Immortality and Cultivation: Starting with Improving Spiritual Root Aptitude

The attic was clearly categorized, with various jade slips and classic texts neatly arranged.

Wu Fan wasted no time and went straight to searching according to his needs, quickly selecting three items.

A recipe for a pill that can feed a spirit beast to the first-grade superior level, a jade slip containing basic beast taming techniques, and a scroll of spirit beast contract techniques.

After selecting the items, Wu Fan went to a room on one side of the attic to prepare to copy the jade slip.

He cupped his hands in greeting to the disciples stationed there and asked:

"Senior brother, how many contribution points are needed for these three items in total?"

The garrison disciple looked up at him and, seeing his steady aura and the fact that he was at the eighth level of Qi Refining, immediately softened his expression. He quickly took the three jade slips Wu Fan offered, examined them carefully, and then slowly said:

"Junior brother, you're too kind. These three items together amount to 410 contribution points."

Upon hearing this, Wu Fan did not hesitate at all and took out his sect token to hand it over.

The disciple took the token, glanced at it out of the corner of his eye, and after seeing the Dan Hall insignia on the token, his expression became even more gentle, even taking on a deliberate act of ingratiation.

"So you're from the Pill Hall, Junior Brother. My apologies for not recognizing you sooner."

He paused, then asked with a smile:

"Junior brother, you're exchanging these things to raise spirit beasts, right?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Fan simply smiled faintly and did not give a direct answer.

Seeing this, the disciple was not embarrassed; instead, he smiled knowingly.

"Junior brother, don't take it personally. I'm not trying to pry into your private affairs. I just wanted to kindly remind you since you're trying to copy the contract incantation. Signing a spirit beast contract requires a few basic materials. If you need them, you can buy them directly from me. This will save you from having to run around the Beast Taming Hall looking for them later and wasting your time."

Upon hearing that they were merely selling contract materials and not inquiring about his personal affairs, Wu Fan immediately lowered his guard.

He bowed again, his tone now more sincere:

"I see. Thank you for reminding me, senior brother. Then I'll trouble you to introduce a few options to me. If the prices are fair, I'll buy them all from you at once, which will save me some trouble."

Seeing that Wu Fan was indeed interested in buying, the garrison disciple was overjoyed. His smile became even more genuine and enthusiastic, and he quickly lowered his voice to carefully introduce the product to Wu Fan:

"Junior brother, rest assured, all the materials here are specially made by the Beast Taming Hall, the quality is absolutely guaranteed, and the price is also a few cents cheaper than outside shops. I have all the items needed to sign the contract here. Buying the whole set is much more cost-effective than buying them separately elsewhere."

After a detailed explanation, Wu Fan's heart stirred slightly.

He pondered to himself that although these materials were not rare or precious, it would be a waste of time and effort to search for them alone in various parts of the Beast Taming Hall, and the gains would not outweigh the losses.

"Then I'll trouble you, senior brother, to get me a set of materials."

Wu Fan nodded slowly in response without further hesitation.

The two quickly completed the transaction and exchanged a few pleasantries. The resident disciple then led Wu Fan into the inner room, took out a jade slip replicator, and provided him with the opportunity to replicate the selected pill formula, beast taming technique, and contract incantation.

The process of replicating the jade slip was not complicated, and it was completed in no time.

While copying, Wu Fan also took out the contract materials that Zhao Lei had sold him earlier and examined them one by one. Only after confirming that the quality of each material was perfect did he feel completely at ease.

A moment later, all three jade slips had been copied.

Wu Fan respectfully returned the original jade slip, carefully put away the copied jade slip and the newly purchased contract materials, and bowed to the garrisoned disciple to say goodbye.

"Senior brother, thank you for your help today. I'll take my leave now."

"Take care, junior brother! If you ever need anything in the future, just come and find me!"

The resident disciple smiled and waved goodbye.

Wu Fan nodded slightly, turned around and walked out of the collection pavilion, heading straight for the exit of the Beast Taming Hall.

Once outside the Beast Taming Hall's area, he took out a feather-shaped flying artifact, condensed a hand seal at his fingertips to activate it, and the artifact carried him slowly into the air, speeding away into the distance.

......

Time flies, and four years have passed in the blink of an eye.

After signing a master-servant blood pact with Wu Fan, Zhao Fu has grown into a majestic and mature tiger demon.

Since joining the ranks of demonic beasts, its body has become increasingly robust, now over ten feet long and nearly six feet tall at the shoulder. Its entire body is covered with glossy black fur with golden stripes, and when the sunlight shines down, the tips of its fur gleam with a faint spiritual light, giving it an appearance that is both majestic and fierce.

With such a size, even if two Wu Fans sat side by side on its back, it would be as stable as flat ground, without feeling cramped at all.

Wu Fan had specifically tested Zhao Fu's strength as a demon beast. At present, although it was only at the early stage of the first rank and could not yet use its demon beast powers, it was only larger and had a stronger bite force compared to an ordinary tiger.

However, in terms of speed, it is the best among its peers. As a tiger, it is even faster than ordinary horse-like spirit beasts. Even the Wind-Riding Boat that Wu Fan relied on for travel could not match its agility and speed when it was fully activated.

Wu Fan pondered to himself, Zhao Fu is only at the early stage of the first rank, yet it has such speed. If it can break through to the late stage of the first rank, ordinary Qi Refining cultivators would probably be unable to catch up with it unless they use speed-type magic artifacts or raise a demon beast known for its speed.

Wu Fan was quite satisfied with this speed.

If the Wind-Riding Boat consumes too much mana for long journeys in the future, he can ride on the Fortune Boat to continue his journey, which will save mana and shorten the journey considerably.

Zhao Fu's current growth is also inseparable from Wu Fan's meticulous care.

Over the years, in addition to the abundant spiritual energy in the cave, Wu Fan has also regularly fed it basic spirit beast pills such as "Spirit Feeding Pills" to nourish its demonic veins. Occasionally, he would also find the flesh and blood of Qi Refining stage demonic beasts for it to devour and temper its body.

Over time, Zhao Fu's cultivation level had already reached the peak of the early stage of the first rank, and his demonic power was abundant. He only needed an opportunity to break through to the middle stage of the first rank.

Seeing Zhao Fu's rapid advancement, Wu Fan couldn't help but feel a little envious.

Zhao Fu was born with a strong bloodline, and he also happened to have such excellent cultivation conditions, which allowed him to have a smooth journey.

Looking at himself, he came from an ordinary background and had extremely poor spiritual roots in his childhood. If it weren't for the Five Elements Pearl that helped him change his fate, he would probably still be struggling in the early stage of Qi Refining. Let alone having any hope of Foundation Establishment, it would be unknown whether he could even gain a foothold in the cultivation world.

With this thought flashing through his mind, Wu Fan couldn't help but sigh softly, then shook his head to dispel the dejection in his heart.

He knew that one's birth and spiritual roots were predetermined and could not be forced.

Now that he has the Five Elements Pearl to help him, he can improve his spiritual root and enhance his cultivation step by step. He is already much luckier than most cultivators in the cultivation world. If he is still not satisfied, he will seem greedy.

Moreover, the family upheavals he experienced in his childhood, the loss of his parents, and the various predicaments brought about by his initially inferior spiritual root made him see the truth of the survival of the fittest in the cultivation world at an early age.

It was these experiences that forged his firm belief in the Dao and gave him the courage to forge ahead.

Coupled with his memories of his past life, he had an irrepressible longing for the higher realms of cultivation.

Thinking this way, Wu Fan's pent-up frustrations dissipated, and a bright light rekindled in his eyes.