According to the description of Potential Ignition, activities like eating, training, and fighting all allowed an animal companion to accumulate potential. When Qi Ping used the skill, he could instantly release all that stored potential!
Wasn't that just a pet version of a sudden enlightenment?
This meant that as long as Qi Ping ensured his companions had enough accumulation—maintaining efficient training, frequent sparring, and feeding them powerful spirit herbs—he could trigger Potential Ignition at a critical moment to help them soar!
For example, Yaya was currently at a crucial stage of bloodline metamorphosis. If he provided Yaya with enough herbs and let it build up enough energy, he could then ignite all that potential at the exact moment the metamorphosis began!
This would virtually guarantee the success of the process.
'I'll focus on nurturing spirit herbs for a while. Let Yaya eat more and build a deeper foundation. When it's time for the bloodline to change, I'll use Potential Ignition. The resulting bloodline might be even stronger than a natural evolution!'
Thinking of the possibilities, a wide grin spread across Qi Ping's face. His biggest worry had always been that his companions would hit a ceiling they couldn't break through. Now, that worry was gone.
He just had to work on building their potential! Training and eating were easy enough. Every one of his companions had a tailored training plan, and they sparred with each other regularly. Compared to wild spirit beasts, they had a far more systematic growth path. The only thing they lacked was actual life-and-death combat.
But that wasn't a necessity. While the boundary between life and death was a great time for insights, it wasn't the only way. Qi Ping hated the idea of his life being out of his control.
He was most confident in the "eating" option for building potential. Now that his territory was established, what was his greatest advantage? The answer was a stable source of resources!
Precious spirit herbs, specialized honey, the essence of the sun, moon, and stars—he would pile them all on! As long as their willpower could keep up with their training, he could brute-force a terrifying spirit beast into existence!
Especially now that he had the Life-Bound Pact and the Treant Clone, he didn't have to be as timid when going out to find rare resources.
He couldn't wait to try these new talents!
[Skill selection complete. Attribute panel generating...]
[Name: Qi Ping]
[Level: Lv7 (1/6,400)]
[Class: Beastmaster Druid (Primary), Shepherd of Trees (Advanced Jungle Druid) (Secondary)]
[Talents: Animal Companion, Heart of Nature, Tree Spirit Pact, Life-Bound Pact]
[Animal Companions: (6/7) Golden Marrow Bee, Yang-Fire Crow, Bewitching Spirit Fox (One-Seal), Hundred-Eyed Flower Demon, Primordial Stone Essence, Three-Colored Deer]
[Wild Shape: (1/2) Golden Marrow Bee (Can transform into any first or second-grade derivative bee species)]
[Shared Talents: Brewing Artisan (Grade 2), Yang-Fire Body, Bewitching Spirit Seal, Hundred-Eyed Demon Realm, Golden Stone Physique, Three-Colored Spirit]
[Special Talents: Blessing of Heaven and Earth, Farming Domain]
[Skills: Lv5 Plant Growth (271/1,600) (Limit Breaker), Lv1 Beastmaster's Grace (62/100), Lv5 Barkskin (1,210/1,600) (Explosive), Lv3 Healing (173/400), Lv4 Beastmaster's Flame (289/800)]
[Skills (Passive/Constant): Animal Speech, Beast Friend, Heart of the Wild, Natural Perception, Beastmaster's Will, Curse Immunity, Potential Ignition]
[Natural Sanctuary: Lv2 (26/100) (500-meter radius)]
Looking at the two new talents on his panel, Qi Ping was immensely satisfied. He had become stronger yet again!
With the level increase, he also gained another animal companion slot. This meant he could form a contract with another powerful creature if he found one.
Furthermore, during this period, his Plant Growth skill had officially reached Level 5. Upon reaching this milestone, he had drawn the "Limit Breaker" trait. When combined with the skill, it produced an effect that delighted him.
[Plant Growth (Limit Breaker): Consumes energy to increase the growth speed of plants. Under the baptism of this growth energy, plants have a higher probability of breaking through their current grade limits.]
This skill complemented the Life-Bound Pact perfectly. Since his own life would be tied to a tree, he needed that tree to break its limits and grow as quickly as possible.
He was also looking forward to the trait he would gain when Beastmaster's Flame reached Level 5; that skill had been incredibly helpful over the years.
After a quick scan of his deep attribute panel, Qi Ping turned his focus to the Sun-Blaze Wood. Now that he had a way to save his own life, he had to set it up immediately!
For the tree, he chose the highest-grade specimen: the mid-tier third-grade Sun-Blaze Wood!
While the Star-Dust Wood was of the same grade, the Sun-Blaze Wood's potential and growth speed were much higher due to the etched spells: the Great Sun Refinement Method and the Great Sun Body-Tempering Art.
In terms of attributes, Qi Ping currently practiced the Gold-Flame Scripture, and his foundation was fire-based, making him most compatible with the Sun-Blaze Wood. Additionally, Yaya practiced on this tree every day, and its influence further boosted the tree's ceiling.
The Sun-Blaze Wood was the obvious choice.
"Life-Bound Pact!"
Standing before the tree after restoring himself to peak condition, Qi Ping summoned the talent.
As he did, a mysterious formation composed of blood-red and eerie green light began to take shape. A profound, divine power radiated from it. This formation was far more difficult to manifest than any he had summoned before; it took over two hours of concentration before it was finally complete.
Once the formation was set, a stream of unique blood qi and soul force began to flow through it and into the trunk of the Sun-Blaze Wood.
During this process, Qi Ping could clearly feel a life force belonging to him being nurtured within the tree, gradually growing stronger...