Beast Taming: The Beginning of Hatching an Ancient Dragon

Chapter 12: The Master of Spiritual Cuisine

The final exam results were released a week later. Taking advantage of this period, Li Chang’an devoted himself to meditation and cultivation, hoping to advance to the level of a Tier 2 Beast Master within the week. Unfortunately, progress in cultivation couldn’t be rushed, especially since Li Chang’an had only recently become a Tier 1 Beast Master. Without the aid of potions or Void Stones, his cultivation results were less than satisfactory. According to Li Chang’an’s estimation, given his talent, it would take him three months to fill his 500-cubic Beast Space with咒力 (zhòu lì, or “curse power”).

While working in Mu Qingqing’s studio, Li Chang’an used a simple spiritual power tester to measure his current spiritual power, which was around 16 “符” (fú, a unit of measurement for spiritual power). This was still some distance from the 20 fú required to reach the threshold of a Tier 2 Beast Master. This increase in spiritual power was largely due to his constant resonance with his beast companion, Mao Mao, which indirectly trained his spiritual power.

As for spell energy, the situation wasn’t as favorable. Old Man Li had specifically warned him that low-tier Beast Masters (Tiers 1-3) should avoid using potions to aid their cultivation. Doing so could affect the purity of their spell energy and reduce their sensitivity to life energy. Only after advancing to the mid-tier Beast Master level, where the body undergoes a significant transformation and develops超凡器官 (chāo fán qì guān, or “supernatural organs”), could one begin using potions. At that stage, the body gains the ability to resist and metabolize impurities in the potions, provided the impurity content isn’t too high. High-tier Beast Masters have even more flexibility, as long as they don’t overuse potions.

Therefore, low-tier Beast Masters like Li Chang’an should avoid relying on potions for cultivation, as it could harm their bodies. Since spell energy cultivation showed no immediate results, Li Chang’an decided to focus on Mao Mao. By nurturing Mao Mao to the awakening stage and unlocking its racial talents, Li Chang’an could receive energy feedback through their soul contract and inherit new abilities. This would allow him to complete most of his Tier 1 Beast Master cultivation. After that, a few weeks of focused training would be enough to break through to Tier 2.

To achieve this, Li Chang’an spent his time learning new fire-attribute spiritual cuisine recipes from his mother, Mu Qingqing. Initially, Mu Qingqing was surprised and hoped that Li Chang’an would master the basic recipes before moving on to more advanced ones. However, when she learned that the new recipes were tailored to Mao Mao’s inherited memories and would help create the most suitable food for the beast, her enthusiasm ignited. Crafting a custom diet for a beast with ancient dragon bloodline might provide her with new insights and help her overcome a bottleneck in her spiritual cuisine skills.

Before each meal, Mu Qingqing and Li Chang’an experimented with new spiritual cuisine recipes. Mu Qingqing took the lead, while Li Chang’an acted as a messenger, relaying Mao Mao’s feedback to her. Sometimes, he offered suggestions from the perspective of a human Beast Master. After five days of experimentation, they finally created a new spiritual cuisine set called the “Lava Set.” This set could be upgraded to high-tier spiritual cuisine, but it wasn’t the limit of the series. Due to time constraints and Mu Qingqing’s newfound inspiration, the series hadn’t yet reached the king-tier level. According to Mu Qingqing, who jokingly referred to herself as “forever eighteen,” she needed some time to fully digest her inspiration and complete the king-tier version of the Lava Set.

Watching his mother hurry off to her tea house research lab, Li Chang’an realized that this recipe development had greatly inspired her. Perhaps soon, their family would have a second-tier Spiritual Cuisine Master.

The ranks of Spiritual Cuisine Masters and other types of调和师 (tiáo hé shī, or “harmonizers”) are similar to those of Beast Masters. They are divided into low-tier, mid-tier, and high-tier harmonizers, corresponding to the ranks of Beast Masters. Upon reaching the king-tier Beast Master level and creating a king-tier spiritual cuisine set, one could be called a Spiritual Cuisine Master. Note that it had to be a complete set, not just a single king-tier dish. Therefore, the assessment for master-level harmonizers at the king-tier was particularly strict, requiring the ability to independently create a full king-tier spiritual cuisine set. Mu Qingqing was a first-tier Spiritual Cuisine Master.

Thanks to his conversations with Mu Qingqing during this period, Li Chang’an finally learned about the realms beyond the king-tier Beast Master level. After the king-tier came the Throne-tier and Celestial King-tier Beast Masters, corresponding to second-tier and third-tier Spiritual Cuisine Masters, respectively. The skill progression of harmonizers was much slower than that of Beast Masters, so it was common for first-tier harmonizers to have Throne-tier strength, surpassing their skill level. Cases like Mu Qingqing’s, where strength and skill matched, were rare and belonged to the realm of geniuses. If Mu Qingqing succeeded, her status and position would be among the top in the entire Z Province.

Having a harmonizer master in the family was undoubtedly a great advantage! As Li Chang’an marveled at his mother’s illustrious career, he exchanged a sly smile with Mao Mao. Thanks to the constant feeding of fire-attribute spiritual cuisine, Mao Mao was now on the verge of breaking through to the awakening stage. Unlike ordinary beasts, which required time to digest and grow, the狱炎龙 (Yù Yán Lóng, or “Prison Flame Dragon”) grew rapidly in its early stages. As long as it received sufficient energy, the Prison Flame Dragon could rely on its formidable digestive abilities and its unique body condition during its juvenile stage—somewhere between an elemental and a flesh-and-blood form—to quickly grow out of its vulnerable infancy and awakening stages, ensuring its survival in the wild.

This was exactly what was happening with Mao Mao. To prepare for the upcoming awakening stage, Li Chang’an let Mao Mao rest for a day to grow peacefully. As he stroked the sleeping Mao Mao, Li Chang’an felt a tinge of regret. This rapid growth only occurred during the juvenile stage of the Prison Flame Dragon. Once it reached the超凡级 (chāo fán jí, or “transcendent level”) and entered its growth stage, its body would stabilize into a flesh-and-blood form, and its elemental transformation ability would only be achievable through skills. It would no longer be able to use the gap between its elemental and flesh-and-blood forms to achieve rapid growth. This was likely an evolutionary ability developed by ancient dragons to reduce the mortality rate of their young.

After a day of rest, Li Chang’an woke up early and prepared five servings of the low-tier Lava Set. The low-tier Lava Set consisted of only two items: the main dish, “Lava Jelly,” and the drink, “Fire Essence Liquid.” The Lava Jelly was made by combining liquefied low-tier fire crystals with magma fruit to create a jelly-like food. The translucent red jelly was sprinkled with finely ground, caramelized high-quality volcanic rock, which added essential minerals and improved the texture. The Fire Essence Liquid was simpler, made from the extracts of fire essence grass and crystal peach, with a bit of sugar added for flavor.

Five servings of the Lava Set were enough to push Mao Mao into the awakening stage twice. Li Chang’an donned a high-temperature protective suit and went to the courtyard, where he activated a protective formation. To avoid alarming others, he set the formation to its highest level, which included optical camouflage, scent masking, and soundproofing. Everything was ready; all that was needed was for Mao Mao to begin.

Under Li Chang’an’s guidance, Mao Mao consumed two servings of the Lava Set. Ten minutes later, dark red prison flames began to emanate from Mao Mao’s body, distorting the air with their terrifying heat. At this point, Mao Mao seemed to have a doppelgänger, as a distorted figure appeared to hover over its body. As the surrounding temperature continued to rise, Li Chang’an retreated to a safety barrier three meters away and activated a temperature isolation shield. Once the shield was up, he felt a wave of cool relief.

Mao Mao let out a low, pained growl, as if something inside its body was hindering its progress into the awakening stage. Li Chang’an frowned. According to Mao Mao’s inherited memories, the awakening stage for a Prison Flame Dragon shouldn’t be this difficult or painful. Could it be that, compared to wild Prison Flame Dragons, Mao Mao was missing something?

“Meow. (Chang’an, I still need energy.)”

Startled, Li Chang’an decisively opened the temperature isolation shield and delivered two more servings of the Lava Set to Mao Mao. He also activated an energy-draining formation he had used once before. This formation, which cost 10,000 yuan and could only be used three times, was a rip-off! By the time Li Chang’an exited the formation, his protective suit was already showing signs of melting, a testament to the terrifying heat of the prison flames. If he had stayed any longer, the suit would have been completely destroyed.

After consuming the additional servings of the Lava Set, Mao Mao let out a loud roar, and the surrounding prison flames converged around it, enveloping its body. The awakening had begun!