Beast Taming: My System is Bugged-Chapter 65 - 64: Germination Period

After reaching the Entry Level with Cyan Pine, Gu Ming’s Perception became much sharper.

An intricate root system entrenched itself in his Sea of Consciousness, stirring up monstrous waves.

When the massive waves subsided, the surface of his Sea of Consciousness was turbulent, with Spiritual Waves moving in from nearly every angle.

"You are currently practicing the Entry Level, fifth edition of ’Cyan Pine’."

"Compared to the old version of the Cultivation Technique, the Spiritual Waves stirred up after reaching Entry Level are endless."

"At this moment, you have countless cultivation paths, a welcome dilemma."

"This is the new challenge of an adaptive Cultivation Method. Human ability has its limits; you cannot pursue them all. You need a Cultivation Technique teacher to help customize a Cultivation Array Map."

Gu Ming sensed the ripples in his Sea of Consciousness. It was just as the system had said; he had countless cultivation paths. If he tried to figure it out himself, it would likely take a great deal of time.

’But where am I going to find a Cultivation Technique teacher? Teacher Luo from high school?’

Gu Ming’s future version of ’Cyan Pine’ came from his studies in a Cultivation Technique class, but he didn’t necessarily have to seek out Teacher Luo.

Teacher Zhang Yunpeng, the creator of the Green Treasure Breathing Technique, also had profound skill in Cultivation Techniques.

Besides, Teacher Zhang had experience with customized nurturing. He didn’t just take on jobs for nurturing Pet Beasts; matters concerning a Beastmaster’s cultivation were also part of his services.

’It’s late now, so it wouldn’t be right to bother him. I’ll think about it tomorrow.’

Deciding to test the results of his new Cultivation Technique, Gu Ming casually followed the path of a familiar ripple. Using his Spiritual Power as a brush within his Sea of Consciousness, he sketched a roughly circular Array Map.

He didn’t really understand what an Array Map was, but he knew it was composed of patterns.

He still remembered the Array Map he drew last time, so he decided not to make any major changes and just recreated it directly.

Last time, his Skill Level had been Uninitiated, and a single round of cultivation had consumed all of his Spiritual Power.

Now that he had reached Entry Level, sketching quickly in his Sea of Consciousness with his Spiritual Power as ink felt effortless and smooth. He didn’t feel like he was being rapidly drained.

When he finished the final stroke, the Array Diagram flashed within his Sea of Consciousness, and waves of sound from the Great Dao resonated.

Gu Ming quickly felt the effects of the cultivation.

The consumption of his Spiritual Power was reduced by thirty percent. While the drain was still significant, he no longer felt dizzy to the point of blacking out after a single session.

This meant he could now use this method in the real world, no longer needing to be at full capacity just to practice a single time.

Just then, his spiritual senses felt a jolt, like an electric shock.

He sensed the faint aura of the Celestial Dao materializing above his head.

He had a premonition that if he were to formally name the Cultivation Technique and recite it aloud, he would attract the attention of the Hall of the Great Dao.

But he didn’t do so. After finishing his cultivation, he went straight to sleep.

He woke up leisurely in the middle of the night, checked the remaining Spiritual Power in his Sea of Consciousness, and cultivated for another round.

When he woke again, it was already six in the morning. He had overslept, a rare occurrence. He hadn’t gotten up at five to exercise.

After expending so much Spiritual Power, it was difficult to wake up, even with his phone’s alarm.

But he had no regrets.

"After practicing the fifth edition of ’Cyan Pine’ for one night, your Spiritual Power has increased by 30."

"Compared to the old Cultivation Technique, one session is worth several days of practice."

"Current Sea of Consciousness Status: Budding Stage"

"Progress to Next Spiritual Realm: 80/10,000"

’Look at these results. An increase of thirty points in one night... That’s so much better than the ten points I used to gain by giving it my all.’

As he read further down, he let out a "Huh?" of surprise.

Gu Ming looked at the Sea of Consciousness status indicated by the system. It was the first time he realized that the Sea of Consciousness also had Realm divisions.

The textbooks stated that a Beastmaster’s Spiritual Power level was generally graded based on how many Pet Beasts they could form a contract with.

An ordinary person could, by default, contract one Pet Beast.

A Beastmaster who could contract two Pet Beasts was considered a Two-star Beastmaster, while a Three-star Beastmaster could contract three.

However, a Beastmaster’s Star Level didn’t represent their individual combat strength. Humans mainly relied on their Pet Beasts for damage output.

No matter how high a person’s Star Level was, it only indicated a high limit to their Spiritual Power, not the Beastmaster’s true combat effectiveness.

For example, a Five-star Beastmaster could contract five Pet Beasts, but if he only had a single Four-star Pet Beast, his combat power could potentially be lower than that of a Four-star Beastmaster.

The way for a human to possess powerful individual combat strength was to have a Possession-type Pet Beast use Possession on them, granting them great power.

These types of Pet Beasts had very high Spiritual Power requirements for the Beastmaster, but that’s a topic for another time.

Gu Ming blinked, calculating the cultivation progress of his Sea of Spiritual Consciousness. ’If I gain a few dozen points every day, I’ll need more than eight months to break through to the next spiritual Realm.’

’By then, I should be able to contract a new Pet Beast.’

’Calculating the timeline, that would be around October or November. By then, I’ll have entered university. It would be the perfect time to contract a second Pet Beast.’

"That’s right around the time Teacher Luo mentioned for contracting..."

Gu Ming got out of bed to wash up, suddenly recalling the timeline Teacher Luo had mentioned. It felt like a glimpse of destiny.

The timing was so perfect, as if it had been calculated by experts in the field.

This was his cultivation efficiency without relying on elixirs, and only after reaching Entry Level.

If he had been using the current timeline’s ’Cyan Pine Unmoving Technique,’ not only would the efficiency have been several times lower, but he also would have had to consume massive amounts of elixirs just to get the Spiritual Technique to Entry Level, and then struggle for eight or nine months to meet the Spiritual Power requirement.

’Reaching Entry Level with the future fifth edition of ’Cyan Pine’ lets me achieve this strength without elixirs... No, that’s not right. It’s supposed to be supplemented with medicine as well.’

Gu Ming had merely used his dream cultivation time to bypass several months of arduous training, accelerating his Cultivation Technique’s Skill Level to the Entry Level.

’If I took some Spiritual Power elixirs from time to time and trained day and night, given the effectiveness of the new ’Cyan Pine,’ I could actually meet the Spiritual Power requirement before the college entrance exams, contract a second Pet Beast, and greatly increase my own power.’

HISS—

The more Gu Ming thought about it, the more it felt like a deliberate calculation.

He could almost see an expert, more than thirty years in the future, sitting high amongst the clouds and arranging the entire chessboard, orchestrating events just so that every exam candidate in the world would have their Spiritual Power cultivation reach the threshold for contracting a second Pet Beast.

’As for the present, the exams certainly aren’t as intense as they will be in the future.’

"Why are you up so late today?"

When Gu Ming went to the living room for breakfast, he saw his parents sitting in their chairs, reading the newspaper.

They had finished eating long ago; he didn’t know how long they had been waiting for him.

"You didn’t wake me up?"

Gu Ming sat down to eat his congee. Cyan Treasure slithered up to his ear and hissed softly, letting him know that they had tried to wake him.

Seeing that their son didn’t look sick, the two of them glanced at him a few times before their attention shifted back to Cyan Treasure, whom they regarded as a priceless treasure.

"How is Cyan Treasure’s Inner Core? Did anything happen?"

Their son was finally awake, and they figured there must have been a reason he overslept.

"Nothing’s wrong. I just had a breakthrough in my Spiritual Technique and overslept," Gu Ming said, waving his hand. After finishing his meal, he immediately left for school.

His parents looked at each other, their faces filled with doubt.

’A breakthrough in his Spiritual Technique?’

’But it’s only been a few days.’

They also practiced the ’Cyan Pine Unmoving Technique’ taught at school. How could a breakthrough happen so quickly? Their son hadn’t even taken any elixirs.

’Could it be that our son is also a cultivation prodigy with extraordinary Talent?’