A pale yellow soul ring floated above the first layer of the mysterious golden tower.
The Red Cloud Elk, ever since Ning Bei summoned his martial soul, had not taken its eyes off him, staring intently at the Dan Tower in his hand.
It seemed to have forgotten the fear caused by the two Title Douluo standing beside it, ceasing its trembling.
The others watching this scene were amazed. To see a creature, naturally fearful of humans like the Red Cloud Elk, forget its fear—just how powerful was the attraction of this Dan Tower?
After a while, an even more surprising scene unfolded before their eyes.
The Red Cloud Elk slowly stood up and walked over to Ning Bei. It sniffed the Dan Tower in his hand, its face showing an expression of pure enjoyment, almost human-like.
Both Chen Xin and Gu Rong, who had been keeping a wary eye on the elk ever since it stood up, relaxed their guard.
Ning Bei observed the Red Cloud Elk, which seemed to have a lovestruck look on its face. He couldn't help but feel a little curious.
"Wait… Is it just me, or has it stopped shaking? Is this Dan Tower some sort of magical tonic?"
The little elk continued to ignore everyone around it, sniffing the Dan Tower and occasionally rubbing its face against it.
After several minutes, the elk slowly lay back down, eyes closing in satisfaction.
"Wait… Did it just fall asleep?"
"I think so."
"Well, I can't really say if the Dan Tower's effects are visible, but it seems like the soul beast really enjoys it."
The group watched in silence as the elk fell asleep, exchanging their opinions.
Only Chen Xin remained silent, his gaze firmly fixed on the elk.
After a while, his eyes widened in shock.
"It seems like the Red Cloud Elk's cultivation has increased a bit. Though the change is subtle, it's definitely noticeable."
"What?"
The others, hearing this, were startled. They all focused their mental energy on sensing the elk's cultivation.
"Jian Ren, are you sure? I don't sense any change at all."
Gu Rong stared at the elk for several minutes but felt no difference. He suspected Chen Xin might be playing a prank.
"Old Bone, do you really think I'd joke about something so important?"
"The Red Cloud Elk's cultivation has indeed increased slightly, but it seems to have stopped for now."
Gu Rong understood that Chen Xin wouldn't joke about something as crucial as the future of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan. He stopped questioning and turned his attention to Ning Fengzhi.
Ning Fengzhi pondered for a moment and then turned the question to Ning Bei.
"Bei'er, what do you think?"
"What do I think? I'm just watching," Ning Bei replied with a smirk, still observing the changes in the elk.
After hearing Ning Fengzhi's question, he spoke his thoughts aloud.
"Jian Grandpa is right. Since my Dan Tower gained its first soul ring, in addition to producing various medicinal pills, it also emits a Dan fragrance. It seems that this fragrance can help soul beasts increase their cultivation."
"And..."
Ning Bei paused for a moment and activated the first layer of the Dan Tower, making it glow briefly. In an instant, the little Red Cloud Elk disappeared from everyone's sight.
"My Dan Tower seems to create its own space on each layer."
Ning Fengzhi's eyes nearly bulged out at the sight of the disappearing elk. He knew that storage soul tools couldn't store living beings.
"Did... did you just store the soul beast inside the Dan Tower?"
Ning Bei nodded in confirmation.
"That's right, Father. I can store them in the Dan Tower's space, and I can release them whenever I want."
With that, he made the first layer of the Dan Tower shine once more. The Red Cloud Elk reappeared before everyone, still sound asleep.
Gu Rong pondered for a moment and then asked, "So, does this mean that Bei'er could have countless soul beast battle pets in the future?"
Chen Xin's eyes lit up at Gu Rong's words.
"Old Bone's right. The Dan Tower benefits soul beasts, and I'm sure they'd be happy to live inside it. Over time, they'll undoubtedly develop a bond with Bei'er." He paused for a moment, then added, "But I wonder—does the Dan Tower work for all types and ages of soul beasts?"
Ning Fengzhi and Ning's mother nodded thoughtfully.
"Indeed, Bei'er's Dan Tower has a clear advantage here. We need to take advantage of it. Before we make any assumptions, we should test it with a variety of soul beasts of different types and ages."
The group all nodded in agreement with Ning Fengzhi's words and turned their attention to Ning Bei.
Ning Bei, feeling the weight of their gazes, nervously took a few steps back.
For some reason, their looks made him feel like he was being eyed like a giant lizard by an Indian shopper—unsettling.
And so, Ning Bei settled into his regular routine.
During the day, he would control the Dan Tower to observe the progress of the Red Cloud Elk's cultivation. At night, he would meditate and refine his soul power.
After several days, he noticed significant progress in the elk's cultivation. Gu Rong and Chen Xin took turns traveling to the Star Dou Forest, bringing back more soul beasts.
After more than a month of testing, the group concluded that the Dan Tower had a substantial effect on soul beasts with around a hundred years of cultivation. However, as the soul beasts' age increased, the effects weakened. For soul beasts over 1500 years old, the impact was almost negligible. This also explained why the soul beasts encountered during the Beast Tide when they obtained their first soul rings were all at most a thousand years old.
Ning Fengzhi and the others frowned upon hearing this information. Soul beasts around a thousand years old weren't much of a help to Ning Bei. After all, a 1500-year-old soul beast was roughly equivalent to a low-level Soul Master. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan had plenty of Soul Masters at that level.
They relaxed soon after, realizing that Ning Bei was still a young soul master. As his cultivation and the number of soul rings increased, the Dan Tower's ability to enhance soul beasts would likely grow stronger as well.
After discussing with Ning Bei, they decided to wait until he broke through his second soul ring before conducting further tests. For now, Ning Bei's main focus would be on increasing his soul power and manufacturing medicinal pills.
The pills Ning Bei created through his soul skills were sold under the name of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan at the Seven Treasure Merchant Association. Though the quantity was still small, the pills were highly sought after by mercenaries.
After all, not every soul hunting team could find a suitable support soul master, and even if they did, they'd need to divert attention to protect them while entering the Star Dou Forest.
Support soul masters generally had little combat ability.
With the pills sold by the Seven Treasure Merchant Association, low-level support soul masters were no longer as necessary.
This led to complaints among regular support soul masters, who found it harder to join teams.
Ning Bei, embarrassed, scratched his head upon hearing this.
He realized he had unwittingly affected their livelihood.
He couldn't help but wonder—if people found out that he was the one making the pills, would they throw bricks at him the next time he went outside?
But despite this, Ning Bei didn't plan to stop making pills.
First, it helped him hone his soul power.
Second, it could bring in steady income for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, and this income would only grow as his own strength increased.