Inside his resting chamber, Leo was completely wide awake, examining the Spirit Beast Ring in his hand with great enthusiasm. Although young, he could tell the black-robed elder had no intention of teaching him anything else; it seemed he was only regarded as a tool for raising the green ants. To have secured this Spirit Beast Ring and the Beast Taming Arts, taking a bit of risk was worth it.

  Today's harvest was indeed bountiful. He carefully stored the Qi Gathering Pill away. Such an important pill, once used, was gone. Leo thought it would be more effective to use it when breaking through to the second layer of Qi Refining.

  The black-robed elder only rested in the cave dwelling for one night, leaving early the next morning.

  Leo spent ten days inside the dwelling studying the Beast Taming Arts. After gaining some confidence, one morning, he used the incantation granted by the black-robed elder to command the black bear.

  The black bear responded with a few lazy growls. Leo continued chanting. After the ancient silver Spirit Beast Ring around the bear's neck flashed several times, the bear reluctantly shook its massive body and moved several large stones to block the cave entrance.

  A thoughtful expression crossed Leo's face. "It seems the manual is correct. It's much easier to control a spirit beast you've tamed yourself. This black bear is Elder Ragnar's spirit beast, so controlling it is indeed rather difficult. Looks like I need to give this bear some benefits first."

  For this purpose, Leo took the black bear out, specifically finding some berries, wild honeycomb, and other foods the bear enjoyed. Having been cooped up in the cave for too long, the bear relished the rare freedom to roam freely in the canyon. After satisfying its appetite, its attitude towards Leo became noticeably more affectionate.

  "Roar!" The bear's nose twitched a few times, then it quickly lunged into a patch of shrubs, startling a few sparrows into flight. It extended a thick paw to brush aside the foliage, lowered its bulky head for a sniff, then raised it again, chewing on a kind of crimson fruit along with a few leaves.

  All the fruit on that small branch ended up in the bear's mouth. Smelling the unique fragrance released as the red fruit was crushed, Leo couldn't help but swallow several mouthfuls of saliva.

  After the bear backed out of the shrubbery, Leo squeezed into the area it had just flattened. He was disappointed to find that where the bear had feasted, even half of the small fruit tree was gnawed away.

  He couldn't help but grumble inwardly, "That greedy glutton of a bear."

  Just as Leo, with a disappointed look, was about to retreat from the shrubs, he suddenly caught a faint whiff of a herbal scent. Surprisingly, it bore a slight resemblance to the aroma of the Qi Gathering Pill.

  The black-robed elder usually didn't allow him into the alchemy room during pill refinement. However, through refining the Beast Spirit Pills for the green ants, Leo knew that each type of pill was made from corresponding spiritual herbs or materials.

  Remembering this, Leo crawled deeper into the shrubs. Carefully parting the weeds, he searched for the source of this scent.

  A short while later, Leo finally discovered two small plants, each about half a foot tall, with a light purple hue. Each plant had seven leaves with distinct veins. These two small plants looked noticeably different from the surrounding weeds, emitting a comforting aura and a spiritual energy very similar to the Qi Gathering Pill's scent.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Excited, Leo carefully collected the two small plants and stored them in a jade box. Before leaving, he had brought several jade boxes for gathering herbs for the Beast Spirit Pills and happened to have an extra empty one.

  Searching the area again and finding no more of these plants, Leo eagerly led the black bear back to the cave dwelling.

  Back in his resting chamber, Leo opened the jade box. He plucked a leaf from one of the plants and placed it in his mouth, chewing slightly. A raw, fierce burst of spiritual energy immediately surged into his body, rampaging wildly. The pain made beads of sweat roll down Leo's face.

  Horrified, Leo quickly sat down cross-legged, circulating the vital energy in his Elixir Field through his meridians in a major cycle.

  "This works!" Leo felt a surge of joy, noticing that part of the spiritual energy began to flow along with his vital energy through his meridians. Although the remaining rampaging energy still caused him excruciating pain, he saw hope. He continued striving to guide this chaotic energy. One cycle, two cycles... More and more of the fierce spiritual energy became gentler, slowly transforming into vital energy as it circulated with his internal energy.

  After continuously running five major cycles, all the invasive spiritual energy was converted. Only then did Leo realize his clothes were soaked with sweat. The vital energy now lingering in his elixir field had grown noticeably, roughly equivalent to several days of arduous cultivation. If he consumed the entire plant, it would likely save him a month's worth of hard cultivation.

  To think one spiritual herb could save a month of cultivation! If I could find more herbs, I could reach the second layer of Qi Refining much faster. Elder Ragnar and the others frequently enter and leave the canyon, surely also to search for spiritual treasures to speed up their cultivation. Since Elder Ragnar wouldn't be back for a while, he could venture out to search a few more times later. Leo thought excitedly.

  Taking advantage of the remaining evening, Leo washed off the sweat, changed clothes, and then went to the alchemy room to refine a batch of Beast Spirit Pills. The next day, after scattering a few pills into the jade pool to feed the green ants, Leo took the black bear out of the cave dwelling again. Man and beast walked through the blanket of white mist. Feeling the faint threads of spiritual energy in the canyon, Leo felt a sense of ease.

  "Roar!" The black bear demonstrated its might, swatting a wild boar that tried to ambush Leo dead on the spot. By noon, Leo felt somewhat hungry. He gathered some firewood, built a stand, skinned and cleaned the boar, then set it on the wooden frame to roast. This time, Leo had come prepared, bringing salt. Sprinkling salt and a few spices on the pork, he roasted it. Before long, an appetizing aroma filled the air.

  The black bear watched the roasting pork, pacing impatiently around the fire, drool streaming from its mouth.

  However, heavy panting sounds also came from the surroundings. Leo looked up warily and saw five or six grey giant wolves with faintly visible baleful auras hidden in the nearby grass. Their bodies were nearly twice the size of normal wolves.

  "These are demonic beasts!" Cold sweat broke out on Leo's back. Since reaching the first layer of Qi Refining, he could sense the difference between ordinary beasts and demonic beasts. Demonic beasts possessed a demonic baleful aura that regular beasts lacked. Moreover, Leo was no longer the same as before. With a short sword tucked in his robe, he wasn't afraid of a single wild wolf. But facing a pack of five or six was another matter. After all, although he was now at the first layer of Qi Refining, he knew no offensive or defensive spells, nor any martial techniques. He was just physically much stronger. And what he faced now were five or six wolf demonic beasts.

  From any single one, he could feel the fluctuations of demonic baleful power far exceeding his own. If demonic beasts were assigned levels, Leo felt these grey giant wolves were likely at the second layer of Qi Refining, significantly stronger than him.

  Before the wolf pack could fully encircle them, the black bear, baring its teeth with a furious roar, charged at the nearest grey wolf. With a weight exceeding two thousand pounds, the bear's charge was truly terrifying in its momentum.

  "Aooow!" A wolf demonic beast was struck solidly by a bear paw, sent flying over thirty feet with a pitiful cry, and landed heavily on the ground, motionless.

  "Almost forgot!" Leo slapped his forehead, quickly pulling out the ancient silver Spirit Beast Ring from his robe and chanting the incantation.

  One wolf demonic beast opened its maw and spat out an icicle-shaped spike, shooting it at the black bear. However, a dull yellow glow shimmered across the bear's fur. The ice spike collided with the bear's body with a loud thud, as if striking an iron plate, failing to penetrate at all.

  Roar! The black bear reared up on its hind legs, roaring mightily. Its imposing aura simultaneously suppressed the demonic baleful energy of the remaining wolves. Its massive body came down, a paw pressing against the ground. Suddenly, a dull yellow earthen spike erupted from the ground beneath another wolf demonic beast's belly, impaling the creature before it could escape.

  Two more grey giant wolves quickly fell to the black bear's claws. The remaining few tucked their tails and fled in disarray. Leo ran forward to check. Two of the three fallen wolf demonic beasts were completely dead. The one impaled by the earthen spike was, of course, beyond hope.

  Leo couldn't help but feel somewhat disheartened. After all, the black bear wasn't a spirit beast he had tamed himself. Moreover, the bear's level was far higher than his, making it impossible to control with the precision of moving his own arm.