneering wilderness frontiers and reaping vast resources and wealth.
Among all paths, only beast-taming stood supreme!
The first step for any beast tamer was awakening spirituality. Though merely the beginning, it already surpassed most ordinary people!
Awakening was divided into nine tiers:
The first three tiers were Bronze Spirituality, corresponding to Servant-tier pet beasts.
The middle three were Silver Spirituality, corresponding to Elite-tier pet beasts.
The upper three were Gold Spirituality, corresponding to Commander-tier pet beasts.
Beyond that came Morning Star tier, corresponding to Overlord-tier pet beasts—and higher realms were too distant for Lu Yu to consider.
Gold Spirituality marked one as mid-tier elite talent; any city would offer generous settlement policies and benefits.
In this life, he wasn't an orphan—he had parents. His father possessed Gold Spirituality, his mother peak Silver. Both were away on Alliance missions.
A textbook second-generation beast tamer start—thoroughly legitimate and promising.
The day he transmigrated happened to be his eighteenth birthday, when he was queuing for the beast-taming talent awakening.
Every beast tamer awakened a unique talent to guide their future path.
For Lu Yu, whether it was elemental enhancement, possession, potion-refining, material-gathering sub-professions, or even listening to history…
He didn't need to worry—his parents would secure excellent young pet beasts suited to whatever talent he got.
But right as his turn came, devastating news arrived: his parents had been ambushed and killed by an Evil God cult during their mission.
After awakening his talent, Lu Yu became the madman the girls mentioned—the one raving about nine suns in the sky.
Later, he voluntarily applied for the school's Peach Pig breeding project. In everyone's eyes, he was a textbook case of someone broken by tragedy, never to recover.
But only Lu Yu knew—he wasn't crazy!
His awakened talent was called [Eye of Truth]. By consuming his own spiritual power, he could see a pet beast's talents and detailed information.
Right after awakening, he couldn't fully control the [Eye of Truth]. A flood of information surged in, stabbing his head with unbearable pain. Instinctively, he looked up to escape the crowd—and witnessed a scene he would never forget.
The eternal sun multiplied from one into nine. Their phantoms shattered and overlapped endlessly, swelling like bloated tumors, grotesquely growing and devouring the sky.
Words failed to describe Their essence. No language could capture that eerie, mysterious form—as if They violated every rule and order, great yet chaotic.
Within that magnificent radiance writhed countless figures.
Each one immense beyond measure, grotesque and chaotic shadows spreading outward like tree roots, their aura vast enough to shatter stars.
They formed a circle, bound by countless deep-crimson chains. Faintly, They seemed to gnaw on something, emitting bizarre sounds that stained the entire sky blood-red.
Then…
Thinking the world was mutating, he shouted to warn everyone. But after only a few steps, his spiritual power ran dry. He fainted and was rushed to the hospital.
Final diagnosis: minor corneal damage and macular burn from staring at the sun.
In this beast-taming world, such injuries could mostly heal with a single healing beam from a medical-type pet beast. Still, he had to wear sunglasses for recovery and avoid strong light.
After waking, no matter what Lu Yu said, no one believed him. They chalked it up to hallucinations from mental trauma.
Even Lu Yu began to doubt himself.
Because when he risked another glance from the corner of his eye…
The sky was clear and brilliant, the sun blazing with holy, dazzling light—stinging his eyes until he had to squint, tears streaming.
As if it had all been an illusion.
Afterward, the Eye of Truth could only inspect pet beasts. Even mimicking animals in his hospital room didn't work—and the nurses seeing him only confirmed his mental instability.
Lu Yu wanted to forget it all, but the nightmares of the sun's grotesque mutation clung to him. As time passed, they grew more frequent, gnawing at his sanity.
"The one who's sick isn't me—it's this world!" Lu Yu whispered, his gaze resolute.
Having glimpsed the terror woven into reality, even the spring sky and summer flowers now seemed like poison to him.
This intense sense of insecurity only fueled his craving for power.
The fastest way—was to become a true beast tamer!
The moment the thought surfaced in his mind, an obscure murmur echoed in his ears—layered and overlapping, like an ancient, mysterious symphony.
Though he'd never heard the language, Lu Yu instantly understood its meaning:
"The Gate of Truth… binding successful…"
As the voice fell, the world before him was swallowed by endless chaotic currents. In a blink, he entered a pitch-black void.
Amid the chaos, Lu Yu felt himself transform into an indescribable, great existence—perched atop boundless muddy chaos, nameless, measureless black, measureless dark.
Billions of arms gently danced, shaking the chaotic realm.
Chaos shattered, giving birth to endless earth, fire, wind, and water—worlds and lives emerged, only to be devoured again by the muddy chaos, returning to nothingness.
"This isn't the Beast-Taming Space… this is…"
Lu Yu's mind reeled in shock. Instinctively, he tried to see his current form—but an inexplicable sense of crisis stopped him.
If he looked clearly, he might invite unknown horrors.
With that thought, Lu Yu lowered his gaze. On one arm, countless bubbles swirled, gathering billions of radiances.
Each emitted iridescent halos, accompanied by mysterious whispers that seemed to expound upon supreme truths.
They converged, forming the shape of a broken portal—as if embodying all truths of the world, past, present, and future, eternally singular.
As his gaze fell, many bubbles dissipated. What emerged made Lu Yu's pupils contract in astonishment:
"This is…"