txolops Chapter 36 Subjugation
Chapter 36 Subjugation
After studying it for an hour, Luo Ming, taking into account his own needs as a spirit-controlling cultivator, finalized the cave layout plan by imitating the cat's work.
He then summoned his magical flying sword and began cutting and slicing. It took him a whole day to carve out a cave dwelling from the mountainside. Looking at the cave dwelling, which was several times larger than the previous one, Luo Ming nodded in satisfaction.
"After being here for so long, I finally managed to buy a big house through my own efforts. It's a pity I probably won't be able to stay here for long, otherwise I could try hollowing out the mountain."
After some reflection, Luo Ming added some stone beds, tables and chairs to the room. It was very simple. Luo Ming had been inside Steward Qin's cave dwelling before. It was not only quite luxurious, but also had several arrays set up, with spiritual breezes blowing from time to time and immortal energy swirling around. Moreover, there were several maids to take care of his daily life. He knew how to enjoy himself.
"Sigh, in the human realm, you don't feel safe without Nascent Soul cultivation. Cultivation is still the most important thing!" Luo Ming reminded himself that the road ahead was still long, and then began to plan what would happen next.
He planned to go to Qinghu Market in a few days. He had two purposes for this trip: first, to purchase a high-level array, which could not only protect his cave dwelling but also regulate the flow of spiritual energy within it, making it easier for him to cultivate.
Secondly, he needs to find a few top-tier magic weapons that suit him. Now that he has advanced to the Foundation Establishment stage, his old magic weapons are no longer sufficient to match his strength, and a magic weapon that suits him is crucial to improving his combat power.
Luo Ming secretly plotted to create a fighting style tailored to his own strengths and maximize his advantages.
His greatest reliance right now is the power of his talisman, but activating the talisman takes time. The combat skills of Foundation Establishment cultivators are far more swift than those of Qi Refining cultivators, and life and death can be decided in an instant. His opponent will never give him time to activate the talisman.
Therefore, top-tier magical artifacts that assist in trapping enemies or providing defense become the best choice—only by using these special magical artifacts to buy time can he calmly activate the talisman treasure.
However, he had more pressing matters to attend to before that.
Under coercion and enticement, the smothered bird finally abandoned its arrogance and succumbed to his tyranny. Now, all he had to do was place a soul-binding restriction on this spirit bird.
Luo Ming pricked his fingertip, squeezing out a drop of essence blood. Under the precise control of his divine sense, the essence blood slowly seeped into the soul of the Fat Sun Bird. Thanks to the bird's active cooperation, its soul was quickly stained by the essence blood.
The soul-binding restriction is complete. From now on, the life and death of this fat sun bird will be entirely in his hands.
Sensing the unease emanating from the spirit of the Fat Sun Bird, Luo Ming gently soothed it for a moment, then took out two jade boxes from his storage bag and smiled at it, saying, "Being my spirit beast is a good deal for you. These two Blood Spirit Fruits are yours. With the tempering of these fruits, your foundation will be even deeper, and I believe it won't be long before you advance to the second level."
The jade box was opened, revealing a crystal-clear Blood Spirit Fruit radiating a rich fire-attribute spiritual energy. It wasn't that he was stingy, but rather that the Blood Spirit Fruit's refining effect had a limit; consuming a maximum of two would be a waste. When he first returned from the forbidden area, he had fed several to the Wind Fox Beast. The first fruit had the best effect, the second's effect was greatly reduced, and the third offered no benefit whatsoever. Only then did he understand the fruit's limitations.
Upon seeing the Blood Spirit Fruit, the Fat Sun Bird's glassy eyes instantly lit up. It cautiously glanced at Luo Ming, and after receiving permission, it flapped its wings slightly, unleashing a sudden suction force that instantly drew both spirit fruits into its belly.
"Chirp chirp!"
The Fat Sun Bird chirped excitedly a few times, and suddenly blazing flames erupted around it. Luo Ming sensed the terrifying temperature of the flames and his face lit up with surprise. He immediately erected a spiritual energy shield to defend himself: "This flame temperature can actually threaten a Foundation Establishment cultivator! If someone advances to the second level, an ordinary early Foundation Establishment cultivator would probably have to flee at the mere sight of them. Hehe, this is a real treasure!"
Witnessing this scene, Luo Ming was filled with anticipation. Among his current spirit beasts, only the Fat Sun Bird could advance to the second level in a short period of time, lending him a helping hand in the upcoming demonic invasion. As for the Wind Fox Beast, although it had consumed three Blood Spirit Fruits and its aura had reached the upper level of the first level, it would still take time to break through to the peak of the first level, so it was difficult to count on it for the time being.
Luo Ming calculated in his mind that with the help of the Level 2 Fat Sun Bird, he could remain undefeated even against ordinary mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators. However, it was different for late-Foundation Establishment cultivators. The gap between the early and late stages was almost insurmountable, comparable to the chasm between Qi Refining Perfection and the early Foundation Establishment stage.
In terms of mana reserves alone, if the initial Foundation Establishment stage has one mana, the later stage can reach four, a full fourfold increase. This disparity in mana directly leads to a complete suppression of spell strength and endurance, with later-stage cultivators almost overwhelming the first two stages.
"If I were to use the Golden Wind Cone talisman, I might be able to severely injure a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. Unfortunately, this talisman consumes too much mana, and my opponent will never give me enough time to prepare." Luo Ming recalled the scene when he used the Golden Wind Cone. Now that he has advanced to Foundation Establishment and has the support of liquid mana, the power of this talisman will definitely be even more terrifying.
A moment later, Luo Ming suddenly noticed that the spiritual energy around the Fat Sun Bird was beginning to surge, and he was overjoyed: "It's about to advance so quickly?"
In reality, this Fat Sun Bird had already reached the peak of Level One. Even without consuming Blood Spirit Fruits, its chances of advancing to the next level were extremely high. However, it had been delayed in breaking through due to being disturbed by others. Now, having consumed two Blood Spirit Fruits, its bloodline power has become increasingly pure, naturally bringing it to the critical point of advancement.
Having anticipated this, Luo Ming immediately took action, setting up a spirit-gathering array around the Zhiyang Bird and placing several mid-grade fire spirit stones at the array's core. His cave dwelling wasn't actually suitable for fire-attribute demonic beasts to break through; a place above a fire vein would naturally be better. However, Luo Ming absolutely refused to go to the alchemy room area again. He didn't want to expose the Zhiyang Bird's existence. Cultivators always guarded their trump cards closely, and the Zhiyang Bird was an ancient spirit bird. Once it was discovered by a senior member of the sect, it would inevitably bring endless trouble.
The advancement of demonic beasts is not something that can be achieved overnight; it takes much longer than that of cultivators. Luo Ming was not impatient. He sat cross-legged to the side, studying the Foundation Establishment stage cultivation method of the "Spirit Control Technique" while keeping an eye on the condition of the Fat Sun Bird.
Time passed quietly, and Luo Ming gradually discovered that after the "Spirit Control Technique" advanced to the Foundation Establishment stage, there were many changes compared to the Qi Refining stage technique: "The Foundation Establishment stage 'Spirit Control Technique' indeed has many more secret techniques. This 'Blood Spirit Technique' is quite practical and can stimulate the potential of spirit beasts. It's just a pity that the duration is too short."
He devoted himself to studying and discovered that in addition to the enhancement of the secret techniques of the Qi Refining stage, many new supernatural abilities had been added—there were methods to stimulate the potential of spirit beasts, techniques to borrow part of the power of spirit beasts' supernatural abilities for his own use, and methods to accelerate the cultivation of spirit beasts.
However, most of these secret techniques have drawbacks, often damaging the foundation of spirit beasts, and in severe cases even crippling them. Luo Ming frowned, understanding in his heart: the cultivation of demon beasts is inherently slow, and many cultivators, in order to make their spirit beasts keep up with their own progress, have researched these crooked methods that overdraw their potential, since ordinary cultivators simply do not have enough resources to carefully nurture their spirit beasts.