62 - Divine Mastering Dragon System

Chapter 52: Celestial Being Hua Ye’s contracted spirit beast, the Golden-backed Wolf, was inadvertently captured by Xiang Shi Yan years ago. When it was entrusted to Hua Ye, its eyes had just recently opened. Now, it stands as tall as two grown men, its coat sleek and glossy, a testament to Hua Ye’s exceptional care. Beasts without awakened intellects progress in their cultivation very slowly, often taking extensive years to accumulate strength. However, this changes entirely upon forming a contract with a human. The cultivator's level and state significantly impact the contracted spirit beast. Take this wolf, for example. This year it's barely over a decade old. If it had grown naturally in the wild, it would likely only have the cultivation level equivalent to a human cultivator who's just building their foundation. However, after forming a contract with Hua Ye, the servant-master connection brought such unilateral influence that it transformed the wolf’s original fire spirit root into a lightning spirit root. Hua Ye doesn’t often reveal the wolf, so few are aware that this great beast has reached the early Golden Core stage. Her abnormal cultivation speed often draws attention and speculation. Not because she is unwelcome, but because the human race inherently has narrow and fragile meridians that need to slowly expand and become tougher during cultivation. This is why young children or those with weak constitutions are unsuitable for harsh cultivation practices. Older individuals are also less suited for cultivation, regardless of talent. The opportunity to temper the meridians and bones arrives only when they remain unformed. When cultivation progresses, it can endure more turbulent spiritual energy flow. Otherwise, one might not only fail to withstand the energy surge during advancement but also suffer self-inflicted harm. Consequently, some speculate that Hua Ye might be of mixed blood between humans and demons. This theory has plausible reasoning but was quickly refuted, as hybrids, like impure-blooded demons, typically inherit the dominant traits of one parent. If Hua Ye were indeed a hybrid, inheriting human traits would mean she wouldn’t possess the innate resilience of a demon's meridians. This is merely idle gossip about famous female cultivators; those who speak do so to show off, and those who listen hardly take it to heart. Among the demon race, hybrids are derogatorily termed as "mongrels," and mixed bloodlines between the two antagonistic races are even more disdained by the world. Thus, hybrids jealously guard their secrets, rarely discovered. Though exceedingly rare, exceptions exist — like Xiang Shi Yan. Her mother was a pure mortal, her father an unknown wild fox. Thus, she was born a half-human, half-fox, belonging to neither. When Xiang Shi Yan was born, she appeared entirely human. The midwife and maidservants didn’t notice anything unusual. She remained unaware of her identity even long after her mother’s death, joining Yu Cang Mountain under the tutelage of its former master. She started her ascent at thirteen, and normally, immortals don't accept children older than ten. Yet, Xiang Shi Yan’s exceptional middle-grade heavenly ice spirit root couldn’t be ignored by Yu Cang Mountain, thus she was admitted. Xiang Shi Yan lived up to expectations, reaching the fastest Golden Core era in contemporary cultivation (a record soon surpassed by Hua Ye). Her ears and tail emerged at around fifteen, five to eight years later than typical demon development. Given Xiang Shi Yan’s demon lineage, it’s theoretically impossible for a pure human like Hua Ye to cultivate faster than her. Yet Hua Ye defied the odds. He He had her suspicions. She was acutely sensitive to the flow of spiritual energy. She could almost see the flow of spiritual power within others’ bodies, but after her eyes were gouged out, she had to rely on the ordinary eyes she received upon reincarnation. Nonetheless, even without directly perceiving it, in her closeness with Hua Ye, He He sensed the unusual spiral of spiritual power within her. Hua Ye absorbed spiritual energy at least three times faster than usual. Such a speed is rare even among demons. After forming her Golden Core, she processed and refined spiritual energy even faster. Unlike ordinary cultivators whose cultivation slows as spiritual energy storage increases, Hua Ye’s cultivation only accelerated. Soon, she might surpass Xiang Shi Yan’s speed in forming an infant stage. He He couldn't recall all her memories before reincarnating into the Lin family, but her knowledge mostly remained intact. Upon recognizing Hua Ye's peculiarities, she quickly deduced the most likely explanation. Hua Ye possesses the Celestial Body. “Celestial Body” sounds exalted. Cultivators enjoy bestowing names on anomalies. They give pleasing names to what they fancy and unpleasant ones to what they find repulsive, always eager to display their likes and dislikes, akin to dogs marking territory, as He He observed. A Celestial Body simply means naturally robust and unimpeded meridians. For those unable to cultivate, by their teenage years, mundane toxins from the mortal world would cause illness, and living past twenty would be a long life. For those chosen by immortals, luck still hardly plays a role, as such a constitution rapidly filters and refines chaotic spiritual energy into a corresponding attribute. However, as cultivation grows, abnormal meridians multiply, forming excessive connections to the outside world. Theoretically, once their internal spiritual power accumulates enough to approach a grand achievement stage, their bodies could gradually transform into and eventually disperse as spiritual energy. While this is a theoretical consensus, no Celestial Body cultivator has reached such a stage. Unlike ordinary cultivators whose internal spiritual power remains consolidated, those like Hua Ye have their boundaries with the outside world incredibly fragile, becoming akin to pure spiritual energy entities. In essence, they are sophisticated yet reusable cauldrons. To prevent them from escaping or dying prematurely, restrictions are typically imposed through medicine or by severing key meridians to curb cultivation. Absorbing spiritual energy becomes unnecessary as artificial spiritual energy can be accumulated using pills, and harmful side effects remain within the cauldron body, leaving the user unharmed. What’s the harm? After all, they quickly expel impurities, readying themselves once more for use. Ordinary cultivators simultaneously envy and disdain those with such a constitution. These beings are surrounded by possessive, hungry eyes, unable to disclose their nature and unite with allies. Hua Ye’s lightning spirit root had already assimilated her contracted spirit beast through their covenant. Watching the Golden-backed Wolf sprawled beside the riverbank, He He mused mischievously: perhaps that troublesome senior sister might not even reach the grand achievement stage before exploding like a golden firework. The Golden-backed Wolf glanced at the suddenly giggling girl, detecting no hostility, and returned to lounging lazily as before. Its ears twitched again, searching for a connection from its master. Disappointed by the absence, they drooped slightly, covering the white fur inside. Being a physical cultivator, Hua Ye’s spiritual senses couldn’t stretch as far as Xiang Shi Yan’s or Du Ruo’s, nor could she issue complex commands to her contracted spirit beast. In her urgency, she managed only to instruct the wolf to take the others to safety. Obeying the command promptly, the wolf took the two and fled, but the entire forest was teeming with purification insects heeding their queen’s call. Detecting an overwhelming stench of foul creatures, the wolf raced with its burden toward safety, eventually leaving the dense woods. It ran until reaching a wide, open riverside, where it finally set the two down, watching over them for half a day before deciding to rest. Qin Miao, discarded near the riverbank, stared at his reflection in the water, seemingly lost in thought, his injured leg set aside. Seeing Qin Miao’s despondence filled He He with satisfaction. This lump of flesh had stolen even the chance of being born; allowing him to linger for over a decade was already too generous. How could she have let him live comfortably? Joyfully, she reached to clasp the ears of the Golden-backed Wolf as they flicked about, running her hands through its thick fur and sending the soft undercoat flying. Her actions caught Qin Miao’s attention. Frustrated, he instinctively yelled at He He: “Don’t stroke it carelessly—senior sister’s beast is fierce!” Startled by his shout, a thought struck He He. She recalled what Xiang Shi Yan had emphasized before their departure. He He initially didn’t care much for Hua Ye’s safety, realizing Xiang Shi Yan’s intentions but paying them little mind. The Potential Dragon Ranking's placement was far off, making it a weak pretext. She suspected someone had discovered their effortfully hidden truth: that Hua Ye was indeed a cauldron. Hua Ye seldom ventured from the mountains, and among the only ones close enough to possibly know her secret were her fellow disciples. Thus, it wasn’t surprising that Xiang Shi Yan had warned her to be wary of their peers. Considering this, her mentor likely already knew who that person was. If Hua Ye could transform her spirit beast's elemental root into a lightning root, does that mean she could also alter the elemental roots of those who draw on her? He He mulled over Xiang Shi Yan’s warnings. It seemed Qin Miao had both water and fire elemental roots. So that's it. So that's it. She recalled that the Yu Hu seemed to be the same... He He contently petted the wolf, her smile growing warmer. Ah, how delightful. A lightning root and an ice root. Does that young man believe it’s a gift from the heavens, specially bestowed upon him? The Golden-backed Wolf, being a fluffy lightning-type spirit beast, already suffered enough from static electricity. Now, this irritating human was petting it incessantly. It bared its teeth and let out a growling rumble in warning. The entire large, furry creature trembled with the sound, a warning vibration echoing through its body. Yet He He was unfazed, giving its ear a firm pinch. The enormous golden-backed beast, despite being in the Golden Core stage, unexpectedly cowered at the inexplicable aura of the small girl beside it, letting out a whimper of surrender. Feeling the vibrations under her fingers, the girl sighed with both satisfaction and anticipation. She mused that she had never touched an endangered species like the Yu Hu before. The beast form of her master... must be quite adorable.