“The more exceptional a bloodline is, the better a Spirit Beast’s or a cultivator’s aptitude will be.”

The Eland was busily gnawing some Vitality grains when Qai got near the Spirit Beast.

He patted it on its head.

Surprisingly it already possessed the size of an adult wild bear.

The Spirit Beast stopped from eating the moment Qai approached and immediately let him gently stroke its head.

From that scene alone, one could already see that two shared some kind of master and beast relationship.

Qai looked carefully at its pair of tightly spiraled horns—apparently, they fully grew within the year which easily revealed that the Eland already blossomed as an adult Spirit Beast.

Qai then thought of the Qilin blood.

He didn't want to forcefully make the Eland absorb the blood without the properly introducing what he wanted to do—however, he didn't know how to communicate with the Spirit Beast.

It wasn't the same case when he performed a blood contract with the Queen Ant.

In his mind, these Spirit Beasts also had their own thoughts and desires. And the last thing he wanted to do was to make them hate him.

And Qai felt that forcing the Eland to absorb something foreign to them might cause some misunderstanding.

The only solution he thought of was to ask the Queen Ant to let the Eland know his intention of giving a drop of Qilin blood to it.

Surprisingly upon doing so, the Queen Ant obliged and let Qai feel that she already made his message known to the Eland.

Thereafter, Qai pulled the bottle from his storage pouch and immediately flicked its cover in front of the Eland.

Instantly, a strong domineering aura of a mythical creature wafted from the bottle that even the Queen Ant felt fear.

‘What a powerful bloodline. Only a drop of blood and it already feels like I'm gonna be eaten alive.’

Qai made sure that the Eland felt relaxed by making some comforting tap on its head.

And once the Spirit Beast seemed assured, he then poured the drop of Qilin blood on to its glabella.

The blood immediately sank into the Spirit Beast’s forehead. In fact, the absorption happened so quickly as if the blood had a mind of its own.

The Eland, on the other hand, shivered as the drop of blood instantaneously scattered through its veins, visible to the naked eye, like growing roots.

The Spirit Beast’s body twitched.

And Qai worried that the blood might be too strong to handle. Obviously, it really looked as if it was in pain when the blood flowed fast through its entire body.

And while this was happening, the Spirit Beast’s dark brown coat gradually grew bright—and rich spiritual Qi energy overflowed from its very being.

Apparently, its Wind elemental attribute appeared to be having its own transformation.

Qai didn't know if the Eland could understand him but he told the Spirit Beast to circulate the spiritual Qi energy within its body.

At the same time, Qai sat down in a lotus position and cultivated himself.

Obviously, he didn't want to waste the spiritual Qi energy teeming off from the Spirit Beast.

Thereafter, the Eland’s fur visibly started to harden as light scales gradually appeared and its pair of horns turned into dark gold—plus its body grew even bigger.

As all these changes happened, its cultivation base began to slowly rise as well—breakthrough after breakthrough—from level 1 to level 2, to level 3, up to the great circle of level 3.

When the transformation stopped, there was just a thin hairline that separated its new cultivation base from level 4.

With astonishment painted on his face, Qai who was seated on the Spirit Beast’s side suddenly opened his eyes and watched as things miraculously happened.

‘A single drop of blood could do this!?’

Everything took only a few moments but Qai knew that the Spirit Beast would need more time to consolidate its new bloodline.

So he stood up and approached its face then once again lightly stroked its head. Then he made a gesture to the Eland to go and take some rest.

The Eland surprisingly obliged and immediately dumped its huge body on its favorite spot in the garden.

Qai felt overjoyed at what transpired and immediately requested the Ant Workers to tightly guard the valley.

“Don't worry Queen Ant, I will surely get that drop of dragon’s blood for you next time.”

Of course, Qai was referring to the other reward available in the sect’s Cultivation Pagoda.

When the Queen Ant received his words, the shadow below Qai suddenly danced in joy.

Spirit Beasts ordinarily had a longer lifespan than human cultivators and even if they had an innate aptitude for cultivation, they raise their cultivation base much slower.

Perhaps, the only redeeming factor for such snail-like speed in cultivation was that they hardly experienced bottleneck. And the only thing that could speed up their level was to find an external aid.

In short, like what the Spirit of the Pagoda mentioned, the drop of Qilin blood was a boon to Spirit Beasts. And the Eland’s transformation and its sudden surge of power were all due to that single drop of blood.

Qai was all smiles as he left the garden and went to his own room.

There were still around 2 to 3 more months before the competition.

And Qai planned to use this period to refine some formation Flags and, more especially, to sharpen his still nameless Intent skill he acquired to become a Grandmaster rank Knight.

And so he committed himself to training.

And right after he achieved a certain level of mastery over his new skill, he finally decided to give it a name.

‘Meteor Slash!’

Obviously, he got the inspiration from the ability of meteor to become incandescent and to appear as a streak of light.

Qai was around 18 years of age by this time and he was already a Grandmaster rank Knight.

If such an accomplishment happened back in his previous life, he would be seen as an unparalleled knight and a once-in-a-lifetime genius.

But in this cultivation world, not only was Qai a Grandmaster rank Knight, he was also a cultivator—and more precisely, a cultivator whose level was already very close to the great circle of the Qi Condensation stage.

‘I guess I have already shortened the gap between me and the so-called talented geniuses of my generation.’

Meanwhile, Qai’s followers, the Crag Brothers, had been busily refining low-grade talismans and medicinal pills.

Those were actually Qai’s orders.

The two brothers had already been in the early Foundation Establishment stage for quite some time and their newfound cultivation bases proved to be really helpful in their endeavor.

While Qai and his followers were yet to put up their shop, the group already possessed a considerable number of supplies to sell—from which some of the herbs in his garden was added in order to give their shop a variety of commodities.

And in his mind, some of his herbs would surely be a hit among lower realm cultivators.

During the same period, the two brothers had also been observing the many businesses in the city if there would be anyone selling his place, particularly the small shop owners.

One time, just few weeks before the designated time for the much anticipated tournament between the outer disciples of the 4 different sects, Qai and his two followers sat inside a teahouse enjoying a drink.

Unexpectedly, they overheard a startling news from few cultivators on a nearby table.

“Have you heard!? The Sect Master of the Precious Tree Sect summoned all the Patriarchs of the 8 clans in a secluded emergency meeting!”

“Is that true!? This has never happened before.”

The Crag Brothers who heard it told Qai that such thing indeed never happened before.

“Indeed. And if it’s true, then something big must be happening.”

“Must be related to the sect tournament.”

“I hope you’re right. But something doesn’t feel right.”

“Whatever it is, I’m already starting to feel ominous about it.”

Upon hearing the exchange, Qai let out a breath then looked intently at his two followers.

“You two try to get more information about this. I’m heading back to the sect and see what this is all about.”