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Chapter 32 (Vol-1)
🕑 Added 2024-11-23 10:06:35 +0000 UTCDeep within the Great Wilderness, a relatively large group of Demonic Beasts were grazing on the Qi-rich grass in their surroundings, unaware of the danger hidden nearby.
Da Ling watched the massive Horse-like beasts with glimmering white bodies and pale blue manes excitedly as her escorts and junior brother concentrated on finding her prey.
“Once we are done capturing the Core Formation realm beast for master, I want to catch one of these for myself as well. They look so pretty!”
The four Core Formation realm experts behind her could not help but look at each other bitterly as they swallowed their complaints at the little girl’s demands.
Before their departure, their lord had informed them very clearly of the girl and her fellow disciple’s background in hopes of making sure that they would do nothing to offend the unassuming duo.
After learning such groundbreaking revelations, even though these four had a lot of complaints about their current circumstances, they would never dare to openly express them.
On the other hand, Jin Tianrui was busy looking at the map and scouting the surroundings with a tiny Gyroscopic compass that his master had made for him and Da Ling some time ago.
After observing the map for a while, Jin Tianrui finally gave a nod to Da Ling.
“This is undoubtedly the right place, Senior Sister. We should find the Core Formation realm beast in this location.”
“Then, let’s begin.”
At the girl’s words, Jin Tianrui took out a small pouch that filled the air with a strange smell, instantly causing the Tempest Stallions to look around nervously.
This is a common tactic most Demonic Beast hunters use to lure out powerful beasts.
They would fill a cloth pouch with the excretions of a Demonic Beast that is of a similar realm to that of their target, causing the demonic beast in question to perceive this as a challenge and reveal itself to confront the one who provoked it, leading it straight into an ambush.
As their target was a Beast in Core Formation Realm's initial stages, the lure used was naturally obtained from a beast of a similar level. It was this that caused this herd of Tempest Stallions to act agitatedly due to their realm being in the Qi Condensation realm peak at most.
The group did not have to wait long as a noise similar to a horse’s neigh but much deeper and more powerful rang out in the surroundings followed by a massive form twice the height of an average man and made of pure muscles that contained explosive strength trotted towards the group’s location.
Its golden mane shone in the sunlight with pure Yang energy as its deep brown, almost black, body revealed its true cultivation.
The four Core Formation realm cultivators felt horror as they felt the Qi fluctuations from the beast.
“That is not a Tempest Stallion! That is a Scorching Stallion! A rare subspecies of the Tempest Stallion!”
Jin Tianrui raised an eyebrow in interest and stared at the beast with a critical eye while taking out a parchment and sketching the beast down on it.
During his relatively short time with his master, Jin Tianrui had discovered that cultivation was not the be-all and end-all of his life.
He should start investing time in his hobbies and passion so that he would not have any kind of heart demons to contend with when he breaks through into the Nascent Soul realm.
It was this advice that caused the young man to realize that he had an interest not just in Formations but also in Demonic Beasts. Specifically, he is fascinated with their unique way of cultivation inherited by the Barbarian Clans and could not be replicated by humans fully.
Unlike humans who depended on their spirit roots and their affinities, Demonic Beasts are body cultivators that directly absorb elemental Qi into their bodies. However, unlike humans who still had to use their spirit roots to some extent in Body Cultivation, the Demonic Beasts are naturally attuned to absorb elemental Qi from the moment of their birth. It was this special characteristic that made it so that, unlike human Body Cultivators, Demonic Beasts were not limited to the Core Formation realm and could achieve the same heights as human cultivators without much issue.
In fact, it is widely accepted that Demonic Beasts are much faster than humans in terms of advancing their cultivation and are stronger than a human cultivator in the same realm.
It is these differences and their strangeness that fascinated Jin Tianrui and led him to discover this hobby of categorizing and compiling the details and appearance of any new kind of Demonic Beast he comes across.
While Jin Tianrui was busy using the various paints and tools that he had in his space ring to draw the beast’s image, the four cultivators from the City Lord’s faction were frantically pleading with Da Ling.
“Lady Da Ling! Please reconsider. That thing is beyond our ability to defeat. That thing is at the peak of the Core Formation realm, a small realm higher than all of us and on the same level as yourself.”
However, instead of making the girl retreat, their words only increased the greed in the girl’s eyes severalfold.
“Is that so? Then it is even better. Since it is at the peak of the Core Formation realm, it should not take it long to reach the Nascent Soul realm, making it an even more ideal Dao Familiar for Master.”
Without waiting for any more words, Da Ling took out a simple-looking Jian Sword and shot forward.
The ancient sword in her hand was once made with the core of a Nascent Soul realm Magma Python and Star Ore and then augmented further by Da Wei using what remained of the Dao Fruit after Da Ling’s use and his inscriptions had now reached the Heaven-rank, causing its power to return to its prime.
The Scorching Stallion saw the small human approaching it swiftly and realized her intent, causing the arrogant beast to snort and stamp down its front feet forcefully, causing a vortex of fire to erupt around it.
However, the flames originating from its yang attribute were directly parted by Da Ling as her ruby red eyes now shone with golden light as a massive golden wheel materialized behind her back.
Yaoban, The Solar Flare, attempted to cleave through the beast’s tendons, trying to immobilize it, but the Scorching Stallion quickly retreated, avoiding the crippling blow.
When Da Ling first learned what the Sun was and how it functioned, she had already decided that she would name any weapon that she received in the future as The Solar Flare. And just as she desired, she named the ancient sword Yaoban.
When she informed her master of this decision, he had simply laughed and inscribed that name on the blade while repairing and enhancing its inscriptions.
Originally, Da Wei had wanted to use English like always to fix and enhance the inscriptions on the blade. However, when Da Ling told him about her choice of name, he decided to change the language to the strangely distorted Chinese used by the locals instead.
While English is an extremely efficient and easier-to-use language for his inscriptions, they are extremely rigid, making them unsuitable for creating what Da Wei wanted for Da Ling.
A weapon that would grow and adapt to Da Ling’s strength as her own understanding of the world evolved.
The Scorching Stallion shone with a bright light as it charged towards Da Ling with its full might, intending on trampling the girl dead.
However, the beast was blinded as the sword in Da Ling’s hand burst with intense light and heat.
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During her first steps into cultivation, Da Ling had asked Da Wei the question.
“Master, if the Sun is the reason for life to exist in this world, should we worship such a benevolent object in the same way we worship the heavens?”
What her master revealed on that day, changed Da Ling’s perception of the world.
“The Sun is known as the source of all life. However, you must understand that you cannot call the Sun benevolent for such a reason. In fact, aside from the heavens which I still fail to understand, you should never assign any kind of morality, human values, or divinity to objects that have no life of their own.”
“The Sun is neither benevolent nor malevolent. It just is. Just like the earth, the seas, the sky, the air, the mountains, and every other aspect of nature.”
“Even so…”
Da Wei had laughed at her reluctance and explained further.
“How about this? Do you know what a Solar Flare is? As I told you before, the Sun is a massive ball of Plasma formed from the Nuclear Fusion of Hydrogen. Sometimes, this massive ball of plasma gives birth to a storm of energy on its surface, similar to what you would find in our world. Except, these storms, these Coronal Mass Ejections, release such a potent concentration of charged particles and radiation that it can be harnessed to travel the void using what are known as Solar Sails. These particles and radiation are also decidedly lethal to any living being caught in it.”
“Now, tell me. If we were to really consider the Sun as some form of a divine being or a god, would you call it benevolent or malevolent? It is because of the Sun that our world is warm enough for life to exist. It is the Sun’s energy that allows crops and trees to grow, filling the world with breathable air. However, it is also the Sun that filled the void with deadly radiation and particles that would have killed all life long ago if not for the protective magnetic field of our world. So, tell me. what would you call the Sun?”
It was this profound insight into the nature of things that allowed Da Ling to finally understand.
There is no God in this world, not even the Heavens as they only act as a stabilizing force and are unfeeling for any one type of life. There is nothing in this world to solely blame for all the problems in her life or the problems of the world.
The world, the universe, and everything in this universe exists, that is it. They are neither benevolent nor malevolent.
Everything in her life is hers to decide, and the consequences are hers to bear.
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Yaoban vibrated at ultrasonic speeds as Da Ling’s understanding of the sun and its power flowed through the blade.
Immediately, Radiation, charged particles, X-rays, and many other forms of energy shot forward from the blade in the Beast’s direction in the form of a tight beam of energy.
As the energy was traveling at the speed of light thanks to Da Ling’s understanding of such a concept, the beast was simply incapable of escaping such an attack, causing it to take the attack with its body.
The radiation and charged particles wreaked havoc across the beast's body, causing it intense pain as bouts of weakness started to engulf the creature.
And yet, it still showed its resilience as a peak Core Formation realm Demonic Beast.
The Scorching Stallion gathered its strength and stamped on its feet before taking off into the sky, intending to flee from the danger it found itself in.
As a Beast in the Core Formation realm, it could not fly for long distances but it is still capable of fleeing from danger.
Da Ling stared at the escaping beast and internalized her Qi, once again relying on her understanding of her technique to further confound the already stupefied group of Core Formation cultivators that were supposed to assist her but could only watch from a distance as these decades-old masters were proven weaker than a 12-year-old girl.
‘The Sun is the strongest object in the surrounding void in terms of gravitational force.’
‘As such, what is more powerful than it when it comes to manipulating the laws of gravity?’
Once again, the massive golden wheel manifested behind her back as the Great Sun Wheel Technique circulated her Qi according to her will.
Da Ling’s body started to emit a gravitational field strong enough to exert influence on her surroundings, forcefully attracting stones, trees, and beasts to herself.
Then, the gravitational field inverted, causing the girl to shoot through the sky at extreme speeds, easily catching up to the fleeing Scorching Stallion.
The Scorching Stallion put up a valiant effort, fleeing for several Li of distance as Da Ling leisurely chased after it. However, the beast soon ran out of energy and fell to the ground and Da Ling slowly descended.
If she had wanted to, she could have increased the intensity of her attacks and directly killed the beast. But her objective is not to kill the beast but to get it as a Dao Familiar for her master.
“You put up a good fight. It was indeed the right decision to target you as my Master’s Dao Familiar. Submit, and I will promise you a fulfilling life.”
The Beast remained on the ground, staring at Da Ling with a contemplative look before finally lying on its side and exposing its belly, a show of submission.
With that sight, joy erupted in the 12-year-old girl’s heart.
“Yes!! Master will be very happy with this gift-“
Unfortunately, fate had different plans for the girl as the stallion suddenly surged onto its feet.
Demonic Beasts are prideful creatures from birth. Their natural strength and talent made them look down on humans with extreme disdain when they gained sufficient emotional ability to feel such things. As such, it was a given that a beast would refuse to submit to a human that it did not know about and would rather submit to someone who had bested it in combat.
Before Da Ling could react, the beast touched its head to Da Ling’s forehead and channeled its Qi into the girl, causing a golden mark shaped like the sun to manifest on its head and a similar mark to manifest on Da Ling’s palm.
“W-What did you do??”
The girl screamed and slapped the beast that only neighed pitifully before fainting with exhaustion.
Watching the proceedings from the air, Jin Tianrui chuckled in amusement as one of the Core Formation realm experts held him up in the air with his Qi.
Descending from the sky, Jin Tianrui addressed his Senior Sister with amusement.
“it would seem that the Scorching Stallion would rather have you as its master instead of having Master as its owner. Congratulations, Senior Sister.”
“”””Congratulations, Lady Da ling””””
As Da Ling processed those words and stared at the mark on her palm, she finally collapsed to the ground and wailed loudly.
“WAAAAAHH! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO GIFT MASTER NOW?? I DON’T EVEN HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO SEARCH FOR ANOTHER BEAST!! STUPID BEAST!! YOU RUINED ALL MY PLANS!!”
Jin Tianrui shook his head with amusement and scooped up the wailing girl. He gently calmed her down as he spoke.
“Don’t worry, Senior Sister. I heard that Old Feng knew of something that Master had been searching for some time now. Maybe you can ask him about it and get it for master instead?”
Da Ling stopped wailing and finally looked up at Jin Tianrui with teary eyes.
“Really? You are not lying to me right?”
“Of course not!”
“Then, let’s go now! Oh, you four can return to the City Lord and thank him on our behalf!”
Jin Tianrui felt a whiplash at how quickly Da Ling perked up and could do nothing as she took out her airship and pulled him inside along with dragging the unconscious Scorching Stallion, immediately activating the Warp function on the thing and shooting straight toward their village.
Leaving behind a group of confused Core Formation realm cultivators who stared at the spot where the airship had disappeared.
“….What just happened?”
“…I don’t know. But, maybe we should return to the City Lord.”
“…Yeah. That’s a good idea.”
