I'm Just a Beast Tamer

Chapter 35: Chapter 33: Cat Cat Cultivation Chronicles

The novels in this world were mostly artsy and tragic. Over the past six months, Jiang Zuo had searched several nearby towns, but in the end, he had only managed to get a little over thirty points of Beast Soul Power from the Night Cat’s Eye.

Finding more satisfying stories to give it had become extremely difficult.

Left with no other choice, Jiang Zuo decided to write them himself.

This world might have few such stories, but his head was full of them.

Besides, the Night Cat’s Eye wasn’t very demanding. He wasn’t writing to sell them for money, so he didn’t need to perfectly replicate the novels he had read.

As long as he laid out the story simply and included some satisfying high points, it would be fine.

Then, Jiang Zuo had a flash of inspiration. To increase the sense of immersion, he might as well make the protagonist a cat.

"This cat has never been weaker than anyone in his life!"

"If Heaven had not birthed this cat, the ages would be like an eternal night!"

"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west—don’t you dare bully a cat for being poor!"

"You dare take what belongs to this cat? You are courting death!"

"This cat is going to have a massive harem!"

Jiang Zuo tried piecing together some classic elements and wrote the beginning of a story called *Cat Cat Cultivation Chronicles*. It turned out to be a resounding success!

Not only that, but he didn’t even have to finish an entire book. As long as he wrote a long segment containing a complete plot arc and a satisfying climax, the Night Cat’s Eye would accept it and give him a reward.

Jiang Zuo realized he could use a serialized format to continuously obtain Beast Soul Power from the Night Cat’s Eye.

And the amount of Beast Soul Power it gave was quite generous—two or three points at a time.

In just two short months, Jiang Zuo had already obtained more than ten points of Beast Soul Power from the Night Cat’s Eye.

The only thing Jiang Zuo regretted was that he couldn’t use a charcoal pencil to write, which would have increased his speed.

But the Night Cat’s Eye wouldn’t accept books written with a charcoal pencil; it only recognized those written with a brush.

So, he had no choice but to dutifully write with a brush.

This severely limited his writing speed; otherwise, the rate at which he obtained Beast Soul Power would have been much faster.

...

Jiang Zuo’s return didn’t attract much attention; only a few people were aware he was back.

The next day, Jiang Zuo stopped by Blacksmith Li’s place to show his face. Seeing that Jiang Zuo was fine, Blacksmith Li just nodded without saying much.

After his return, Jiang Zuo’s daily life fell into a routine: selling meat buns, training Great Black, writing *Cat Cat Cultivation Chronicles* for the Night Cat’s Eye, and observing the Beast Pattern before bed.

Jiang Zuo had originally thought he would have finished observing the Porcupine Beast Pattern long ago, but that wasn’t the case.

When he thought his observation was complete and looked at it again, he discovered that the Beast Pattern had actually changed.

Jiang Zuo didn’t know when this process would end, but after more than half a year of observing the Beast Pattern, he noticed a distinct increase in his Spiritual Power.

Initially, he would nearly pass out after observing the Beast Pattern.

Now, after observing it, he only felt a heavy drowsiness but could stay awake for another two or three minutes before succumbing to sleep.

Seeing that observing the Beast Pattern had the effect of strengthening his Spiritual Power, Jiang Zuo was no longer in a rush.

It was a decent way to train his Spiritual Power, after all.

’It’s just a shame there’s no Spiritual Power attribute on my status panel. Otherwise, if I could just add points directly, things would be so much simpler.’

After Jiang Zuo returned, Subai started coming over to freeload meals every day.

Jiang Zuo didn’t mind. A little girl couldn’t eat that much, and it was just a matter of setting out an extra pair of chopsticks and a bowl.

And on the fourth day after his return, Subai actually brought over a large chunk of bear meat and two bear paws.

It was Jiang Zuo’s first time cooking bear meat. Since his strength had recently increased significantly, he decided to tenderize it by pounding the cut, making it soft and springy.

With Jiang Zuo’s current culinary skills, he could make even unappetizing meat presentable, to say nothing of an ingredient that was already quite good on its own.

After that, it was as if a whole new world had opened up for Subai. Every few days, she would show up at his door with a different kind of meat.

As a result, Jiang Zuo’s cooking skills also improved daily.

「Time flowed like water.」

In the blink of an eye, two and a half years had passed since Jiang Zuo’s return to Red Fox Town.

It had also been three years since Subai arrived in Red Fox Town.

In those three years, Subai had transformed from a girl of just over ten into a slender, graceful fourteen-year-old.

Over these past two and a half years, Jiang Zuo’s life had barely changed.

Subai and Granny Mei, on the other hand, would leave Red Fox Town for a period every few months to visit the nearest Independent Practitioner Marketplace.

Most of the Loose Cultivators in this Marketplace only had Qi Cultivation level Cultivation; the strongest among them were no higher than the Dao Foundation realm.

It was rare to see any powerful Cultivators there. Subai and Granny Mei used a Red Fox Bracelet to change their appearance every time they went. Their purpose was simply for Subai to learn and broaden her horizons, not to buy anything.

After nearly two years of this, they had never encountered any problems.

On this particular day, Subai and Granny Mei left Red Fox Town again.

After the two of them left, Jiang Zuo took out the brush and paper he had prepared long ago.

After three years of observation, Jiang Zuo felt he had more or less mastered the Porcupine Beast Pattern and could now attempt to draw it.

As for why Jiang Zuo only dared to begin his attempt after Subai and her grandmother had left...

Having lived next to Subai for the past two or three years, Jiang Zuo had grown increasingly suspicious—and was now almost certain—that the young girl next door was a Cultivator.

For some unknown reason, she had come to Red Fox Town and become his neighbor.

’When drawing a Beast Pattern, I don’t know if some strange phenomenon will occur, or if it will release some unusual aura.’

Until he was sure, Jiang Zuo didn’t dare to act rashly.

Although he was on very good terms with Subai and her grandmother, not flaunting one’s wealth was basic common sense. Even blood brothers could turn on each other, let alone neighbors of just a few years.

With no one to teach him, Jiang Zuo relied on instinct. He closed his eyes, and the image of the Porcupine Beast Pattern appeared in his mind—the very pattern he had observed time and time again for three years and finally managed to reconstruct from imagination.

For the paper, Jiang Zuo chose high-quality talisman paper, and the ink was, of course, the specially prepared Pig Blood Ink.

He spread out the talisman paper, dipped his brush in the Pig Blood Ink, and his arm descended, heavy and Slow.

The tip of the brush touched the talisman paper, and Jiang Zuo began to copy the Beast Pattern that had appeared in his mind.

But the moment the brush tip moved, Jiang Zuo sensed that this attempt had already failed. There was no point in continuing.

At the same time, he felt a small chunk of his Spiritual Power drain away.

’Still, the failed drawing didn’t cause any strange phenomena, so I can practice without worry in the future.’

Jiang Zuo looked at his Beast Pattern Drawing skill. The experience bar still showed a big "0/100."

Failing the drawing didn’t grant any experience points.

’It seems I can’t level up the Beast Pattern Drawing skill just by repeatedly failing.’

’To truly master the basics could take years, maybe even decades. Forget it, I’ll just add the points and level it up directly!’

Sensing that he wouldn’t be able to master the basics on his own for a long time, Jiang Zuo went with his original plan: use Beast Taming Reputation to add experience.

Over the past two-odd years, Jiang Zuo had gradually accumulated some Beast Taming Reputation. He now had 373 points, so spending 100 wouldn’t be a problem.

[Beast Pattern Drawing skill has been upgraded to LV2!]

——Beast Pattern Drawing LV2 (0/500): You have grasped the basic principles and techniques for imitating and drawing Beast Patterns. You can now use Beast Blood to imitate and draw the Beast Patterns in your possession.

As the skill leveled up, Jiang Zuo instantly felt a flood of unprecedented knowledge fill his mind.

’The tadpole-like script within a Beast Pattern is actually composed of countless smaller, variably-sized tadpole scripts. Beast Pattern Drawing is the process of using Spiritual Power as a driving force to copy the pattern from one’s mind, recreating it on paper with a brush and Beast Blood.’

’With a single brushstroke, I’m actually writing an unknown number of tiny tadpole scripts. The drawing fails if there’s even one mistake among them. No wonder I sensed failure the moment my brush touched the paper, before I’d even finished the first stroke.’

Jiang Zuo had a moment of enlightenment, finally understanding how a Beast Pattern was constructed.

If it hadn’t been for the skill upgrade and the knowledge that came with it, he might not have figured this out even after a decade.

Having understood the reason for his failure, Jiang Zuo put down his brush.

’Based on the principles, to succeed in drawing it, I first have to ensure that the Beast Pattern reconstructed in my mind is correct.’

’Otherwise, no matter how perfectly I execute the later steps, it will be meaningless.’

When the Beast Pattern Drawing skill leveled up, Jiang Zuo’s Spiritual Power had also increased slightly.

He immediately sensed that there was a problem with the Beast Pattern he had been reconstructing in his mind.

He had thought his observation of the Beast Pattern was complete, but in reality, it was because his Spiritual Power had been too low to accommodate the entire, true pattern.

Now that his Spiritual Power had been enhanced, new details would appear in the Beast Pattern.

What Jiang Zuo needed to do now was increase his Spiritual Power.

Both observing and drawing the Beast Pattern could increase his Spiritual Power, but the process would be very slow.

Now that he knew what to do, Jiang Zuo was no longer in a hurry. He would just have to take it slow.

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