"This disciple remembers the teachings of the Three Cave Masters and would never dare to overfeed," Yuan Ming shook his head, his tone very firm.

While speaking, he took off the storage bag hanging from his waist and handed it to the Three Cave Masters.

The latter looked down with drooping eyebrows, glanced at it, but did not reach out to take the storage bag. Instead, she said, "Follow me."

After saying this, she turned and walked out of the Fire Workshop.

Yuan Ming hesitated briefly, then could only clasp his fists towards Fang Ge in farewell and quickly followed her.

By the time they were far away, the other disciples looked at each other and couldn't help but whispering softly.

"If you're all so free, how about doubling today's tasks?" Fang Ge's face darkened as he spoke.

At his words, everyone scattered immediately.

...

With Huo Chan'er sitting on his shoulder, Yuan Ming followed the Three Cave Masters, leaving the Fire Workshop and heading towards the back mountain.

"Does Huo Chan'er like to follow you for any particular reason?" the Three Cave Masters asked.

"Perhaps we are just fond of each other. I like Huo Chan'er too," Yuan Ming replied, glancing at the little glutton on his shoulder.

In fact, he had speculated that it must be related to the Mysterious Incense Burner or the Moonlight Technique.

Because every time he cultivated the Moonlight Technique while holding the incense burner, the little fellow would be unusually quiet and liked to snuggle up next to him.

The Three Cave Masters heard this, turned her head to glance at Yuan Ming and then at the Huo Chan'er on his shoulder, before withdrawing her gaze, showing no sign of pleasure or anger.

"Let it be, whatever the reason, you have taken good care of it for the past month and a half, and I am satisfied," she said.

"It's a disciple's duty," Yuan Ming replied.

"Give me your waist card," the Three Cave Masters stopped in front of a small hill and said.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming immediately took off his waist card and presented it with both hands.

The Three Cave Masters, with a twist of her wrist, also produced an exquisitely carved jade token in her palm and gently tapped it against Yuan Ming's token.

"The thirty contribution points I promised you have been deposited into your waist card. According to our previous agreement, I can also teach you a magic technique. Have you decided what you want to learn?" the Three Cave Masters asked.

"I would like to learn the Beast Taming Technique," Yuan Ming, as if prepared, promptly replied.

Hearing this answer, the Three Cave Masters couldn't help but furrow her brows.

"Beast Taming Technique is our Biluo Cave's signature skill. Besides the specialists in the Beast Taming Hall, other disciples who wish to learn it only need an elder's recommendation and to pay a certain amount of contribution points to study under the guidance of the Beast Taming Hall. Don't waste this opportunity," the Three Cave Masters said.

Her implication was that it is easy to have the chance to learn the Beast Taming Technique, but it was not the same for other magic techniques.

Yuan Ming also knew that each Inner Elder of the sect had their own hoard of techniques not stored in the Gui Cang Pavilion, which could not be learned through self-study, and naturally, a cultivator of the Three Cave Masters' rank would have them as well.

However, right now, what Yuan Ming wanted to learn the most was the Beast Taming Technique, which just happened to be unattainable for him in the Beast Taming Hall.

Relying on the books in the Gui Cang Pavilion, one could only learn some trivial knowledge on rearing and identifying, while the most critical and core content of the Beast Taming Technique likewise remained out of reach.

Yuan Ming's desire to learn the Beast Taming Technique was actually in preparation for his eventual return to the Central Plains.

With a long journey home, he couldn't possibly rely on his own legs to get back, so mastering the Beast Taming Technique was one of the essential skills he needed.

"Three Cave Masters, I understand your point, but I still want to learn the Beast Taming Technique from you," Yuan Ming did not bother explaining further and clearly stated his request.

"Since that's the case, I will teach you the Beast Taming Technique," the Three Cave Masters, known for her aloof nature, did not ask any further.

With that, she twisted her wrist, and a white bone scroll appeared in her palm.

"The essence of Beast Taming Technique lies in taming the beasts, that is, using human willpower to wear down the spirit beast's will and suppress its wild nature with one's own thoughts. Thereafter, through special means, a Beast Taming Rune is imprinted in the spirit beast's Sea of Consciousness," the Three Cave Masters explained.

These fundamental principles, Yuan Ming had already learned from the Gui Cang Pavilion before.

A spirit beast imprinted with a Beast Taming Rune is like it's under an Illusion Technique of subjugation; aside from the person who imprinted the rune, those in possession of the Beast Taming Talisman Stone can also control the spirit beast through the responsive link between the talisman stone and the Beast Taming Rune.

In Biluo Cave, apart from most of the disciples in the Beast Taming Hall having their own personally tamed spirit beasts, the spirit beasts of other disciples were mostly rented temporarily from the Beast Taming Hall when they go out on missions in exchange for contribution points.

And the Qingfu Hall, responsible for the sale and rental of spirit beasts, is also an important source of income for Biluo Cave.

"The bone scroll I gave you details how to suppress the Beast Soul of Fierce Beasts, how to condense the Beast Taming Rune, as well as how to refine the Beast Taming Talisman Stone. Take it back and study it thoroughly; if you have any questions afterward, you can come to the back mountain to find me, and I will guide you three times. If you still cannot master it after three times, it means your talent is not enough, and you may give up," the Three Cave Masters said.

"Thank you, Three Cave Masters."

Although Yuan Ming expressed his gratitude vocally, he was confident in himself. After all, his Divine Soul Power was stronger than that of the average disciple, giving him an innate advantage when it came to suppressing the Beast Soul.

After delegating this task, the Three Cave Masters asked, "I saw you at the Fire Workshop earlier, have you completed the embryo refining?"

"The first successful attempt," Yuan Ming replied.

"How many strikes?" asked the Three Cave Masters, looking over the refined iron ingot, though she already had the answer in mind.

"A thousand strikes," Yuan Ming answered.

The Three Cave Masters' gaze flickered slightly, but her expression did not change much.

"I hadn't realized before that you had an aptitude for artifact refining," she said after a moment's thought.

Yuan Ming smiled and remained silent.

"Since you have managed to refine the embryo with a thousand strikes, if you wish to further study artifact refining, go find Mu He," the Three Cave Masters instructed.

"Mu He?" Yuan Ming asked in surprise.

"He's the senior brother of Chen Wan and Fang Ge, usually working behind the Fire Workshop in the Artifact House," the Three Cave Masters explained.

So he was the reputedly eccentric senior brother.

"Very well," thought Yuan Ming and quickly agreed.

"Huo Chan'er," the Three Cave Masters called out.

The Little Fire Mink, having just finished a Fire Crystal Stone, raised its head and stared at her with eyes like black beans, then turned to glance at Yuan Ming.

"What are you looking at me for, go back," Yuan Ming said, without a hint of expectation.

Reluctantly, Huo Chan'er slowly climbed down from Yuan Ming's arm and scurried toward the Three Cave Masters.

The Three Cave Masters held him in her arms, his fiery red and shiny fuzzy head squished out between her bosom, slightly deformed but still looking back at Yuan Ming unwillingly.

This scene left Yuan Ming somewhat embarrassed, fearing that the Three Cave Masters might mistake it for some kind of besotted spell he cast on the little creature.

Luckily, the Three Cave Masters did not dwell on it and merely said, "You can go now," before turning and walking away.

At that moment, Yuan Ming remembered something important and quickly took off the Spiritual Beast Bag and Storage Bag from his waist. He removed his belongings from them and offered to return them to the Three Cave Masters.

She looked at him and said, "Keep them for now; I will need you to take care of Huo Chan'er the next time I retreat for artifact refining."

"Alright," Yuan Ming happily assured her.

After the Three Cave Masters left with Huo Chan'er, Yuan Ming did not return to the Fire Workshop or his residence; instead, he went to a dense forest halfway up the mountain to continue practicing the Nine Elements Technique.

Lately, perhaps due to some breakthrough in the Moonlight Technique, he felt the progress in cultivating the Nine Elements Technique had sped up, and he sensed that breaking through to the next level was not far off.

This night the dark clouds obscured the stars, and the moon was nowhere to be seen.

Unlike usual, Yuan Ming did not practice the "Moonlight Technique"; instead, he sat cross-legged on his bed, with a single white bone slab pressed against his forehead.

The bone slab contained the teachings of the Beast Taming Technique of Biluo Cave.

In less than half an hour, Yuan Ming committed to memory what was inscribed and then slowly removed the bone scroll.

Having understood the principles of the Beast Taming Technique from his previous visit to the Gui Cang Pavilion, the bone scroll's content gave him a clear and comprehensive grasp of the technique.

Just take the task of taming a beast. Spirit beasts are mostly wild and hard to tame; even those raised by the Sect from a young age are unwilling to submit. To suppress them with a human's Divine Soul Power is no small feat.

This process is very similar to the noble youth's conditioning of hawks, requiring the tenacity of human will to grind down the spirit beast's aggressiveness, hostility, and courage to resist. Only by truly dominating them at the soul level can the branding of the Beast Taming Rune be successful.

It is not only a trial for the spirit beast but also a test for the Beast Tamer.

The strength of one's Divine Soul is naturally advantageous, but it is not the decisive factor in successful taming. The robustness of the subsequent branding of the Beast Taming Rune and the responsiveness of the Beast Taming Talisman Stone are also critical assessments for the Beast Tamer.

Hence, Yuan Ming has a lot to learn.

But before that, he needed to take a trip to the Artifact House to learn rune engraving from the senior brother, Mu He.

The reason was simple: mastering the various runes needed for artifact refining would help him when it came time to brand the spirit beasts with the Beast Taming Rune. This was an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

In artifact refining, Yuan Ming's current stage of refining the embryo was only partially complete; he still needed to continue learning and shape the iron ingot into the desired weapon form during the refining process.

That was not too challenging, since the Artifact Refiner's use of the casting hammer had become extremely skillful during the refining process. To forge weapons like swords and spears, axes and halberds was just an extension of their manual skills.

However, the subsequent rune carving and Enlightenment represented a different kind of difficulty than embryo refining.

Take the task of rune engraving, which Yuan Ming was about to face. One difficulty lay in understanding the runes; the other was in the act of engraving them.

As for the nature of these difficulties, Elder Hei Mu's notes did not provide a detailed explanation—only through direct experience would Yuan Ming truly comprehend them.

After pondering for a moment, Yuan Ming put aside his scattered thoughts and took out the incense burner, clutching it to his chest as he sat down to meditate and cultivate the 'Moonlight Technique.'

This moonless night, although cultivation would proceed slower, persistence was key to cultivation; not a single day should be wasted.

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