The Strongest Beast-Tamer (Transmigration)(GL) - Chapter 56

When Duanmu Ya entered the courtyard cheerfully, carrying a folded piece of clothing, she stopped short. The garden had turned into a heap of rubble. Yi Xian stood with her back turned, her hands trembling as thin threads of lightning slithered across her palms like silver snakes. Duanmu Ya froze, stunned. “What happened? Who destroyed my courtyard?”

Yi Xian’s voice was strained. “Xiao Ya, I can’t control my hands.”

Duanmu Ya frowned in confusion. Then a sudden spark shot from Yi Xian’s hand, zigzagging toward her. She screamed, realizing exactly what Yi Xian meant by not being able to control it. “What—what’s happening? Ah!”

Yi Xian’s eyes widened as the lightning darted toward Duanmu Ya’s face. She quickly raised her other hand to suppress it, but when her palms met, the lightning surged instead of fading. It flared, brighter and fiercer. “Xiao Ya, get out of the way!”

At the critical moment, Duanmu Ya flung the clothing before her face. The silver flash struck the fabric and flickered once before vanishing into nothingness.

When no more sounds came, Duanmu Ya slowly peeked from behind the cloth, her eyes wide with fear and curiosity. “As expected of beastbone hide! It even withstood that attack. Incredible.”

Yi Xian had just let out a sigh of relief when lightning danced again across her fingers. Alarmed, she turned away. “Go! I can’t control it. Xiao Ya, find Nian Yunyin for me!”

A thick bolt shot from her hand, striking the house. The entire structure shook. Duanmu Ya screamed, clutching the garment to her chest as she fled.

When Duanmu Ya finally returned with Nian Yunyin, both women paused outside the door, listening. It was quiet. Duanmu Ya still held her precious clothing protectively. “So quiet,” she whispered.

Nian Yunyin pushed the door open. The courtyard lay in ruins. Trees had fallen, and the stone table and benches were gone. Half the house had collapsed, while the rest trembled, ready to crumble at any moment. Yi Xian sat slumped on the ground, faint arcs of lightning flickering weakly around her hands.

“Hey, are you alright?” Nian Yunyin asked calmly.

Yi Xian met her gaze, noting the woman’s utter lack of surprise. “Nian Yunyin, tell me honestly. Is this a side effect of the lightning strike, or am I awakening a Lightning Root?”

Nian Yunyin smiled faintly. “Congratulations. You’re about to become a dual-element Beast Tamer.”

Back when her light root had awakened, Yi Xian had longed for a powerful offensive attribute that could protect her life. Yet now that her wish was granted, excitement was replaced by dread. She sighed inwardly. This body truly carries too many mysteries.

Duanmu Ya covered her face with the beastbone hide. “Yi Xian, you’ve become a dual-element Beast Tamer! That’s amazing. From now on, when we go gather herbs, you can shock the plants a little, and they’ll just fall limp. But this lightning of yours is too wild. It hits everyone it sees. If not for this hide, my face would be ruined!”

Nian Yunyin gave her a sidelong look. “When things go wrong, why don’t you ever think to run? You just stand there like a fool. It’s likely your Lightning Root was prematurely awakened after you were injured that day. Your body still holds the opponent’s lightning energy, which is why this is happening. For it to awaken completely, we must wait for the right moment.”

Lightning Spirits were akin to light spirits, both requiring perfect alignment of timing and harmony. Light roots were nurtured by sunlight, though very few could absorb it directly like Yi Xian. Most Light Tamers relied on auxiliary methods to refine sunlight before absorption. Yi Xian’s awakening had been pure coincidence, a happy accident.

Lightning Roots, however, could only awaken during storms. It all depended on heaven’s will.

Yi Xian sat upright, disbelief flickering in her eyes. “You mean I have to wait for a lightning storm and sit under it to get struck?”

Duanmu Ya tilted her head thoughtfully. “Seems so. Sister Qi Yun was the same. Every time she advanced, it was a near-death experience. You’ll get used to it. It’s just… a pity.”

Yi Xian noticed Nian Yunyin’s complex expression as she watched Duanmu Ya. The air between them thickened, sweet in a way that made her throat tighten. “Fine. Then I’ll leave it to the weather.”

Though she should have felt joy at gaining a second spiritual root, unease gnawed at her. The red-eyed entity that had tried to sign an Equal Contract and the dragon that had fled in fear lingered in her mind, each memory sending chills down her spine. She sensed something ominous waiting ahead.

They say the greater the power, the heavier the burden.

As she thought that, a faint cracking sound broke the night’s stillness. Under ordinary circumstances, no one would have noticed, but now it felt impossibly loud.

Yi Xian summoned a light orb. From beneath the collapsed tiles, a massive golden paw emerged, scratching at the debris. It pushed aside a pile of rubble, revealing a lion’s head shaking wildly. Then, as if pulling up a turnip, it dragged out a smaller one beside it.

“What in the world? You even brought Xiao Nan with you at a time like this?”

“Roar.”

“Injured again?”

Lan Tong leaned closer, sniffing Yi Xian curiously. “She’s been crying for you these past days.”

Yi Xian pushed the lioness’s muzzle away. “That doesn’t mean you should bring her here.”

Lan Tong gripped the cub by the scruff and shoved her into Yi Xian’s arms. “She refuses to eat unless you feed her.”

Yi Xian was speechless. “Three days?”

Lan Tong looked away, glancing over the wrecked courtyard and toward Duanmu Ya, who pretended to be asleep. “This place isn’t safe. Come stay with me.”

Yi Xian wasn’t fooled. Sharing a tent with this lion always ended the same way, with her waking up in its embrace. The memory alone made her shiver. At least the beast had behaved lately. She stroked the cub and stepped outside. “I’ll treat her wound. Then you’ll take her back. Qingshan Sect is investigating a theft right now, so it’s not safe. I’m busy too. I’ll have Lord Yin Bao deliver a message later.”

Xiao Nan sprawled on the ground, pawing at Lord Yin Bao like a game of whack-a-mole. The silver creature darted here and there, leaving trails of light. The cub’s eyes followed eagerly, but no matter how hard she slapped, she never landed a hit. When she tried to stand, Yi Xian gently tapped her back down. The cub whimpered pitifully.

Finally, Lord Yin Bao pulled out a pile of snacks to distract her.

“Still howling these days?” Yi Xian asked.

Lan Tong replied, “No. Just humming.”

Yi Xian glanced at the floorboards, amazed they were still intact. Lan Tong noticed her expression. “I replaced them before leaving. This is the fifth set.”

Yi Xian inspected the cub’s injured paw. The moment she touched it, the little one yelped, dropping the fruit she had been chewing. She tried to twist away, but Yi Xian held her still.

“Good, there’s feeling. She’s recovering better than I expected.” Yi Xian handed Lan Tong a small jade box. “This is Bone-Mending Ointment. Keep it with you.”

Lan Tong tucked it carefully into her belt. “You’re preparing for the finals?”

Yi Xian nodded. “Something like that.”

The cub’s swelling had vanished. Yi Xian pressed gently, watching her wriggle and kick. The little one was too busy playing with Lord Yin Bao to care. “They say broken bones take a hundred days to heal. I wonder how long this ointment will take to fully mend them.”

She sighed, almost missing the days when the cub followed her everywhere. Now, watching her lie still all day, she couldn’t help feeling soft.

Duanmu Ya finally broke her silence, clearly struggling to hold it in. “Ahem. The salve should work within a month. And… I haven’t slept well without a bed.”

The house’s collapse left her with no excuse to offer Lian Hongyao, and no new place to stay. The pampered alchemist’s apprentice looked pitifully displaced. The three of them stared at one another while the cub ignored them completely, absorbed in her game with Lord Yin Bao.

Duanmu Ya had always been slightly afraid of Lan Tong, ever since that terrifying rampage in Yars City. Still, Lan Tong’s human form was less intimidating. Trying to be discreet, she scooted closer to Yi Xian, only for Lan Tong’s glare to pin her in place.

“Y-Yi Xian,” she stammered.

Yi Xian glared at the lioness. “What are you scaring her for?”

Lan Tong frowned, displeased. “Why is she a woman?”

Duanmu Ya froze, while Yi Xian blinked in surprise. “You know her?”

Lan Tong gave her a look that clearly said are you kidding me? “Don’t think I can’t recognize her just because she’s turned into a woman now. This person tricked you into deceiving me. I—”

Yi Xian grabbed her arm before she could stand. “How did you recognize her? Her scent?”

Duanmu Ya flinched at the motion, shuffling toward the cub for safety. “I-I never deceived Yi Xian.”

Yi Xian sighed. “Do you two plan to summon all of Yundan Peak here? Quiet, both of you.”

Duanmu Ya pouted, moving closer to the cub again. Watching the little one fail repeatedly to win her game, she cooed, “Poor thing. You’ve gotten so thin. Here, eat.”

She pulled out fragrant dishes from her Storage Pouch, piling them before Xiao Nan. “These are all spirit foods. Eat them and you’ll heal faster.”

The cub sniffed eagerly, tongue flicking as if starving. Yet, under Duanmu Ya’s hopeful gaze, she pushed the food aside, bit by bit, until it was all out of reach. Then she blinked up at Lord Yin Bao, licking her lips.

Duanmu Ya blinked in confusion. “What does that mean? Won’t eat? Are you saving it for me?”

Yi Xian smiled and stroked the cub’s head. “Good girl, Xiao Nan. You deserve a reward.”

At long last, the long-awaited lightning storm arrived. During those days, Yi Xian endured the torment of lightning refinement daily. Her entire body was numb, her heart seemed to falter, and its rhythm would grow irregular. It made her feel as though she had fallen gravely ill and would soon die.

“Yi Xian, if you could endure the Marrow-Cleansing Pill, I’m sure you can handle being struck by lightning. I have faith in you.”

“Being struck by lightning and taking a pill are not even comparable.”

“How do you know? You’re not a Lightning-root Beast Tamer.”

Yi Xian pressed a hand to her forehead. The two were about to argue again. She thought to herself that when Duanmu Ya eventually learned that Nian Yunyin was actually Qi Yun, her expression would surely be priceless. “If I miss the match, withdraw on my behalf.”

Nian Yunyin nodded. “Alright. If you find an opportunity, you must capture the Lightning Marrow and make it yours.”

Yi Xian had only heard vague theories about Lightning Marrow. She didn’t really know what it was, only that it was a type of Lightning Spirit, fierce and difficult to seize. Out of a hundred people, hardly one could catch even a single strand. “I’ll try.”

When Yi Xian climbed to the highest peak and saw the sky splitting with lightning, she felt that the dark clouds were only an arm’s length above her. Facing the flashes around her, she suddenly felt very small, as tiny as an ant. What if I really get struck to death? She thought nervously. If she died during the awakening of her Lightning Root, she would forever be a laughingstock of the Qingshan Sect.

Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself and sat cross-legged in the pouring rain, closing her eyes to sense the lightning spirit within her hands.

For days the lightning had tormented her uncontrollably. Yet now, when she truly wished for it to appear, it refused to come.

Yi Xian had patience. She meditated through the storm, waiting until deep into the night when, at last, a bolt of lightning crashed down without warning. It ran from head to toe, making her entire body spasm. The tingling returned. That’s it. That’s the feeling.

Biting her tongue to stay conscious, Yi Xian endured the pain and guided the lightning energy through her body, drawing it in bit by bit.

At first, everything went smoothly. But soon, the four tiny light orbs in her dantian rebelled. The light spirit and the Lightning Spirit clashed within her body, colliding in violent bursts. It felt as if her organs were being torn apart piece by piece. Yi Xian vomited a mouthful of bl00d mixed with fragments of flesh.

Clearly, both she and Nian Yunyin had forgotten that her light spirit was too pure, like sunlight itself. When it met the Lightning Spirit, it exploded.

Before she could stop, a second bolt struck.

Yi Xian screamed. The meridians that had once been strengthened by light energy snapped one after another. The two forces drew a clear boundary within her body, Light and Lightning refusing to yield. Bl00d streamed from her eyes, nose, and mouth. Her world became a red haze.

Her body trembled. Every breath was agony. Thoughts flickered through her mind.

Give up. At least it won’t hurt anymore.

Losing one root is fine. A single element can still be powerful.

Am I really going to die here again?

Countless faces passed before her eyes, from the ordinary people she had met among the Beast Tribe to Duanmu Ya, Lord Yin Bao, Little One, and Lan Tong.

Lord Yin Bao, hiding far away, watched Yi Xian transform into a figure of bl00d within moments. It panicked, scratching at the ground before diving underground to find Nian Yunyin and Duanmu Ya, who were sheltering in a small cave below the mountain.

Both women had been waiting anxiously, talking quietly as rain poured outside, when a drenched Lord Yin Bao appeared, jumping about frantically.

Duanmu Ya frowned. “What is Lord Yin Bao trying to say?”

Nian Yunyin walked to the entrance and looked toward the storm. Lightning lit up the sky, casting white over the rain-soaked darkness. “Yi Xian must be in trouble.”

Duanmu Ya’s eyes widened. “Then what do we do?”

Nian Yunyin shook her head. “I have no spiritual power. You have little. And she is awakening a Lightning Root. No one can help her now except herself.”

On the mountaintop, bl00d was washed away by the rain only to be replaced by more. For a moment, Yi Xian felt utterly hopeless. Lightning struck her body again and again, yet she barely felt the pain anymore. Her ruined body was destroyed and mended repeatedly by the colliding energies of Light and Lightning. Every time she thought it was the limit, they found a new one. Her bones broke next, snapping one by one. The pain was beyond what any Marrow-Cleansing Pill could compare.

Yi Xian felt detached, as though watching her own torment from afar. Yet deep within her, something fierce stirred, a burning refusal to die. If you want to kill me, then do it. If you can’t, I’ll crawl back up no matter what!

The agony lasted from deep night until dawn. The rain still fell. The lightning still struck. After several violent clashes, the Light and Lightning Spirits within her finally stabilized.

Yi Xian seized the moment, using the gentle light spirit to rebuild her meridians. The process was torment, worse than death, yet she sensed they were broader than before. When she had barely finished reconstructing her body, the two forces collided again, and she was plunged into fresh agony.

So it continued for days. Yi Xian hovered at the edge of life and death while the storm raged without pause. Perhaps heaven itself was testing how long she could endure.

One night, Nian Yunyin tossed her soaked robe to Duanmu Ya to dry. “It has been a week. Yi Xian has forfeited one match. She must win at least three of the remaining five.”

Duanmu Ya sighed as she tended the fire. “I’ve never seen anyone take this long to awaken a Lightning Root. It’s been a week, and she’s still up there. If I couldn’t see her alive and well, I’d think…”

Nian Yunyin’s eyes softened. “Perhaps she’s trying to capture the Lightning Marrow.”

“What’s Lightning Marrow for anyway?” Duanmu Ya asked curiously.

Nian Yunyin smiled faintly. “The lightning used by ordinary cultivators is only common lightning. Lightning Marrow, however, is the essence refined from it. If Yi Xian captures one, it would be great fortune.”

“How do you tell the difference?”

“By color. Among the seven types, the Violet Lightning Marrow is supreme. The rest are lesser. Even the lesser ones are rare.”

“I’ve seen one,” Duanmu Ya said suddenly. “It was violet.”

Nian Yunyin only gave a quiet hum, gazing into the misty night.

Just as she said, Yi Xian truly was trying to seize Lightning Marrow. Yet such a thing could not be caught by effort alone. It required instinct. After days of battle, the two forces within her finally reached a truce. The Lightning Spirit shrank to one corner of her dantian, pressed by the light spirit. Each side took its place like rivals marking their territory.

Yi Xian almost wanted to kneel in gratitude. Taking advantage of the calm, she resumed cultivating her Lightning attribute. Her body, sharpened by destruction and repair, had grown hyper-sensitive. When a golden bolt flashed across the sky, she sensed something different. Opening her eyes, she saw a dragon-shaped streak of gold lightning flying into the horizon.

Without hesitation, Yi Xian struck with her Seven-Section Needle Light. Disaster followed.

Her barrier failed to trap the Lightning Marrow and instead exploded with a deafening boom. Enraged, the golden lightning turned and struck back at her. Yi Xian’s consciousness reeled, her spirit almost torn from her body. Yet after seven days of being struck, she was no longer afraid. Calmly, she formed a new barrier and seized the Lightning Marrow again, locking it in a battle of endurance.

When the skies finally cleared, Duanmu Ya pestered Nian Yunyin until she agreed to climb the mountain.

“Remember, if she’s still cultivating, we mustn’t disturb her.”

“It’s been half a month! The storm’s gone for days. If we wait any longer, she’ll miss the finals. She’ll regret it later.”

Yet when Duanmu Ya saw Yi Xian, her torn clothes and blackened skin left her frozen in shock. “Check if she’s still breathing!”

Nian Yunyin’s tone was steady. “As expected.”

Duanmu Ya huffed. “Stop talking in riddles. Explain!”

Nian Yunyin sighed. “Just as we guessed. Yi Xian has encountered her great fortune. She’s refining the Lightning Marrow. If she fails, the fortune will vanish.”

“So she caught one?”

“She should have.”

…

After forfeiting three matches, Yi Xian finally opened her eyes. The first thing she heard was Duanmu Ya’s lively chatter, softened by Nian Yunyin’s patient voice beside her.

Yi Xian smiled faintly. “Why do I always wake up to the sound of you two arguing?”

Duanmu Ya froze, about to rush over, when a robe flew and covered Yi Xian’s head. “Put that on,” Nian Yunyin said.

Yi Xian moved slightly, wrapping herself in it while Duanmu Ya stood awkwardly behind Nian Yunyin. Later, Yi Xian learned that she had missed three matches during her awakening. She would need three flawless victories in the remaining rounds to stay in the finals. “That was too close.”

Eagerly, Duanmu Ya leaned forward. “Yi Xian, show me! What kind of Lightning Marrow did you catch?”

Yi Xian raised her hand. “This one.”

A golden dragon coiled in her palm, glowing faintly as it slept.

Nian Yunyin stared, astonished. “That’s Lightning Marrow. Not just any, but a top-grade Gold Lightning Marrow rarer than the violet one. Yi Xian, congratulations. But tell no one of this. Keep it hidden, or it may bring disaster.”