Victor's eyes were filled with excitement.
[Cultivation Manual created…]
[Ancient God of the Shadowing Skies]
It was a success!
Right now, his mind was being flooded with information about the cultivation manual.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, giving all of his concentration. He didn't want anything to go wrong at this point.
The Ancient God of Shadowing Skies was denser than the Skyworth Academy's cultivation manual by several times.
Not just denser, it was also extremely profound. It was several leagues higher than the academy's manual in terms of density, quality, and profundity.
If he were to estimate its quality, the Ancient God of Shadowing Skies would be at least Emperor-tier!
There were six known quality grades: Iron, Jade, Gold, Lord, Emperor, and Heaven.
Victor wasn't sure if it was Heaven-tier but he was very confident that it was not inferior to an Emperor-tier manual!
After he absorbed everything, he opened his eyes and let out a brilliant smile.
"Finished."
Restraining his excitement, he first deactivated the Ancient Eye to prevent any unfortunate accidents.
Before Victor went to business, he let out a long, deep breath first.
"Haa…."
He exhaled, calming himself down once more. To use any cultivation manual, one must have a stable and calm spirit beforehand.
A spirit that was unshackled by the world. It was called the state of Zen by other beast tamers.
After some time, Victor opened his eyes and reviewed the information about the manual.
The perfect cultivation manual for him, by the judgment of the Ancient Eye, was this…
[Ancient God of Shadowing Skies]
This manual channels the essence of a gigantic ancient beast with four long wings.
Victor attempted to visualize the first part of its contents. His mind emptied, reconstructing an image of a lively world.
He saw an ancient godly bird that stood on top of the sky, overshadowing the entire world beneath it.
Its wings stretched beyond the horizon, while each of its feathers shone with a dark, ominous glint, possessing incomparable sharpness.
Its eyes were like swirling light green voids, like an amalgamation of winds and storms. With its sharp talons, it roamed the entire world…
… Wherever the beast drifted, a trail of destruction and corpses followed. Until at the very end where swirling storms was left of the barren world.
Victor was taken aback.
'… This is the beast the Ancient Eye chose that was the most suitable for me?'
Well, he had no complaints.
Honestly, he liked the bird's appearance. He thought that the Ancient Eye chose very well.
As expected of something that came from the Ancient Gate… honestly, at first, he didn't expect too much.
A perfect cultivation manual was a tall, no, it was an impossible order. There was no such thing as a perfect cultivation manual.
There were only extremely suitable manuals and manuals that weren't compatible with the beast tamer.
Thus, when he told the Ancient Eye to create the perfect cultivation manual for him, he was actually aiming to create the most suitable one for him.
He requested the Ancient Eye to make a perfect cultivation manual because he wanted to see the results.
And he wasn't disappointed by the results in the slightest.
Victor smiled, trying to visualize the contents of the manual once more. He only visualized the first part.
Then, he began to absorb primal force using the manual. His body absorbed primal force at extreme speeds!
It was amazing!
If a beast-taming expert was here, they'd definitely have their jaws drop from his absorption speed.
Victor smiled and stopped absorbing for the time being. It's not good to overload his mind and body like this…
After such a grueling day, he needed some rest. He repeatedly utilized the Ancient Eye this day and that wasn't good.
He talked with Mirage about this issue once, and from what he understood: repeatedly exhausting mental energy can be both good and bad.
Good, because it can increase his mental energy reserves, thus allowing him to use the Ancient Eye more.
Bad, because it can make his psyche unstable and psychotic. In other words, it can turn him crazy.
Victor put the cultivation manual in the back of his mind. Then, he looked at his body, full of sweat.
"…"
He sighed and stood up, making his way to the shower. After this, he would go to sleep.
***
The next day arrived quickly.
Victor woke up and finished his morning routine. He took a bath, got some coffee, and ate for breakfast…
"Improving my strength is important, but morning routines are also important."
He couldn't stress that enough.
After he finished with everything, he went to his bedroom and sat down in a meditative position.
He visualized the contents of the Ancient God of Shadowing Skies and entered the state of Zen.
Victor cultivated diligently. With his hard work and the cultivation manual's quality, he absorbed primal force rapidly.
He estimated that around five to six hours, his first core would awaken.
Originally, he could awaken it shortly but he followed Mirage's advice and expelled all the primal force he had already absorbed prior.
This way, he was back to zero.
According to Mirage, filth and waste could affect the quality taste of a pure delicacy.
Victor followed his advice. Although he was in a hurry, he preferred to take the best possible path possible.
Effective and efficient, that was his motto.
***
Six hours passed.
Victor's body was sweating from the top down. But he was still in the same position since he started earlier.
Woosh!
At that moment, he opened his eyes.
The world seemed to have changed. It was as if he was the Ancient God of Shadowing Skies, overlooking the barren world.
His heart throbbed. His body seemed to be electrified by the sensation. This was it.
His core was finally awakening.
But…
Slowly, a green sheen shone from his body… Victor was expressionless before he sighed.
As expected, this body's talent was too low.
The cultivation manual helped him accelerate the process of awakening his cores and increasing his strength…
But it couldn't change his talent.
This was something extremely hard to change—Victor already expected this so he didn't feel that surprised.
He did feel like it was a waste.
The minimum requirements for the Skylar Scholarship benefits in the Annual Beast Colosseum were at least One Core cultivation realm and gold core quality…
He only awakened a Jade quality core.
'This is something out of my control. How troublesome, but it doesn't matter that much.'
Victor rubbed his temple before shaking his head. This was fine, he could still improve his core quality through special methods in the future.
The most important thing was that he stepped into the One Core realm, saving himself from immediate expulsion…
At this moment, Mirage's voice echoed in his mind.
[Master, come to the Ancient Gate. Something good is waiting for you.]
Victor's eyes lit up. He didn't waste any time and went to the Ancient Gate's domain.
If Mirage said it was good, then it must be good.
Thump!
Even though Victor was already here once before, the sight of the all-devouring void and the ancient Torii gate still amazed him.
Victor found Mirage quickly, resting beside three extraordinary statues. His eyes narrowed as soon as he saw the statues.
Each statue had different features, but he could feel a transcendent feeling from them similar to when he saw Mirage the first time…
But that's not the most important part. On each statue, there was an egg attached.
"This is?"
Victor walked to Mirage and asked, curiously.
[It seems you made a breakthrough, Master. Congratulations.]
"Spare me the formalities."
He shook his head. There was nothing to be proud of—he awakened a Jade quality core.
Mirage's ears twitched.
[Alright. To reward you for breaking through, the Ancient Gate sent these eggs as congratulations.]
[Master, you may choose your first companion beasts among these eggs.]
Victor was intrigued. He activated the Ancient Eye and appraised the egg from the left.
Then, he froze.
'This is…!'