Chapter 32: The Old Man’s Admonition
Locke stared at the huge crater left by the explosion.
He was completely and utterly dumbfounded.
The power of the attack was so great that he doubted that the Crimson Python would survive it, even at its peak.
‘Even if it doesn’t die from the attack, it would still be heavily injured.’
However, the attack had consumed a staggering amount of mana as well.
That attack had cost more than half of Locke’s mana.
Fortunately, Lil’ Breeze and Lil’ Flame did not require much mana to operate.
Locke walked towards the direction of the Thousand-year-old Snow Fungus.
Upon spotting the treasure before him, Locke’s heart thumped rapidly.
Locke was extremely excited.
After all, who would be able to calm themselves down when faced with a treasure of legend?
Some time later, Locke finally calmed himself down.
He reached out and plucked the legendary herb.
Its sensation in his hand had felt no different from regular herbs.
“System.”
“Use the inspect function to scan the Thousand-year-old Snow Fungus in my hand.”
The system quickly found the information that Locke wanted.
[ The Thousand-year-old Snow Fungus is a rare herb. Its effects are very extensive. If it is consumed by a Battle Beast, it will rapidly increase the level of the Battle Beast, and there will be no side effects. ]
[ If you’ve hit a plateau in levelling up, you can also use this medicinal herb to directly break through. ]
Locke read the information that was provided by the system in shock.
This news was very shocking.
If some high-tier Beastmaster were to catch wind of Locke’s possession of the legendary herb…
They would probably go crazy and ask for or buy it from him.
Locke looked at the medicinal herb in his hand.
His eyes were filled with fervor.
He was thinking on ways to deal with the medicinal herb. Should he use it on himself or should he exchange it for other treasures?
On second thought.
Locke decided to use it on himself.
After all, strength that belonged to oneself was true strength.
Whitey had already reached Stage 3.
Therefore, Locke decided to use the Thousand-year-old snow Fungus herb on Lil’ Breeze and Lil’ Flame.
Locke’s gains from fighting in the silver-tier ancient battlefield experience were extremely astonishing.
Not only did his combat strength grow rapidly, he had also obtained a Thousand-year-old Snow Fungus herb.
It was a herb that could only be obtained by chance.
Each resource was a valuable opportunity, and to Locke, the Thousand-year-old Snow Fungus was an extremely valuable opportunity.
Locke had gained a lot from his battle.
As such, he decided to leave the training grounds and process his gains.
Locke walked out of the ancient battlefield.
The old man who had attended to Locke earlier spotted him and asked, “The silver-tier battleground is dangerous, huh?”
“Don’t worry, you will definitely have the strength to venture deeper in the future.”
The old man mentioned it in a sincere tone.
However, Locke was unsure whether to laugh or cry at the old man’s words. In the end, he just shook his head.
He did not intend to tell the old man about his strength.
He would rather the old man come to his own conclusions.
Nevertheless, Locke still replied politely, “Yes, thank you for your advice. I will definitely work hard.”
Realizing that Locke had a good att.i.tude, the old man responded in kind as well. His opinion of Locke had become that of his own son, and his gaze was filled with fatherly love.
It was as if the talented, polite young man before him was his own son.
He was filled with relief.
Then, he pulled Locke to sit down.
Locke was very exasperated. All he really wanted to do was head home.
However, seeing how enthusiastic the old man was, he really could not bring himself to refuse.
The old man grinned and said to Locke, “Young man, I see that you’re very good-natured, and you’re also very talented.”
“That’s why this old man wants to give you a piece of advice.”
“I know that you probably have a very powerful trump card, and you also feel that you’re invincible just because you’re at the silver-tier.”
“This is a mistake that every genius will make.”
“They think that with their divine beast and silver-tier combat prowess, they’re able to conquer the world just as they had back in the bronze-tier.”
“But things are different in the silver-tier. Before the 5th star of the silver-tier, Beastmasters would increase their strength via combat. However, once they reach the 5th star of the silver-tier, the way a Beastmaster gains strength would be fundamentally different.”
Locke looked at the old man in astonishment. It seemed like the old man before him was not as simple as he had imagined.
Locke was truly clueless when it came to things like this.
As a result, Locke was genuinely interested in the old man’s words.
The old man continued, “After the 5th star of the silver-tier, Beastmasters can cultivate a set of cultivation techniques exclusive to Beastmasters.”
“The strength of a cultivation technique is also related to a Beastmaster’s future. This is because a powerful cultivation technique can continuously strengthen the mana core in a Beastmaster’s body and expand it infinitely, allowing them to possess a greater amount of magical energy than others.”
“At the same time, they can also form contracts with more Battle Beasts. As a Beastmaster, you should know this as well.”
“The body of Beastmasters are usually very frail. They aren’t anything special.”
“Sure, some Skill-based Battle Beasts or Weapon Battle Beasts might provide skills that increase the Beastmaster’s survivability.”
“But those aren’t their own abilities. Therefore, after reaching the fifth star of the silver-tier, all Beastmasters will choose to cultivate cultivation techniques, and some will also cultivate their own physical bodies. There are many cultivation techniques available to humans in the recent years, but you haven’t reached the level where you’re qualified to know about them.”
Locke was completely absorbed in the old man’s advice.
He frantically asked the old man, “Then why must we wait until we’ve reached the fifth star of the silver-tier in order to learn these cultivation techniques?”
The old man revealed a triumphant smile on his face, as if he was waiting for Locke to ask him such a question.
By doing so, he hoped that he would leave behind a lofty image of himself in his mind.
The old man coughed twice before explaining in a serious tone, “Only the mana cores of Beastmasters that have reached the 5-star silver-tier possess the mana required to use the cultivation techniques.”
“At the same time, only 5-star silver-tier Beastmasters possess the body composition needed to handle the cultivation process.”
“However, there are some very powerful cultivation methods that even gold-tier or even diamond-tier Beastmasters are unable to cultivate.”
Locke was extremely surprised when he heard this.
“Why not? After all, they must possess much more strength than the silver-tier Beastmasters, right?”
The old man replied, “That’s right. Beastmasters in the gold-tier are indeed very strong, but there are some heaven-defying cultivation techniques that require physical attributes that gold-tier Beastmasters do not possess. If they forcefully cultivate, there’s a risk of their bodies exploding and dying.”
Locke listened to the old man in disbelief. Could there really be such a powerful cultivation technique in the world?
Suddenly.
Locke asked the old man again:
“Then why haven’t I heard of the existence of cultivation techniques until now? What method should I use to obtain cultivation techniques?”
“After you enter university, if you are a very talented student, the university will provide you with powerful cultivation techniques. However, the strength of the cultivation techniques that they provide for free is also limited. There are many very powerful cultivation techniques that require you to put in the effort to obtain.”
“Therefore, listen to this old man’s words. After you enter university, you must not hide your strength. You must make yourself look powerful. In a university with extremely strong compet.i.tion, there are only two kinds of people. The first are the monster-level geniuses, and the second, are the ordinary people.”
“Only when you show enough strength will the higher-ups of the university make up their minds to train you.”
“Personal strength might be important, but possessing a huge amount of resources is also essential.”