Chapter Thirty-Five: The Birth of Little Black

Yitian used his astral clay avatar to cultivate the Sword of the Firmament, but no matter how he tried, he could not condense its sword energy. He understood that though his Pure Yang True Qi was as refined as that of a ninth-rank martial artist, it had not yet reached the threshold required for the cultivation of the Sword of the Firmament. For him to succeed, he would likely need to break through to the seventh, or even the eighth rank.

Nevertheless, during his attempts to cultivate the celestial sword energy, Yitian gained insight into the power of the acupoints it invoked. He identified each of these acupoints one by one. As he continued to practice the Pure Yang Art and the Sword of the Firmament technique, the operation of these arts subtly tempered the acupoints, strengthening them, making them more robust, and widening the meridians.

According to what Yitian had read in ancient texts, the first requirement for breaking through to the Human Rank was to transform the acupoints within the physical body into spiritual apertures. Otherwise, it was impossible for a martial artist to transmute true qi into true essence. This required a long, painstaking process of refining the acupoints and meridians.

Of course, it was utterly impossible to transform every single acupoint in the divine body into a spiritual aperture. Even today, the consensus in the cultivation world was that the human body possessed thirty-six thousand acupoints. Whether there were still hidden or secret points remained unknown.

As long as one cultivated their art to the utmost and refined each acupoint along the energy path of the technique into a spiritual aperture—while transforming the meridians into spiritual meridians—one would then have the chance to ascend to the Human Rank.

Therefore, the number of spiritual apertures condensed upon breaking through to the Human Rank varied from person to person. The higher the grade of the technique, the more spiritual apertures needed to be refined. Naturally, after breaking through, the greater one’s strength and potential, the farther one could go.

Thus, throughout the years, Yitian never ceased optimizing and evolving the Pure Yang Art. He believed that, taking the Pure Yang Art as his foundation, and by repeatedly experimenting and optimizing with the miraculous astral clay, he would eventually deduce a true Heaven Grade technique, fully developing the potential of his acupoints and unlocking boundless possibilities.

This was Yitian’s grand ambition.

For nearly half a month, Yitian immersed himself in cultivation. Then, he suddenly recalled the ancient fierce beast egg he had stored in his pouch. That day, he took it out.

“According to some strange tales recorded in the classics, there were those who once used their own blood essence to nurture a fierce beast’s egg. Gradually, a mysterious blood pact would form, and when the beast hatched, it would recognize the person as its master, becoming a spirit beast,” Yitian remembered reading in an old anecdote.

However, he also knew this method was unreliable, the chances of success extremely slim. Using large amounts of one’s blood essence to nourish the egg would severely weaken a martial artist. If the blood pact failed, it would be a devastating blow and greatly hinder future cultivation. The blood pact was an unfathomable, uncontrollable contract of heaven and earth.

Aside from blood pacts, some powerful individuals had created their own sigils or incantations to subdue fierce beasts, but Yitian had never encountered such means.

It would be better to let the astral clay devour it!

With this thought, Yitian summoned the astral clay. It quickly expanded and enveloped the beast egg, which was covered in mysterious and profound patterns.

At that moment, the massive beast egg, as large as a millstone, sensed danger. Its life force surged violently, the patterns on its shell shifting one after another, and a terrifying baleful aura spread forth, shrouded in black mist.

Even a wisp of this black mist carried dreadfully potent baleful energy. The room seemed to plunge into an endless chill, as if even Yitian’s soul would freeze.

What was this?

Yitian was shaken to his core. Even a trace of the aura emanating from the beast egg made him tremble and his hair stand on end—this was simply beyond belief.

Yet, the faint black mist and aura from the beast egg did nothing to the astral clay avatar. It seeped into every crevice, and even the eggshell that could not be breached by a Human Rank expert was steadily dissolved, the infinite essence within devoured.

The mysterious sheen on the huge beast egg’s surface began to fade. Yitian could sense the unborn beast within struggling frantically in the grip of the astral clay, its ferocity undiminished.

Though the consciousness within the egg was savage, it could only struggle and falter before the relentless consumption and plundering of the astral clay. The contest between astral clay and beast egg finally reached its end, the beast’s will growing weak, as if pleading, filled with despair.

Yitian shifted his consciousness into the astral clay avatar.

Once inside, he clearly perceived the beast egg’s consciousness, suffused with a pleading, hopeless emotion.

“Swear loyalty to me, and I’ll spare you. Otherwise, you die!” Yitian sent a sliver of his own will.

The beast’s will struggled for a time, but death’s presence grew ever closer under the astral clay’s assault. Driven by the instinct to survive, it finally yielded, sending a submissive, docile emotion.

When Yitian’s consciousness returned to his body, the astral clay avatar slowly oozed out.

He now discovered that the astral clay had changed. Streaks of crimson radiance now coursed across its form, as if countless stars had been dyed red.

The astral clay had evolved.

Yitian found his connection with the astral clay avatar became completely seamless; he could switch his consciousness back and forth at will, something impossible before. Previously, it had taken time to shift his awareness into the astral clay avatar, but now he could enter or return to his true body instantly, with no delay.

He had no time to study the astral clay’s new abilities, for the great beast egg on the floor began to crack open with a series of sharp sounds.

The mysterious patterns on the eggshell had faded almost entirely, leaving it fragile and brittle. At last, the egg split open, and a drab, grayish dog crawled out, its whole body slick with sticky fluid.

When it saw Yitian, a hint of ingratiation and grievance flickered in its eyes. Then it trotted over, wagging its tail, shook itself dry—sending droplets flying everywhere—and rubbed its small head against Yitian’s legs.

“Is this really the legendary egg of a super beast?” Yitian eyed the little dog at his feet with suspicion and disbelief, as it fawned over him.

But this was none other than the dog from his previous life—he could not mistake it.

“Never mind, raising a dog isn’t so bad. It’ll be a memento of my past life,” Yitian thought, feeling no particular expectations.

He could not sense the slightest trace of a fierce beast’s aura from the puppy—its strength was negligible.

“I’ll call you Little Black,” he said, not bothering to think of a more original name, bestowing upon it a title shared by countless dogs.

“Woof! Woof woof!” protested Little Black, clearly dissatisfied.

No matter how much Little Black objected, Yitian remained unmoved. When Yitian left the room, Little Black followed with drooping head.

Yixiaoting immediately noticed the new puppy, her eyes lighting up as she ran over and scooped it into her arms. “Brother, what kind of animal is this? Where did you get it? It’s so cute!” she exclaimed, stroking Little Black’s silky fur.

“It’s a puppy. Its name is Little Black,” Yitian replied, transmitting a message to the struggling Little Black, who had no choice but to stop resisting.

Since Little Black had submitted to him, Yitian discovered he could communicate and sense its intentions—a curiosity to him.

Their mother, Su Yue’e, also came over to look at the puppy in Yixiaoting’s arms, but said nothing. To her, the little dog seemed pitifully weak.

Yixiaoting began searching for something to feed the newborn puppy, but Little Black ignored everything she offered. Even when she brought out a piece of beast meat from the house, Little Black merely sniffed at it disdainfully, showing no appetite. Only when Yixiaoting insisted did Little Black reluctantly eat it.

And so, the Yitian household gained a new member: Little Black.