With the sleeping Byakko in tow, I made my way through the woods.

The beasts were rampaging everywhere in the forest. The presence in the core of the forest seemed to have done something that made all the beasts go berserk. I had to evade them, lest I found myself surrounded before I knew it. With [Kaleidoscope Eye: Mode Silver] and [Kaleidoscope Eye: Mode White] playing tandem to each other, it wasn’t that big of a challenge.

This stampede drew in all sorts of beast. I never realized there were this many different types of beasts living in the forest. It was a rare opportunity for me to get some nice traits. How could I let it go?

I made a huge arrow appear. It slowly started to rotate and gradually gained momentum. I infused more and more Qi into it. With the Qi Regeneration of twenty percent per second, I didn’t have to worry too much about running out of juice. I would be on full tank five seconds later.

After five minutes, when I was sure it had packed enough power, I released it.

With a large sonic boom, it made its way towards the target I had designated it. The recoil was so strong that even with , I was sent flying about ten meters back.

Ding!

You have killed a Core Formation Beast!

Congratulations!

You have gained +1089 essence.

Ding!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

Congratulations!

You are now at Qi Gathering Layer 8.

Ding!

Congratulations!

Your Skill has leveled up.

is now Level 4.

Ding!

Congratulations!

Your Skill has leveled up.

is now Level 4.

“Status!”

GENERAL

Name

Su Ren

Age

10 years old

Cultivation Method

Heart’s Yearning

Realm

Qi Gathering 8

(276/900 Essence)

Lifeforce

4510/4510 (Regeneration: 20% per second)

Qi

4450/4450 (Regeneration: 20% per second)

ATTRIBUTES

Strength

423

Physique

451

Movement

421

Control

421

Soul

445

Comprehension

432

Charm

55

Fate

35

INNATE TRAITS

Innards of a God

Kaleidoscope Eye

Photosynthesis

Eternal Stratum (Incomplete)

############

Heavenly Butterfly Flame

Bond:

Byakko (White Tiger)

QI SKILL LIST

Slot

Skill Name

Rating

Level

1.

Qi Arrow

Unranked

4/10

2.

Earth Steps

Epic

4/10

I nodded.

Still, I needed to find a bow for myself. An archer without a bow? It sounds so ridiculous that I want to dig a hole and bury myself in it. Besides, due to the way I released , I was not able to add my strength onto it. Qi was the only thing I used. Although it had great effectiveness, the time required to prepare and the strong recoil were big minuses. If I added a bow into the equation, the whole thing would be solved.

That was the mission of this expedition.

I had found the right beast.

When I surveyed the forest previously, I had found a centaur among the beasts. Centaurs had the appearance of a half man and a half horse. When I had observed it, it was carrying a mighty bow on it. As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted it.

I impatiently ran to retrieve the bow.

But things didn’t go as planned. When I arrived at the scene, the promised bow was nowhere to be seen.

“What the hell?” I cursed. I kicked the corpse of the beast in anger.

Then a certain possibility struck my mind. Unfortunately, I was not able to use [Kaleidoscope Eye: Mode Black] to verify my hypothesis. All it would have displayed was:

Centaur (Dead)

It wasn’t much of information if you haven’t noticed.

I hesitated. I felt slight aversion to eating a human shaped monster. Not that the upper region of the centaur’s body really looked like human. If I had to liken it, it was more like a hairy gorilla. Still, I couldn’t help but falter.

Steeling my heart, I lifted the beast and took it to a relatively deserted place. I willed flame to appear on my palms. It did. The flame didn’t give any sensation. It was like I was holding a normal thing. It felt surreal. I couldn’t help but feel that [Heavenly Butterfly Flame] was miraculous.

I started a fire and began roasting the meat.

The sleepyhead finally woke up. “What’s happening? Smells delicious~” Byakko muttered, rubbing his eyes with his paws. The smell of the meat must have woken him up. That glutton.

When we were about to dig in, a butterfly made out of flame appeared out of my body. It started to twirl around. I had almost forgotten that the flame was sentient.

“You want to eat, too?” I asked.

It started to fly up and down in an excited manner. I took that as a yes.

I separated a chunk, double its size and held it out to it. It took it with an excited gleam in its eyes.

Another mouth to feed. I sighed. Why was everyone around me so into food? Although Byakko didn’t eat as much as I did, he did eat a fair amount. By normal standard, he could be considered a really gluttonous beast. What’s more, his intake of food was increasing at an alarming rate. It could be said the same for me. Now, this little butterfly!

Ding!

You have consumed the meat of Core Formation Beast.

Congratulation!

You have gained +5 Strength, +5 Physique, +8 Movement, +8 Control

I gained no new trait.

I looked for another centaur. It wasn’t difficult. With all the beasts in frenzy, all sorts of beasts were out in the open with nary a cautiousness on them. In fact, I could already make out of more than fifty of them. This time I didn’t forget to use [Kaleidoscope Eye: Mode Black] to observe.

The status window of the centaur I was observing appeared in front of my eyes.

GENERAL

Name

Gongo

Age

107 years old

Race

Centaur

Realm

Core Formation 3

(675/4000 Essence)

Lifeforce

1540/1540 (Regeneration: 3% per second)

Qi

1520/1520 (Regeneration: 3% per second)

ATTRIBUTES

Strength

324

Physique

340

Movement

356

Control

356

Soul

307

Comprehension

306

Charm

17

Fate

7

INNATE TRAIT

Bow

Finally, a beast with a name. That was the first thing that struck me. Apart from Byakko, I had not seen any beast with name. At some point I had started to think that beasts didn’t have names. Apparently, they got it when they reached Core Formation Stage. I wasn’t sure whether there was something that was restricting them or some sort of culture.

The second thing I noticed, the more important one was the presence of the innate trait [Bow]. It seemed my conjecture had been right. The mighty bow I had seen was a trait, not equipment.

I charged a and killed it with a single shot.

Ding!

You have killed a Core Formation Beast!

Congratulations!

You have gained +1045 essence.

Ding!

You have leveled up!

Congratulations!

You are now at Qi Gathering Layer 9.

As far as stats went, I was stronger than most Core Formation Stage beasts and cultivators. Although I was lacking when it came to skills, I could make up for it with the numerous traits I possessed. No. It would be more accurate to say, the numerous traits put me at the top.

Roasting the meat, I ate it, accompanied by Byakko and the little butterfly.

Ding!

You have consumed the meat of Core Formation Beast.

Congratulation!

You have gained +4 Strength, +4 Physique, +7 Movement, +7 Control

Still, I was not able to get the trait.

This went on till I kill my 26th centaur. The little butterfly and Byakko accompanied me till the fifth and eighth beasts respectively. After the ninth beast, I was only able to get only single points in Movement and Control. It was similar to when I hunted the hawks. The reduction of points as I consumed the same thing again and again didn’t happen with Clear Spirit Fruits and other fruits. I couldn’t quite figure out how this whole world worked. It felt so random.

I ate and ate. Naturally, I took some small breaks in-between. Still, the amount of meat I ate surprised even myself. It was like I was discovering something new about myself everyday! Go figure!

Ding!

Congratulations!

You have acquired the trait [Bow].

“Status!” I wanted to check where I stood.

GENERAL

Name

Su Ren

Age

10 years old

Cultivation Method

Heart’s Yearning

Realm

Qi Gathering 9

(999/1000 Essence)

Lifeforce

4760/4760 (Regeneration: 20% per second)

Qi

4550/4550 (Regeneration: 20% per second)

ATTRIBUTES

Strength

448

Physique

476

Movement

474

Control

474

Soul

455

Comprehension

442

Charm

56

Fate

35

INNATE TRAITS

Innards of a God

Kaleidoscope Eye

Photosynthesis

Eternal Stratum (Incomplete)

############

Heavenly Butterfly Flame

Bow

Bond:

Byakko (White Tiger)

QI SKILL LIST

Slot

Skill Name

Rating

Level

1.

Qi Arrow

Unranked

5/10

2.

Earth Steps

Epic

5/10

I checked the details of my newly acquired trait [Bow].

BOW

Creates a bow according to your imagination.

(Note: You can upgrade the bow by ingesting materials)

I couldn’t shake off the feeling that this trait was tailor made for me. With [Innards of a God], I would have no problem upgrading it. Being able to come across such a trait made me glad that I had chosen the path of an archer. Whatever reservations I had before, disappeared altogether. I would walk this path to the end.

I activated [Bow]. The hazy outline of the mighty bow appeared in my hand.

A little bland, I thought. Then I thought back to the bows I had seen on TV and Internet on Earth. A hazy outline of the mighty bow in my hand changed to a sophisticated compound bow with three bowstrings.

When I pulled the bowstring, a notched itself. Charging for a bit, I released it with no particular target in mind.

Much better. I nodded in satisfaction.

What took me five minutes before took only ten seconds now. The amount of Qi spend was also less. My strength was also added to the final output. I felt very little recoil. Also, from the looks of it, I would be able to shoot arrow with more damage. Naturally, the prerequisite was, I needed to charge the more. It was everything I wanted and more.

If it wasn’t my bloated stomach that could eat no further, I would have gone in search of materials to upgrade the [Bow].

Ding!

You have fulfilled all the requirements to level up to a Foundational Stage Cultivator.

Would you like to level up?

“No!” I replied.

I had leveled up very quickly these past few days. There was a need for me to consolidate my strength. My body also needed to adjust to the new stat points I gained. Also, I had a feeling that it wasn’t wise to level up from one Realm to another quickly.

I will only level up once I have broken through the third shackle. I resolved.

The shackles served as bottlenecks. To break through from Qi Gathering to Foundational Stage, one was required to break through the first shackle. To break through to Core Formation Stage from Foundational Stage, the second shackle. To Nascent Soul, third shackle and so on.

I activated [Kaleidoscope Eye: Mode Silver]. The beasts were still rampaging. I still couldn’t understand how it was possible to get all the beasts this riled up. There was another thing that was puzzling me.

“Byakko, don’t you feel like going on a rampage?” I asked.

The little fellow who was lying next to me with a huge bloated stomach turned towards me and nodded. “My blood boils. Something inside me is telling me to go and rampage. But I am able to resist it.”

I nodded. Well. I couldn’t really understand. I could only shelve what I couldn’t understand for future. I opened the little guy’s status. It had been a while since I last did. He had grown a lot from that time.

GENERAL

Name

Byakko

Age

7 months old

Race

White Tiger

Realm

Foundational 3

(2876/4000 Essence)

Lifeforce

1540/1540 (Regeneration: 2% per second)

Qi

1520/1520 (Regeneration: 2% per second)

ATTRIBUTES

Strength

238

Physique

244

Movement

250

Control

249

Soul

232

Comprehension

227

Charm

29

Fate

21

INNATE TRAIT

Wings of the Heavenly Tiger

Bonded to: Su Ren

QI SKILL LIST

Slot

Skill Name

Rating

Level

1.

Heavenly Tiger Transformation

Epic

5/10

2.

Claw Swipe

Epic

4/10

3.

4.

A pretty decent growth. He still had been unable to learn new skills. I didn’t blame him. Beasts had it tough.

I closed my eyes and lay there. It felt good to be full.