Chapter 868
Chapter 868 - 854 The Book of Life
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[Lu Ping’an’s Life Encyclopedia (Lower Gold Rank Cursed Object)]
The increasingly hefty gold cursed object in Lu Ping’an’s hands had actually far surpassed the true effect of a Rule-Level item; it directly contained an entire "Beast Tamer’s Path", directly compensating for the part that was lacking in Lu Ping’an’s life system.
After acquiring it, Lu Ping’an could say "My path is complete" ... He didn’t need to search everywhere for opportunities to reach the next level like he did initially with Liu Zibei and Fang Wen; he only needed to maximize his two parallel paths.
Looking solely at combat ability, this book probably lost a bit of face for Rule-Level items, but when considering the "content" it contained, a higher rating was possible ... However, all of this was bound to Lu Ping’an!
That’s precisely why this item also had ...
[User Restriction: Lu Ping’an (Upon his death, the book will naturally be destroyed)]
The restriction for Wind Reversers was gone ... Thinking back, if Lu Ping’an, the Wind Reverser, had been beset by adverse winds again at that time, the book would likely have become a spoil of war for the opponent.
Now, it was just that Lu Ping’an had become a force to be reckoned with, established his own system, completely assimilated this "treasure", and thus, bound it completely to himself.
Flipping through the pages, after a simple description of its basic functions and content, there was an internal seal.
It depicted a huge oak tree, with a phantom of a city beneath it, and in the middle of the pattern was a golden leaf drifting down with the wind ... It goes without saying whose misfortune the imposing Big Tree came from.
[Chapter of Creation]
[Feature 1: Life Programming (Lower Gold Rank): Choose ’Core of Wisdom’, ’Blood Essence’, ’Bone Flesh Foundation’, ’Parents’ Blessing’, and create a life form.]
What was more outrageous than the past twenty-plus annotations (instruction manual) was that now there were more than thirty.
But the biggest change was the original three materials becoming four.
[Parents’ Expectations: Provides ’hope’ or ’blessing’ or ’curse’ from the user, which can distort the growth direction of the creation to some extent.]
Although vaguely worded, this was undoubtedly a significant enhancement.
The "expectation" mentioned in the description could be a tangible object, an ability/characteristic, or even "a word" ... Lu Ping’an’s flexibility had greatly increased.
The only regret was that the Chapter of Creation was only responsible for creation, meaning that the previous Three Beasts could not benefit from it.
"Actually, it’s not a bad deal; this is an acquired growth tendency. Your magic pets have already matured ... well, at least two-thirds have."
Whose growth has stagnated? Clearly, it was Little Flame, who was deficient in intelligence.
The initial "trial" mentality led to an inadequate investment in Little Flame’s ’Core of Wisdom’; Lu Ping’an had to figure out a way to compensate for this.
Little Flame now spent its days just eating and sleeping. Releasing it was tantamount to allowing it to set random fires and cause chaos ... This was fine on an ordinary battlefield, but given the intensity of Lu Ping’an’s current battlefields, it was better to let it fall into a logistics role, serving as a stable source of fire.
Lu Ping’an shook his head; this needed other methods, or maybe other sections of the Life Encyclopedia could solve it.
[Feature 2: Programming Life (Lower Gold Rank): Refine a specified target, create ’Life Encyclopedia Pages’ with ’existence’, which can be inserted into the pet slot, considered as its ’talent’ and ’inborn abnormal ability’, up to five pages.]
Without a close look, this ability was almost exactly the same as when it was Upper Silver rank.
But since it was a Rule-Level qualitative change, the enhancement was naturally significant.
"So what can be refined is ’existence’, not just ’life forms’, huh?"
This meant that the materials available to Lu Ping’an were no longer limited to life forms and their remains; now there were Taboo items and near-pollutants, and even lowering the bar a bit, some electronic components could be used ... Who said man-made spirit awakening objects are not life forms?
This ability would probably send Fang Wen into a frenzy of ecstasy, and with her dreams realized, she would go mad with joy.
"Lu Ping’an, actually, there are also magic potions ... and even the Taboo items themselves are made of ’life materials’; so, they too can be reduced to the beginning."
Once the Big Cat explained this, it became apparent that the ability seemed to have only expanded its range of use, but in reality, it had gone through a complete transformation.
Suppose a certain ancient life form had completely vanished, but its product could still be found ... A whale specimen is not the same as living whale in terms of acquisition difficulty.
Plus, if the characteristics of the Taboo items are considered ... Inanimate materials, whether "magic potions" or "Taboo items", through infinite chance and inevitability, under the favor of destiny, from death to life, recreated the miracle of the birth of life forms, that’s what creation is about.
Inorganic materials, be it "magic potions" or "Taboo items", they are all just materials, materials that can be analyzed, deconstructed, and reshaped by Life Encyclopedia into premium materials.
"So this is Rule-Level, huh ... Er, is this just Rule-Level?" Touching the leather-bound book, Lu Ping’an pondered.
It was less a "blessing" from the Abyss and more of a power, helping to activate his latent abilities.
The Big Cat’s silence seemed to hint at something.
Clearly, an ordinary Rule-level shouldn’t possess the ability to create at such a level.
Lu Ping’an shook his head and looked at the last function of the first Chapter.
[Function 3, Lu Ping’an’s Life Encyclopedia Page (Lower Gold Rank Permanent Passive Power), targets oneself, chooses one Magic Pet’s trait ability, and shares it through the page. Currently, three targets are selected.]
This was the new function he had awakened before, but Lu Ping’an remembered his current "Five Beasts Pen" and knew he lacked two traits... In a sense, it was an unacceptable waste to receive a top-tier core ability (from someone else), where its practical effectiveness could even surpass that of having multiple part-time jobs.
The best thing was that this ability could even transcend the constraints of species, profession, and life form, directly taking on normal traits not obtainable by regular life (Elements/Spirit Body).
"...Still, one should not be indiscriminate just to fill gaps."
Even at this moment, Lu Ping’an shook his head, rejecting the idea of quickly filling the vacancies.
Turning the page, he found a new cover page.
It was a neck collar hanging by chains, stained with blood and black pinpricks, very much in line with Lu Ping’an’s simple impression of "Enslavement."
The second Chapter was the "Chapter of Enslavement."
From the page, it was clear; it didn’t beat around the bush with pleasantries like "animals are famliy."
It laid out plainly that the relationship between a Beast Tamer and their beasts is one of control by one party over the other.
Of course, you can be friendly with them in private, make friends and even cross the species barrier, but the fundamental hierarchical relationship is not so easily broken.
And the abilities in the Chapter of Enslavement were literally as the name suggested.
Lu Ping’an looked through and saw many familiar features from the Beast Taming Path, such as [Forced Berserk Transformation (Upper Silver)], [Curse of Pain (Upper Silver)], [Commanding Technique (Upper Silver)], [Killing Intent Mark (Upper Silver)], [Spirit Awakening Skill (Gold)]... This was effectively a gift pack of essential abilities for a high-level Beast Tamer.
In a way, these were big guns for Beast Tamers to use against their beasts, valuable in taming situations, but the notation below was more nuanced.
[PS: Using the Chapter of Enslavement on one’s own (creation) Magic Pets is considered self-cursing, ignoring all resistances....]
This seemed quite normal, mostly abilities for use on one’s own Magic Pets, with the inherent privilege of the Creator, naturally unable to resist, but the real question was...
"...Can it be used on other life forms?"
Clearly, this note gave Lu Ping’an a lot to think about, but what was more critical was the last feature.
[Eternal Enslavement (Gold Rank): When an ’animal’ loses its will to resist, it can be taken into the ’book page’ column, enjoying most of the abilities and benefits of a Magic Pet.]
This meant that Lu Ping’an could not only create his own beings, but like other Beast Tamers, he could also attempt to collect some elite Magic Pets.
"...If these collected Magic Pets die or the contract is canceled, will I be affected in the same way as before?"
The last time he ended his contract with Zhi Xi, it was quite a hassle, and he was now preparing for the additional "serious injury" that could come from deferred payment.
[Forced-contract Magic Pets can choose between ’Complete Link Mode’ or ’Temporary Link Mode,’ with the former treated as a full-contract Magic Pet, while the latter cannot use abilities like ’Programming Life’ for genetic improvements.]
Lu Ping’an checked and understood that temporarily contracted pets couldn’t use the Chapter of Creation to revise their core abilities, but abilities from the Chapter of Enslavement and the Chapter of Evolution could be used on them at an acquired level.
"...It’s a pity the function-sharing is in the Chapter of Creation."
Without risk, there was no reward. Lu Ping’an coveted the special abilities of other Magic Pets but did not want to shoulder the burden of their life force, which was clearly unachievable.
The contents of the Chapter of Enslavement were not complete; many pages were blank... Lu Ping’an knew that was for him to fill in once he got the relevant Scholar Ability or accumulated knowledge from his part-time professions.
He flipped to the last Chapter, the Chapter of Evolution, which was also the same.
Apart from the obvious "Abyss Transformation," most of the pages were empty.
Lu Ping’an realized that he had far too few paths for evolution in his possession and that these were left for further refinement.
But just this step alone gave Lu Ping’an the confidence to take on the task of a Decree-level Beast Tamer.
"...Chris? Have I reached the standard of a Decree-level Beast Tamer?"
Big Cat was silent for a moment before speaking.
"Not just Decree-level, but half of those at the Rule-level don’t have as solid a foundation as you. They might appear to be specialized in three series, but in reality, they often only have breakthroughs in one domain. The abilities of your Life Encyclopedia are so comprehensive it’s terrifying. What you need is more taming experience, as well as adding more Beast Taming series abilities to your book pages. I suggest starting with ’Spiritualization’..."
"Can I really do that? Isn’t Spiritualization heavily dependent on talent?"
"You can try, anyway. If you fail, it’s not you who dies."
— End of Chapter 868 —