TL: Etude
The two met face to face.
"Ye Tian, it's been months since I last saw you. What brings you here all of a sudden?" Yue Ling feigned annoyance.
"I've been out in the wilderness hunting ferocious beasts these past few months," Ye Tian said, slightly embarrassed.
Yue Ling was well aware that Ye Tian had left the Demon Sea Base. She was merely teasing him.
"What did you want to talk about?" Yue Ling inquired.
Getting straight to the point, Ye Tian responded, "I wanted to ask if you know of any way to tame a ferocious beast."
Yue Ling looked at him curiously, "I thought you already had two pets. Why are you asking me?"
"Cough, those two beasts were subdued through threats. I actually have no idea how to tame a beast," Ye Tian confessed.
"Threats?" Yue Ling's eyes widened. A beast intelligent enough to be threatened and acknowledge a master must be highly intelligent! Such intelligence suggested a beast would understand the importance of self-preservation and would thus submit. "You are really lucky," Yue Ling said, enviously.
Addressing Ye Tian's question, she answered sincerely, "There are several ways to tame a beast. The first method is like you did, through threats, although the success rate is very low. The second involves having a King-level individual extract the soul light from the beast, allowing others to absorb it and thus complete the taming. The third involves martial warriors with a Beast Control Talent who can directly control the beast. Most beasts in the Demon Sea Base were tamed by individuals with this talent. They use Beast Control Cards, which, once refined, can be used to control the beast. If you wish to tame a difficult beast, you can hire a talented individual, with the fees varying based on the beast's level. It's not like you're short on money."
"Beast Control Talent? Such a talent exists?!" Ye Tian was astonished. With this knowledge, he no longer had to worry. He could just replicate a Beast Control Talent himself without seeking help.
"Thank you," Ye Tian expressed his gratitude.
"Ha, we're friends, so don't mention it. But if you had contacted me later, I'd be in closed-door cultivation," Yue Ling added nonchalantly.
"Are you planning to break through to the Grandmaster Realm?" Ye Tian guessed.
"Exactly," Yue Ling nodded, "As a top-level cultivator, my success rate is 100%. Next time you see me, I'll be a Grandmaster. You've also reached the limit of a Great Martial Warrior. You should aim for the Grandmaster Realm as well. Only then will you have a lifespan of 200 years and access to even greater mysteries. There's no point lingering at a lower level."
"I understand," Ye Tian said, smiling softly without disputing Yue Ling. Whether or not she knew about forming a perfect foundation was irrelevant. For the vast majority of martial warriors, achieving a perfect foundation was merely a pipe dream. Thus, he didn't mention it or encourage Yue Ling to aim for it. He knew very well that it was impossible for her.
After having dinner together, they parted ways.
Instead of going home, Ye Tian headed toward the headquarters of the Beast Pavilion. The Beast Pavilion was a powerful organization that specialized in selling ferocious beasts. They had many branches within the Demon Sea Base. He had previously replicated a high-level Diamond Bone Talent from one of their branches.
This time, he went straight to their headquarters, believing that someone with a Beast Control Talent must be there. Once he located that person, he could easily replicate the talent.
As he entered the Beast Pavilion, a beautiful junior staff member enthusiastically introduced various beasts to him. Ye Tian was distracted, only half-listening, as he focused on replicating the talent.
"Whoa! Whoa!" Within a 600-meter radius, everything fell under Ye Tian's perception. The aptitudes of each ferocious beast and each warrior were clearly discerned by him. "What a pleasant surprise!" Ye Tian's face lit up with joy. Not only had he discovered someone with a Beast Control talent, but he also found an individual with an extraordinary cultivation talent.
Human: Li Pei
Cultivation Talent: Top-level
Beast Control Talent: High-level
Human: Zhao Ke
Cultivation Talent: Extraordinary
Fire Blade Talent: Mid
"Zhao Ke seems to be the head of the Beast Hall. He should be at the King level and also possesses a mid-tier Fire Blade talent. He's quite impressive. I guess among the King-level individuals, he is one of the stronger ones," Ye Tian thought to himself.
Without further ado, Extraordinary Cultivation Talent, Copy!
He had successfully copied two extraordinary cultivation talents before. Now, all he needed was to copy one more extraordinary cultivation talent to ascend to a level above extraordinary.
Originally, he wasn't in a rush to enhance his cultivation talent; his primary goal was to forge a perfect foundation. However, upon encountering such an extraordinary cultivation talent, not copying it would be foolish!
After copying the extraordinary cultivation talent, Ye Tian still had one more talent to copy. So, he copied the Beast Control talent of the aforementioned individual.
Having used up both copying opportunities, Ye Tian naturally wouldn't linger in the Beast Hall any longer.
"Little sister, I apologize; I have some matters to attend to. I'll come back to buy beasts another time!" Ignoring the young salesgirl's pitiful eyes, Ye Tian decisively left the Beast Hall.
Upon returning home, he couldn't wait to start integrating the Beast Control talent and the extraordinary talent.
The first to be integrated was the high-level Beast Control talent, which he successfully melded with ease, breaking only a mild sweat.
Half an hour later, Ye Tian began the integration of the extraordinary cultivation talent.
"It's going to hurt a lot, isn't it?" Ye Tian speculated.
This was the process of ascending an extraordinary cultivation talent to an even higher level; the pain it would bring was bound to surpass any previous experiences.
Taking a deep breath, Ye Tian initiated the integration with a thought.
Pain! Excruciating pain!
Ten or even a hundred times more painful than childbirth; had Ye Tian's willpower not been extraordinary, he might have passed out from the agony.
In Ye Tian's consciousness, each second seemed longer than a century.
After an unknown amount of time, Ye Tian finally emerged from the pain.
"It hurt so much; I really don't want to go through that again," Ye Tian said, though his heart contradicted his words.
If given another such opportunity, even if the pain were doubled, he'd willingly bear it.
"Let's see how the talents are now," Ye Tian checked his talents using the Copy Talent ability.
At that moment, he saw a brand-new level of talent— [Cultivation Talent: Morning Star]
"Is Morning Star a level above extraordinary in cultivation talents?" Ye Tian was filled with anticipation toward this new level of cultivation talent.