Chapter 264: Remote Guidance

“Immortal Elder, is it really possible for someone to have luck this bad?”
“No idea.”
“There’s actually something you don’t know?”
Immortal Elder Changcun was speechless: “…I’m not omniscient, you know. Oh wait, I am a real immortal. But still, immortals aren’t all-knowing.”
“If someone truly had luck so terrible that they’d face a death tribulation with every step, then they’d have died on the first tribulation. No one would know whether more tribulations followed or how bad their luck was.”
“This kid you encountered, the one constantly reincarnating, is a total exception among exceptions.”
Immortal Elder Changcun continued, “But there is a way to find out just how bad this kid’s luck really is.”
“What is it?” Jiang Li asked, curious.
“Qi Observation Art.”
“…Don’t mention that to me right now, thanks.”
Jiang Li ended the communication talisman, and saw Yu Feng meditating with his five hearts facing the sky. In front of him was a fruit platter, some snacks, and three sticks of incense rising in steady smoke.
Jiang Li twitched at the corners of his mouth.
After Yu Feng drove away the bandits and began cultivating, the villagers saw him as the chosen one, treating him like an old immortal.
To them, meeting a cultivator in a lifetime was rare enough. The ones they’d seen were just low-level Qi Refining cultivators.
They boldly guessed that Jiang Li was a Golden Core Stage old immortal!
Even they thought the guess was too bold, but seeing Jiang Li not deny it, they assumed it must be true.
Jiang Li figured explaining that Golden Core was just the beginning—there was still Nascent Soul, Soul Formation, Fusion, Tribulation, and Mahayana—would be way too troublesome. Even if he explained, they wouldn’t grasp it and would still see him as some mighty old immortal.
“You’ve reached First-Level Qi Refining?”
“Yes, late-stage First-Level Qi Refining.” The Tongu World broke realms down very finely.
Five days was enough for Yu Feng to become a Qi Refining cultivator.
His talent wasn’t great, barely passable.
Three-Spiritual Root constitution: Metal 3, Wood 3, Fire 4—utterly average.
If not for Jiang Li, his only strengths were caution and an absurd wealth of experience in Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Core Formation.
According to Yu Feng, he had gathered Qi over ten thousand times, formed a foundation over a thousand times, reached Core Formation nearly a hundred times, and Nascent Soul once. He was intimately familiar with how low-level cultivators trained.
The most powerful technique he had was a fragment of the Undying Art, extremely strong, capable of reaching the peak of Nascent Soul. In a past life, he relied on it to become a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator.
A complete version of the Undying Art could even help one break through to the legendary Fusion Stage!
Jiang Li had deep concerns about the overall cultivation level in the Tongu World.
He told Yu Feng to start with the Diagram of Spiritual Energy, and then planned to craft a custom technique based on Yu Feng’s situation.
“Is it really possible to reach the Fusion Stage? I’ve never seen a Fusion-stage expert in my life.” Yu Feng’s tone held longing; he saw Fusion as a supreme realm.
“According to legend, our continent has two Fusion-stage experts.” Yu Feng had died just after reaching Nascent Soul, so his information was outdated, stuck in the Golden Core circle. All he’d heard was gossip saying there were two Fusion cultivators in the Tongu World.
“There are eight,” Jiang Li corrected him. With his Divine Sense, he had scanned the Tongu Continent and found eight Fusion-stage cultivators and one Tribulation-stage expert—the strongest world he’d visited so far.
The strongest techniques of the Mingzhong World couldn’t defeat a Fusion cultivator.
In Luo Ying’s Zombie World, there were a few Tier-6 zombies equivalent to Fusion cultivators.
In Abu’s Martial World, the strongest had just reached Outer Realm, which equaled Soul Formation.
But that was the limit of the Tongu World. It wasn’t as powerful as the Nine Provinces, nor as interesting as other worlds. Even its one Tribulation cultivator wasn’t impressive. Other than Yu Feng, there wasn’t much here to catch Jiang Li’s eye.
“Do you know where your next death tribulation will come from?”
Yu Feng pondered for a moment. “It’s the beast tide. This year, the demon beasts are particularly agitated. They’ll gather in the north and attack the town at the base of the mountain. But there’s a hidden Foundation Establishment cultivator in the town, which forces the beasts to leave.”
“After that, the beast tide will pass through the village.”
Jiang Li nodded. That matched his conclusion.
“Do you know Beast-Taming techniques?”
With Divine Sense, Jiang Li saw the horde of demon beasts in the north. Their numbers were massive, with the highest reaching Sixth-Level Qi Refining. Yu Feng couldn’t handle them alone. Learning Beast-Taming might be the only way to survive.
“A bit. Beast-Taming, artifact crafting, pill refinement, formation, talismans—I know a little of each.” Over countless deaths, Yu Feng had picked up a lot of scattered cultivation knowledge—but none of it in-depth.
“Can you control a Sixth-Level Qi Refining beast?”
“I can control ones that haven’t reached Qi Refining.”
“…I thought you were just being modest. Turns out you really do just know a bit.”
“Then I’ll find you a teacher—for remote guidance.” Jiang Li pulled out a long-distance communication talisman and called Bai Hongtu.
“What now? Asking Immortal Elder Changcun again?” Jiang Li always contacted Changcun through Bai Hongtu, so Bai was annoyed that he’d just hung up and was calling again.
“Someone else. Help me get Xiong Sanquan, Sect Master of the Beast-Taming Sect.”
“Wait.” Bai Hongtu didn’t ask what Jiang Li wanted with the Beast-Taming Sect. He just flew off.
“Hurry up.”
“You’re not even paying me and you want me to rush?” Bai Hongtu rolled his eyes and picked up speed.
“Human Sovereign Jiang, what do you want with me? You like my daughter or something?” Xiong Sanquan was thrilled to hear Jiang Li had asked for him by name. He thought Jiang Li was finally agreeing to the marriage proposal he made at the Nine Provinces Council.
Jiang Li pulled Yu Feng forward. “He’s only at First-Level Qi Refining. Teach him Beast-Taming. He needs to handle Sixth-Level Qi Refining beasts. Can you do it?”
Xiong Sanquan burst into laughter. “Jiang the Human Sovereign, you’re funny. If I can’t handle something that minor, I might as well resign and go home to raise kids.”
“Pay attention. Sect Master Xiong here is a Fusion-stage cultivator who specializes in Beast-Taming.” Jiang Li admitted Xiong Sanquan was better than him in that field.
Yu Feng was stunned that this average-looking man was a legendary Fusion cultivator.
He suddenly looked at Jiang Li differently—if even a Fusion-stage cultivator was that respectful toward Jiang Li, just how strong was he?
Could he be… Tribulation Stage…? Yu Feng didn’t dare continue the thought.
“The key to Beast-Taming lies in branding the beast’s Spiritual Platform with a Beast-Taming Mark. That way it can’t resist and will submit to you…”
Xiong Sanquan was one of the Nine Provinces’ top Beast-Tamers. His teachings were worlds apart from what Yu Feng had learned—like comparing clouds to mud.
Only now did Yu Feng realize how crude and laughably incorrect his old knowledge of Beast-Taming had been.
“…The smarter the beast, the harder it is to control. Quick question—has the Sixth-Level Qi Refining beast the Human Sovereign mentioned developed sentience yet?”
Normally, demon beasts didn’t gain sentience until Soul Formation. The Nine Provinces were an exception—thanks to the first Baize Empress discovering a method to awaken beast intelligence. All their beasts had sentience.
Xiong Sanquan assumed there wasn’t anyone like the Baize Empress in Jiang Li’s current world, but asked just to be safe.
“No, it hasn’t.”
“Good.” Xiong Sanquan continued teaching Beast-Taming.
“While the beast tide hasn’t yet formed, it’s easier to break them up. Let’s move and learn along the way,” Jiang Li said.