Chapter 22: Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear
After absorbing the third soul ring, Ning Bei's soul power reached a terrifying level of 36. It's not that level 36 is exceptionally high; after all, Ning Bei was still only 9 years old.
The Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid brought Ning Bei almost 8 levels of soul power, and the over-leveled 8,000-year soul ring further boosted his soul power by over 2 levels.
The massive boost made Ning Bei wary of continuing his cultivation for further power, so he focused on consolidating his current level to avoid any instability.
During this period, Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo also started making trips to the Star Dou Forest to catch soul beasts, testing the effect of the Dan Tower's danxiang (pill fragrance).
They found that the third level of Danxiang could already help soul beasts of around 10,000 years old grow, but for soul beasts over 12,000 years old, the effects were greatly diminished, and for those over 15,000 years old, there was no effect at all.
This situation was expected by Ning Bei and the others; mass-producing 100,000-year soul beasts was still a long-term goal.
One day, Ning Bei was consolidating his cultivation when Ning Tao notified him that Ning Fengzhi wanted him to come to the council hall.
Though Ning Bei was puzzled, he didn't ask further questions.
Arriving at the council hall, he saw Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo were also there. After greeting them, he stood before the three.
"Father, Grandpa Sword, Grandpa Bone, what's the matter?"
Ning Fengzhi didn't answer right away. He waved at the servants, and soon, several sect elders pushed a small iron cage into the hall.
Looking at the small beast inside the cage, with its vicious face and claws swiping at the air, Ning Bei was filled with confusion.
"What is this?"
At this moment, Chenxin spoke to clarify his question.
"This is the Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear. Grandpa Bone found it in the Star Dou Forest. This soul beast has terrifying bloodline power. Once it reaches 10,000 years of cultivation, it's said to be able to rival other 100,000-year soul beasts."
"Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear!"
Ning Bei exclaimed in surprise. Of course, he knew about the Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear. The core area of the Star Dou Forest, where the Beast King resides, is dominated by the Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear.
This beast can reach close to 500,000 years of cultivation, and it's even strong enough to harm Di Tian.
"Are you asking me to cultivate this little bear?" Ning Bei asked.
Ning Fengzhi nodded and looked at Ning Bei.
"That's right. This soul beast has great potential. Right now, it's still a young one under 100 years old. If you can establish a bond with it, once it grows, you'll have a powerful ally by your side."
Both Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo nodded in agreement with Ning Fengzhi's opinion.
Ning Bei approached the cage and looked at the little beast inside. Although the Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear was young, its potential to become a beast king was already apparent. Despite the fact that the people around it were far stronger, it wasn't afraid at all. It angrily roared at Ning Bei, swiping its claws at the special iron cage, making a harsh metallic noise.
Ning Bei, seeing this, summoned the Dan Tower and moved it in front of the little bear.
As soon as the little bear saw the Dan Tower, it immediately retracted its fierce behavior and reached out eagerly toward the tower, its face filled with ecstasy. It rubbed against the tower's surface, letting out little puppy-like sounds.
Ning Bei, seeing this, had the cage opened. Under the careful vigilance of Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo, he led the little bear out of the cage and placed the Dan Tower in front of it.
The little bear, free from its cage, scampered toward the Dan Tower. Its small face rubbed against the tower, much like how the red cloud deer had acted before, showing an expression of pure enjoyment as it made little whimpering sounds.
Ning Bei, seeing this, tentatively patted the Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear's little head. When it didn't show any signs of resistance, he boldly started rubbing it.
Seeing this, Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo lowered their vigilance. Sure enough, no soul beast could resist the allure of Ning Bei's Dan Tower.
Ning Bei, watching the little bear continuously rub against the Dan Tower, chuckled.
"It was just a fierce little thing, and now it's rubbing up against me. Is this 'Beastmen never serve unless food and shelter are provided'?"
And just like that, Ning Bei gained a pet beast that needed special training. However, aside from the cost of the Danxiang, there was the additional expense of food. Despite the Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear being small, it ate like a glutton, easily devouring food heavier than itself.
However, this expenditure was nothing for Ning Bei, who was backed by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School. Even without the sect's support, Ning Bei could afford to feed it with his pill sales.
Ning Bei named it Ah Bao .
The Danxiang on the third floor of the Dan Tower could help Ah Bao increase its cultivation by 4 years every day. This meant that after staying on the third floor for a year, Ah Bao would gain around 1,500 years of cultivation, giving it strength comparable to a 10,000-year soul beast. Ning Bei had only left it on the third floor, as if he were to feed multiple soul beasts simultaneously, the effects would be significantly reduced.
Ning Bei's other pets, like the Hurricane Hunting Falcon and the Golden Armored War Bear, were jealous of Ah Bao 's treatment. But it seemed that the Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear's bloodline naturally suppressed other soul beasts. They dared not touch its claws, and this was particularly evident with the Golden Armored War Bear, a fellow bear soul beast.
When Ah Bao appeared in front of the Golden Armored War Bear, the latter immediately bowed down, as if seeing an emperor.
After a few days, little Ah Bao became incredibly clingy toward Ning Bei, which was understandable. A milk source is always the preferred choice.
Since the academy had entered its bi-annual holiday period, Ning Bei took a break from class after missing several days. As for expulsion? Who would dare expel Ning Bei? Not to mention the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, even Crown Prince Xue Qinghe was someone they couldn't afford to mess with.
Ning Bei returned to his regular routine of cultivation, pill-making, nurturing soul beasts, and playing with Rongrong. After Rongrong learned to walk, she became quite fond of following Ning Bei around, not only because of the pleasant pill scent but also because of the adorable little bear.
At Ning Bei's suggestion, Rongrong could now freely play with the bear. Ah Bao wouldn't dare resist, as it feared the threat of the Dan Tower. Now, whenever Ah Bao saw Rongrong, it would run back to the Dan Tower, but Ning Bei didn't care. He knew that if Ah Bao were put back, Rongrong would come back to "play" with him.
Yes, after being "rubbed" by Ning Bei for half a year, Rongrong had learned how to return the favor. If Ning Bei didn't let her, she would scream and cry. With the mentality of "death before dishonor," Ning Bei handed Ah Bao to Rongrong, telling her, "Do whatever you want."
After all, the sensation of rubbing a beast was much better than a human. After a couple of tries, Rongrong completely fell in love with it and abandoned the hard-bodied Ning Bei in favor of Ah Bao 's embrace.
Initially, Ning Fengzhi and the others were concerned that Ah Bao might accidentally harm Rongrong, but after seeing its almost human-like gentle expression, they felt at ease and no longer worried about it.
The pills sold by the Seven Treasure Merchants were wildly popular among the mercenaries. Various types of healing and soul power recovery pills were always in high demand, especially since pills of the same type could stack their effects. This made their hunting expeditions much safer, significantly reducing casualties.
The mercenaries, seeing the immediate effects of the pills, abandoned auxiliary soul masters and flocked to Seven Treasure City in search of pills. The auxiliary soul masters, however, were in a tough spot. Now, even they had to spend money to get soul rings. Where was the justice in that?
(END CHAPTER)
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