Author's note:
Hi everyone, I'm back!
Sorry for disappearing. I was a bit sick this week and couldn't post much, but I'm back now!
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While Liu Taixuan was officially canonized as an elder, elsewhere in the sect, a little kitten jumped from side to side inside a well-lit and cozy cave, chasing a small red dot of light.
Whenever he caught it, he would immediately trap it with his paws, only to open them and realize it wasn't there. Then he would go back to chasing the fleeing light, which would appear somewhere else.
The cat in question was, in fact, Red Tiger, who displayed black lines on his forehead whenever he turned his back to the white-haired woman in blue robes, who was emitting the small light from the tip of her finger.
But when he faced her, his gloomy expression would instantly turn foolish and cute.
However, his thoughts were filled with curses.
'Damn it! This woman, is she really treating me like a cat?'
At that moment, the poor tiger truly wanted to cry.
He had thought that, with his master's name on the line, the ancestor of the Beasts Pavilion, Big Sister Zhen Yinghua, would help him evolve his bloodline without any trouble.
Who would have imagined that, even using Aotian's name, he would still have to go through what she called "The Hundred Trials of the Absolute Feline" before being allowed to evolve his bloodline?
Back then, when he heard that, Red Tiger immediately became serious and, with solemnity, said: "I am willing to cross seas of fire and mountains of blades to evolve my bloodline."
But when he heard that, the ancestor merely gave him a mischievous smile, making him uneasy, before suddenly sealing his cultivation and preventing him from using spiritual energy or changing his size, then declaring:
"Then let the Hundred Trials of the Absolute Feline begin!"
"First trial! Achieve great perfection in the technique of playing with the Absolute Origin Spiritual Yarn Ball!"
With her imposing declaration, which made Red Tiger hold his breath, she simply tossed a red ball of yarn to him—one that didn't contain even a trace of energy.
It was just an ordinary ball of yarn.
The tiger froze as he caught it with his paws. Stiffly, he looked at the ball in his paws, then at the ancestor, who maintained a solemn face, though the corners of her lips twitched as she struggled to hold back a smile.
That was when he understood everything.
'What Hundred Trials of the Absolute Feline! She just wants to treat me like a cat!'
He gritted his teeth in anger and was about to recklessly growl at the ancestor. But her next words froze him in place.
"What are you waiting for? Do you want me to improve your bloodline or not?"
Her question, delivered with a raised eyebrow, made the tiger fall silent and struggle internally.
'Do I really have to endure such humiliation just to improve my bloodline? Is it really worth it?'
'No, a gentleman would never bow humbly for gains!'
With his mind made up, he picked up the yarn ball and, with a resolute expression…
"Meow!"
The little red kitten turned away and began batting at the yarn ball above him with all four paws.
'Hmph! I am a beast, not a gentleman,' he thought triumphantly.
"Hmm!" Ancestor Zhen Yinghua nodded with a serious expression upon seeing him obey, and began pointing out flaws with her finger. "Your eyes are not focused, look at the yarn ball with curiosity. Your tail is stiff, sway it gently with focus. Your paws are too mechanical, find a rhythm when playing with the ball…"
Order after order was given, and in despair, Red Tiger could only obey, becoming more and more like a cute little kitten.
Aotian, internally, smiled diabolically at the scene.
'Heh… since you want to use your cuteness to gain things without working, then I might as well help you become the ultimate kitten! Let's see if you dare shamelessly trick me again next time…'
With Aotian's malicious laughter, the Hundred Trials of the Absolute Feline continued.
When Red Tiger reached great perfection in the technique of playing with the Absolute Origin Spiritual Yarn Ball, the second trial began.
"Now you must reach great perfection in the Chaotic God's Paw-Licking Technique!"
…
"The World-Destroying Buddha's Cute Stretching Technique!"
…
"The Twenty-Clawed Golden Dragon's Immortal Paw-Giving Technique!"
…
"The Blood Moon Wolf King's Meowing Technique!"
…
"The Backflip Technique of the Celestial Cat of the Great Emperor of the Harem of Three Thousand Beauties!"
…
"The technique…"
…
The names of the techniques that came out of Ancestor Zhen Yinghua's mouth became increasingly absurd, but what Red Tiger had to do were merely normal cat actions.
So, aside from the humiliation, the real difficulty was zero. And the best part was that he wasn't being forced to do it, but was motivated by gains, so he could only blame himself.
'What would he think if he knew that if he had simply refused, the ancestor would say it was just a joke to test his character and would still help him anyway.'
'Hehe, what a pity for you, greedy little kitten.'
Aotian was having a lot of fun playing with the proud and silly Red Tiger. And he had to admit that, as the kitten went through the trials, his skills in being adorable truly reached a whole new level.
And the trial he was going through at that moment was the last one.
He was mastering the supreme immortal primordial omnipotent-tier technique of being a silly kitten catching a little red light created by a beautiful big sister who can help improve your silly kitten bloodline.
Yes, that was the name of the technique. And the poor tiger didn't even have the strength to complain.
As soon as he caught another red laser light, he carefully opened his paws and made a confused little face when he saw nothing there. Of course, he knew he hadn't caught anything, but that was the "supreme immortal primordial omnipotent-tier technique of being a silly kitten catching a little red light created by a beautiful big sister who can help improve your silly kitten bloodline."
For such a profound technique, he could only act desperately.
So, wagging his tail in concentration, he began looking around again, searching for the light, tilting his little head in confusion.
"Meow…"
He meowed softly when he couldn't find anything.
Confused, the kitten scratched his ear with his hind leg and lost interest.
Without even realizing that his cultivation had been unsealed the moment he caught the last light, he raised his front paw and began licking it carefreely.
The ancestor, who was standing there beside him, looked at him strangely.
'Did I… did I break my tiger?'
Aotian wondered, slightly worried.
"Ahem!" Zhen Yinghua coughed softly into her fist, drawing the cat's attention, who looked at her with his head tilted in confusion. "You… you passed, why are you still acting?"
She asked, staring at him oddly.
"Meow?" The tiger froze mid-lick, with his tongue still stretched out.
Widening his eyes, only then did he come back to his senses and realize what he was doing.
"Cough! Cough! I mean… of course I passed!" He quickly coughed into his paw, embarrassed, and then ran and shamelessly jumped into the ancestor's arms, who caught him easily. "You can improve my bloodline now, right?"
He showed his fluffy little belly in her arms and asked pitifully, with his big red eyes and his paws curled.
Looking at the shameless tiger, even Aotian was stunned by the power of the techniques he had taught him.
Helpless, he controlled the ancestor to scratch his white chin.
"Okay, don't keep using the techniques I taught you against me." She laughed, powerless, and then emitted a wave of energy into the cat's body in her arms.
That was her Position Skill, Ancestral Awakening, capable of tracing a more powerful ancestor within the beast's bloodline and generating a small atavism in the creature's blood.
The ancestor's eyes were completely focused on that wave of energy, and her breathing almost stopped as she saw extremely complex patterns accompanying it, even if she couldn't fully see or understand anything.
'Dao! It really is the Dao! The avatars' abilities are using the Dao to accomplish what they do, and likely a Dao of an extremely terrifying level!'
'It's not a power belonging solely to my system and inexplicable. It's just an application of the world's own rules that the avatars use instinctively!'
Aotian quickly controlled the ancestor's expression back to normal, leaving his other bodies to bear the shock of the discovery.
In fact, he had already suspected that the avatars' powers might be applications of the Dao, but the confirmation still left a bittersweet taste in his mouth.
'If my avatars use the power of this world, does that mean that someday, in the immortal plane, I might discover that my abilities aren't that incredible? Or maybe not, after all, the system should be a tool beyond this world, since it probably brought me here… or maybe not.'
Not knowing how to react, and still lacking too much information to form any concrete idea, he sighed, temporarily abandoning the matter. Such a discovery had many possibilities, some good and several others bad.
But whatever it was, the consequences of this were still very far from him.
Recovering his composure, the ancestor Zhen Yinghua began to analyze the cat, who had shining eyes as he felt his bloodline and body slightly stronger, and even a more ancient breath emerging in his blood.
It only took a few moments of observation, due to the ancestor's cultivation realm, for the Observable Evolution ability to activate, bringing up the beast's panel, which finally showed evolution branches again.
[Beast: Blood Tiger Alpha (Trace of Abyssal Violet Tiger Bloodline)
Cultivation: Perfect Stage Fourth-Level
Age: 245 Years
Bloodline: Blood Tiger Alpha
Qualifications: Perfect Stage Fourth-Level]
[-------------Evolutions-------------
Option 1 -
[Bloodline: Abyssal Violet Tiger (Diluted)
Qualifications: Mid-Stage Fifth-Level]
[Requirements:
Required Cultivation: Perfect Stage Fourth-Level
Pill: Formation-Tier Blood Ascension Pill — Recipe: Purple Thunderwood...]
Option 2 -
[Bloodline: Abyssal Blood Tiger (Mutation)
Qualifications: Initial Stage Sixth-Level]
[Requirements:
Required Cultivation: Perfect Stage Fourth-Level
Pill: Void-Tier Abyssal Blood Pill — Recipe: Bloodheart Fruit, Twenty-Eyed Ginseng...]
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The ancestor's blue eyes flickered thoughtfully as she began looking at the tiger with a strange expression.
"Err… little guy, it seems the sect still doesn't have the materials you need. You'll have to wait a bit for your evolution. For now, focus on cultivation."
She simply shrugged, gave two pats on the cat's head, and placed him on the ground without any regret, disappearing right after.
Red Tiger stood there, frozen, eyes wide, in disbelief.
Moments later…
"$#8@&%@#$@%$@&%$@!!!"
…
Aotian fled awkwardly, scratching his head, still able to hear the tiger's curses, which made him want to go back and kick his ass.
But he held back. After all, he had really made the tiger behave like a domestic cat in a hundred different ways and, in the end, only increased his power a little before running away.
In truth, he had materials to turn him into an Abyssal Violet Tiger, but he felt that the mutated bloodline seemed more suitable for Red Tiger.
Besides, even a pure-blood Abyssal Violet Tiger probably didn't have qualifications as good as an Abyssal Blood Tiger. So it wouldn't be any loss for the tiger to wait a bit as the avatars searched for those Void-Tier materials during their current spree of raiding several sects.
Of course, when Aotian obtained the materials for the ungrateful cat, he would still remember these insults and make sure to teach the tiger a proper lesson.
For now… he could only observe a minute of silence for him.