I'm Just a Beast Tamer

"That’s simple enough."

Jiang Zuo said nothing, merely circulating his Blood God Skill slightly.

A dense surge of Blood Qi instantly erupted, shooting toward the heavens.

"That’s enough! That’s enough!"

Bu Yongrong broke out in a sweat, speaking hastily.

The Bu Family’s bloodline wasn’t particularly large. To ensure the Blood God Skill was passed down through the generations, the Bu Family Martial Arts Hall was responsible for recruiting those with the aptitude to practice it and teaching them the technique.

If they achieved success in their Cultivation, they would be brought to the ancestral land to continue their training.

The Bu Family could tell at a glance if someone’s Cultivation of the Blood God Skill had strayed onto a deviant path.

The Bu Family was also responsible for eliminating any disciples who went down such a path.

The Blood Qi Jiang Zuo displayed was not only pure, but also terrifyingly dense.

Bu Yongrong had been to the Bu Family’s ancestral land to train and had seen the contemporary experts of the Blood God Skill.

But not a single one of them had cultivated it to Jiang Zuo’s level.

"May I ask for your name, Grandmaster? I will report this to the ancestral land immediately. I believe someone will be here very soon."

Bu Yongrong asked admiringly.

"My surname is Sun, my given name is Heshan."

’A new alias is born.’ Jiang Zuo had originally intended to just call himself Sun He.

But his previous two aliases involved the Li River and the great sea, so using "River" again felt a bit too uninspired.

Since he happened to be on a large mountain when he came up with it, he reluctantly added "mountain" to the name.

...

「The next morning.」

A spirited, elderly man received Jiang Zuo in the martial arts hall’s main training area.

"Grandmaster Sun, please have a seat. I am Bu Family Elder Bu Qiyuan, and I’m currently responsible for all of the family’s external affairs."

"Bu Yongrong has already told me about your situation, Master Sun. I have great faith in his judgment. However, our Bu Family has not given out a keepsake in the last fifty years. Therefore, I would like to confirm which family elder gave you the keepsake in your possession."

Bu Qiyuan invited Jiang Zuo to sit and served him hot tea before speaking very politely.

Jiang Zuo had no objections and took out the simple, ancient keepsake.

"This is... Elder Bu’s keepsake?"

Bu Qiyuan took the ancient keepsake, his eyes widening as he cried out in astonishment.

"Elder Bu?"

Jiang Zuo asked, taking the opportunity.

Of the people he knew back then, few were likely still alive. Bu Yuehua was one of the only acquaintances he thought might still be in this world.

Bu Yuehua had left a profound impression on him. The phrase "Forbidden Words, not to be recorded, not to be spoken, not to be heard," remained fresh in Jiang Zuo’s memory even now.

Compared to over a hundred years ago, Jiang Zuo was a completely different person.

But even now, Jiang Zuo still couldn’t figure out how those Forbidden Words worked.

"Of course, it’s Elder Bu Yuehua!"

"Elder Bu is the most exceptionally talented person our Bu Family has seen in several hundred years! At the age of fifty, she broke through to the Innate realm and awakened her Cultivation Talent. She is now a Dao Foundation Cultivator in the Cultivation Realm with a boundless future!"

Bu Qiyuan spoke with immense reverence.

He knew that as a talented Martial Artist who had successfully cultivated the Blood God Skill, Jiang Zuo would learn of these matters once he reached the ancestral land anyway.

So, Bu Qiyuan didn’t hold anything back and deliberately shared these secrets that ordinary Martial Artists would never know.

He believed that once Jiang Zuo knew such secrets existed in the world, he would be absolutely unable to resist the allure.

Then, even if the Bu Family’s conditions were a bit harsh, he would agree to them.

’Bu Yuehua broke through to the Innate realm at fifty?’

’And she’s already a Dao Foundation Cultivator?’

Hearing this, Jiang Zuo couldn’t help but show a surprised expression.

He had sensed that Bu Yuehua was extraordinary back then, but breaking through to the Innate realm at fifty was still too fast.

’It seems the Bu Family has a few tricks up its sleeve.’ As someone who had basically used cheats to get where he was, Jiang Zuo didn’t believe that someone could break through to the Innate realm so young just by cultivating the Blood God Skill by the book.

"This keepsake was indeed given by Elder Bu; there’s no mistake. According to our records, she only ever gave out one. She even inquired about it later. I wonder if the keepsake you received, Grandmaster Sun, is related to that person from all those years ago?"

Bu Qiyuan deliberately avoided going into too much detail and changed the subject back to the keepsake.

"I’m not very clear on that. The keepsake, as well as the Blood God Skill I cultivate, all came from my master. But he never told me what name he used in the past."

"He said that he offended a powerful figure in his youth and was forced to hide his identity and change his appearance ever since. He didn’t want me to get caught up in his affairs, so he never told me about his past."

"He only taught me the Blood God Skill because he saw that I had a talent for cultivating it."

"Before he passed away, he gave me this keepsake and told me that if I achieved success in my Cultivation, I could come to the Ancient Beast Forest."

Jiang Zuo had already fabricated this story. He needed to establish some connection to the past, but he couldn’t get too deeply entangled.

"I see. It seems your master was most likely the person Elder Bu spoke of."

"Elder Bu once said that your master also possessed exceptional talent for the Blood God Skill. She said that if he came to the Bu Family’s ancestral land, he would surely achieve great things, and she instructed the family to treat him with importance if he arrived."

"To think that even a Grandmaster like him would encounter such a fate. The ways of the world are truly unpredictable."

Bu Qiyuan nodded and sighed.

"Do you have any preparations to make, Grandmaster Sun? If not, we can set off for our Bu Family’s ancestral land. If we leave now and travel quickly, we can arrive by evening," Bu Qiyuan then said.

Jiang Zuo, of course, had nothing to prepare, so he set off with Bu Qiyuan.

The two of them each mounted a fine, sturdy horse and galloped toward the Ancient Beast Forest.

Along the way, they saw some beasts with powerful auras lurking in the forest, but upon seeing the proud, head-high horses, they all retreated, not daring to approach.

The horses galloped on, and it was impossible to tell how far they had traveled.

As the sun began to set, the sky within the forest darkened rapidly.

At this point, it was unclear whether they had passed through the dense woods to another area or had simply reached the forest’s depths.

Suddenly, the path ahead opened up to a cliff. Sitting atop his horse at the cliff’s edge, Jiang Zuo could see rows of large courtyard estates below.

"Down there is where our Bu Family resides."

Bu Qiyuan pointed at the dense cluster of buildings and said with a smile.

A winding mountain path led down from the cliff’s edge. Following it for a short while, they arrived before a large gate.

"Elder Bu."

Two young servants came forward to take their horses. Bu Qiyuan then led Jiang Zuo to a guest room and told him to rest.

The next morning, after eating the breakfast brought by a servant, Bu Qiyuan came and led Jiang Zuo to a large hall within the Bu Family estate.

Though it was called a hall, it looked more like a training dojo. Aside from a few chairs placed at the front, the entire hall was vast and empty.

At the front of the hall sat the current Patriarch of the Bu Family, Bu Qiyang.

From their names, it was clear that Bu Qiyang and Bu Qiyuan were from the same generation.

However, Bu Qiyang looked much younger than Bu Qiyuan, appearing to be less than fifty years old.

Besides the Patriarch, Bu Qiyang, two young people who looked to be in their early thirties stood before him.

As soon as Jiang Zuo entered, this young man and woman began sizing him up with scrutinizing gazes.

Bu Qiyang did the same, but after just a couple of glances, he exclaimed in amazement.

"The younger generation is truly formidable! I never imagined, Grandmaster Sun, that you have already cultivated the Blood God Skill to such a realm! Grandmaster Sun, could it be that you have already reached Grandmaster Great Perfection and opened all one hundred and eight acupoints?"

’Grandmaster Great Perfection, with all one hundred and eight acupoints opened?’

Never mind the young man and woman; even Bu Qiyuan couldn’t help but stare with wide eyes.

"Impossible! At his age, how could he possibly have reached Grandmaster Great Perfection!"

Hearing this, the young man couldn’t hold back his doubt.

"I wish to challenge you to a battle. Do you dare to accept?" he declared forcefully.

Hearing this, Jiang Zuo looked toward Bu Qiyang.

"Our Bu Family’s ancestral land, the Blood Mist Forest, opens once every three years, and only one person may enter each time. These two are both extremely talented members of our family’s younger generation. The original plan was for them to compete this year to decide who would enter the Blood Mist Forest," Bu Qiyang said with a smile.

His meaning was obvious. The purpose of this meeting was for the three of them to determine a winner and decide the order of entry.

But now, Bu Qiyang had just said that Jiang Zuo was already at Grandmaster Great Perfection. If that was true, it meant Jiang Zuo would undoubtedly be the one to enter this year.

Jiang Zuo nodded upon hearing this. He looked at the two standing before him and said, "Why don’t you both come at me together? It’ll save me the trouble of acting twice."

’Since they’ve already seen that I’m at Grandmaster Great Perfection, I might as well show a bit more of my strength to avoid future trouble.’

"Fine!"

The young woman was also eager to test Jiang Zuo’s strength.

The Blood Qi in both their bodies surged, revealing their Grandmaster Cultivation.

For them to have already reached the Grandmaster realm at such a young age, their talent was clearly extraordinary.

With a flicker, two blood-red figures shot toward Jiang Zuo in unison.

Jiang Zuo released a hint of Blood Qi. He didn’t dodge or evade, allowing their fists to strike his body.

Then, he extended both hands and pressed them against their bodies.

The two were instantly sent flying as if struck by lightning, landing several dozen meters away.

In a single move, the victor was decided.

Moreover, Jiang Zuo had displayed no technique whatsoever; it was a pure crush of overwhelming power.

Seeing this, even Bu Qiyang’s expression changed.

Although he had discerned that Jiang Zuo was at the Grandmaster Great Perfection realm, he himself had harbored some doubts.

For someone Jiang Zuo’s age, it was simply too young.

Most importantly, Jiang Zuo had never entered the Blood Mist Forest. Without the subsequent Cultivation Technique for the Blood God Skill, how had he managed it?

That was why Bu Qiyang hadn’t stopped the two from challenging Jiang Zuo. He also wanted to see what the extent of Jiang Zuo’s strength truly was.

But the power Jiang Zuo displayed was far greater than he had anticipated.

Bu Qiyang strongly suspected that by the time Jiang Zuo emerged from the Blood Mist Forest, he would have Promoted to Innate.

"Alright, the match is decided. I imagine the two of you have no further objections."

Glancing over and seeing that the two had only been pushed back and were not seriously injured, Bu Qiyang knew Jiang Zuo had shown mercy and spoke up immediately.

He waved his hand to dismiss the others, leaving only Jiang Zuo and Bu Qiyang in the hall.

"I truly don’t know how you cultivated, Grandmaster Sun. Perhaps only our Elder Bu could compare to you."

"Martial Artists from the outside world who cultivate the Blood God Skill to the Grandmaster realm and come to our Bu Family can receive numerous benefits, including the subsequent Cultivation Technique for the Blood God Skill."

"It is even possible to obtain an Innate Technique, as long as one has the fortune and the strength for it."

"Of course, the Bu Family does this to receive some benefits in return," Bu Qiyang said slowly.

"And what must I give in return?"

Jiang Zuo nodded, unsurprised by this.

"If it were anyone else, I would impose numerous conditions. But you, Grandmaster Sun, have a boundless future. Our Bu Family asks for nothing else. We only ask that after you enter the Blood Mist Forest, you collect as many Blood Mist Flowers as you can."

"You only need to give half of the Blood Mist Flowers you gather to our Bu Family."

"Those Blood Mist Flowers are used for cultivating the Blood God Skill. If you feel you have no use for them, Grandmaster Sun, you can also trade the remaining half to our Bu Family."