Chapter Ninety-Five: Little Black and Little Tiger

Returning to his own residence, Xu Wen had no mind to admire the grandeur of his estate. Led by his maidservants into the main chamber, he instructed that he was not to be disturbed, closed the door, and rested, refusing all visitors.

Over the next three days, guests arrived one after another, but none were granted an audience with Xu Wen. A few maidservants lingered in the courtyard, listening as the room occasionally echoed with the cries of young beasts, the fluttering of wings, and sounds so endearing as to rival the liveliness of a zoo. Their curiosity about the young master only grew.

It was not just the servants; several elders of the clan found themselves equally astonished, unable to fathom what was happening inside. If not for Xu Wen’s special status and the prior notice from Mu Yuanshan, someone would have surely given in to their impatience and barged in to see for themselves.

Xu Wen’s father was no pedantic fool. Having risen from ordinary, arduous beginnings to the status of a master with servants at his beck and call, he never considered these privileges to be a reward from the Houghton-Klein family. He knew well that all of this was earned by his son.

No matter who came from within the clan, the maidservants were instructed to block their entry; none were allowed into the house.

During this period of leisure, Xu Wen established contracts with the Black Gale Eagle and the Three-Eyed Flame Tiger. The beastmaster’s contract ceremony was complex and required considerable mental energy; it took Xu Wen a whole day to complete, and he also lifted the growth restraints on the two young beasts.

Beastmasters differ from summoners. The beastmaster’s mind is always linked with their contracted beasts, intimately aware of their conditions; summoners, by contrast, rely only on observation and communication.

After successfully contracting the two young beasts, Xu Wen found that the pair immediately began vying for the position of "first contracted beast," locked in mutual dislike within the confines of the room.

Had Xu Wen not prepared distractions of dried meat and fruit, it would surely have become a fierce contest of eagle versus tiger.

No wonder beastmasters always train one young beast at a time, advancing step by step; training two simultaneously presents considerable resistance. Yet, in Xu Wen’s view, with proper guidance, this resistance could be transformed into motivation through competition.

He took a moment to instruct the maidservants to gather medicinal ingredients from the clan, then, drawing from his memories, prepared a batch of various "pet feeds," each tailored to the young beasts.

The Black Gale Eagle chose a sweet feed infused with ginseng and fruit, while the Three-Eyed Flame Tiger opted for a feed made from low-level magical beast meat.

Watching the two little creatures devour their meals with gusto and then gaze longingly at him, Xu Wen felt a surge of accomplishment, his lips curling into a slight smile:

"Let’s see if you’ll misbehave now."

From a porcelain bottle, Xu Wen poured out two pre-prepared Beast Spirit Pills and placed them on the floor.

"Eat."

The Black Gale Eagle and Three-Eyed Flame Tiger both approached to sniff the pills, then shook their heads. Clearly, the pills were not to their liking, nowhere near as appealing as the pet feed.

"Whoever eats first gets more of this," Xu Wen said, waving the pet feed in his hand, his demeanor wholly mischievous.

The Black Gale Eagle, fiery by nature, immediately flapped its wings and lunged for the prize, only to be repelled by the Flame Shield within Xu Wen’s body, ending up disheveled and empty-handed.

The Three-Eyed Flame Tiger, seeing this, obediently chewed down the black pill of uncertain taste.

"Good boy, Tiger," Xu Wen praised, tossing a meatball that the tiger leapt for, snatching it midair and gnawing enthusiastically, its tail wagging, wide eyes fixed on Xu Wen as if asking for more.

He threw another, then withheld the rest, turning to the Black Gale Eagle, which had eaten the Beast Spirit Pill and now stared expectantly for its reward. "Hmph, you weren’t well-behaved. No pet feed for you today."

The little eagle raised its head and cried out in protest at the unfair treatment.

"Protesting won’t help. Just digest the Beast Spirit Pill quietly," Xu Wen replied, noticing the Three-Eyed Flame Tiger had suddenly quieted, lying motionless on the ground—a sign the pill’s effects were taking hold.

Soon, the Black Gale Eagle had no choice but to comply as well.

The Beast Spirit Pills, refined from one-star magical beast cores, began releasing their spiritual essence for the young beasts to absorb.

Unlike the eyes of demons, humans cannot digest the spiritual essence of magical beasts; they can only use medicine to boost their strength temporarily. Beasts, however, possess physiques capable of directly converting the energy within beast cores, absorbing a portion for permanent use. For this reason, magical beasts in the wild will openly hunt lesser beasts to obtain their cores and advance their cultivation.

Yet, within the same tier, there are limits to how many cores can be consumed—beyond a certain quantity, they lose effectiveness.

For creatures like "Little Black" and "Little Tiger," both at one-star, first rank, ten Beast Spirit Pills would gradually exhaust their effects, boosting their strength by about three to five sub-levels.

Gradually, the aura around Little Black and Little Tiger grew more concentrated.

Upon careful inspection, after the pills’ effects were fully absorbed, their eyes shone with newfound clarity.

Xu Wen smiled with satisfaction. As expected of offspring of high-ranked, seven-star magical beasts, they absorbed the medicine remarkably well, easily reaching the second rank of one-star. With ten days or half a month of feeding, Little Black and Little Tiger would be ready to strut about the outskirts of the Blackwater Mountains.

Unfortunately, half a month was still too long for Xu Wen; relying solely on medicine, it would take years for Little Black and Little Tiger to reach five stars or higher.

"I’ll have to push them harder," he mused.

From his storage ring, he casually selected a breastplate meant for four-star warriors and placed it against the wall, instructing Little Black and Little Tiger to attack it—a hundred times would earn them pet feed as a reward.

Having tasted the benefits of obedience, Little Tiger began to call forth fireballs and other low-level magic, carrying out the task with earnest diligence.

Magical beasts possess greater affinity for elements than humans; they require no incantations, and fire elements quickly gather, producing even passable spells.

The power may be modest, but the speed was impressive—Xu Wen felt gratified.

Little Black, more restless, was initially unruly, flying about after a few attempts. Yet, seeing Little Tiger quickly complete the task and receive its reward, happily eating away in excitement, while it got nothing, Little Black finally settled down, unleashing wind blades at a pace and accuracy that surpassed Little Tiger.

Little Tiger, unwilling to be bested, growled low and redoubled its efforts.

The mental stamina of magical beasts far exceeds that of humans; unleashing a hundred of the most basic spells in one round poses no difficulty. Xu Wen rewarded the pair with pet feed, and gave them military ration pills to restore their strength and spirit.

He watched for a time, observing as the two young beasts entered a competitive state. He placed the military rations, Beast Spirit Pills, and pet feed in his treasure belt, ready to toss them over whenever they completed their tasks.

Xu Wen dared not idle either. He set up his cauldron and began refining medicines—at the rate these industrious beasts consumed, his current supplies might soon run dry.

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