Looking at the wild horses, buffalo, and deer before him, Thorne felt a bit troubled.
Under the mere aura of Tylen's Mortal Tier Level 4 strength, these wild beasts were already trembling with unease. Could they really be nurtured into magic beasts? Thorne had little confidence.
"I'll try for a week. If there's no progress at all, I'll have to find another way."
Thorne channeled refined spiritual water into a pre-dug pit on the shore, then had Tylen herd the beasts toward it.
No herding was needed—the moment they saw the spiritual water pit, their eyes lit up with deep longing, and they rushed in eagerly.
Thorne observed the dozens of beasts, periodically refreshing the spiritual water.
By afternoon, half had reached saturation, unable to absorb more spiritual energy. Thorne drove them out.
By night, only a wild horse and a deer could still passively absorb spiritual energy.
Of over twenty beasts, just two completed the first step—spiritual energy cleansing and marrow refinement. Teaching them to actively draw it in would be even harder.
But having taken this step, Thorne wouldn't give up halfway. By midnight, all the beasts' passive absorption hit saturation.
So, Thorne had Tylen and the others drive them to run laps around the lake's edge, exhausting their stamina.
They ran until dawn, collapsing in exhaustion. Thorne then prepared more spiritual water for them to soak in.
This continued for a month. Halfway through, ten beasts showed no further progress, and Thorne abandoned them.
The remaining dozen absorbed less each day but didn't stall. After a full month, even the last wild horse couldn't take in more, so Thorne ended the grueling regimen.
The beasts had a love-hate bond with Tylen and the others. The spiritual energy was irresistible, but being chased all night left them drained.
Yet this intense training, pushing them to utter exhaustion, allowed their bodies to actively absorb spiritual energy under stimulation. Left to soak passively, they'd take in pitifully little.
Now, these dozen beasts far surpassed ordinary wild animals. The horse and deer were a step from becoming magic beasts, needing only to awaken their bloodlines and learn to draw spiritual energy from the world.
That step, however, was beyond Thorne's aid—they'd have to manage it themselves.
But Thorne had one final trick: his monthly Blessing.
He summoned Tylen and the others. The Huang Tribe had worked hard training the beasts lately, though their elemental cultivation couldn't benefit further from his spiritual water.
Blessing had no limit on targets, so he gathered them for a grand casting.
The dozen-plus beasts and Huang Tribe members stood together. After this time, they'd grown familiar, waiting quietly.
A white light spread from the lake, enveloping them. The Huang Tribe, devout followers, reaped the most. Many surged in strength, breaking through— even Tylen hit Mortal Tier Level 5, surpassing the High Priest.
Threads of faith power emerged from them, though the system blocked it again. Their loyalty neared max— they'd die for Thorne without hesitation.
The beasts, unawakened and faithless, still gained much due to their low base level.
The wild horse reacted first, rearing with a skyward neigh, galloping uncontrollably. Red flames erupted on its hooves, intensifying as it sped up.
Sensing trouble, Thorne quickly sent four clumps of spiritual water to its limbs.
The horse had awakened its bloodline, but its body couldn't handle it. Without Thorne's timely aid, its legs might've burned away.
With the spiritual water's support, it mastered the red flames. Soon, Thorne's first nurtured magic beast would emerge.
"Judging by those flaming hooves, it's a Red Flame Windchaser—quite practical."
"Ding, congratulations to the host for nurturing a magic beast. Reward: 1,000 energy points."
Energy points as a bonus! This unexpected delight thrilled Thorne.
With this success, future nurturing could scale up. Millions of beasts could mean millions of points.
Thorne felt like he'd struck a goldmine, on the cusp of riches.
Soon, the deer awakened too, its antlers glowing green. It mastered the light without aid.
"Likely a Wood Spirit Deer—has some group healing. A decent support."
As time passed, more beasts awakened, but not all succeeded. A lion awoke a domineering bloodline, too potent for even Thorne's water to sustain, dying in the process.
Of the sixteen blessed, seven failed—four died, three were crippled, and nine succeeded.
Awakening didn't guarantee becoming a magic beast, but it was the riskiest step. Even with Thorne's water boosting their bodies, the success rate was under half—natural awakenings were rarer still.
After two or three days of gentle spiritual water nurturing, the successful beasts stabilized. Next, they'd need a spiritual-rich environment to master energy absorption and use.
Gazing at these nine proto-magic beasts, Thorne swelled with pride and hope. Wild beasts vastly outnumbered magic beasts, offering endless recruits for a massive faction.
Thorne wasn't the first to consider using spiritual water to nurture them, but major factions didn't bother. The continent had plenty of magic beasts—raising them directly was faster.
Plus, mass-converting wild beasts required immense spiritual energy—less efficient than cultivating existing magic beasts.