Chapter 16

As soon as the little marten was placed on the ground, it immediately leaped, transforming into a streak of white light, attempting to escape.

However, Tang Gu wore a half-smile, and with a circle of his left hand, the fleeing marten suddenly hit an invisible wall of air, causing it to collide and become dizzy, its eyes seeing stars. It tumbled and fell back, staring at Tang Gu, who was sitting on the ground, with a mix of shock and suspicion.

Tang Gu closed his eyes, seemingly ignoring it. The little marten waited for a while, and when it saw that Tang Gu still showed no signs of movement, it leaped again.

This time, the collision was even harder. It was directly thrown back with a "thud," landing in a daze, groaning as if its bones were broken.

The little marten learned its lesson this time and didn't try to run. Instead, it started pacing around Tang Gu, front and back. Seeing that Tang Gu didn't open his eyes and seemed to be truly asleep, its wise eyes turned, thinking that perhaps what happened earlier was just a hallucination...

Thinking this, it cautiously used its front paws to shield its eyes, stood up, and took a peek at Tang Gu. Seeing that he was indeed still meditating with his eyes closed, it rolled its eyes and, this time, circled around Tang Gu from behind, heading for a corner of the withered bushes, trying to escape his surveillance.

But just then, the ground suddenly shook, as if struck by a powerful force. It was once again thrown back and landed right in front of Tang Gu...

After seven or eight such attempts... even when it clearly saw Tang Gu asleep and waited for one or two hours before cautiously trying to escape, a branch would suddenly appear in its path, blocking its way, moving wherever it went.

Finally, it gave up. Whether Tang Gu was really asleep or not, it no longer tried to run. It stayed by Tang Gu's side, sometimes even jumping onto his knee to play. Tang Gu didn't object at all, letting it do as it pleased.

Three days passed in a flash.

The little marten's injuries had almost fully healed, and it had also become accustomed to Tang Gu's presence, no longer fearing him. However, every time it tried to escape, it would either hit an invisible wall, the ground would suddenly shake, or a branch would block its path, causing it great distress. With its small brain, it couldn't figure out why such strange things kept happening.

It seemed that as long as it tried to leave the fifty-zhang range around the gray-robed man, it would be hit back.

Tang Gu finally decided to use it to learn how to control beasts.

Controlling beasts, as ancient texts recorded: "In the deep forests and steep ravines, it is as if by nature, strange birds and tamed beasts fly and walk among them."

"Who says that at the end of a song there is nothing to offer? The tamed beasts dance gracefully on the stage."

Initially, people trained horses, dogs, elephants, lions, tigers, and other animals to follow commands and perform various tricks, but this gradually evolved.

Since humans learned to cultivate, they discovered that the world was filled with countless strange beasts, each with unique powers. If humans could capture and tame these beasts for their own use, it would greatly enhance their abilities.

Thus, humans began to specifically capture large fierce beasts, taming them as mounts or battle beasts. They also captured beasts with special abilities for treasure hunting, reconnaissance, or message delivery, each with its own purpose.

Eventually, a type of purely ornamental tamed beast emerged, where small, cute fierce beasts were captured and tamed as pets. This led to the birth of a profession known as "Spirit Beast Master."

Some powerful Spirit Beast Masters, even if their own cultivation wasn't particularly high, could become extremely powerful with the assistance of a fierce and loyal battle beast, sometimes even surpassing human cultivators in strength and holding a high status in human society.

Even those who specialized in auxiliary beasts with special skills were highly sought after by major families and sects, who would offer high prices to hire them, relying on their abilities, which could be even greater than those of battle-type Spirit Beast cultivators.

Tang Gu was not a professional Spirit Beast Master, but the ancient soul technique he practiced included taming beasts as a powerful offensive or auxiliary method, which was indispensable.

Moreover, due to the strong souls of those who practiced the ancient soul technique, they were even more proficient in taming beasts, and every soul cultivator was also a powerful Spirit Beast Master.

However, truly learning to tame beasts was not easy.

If you simply wanted to temporarily command a beast to do something for you, you could directly implant your soul into it and use your authority to control it.

However, this method of taming beasts had two major drawbacks. First, it could not win the beast's loyalty; it was merely coercion. Once you were out of its range or your soul influence diminished, it would recover and might even turn against you.

Second, if someone with a stronger soul encountered it, it could rebel, posing a significant threat. Additionally, beasts tamed this way would follow your commands but could not be controlled as precisely as an extension of your own body, and the control was not as smooth.

The second method was to tame a true spirit beast.

Such a spirit beast could be controlled as precisely as an extension of your own body, being loyal and never betraying you, even achieving a level of mental connection.

However, this method of taming was not easy and required several steps, progressing step by step. Ultimately, it depended on a combination of factors, such as a stroke of luck or genuine sincerity, to succeed.

These steps were divided into six major stages: Soul Soothing, Heart Opening, Spirit Seeding, Shared Thoughts, Commanding, and Sacrifice. Each stage was further divided into several smaller steps.

The first step, Soul Soothing, involved making the beast lower its guard and willingly stay by your side. Initially, the captured fierce beast would be full of complaints, anger, and hatred, with a restless soul. At this point, you needed to use your soul-soothing techniques.

The second step, Heart Opening, involved making the beast open its heart to you. This step was crucial. If you couldn't achieve Heart Opening, the subsequent steps would be impossible. To succeed, you needed to continuously build trust and strengthen the beast's faith in you.

The third step, Spirit Seeding, involved planting your soul essence, also known as spirit essence, in the heart of the beast that had already achieved Heart Opening. Once this was successfully done, you had the potential to truly control the spirit beast, leading to the fourth step, Shared Thoughts.

In this step, you would transfer your intentions to the spirit beast and receive its thoughts in return, achieving a shared understanding. Only then could you proceed to the fifth step, which was the true... mastery, or Commanding!

Commanding the spirit beast allowed it to do anything you wanted. This step was almost the final stage, meaning that the previous four steps were all in service of this goal.

However, this was not the end.

If you made the spirit beast do many things it didn't want to do or didn't try to make amends, its loyalty to you would gradually decrease. Over time, it might reach a limit and turn against you, betraying and fleeing.

Therefore, continuously strengthening the bond between you and the beast, feeling its joys and sorrows, was also a significant challenge in the Commanding stage. Once this step was achieved, the spirit beast would truly and completely trust you, being loyal to the point of being willing to die for you, which was the sixth step: Sacrifice.

This sixth step rarely happened in a spirit beast's lifetime, and when it did, it meant the beast's death.

This occurred when the owner was in extreme danger and could not escape, and the spirit beast chose to die in the owner's place. This was not something the Spirit Beast Master could control or cultivate; it was entirely the beast's own decision. Therefore, this step was also called "Life Offering."

A Spirit Beast Master who could have a spirit beast offer its life for them was the most successful.

Conversely, a Spirit Beast Master who could not protect their spirit beast and let it die in their place was the most failed.

Such a Spirit Beast Master would either become dispirited and fall into decline, becoming a waste, or rise from failure, becoming even stronger and eventually becoming a top-tier Spirit Beast Master renowned across all realms.

What Tang Gu had been doing with the silver snow marten was the most basic step, Soul Soothing. If it couldn't give up the idea of escaping and only wanted to leave your side, such a spirit beast would never open its heart to you.

Now, after three days of continuous setbacks, the little silver marten finally stopped trying to escape. This stage could be considered勉强达成 (barely achieved).

Next, it was time for Heart Opening.

PS: This is the second update for last night. Please give me 1 favorite and 1 recommendation.

I still owe you one update, which I will definitely make up for tomorrow or the day after.