I'm Just a Beast Tamer

Since Jiang Zuo began raising the Cyan Feathered Seagull.

In a flash, seventeen years had passed.

On this day, for the first time in a long while, a system prompt appeared before Jiang Zuo’s eyes.

However, it wasn’t because the Cyan Feathered Seagull’s racial talent had finished developing.

Instead, his Beast Pattern Drawing skill had finally leveled up to LV4.

——Beast Pattern Drawing LV4 (0/100,000): Your understanding of the principles and techniques for drawing Beast Patterns is now considerably deep. You no longer require Beast Blood to draw Beast Patterns. Furthermore, you can now deconstruct the mysterious script within Beast Patterns that generates Beast Pattern Power, and you have developed your own insights into this script.

’This darn skill is finally LV4. It wasn’t easy!’

Jiang Zuo sighed wistfully.

Back on Fire Mist Island, he could still restock on supplies like Beast Blood and talisman paper.

But after arriving here, his Beast Blood was quickly depleted.

Left with no other choice, Jiang Zuo had to start trying to draw without using Beast Blood.

This was extremely difficult. What’s more, his supply of talisman paper didn’t last long either and was soon exhausted.

With no alternative, Jiang Zuo could only practice on wood chips he carved himself.

His progress in Beast Pattern Drawing had already been significantly delayed during his seclusion in the deep mountains, and the situation was no different after arriving on the New Island.

Through Jiang Zuo’s relentless efforts, he eventually reached a point where he no longer needed Beast Blood or talisman paper to draw a Beast Pattern.

However, his success rate plummeted, only gradually improving much later.

As a result, leveling up his Beast Pattern Drawing skill ended up taking over twenty years longer than leveling up his Beast Tamer class, which was supposed to be the hardest to upgrade.

And even slower than Beast Pattern Drawing was Beast Pattern Engraving.

Without Beast Patterns, it was completely impossible to level up the skill.

Furthermore, during the periods when he was unable to draw new Beast Patterns, Jiang Zuo still had to use his existing ones to continuously sacrifice for the process of Refining the Stone Stele.

As for that blasted stone stele, Jiang Zuo had been continuously refining it for over a hundred years, but he felt he had only made a little over twenty percent progress.

Fortunately, he didn’t need to refine it completely to unleash some of its power.

It was still the most powerful weapon in his possession.

After Beast Pattern Drawing reached LV4, Jiang Zuo’s Spiritual Power received another boost.

In an instant, new knowledge flooded his mind.

It was a deeper understanding of the tadpole-like script that constituted the Beast Patterns.

"Roar!"

Jiang Zuo closed his eyes, carefully absorbing the new knowledge in his mind.

He suddenly opened his eyes and uttered a single syllable at an Iron Thorn Fish swimming a few meters away by the shore.

The syllable he uttered roughly meant ’rage’, but its pronunciation was completely different.

If the Jiang Zuo of yesterday had heard this sound, he wouldn’t have had any idea what he was saying.

Yet, when this syllable reached the Iron Thorn Fish, the black creature’s eyes instantly turned red, and it began to frantically attack its nearby companions.

The other Iron Thorn Fish were startled and scattered in all directions.

Left alone by the shore, the Iron Thorn Fish swam about madly with red eyes for a full minute before gradually calming down.

However, compared to a minute ago, its energy and stamina were severely depleted.

After uttering the syllable, Jiang Zuo also felt a wave of mental exhaustion.

’It really works, but the drain on my Spiritual Power is enormous.’

Unlike Beast Pattern Engraving, the effect of the syllable Jiang Zuo uttered was a one-time thing.

Even so, Jiang Zuo was thrilled by this ability, which was somewhat akin to the legendary Words and Laws Follow.

For now, however, he could only dabble with it or use it occasionally as a means of training his Spiritual Power.

It wasn’t yet practical enough to be used for anything else.

Besides the "Roar" syllable, derived from the Porcupine Roar Beast Pattern, Jiang Zuo felt he could also use a "Breath" syllable from the Turtle Breath Beast Pattern and a "Sight" syllable from the Night Cat’s Eye.

In addition to these new discoveries, the burden that Jiang Zuo’s newly drawn Beast Patterns placed on Pet Beasts was also significantly reduced.

This was because his knowledge and understanding of the mysterious script had deepened considerably.

After his Beast Pattern Drawing reached LV4, Jiang Zuo’s success rate in drawing Beast Patterns increased dramatically.

Three years later, Beast Pattern Engraving also rose to LV4.

——Beast Pattern Engraving LV4 (0/100,000): You have skillfully mastered the techniques for engraving Beast Patterns, effectively reducing the burden placed on a Pet Beast during engraving and significantly lowering your own stamina consumption.

Likely benefiting from his deepened knowledge and understanding of the mysterious script, the Beast Pattern Engraving skill not only further enhanced Jiang Zuo’s Spiritual Power but could also finally and effectively reduce the burden a Beast Pattern placed on a Pet Beast.

The drain on his own energy was also drastically reduced.

Now, Jiang Zuo could engrave ten Porcupine Beast Patterns in a row without feeling mentally exhausted.

「One year later.」

『Celestial Dao rewards the diligent! By continuously raising the Cyan Feathered Seagull, the avian race’s Flying Technique talent has been enhanced. You have obtained the Cyan Feathered Seagull’s secondary racial talent: "Weather Perception"!』

——Weather Perception: A secondary racial talent of the Cyan Feathered Seagull. By sensing changes in air pressure, humidity, and flow, you can perceive potential anomalous weather changes in the near future.

’Not bad. Just as I expected!’

Jiang Zuo was very satisfied with the Cyan Feathered Seagull’s secondary racial talent. The ability to predict the weather was an excellent Racial Talent Ability.

Next, Jiang Zuo tested the Ten Thousand Beasts Armor that used the Cyan Feathered Seagull as its primary element.

Previously, the Iron Thorn Fish version of the Ten Thousand Beasts Armor had boasted the highest defense among all his armors.

The Cyan Feathered Seagull’s Ten Thousand Beasts Armor had much weaker defense, but its flight speed was incredibly fast, and its movements were exceptionally nimble.

’In another five or six years, I’ll be able to leave this place. After that, I’ll just casually raise some birds and fish to light up their entries in the Ten Thousand Beasts Atlas.’

Jiang Zuo thought to himself.

Having successively raised three Pet Beasts—the Seated Mountain Eagle, Iron Thorn Fish, and Cyan Feathered Seagull—and turned their pages in the Ten Thousand Beasts Atlas gold, Jiang Zuo now had a rough idea of the energy value bonuses for the gold, blue, and gray pages in the Atlas.

A gold page provided a bonus of roughly 1,000 energy, a blue page about 10, and a gray page about 1.

Therefore, the most effective way to fill the energy progress bar of the Ten Thousand Beasts Armor was to nurture a racial talent, turning the Pet Beast’s page in the Catalogue gold.

When he thought about how he had been holed up on this Nameless Island for seventy years, Jiang Zuo couldn’t help but feel that time flew by incredibly fast.

However, it was like playing a game where he could constantly grow stronger, so Jiang Zuo never felt bored.

Besides, he wasn’t completely alone.

He could communicate with Great Black, Xiaoqing, and a large flock of Seated Mountain Eagles, even holding simple conversations with them.

Being with them, he didn’t have to worry about complicated schemes and intrigues. On the contrary, he found it quite amusing to watch their goofy antics.

But he hadn’t seen another person in so long, and he couldn’t help but feel some anticipation for the human world he had long been away from.

...

「Four years later.」

Jiang Zuo sat on the back of a Seated Mountain Eagle, gazing down from high above at the entire island below.

He had lived on this island for a full seventy-four years.

Now, it was finally time to leave.

Even now, Jiang Zuo had no idea where this island was located.

Trying to retrace his path back to Fire Mist Island across the vast, open sea was unrealistic.

When Jiang Zuo had first arrived, he hadn’t traveled in a straight line.

He had taken a winding route along the seabed.

The most effective way he could think of to return to the human world was to follow the Seated Mountain Eagles. He would follow their innate calling to the region just outside the Mysterious Island.

From there, the original generation of Seated Mountain Eagles had been able to find their way back to Fire Mist Island.

Jiang Zuo had never been to the location of the Mysterious Island itself.

This time, he would go with the Seated Mountain Eagles. Once they were finished competing for the fruit, he would head back in the direction of Fire Mist Island.

Of course, Jiang Zuo had no intention of actually returning to Fire Mist Island.

He was curious about what had transpired on Fire Mist Island and in Wangxiang Sea City after he left. But while seventy years was a long time for mortals, it wasn’t long enough for a Cultivator to forget certain matters.

To be on the safe side, he would not be returning to Fire Mist Island.

Without another nostalgic glance, Jiang Zuo turned his head, and the grand army of more than ten Seated Mountain Eagles flew majestically toward the Mysterious Island.

At first, Jiang Zuo worried that such a large procession might run into a merchant fleet or something similar along the way.

But it turned out he had been overthinking things.

Six months passed. From his perch on a Seated Mountain Eagle’s back, Jiang Zuo didn’t see a single ship the entire journey.

Above a deserted stretch of sea, the Seated Mountain Eagles began to circle, no longer flying forward.

’That’s where the Mysterious Island is. A little farther ahead is a Natural Illusion Array. You have to pass through it to enter the perimeter of the Mysterious Island.’

Jiang Zuo thought, looking out at the empty sea before him.

Although this was his first time here, he had already confirmed this fact from the memories of the numerous Seated Mountain Eagles that had made the journey back and forth.

Although Jiang Zuo wanted to go in and see it for himself, he ultimately shook his head.

The black fruits at the very top were not yet ripe; it would be pointless for him to go and would only add unnecessary complications.

Jumping from the air into the sea, Jiang Zuo watched as the flock of Seated Mountain Eagles continued to fly onward.

As they flew, they simply vanished into thin air.

「Six months later.」

The last batch of Seated Mountain Eagles emerged, having plucked their fruits.

With an Innate Seated Mountain Eagle on his side, all the fruits from the sixth layer in the last two rounds ended up in Jiang Zuo’s hands.

In a way, Jiang Zuo had single-handedly slowed down the maturation process of the black fruits.

A sky full of birds then appeared out of thin air, scattering in all directions.

Aside from a few non-Innate Seated Mountain Eagles that he kept with him, Jiang Zuo sent all the rest back to the Nameless Island.

Jiang Zuo then set off with these few Seated Mountain Eagles, following their memories back in the direction of Fire Mist Island.

During the return journey, Jiang Zuo found the time to have three third-generation Seated Mountain Eagles Promote to Innate rank.

With that, Jiang Zuo now had a total of twelve Innate Level Seated Mountain Eagles under his command.

After these three were Promoted to Innate, Jiang Zuo kept them in the Pet Beast Spirit Garden for most of the day, only letting them out at night.

Otherwise, with more than ten Innate beings flying together, even the fish in the sea below would be in a constant state of turmoil.

Jiang Zuo had now personally witnessed the baptism by the Power of Heaven and Earth a dozen times, and he had conducted numerous experiments on it.

For instance, Jiang Zuo had wondered if he could piggyback on the baptism of the Power of Heaven and Earth when another being was Promoted to Innate.

The answer, of course, was no. When the celestial baptism descended, no other Seated Mountain Eagle—even if it flew right into the blue light—could gain any benefit. The baptism only affected the one being promoted.

The blue light would pass directly through their bodies and land on the promoting Innate being.

Another month passed. He had no idea how far they still were from Fire Mist Island.

One morning, Jiang Zuo spotted several ships on the horizon.