Chapter 462: A Change In the Thunderfire Wolf

Xiao Qi was able to use the Beast Taming Ring!

This conclusion was even more startling than the hints that preluded it, though Bai Yunfei didn’t doubt it being true. When the blue-eyes wyrm was first here, it acted a little weirdly at times, especially when he himself was fighting. When Bai Yunfei wasn’t controlling it, the wyrm would seem to fight in ‘tandem’ with Xiao Qi.

So Bai Yunfei decided to ask the question now that he was done with the Nephrite Throne problem.

Having not expected this question, the bird cocked its head first before nodding.

“It’s real!!” Bai Yunfei was stunned.

It was far too strange of a situation to think about. The Beast Taming Ring was his soulbound armament, and when it was on a soulbeast, that meant its effect was active. So to have Xiao Qi able to use it without Bai Yunfei realizing it was an oddity Bai Yunfei previously thought impossible.

“Is it because Xiao Qi and I are connected via our souls? Or is it because the Beast Taming Ring was created using the eggshells from Xiao Qi? Both seem pretty plausible….”

The fact that another per—

That another bird was able to use his Beast Taming Ring wasn’t worrying to Bai Yunfei. In fact, he felt quite glad about it. This meant he’d have less pressure to deal with in a battle.

At his command, the wolf flew to its feet and leapt into the cave where Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi were.

Xiao Qi was perched now on his shoulder while the wolf stood in front of Bai Yunfei. No expression could be seen in its eyes, though a thick fog of red light was clouding its eyes from where it stood still. Listless, the wolf seemed more like an empty shell rather than a soulbeast.

Bai Yunfei knew a decent amount about the modus operandi of the Beast Taming School with how often he fought them. With the death of the beast tamer, the soulbeast would stay there, forgotten.

After he got the Beast Taming Ring, Bai Yunfei decided to try it out on the blue-eyes wyrm and study the results, though he never thought about ‘releasing’ it and thus never thought about using it as an experiment on actual soulbeast puppets.

The thunderfire wolf would be the second soulbeast he’d use the Beast Taming Ring, and it was by far a great different experience than to the blue-eyes wyrm.

There was no ‘resistance’ from the wolf.

From what Bai Yunfei saw from Hong Yin and his attempts to ‘communicate’, soulbeast puppets could be stored almost indefinitely inside special space rings where they were essentially in ‘suspended animation’.

They didn't need to do anything, and when let out, all these soulbeast puppets would do is eat when needed.

Aside from beast tamers, no one could prompt any sort of reaction from soulbeast puppets.

That is, until now.

The Beast Taming Ring was an aberration, a cheat of an equipment that could break the ‘ironclad’ rule of the Beast Taming School.

Using the Beast Taming Ring to get rid of the control over the wolf, Bai Yunfei didn’t feel anything from it. Slipping it back onto the wolf, he watched as it went into a state where it was ready to be commanded again.

If Bai Yunfei wanted to wrestle control over a soulbeast puppet, all he had to do was battle the beast tamer in a battle of spirit and will.

“This way, I can get rid of a beast tamer’s control over a soulbeast puppet with the Beast Taming Ring…..”

But the real question was asked right after, “But if I do that, what makes me different from them?!”

He had no good feelings for the Beast Taming School, but him stealing soulbeasts from them and then using them for himself would make him no better than the beast tamers.

And doing that would violate his own personal principles, so he wouldn’t.

“But these soulbeasts….what should I do about them?” Sighed Bai Yunfei, “If I had known the Thunder Wolf King would’ve taken the wolf, I would’ve let him….

“I wanted to pass off the soulbeast puppets to brother Hong Yin if I ever saw him, but I never did. Is he off in the class seven area?”

He laughed at that notion, the class six area had already claimed his life, would he really want to go into the class seven area knowing even more dangers existed there?

The Bloodhowl Mark was useful, Bai Yunfei conceded that much. But not everyone would buy into it. The day when his luck would run out would surely come, and he didn’t want to die in the forest like that.

Knowing not any other choice, Bai Yunfei shook his head and prepared himself to put away the thunderfire wolf. But when he gave the command, Xiao Qi suddenly chirped once.

“Eh?”

He turned to Xiao Qi, “What’s wrong? You want to stay with it?”

What Xiao Qi seemed to be getting at was that it didn’t want Bai Yunfei to put the thunderfire wolf away.

“Chirp~!” It chirped before flying to come to a perch on top of the wolf’s head. In response, the wolf turned tail to return to the entrance of the cave where it could stand guard.

As it walked, Xiao Qi turned to give Bai Yunfei a look and as if to say, “Don’t worry, let me take over.”

“....”

Speechless, Bai Yunfei watched the bird and wolf walk away. He had the impression that Xiao Qi was starting to think of the wolf as a ‘younger brother’ of sorts.

But that didn’t really matter. The assistance of a peak late-stage class six soulbeast was reassuring, and he wasn’t like a beast tamer. He wouldn’t see the soulbeast puppet as a ‘tool’ to be used.

The sky was getting dark now, and the rain had finally ceased. With the clouds scattering apart, Bai Yunfei could see that night was clearly coming.

Stretching his back, Bai Yunfei sat down in a corner of the cave and began to rest.

……

Early next morning, Bai Yunfei took off west with Xiao Qi and the wolf. With what just happened recently, they couldn’t afford to stay in one place for long.

For his safety, Bai Yunfei wanted out from the depths of the forest. He had spent enough time here and wanted to go west. He didn’t meet any soulbeast on the way, and so that left him with some leisure time to think about the Upgrade Technique.

The thunderfire wolf was now under the ‘guidance’ of Xiao Qi, and the two soulbeasts were basically moving like one. Any time they did meet a soulbeast, the two would fight together.

On the eve before the third day, Bai Yunfei was decided to use a few of the +10 and under upgrade stones to get a better hang of the Upgrade Technique. Though he was doing some basic upgrading, he could still see some clues he hadn’t before. And from these clues, he was starting to comprehend a little more about the ‘origins’ of the Upgrade Technique.

What benefits he got from there wasn’t large, but it was worthwhile. The doors that had once been closed to him were starting to reveal the smallest of cracks to what lied beyond.

He couldn’t see what that beyond was, but there would be a day where he would, and he was ready to face the answers.

On the afternoon of the fourth day.

Bai Yunfei found a small hilly area where an abundance of firewood was. Taking a few of them, he prepared himself a fire and started a barbeque.

As usual, Xiao Qi hopped excitedly on its tree branch above him. The only difference was that rather than a drooling blue-eyes wyrm, there was a monotonous wolf standing underneath.

Not too long later, the sweet smelling smell of meat wafted into the air. Tossing a finished slab to Xiao Qi, Bai Yunfei then tossed another to the wolf.

He had been accustomed to doing this. For the past few days, the thunderfire wolf was without awareness. Since it wasn’t sleeping inside the ring, it still had to maintain the normal needs a living being required, and Bai Yunfei wasn’t inclined to ‘mistreat’ it.

But then a second after he tossed the slab of meat, Bai Yunfei’s eyes widened at what he saw next….

The thunderfire wolf leapt a meter straight up into the air to snag the slab thrown to it!

It was a normal action the thunderfire wolf was capable of doing, but only when ordered!

Bai Yunfei didn’t give the order this time! And Xiao Qi was far too busy enjoying its own slab of meat to bother with the wolf, meaning….

The thunderfire wolf had moved by its own voluntary action!

“Wha….”