Chapter 18 - 18: First Soul Contract
“This damn dog, it really understood what I said!”
Under the moonlight, Feng Qing’an clearly saw Black Mountain, who had climbed over the wall and left, and he couldn’t help but exclaim.
Even though Black Mountain’s fur almost blended with the night, and you couldn’t see it hiding in the dark, Feng Qing’an, who had been undergoing hard cultivation for several months and had become extremely sensitive, could easily distinguish it from its surroundings.
This was one of the few positive feedbacks he got from cultivation. Beyond that, he hadn’t noticed any particular changes yet. However, he firmly believed that it was because his soul power had not yet reached the threshold of qualitative change.
[Side Quest: Far-Sighted Vision.Three, Completed]
[Reward: System Permission: Animal Companion Identification, Activated]
Feng Qing’an stood by the window for a while. Just as he was preparing to go to bed and begin his daily cultivation, he suddenly heard a mechanical voice, which caused him to temporarily suspend his cultivation preparations.
He looked around in his room, then glanced at his parents’ room through the window, and after making sure they had gone to bed, he opened his room and sneaked into the yard. Eyeing the newly bought chickens and ducks in the cages, he quickly grabbed one.
“Identify! ”
Feng Qing’an muttered silently. There was no familiar mechanical sound, but a short message was projected into his consciousness.
[Type: Three-Yellow Chicken]
[Potential Level: None]
[Combat Level: None]
“All are none? What’s the difference between identifying it or not?”
Feng Qing’an grumbled inwardly. He had a rough idea of what was going on, the object was too ordinary and common, with neither potential nor combat power to be rated.
But with the newly granted permission, Feng Qing’an naturally wouldn’t just return to his room. He grabbed another one from the duck pen and gave it another identification, and the result was as expected.
[Type: White Duck] [Potential Level: None]
[Combat Level: None]
Not only ducks, Feng Qing’an also tried it out on geese, which he had never messed with before, but,
[Type: Goose] [Potential Level: None]
[Combat Level: None]
After trying all the chickens, ducks, and geese in the yard, Feng Qing’an ran to the cowshed still grumbling and unsatisfied, testing it again, but the result was the same. [Type: Yellow Cow] [Potential Level: None]
[Combat Level: None]
Back in his room, Feng Qing’an was incredibly frustrated. It seemed like nothing had happened, he couldn’t see any difference, he only knew there were potential and combat levels, but he didn’t know their specifics, how they were divided, and his attempts to ask the system for clarification resulted in no response.
“Damn it!”
He worked hard for several months and got such a reward, Feng Qing’an got into bed steaming with anger. After a while, he calmed down and entered into the state of cultivation, cross-legged on the bed, starting his daily cultivation, accumulating soul power.
Cock-a-doodle-doo-
A clear crowing of a rooster awakened him. Feng Qing’an’s eyes flicked open, his gaze sharp and clear, his mind awake, his spirits high, with no fatigue at all.
He got out of bed and took a peek in the yard from the end of the bed. There he saw a familiar figure pretending to sleep on the ground, who could it be but Black Mountain, who jumped over the wall last night?
“Identify! ”
Feng Qing’an walked up to the wolf dog that had been raging outside all night, squatted down, and patted its head. Black Mountain’s eyelids trembled, but when its nostrils twitched lightly twice, it didn’t open them again.
[Name: Black Mountain] [Species: Wolf Dog]
[Attribute: Beast] [Potential Level: Spirit Awakening-Low] [Combat Level: None]
“Finally, it is not None, but Spirit Awakening?”
Feng Qing’an pondered the information subtly conveyed, and relating it to the task content published earlier, he had some ideas and speculations.
“Unlocking spiritual wisdom? AKA Spirit Awakening. So, the first step for a beast net to transcend the ordinary. is to get brains? Without brains. it doesn’t
even qualify to make a contract with a Guardian Beast Master.”
He felt his speculation was not far off. Effective communication was too important. He had brought Black Mountain home precisely because among the village’s animals, only dogs had such a strong bond with humans.
“But, what’s the next level after Spirit Awakening?”
Undoubtedly higher levels exist. That was unquestionable. Regrettably, the system did not educate him, he didn’t even know the specifics of the classification of Beast Masters. It is needless to guess that he is just at the novice level.
Seeing no value in idle speculation, Feng Qing’an quickly abandoned thinking. Once his cultivation reaches a certain standard, what he wants to know will naturally be revealed.
“Soul Integration!”
Looking at the dog napping under his hand, Feng Qing’an started the daily Soul Integration for it. Having already seen the result, he redoubled his efforts.
Although he was the one getting tired, and Black Mountain was reaping the benefits, the beast was to be his companion. He didn’t consider it a loss. It always felt a bit awkward that the dog’s life was too comfortable.
“Isn’t the life of a Beast Master too hard?”
Feng Qing’an couldn’t help but think this. But his hands continued to move without slowing.
Days of tranquility passed like this. He performed the Soul Integration and refined the blood for the dog during the day, then went to school in the village, practiced till he fell asleep after finishing his homework at night. Day after day, Feng Qing’an persisted.
Under the daily Soul Integration and blood refinement and its own nightly hunting sprees, Black Mountain’s body grew visibly.
The overly large and ferocious physique, led anyone who saw the dog after a while, to feel a chill of surprise and terror.
As a puppy, Black Mountain was just a fluffy grey-black ball, looking adorable and harmless, which evoked a rush of affection and the impulse to embrace it. But now, almost four months old and still in its growth period, Black Mountain, was simply terrifying.
The fur on the wolf dog was still thick and lush, without any knots, it’s coat sleek and shiny. Yet, the dense hair couldn’t hide its strong body.
“This dog has become far too big!”
Every time Black Mountain went out, villagers were terrified at first sight. When Feng Qing’an appeared beside it, those who hadn’t run away or crying on the spot, couldn’t help but exclaim.
“Shall we get a chain for Little Black?”
Even Yin Shi, seeing Black Mountain as robust as a young calf, couldn’t help but discuss with Feng Father. The dog was giving people a scare because its size had far exceeded that of a normal dog.
“Such an obedient dog, why waste money on that? It would be better to buy a couple of pounds of meat!”
This was Feng Father’s response
Still, people were surprised, wondering if this dog had become a spirit. Even the best dog breeder in the village, Hunter who was Er Pang’s father, made an explanation.
“This is a cub of a wolf king from the Mountains, and moreover, it found the right owner. It can’t be compared to ordinary dogs. What do you feed your own dogs, and look at what it eats? There’s just no comparison!”
Thus, the anomaly with Black Mountain was begrudgingly accepted and Feng Qing’an’s slightly turbulent life returned to normal. In the process, he accumulated enough Soul Power for a breakthrough.
“I’ve been doggedly cultivating for a hundred and twenty days, practicing incessantly every day without a break, and today it will pay off!”