As Lu Fei repeatedly uttered the unfamiliar name, he felt an aura of killing intent emanating from it.
Tietouwa, who had been ravenously eating, stopped its meal. Its eyes were vacant, as if recalling something terrifying.
Seeing Tietouwa's unusual expression, Brother Ji also ceased his feasting and asked with concern, "Disciple, what's wrong?"
After calling out several times without a response, Tietouwa suddenly twitched its body and regained its senses. It looked towards Brother Ji, conveying a message of "I'm fine."
Brother Ji frowned, sensing that the matter was not simple.
Lu Fei also noticed Tietouwa's abnormality and patted its shoulder reassuringly. The topic at hand was related to Tietouwa, making it unavoidable for it to recall past events.
He then turned his attention to the drunken man.
"Handsome, where is this Sword Demon's遗迹 (yíjì)?"
This time, the drunken man did not answer his question as accurately as before. He shook his head.
"It's a mysterious place." He paused and added, "Mysterious ruins like this generally do not exist in the world, but they will appear at special times."
Lu Fei nodded in understanding. This setting was similar to the fantasy novels he had read before, where blessed lands and heavenly caves also appeared and disappeared.
"At least there's a chance. That's better than it being impossible," Lu Fei thought to himself, a smile of pleasant surprise appearing on his face. However, he soon had another conjecture. "So, Tietouwa must have escaped from the Sword Demon's 遗迹 (yíjì)? Then Tietouwa should know the actual location of the Sword Demon's 遗迹 (yíjì)?"
After pondering for a moment, Lu Fei temporarily set aside this conjecture.
He shifted his focus to a more pressing issue. "You said earlier that if Tietouwa's cultivation path deviates, it would be very dangerous. What did you mean by that?"
The drunken man did not beat around the bush and continued, "Ordinary contracted beasts, after signing a contract, even if they do not obey their master's command, they will restrain themselves out of consideration for their own safety due to the contract. At the very least, they will not harm the beast tamer. But Sword Guards are different."
"These contracted beasts have extremely extreme personalities. If they are dissatisfied with the beast tamer, they will take drastic actions, even if killing the beast tamer themselves means their own demise. They will not hesitate at all!"
"This is why, even though Sword Guards have an A rarity and considerable combat power, few people are willing to subdue them."
Lu Fei's lips twitched.
His gaze swept towards the increasingly cute Tietouwa beside him, and for a moment, he felt bewildered.
The drunken man teased, "What, scared?"
"Scared? How could I be scared? We are the closest of partners, right! Tietouwa!" Lu Fei patted Tietouwa's shoulder with some nervousness. The little fellow did not resist. Although it remained aloof after being subdued, it occasionally showed some respect now.
The drunken man remained noncommittal.
"That's for the best. I wish you a happy life. I've said all I need to say."
Saying this, he raised his wine cup and began to drink by himself.
Lu Fei swallowed hard and immediately became submissive.
"Hehehe... If you could also tell me what to do, that would be even better."
The drunken man chuckled.
"A stubborn mule." Then he slowly said, "Actually, the personality of every contracted beast can be cultivated through upbringing, and Sword Guards are no exception."
He looked at Lu Fei. "The five ability stats you know, Physical Attack, Magical Attack, Support, Defense, and Speed, directly affect the contracted beast's combat power. But did you know that the emphasis on these five ability stats also affects the contracted beast's personality and combat style?"
Lu Fei nodded. This topic had just been covered in class, and he had a deep understanding of these five ability stats. After all, his only reliance was his "Unstable Evolution" talent.
"But what you don't know is that these ability stats can cause the contracted beast's growth focus to change through the beast tamer's cultivation. For example, your Sword Guard has strong offensive power but very weak defense."
Lu Fei was silent. This was exactly as he had thought. Tietouwa seemed to dislike defense. No matter how the opponent attacked, it would counter with more ferocious counterattacks instead of defending. Under the influence of the "Unstable Evolution" talent, it had even awakened "Nine Swords of Solitude," a set of moves that compensated for its weaknesses by using offense as defense.
However, upon closer thought, Lu Fei felt something was amiss in the drunken man's words. Why did what the drunken man just said sound so familiar?
As he pondered, the drunken man chuckled.
"Hehehe, you don't need to be too scared. Sword Guards, as contracted beasts, have extremely high requirements for the beast tamer's control. But if you become a Beast Taming Master early on, wouldn't everything be fine?"
"If it's completely convinced by you, or even feels inferior to some of the contracted beasts in your team, wouldn't that solve the problem?"
A chill ran down Lu Fei's spine. Did he think becoming a Beast Taming Master was easy?
The drunken man seemed to notice Lu Fei's concern. "Considering all the fine wine in your courtyard, I'll give you another hint."
Lu Fei's eyes lit up. He picked up his wine cup and offered a toast to the drunken man, placing his cup very low in a humble manner.
The drunken man slurped it down in one gulp. Lu Fei's expression was a bit pained; the wine was too strong, and drinking it was still a challenge for him.
"Actually, the method is very simple. From now on, you should focus on cultivating this Sword Guard, making it a unique oddity, completely eradicating its natural instincts!"
Upon hearing this, Lu Fei's expression suddenly froze.
However, the drunken man's next words completely shocked Lu Fei.
"Don't understand?"
"Oh dear, although contracted beasts have their main development direction during their growth, it's not absolute. For example, your sword-wielding Sword Guard, why can't it develop into a contracted beast that excels at magical attacks, relying on sword energy?"
The drunken man's eyes rolled a few times, as if searching for the best way to express himself.
Suddenly, he slapped the table.
"Let me put it this way, why can't we artificially interfere with not only the five ability stats of contracted beasts, but also their skill progression and attributes?"
Lu Fei was dumbfounded, his hand holding the wine cup frozen in mid-air, as if he had lost his soul.
No wonder it sounded so familiar earlier. Weren't these words the same principle as his "Unstable Evolution" talent? No wonder this technology could already change the growth direction of contracted beasts?
Or perhaps his "Unstable Evolution" talent wasn't some special beast taming talent at all. It was already common in this world, and he had been treating it as his biggest secret...
Lu Fei's speech became hesitant. He stammered and probed, "Is... is what you're saying easy to achieve?"