The Urban Cultivation Grandmaster

Chapter 23: The Little Black Bear Spirit Beast

Qixing Ridge, as the name suggests, consists of seven peaks of varying heights, lined up in a row and connected to one another. The small building where Mu Tian lived was backed by the lowest of the peaks. The first peak wasn’t very high—just over 400 meters. Mu Tian made his way by stepping from tree to tree, much like the lightness skills seen in martial arts novels, constantly leaping from treetop to treetop and branch to branch. He used the trees for leverage and the wind to propel him, moving at an astonishingly fast pace. Before long, Mu Tian reached the summit of the first peak. Unfortunately, although he knew for certain that the direction from which he sensed the spiritual energy surging was right here, upon arriving at his destination, he discovered he was still a long way off. It was in the valley at the foot of the mountain across from him! Mu Tian immediately sensed the fluctuations of spiritual energy—the source was directly ahead. Without a moment’s hesitation, Mu Tian leaped off the cliff. Falling from a height of several hundred meters, he would likely be reduced to a pile of pulp upon impact. Clearly, Mu Tian wasn’t the reckless type. As he soared through the air, spiritual energy surged from his body, and in his mind’s eye, he visualized a fierce dragon soaring and roaring. Just then, Mu Tian—who had been plummeting at breakneck speed—began to float, and even changed direction. Mu Tian’s body drifted according to his thoughts, following the flow of spiritual energy. In that moment, he seemed like a divine being. Thud!!! Dust swirled as Mu Tian, plummeting at breakneck speed, ravaged the already sparse vegetation at the bottom of the valley, leaving it in utter disarray. A massive crater appeared, and the surrounding plants were all caught in the chaos—roots snapped and branches snapped, a truly grim sight. Mu Tian had no time to spare for anything else. After checking himself and finding nothing amiss, he broke into a jog toward the direction where the spiritual energy was swirling. At that moment, Mu Tian’s heart was pounding wildly, and he was filled with immense anticipation for the precious treasure about to appear. What could it be? Filled with anticipation, Mu Tian gradually slowed his pace. If he wasn’t mistaken, whatever lay a hundred meters ahead was the “culprit” competing with his Spirit-Gathering Array for spiritual energy! Three years ago, Mu Tian had been nearsighted, but as his cultivation progressed, his eyesight had become exceptionally sharp. He could see objects a hundred meters away with perfect clarity—he could even make out the fluttering wings of a passing mosquito or fly. However, due to the dense vegetation in front of him, Mu Tian was unable to see exactly what it was. Mu Tian began to slow his pace and crept closer. It was an instinctive reaction; Mu Tian didn’t even know why he’d reacted that way. Suddenly! Mu Tian’s entire body tensed; his heightened alertness triggered a premonition, and he instinctively flinched backward. Sure enough, a black sphere shot out from in front of him in a flash—as fast as lightning and packed with immense force. Mu Tian dodged to the side, and the sphere flew past his head, crashing into a large tree in the distance. Sparks flew everywhere, and the clanging of metal against stone rang out incessantly. Immediately afterward, the rumbling sound of several large trees crashing to the ground echoed, kicking up a cloud of dust. Mu Tian couldn’t help but whistle in amazement. He knew the trees ahead had been transformed by spiritual energy; their wood was as hard as steel, incomparable to ordinary trees. The fact that sparks flew when the black sphere struck them spoke volumes. Yet now, they were falling in droves, and the culprit was nothing more than a black sphere slightly larger than a basketball. Curious, Mu Tian walked closer and finally saw the true nature of the creature. It was actually a little Black Bear! Mu Tian was utterly stunned. The little Black Bear before him seemed to have gotten a bit of a bump on the head; it was dazed as it rubbed its little head and rolled around in circles on the soft grass. Perhaps the little Black Bear had recovered; its cute little paws were no longer clutching its head. Instead, it rubbed its sunken belly, looking pitiful. The adorable dark eyes of the little Black Bear didn’t even glance at Mu Tian; ignoring him as he drew closer, the bear tilted its head slightly upward, staring blankly at the sky, its mouth opening and closing as if it were savoring some delicious treat. Mu Tian was no ordinary man; he had a keen eye. At a glance, he realized the little Black Bear was absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. “Huff, huff, huff” The little bear let out an angry screech, and instantly, the spiritual energy between heaven and earth began to swirl rapidly once more. The surrounding spiritual energy converged above the little Black Bear, and he kept gulping it down in huge mouthfuls, ravenous and insatiable, as if he could never get enough. “So it was this little fellow who was competing with the Spirit-Gathering Array for spiritual energy—truly incredible. What a magnificent spirit beast!” Mu Tian was overjoyed; encountering such a spirit beast was a tremendous stroke of good fortune. Many beings in the world are blessed by Heaven and Earth, born with natural spiritual veins and divine embryos. For someone like Mu Tian—or many ordinary cultivators—cultivation begins with condensing one’s spiritual veins. To do so, one must visualize a “divine being” to subdue the spiritual energy of the heavens and earth, channel it into the body, and enhance one’s cultivation. But for the little Black Bear before him—a being so deeply favored by the heavens—none of that is necessary. With a naturally formed spiritual vein and a divine constitution, it is ahead of everyone else from the moment of birth. If Mu Tian wants to catch up to such a divinely favored creature, he must cultivate a cultivation technique to its absolute limit, analyze the “Star Sea” 100%, and attain the realm of divine abilities before he can even hope to compete with it. “Cultivation as easy as drinking water, combat prowess as fierce as a dog”—this is exactly what is meant by such a wondrous creature. The pet cat from Xishi Residential Complex was actually one of these special beings as well—it’s just that the Ragdoll cat had been unlucky, having opened an unstable and imperfect spiritual vein. Mu Tian watched closely from the sidelines, not disturbing the little Black Bear’s evolution. However, Mu Tian soon noticed something was amiss—the little Black Bear seemed to be in trouble. Opening spiritual veins and evolving required a massive amount of spiritual energy, yet the surrounding spiritual energy was gradually dwindling, becoming even sparser than before the spiritual energy tide. This was clearly insufficient for the little Black Bear. Sure enough, the little Black Bear began rolling anxiously on the ground, rubbing its tiny forepaws against its belly. Lying on its back with all four legs in the air, it exposed its belly and a crescent-shaped white ring, letting out pitiful, low-pitched whimpers. Mu Tian was moved. A gleam flashed in his Star Sea eyes, and the radiance of the Star Sea poured forth as if it were free. Instantly, the condition of the little Black Bear became increasingly clear in his mind. Sure enough, it was a lack of spiritual energy that had caused the little Black Bear’s evolution to fail. The failure itself wasn’t the problem; the real danger lay in cutting off the supply of spiritual energy before the spiritual meridians were fully opened. If a massive amount of spiritual energy accumulated within its body without being subdued or controlled, the little Black Bear’s fate would be no different from that of the stuffed cat—it would explode and die, with no room for luck. Just as Mu Tian grasped the situation, the little black bear began to change as well. It started shaking violently, its round little body heaving up and down, accompanied by heart-wrenching cries. With his keen eyes, Mu Tian even spotted glistening tears at the corners of the little black bear’s eyes. If he didn’t act immediately, the little Black Bear would likely not survive. Immediately, Mu Tian took a spirit stone from his backpack and walked toward the little Black Bear. The moment the spirit stone was removed from the backpack—no longer shielded by the Daowen inscriptions engraved on it—its overwhelming spiritual energy instantly caught the little black bear’s attention. In the blink of an eye, the little black bear was at Mu Tian’s feet. The little Black Bear was tiny; even standing up, it didn’t reach Mu Tian’s knees. At that moment, it clung to the hem of Mu Tian’s pants, bowing pitifully, its jet-black eyes fixed on the spirit stone in Mu Tian’s hand, brimming with longing. Mu Tian said little; he simply handed the palm-sized spirit stone to the little Black Bear. The bear didn’t hesitate—it immediately clutched the stone joyfully and began gnawing at it frantically. Before long, the spirit stone in its paws began to shrink, gradually turning into a pile of gray sand. The little Black Bear dejectedly brushed away the gray sand, then stood up and curled up on Mu Tian’s pant leg, its dark, bright eyes looking pitifully pleading. Mu Tian’s heart stirred, and a mischievous grin spread across his face. He pulled another spirit stone from his backpack and said to the little black bear, “Little Black Bear, your spiritual intelligence has awakened—you should be able to understand me. This one is very limited; it’s not nearly enough for you to eat. But there’s plenty of spiritual energy down the mountain—enough to fill you up. Want to come with me?” The little Black Bear clung to Mu Tian’s pant leg even tighter than before. Mu Tian was at a loss for words, so he simply handed the spirit stone back to it. The little black bear happily accepted it, holding it in its paws with adorable innocence as it began to gnaw on it. After finishing, the little black bear seemed to have figured out where Mu Tian kept his spirit stones, so it scampered up onto his back in a flash, perched on top of his backpack, and, with one spirit stone in each paw, began eating with great delight. Mu Tian was instantly at a loss for words, but he simply quickened his pace a bit as he headed toward his home down the mountain.