581: Chapter 581 Spirit Beast Token

Inside the Immortal Cave on Star Gazing Cliff, the night was as dark as ink, with only the cold jade bed emitting a faint glow.

Su Ming sat cross-legged, with the dark green Jade Slip bestowed by Master Xuan Heng spread out before him, alongside a parchment plan dozens of pages long, densely packed with various small characters of deduction.

For the past three months, he had studied day and night, his Sea of Consciousness having performed countless tens of thousands of deductions.

During the day, he had just passed the second round of examinations from Master Xuan Heng, finally obtaining permission to open the furnace and refine his natal formation plate.

According to the plan, for the next entire year, he would completely seal his Immortal Cave, devoting himself single-mindedly to the refinement of this treasure, which concerned the Foundation of his future Dao.

"Rumble—"

Su Ming had just pinched a hand seal, preparing to completely lock the heavy stone door, when his movements suddenly paused.

His gaze shifted slightly, landing on the nest in the corner of the stone chamber.

That Mystic Shadow Crow, "Shadow," whose size had already grown by a circle and whose feathers were as black as ink, was idly using its sharp beak to preen the hard golden feathers on the edge of its wings.

"Chirp?"

Shadow seemed to sense Su Ming's gaze and tilted its head to look over, its pupils, marked with double golden rings, flashing with a flicker of clever, mischievous light in the darkness.

Su Ming's brows furrowed slightly, his fingers gently rubbing inside his sleeve.

For a year of seclusion, he had to raise his essence, Qi, and spirit to the extreme; it was absolutely impossible for him to be distracted by taking care of a Spirit Beast in its growth phase.

But if he were to forcibly lock Shadow in the Immortal Cave for a whole year—this little fellow had the Bloodline of an ancient divine bird flowing through its body and was born with a wild nature in its bones.

Being confined for too long would not only be detrimental to the Awakening of its Bloodline but could easily cause it to develop problems.

But if he were to let it go out alone...

Su Ming's eyes lowered slightly as he calculated inwardly.

Although Shadow had the concealment technique to protect itself, there were countless experts within the Cloud Hidden Sect.

If it were to playfully break into some Forbidden Ground, or be captured by an unknowing Disciple of the Sect as a stray Spirit Beast, or even be killed offhand, the worst outcome would be that he would lose this Spirit Beast of immense potential.

"I must go find Second Senior Brother Qin Yi."

Su Ming rose to his full height, stepped forward, scooped up the fluttering Shadow from the nest, and placed it steadily on his shoulder.

With a wave of his sleeve, he put away the plan on the desk, then rode his sword, transforming into a deep blue streak of light, and sped off toward Beast Peak under the cover of the night.

...

Second Senior Brother Qin Yi was sitting behind a pear wood desk, earnestly reviewing a thick stack of books.

He wore a cyan Daoist robe, his hair tied up casually with a wooden hairpin.

His expression was gentle, and his demeanor was steady, forming a sharp contrast with the usually rash Third Senior Brother Luo Feng, who was always blowing up his furnace.

Hearing the faint sound of footsteps at the door, Second Senior Brother Qin Yi paused slightly, put down the book in his hand, and looked up.

"Junior Martial Brother? Did you not say you were about to go into seclusion to refine your natal formation plate? Why do you have time to come find me in the middle of the night?"

Su Ming stepped into the side hall, first performing a proper peer greeting, then cradled Shadow from his shoulder into his palm, and got straight to the point: "Second Senior Brother Qin Yi, this time my seclusion will last at least a year, or perhaps several years, and the Immortal Cave must be completely sealed.

Shadow has a wild nature and cannot be locked up all the time.

I want to let it roam freely within the Sect, but I am afraid that other Disciples might not recognize it as my Spirit Beast and cause a conflict."

Second Senior Brother Qin Yi listened and smiled gently.

He stood up and walked over to Su Ming, looking at the pitch-black Mystic Shadow Crow with its arrogant little gaze, and couldn't help but reach out to touch its head.

"Chirp!"

Shadow keenly tilted its head, lightly pecked Second Senior Brother Qin Yi's finger with its sharp beak, and dodged away.

"It certainly has a fiery temper."

Second Senior Brother Qin Yi was not annoyed, instead retracting his hand and shaking his head with a smile, "This is simple.

The management of Spirit Beasts within the Sect falls under my jurisdiction.

I will register it in the Sect's Golden Registry for you, noting that this Mystic Shadow Crow is the natal Spirit Beast of Formation Peak True Disciple Su Ming, allowing it to move freely within the thirty-six peaks of the Cloud Hidden Sect."

After speaking, Second Senior Brother Qin Yi turned around, took a cyan Jade Slip from the antique shelf behind him, moved his fingertips with Spiritual Qi, and quickly wrote a few lines on it.

"Come, leave your Origin Spiritual Qi mark."

Su Ming extended his finger, and a touch of indigo-blue water-elemental Spiritual Qi was steadily wiped onto the surface of the Jade Slip, leaving a unique ripple.

Second Senior Brother Qin Yi took out a profound iron seal, unique to the External Affairs Hall, from his sleeve and stamped it heavily at the end of the Jade Slip.

"Hum—"

The Jade Slip emitted a faint glow, then returned to calm.

"Alright, the registration is complete."

Second Senior Brother Qin Yi put away the Jade Slip, then took out a delicate identification tag, only the size of a fingernail and emitting a faint bronze-green color, from a drawer and handed it to Su Ming, "This is a Spirit Beast identification tag; tie it around Shadow's neck.

All patrolling Disciples of the Sect have magic disks at their waists that can sense the Formation fluctuations on this tag, so they naturally will not make things difficult for it."

Su Ming took the small bronze tag, feeling it cold to the touch, with an extremely small character "Formation" engraved on it.

He cupped his hands together and bowed solemnly, "Thank you, Second Senior Brother Qin Yi; I have caused you trouble."

"We are fellow Disciples; why speak such distant words?"

Second Senior Brother Qin Yi waved his hand, but his expression suddenly became somewhat mischievous, looking half-jokingly at Shadow on Su Ming's shoulder, "However, Junior Martial Brother, I must warn you in advance.

This Mystic Shadow Crow of yours has the Bloodline of an ancient divine bird flowing through it, and its standards are very high.

During your seclusion, if it happens to go and wreak havoc on the Spiritual Plant garden of one of the main peaks..."

Second Senior Brother Qin Yi paused, his tone somewhat helpless, "If it is caught red-handed by those Golden Core Stage herb farmers or Elders, this seal of mine might not necessarily be able to protect it."

Su Ming's eyelid twitched slightly, and he turned his head to scan Shadow coldly.

"I will instruct it."

Shadow rolled its eyes in a human-like manner and let out a faint "gurgle" sound, as if saying: This master doesn't care for those ordinary, trashy herbs.

...

Two hours later, Su Ming returned to Star Gazing Cliff.

He stood before the cold jade bed and solemnly tied the bronze-green identification tag around Shadow's furry neck.

"Listen well."

Su Ming stared into Shadow's eyes, his voice low and carrying an unquestionable authority, "Within one year, I cannot look after you outside.

You may go out and cause trouble, but you must never provoke disputes.

Once you encounter any danger you cannot resolve, do not force it; run immediately to Formation Peak, do you understand?"

Shadow tilted its head, seemingly infected by Su Ming's serious mood, and let out a "chirp" that sounded somewhat like it understood.

It lowered its head and, with its head full of hard feathers, gently rubbed against Su Ming's chin, emitting a gentle whimpering sound.

Su Ming took a deep breath and placed Shadow back into the nest.

He turned around, facing the heavy stone door, his ten fingers weaving madly like butterflies through flowers, casting one complex seal after another.

"Seal!"

"Rumble—"

Accompanied by a dull, loud noise, the star-patterned stone door, several feet thick, crashed down, fitting perfectly with the surrounding mountain body.

Immediately after, the five layers of defensive Formations on the perimeter of the Immortal Cave, as well as the "Lesser Heavenly Cycle Water Rhyme Formation" that Su Ming had personally improved, were activated layer by layer.

Brilliant deep blue streams of light lit up on the stone walls one by one, finally fading into a deathly silence.

All the noise, light, and even the Spiritual Qi fluctuations of the outside world were completely cut off at this moment.

For the entire year that followed, Shadow indeed, as Su Ming had anticipated, became a "black ghost" appearing and disappearing mysteriously among the peaks of the Cloud Hidden Sect.

It would sometimes shuttle through the dense mountain forests, hunting for low-level Spirit Insects containing Spiritual Qi; sometimes it would squat on the century-old pine trees that towered into the clouds on Heavenly Sword Peak, tilting its head to watch those Sword Cultivators practicing sword techniques under the scorching sun, sweating profusely; even half a year later, it boldly sneaked to the edge of the herb field behind Danding Peak and, taking advantage of the herb boy's inattention, secretly pecked at a few rare Spiritual Plant seeds.

For this, it was chased by Elder Qingyang's Alchemy boy, who was brandishing a broom, for half a mountain in a fit of rage.

However, because of the notice issued in advance by the External Affairs Hall and the bronze tag hanging around its neck, the patrolling Law Enforcement Hall Disciples and the stewards of each peak would only wave their sleeves with a smile whenever they saw it, chasing it away with laughter and scolding; no one ever truly tried to kill it.

And within the stone chamber of the Immortal Cave on Star Gazing Cliff, a refinement that concerned Su Ming's future destiny had already silently begun.