"Gah! That guy's unfortunate! He met a beast at the Nascent Martial Spirit Realm! It would take me some time before I could respond to that."
Jasper was sure to be dead!
However, the monk still waited. He had to make sure the kid was dead.
Anyone who saw that scene wouldn't think otherwise, but it was someone who went under the Ancestor's Will and stole a portion of the
Under his spirit sense, he observed the snake for a long time as it rested. With the monk's master over his spirit sense, the snake didn't notice him.
In the next thirty minutes, the monk observed and found that the snake was still resting. There was no sign of movement.
"I guess I'm worrying too much. If a non-cultivator enters a beast's stomach, they wouldn't even last for a minute. I clearly saw him be eaten. It's already overkill."
The monk sighed in relief. Although he still felt bitter that such a promising young boy had passed away just like this, there was nothing he could do.
The monk shook his head. Carelessness might cause them to suffer, thus, he had to make sure and see that snake's demise.
"Can you give me a cultivation of the Martial Dominator Realm? I'll have to make sure the snake is gone."
— No need. The portion of the book has returned. —
"I see. That means the boy had passed away."
With that, the monk left filled with regret.
.
.
.
…
The snake opened its eyes and opened its mouth to spit out the teenager.
"Master, are you alright?"
Jasper was not only naked, but his skin was also nowhere to be found. His eyes have melted along with his tongue.
The only thing keeping him alive was the snake's spiritual energy pumping his heart.
Jasper was able to make the snake do this because it had now become his slave.
Meanwhile, Jasper was still conscious. He wanted to scream in pain, but couldn't. Keeping himself sane, he called out into the book, but it was unresponsive.
That was the backlash of this plan.
He had to exhaust his authority of the book to enslave a beast of this magnitude.
Jasper was no longer the master of the book, for now. At the same time, the book momentarily returned to the Ancestor to reduce his suspicions about Jasper.
However, the book had already done its job, and they would meet once again once he had accumulated power.
This plan consisted of three parts:
First. Jasper will use his [Authority] of the book and use its power to enslave a beast many realms above him. This will make it seem like he died. The book said that the Ancestor didn't know that it had already chosen Jasper as its new master; thus, the monk didn't know Jasper's full capacity. This will cease the Ancestor's wariness of him.
At this point, the book has already enlightened Jasper and made him a user of the
With a thought, Jasper willed the information from the system.
[Description]
—
Name: Jasper Langford
Authority: User
Rank: None
Race: Human
Cultivation: _
Privilege: 0
…
—
That was his basic information. He had already seen this before when the book was guiding him. The word "Cultivation" was not there before, but now it is.
Jasper has been enlightened. This made him clench his fists.
He willed again.
[Influence]
—
???: _
Kins: 0
Disciples: 0
Followers: 0
Slaves: 1
—
Just like what the book has told him. The system is… well, systematic.
[Expect a large number of followers and information in the future. The computer-like interface will help you navigate the system better.] The book told him. It had adjusted itself to what Jasper could easily use.
Jasper then looked into the [Slave Section].
—
Slave Count: 1
Unnamed (Dark Body Viper)
—
He looked further into the snake's basic information.
—
Name: Unnamed
Species: Dark Body Viper
Cultivation: Nascent Martial Spirit Realm - Seventh Stage
—
Jasper then spoke in his mind and named the snake Nyx.
"From now on, my name is Nyx." The giant snake lowered its head in front of Jasper.
He then commanded Nyx something.
Nyx paused before lowering its head.
"My pleasure to serve, Master."
Contrary to its words, there was unwillingness in the snake's voice. But as a slave, the snake couldn't hesitate to do his master's bidding.
Nyx burned some of its cultivation base and transferred it to Jasper.
Jasper's cultivation shot up to the first stage of the Body Tempering Realm and then into the second, third, fourth…
This stopped until Jasper was at the peak stage of the Qi Refinement Realm.
Meanwhile, Nyx's cultivation has considerably lowered.
No cultivator or beast in their right mind would do something like this. Even though Nyx's cultivation is realms above Jasper's, transferring cultivation this forcefully is far from efficient.
Jasper will get less than a percent of what Nyx loses. That's how wide the gap in their cultivation base was. Even a percent from Nyx's cultivation made Jasper's cultivation shoot up to the peak of the Qi Refinement Realm!
This is most probably a world record for any cultivator to reach the Qi Refining Realm this fast. On the other hand, Nyx's cultivation has dropped one realm, from Nascent Martial Spirit Realm to the Golden Core Realm.
It was a significant change.
That's not the end of it, though. To survive, Jasper burned up his cultivation base and used them to restore his body.
Using cultivation bases like currency, one would have to see it first to believe it. But even then, they would spat out blood if they witness one.
Cultivation is a long journey. To get to the next level, cultivators usually sacrifice a lot of their time and effort.
Jasper, however, didn't care. Reaching the Qi Refinement Realm this way was too unstable. He didn't like that either way. He only took Nyx's cultivation so he could burn it as well and heal his physical body.
At the same time, this is to fully refine his body.
Although he was a non-cultivator, Jasper never slacked off and learned the theories of cultivation. Right now, he's applying a theory to rebuild his body.
With the power of the surrounding qi, his body opened up and healed. Cultivation is painful as it makes a person anew. They have to destroy part of the self so they can build a new one.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, Jasper's body was already beyond repair. He had stayed within a Nascent Martial Spirit Beast's stomach for half an hour. If Nyx wasn't controlling its digestive system, Jasper would've died in the first minute.
However, it wasn't that safe either. If the monk had stayed for another ten minutes, Jasper would have certainly died.
After being released from the giant snake's stomach, Jasper was like iron submerged into molten lava. Now, he uses the cultivation base he received from Nyx as a 'hammer' to temper himself.
At the Body Tempering Realm, as the name suggests, the cultivator had to temper their physical body with the world's natural energy called Qi.
The first to third stages are tempering the bones.
The fourth to sixth stages are tempering the skin and muscles.
The seventh to ninth stages are tempering the organs.
At the peak stages of the Body Tempering Realm, the heart and all the vital organs are being tempered.
Using the Qi Refining cultivation base, Jasper 'hammered' his bones, breaking them before rebuilding them.
This was the most painful and cruelest thing he could ever do to his physical body, but this is also the most efficient way.
While Jasper focused on fixing his body, Nyx had become weaker and was no longer the king of the territory. Thus, it picked up Jasper and chose a great hiding spot.
Nyx guarded Jasper not just that night.
The snake beast witnessed Jasper's cruel 'cultivation method'. Even as a kingly beast, it has no confidence in enacting such methods.
Although the snake beast still felt bitter about losing its cultivation, seeing its new master go through this much suffering made it momentarily forget all about it.
Maybe submitting to this man was all worth it. Nyx recalled what happened when they met. It was sudden and overwhelming. The young man just went to the snake beast without fear and commanded it, the king of this forest, to submit to him.
Of course, Nyx didn't take it lightly and was about to kill this nuisance with one tail swift when a book entered the snake's mind.
Incredible might overpowered the snake's will. It was as if it had met the real king of the beasts, a dragon!
[Submit to this young man, my one and only Master. You will not regret it.]
Although it was a snake filled with vigilance, Nyx was still a beast at the end of the day. Beasts, out of all living creatures, respect strength the most.
However, that was not enough. As a beast, it also has pride.
[If you let my master enslave you and he could not overcome your will, I will choose you as my master instead. I am not sentimental. I always choose a stronger master.]
'I will become the owner of such a powerful cultivation manual?' Nyx didn't know what mysterious power and background this book had, but the fact that it was sentient and produced a will as strong as a dragon was enough to convince the snake of its value.
There was no way this snake beast would let this chance slip by!
"Remember your words, book."
[Of course]
Nyx then accepted Jasper's enslavement. However, the process was not smooth.
The enslaving process includes the conflict of one's will against the other. All beings have an instinctive desire for independence and freedom. Even if the snake voluntarily accepted the enslavement, it still has an instinctive desire to fight.
Nyx was curious as to how this young man would overcome its Beastly Will...
What happened next made Nyx's skull turn numb. Just remembering the conflict still shook him to his core.
When their wills clashed and Nyx's will instinctively fought for its freedom, the young man only made one move to win.
Gaze.