Wild cultivation begins with wielding the Taiyin talisman.

Ning Che finished the medicinal tea in one gulp, placed the porridge he had left for Shi Xiujuan at her door, and then turned and went back inside. Drowsiness gradually crept in, so he took off his coat, lay down on the bed, closed his eyes, and flipped through the original owner's memories. Before long, he fell into a deep sleep and slept soundly until dusk.

After waking up, he cooked a bowl of porridge, ate it, and then took his machete and slingshot and went out to cultivate.

During his cultivation, he deliberately diverted his attention to test whether he could deal with unexpected situations while cultivating. As dawn approached, he went to the vicinity to find common animals such as wild rabbits and mountain rats to test the spells that came with the Dao talisman.

This continued for two consecutive days.

Slight distraction and vigilance during cultivation will only reduce the speed of cultivation by 10% to 20%, and will not lead to mistakes, which is good news.

As for the spells, after several tests, he also discovered some patterns: the effects of the spells on beasts are mainly linked to the target's size and the complexity of the commands. The larger the target and the more complex the commands, the greater the energy consumption.

However, he secretly wondered: the essence of the difference in size might be the difference in strength—the size of mortal beasts is directly proportional to their strength. This guess could only be verified slowly when he encountered demons in the future.

Furthermore, the duration of this technique is very short, lasting only about one minute, and this duration seems to be unaffected by any factors.

He then gave this spell a name: Beast Taming Technique.

After all, this technique was enough to make the Iron Feather Sparrow Demon submit when he had just entered the Dao and had almost no cultivation. It was definitely his core trump card in dealing with demonic beasts.

Ning Che knew in his heart that while the Taiyin's natural suppression of demons was indeed extremely powerful, it probably wouldn't have the same effect on human cultivators. He absolutely couldn't overestimate himself based on this trump card; his ability to deal with other situations would ultimately need to be improved one by one.

During these three days, Zhao Di would come over every morning, bringing some freshly made dry food and a bowl of warm calming soup. She would never ask him where he had gone or what he had done. She would just put the food down, say a few words about what was happening in the village, remind him to be careful, and then leave quietly.

In addition, Ning Che didn't waste the birds and beasts he captured while testing his beast-taming skills. He would casually collect rabbits and pheasants to improve his diet, and his life gradually improved. As for field mice and the like, it wasn't that he was picky about food, but he simply didn't know how to cook them, so he could only "release" them all.

In this still somewhat unfamiliar new world, he finally felt a sense of "settling down".

The day for the hunting team to recruit members had arrived. Ning Che wasn't nervous at all, and he didn't have any idea of ​​cramming at the last minute. With his abilities, and with the headhunter Shi Yong already agreeing to let him join the team, there was naturally no suspense about it.

Shizhu Village is a medium-sized village with more than 200 households. Ning Che doesn't know the exact number of people, but small households have three to five people, large households have more than ten people, and if you include a few people like himself who live alone, there are probably about a thousand people.

Among these people, apart from the cultivators who were superior and extraordinary, being able to join the hunting team was already considered "doing well." Mancang was often proud of this—when he was fifteen, he had already become the pillar of his family because he had joined the hunting team.

But compared to the powerful forces in the city with their strong cultivators, this is nothing. There is undoubtedly a chasm between cultivators and mortals. The hunting team now has nearly twenty people, and Shi Yong's own combat strength accounts for at least half of the entire team.

Ning Che recalled the news that the original owner had heard and seen. Of course, he was unwilling to stay in this small village forever and was determined to step onto a bigger stage.

The most prominent forces in the city were the "Three Officials and Six Clans".

The Three Officials are the three major powers established by the Great Xia government: the City Lord's Mansion, which is in charge of civil administration and government decrees; the Witch God Tower, which is in charge of sacrifices and witchcraft; and the Mountain Guardians, who are responsible for maintaining order and guarding the desolate lands.

These three forces have deep foundations, hold official power, and have the most complete channels for advancement, but the threshold is extremely high. More importantly, the Taiyin Dharma he possesses has violated the taboo of the Great Xia Dynasty. Once he steps under the nose of the official forces, the slightest mistake will lead to utter ruin.

The six surnames refer to the six powerful noble families of Feihu City: Zhong, Yu, Xiang, Yan, Hu, and Shi. They have been operating in the area for over a hundred years, intermarrying with each other and wielding deep-rooted power. They are typical local bullies.

However, these families value bloodline and lineage above all else. Back then, the original owner of this body still had the bloodline of the Shi family, but the main branch discarded him like trash with a single sentence: "Not qualified enough." Now, if he wants to join the Shi family, he will probably hit an invisible ceiling.

If the Shi family is like this, then the rest are naturally even more so.

Before Ning Che could decide which faction to join, he heard a rapid knocking on the door.

"Knock knock knock!"

"Who is it?" Ning Che asked warily as he stood up.

"Brother Xingxing, something bad has happened!" Xiaohu shouted from outside the door, "The mountain keeper wants to take over the hunting team, and he says Uncle Shiyong embezzled public property. A fight is about to break out!"

Ning Che's heart sank upon hearing this. Shi Yong had been kind to him; how could he abandon him? So he put on his coat, instructed Xiao Hu to find the village chief and the shaman, and strode towards the hunting party.

Before he even arrived, he could hear Shi Yong's suppressed, deep voice mixed with the guard's sharp rebukes, creating a cacophony. He listened intently and heard words like "rejuvenation charm."

I never expected that this matter would have something to do with me.

He quickened his pace and walked toward the somewhat dilapidated but still relatively clean courtyard.

In the courtyard, Shi Yong gritted his teeth but still managed a smile, veins bulging on his forehead. The hunters behind him had various expressions, none of them quite pleasant.

Mancang was among them. Although he was only sixteen years old, he was already over 1.8 meters tall, with dark skin and a thick build. He was standing to the side and slightly behind Shi Yong, his face showing anger.

Opposite them stood three mountain guards dressed similarly to Zhao San and Zhao Si. The leader, a short man with a pointed face and monkey-like features, stood with his hands on his hips, spitting as he spoke: "Shi Yong! Don't push your luck! The Rejuvenation Talisman that was allocated from above is a life-saving talisman for the entire village to withstand the calamity. You dare to take it and use it to prolong the life of a lowly commoner?"

You'd better be sensible, otherwise, if this is reported to the city lord's mansion, not only will you lose your job as a headhunter, but the entire Stone Pillar Village will be accused of disrespecting government orders!

"What are you talking about? This is extortion!" Mancang could no longer contain himself and shouted angrily, "Aren't you afraid we'll report you to the authorities?"

"Report to the authorities, hahaha—we are the authorities, who do you want to report to?" The mountain guard with the pointed mouth and monkey-like face laughed so hard he couldn't straighten up.

The two people beside him also sneered. One of them, a plump woman, directly mocked, "Little brother, you have no right to speak here. Do you know that in this desolate wilderness, a person lost in the calamity and beast tide is just considered to have been eaten by monsters. Their bones will probably never be recovered."

"You!" Man Cang's face flushed with anger, and he was about to rush forward. Shi Yong, however, reached out and grabbed him, shouting sharply, "What are you doing? Get back!"

Mancang stared at Shi Yong's wide, bloodshot eyes, pursed his lips, and finally retreated dejectedly.

Ning Che took a deep breath, grabbed the courtyard gate and pushed it open, making it creak.

The tense atmosphere in the courtyard suddenly froze, and everyone turned to look at the source of the sound. Ning Che slowly stepped into the courtyard, his gaze sweeping indifferently over the three arrogant mountain guards before finally settling on Shi Yong's tense back. His tone was calm, and his words were clear:

"The talisman is what I use."