"Seems like I'll have to stir up more of these battles in the future."
"After all… they're just monsters. Let them tear each other apart."
And with that thought, Tian Shen continued soaking in his gains, preparing for the next big harvest.
__________
『Host』: Tian Shen
『Cultivation』: 9th Stage of Qi Refining Realm
『Physique』: 2860
『Spirit』: 1500
『Qi』: 1720
『Luck』: 1110
『Charm』: 920
『Martial Arts Experience』: 5000
『Martial Art』: Poison Aura Finger (Tier-2) – Mastery
『Divine Power』: Beastial Sword Intent
『Undistributed Attributes』: None
__________
The attributes displayed on the panel were jaw-dropping.
Four of them had already reached the level of a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator.
In other words—
This latest monster melee had elevated Tian Shen's stats beyond the realm of any ordinary cultivator in his region.
Even in the long history of the Beast Taming Sect, only one person had ever reached such a level.
And that person was none other than the sect's founding ancestor.
The only regret?
Tian Shen had failed to accumulate enough Charm Points—otherwise, he might have already qualified for a breakthrough to the next major realm.
"I can't be greedy… I can't be greedy! Even though the charm points fell short, every other attribute gained over a thousand points on average!"
Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Tian Shen steadied himself and turned his gaze back toward the valley ahead.
His power had grown immensely.
He now stood at a level comparable to a 1st stage of Foundation Establishment Realm —
So the beasts lurking within the valley no longer seemed so terrifying.
"But…"
A grin stretched across his face.
"System, upgrade Basic Poison Finger!"
Whoosh—
A
The five thousand martial arts experience points vanished from his panel in an instant.
A mysterious surge exploded in Tian Shen's mind, making him stagger. A brief sting of pain struck his consciousness.
Fortunately, the sensation faded quickly.
Moments later, Tian Shen focused inward again. The arcane insights that once felt esoteric now seemed as simple as elementary arithmetic.
__________
『Martial arts』: Poisonous Finger
『Tier』: Tier-3
『Comprehend stage』: Master (5000 Exp)
『Tier upgrade requirement』: 5000 Exp
__________
His Basic Poison Finger had evolved—
Now renamed Poisonous Finger, a proper Tier-3 technique.
In this novice village, he had spawned, something like this is quite valuable.
In fact—
Within the Beast Taming Sect, there were likely no more than four Tier-3 Martial techniques total.
Each one was a closely guarded treasure.
Only the Sect Master had unrestricted access to them.
Others had to earn massive contributions—often taking years to accumulate.
At present, less than five individuals in the entire sect were known to have access to those techniques.
The reason?
Such techniques were exceedingly difficult to cultivate.
It was said that Sect Master Feng Yan spent six months just to reach the beginner level of a Tier-3 sword technique.
And that was only the beginning.
Reaching minor success, mastery, or peak level was even harder.
Even someone as talented as Yang Yunlang might never bring that technique to full mastery in his lifetime.
And yet—he was the Sect Master.
If someone like him struggled, what hope did others have?
But for Tian Shen—
That problem didn't exist.
As long as he had martial experience points, he could improve without limit.
That said…
The recent battle against the beast horde didn't earn him any more practice experience.
After all, low-level beasts didn't cultivate martial techniques.
Martial experience could only be obtained from practitioners who cultivated real arts.
And those practitioners didn't have to be human.
"Poisonous Finger… A lethal strike infused with deadly spiritual Poison. One move, and it scorches the cultivator's spiritual Qi!"
"Tch tch…"
"I never expected the upgraded technique to be this broken. A strike that can easily incapacitate anybody!"
"That means I can already kill a Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator."
Tian Shen laughed, elated.
"This technique lets me leap across entire cultivation stages to defeat stronger foes!"
"Even those 2-star peak monsters hiding deep within the valley… they're nothing in front of me now!"
But then—
His expression turned serious.
"Still, I can only use it fifteen times with my current Spiritual Qi reserves."
"So that's the purpose of Spiritual Qi… it works as energy that fuels powerful techniques."
"Tch~"
After organizing his newly gained strength, Tian Shen wasted no more time.
With a flash of motion, he charged toward the valley like lightning.
Rushing to the depths, but there was something lurking in the darkness he didn't know of— A secret.
A terrifying secret.
A secret so dreadful, just remembering it made his heart chill.
Long ago—
The Beast Taming Sect's founder chose to establish the sect here in Beast Taming Mountain for one reason:
He had discovered the ruins of a powerful Core Formation Realm cultivator's cave dwelling!
A Core Formation Realm—a realm beyond Foundation Establishment.
No Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator existed in the entire northern region, let alone the Core Formation Realm one.
If the Beast Taming Sect could uncover the inheritance buried within…
They could rise from a mere ninth-rank force to an eighth- or even seventh-rank powerhouse.
But…
Later on, the Beast Taming Sect's ancestors discovered a shocking truth—
The so-called cave dwelling was a trap all along.
It wasn't an inheritance left behind by a Core Formation Realm cultivator.
It was a carefully laid snare, set by powerful monster beasts, with one goal:
To slaughter countless human cultivators.
The Beast Taming Sect did everything in their power to seal the area.
In the process, their founding ancestor was gravely wounded.
Not long after, he passed away from his injuries.
After his death, a few elders who were aware of the truth proposed relocating the sect, abandoning Beast Taming Mountain entirely.
But the generations that followed lacked the strength and determination to follow through.
None of them were able to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, let alone to Core Formation Realm.
And without the strength to back their words—
They had no right to choose their territory.
No one would respect or make space for a weak sect, no matter how noble its history.
And although the Northern Region was vast…
The size of the entire cultivation plane was hundreds, maybe thousands of times larger than Tian Shen's previous habitat.