"I swear, the system is increasing the energy costs on its own for some reason. It probably wants more energy and is asking for more," Ning said as he read the beast taming technique in front of him.
The technique made one able to use Qi to create mists that could be slowly manipulated to form a certain brand called the ascending brand. Thus the technique was called Ascending Mist Brand.
" I think I understand what it is trying to say," he said in a low voice as he read that. No matter how bad his body was in cultivation, there was no doubt that his mind was still one of the best out there. With the Simultaneous Thinking skill and the fact that he now had an extra brain thanks to his human body, he could keep up with, if not exceed, everyone in the room right now.
He read for nearly an hour and could swear he could make the brand. He didn't know if it was okay to make one indoor, so he looked to the side and saw that everyone was doing it.
Even the ones not practicing were pressured by their surrounding into doing it. 'Whatever, I will try it too," Ning thought and started to perform the branding technique.
He created a layer of mist in front of him, all made from the Qi inside his body. The mist soon flattened out and condensed to become a thin circular floating object.
However, that wasn't the end of it. That was just the base of the brand, and he needed to add everything on top of it. He tried making the new stuff while keeping the previously made one just as is, but he failed.
'Sigh, even with multiple brains, I can't keep on all the different parts at once,' he thought to himself. At least, it wasn't for nothing. He was slowly getting the hang of it.
"Alright, everyone. Please come with me," the examiner came into the room and called everyone out. During the way out, they took back every single one of the books they had handed out.
They were brought through the different rooms to the outdoors. The forest was right in front of them. Many of them had taken the test before so they were used to it. Maybe were even anticipating the next part.
Ning was still clueless as to what exactly the exam was. Given the book they gave, he was pretty sure he had a general idea of what it was going to be. Getting brought out only helped to reinforce the idea.
"The next exam is simple. Use the Ascending Mist Brand we taught you and bring back a tamed beast from the forest. Your ranking will base on the ranking of your new tamed beast regardless of its cultivation."
"So, we suggest you go for younger, immature beasts," the examiner said. Then he looked towards the sky and said, "You have exactly until the sun reaches the zenith to bring back a tamed beast. Any knowledge of cheating will result in immediate disqualification from the exam and barred from every single one coming afterward."
"Now, leave!" the examiner hadn't even finished talking when half the people were already near the gate. Ning too left swiftly. He needed to find monsters to tame.
'Shouldn't I learn how to make brands properly before I jump into finding the monsters?' he thought. He looked around to see If someone was doing so in the forest, but nobody was there.
'I doubt the returners need to even learn this technique all over again,' he thought and proceeded to try making the brand.
The first time, he failed. He had gotten too hasty at making them and ended up not making part of the brand that made it a whole brand. Now he was going to take his time.
Once again, Qi left his body turning to the mist that slowly forming a circular shape and condensing to form a brand base. He started taking out more QI and adding to the brand.
Beads of sweat were forming on his forehead as he concentrated on the brand before him. Only after 5 minutes of intense concentration did he manage to finally make one.
A misty, white brand with a blue halo around it floated in front of Ning as he looked at it in awe. It wasn't all mist, however. Since the mist was made up of Qi in the first place, Ning could tell that it had a function without even knowing what it did.
"So, I'm supposed to put this on a monster that is willing, right?" Ning thought. It was time to find one. He started walking deeper into the jungle, but any monster he found was too low on the ranking.
'Sh*t, they probably took all the good ones in previous exams,' he thought. Still, it was a big forest, so he didn't lose hope. He saw a bunch of examinees already putting brands on low-ranked monsters, so he just shook his head.
"Do they not remember that these ones are bad?" he thought. However, he forgot to count on the fact that not all monsters in the ranking could possibly be found in the forest, especially after so many years.
He was at a disadvantage due to being new to the city. His info on the city he had bought only gave him information about the city and not the forests or lands around it.
The outer parts of the forests inhabited lower cultivation monsters. So, Ning didn't both going into the deep forests where he had met the Mantis monsters the other day.
Finally, after a bit of walking, he stumbled upon a little rabbit-like monster that had two giant whiskers coming out of either side of the rabbit.
This was an average ranking monster as far he could remember, however, He didn't know what this rabbit was, so he directly used the second layer of Qi Cultivation Analysis.
Qi Condensation 1st Realm - Whisker Hare