Immortality Begins With Internal Breathing-Chapter 162: Fame (I)

Crackle.

Within the bonfire, the burning firewood crackled and popped. After tying up the ferocious beast, Lin Zheyu continued roasting meat. The aroma of grilled flesh mingled with cumin and chili powder, making it impossible not to salivate. Beside him, the bound beast stared fixedly at the roasted meat in his hand with its round, glistening eyes.

Rustle.

It squirmed, producing faint rustling sounds, as its small eyes filled with longing.

This little one is quite amusing!

Watching the creature still craving food despite being captured, Lin Zheyu couldn't help but chuckle. When the beast was first caught, it had struggled fiercely, looking for a chance to escape. After a beating, though, it became docile.

Realizing that escape was futile, it gave up struggling. The moment it smelled the roast meat, it stared at it eagerly. In fact, it had been drawn to him by the very scent of that roasting meat.

Lin Zheyu tugged on the rope, pulling the beast closer. He removed the cloth gagging its mouth, then sliced off a piece of roast meat with his dagger and tossed it over.

Puff.

The beast twisted its body and leapt like a fish, catching the meat in its mouth. Though the meat was still hot, it devoured it happily, its face full of bliss as if tasting the finest delicacy in the world.

"Heh~."

Lin Zheyu laughed. It was the first time he had ever seen such an amusing creature. The little thing seemed to have forgotten life and death entirely; its eyes were fixed only on the meat, drooling uncontrollably.

"Can you understand me?" asked Lin Zheyu.

He suspected that such an intelligent creature might actually be someone's pet. However, the beast merely glanced at him with an almost human-like look. It had a look of puzzlement, clearly not understanding what he said.

Apparently not. But you know, perhaps I can tame it into a pet.

Thinking so, Lin Zheyu looked at the dark-colored creature and said, "You're all black and shiny, so I'll call you Little Black. Little Black~."

Lin Zheyu called out once and tossed another piece of meat. He wanted to see if he could domesticate the beast before him. Although he knew nothing of beast-taming techniques, he understood the basic principles behind them. Ferocious beasts differed from ordinary animals, yet both shared the same instincts. He could use Pavlov's theory[1] of conditioned reflexes from his previous life to train the creature with food as the reward.

"Little Black~."

Chirp, chirp.

Deep in the forest, Lin Zheyu's voice mingled with the chirping cries of the beast. Dawn was just breaking as a thin mist hung over the mountains and forest. The campfire had long gone out, leaving only a pile of ashes.

Lin Zheyu had spent the night meditating in a cross-legged position. Around him lay several corpses of slain beasts. Those creatures had launched a midnight ambush, only to be effortlessly slain.

"Little Black," Lin Zheyu called out.

Chirp, chirp.

The sleeping beast jolted awake, leaping into the air with its mouth open. When it landed, it blinked its drowsy eyes and looked at Lin Zheyu expectantly.

"My efforts last night weren't wasted after all. Seems it worked," said Lin Zheyu with a smile.

He kicked a beast carcass toward it. Little Black stepped forward, sniffed it, and showed clear disgust in its eyes.

Chirp, chirp! Hiss!

Little Black stood on its hind legs, waving its front claws and chirping as it pointed at the burned-out fire pit. Seeing that it had no intention to flee the night before, Lin Zheyu had untied its bindings, leaving only a rope around its neck, with the other end in his hand, allowing it limited movement.

If Little Black tried to run, Lin Zheyu would notice immediately and deliver a good beating. After that, he would feed it a piece of roasted meat. It was the classic method of punishment followed by reward. With no real beast-taming experience, he could only rely on such crude methods.

"Pretty picky, aren't you? It's your first time eating cooked food and already turning your nose up at raw meat?" Lin Zheyu said with a grin. "Little Black, sit~."

Little Black tilted its head in confusion, as if trying to guess the meaning of his words. When it failed to comply, Lin Zheyu took matters into his own hands; his blood qi surged as he pressed the creature down to sit on the ground.

Seated on the ground, Little Black looked even plumper. Perhaps that was simply how this kind of beast naturally appeared. Otherwise, it would be truly remarkable for such a chubby creature to move with that kind of speed.

Hiss.

Once forced to sit, Little Black bared its teeth at Lin Zheyu, its ferocity on full display. Though far more intelligent than an ordinary beast, it was still a ferocious creature by nature.

Bang!

Without even thinking, Lin Zheyu swung his hand and smacked the beast hard. Little Black was sent flying by the tremendous force, but the rope around its neck tightened abruptly, preventing it from going far.

That slap carried tremendous power. No one knew what kind of beast Little Black truly was; it had thick skin and sturdy flesh, capable of withstanding great punishment. Even if Lin Zheyu struck with full strength without using his Mountain Shattering Palm, he could only inflict minor injuries or break a bone or two at most.

After being slapped away, Little Black shook itself and stood back up. A flash of savagery and ferocity flickered in its eyes. Instinct urged it to bare its teeth at Lin Zheyu, but it quickly calmed down. In its small eyes glimmered a trace of human-like fear.

Little Black recalled the terror of being dominated by Lin Zheyu the previous night. Though its hide was thick and resilient, the heavy blows from Lin Zheyu had caused unbearable pain. Remembering that experience made its body tremble slightly. Yet when it recalled the delicious roasted meat from last night, drool began to drip from its mouth as it had never tasted such heavenly food before.

"Little Black, sit," said Lin Zheyu again.

This time, Little Black had learned its lesson. After a moment of hesitation, it tilted its small head and slowly sat down. It stretched its neck toward Lin Zheyu, eyes filled with fear and a hint of questioning, as if asking whether it had done correctly.

It seemed to be asking, "Like this?"

"Good. Since you're being so cooperative, I'll grill some meat for you," said Lin Zheyu with a smile.

He wasn't in a hurry to hunt. Finding beasts at the Blood Qi Realm in such vast mountains was no easy task. It was common to go several days of hunting without encountering a single such creature.

Suddenly, Lin Zheyu found himself missing Beast Roar Mountain near Songyi City, where beasts were far more densely populated. In the deeper regions of Beast Roar Mountain, many beasts at the Blood Qi Realm could be found, though the dangers there were far greater than in his current location. Besides, the beast market in Songyi City was small and couldn't fetch good prices.

Crackle.

Lin Zheyu chopped some branches and lit a campfire. Little Black seemed to know what he was about to do, its face filled with excitement as it watched him skin the beast.

Before long, the aroma of roasting meat spread through the air. Little Black opened its mouth wide, drool streaming down its chin and pooling on the ground into a small puddle. Unable to resist, it stood upright on its hind legs, wanting to pounce on the food, but fear of Lin Zheyu's strength held it back, leaving it to stare longingly instead.

"Sit... stand... turn around..."

Lin Zheyu trained Little Black like a dog. Determined to earn a bite of the roasted meat, Little Black obeyed every command, its eyes never leaving the food in Lin Zheyu's hand. This beast was far more intelligent than he had imagined. After only one night, it had already learned so many movements. Lin Zheyu was quite pleased with the results of his training.

Hiss, hiss... chirp, chirp.

Little Black squatted beside him, growing increasingly impatient. Its eyes rolled about, and it ran off to drag another beast's corpse toward the fire, intending to toss it in for roasting.

"Put it down!"

Lin Zheyu glared and snapped. At the sound of his voice, Little Black trembled all over, released its grip, and sat obediently, drool sliding from the corner of its mouth. It had already developed a conditioned response to Lin Zheyu's voice; hearing it brought back memories of both fear and the taste of delicious roasted meat.

"Here, eat."

Pleased with its obedience, Lin Zheyu tossed the roasted meat over. Little Black's eyes lit up as it leapt and bit into the meat, devouring it greedily.

Two hours later, sunlight filtered through the leaves in golden shafts. The mist in the forest had dispersed. Lin Zheyu glanced at Little Black lying on the ground with a round belly and half-closed eyes, looking thoroughly content, and couldn't help but feel speechless.

He tugged the rope and said, "Get up. We're going hunting."

Startled, Little Black jumped up at once. This beast was quite remarkable; it possessed a natural ability to conceal its aura completely when not in battle. Bringing it along for hunts meant he wouldn't risk revealing his presence or alarming other beasts. That was exactly why Lin Zheyu kept it with him.

Whoosh, whoosh.

Holding baited meat in both hands, Lin Zheyu gripped the loose skin on Little Black's neck with his right hand, as if carrying a black cat, and moved swiftly through the forest. He let out a faint trace of aura, revealing the strength of an early Blood Qi Realm cultivator.

An aura too weak would never attract powerful beasts. Revealing just enough power not only deterred lesser beasts from attacking but also made him the perfect bait to lure stronger ones.

1. Pavlov's theory, also known as classical conditioning, was proposed by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov. It explains how a subject can learn to associate a neutral stimulus (like a sound or signal) with a meaningful one (like food) through repetition. Over time, the neutral cue alone triggers the same response — for example, Pavlov's dogs learned to salivate at the sound of a bell because they associated it with feeding. ☜