Beast-Taming Cultivator from Two Realms

Chapter 5: A Young Man’s Aspiration

Returning to the familiar cultivation room, Chen Beiwu immediately sat cross-legged and began refining the surging spiritual power within his body.

Half an hour passed just like that.

‘Not bad, my cultivation has improved a bit again!’

Chen Beiwu opened his eyes, looking somewhat fatigued, but his aura had clearly become stronger than before.

Activating the Nine-Breath Chaos didn’t require him to expend all his magic power—just a wisp as a trigger was enough—but Chen Beiwu always exhausted his entire reserve, just to squeeze out every last drop from the Nine-Breath Chaos.

The spiritual power granted by the Nine-Breath Chaos was of extremely high quality; in terms of absorption efficiency, it surpassed low-grade spirit stones by several dozen times.

If he could do this once a day, Chen Beiwu was confident he could directly charge into Foundation Establishment within the year.

Unfortunately, this act of milking a Supreme Treasure didn’t succeed every time.

At best, Chen Beiwu had only succeeded five times.

But just those five baptisms had already made his internal magic power surge like rivers and seas, endlessly flowing.

His magic power's concentration and purity far surpassed that of cultivators in the same realm.

Satisfied, Chen Beiwu stood up and pushed open the door to the cultivation room.

What greeted his eyes was Iron Egg holding a tea tray on his head, with a teacup on the tray.

That’s right—Iron Egg could clean the house, scrub the toilet, but brewing tea was beyond him.

Apparently, Mom had already returned home.

Chen Beiwu picked up the teacup and found the tea was still warm.

“You kept it warm on purpose?” Chen Beiwu asked softly.

Iron Egg nodded.

His cultivation was shallow and he couldn’t manipulate the surrounding spiritual energy to spit fireballs and kill enemies, but keeping the tea tray warm with spiritual power was a piece of cake.

“Tea getting cold is no big deal. Don’t do that next time, it might fry your brain.” Chen Beiwu patted Iron Egg’s scalding head. “You’re already dumb enough. Can’t let you get even dumber.”

Iron Egg nodded earnestly and followed his master downstairs.

“Why are you home so late today? Didn’t even eat…”

Hearing footsteps, Huang Xiaoling muttered while turning around, but her words suddenly trailed off.

“You broke through to the Seventh Level of Qi Refining?” she asked urgently.

Although her own Foundation Establishment attempt had failed years ago, leaving hidden injuries, Huang Xiaoling’s judgment was sharp.

She knew that once a cultivator unlocked the ancestral orifice and stepped into the Seventh Level of Qi Refining, their hair often turned black, lustrous, and silky—giving them an ethereal, agile appearance.

This was a signature feature of late-stage Qi Refining cultivators.

“Just the Seventh Level of Qi Refining. Do you even need to ask? That’s nothing for me!” Chen Beiwu said proudly.

If he didn’t show off his breakthrough at home, what was the point of even advancing?

“Alright, alright.” Huang Xiaoling turned and entered the kitchen, slicing four taels of marbled spirit beast cured meat. “Let’s add a dish tonight. Just you and me celebrating.”

“Is Dad working overtime tonight?” Chen Beiwu asked.

“Yes, his project’s been busy lately. He’s often working late,” Mom replied, and soon the kitchen was filled with a fragrant aroma.

Not long after, the dishes were served.

A plate of crystal-clear cured meat released an intoxicating scent.

Iron Egg couldn’t take his eyes off it, his mouth drooling nonstop.

Glistening drool hung from his lips, swinging back and forth, almost dripping onto the floor.

Smelling the fragrance, Chen Beiwu swallowed a mouthful of saliva too.

These days, meat was common.

But spirit beast meat—meant for body nourishment, enhancing physical fitness, and able to be exchanged for spirit stones in a pinch—was rare.

Calling it a delicacy or treasure wasn’t an exaggeration.

In recent years, the Immortal Alliance had tightened the standards for slaughtering beast creatures.

Even farm-raised exotic beasts required certified butchers to handle them according to proper procedures to ensure legality in meat processing and sales.

Let alone spirit beasts, which had even higher standards.

There was an old saying in Yuan Kong County: “A thousand spirit stones shine bright, but none compare to a spirit beast’s delight.”

Though a bit exaggerated, the price of spirit beast meat was at least ten times that of exotic beast meat for the same weight.

Some rare types were even priceless—only Golden Core masters had the privilege of eating them.

That large piece of spirit beast cured meat hanging in the Chen household, though older than Chen Beiwu and not from a rare species, was still a solid asset that could be exchanged for low-grade spirit stones.

“Eat more.”

Huang Xiaoling smiled as she moved slices of meat into Chen Beiwu’s bowl.

One slice, two slices, three slices…

Soon, his bowl was piled into a small mountain.

Glancing at the near-empty platter, Chen Beiwu quickly pushed aside his bowl and chopsticks.

“Mom, you eat too. I can serve myself.”

If she kept piling on like this, he’d finish all the spirit beast meat by himself.

“You know this spirit deer meat is very nourishing. I’ll have at most two slices—more than that and my body won’t handle it,” Huang Xiaoling chuckled.

She knew that Qi Refining cultivators drew energy partially from themselves, partially from the spiritual essence absorbed during training.

This portion of sliced spirit deer meat wasn’t much, but it was just enough to replenish the body of a Seventh Level Qi Refining cultivator through dietary nourishment.

It would prevent her son’s body from becoming depleted due to rapid cultivation progress.

Otherwise, she’d never have been willing to touch this piece of spirit deer meat that had been stored away for years.

“This is so good. Mom, your cooking’s gotten even better recently.”

As Chen Beiwu swallowed the spirit beast meat, a wave of warm, surging spiritual energy quickly spread through his limbs and bones.

It nourished his internal organs like spring rain, even making his body feel lighter.

‘No wonder spirit beast meat is always in demand. A single bite of this contains spiritual power comparable to a Clearwater Pill, with even stronger nourishing effects.’ Chen Beiwu beamed, quietly sensing the changes within.

“By the way, are you still streaming tonight?” Huang Xiaoling suddenly asked.

“Not tonight. Taking a few days off.”

“Why don’t you stop streaming altogether? Cultivation is more important,” she said bluntly.

These were different times now.

Her son had excellent talent, breaking through to the Seventh Level of Qi Refining at just sixteen.

If he could maintain this cultivation speed, getting into the Seven-Nine Upper Sects through the Immortal Alliance Entrance Exam was practically guaranteed.

He might even have a shot at entering the dream destination of countless cultivators—the Thirteen Immortal Sects.

Unfortunately, she might not live to see that day.

“I only stream three times a week. It doesn’t interfere with cultivation.” Chen Beiwu looked at his mother. “You promised before—you wouldn’t interfere with my streaming.”

Huang Xiaoling’s eyes darkened slightly. “Fine. Up to you.”

Seeing the meter-long strand of drool hanging from Iron Egg’s mouth, she picked up a piece of spirit beast meat and handed it to him, no longer mentioning the streaming.

Chen Beiwu let out a silent sigh of relief.

In truth, he didn’t enjoy streaming.

He preferred cultivation and fishing.

But he couldn’t deny that streaming brought in spirit stones to support the household.

Years ago, his mother had failed to reach Foundation Establishment and suffered lingering injuries.

Every year, she endured torment from cold poison.

Thankfully, this cold poison could be suppressed with a First-Tier low-grade exotic pill called the Frost-Purifying Pill, sparing her from unbearable pain.

But exotic pills weren’t cheap.

A single bottle of Frost-Purifying Pills cost two low-grade spirit stones and only lasted a month.

That meant twenty-four spirit stones a year just for medicine.

Meanwhile, his parents could barely earn a hundred spirit stones in a whole year, only enough to cover basic living expenses—let alone pay off the old debts they still owed.

Thinking of this, Chen Beiwu looked down at his chest.

People often said it was hard for a true dragon to rise from shallow waters, and harder still for the poor to ascend the path of immortality.

They also said the hardest disease to cure in this world was poverty.

Since he had inherited a Supreme Treasure passed down by his ancestors, he wouldn’t say he must become an immortal and roam freely across heaven and earth.

But at the very least, he had to elevate the Chen family to great heights—free from worldly suffering!