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Chapter - 2: Totem of Ten Thousand Beasts
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"Here I am, with a total of 11,650 Demon Spirit Coins," the receptionist at the loot shop said with a flirtatious smile as she handed me the total amount earned from the materials obtained from the demonic beasts I had hunted.
"Thank you," I replied simply, returning a small smile as I accepted the Demon Spirit Coins and stored them in my spatial ring. Then, I turned and headed towards the Sacred Orchid Institute.
Glory City is an ancient city that dates back to the Age of Darkness; the current city has been rebuilt countless times throughout history. Today, the population numbers in the millions, with hundreds of thousands of experts.
People survive by hunting demonic beasts in the surrounding areas to obtain food, crystals, spirits, and other items, which are then used and traded within the city. There's no foreign trade because we are isolated.
In fact, Glory City covers a rather vast area and consists of two large cities and six villages. Despite its name, it would be more accurate to call it a small kingdom.
I estimated that in my previous life, Glory City was about the size of Connecticut in the United States, which explained why I was initially so confused by the entire surrounding environment.
"In any case, that's not important now," I thought with a small smile I couldn't suppress. I finally had a good reserve of Demon Spirit Coins after working tirelessly for the past year.
During that time, not only had I consolidated my foundation—otherwise, I would have already reached the Gold Rank—but most importantly, my slow progress was due to the necessary process of forming my first Aspect Totem.
The fact that the "Totem of Ten Thousand Beasts" was properly cultivated depended primarily on the number of Aspect Totems. According to the cultivation manual, cultivating three or four was considered excellent, while five or six was the result of a proud child of heaven.
Seven or eight Aspect Totems would be the result of an unparalleled Great Emperor. As for having even more as one advanced further, unfortunately, the cultivation manual I had read didn't specify.
There were two types of beast marks recorded in the "Totem of Ten Thousand Beasts." One was a Beast Death Mark, while the other was a Beast Life Mark.
The Beast Death Marks could be condensed by killing tens of thousands of profound beasts, potentially forming thousands of them. However, a person cultivating the "Totem of Ten Thousand Beasts" could only form three Beast Life Marks.
The Beast Death Mark was similar to other mystical Totem techniques. It was obtained by killing a desolate beast, extracting its life essence, and fusing that vital essence into one's own body.
In contrast, if one chose not to kill a desolate beast but instead condensed it into a Beast Life Mark, the spirit, soul, Qi, and blood of the entire demon beast would merge with their body. In a way, this was akin to a Contracted Beast.
The difference between a Beast Life Mark and a Contracted Beast was that the refined desolate beast would never be able to recover its original form. It would become a different form of life, similar to Spirit Objects or Sword Souls.
After a Beast Life Mark fused into the body of a refiner, the refiner would gain numerous benefits. They could tap into the strength of the desolate beast and access a small portion of its nomological properties.
Moreover, the refiner could continuously nurture the desolate beast in the form of a Beast Life Mark. As the demon beast grew stronger, so too would the cultivator's power.
There were far more benefits to be gained from a Beast Life Mark than from a Beast Death Mark, and honestly, I was just waiting for the right beast to come along to make that leap.
After all, I couldn't afford to waste such an opportunity on an ordinary beast that would only limit my potential. I needed a fortuitous chance to capitalize on.
After doing a quick calculation, I realized I had accumulated a total of 254,750 Demon Spirit Coins. A substantial sum, which I considered more than sufficient to begin setting my plans in motion.
Even though I didn't have anything particularly genius or revolutionary in mind, I knew exactly what I wanted to do: meticulously prepare myself to face even greater challenges.
My goal was clear: to hunt down a larger number of Gold-ranked beasts and, naturally, Black-Gold ones as well. I knew that if I could successfully form an Aspect Totem, my strength would increase exponentially.
At that point, I would be nearly invincible, unless I had to face someone at the Legend rank. This prospect filled me with determination because I understood that this was the most sensible path if I wanted to make significant improvements in my abilities and achieve the power I was striving for.
"And now, what should be my next move?" I thought as I walked. My cultivation technique was extremely powerful and had ample room for growth, but I needed to keep killing different demonic beasts to exploit the full potential and infinite possibilities of my technique.
It was fortunate that demonic beasts were the dominant species in this world, outnumbering humans by about 100:1. Not to mention the fact that most of them gave birth in litters.
So, it was far more likely that humans would be wiped out before I could even make a dent in the population of demonic beasts in this world.
Even if I continued hunting horned sheep or other bronze-ranked demonic beasts, I wouldn't make much progress since my first Aspect Totem had only been formed thanks to them.
I also needed to find some supreme treasures for my self-defense and, of course, try to strengthen my physique and spiritual realm, as these were indispensable for any respectable cultivator—just look at good old Meng Hao, who could easily make everyone feel ashamed with his strength.
"Maybe it's time to move on to another species?" I pondered. In the training fields of the Sacred Orchid Institute, there were only bronze-ranked demon spirits, and only three species in total in the vast area: horned sheep, tusked pandas, and silver tigers.
The horned sheep were technically stronger thanks to their "enhancement" ability, but the tusked pandas were stronger by default and had far more varied abilities.
Common ones generally had the ability to coat their arms in lightning to strike enemies, while the stronger ones could even control gravity in a small area around them.
In comparison, the silver tigers were generally classified as five-star bronze beasts and hunted and fed on horned sheep and tusked pandas. They also had some special abilities related to fire and darkness.
I shook my head. "Well, there's no need to hesitate," I thought, as a slight frown formed on my face. "I just need to find a good reason to leave the Glory City..."
Half an hour later, after leaving my examiner speechless from the shock of my results, I found myself sitting in my new class. I sat at the back, away from the others; for now, I was only interested in observing without drawing too much attention to myself.
I really didn't have time for friendships at this moment. After all, ever since I ended up in this world, I had a clear goal in mind, and I wasn't going to let anyone get in my way.
Honestly, if it weren't for the Sacred Orchid Institute's library and the access to the training grounds that was guaranteed to me as a student, I wouldn't have even bothered attending.
However, there were some people here who stood out for their talent…
My eyes landed on the beautiful girl with purple hair sitting not far from me. Ye Ziyun, the daughter of the city lord and granddaughter of the Legend rank powerhouse, Ye Mo, the strongest demon spiritualist in Glory City. And, if the rumors were true, she was supposed to marry Shen Yue in the future.
Once again, my eyes wandered around the classroom and stopped on the tall and shapely figure of Xiao Ning'er. Long, glossy orange hair, and dressed in a black training outfit that accentuated her curves.
Ning'er didn't look like a thirteen-year-old at all. She had the body of a grown woman despite her age. But it wasn't hard to understand why: most likely, it was because she had been given elixirs from a young age.
Her fiery orange eyes lifted and met my purple ones, apparently sensing that I had been staring at her.
"Indeed, a good talent to have by your side," I thought with a smile of sincere appreciation as I gave her a small nod of greeting, causing her to blink in surprise.
But before she could do anything else, the classroom door opened, and the teacher walked in. I recognized her almost immediately; how could I not? She was one of the "talents" that had been talked about a lot lately in this small city…
"Silence!" Shen Xiu commanded as soon as she entered. The class immediately fell silent, but that was mainly because most of the boys were practically drooling over the red-haired beauty.
The woman was tall, with long, thick red hair and a body of seductive curves. Her large breasts bounced in the skimpy purple dress, her thighs were full and shapely, and her hips were perfectly seductive.
Shen Xiu proudly displayed her body, with her dress open in the middle, revealing the cleavage of her huge breasts, and wearing only black stockings that reached just above the knee, leaving her thighs completely uncovered.
I could see the pleasure in her eyes; it was evident that she was enjoying the adoration she received from the boys around her because of her beauty, which, honestly, was quite unsettling to me.
Honestly, I had to admit that the woman was as beautiful as a celestial fairy, but I couldn't understand why my classmates were drooling over her as if she were some kind of divine treasure.
Her personality was completely rotten...
Contrary to what one might think, a cultivator doesn't need a supreme cultivation art or an ultimate treasure to reach the pinnacle...
The only thing that truly matters is having a Dao heart, with an unwavering and invincible will—or at least that's what I had read in my cultivation novels in the past, and it's what "he" said, so there must be some truth to it.
I already knew that by studying far superior forms of cultivation and education, nothing she taught could benefit me in any way. The only part that piqued my curiosity was when she revealed herself to be a three-star Silver rank demon and demonstrated her demon spirit transformation.
A Blazing Scarlet Fox.
Blazing Scarlet Fox demon spirits, while not the most powerful, were incredibly versatile. They were fox-based spirits with powers related to flames and illusions, and the stronger they became, the more tails they developed. The fact that she had only one tail but was already a Gold rank demon spirit showed how powerful she could become if properly cultivated.
It was a good demon spirit. But despite her talent, it didn't take long for me to lose interest again. The way she despised her Gold rank demon spirit, thinking of discarding it for a stronger one as soon as she became powerful enough to handle them, showed just how stupidly incompetent she was.
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Osmosian Sorcerer?: 3 advanced chapters:
Son of Li Qiye?: 3 advanced chapters:
patreon.com/Demon_King22
Chapter - 13: Grimm - Chapter - 14: Magix - Chapter - 15: Bloom
Chapter - 3: Rival - Chapter - 4: Power Aspect Totem - Chapter - 5: Xaoi Ning'er
A/N: I hope you enjoy the chapter!
On the other hand, if you want to see something specific in the next chapters, or even just have some good advice for the story as a whole, I am always willing to read a comment if it is constructive criticism.
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