The Beasthunter liked to live a simple life. Train and fight. Fight beasts if possible. The Three Realms had a limited number of beasts though, and most of them have been spared for a certain use, like the eagles of Jade Mountains for example, or the golden koi kept in numerous ponds by a thousand Iron Realm cultivators who hoped to emulate the Steelord Demonhunter one day.
So, finding three beasts inside the Seven Color Pagoda of the Legion wasn't that special. A white tiger, a royal bee and a...Taotie?
"Sit down quietly and don't disturb Master while he cooks." the Taotie growled at him in a commanding voice, somewhat incongruous with its cat-size and plushy appearance.
Beasthunter just nodded and sat down. He was already certain the Legion had plenty of secrets, even without considering their marvelous Divine Cook, and his priceless Ascension Wine.
A blue-haired Iron Realm woman came to serve him tea, and then just stared at him for a long minute in silence.
"Are you also from the Legion?" Beasthunter asked in a low voice, covered almost instantly by a loud Tribulation falling on the Divine Cook nearby.
"I am Lara Xi, Veritas Legion Captain. Newly promoted for my Iron Realm ascension." the woman answered in a kind voice.
He sipped some tea and nodded. "Died in the service and then recovered?"
Lara smiled a bit sad. "Pretty much. My latest death was against a Saint Realm beast, a Rock Worm. Pef killed it though, even while he was at Monarch Realm. He then died fighting a Golith in Tier 8. Sometimes, I almost think this Captain rank is a badge of failure."
"The Divine Cook is also a Legion Captain then. Makes sense, right?" he asked in a curious voice.
The royal bee flew beside him and offered him a bowl of honey, the compound eyes measuring him with a strange gaze.
He remembered the sweet smell though. It was the same honey that the Life Goddess was enjoying not long ago. So he tried it, and had a small shock. The Flower Dao infused his meridians with a gentle power, minutely advancing his body cultivation even at his prodigious realm. His diagnostic selves analyzed the event at once, and concluded that the honey was a Dao Fuit of Impermanence, or rather the refined result of such a Dao that has transcended the normal boundary of a Minor Dao and had become the True Dao.
"If you were to attain Steel Realm, your honey will..." he exclaimed in surprise when a bee wing bonked him on the head.
"Don't try to explain my own Dao to me, Sergeant. You know very well the scarcity of cultivation resources. And harvesting Steel Stingrays for my ascension is a long way away." the royal bee admonished him in an old and patient voice.
Beasthunter sighed and scratched his head. He almost died fighting a Steel Stingray. Damn beasts were equivalent to a 6th Star Steel Eminence in physical strength and resilience, while their poisoned sting could even kill a 7th Star. "Iron Stingrays are not that hard though." he whispered as encouragement.
Another Tribulation marked his words, and then the young Divine Cook ended his orchestra-size cooking festival and retracted his Avatars inside.
"Lord Beasthunter. I see you're doing fine. I hope she doesn't train you too harshly?" the young blonde man asked in a tired voice, and sat down to be served tea while the Taotie jumped in his lap to be petted like a normal house cat.
"Well, I almost died fighting a Steel Stingray. So the Life Goddess had to heal me." Beasthunter answered with a shrug. It was pretty harsh, all things considered.
The Divine Cook glanced at the Blue Realm's ceiling and a portal dropped the base of a Steel Stingray's tail, where its core filled with Preservation countered the deadly Chaos poison at the tip.
The poisoned sting was missing though. "Good job, Sergeant. It appears your training was not in vain. Your effort has allowed us to obtain a Preservation Core." the Divine Cook noted in a grateful voice, then stored the core in his hand.
The three beasts locked their eyes on his hand, while the Taotie actually salivated with palpable hunger.
'Hmmm. They are well-trained still, all three of them. Beasts should have rushed to gulp the core in an instant.' Beasthunter noted in an inner voice.
"Are you going to cook something out of that core?" he asked instead.
The Divine Cook scratched at his cheek. "More likely, I will make some wine. I don't have other ingredients though, not for a proper Ascension Wine. My last bottle consumed everything I had. "
Beasthunter gulped in shame, as he was the beneficiary of three cups of that precious Ascension Wine, and never considered how many rare resources must have gone into making it.
With a wave of his hand, he produced thousands of rare plants and Heaven treasures he collected in his quite long life.
The Divine Cook smiled gently, then stored most items, leaving only three Spring Lotus roots held in the air, which he then waved over to the three Iron Realm beasts around.
Growling furiously, the Taotie Devoured his root while making satisfied noises, while the other two beasts nibbled at their treats in a more dignified manner.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Pop, pop, pop. Almost at once, the three beasts advanced a Star in their cultivation, their beasts cores popping with energy as they expanded.
"So, I heard you're a Body Cultivator, Lord Beasthunter. Would you mind donating some blood? I am trying to create a new cultivation method, but my own body cultivation is only in Bronze Realm." the Divine Cook asked in a curious voice.
"You mean, a new Legion Method?" Beathunter asked in surprise. He kinda expected a more experienced person like the General to be in charge of the cultivation method for the entire Legion.
"You are already using my method, Lord Beasthunter. I'm not sure why she gave you the Monster version though. Only five others have survived indoctrination so far, four of them being me and these three fine beasts." the Divine Cook answered with a careless voice, while the Taotie purred in his lap.
Beasthunter touched Lady Lara's hand for a second, comparing his own cultivation while the blue-haired Captain. And indeed, the woman was using a weaker method, mingling Fate and Blood Dao instead of pure Will. Basically, she was bound to the creator's life and cultivation realm, never to exceed them.
"The Eternium Knight had a good reason. I am a Steel Eminence, and you're only at Iron Realm. The Blood Dao binding would have failed." he deduced in a confident voice.
The Divine Cook just frowned, saying nothing.
An entire minute passed, becoming a bit awkward. Then the white tiger produced a metal bowl and slided it over. "Right, my blood." Beasthunter realized with a sheepish voice.
As the bowl filled with his blood, the Beasthunter reflected on the last hour, finding the Legion people strange, and their beasts even more.
The Divine Cook simply stuck his hand in the blood bowl and closed his eyes, and everyone else dispersed to other tasks, for example Lady Lara crafting some spear-like weapons from long bone spurs, the Taotie and the white tiger running around and smacking each other in play fight, while the royal bee tended to a flower garden...like a bee.
Beasthunter explored the place as well, until he found a strange monk meditating under a giant Bamboo Tree, with a host of other trees and flowers around. As he approached, the monk opened his yes and the piercing gaze almost startled the powerful Steel Eminence. Life, Wood and Karma Dao converged on the man from the plants around, and the Karma was even heavier than his own. Far heavier.
He looked up, and realized what he saw. This was a Living Branch of the World Tree. Only in Iron Realm for now, but the Karma flowing around spoke differently.
The monk silently drawed him closer, and then held a gnarly palm out as a seed fell from above right into his palm. "For me?" Beasthunter asked in surprise.
The monk's eyes flashed, a burst of Yin and Yang explaining how to integrate the seed and form a Dao Soul, without words but with clear concepts imparted directly into his mind.
The Beasthunter sat down and ingested the Tree Seed, then followed the instructions. Although he never had enough talent to reach a Sword Soul, the True Dao of the Sword, he had fought a lot.
He had a decent Heart of the Sword and thousands of sword qi techniques which he mostly ignored, as they didn't fit with his Fist Style.
Time slowed down, as the Seed grew inside, absorbing his knowledge and refining it. Then a powerful Tribulation shook the entire Pagoda, waking the Beasthunter.
He turned and converged his core senses on the Divine Cook. Who else could provoke such a response from the Heavens?
Under his eyes, the burning Divine Cook pressed his hands together to condense a cloud of lightning and steam and store it in a jade bottle, then fell on his back, skin and clothes burned to a crisp.
A tap on his hand made the Beasthunter wait, just before he could rush to help. Contrary to what he expected, the tiger and the Taotie continued their play fight, the bee gathered pollen and the blue-haired Captain still forged at her weapon, with barely an amused glance at the burned Divine Cook.
Then the bamboo tree behind then fluttered its leaves, and a skeletal black hand rose with its thumb up. "I'm fine. A bit over-cooked, is all." a hoarse voice emerged from the burned down husk of the Divine Cook.
A Divine Cook that had just advanced into the 9th Star of the Iron Realm, by crafting a bottle of wine.
"Wash up, idiot! The bad smell is ruining my crafting." Lady Lara yelled in a dismissive voice, and thus the Divine Cook crawled through the sand into the sea to get cleaned up.
"This happens often?" Beasthunter asked the silent monk, a bit astonished.
The monk just nodded and closed his eyes. The Beasthunter scanned the monk's cultivation method, and found it identical to his own. The Monster version. He was in good company then.