After absorbing the Third Spirit Ring, Ning Bei's Soul Power reached a terrifying level 36. While level 36 might not sound incredibly high, it's important to remember that Ning Bei was still only nine years old.
The Eight Petal Immortal Orchid contributed nearly 8 levels of Soul Power cultivation to Ning Bei, and the 8,000-year Spirit Ring he absorbed, which was beyond his usual absorption limit, also added more than 2 levels of Soul Power.
This massive increase made Ning Bei hesitant to continue cultivating for a period. Instead, he focused on solidifying his current level to prevent his Soul Power from becoming unstable.
During this time, Sword and Bone, serving as his "tool Douluos," began making frequent trips to the Star Dou Great Forest, capturing numerous Soul Beasts to test the efficacy of the Pill Tower's aroma.
Everyone discovered that the aroma from the third floor of the Pill Tower could help Soul Beasts just over 10,000 years old grow. However, its effectiveness significantly decreased for those over 12,000 years, and it had no effect on those over 15,000 years.
This outcome was within Ning Bei's expectations. The mass production of 100,000-year Soul Beasts was still a long and arduous process.
One day, as Ning Bei was consolidating his cultivation, Ning Tao informed him that Ning Fengzhi wanted to see him in the Council Hall.
Though Ning Bei was curious, he didn't ask further questions.
Upon arriving at the Council Hall, Sword and Bone were already there. Ning Bei greeted them and then stood before the three of them.
"Father, Grandpas, why did you call for me?"
Ning Fengzhi didn't answer. He waved to a servant, and shortly after, several Sect deacons pushed a small iron cage into the hall.
Looking at the small beast in the cage, glaring fiercely and baring its fangs at everyone, Ning Bei felt a surge of confusion.
"This is..."
Chen Xin then spoke up, clearing his doubts.
"This is a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear. Old Bone found it when he went to the Star Dou Great Forest to capture Soul Beasts. The bloodline of this Soul Beast is incredibly powerful. It's said that once it reaches 10,000 years of cultivation, it can contend with other 100,000-year Soul Beasts."
"A Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear!"
Ning Bei exclaimed in surprise. Of course, he knew about the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear. The true form of Bear Lord, who resided in the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest, was a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear.
That was a ferocious beast capable of cultivating to nearly 500,000 years, even capable of injuring Di Tian.
"Father, Grandpas, do you want me to raise this little bear?"
Ning Fengzhi nodded, looking at Ning Bei.
"Exactly. This Soul Beast has immense potential, and it's currently just a cub, less than a hundred years old. If you can forge a friendship with it now, then once it fully matures, you will have an incredibly powerful companion."
Sword and Bone, standing nearby, also nodded, agreeing with Ning Fengzhi's assessment.
Upon hearing this, Ning Bei approached the cage and looked at the small beast inside. Though young, the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear already showed glimpses of its Beast King potential. It showed no fear towards the cultivators, who far outranked it, but instead roared angrily at Ning Bei, who was looking at it. Its terrifying claws ceaselessly scraped against the specially made iron cage, producing a grating metallic sound.
Seeing this, Ning Bei summoned the Pill Tower and extended it towards the little one.
Upon seeing the Pill Tower, the small bear immediately dropped its fierce demeanor and, with a look of pure bliss, reached its paws out of the cage, trying to touch the Pill Tower.
Ning Bei, seeing this sight, ordered someone to open the cage. With Sword and Bone cautiously on guard, he coaxed the small bear out of the iron cage and placed the Pill Tower in front of it.
Released from its confinement, the small bear scurried on its tiny paws towards the Pill Tower. Its small face rubbed against the tower's body, just like the Red Cloud Elk before it, displaying an expression of pure enjoyment. It even let out soft whimpers, like a little puppy.
Ning Bei, seeing this, tentatively stroked the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's small head. Seeing no resistance, he boldly started petting it.
Sword and Bone, the two Douluos nearby, also lowered their guard. Sure enough, no Soul Beast could resist the allure of Ning Bei's Pill Tower.
Ning Bei looked at the small bear, which was continuously rubbing against the Pill Tower and absorbing its aroma, and playfully quipped:
"Just now, you were acting all fierce, but now you're rubbing up against it. It's like 'beasts will never be slaves, unless they get free food and lodging,' right?"
And so, Ning Bei acquired a beast companion that needed careful nurturing. However, besides the Pill Tower's aroma, there was also the added expense of food. Don't let the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's small size fool you; it ate like a Taotie, easily devouring food heavier than itself.
But this small expense was nothing to Ning Bei, who had the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect as his backer. Even without the Sect's support, Ning Bei could afford to raise it just by selling pills.
Ning Bei named it A Bao.
The Pill Tower's third-floor aroma could increase A Bao's cultivation by 4 years daily. This meant that if it stayed on the third floor for a year, it would gain approximately 1,500 years of cultivation. By then, A Bao would possess battle power not inferior to a 10,000-year Soul Beast. This was the effect when only A Bao was kept on the third floor; if multiple Soul Beasts were supplied simultaneously, the effect would be greatly diminished.
Ning Bei's other beast companions, like the Hurricane Hunting Falcon and the Golden Armor Battle Bear, nearly turned red-eyed seeing the treatment A Bao received. However, A Bao's bloodline seemed to have a natural suppression over ordinary Soul Beasts, and these Soul Beasts dared not provoke it. This was especially pronounced with the Golden Armor Battle Bear, which was also a bear-type Soul Beast.
When A Bao appeared before the Golden Armor Battle Bear, the latter would prostrate itself on the ground, as if seeing an emperor.
A few days passed, and the small bear A Bao became extremely attached to Ning Bei. This was understandable; after all, "he who provides the milk is mother."
Due to the academy's semi-annual holiday, Ning Bei, who had missed many days of class, was directly put on holiday. As for being expelled, you only needed to consider who was behind Ning Bei. Even setting aside the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, the First Prince, Xue Qinghe, was someone they couldn't afford to offend.
Ning Bei resumed his routine life of cultivation, pill-making, nurturing Soul Beasts, and petting Rongrong. After learning to walk, Rongrong loved following Ning Bei around, not just for the pleasant scent of the pills, but also because of the adorable small bear.
At Ning Bei's instruction, Ning Rongrong could also freely pet the bear. A Bao dared not resist, otherwise it would face the threat of being cut off from the Pill Tower. This made A Bao demand to hide back in the Pill Tower whenever it saw Rongrong, but Ning Bei ignored it. If I take you back, won't Rongrong just come to pet me instead?
Yes, after being petted by Ning Bei for half a year, Rongrong had also successfully learned to pet back. If Ning Bei didn't let her, she would cry at the top of her lungs. With a "rather you than me" mentality, Ning Bei handed A Bao over to Rongrong, telling her to pet it however she wanted.
After all, the feel of a beast was much better than a human. After petting A Bao twice, Rongrong completely fell in love with the feeling. She then abandoned the stiff Ning Bei and threw herself into A Bao's embrace.
Initially, Ning Fengzhi and the others were worried that A Bao might accidentally harm Rongrong, but after seeing its human-like, submissive expression, they relaxed and didn't bother with it anymore.
The pills sold by the Seven Treasure Chamber of Commerce were highly sought after by mercenaries. Various types of pills for healing injuries and restoring Soul Power were always in short supply, especially since the effects of the same type of pills could stack. This made it feel as if they carried a mobile spring during Soul Hunting, drastically reducing their casualty rates.
Upon seeing the immediate effects of these pills, these mercenaries abandoned Support Soul Masters and flocked to Seven Treasure City to seek out pills. This left Support Soul Masters in a miserable state; now, Support Soul Masters even had to pay to obtain Spirit Rings. How could they even begin to complain about this?
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