[Congratulations, Host, you have drawn a prize: Strengthening Pill]
[Congratulations, Host, you have drawn a prize: Low-Grade Spirit Tea (half a pound)]
[Congratulations, Host, you have drawn a prize: Low-grade Spirit Stone (Earth Attribute)]
They were all routine supplies, nothing special.
The fifth draw—
[Congratulations, Host, you have drawn a prize: Spirit Awakening Pill]
Another Spirit Awakening Pill!
"Not bad."
Yang Qi nodded.
’Keep drawing!’
[Congratulations, Host, you have drawn a prize: Low-grade Spirit Stone (Wind Attribute)]
’A Wind Spirit Stone, not bad.’
Yang Qi’s eyes lit up slightly.
He was one step closer to collecting the nine Wind and Thunder Spirit Stones needed to set up the Cloud Plate Enchanting Array.
The seventh draw.
[Congratulations, Host, you have drawn a prize: Spirit Awakening Pill]
He got a Spirit Awakening Pill again!
Yang Qi’s spirits lifted.
’My luck is pretty good today.’
The eighth and final draw.
[Congratulations, Host, you have drawn a prize: Spirit Awakening Pill]
It was a Spirit Awakening Pill again!
Three Spirit Awakening Pills!
’Did my luck just explode?’
Yang Qi mused, materializing the three pills and holding them in his palm.
"Hu Zi, Bai Wan, Liu Fu, come here."
Yang Qi called to the three Guardian Beasts.
Hu Zi and Bai Wan immediately trotted over and sat before Yang Qi, their eyes filled with anticipation.
Liu Fu also climbed down from its perch, leaped lightly onto the coffee table, and curiously stared at the pills in Yang Qi’s hand with its pale yellow eyes.
"Here, one for each of you."
Yang Qi fed the three Spirit Awakening Pills to his three Guardian Beasts, one by one.
Hu Zi and Bai Wan excitedly stuck out their tongues, precisely snatching the pills and swallowing them down.
Afterward, they felt a gentle warmth spread from their stomachs, surging through their limbs and bodies, especially to their brains.
An unprecedented sense of clarity and lucidity swept over them.
"Whine..."
"Arf~"
The two dogs whimpered in comfort at almost the same time. Their eyelids began to feel heavy as an intense drowsiness washed over them.
They barely managed to walk to their respective beds, lie down, and tilt their heads, instantly falling into a deep sleep.
Liu Fu was a little hesitant.
Its mouth had a special structure, making it somewhat difficult to swallow something so large.
Seeing this, Yang Qi carefully crushed the Spirit Awakening Pill into several small pieces with his fingers and offered them to its mouth.
[Thank you, Master]
Liu Fu expressed its thanks, then flicked out its long tongue, skillfully curling the small pieces of the pill into its mouth one by one and swallowing them.
Soon, the same warmth and sense of clarity rose within its body.
Liu Fu crawled back onto the perch Yang Qi had specially prepared for it, coiled up its body, and slowly closed its pale yellow eyes, also falling asleep.
For the next day and night, the three Guardian Beasts would absorb the medicinal power of the Spirit Awakening Pills in their sleep.
When they awoke, their intelligence and comprehension would be significantly enhanced, allowing them to understand and cultivate the Ten Thousand Beasts Devouring Moon Technique and become true Spirit Beasts!
’Two more Spirit Awakening Pills, and all my Guardian Beasts will be able to cultivate.’
Yang Qi watched Hu Zi, Bai Wan, and Liu Fu in their deep sleep, calculating in his mind.
The Guardian Beasts that had already taken the Spirit Awakening Pill and started cultivating the Ten Thousand Beasts Devouring Moon Technique were Xiaojiu and Leopard.
Tonight, Hu Zi, Bai Wan, and Liu Fu took the pills and fell asleep. When they woke up tomorrow, that would be three more.
Two were still left.
The Beaked Eagle, Qi Zai, and the clouded leopard, Ta Xue.
’I’ll pick Ta Xue up tomorrow evening...’
’If I can get another Spirit Awakening Pill from the lottery tomorrow morning, Ta Xue can take it tomorrow night.’
As for Qi Zai...
Yang Qi’s gaze shifted to the dark silhouette of the mountains outside the window.
The Beaked Eagle, Qi Zai, spent most of its days patrolling and hunting in the skies above Cangshan. In the evening, it would fly back to the Zoo and roost in the aviary built especially for it.
The technicians at the Zoo recorded and observed its movements every day.
’Taking the Spirit Awakening Pill requires sleeping for a day and a night. I’ll have to get the technicians "used to it" in advance, find a suitable excuse...’
For example, he could say that Qi Zai was "cooperating in a special physiological monitoring experiment" that required 24 hours of continuous, quiet observation.
With his current prestige at the Zoo, such an arrangement wouldn’t be difficult.
With a comprehensive plan in mind, Yang Qi felt at ease.
He got up and switched the living room lights to a soft night-light mode to ensure the sleeping, cultivating Guardian Beasts wouldn’t be disturbed. Then, he went up the stairs to the second floor.
He entered the Cultivation Chamber and sat cross-legged on a cattail cushion.
He closed his eyes, formed a natural hand seal, rested his hands on his knees, and regulated his breathing, making it long, deep, even, and slow.
The mnemonic verses of the Great Derivation Spirit-Controlling Technique’s Mental Method slowly flowed through his mind.
As the Cultivation Technique circulated, the pores all over his body quietly opened, and his skin took on a faint, jade-like luster.
In his Dantian, the pigeon-egg-sized vortex of qi began to spin faster, emitting a suction force.
It drew in the Five Elements Spiritual Qi drifting around him, pulling it into his body to be refined into his own Magical Power.
Soon, the karmic feedback from the invisible hand of fate infused his body, its strengthening effect a bit stronger than during his previous cultivation sessions.
The Five Elements Spiritual Qi, which had been steadily absorbed, suddenly began to surge into his meridians more "actively."
The light from the Five Elements Spirit Gathering Array also brightened slightly, and the output of Spiritual Qi from the Spirit Stones increased.
Boosted by this invisible power, the qi vortex in his Dantian spun faster and faster, its volume slowly expanding at a visible rate.
...
「Time passed.」
Outside the window, the moonlight shifted, and the stars drifted across the sky.
In the living room, the flow of qi around the sleeping bodies of Hu Zi, Bai Wan, and Liu Fu grew more and more distinct, and their auras slowly began to transform.
In the backyard, the occasional crackle from the Demon Extermination Array became the only background noise of the night.
In the Cultivation Chamber, Yang Qi was now shrouded in a faint, five-colored Spiritual Light. With every breath, the faint sound of wind and thunder echoed subtly within the room.
This was a phenomenon caused by the high-speed intake and expulsion of Spiritual Qi creating friction with the air.
Inside his Dantian, the qi vortex had expanded to the size of a chicken egg, and its rotational speed had reached a critical point.
BUZZ~
A low hum vibrated from within his body, and his meridians throbbed with a slight, taut pain.
Unmoved, Yang Qi continued to apply pressure.
Finally—
*PLINK!*
A faint sound, like a drop of water falling into a deep pool, echoed at the level of his soul.
At the center of the vortex, a tiny yet diamond-bright "droplet of Magical Power" had fully solidified.
At the same time.
*POP!*
A muted sound, as if some kind of membrane had been pierced, emanated from within Yang Qi’s body.
’Success.’
Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer!