The little cat leapt lightly and settled itself atop Zhuo Riyan's head as if it belonged there. A thrill surged through him at the thought of cultivating alongside a Primordial Cosmic Beast.
In ancient times, the ancestors had created the path of symbiotic cultivation. Through it, a channel would form between man and lifebound beast, birthing the powerful existence known as a beastmaster. With shared bloodlines and interlinked wisdom, man and beast would rise together, bound as one.
The first realm of this path was the Beast Vein Stage. Both beastmaster and lifebound beast possessed nine beast veins. Cultivation at this stage required the two to pair and connect those veins, one by one. Each completed connection strengthened their blood bond. With special methods, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth could then be refined into beast qi and stored in the dantian. That beast qi was shared between both partners, allowing their power to circulate as one.
Through symbiotic cultivation, the latent power within a beast's blood veins tempered the master's flesh, while the hidden potential in the beastmaster's veins sharpened the beast's intelligence.
Yet all of that had ended the day Xiao Xiao died.
With her death, Zhuo Riyan lost all his beast qi. His beast veins were crippled, his dantian ruined. Without a lifebound beast, his path as a beastmaster was supposed to be over.
"Whatever this Cosmic Thunderfiend Genesis really is," he murmured inwardly, "Primordial Cosmic Beast or not… at least it gives me a chance to cultivate again."
Before Kin Dou and Ao Shen had sabotaged him, he had already connected five pairs of beast veins with Xiao Xiao. He had reached the fifth level of the Beast Vein Stage and was even stepping into the sixth.
For three whole years after that, he tried everything to recover his veins and dantian. He failed every damn time. That failure was the biggest obstacle standing in his way now.
Suddenly, the little cat smacked its paw against his head and let out a sharp meow.
"Don't worry, master. My cultivation technique will recover your veins and dantian. So shut up and focus on learning what I'm about to give you."
Zhuo Riyan looked up, meeting the tiny paw pressing against his scalp. He froze for a moment, then smiled faintly.
I've never heard of a lifebound beast teaching its master before… but fuck it. If it can restore my dantian and veins, I'll take it.
Just then, the little cat's body suddenly erupted with immense purple thunder. Its eyes turned a deep, glowing violet as terrifying lightning wrapped around its tiny frame. In that same instant, a powerful current rushed straight into Zhuo Riyan's mind through telepathic transfer.
As the technique flooded into his consciousness, Zhuo Riyan's body reacted on instinct. The very same purple thunder burst out from him as well, echoing the cat's power.
One stood on the floor.
One sat upon his head.
Both closed their eyes.
For a brief moment, it was as if they had become one and the same.
Time passed in silence.
Slowly, the violent thunder faded away. The raging lightning returned to calm.
Zhuo Riyan opened his eyes. His breathing trembled as he realized just how terrifying the technique inside his mind truly was. It was far beyond anything he had ever imagined.
Above his head, the little cat let out a lazy yawn and said casually, "Master, quickly sit down and practice, or I'll bite your ass."
Zhuo Riyan didn't dare waste a second. He immediately sat cross-legged on the floor, closed his eyes, and began recalling the cultivation method that had just been implanted into his soul.
He followed every step precisely.
At first, nothing happened.
His body showed no reaction at all.
Then—
A wave of unbearable pain exploded inside him.
His face turned deathly pale as cold sweat drenched his body.
W-what the fuck is this pain… it's unbearable!
He opened his mouth to roar.
Before even a single sound could escape, the little cat gently placed its paw on his head. A layer of crackling purple thunder instantly spread outward, forming a barrier around them.
It was a low-level barrier, since the little cat itself was still at its weakest state, but it was more than enough to isolate sound from the outside world.
Zhuo Riyan's scream was swallowed by the thunder barrier.
Inside, his body continued to convulse violently.
The pain raged on… then slowly began to subside.
His entire body became wrapped in strands of purple lightning. He could feel everything clearly, yet he was unable to move. He couldn't even open his mouth.
But within that paralysis, something miraculous was happening.
His shattered dantian was being reconstructed.
His broken spiritual veins were knitting back together.
Moment by moment, thunder mended what had once been destroyed.
Finally, the lightning dispersed.
Zhuo Riyan's body went still.
He could move again.
Slowly, he lifted his trembling hands in front of his eyes and whispered in disbelief, "My… dantian and veins… are they really recovered?"
The little cat let out an annoyed groan. "Of course they are. Now we'll cultivate."
Zhuo Riyan obeyed at once. He settled into his cultivation posture once again, his expression turning solemn.
Since my lifebound beast has changed… I have to reconnect all my beast veins.
That means starting over from scratch.
The first step of the beast vein stage was to figure out the location of the beast veins on both parties. As Zhuo Riyan tried to figure out where the beast vein of the little cat was, he could feel the little cat doing the same for him. Once their first beast veins were successfully connected together, they would reach the first level of the Beast Vein stage.
Yet in that same second, Zhuo Riyan couldn't help but blurt out in shock,
"How the fuck does such a tiny cat have such a thick beast vein?!"
Inside that tiny body of the cat, each of the beast veins was like a dragon unto itself, terrifying yet magnificent. It was hard to imagine what kind of fearsome beast these beast veins belonged to. Placed side by side, Zhuo Riyan's beast veins seemed like little worms.
"What a rookie, look at these pathetic beast veins, clearly a lack of masculine strength. And look at mine Thicker. Longer. More perfect than yours!" The cat was clearly despising him.
But why did that sound so weird?