The Beast Institute sat atop a mountain peak, the summit shrouded in a Spirit Array. As soon as one entered, the distant roars of spirit beasts could be faintly heard.
Upon learning that Lu Chang’sheng had arrived, the steward in charge of the area hurried out from the courtyard.
"Alchemist Lu, what brings you over today?"
The addition of a new Grade Two Alchemist to the Good Beast Sect was common knowledge, and He Zhao, the Beast Institute’s steward, was certainly aware.
"I heard that the egg is ready to hatch. I ca to take a look. What, Steward He, do you think I don’t qualify?" Lu Chang’sheng said with a smile.
"No, no, of course not! Alchemist Lu’s quota is still reserved." He Zhao replied hastily.
"Good to hear."
Lu Chang’sheng nodded. He could guess why He Zhao was nervous: the spirit beast about to hatch was highly coveted.
Plenty of folks were jealous for a chance at this beast. Word had it that even several alchemists in the Alchemy Institute had held off on picking a spirit pet for decades, just to wait for this one.
Because the source of this spirit beast was none other than the famous Good Beast Sect’s Fire Cloud Beast.
The Fire Cloud Beast was a high-grade, Grade Two spirit beast; if cultivated well, its potential could reach the peak of Grade Two—Foundation Establishnt late-stage.
Of course, few ever reached that limit. Even the Fire Cloud Beasts within the Good Beast Sect rarely surpassed lower Grade Two, with only a handful reaching mid Grade Two.
This difference was all about talent.
Better talent ant a higher chance of breaking through the species’ natural limits.
In the Good Beast Sect, for a young spirit beast still inside its egg, the simplest way to evaluate its talent was to look at its parents.
"Dragons birth dragons, phoenixes birth phoenixes, if a mouse has kids, they’re digging holes in the ground."
No matter how gifted a mouse was, it was still a mouse—unless you add a fancy prefix like "Gold-Eating" or "Spirit-Linking."
The strongest Fire Cloud Beast in the sect lived atop the peak—nad Ning Yun, with peak power at mid Grade Two.
As for the Ning surna, it’s because that beast once partnered with Ning Yun, a Good Beast Sect elder. By sect custom, after the elder’s passing, the Fire Cloud Beast took the na of its companion, symbolizing the sect’s enduring bond with their spirit beasts.
And the spirit beast hatching today? It’s Ning Yun’s offspring.
Great potential, sturdy baseline, and most importantly—a huge boost for Lu Chang’sheng in both battle and alchemy.
"Forgive , Alchemist Lu, I’ll go greet the others."
He Zhao suddenly said.
Several more people had arrived outside, minimum rank stewards, with a few elders among them.
Seeing Lu Chang’sheng here, they all ca over to greet him.
"Alchemist Lu, you made it too? I knew before I ca—the odds of a smooth win today were slim. Now I see I was right."
A goat-bearded, middle-aged cultivator sighed lodramatically.
"Huh? Fellow Daoist Zhong, weren’t you over at Purple Ice Lake? What brings you back?" Lu Chang’sheng said with a laugh.
There were only so many cultivators in the Foundation Establishnt stage in Good Beast Sect, nowhere near as many power gas as among the lower-ranking Qi Cultivators.
Even when such sches did arise, they were far less common and rarely overt.
Lu Chang’sheng wasn’t Foundation Establishnt yet, but as a Grade Two Alchemist, he was treated as an equal. So, those cultivators would show him respect.
"How could I not? I’ve been thinking about the Fire Cloud Beast for decades! Fellow Lu, just let have this one. I’ll owe you big." Zhong Shan stroked his beard.
"I’ve had my eye on it for decades myself," said Lu Chang’sheng.
"That’s not the sa! Your twenty years compared to my fifty? Who you kidding?" Zhong Shan huffed, puffing out his beard.
"Stop trying to con , Daoist Zhong. I just ran into Fellow Lin who said things are heating up at Purple Ice Lake. Don’t tell you ca back just to see lose?" Lu Chang’sheng teased.
Zhong Shan laughed, "Hey, you said it, not ."
He turned to the group behind him. "You all heard it—he said it, not . I didn’t say a word."
The group broke into laughter.
Friendly rivalry was the norm at Good Beast Sect, especially over spirit beasts—so the higher-ups were used to it, rarely letting competition sour relationships.
Lu Chang’sheng laughed along with them.
When he’d joined Good Beast Sect, he’d earned priority selection rights. In other words, if a spirit beast caught his interest, he could try to form a Spirit Contract straight away.
Technically, others shouldn’t get a chance, but the catch was his priority didn’t an unlimited tries. If he failed to win the beast’s recognition, other cultivators with Grade A Beast Institute quotas could try too.
So just like Lu Chang’sheng said, Zhong Shan and company had trekked all the way back from Purple Ice Lake hoping Lu Chang’sheng would fail his attempt.
"If I fail, then I guess it’s just not ant to be."
Lu Chang’sheng said.
"Hard to say, hard to say. Maybe the little guy takes a liking to you!"
"I’ll take your blessing to heart."
The group chatted as they walked, passing by the C, D, and B grade Beast Institutes, which lined up from the foot of the mountain to halfway up.
Lu Chang’sheng saw spirit beasts playing within set boundaries, with plenty of Qi Cultivation disciples watching over them.
The beasts in these lower-tier institutes were basically dumb as rocks, causing trouble now and then—but with cultivators to supervise and Fire Cloud Beasts imposing order at the peak, things stayed under control.
"By the way, have any of you seen Fellow Daoist He Feng?" Zhong Shan piped up.
"Nope!"
" neither—but knowing how much Daoist He Feng cares about the Fire Cloud Beast, he’s probably already up there."
"Most likely! He Feng practically lives for spirit beasts."
Lu Chang’sheng glanced at He Zhao, who was sheepishly smiling at his side; a hint of embarrassnt in his eyes. Lu suspected as much.
He didn’t really mind, though—you couldn’t expect perfect fairness in everything, and He Feng wasn’t targeting him personally.
The others kept the chatter light, but it was clear their glances at He Zhao had subtly shifted.
The He Family was one of the sect’s main lineages, and He Feng their most gifted scion. Of course the family pulled strings; it was only natural for their leaders to seek benefits for outstanding juniors, especially in a sect famous for spirit beasts.
Still, their thods were a little... unsightly.
Fairness mattered, so to keep peace, those with quotas couldn’t enter before hatch day.
The spirit beast egg could sense its surroundings, and that first glimpse mattered a lot—raising the chance it would choose you.
That just wasn’t fair for everyone else.
Fortunately, this didn’t decide everything, or even He Feng wouldn’t skate by so easily.
One other thing: He Feng had a special Fire Spirit Body and Fire Spirit Root Talent.
That’s what made most people pretty pessimistic about their chances.
"He Feng’s called ’Little Fireman’—born under the sign of fire. Rumor has it, to beco even more pure, he even changed his na! Used to be He Feng, now He Feng—the character ’Feng’ includes fire, but ’Feng’ is fire itself."
"They say it’s all for this day. The beast hasn’t even hatched yet, and nobody knows what it’ll really be like. Hell, maybe it’ll pick soone just because their na sounds cool."
Zhong Shan chuckled, "Almost forgot to ntion—right before entering the mountain gate, I dropped the ’Shan’! Call Zhong Can now—’Can’ has the fire radical."
"Daoist Zhong, you’re really going all-out, huh?"
Lu Chang’sheng paused for a mont. "Too many strong competitors, what can I do?"
Zhong Shan just laughed and laughed.
Lu Chang’sheng felt a little awkward; the guy looked like a sage, but his cackling was almost sleazy. Who knew where he picked that up?
"Maybe I should change my own na..."
He murmured.
After passing through the C, D, and B zones, Lu Chang’sheng felt more determined. Having glimpsed those spirit beasts, he really had no desire for them.
Their limits were just too low—the best he’d get was a late-stage Qi Cultivator at enormous cost. For soone like him, not worth it.
Soon, they arrived at their destination. A blast of wind, like a giant fan, surged out from a grand hall, ruffling everyone’s magical robes.
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