The crimson flame danced quietly in the stone pit, casting long, warm shadows across the wooden interior of the tree hollow.
Beside the fire, the little white tiger cub sat on its haunches, looking up at Lucien with wide, curious silver eyes.
Lucien sat cross-legged opposite the creature, his mind completely clear.
Within his sea of consciousness, the starlight principles of the Genesis Beast Taming Art were unfurled, revealing the sacred method to forge the first sovereign bond.
Lucien reached out with his right hand.
Focusing inward, he guided a wisp of pure, tyrannical stellar energy from the miniature star core in his dantian toward the tip of his index finger.
Fwump.
A microscopic droplet of golden-crimson blood seeped from his fingertip, enveloped in an ancient, ethereal cosmic intent.
The little cub did not flinch.
Sensing no hostility, it tilted its snowy head forward and gently pressed its forehead directly against Lucien’s fingertip.
The droplet of essence sank beneath the cub’s white fur.
Hum—!
A blinding silver brilliance erupted from the cub’s brow.
Ancient, celestial runes flickered into existence across its forehead, spinning into a radiant mandala before sinking deep into the bedrock of its soul.
Simultaneously, an invisible bridge forged of starlight anchored between Lucien’s dantian and the cub’s beast core.
A torrent of pure, unadulterated stellar vitality rushed through that spiritual conduit, flooding into the little cub’s small frame.
Crack!
Crack!
The sounds of rapid skeletal growth echoed softly within the hollow.
The cub’s snowy fur bristled as waves of celestial energy purged every trace of latent impurity from its marrow.
Its small muscles tightened, dense and packed with explosive power, while the silver stripes along its flanks flashed with faint arcs of light.
Its cultivation did not advance by gentle steps; propelled by the sheer density of Lucien’s Genesis cosmos, its aura skyrocketed.
Boom!
A sharp gale rippled outward, fluttering Lucien’s dark robes.
In a single breath, the little cub broke straight through the thresholds of the lower stages, stepping firmly into the peak of Tier 1—the demonic beast equivalent of a peak ninth-level Body Tempering human cultivator.
When the light receded, the cub shook its head vigorously, its silver eyes gleaming with crystalline intelligence.
Then, a clear, sweet voice echoed directly inside Lucien’s mind:
Master?
The voice was crisp and innocent, carrying the curious pitch of a child.
Lucien’s eyes widened in pleasant surprise.
The Genesis Beast Taming Art had dissolved the barrier between their species entirely; thoughts, emotions, and intent flowed seamlessly between them without the need for spoken words.
“Can you hear me?” Lucien asked mentally, smiling.
The cub let out a joyful, melodic chirp, bounding forward on soft paws and planting its front legs firmly onto Lucien’s knees.
I can hear you!
Your soul feels so warm, like a bright sun!
“From today onward, you need a name,” Lucien said aloud, his voice gentle as he scratched the soft fur beneath the cub’s chin.
“Since your coat is white as pristine snow and your eyes shine like the silver moon, I’ll call you Lumi.”
The cub’s ears perked up, its tail swaying rapidly behind it.
Lumi!
I like it!
I am Lumi!
Lumi rubbed its cheek affectionately against Lucien’s palm, its purr rumbling contentedly like a tiny engine.
His fingers brushed against the hard surface of the Mid-Rank Tier 2 Alpha Beast Core.
The moment his skin touched the dark crystal, an unexpected, violent suction force surged from deep within his lower abdomen.
Thump!
Inside his dantian, the miniature crimson star core flared.
The dense, volatile beast aura sealed within the Alpha’s core didn’t resist; instead, a strand of pure, concentrated energy was forcibly pulled through Lucien’s fingers, flowing straight into his meridians before being instantly refined into pure celestial fire.
Lucien stared at the black crystal in stunned disbelief.
The Primordial Genesis Art can directly absorb beast cores?
In the Eastern Continent, it was common knowledge that human cultivators could never directly ingest or absorb demonic beast cores.
The wild, chaotic beast will and violent elemental toxicity trapped within a core would shred a human’s meridians and drive them insane.
To utilize beast cores, humans had to hire master alchemists to neutralize the toxins and brew them into delicate medicinal pills.
Yet the Primordial Genesis Art possessed the supreme devouring power of a primordial star.
To a celestial furnace capable of birthing a solar system, the chaotic impurities of a low-tier beast core were incinerated into absolute nothingness in a fraction of a second.
“This changes everything,” Lucien murmured, his eyes flashing with excitement.
Demonic beasts naturally refined beast cores to advance.
Lumi, possessing the ancient blood of a sovereign predator, could consume cores without hesitation.
And now, Lucien could do the very same.
Lucien opened his satchel completely, tipping out the contents onto the moss.
Along with the fist-sized Alpha core, thirty smaller, grayish-black crystals clattered onto the earth—the Tier 2 Low-Rank beast cores harvested from the slaughtered Moon-Scar Wolf pack.
“Lumi, let’s cultivate,” Lucien said.
He gathered all thirty low-grade Tier 2 wolf cores and pushed them toward the cub.
“These are yours. Take your time refining them.”
Lumi’s silver eyes lit up with ravenous delight.
It let out an eager chuff, nudging the nearest core with its paw before opening its small jaws and swallowing it whole, lying down beside the warm fire to circulate the energy through their shared bond.
Lucien sat upright, crossed his legs, and gripped the Mid-Rank Tier 2 Alpha core with both hands.
Closing his eyes, he ignited the mantra of the scripture within his soul:
“I am the vessel. I am the void. I am the living Cosmos…”
BOOM!
The black core in his hands shuddered violently.
A torrent of rich, condensed energy poured out in a dark crimson river, siphoning through his palms and rushing down into his dantian.
Two days passed in absolute seclusion.
Inside the quiet tree hollow, the cycle of cultivation continued without interruption.
Bathed in the radiant warmth of Lucien’s Genesis cosmos, Lumi slept and awoke, devouring the thirty wolf cores one by one.
The shared circulation purified the beast essence continuously, refining Lumi’s skeletal structure and expanding its dantian.
By noon of the second day, a deep, resonant rumble vibrated from Lumi’s chest.
Crack—!
A wave of sharp, metallic wind burst outward from the cub, shredding several dry leaves into fine powder.
Lumi’s coat gained a lustrous, silvery sheen, its claws glinting like forged white iron.
In just two days, Lumi had advanced from Tier 1 to the peak low level of Tier 2—a realm equivalent to a human martial artist at the 3rd level of the Bone Forging Realm.
Across from the cub, the transformation around Lucien was even more terrifying.
The fist-sized Alpha core had already dissolved into grey dust between his palms.
Inside his dantian, the crimson star was blazing with immense heat, its gravitational pull vast and steady.
Surrounding the star core, the miniature crimson planet had grown noticeably denser, orbiting at breathtaking speed.
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
Three internal barriers shattered in rapid succession within his flesh.
When Lucien opened his piercing blue eyes, an incandescent arc of crimson light flashed through the shadows of the hollow.
He had broken through to the 5th level of the Stellar Body Realm.
On the surface, advancing three levels seemed like an ordinary step.
But for the Stellar Body Tempering technique, every level demanded nine separate cycles of celestial tempering.
At Level 2, Lucien had undergone 18 temperings.
Now, at the 5th level, his flesh, muscles, and organs had been reforged through 45 full temperings!
The power coiled inside him was terrifying.
Back when he possessed only 18 temperings, he could already physically trade blows with an early Tier 2 beast and decapitate a 4th-level Bone Forging Beast.
Now, with 45 cycles of stellar fire compressing his muscle fibers into near-indestructible density, his pure physical strength alone was sufficient to clash evenly against a 7th or 8th level Bone Forging powerhouse without drawing a single wisp of Qi.
If he had a weapon capable of enduring his full might—a blade that would not shatter under the combined force of his tyrannical Stellar Qi and Genesis Sword Intent—Lucien knew with absolute certainty that he could effortlessly slay a peak Bone Forging expert.
He could even stand toe-to-toe against a powerhouse at the 1st level of the Blood Quenching Realm, the very summit occupied by his grandfather and the old patriarch of the Lewis Clan.
Lucien exhaled a long breath of white vapor, slowly unclenching his fists.
Three days have passed, he thought, glancing toward the entrance of the hollow where sunlight broke through the canopy.
The training in the Eastern Range is over.
Today, I return home.
Tomorrow was the Annual City Martial Competition.
It was time to head back to Aurora City.
Standing up, Lucien strapped his satchel securely to his side.
Lumi bounded up immediately, scrambling effortlessly up Lucien’s arm and settling comfortably across his shoulders, wrapping its warm body around his neck like a soft fur mantle.
Master, are we going now?
Lumi asked through their mental link.
“Yes. We’re going home,” Lucien replied with a faint smile.
As they stepped out of the hollow into the fresh mountain air, Lucien’s thoughts turned to the future.
These three days of survival had revealed two glaring weaknesses in his path:
First, he had to master Alchemy.
Between his bottomless stellar dantian and Lumi’s primordial evolution, their demand for cultivation resources would soon become an astronomical abyss.
The one hundred Body Tempering Pills his grandfather had provided were merely low-grade foundational medicine.
As his realm climbed, higher-tier pills would cost fortunes that even the David Clan’s treasury could not sustain.
If he did not learn to refine his own pills, his cultivation speed would inevitably stall.
Second, he urgently needed to learn Weapon Forging.
Standard mortal weapons could not withstand his power.
The eighty-kilogram greatsword had disintegrated after a single execution of the Sword of Severing.
In the entire Triad Kingdom, Spirit-grade weapons were scarce treasures held only by royal lineages and supreme sect elders; in a frontier place like Aurora City, they were practically nonexistent.
To wield a blade that could endure both his blazing Stellar Qi and the absolute concept of Genesis Sword Intent, he had to forge it with his own hands.
Finally, Lucien looked beyond the primeval canopy toward the endless western horizon.
Aurora City was far too small.
The rivalry between the David and Lewis families was merely a squabble in a shallow puddle.
Once the tournament concludes tomorrow, Lucien resolved quietly, his gaze burning with untamed ambition, I will step out into the wider continent and explore the world.
With Lumi resting securely on his shoulders, Lucien leaped forward, his silhouette vanishing into the forest mist as he sped toward the city gates.