He changed his dress and quickly reached the funeral site.
...
"Everyone seems to have arrived." The clan elder loudly announced. The traits of his Beast Soul were very obvious, his black hair, sharp eyes which looked like could see through your soul, and the ominous aura. Yes, the Raven bloodline warriors had an ominous, deathly aura but they were a good clan, not on demonic path.
"We are all present here to give this valiant Second rate warrior, a respectful member of our clan, a farewell." He kept talking, giving the martyr warrior of the clan a farewell.
The warrior seemed to be from the inner clan from how long the clan elder’s speech was going.
The speech continued but Ye Yaming had other things on his mind. Unlike the Second rate warrior, he couldn’t even tread the warrior path. So, he had no interest in that dead guy’s accomplishments and life.
He did not lack the mastery of his Beast Soul or lack Beast Qi either. It had something to do with his mutant Beast Soul.
Mutated Beast Soul had problems reaching the next stage of mastery and could rarely summon their beast projections at Stage 2.
He sighed as he looked up in the sky, wondering what else he could try to increase the stats.
He hadn’t felt a single increment since the last two months and it was getting frustrating for him. Really frustrating!!
Suddenly, his Beast Qi fell out of control, leaking a little but thanks to his high mastery he quickly controlled it.
’Is this what they call letting the Bloodline let loose?’ Wary, he fully focused on circulation of his Qi. He did not want to create a scene during the funeral.
However, he had just managed to control the turbulent Qi when nearly 90% of his Qi reserves was emptied all of a sudden.
Struck by the sudden emptying sensation, he felt dizzy. He held his head to cover his eyes from the intense sunlight when he coincidentally happened to glance at the dead warrior’s body.
A translucent silhouette of a Raven seemed to be floating above the warrior’s body,
But before he could make sense of the Raven, he saw another Raven with snake-like scales as a part of its feathers. The snakey Raven dove in and devoured the dead warrior’s Raven in one gulp.
’Did I awaken the Ye clan’s premonition eyes?’ He could only think of those eyes that had the capability to see the dying and the dead.
But soon enough, something more surprising happened. The attacking Raven seemed to have noticed his gaze and dove straight at him after gulping down the dead warrior’s Raven.
He seemed scared but he was too dizzy and weak to react before the Raven struck its beak straight into his chest and disappeared.
He had nearly shouted, screamed out loud at the funeral but then he saw the silhouette of mutated Raven disappear in his chest without harming him and calmed down for the moment.
’My Qi?’ His beast Qi seemed to have returned to its peak state. The near emptied Qi reserves were back at the peak again.
Surprised, he checked the stats screen and found something interesting.
[Devoured Beast Soul of a Kin]
[Increasing the Upper Limit of Talent...]
Physical Talent: 300. -> 310.
Spiritual Talent: 450. -> 451.
Mental Talent: 500. -> 501.
Bloodline: Mutant Raven(+).
Beast Mastery: Stage 1 (238.)
Beast Qi: 660 -> 966
’Did the beast that devoured that Raven belong to me???’ He had heard from the few masters that his fragile physique could be due to his Mutated bloodline.
Either his body was naturally too weak or his Beast Soul was too strong that his body could only weaken. That was probably the reason why he could not reach the next stage of beast mastery, stuck at Stage 1.
But it held the ability to devour another person’s Beast Souk? Ye Yaming looked surprised as he warily glanced around to make sure nobody saw what he did.
Thankfully, no one was worried about a fragile looking child shielding his head to protect himself from the sun.
...
Back in his courtyard,
"All of them increased!!" Excited, he dropped everything else and quickly started training relentlessly.
He needed to know the truth.
He wanted to see if his mutant beast coming out on his own to devour someone’s beast soul increased his upper limit or not.
What did it signify?
Was the Snakey-Raven controllable? Many Bloodline warriors used their Beast Soul projection for combat at Stage 2.
...
A day passed,
"It increased!! Fantastic!!" He could feel it, the more he trained the more he could feel that sense of accomplishment as all three of his talents showed a small increase.
Just like how it was when he had gotten the stat increase back then. It was the same sensation; he could not mistake it.
"Why are you shouting, eh?" Shen Wenhao had just entered the courtyard when he heard Ye Yaming shout excitedly.
"Master?" Ye Yaming looked surprised. Shen Wenhao was his tutor and his tutor generally didn’t visit him unless required.
"It’s time you start learning this technique. Unlike the Beast Qi that you awakened with little training, this one needs control and patience." Shen Wenhao handed Ye Yaming a scroll, the cultivation manual.
The clan elders had agreed that it was time to test Ye Yaming. They were excited to have a prodigy of cultivation. If Ye Yaming really turned out to be a prodigy then all good otherwise they would sideline the orphan child.
Shen Wenhao knew the truth but he couldn’t do anything about it. Strength was Supreme. A cultivator’s Qi refining realm peak was enough to suppress a First-Rate martial artist.
If Ye Yaming managed to become one, he’d soar in the sky. Otherwise, his weak physique would only force him into performing low level academic tasks in the family.
"Be careful or the Pure Qi you’re trying to cultivate might be snuffed out by the Beast Qi. You have good mastery over that so I am assured that won’t be a hurdle." Shen Wenhao warned Ye Yaming.
The hurdles for a person with bloodline (Beast Qi) cultivating Pure Qi were many. At stage 2, the beast soul would react strongly to the Pure Qi, suppressing the cultivation process even more.
Luckily, Ye Yaming was at Stage 1 only and had better control than most nobles his age. Shen Wenhao believed that at Stage 1, Ye Yaming’s Beast Soul would not have enough influence.
"What are the expectations?" Ye Yaming asked in a straightforward manner. He understood that the Clan elders had expectations of him. But he had no idea how fast the prodigies cultivated. He needed a reference, a benchmark, for comparison.
"For nobles, their bloodline becomes a hurdle but it takes somewhere around 2-3 decades of cultivation to reach Qi refining realm level 1 to 9 (peak) for the average noble." Shen Wenhao explained.
Some precious herbs or other factors could quicken or slow the cultivation speed. But Ye Yaming didn’t have those. Depending on how he performed, the elder would reach out to cultivation sects or leave him be.
Ye Yaming didn’t know it yet but the Clan elders only had Cultivation sect in their mind. If he happened to be mediocre then he wouldn’t even get to attend the martial arts academy that every noble does.
"Though your talent remains unaccounted for, a prodigy should be capable of multiple times more than average. You should aim for 4-5 times faster." Shen Wenhao suggested.
"At least that’s what the clan elders are expecting from you." He sighed, not wanting to burden the child anymore but what could he do?
He was just an outsider doing a favor to his friend.
2 years per level in the Qi refining realm was average cultivation speed.
"So, five months to reach the second level." Ye Yaming muttered, nodding. He accepted the cultivation manual from his tutor.
"Around that. But don’t be pressurised, even 10 months should be fine since you have started very young." Shen Wenhao added.
For a Second-Tier clan like the Ye clan, a cultivator who had the chance to reach the Foundation Establishment realm was already a big deal.
With Ye Yaming’s young age and wits, it would be sufficient if he showed two to three times the average speed.
Generally, teenagers were chosen as disciples for the sect, not 7-8 year olds.
"As long as you keep the Beast Qi in check." Shen Wenhao warned him for the last time before preparing to leave.
"Thanks." Ye Yaming thanked his tutor and turned back to enter his room.
....