by Tinalynge
With a humph sound his voice stilled, and Hui Yue could sense that he had insulted him. Nevertheless, he didn’t stop questioning him and continued unaffected.
‘Then did the four divine beasts turned into other creatures after going to the Netherworld?’ He asked curiously as he wondered what would happen if Gods were to reincarnate.
‘They never went to the Netherworld. They entered something called eternal sleep. They are asleep and will be sleeping forever. Legend says that there is a way to wake them up, but no one has ever found it.’ The phoenix sighed, showing a certain degree of longing. Hui Yue understood that even if multiple millennia had gone past, this bird still missed his father.
‘What is your name?’ Hui Yue suddenly asked. He felt fairly guilty having asked so many questions, even been told the whole life story of this phoenix, but he had not tried to get a personal answer such as this. ‘Lan Feng.’ Said the phoenix, and both Hui Yue and Lan Feng were quiet for a long period of time.
‘So, what should we do now?’ Hui Yue finally sighed not completely sure what step he was supposed to take within this new world which seemed to be waiting for him.
‘I want revenge. As soon as we manage to kill the person who was behind tricking the descendant of the Azure Dragon, then I should be able to return to my own body. That is the goal.’ Lan Feng instantly answered, and anger flared within his voice causing some of it to even make Hui Yue slightly aggressive.
‘What rank was that person?’ Hui Yue asked out of interest. If I can help this guy, then I might as well try, Hui Yue thought casually.
‘He was an Emperor.’
‘I see.’ Hui Yue said, but then he realized exactly what it was that Lan Feng had said, ‘But if you cannot return to your own body then you are stuck in mine, right? You expect me to fight someone ranked that high?’ He started to panic slightly. He was a perfectionist, and it was true that he was quite curious about this so-called cultivation, but he was not suicidal.
‘Yes I am, and I’ll help you to cultivate.’ Lan Feng assured him almost as if everything had already been decided and Hui Yue had no say in the matter.
‘Why should I do something that dangerous? Give me a reason.’ Blaming his death on Lan Feng, he had no intention of dying for this unknown person once again. His previous rage was flaring up once more. Lan Feng might have said that it was not his fault, but Hui Yue felt as if Lan Feng was his murderer.
‘When you reach the rank of God you can be reunited with that girl from before.’ Lan Feng said in a matter-of-fact sort of way, however, that one sentence caused great waves within Hui Yue’s soul.
‘Li Fen?’ He asked breathlessly
‘Was that her name? The one you saved before you died.’
‘Are you certain?’ Hui Yue asked skeptically. After he died, the thoughts of never again seeing Li Fen had made the pain unbearable. While he was being reincarnated, he hoped that he was not dead, but that Li Fen would pop up as long as he opened his eyes.
Hui Yue’s face turned grim. Not knowing for sure if Lan Feng was trying to fool him or what but in the end, if there was even a slight chance of reuniting with Li Fen, then he did not mind if he had to go through hell to achieve it. Therefore he patiently waited for Lan Feng to continue.
‘Well yes,’ Lan Feng said, but before he could continue, he was cut off by Hui Yue, who just thought of something disappointing.
‘If I reach the God rank she will most likely already have lived her life and died already right?’ He asked with a depressed voice as reality hit him. Lan Feng sighed and replied, ‘That is why I told you to reach the rank of God. When you become a God ranked expert you can safely go to the Netherworld and find her soul; then you can create a body for her and restore her memories.’ Lan Feng clearly used this knowledge to reel in Hui Yue. Both of them needed each other to gain what they wanted the most. Hui Yue was very well aware of this, but even if Lan Feng told him to jump down a cliff, he was willing to do so as long as it united him with Li Fen once more.
‘I will help you cultivate to the rank of God, and you will help me get revenge. After returning your lady to you, our deal will be done, and we can go our separate ways. Do you agree to make a Soul Contract?’ Lan Feng asked slightly nervous until he noticed the determination in Hui Yue’s soul.
‘Just tell me what to do,’ Hui Yue replied firmly.
Chapter 2 - Soul Contract
* * *
Chapter 2: Soul Contract
Hui Yue was firm, and he agreed to do whatever the phoenix required of him; however, even though he agreed he could not help but feel slightly uncomfortable about the unknown.
‘He seems quite happy,’ Hui Yue thought as he could feel Lan Feng’s emotions that were washing over him. Although the phoenix had not said anything, these emotions were all of a pleasing nature, making Hui Yue apprehensive.
‘I did say we need a Soul Contract, but sadly we can’t make one right now,’ Lan Feng said mildly complaining. The phoenix was clearly not paying any attention to Hui Yue.
‘In order to form a Soul Contract we need to gather at least the minimum required Qi, but considering we are currently stuck in an infant’s body, this will take some time to achieve,’ He stated frankly.
Hearing this caused mixed emotions to rise within Hui Yue. At first, he was slightly relieved because he wished to know more about this so called Soul Contract. He was not happy with the thought of becoming someone’s slave willingly but thinking about the promise of being reunited with Li Fen made his determination unwavering. Although he was relieved about the outlook of not being a slave just yet, he was also a little bit disappointed with the fact that the sketchy Soul Contract could not already be fulfilled as it was the first step in the process of reuniting with Li Fen.
However, to be able to form this Soul Contract, Hui Yue had to work hard and refine the needed amount of Qi. ‘At what age do children usually start cultivating?’ Hui Yue asked anxiously as he wondered when he could establish this contract with Lan Feng.
Feeling that Lan Feng was impatient but calm, Hui Yue, also calmed down. He had previously felt apprehensive and slightly worried about the whole Soul Contract thing, only agreeing to it because of Li Fen, but now he felt more comfortable. He suddenly had the feeling that Lan Feng was not trying to trick him. Still, he was certain that there was some hidden motive from this phoenix within his body, that he was not questioning.
Though Hui Yue was now somewhat certain the phoenix was not trying to trick him; he grew even more impatient because they would have to wait so long. Neither of them were stupid. Both knew that they would have to walk a long road to reach their goals of reunion and revenge.
Hui Yue was aware that in front of him was a new path in life. He was going to be an expert amongst men, a hero amongst heroes! He could not wait to take his first step towards his new life as a cultivator!
‘If a kid starts cultivating early then they usually start when they are about four years old, but in general, it is around six or seven,’ Lan Feng said in a mocking tone. Hui Yue was once again thrown into the depths of despair from hearing his answer, and he assumed that the laughter was mocking his character causing his anger to rise yet again. His enmity towards the phoenix had not disappeared.
‘I have to wait for four more years before I can cultivate? What do you expect me to do during these years?’ He aggressively interrogated the ignorant phoenix. ‘He was the one who said he would help me!’ Hui Yue thought with a harrumph, let’s see exactly what his plan is for helping me!
‘It’s not too bad,’ Lan Fang answered the angry Hui Yue; his mocking tone still very much present lingering within every word he said, not caring at all about Hui Yue’s feelings.
‘I mean you should consider this first.’ Lan Feng allowed a pleasurable sigh to escape before continuing, ‘We are currently sleeping on a pair of giant tits. I personally wouldn’t mind spending a couple years like this.’
The words made Hui Yue dumbfounded
and a sudden urge to punch Lan Feng erupted within Hui Yue, but he was uncertain whether the phoenix was being sarcastic or not. Unfortunately, the two of them were capable of feeling each other’s emotions, and a familiar feeling spread from the phoenix. Now, Hui Yue was positive that this creature was a lewd pervert.
‘She is our mother!’ Hui Yue exclaimed, deeply grossed out by the emotions which were sweeping over him. He tried to make Lan Feng abandon his inappropriate thoughts unfortunately, it did not have much effect.
‘Aw, come on. Sleeping on big t*ts is every man’s dream!’ Lan Feng laughed mischievously. Hui Yue could do nothing against the phoenix who now seemed to enjoy both the t*ts they were currently hugging and the distress he was causing Hui Yue.
‘You’re deranged!’ Hui Yue mumbled giving up on the subject. By now he had already realized that it was impossible to argue with this self-righteous bird. It also didn't help that every time he tried to argue and got annoyed a stupid sense of happiness assaulted him. It was obvious that the current enmity was very much mutual.
‘It’s okay. I’m a mere beast. It’s only natural for me to be driven by my beastly desires.’ Lan Feng said proudly. Sharing a body meant that both souls were able to feel what the body felt, could taste what the body tasted, and see what the body saw. The only difference between the two souls was that while Hui Yue was in control of the body, Lan Feng was sitting behind purely experiencing the five senses.
A thought suddenly hit Hui Yue, and he furrowed his brows in confusion. Something did not add up about this so called beast.
‘I listened to your story earlier,’ He informed Lan Feng. ‘And I am pretty certain that you told me that the descendants of the four divine beasts were humans and not beasts like yourself.’
Hui Yue was both slightly confused and slightly annoyed. He was certain that Lan Feng was the Vermillion Bird’s descendant, but he was also certain that Lan Feng had said that his descendants were human. This meant that either he was lying about being a beast, or he was lying about his heritage.
Either way, having Lan Feng lying to him was one thing which Hui Yue would not accept. If it turned out that he had in fact been lying, then who knew which aspects of the story from earlier were true and which were lies. This made it basically impossible for Hui Yue to trust anything he had been told.
‘I used to be human; that is true,’ Lan Feng said matter of factly, seemingly not intent to hide anything from Hui Yue. ‘But when we received the legacy from our fathers, we turned into beasts.’
Hearing that it was possible to be turned from a human into a divine beast was something that completely stunned Hui Yue. It made no sense! A fear sprouted within him, a fear that there was nothing unchangeable here, not even one's race or gender.
Another point was how easily this phoenix answered any questions that he had. It did not seem to matter whether the answer was something incredibly personal or even uncomfortable, as long as it was a question related to the world they now resided within then the bird was willing to answer it.
His quick responses caused some guilt to rise within Hui Yue. He was a person who always considered himself fair towards other people. Someone unprejudiced in judgements towards others. However, for some unknown reason, he was currently incredibly prejudiced against Lan Feng.
Lan Feng claimed that he did not kill Hui Yue; he also claimed that he had not summoned the truck to endanger Li Fen. Although Hui Yue had always gone by the rule of everyone being innocent until proven guilty, he just changed his belief and blamed the bird for everything.
He arrived in this new world where everything seemed absurd and ridiculous to him. He was scared and worried about how he would survive, but this time the phoenix stepped forward and helped him understand where and what he was.
But even when Lan Feng answered all his questions, he could not help but feel annoyed at the damned voice in his head. His smugness and haughtiness were simply annoying to no end. The arrogance in his voice made Hui Yue want to give him a very good thrashing. His perverted thoughts were simply too vile for the newly reincarnated human.
A sigh escaped the infant’s lips and slightly stirred the sleeping mother allowing an approving sound to appear again within Hui Yue’s mind. This sound was enough to wash away any feeling of guilt that Hui Yue was currently feeling, and anger replaced it instead.
Although it was interesting now was not the time to go into details about Lan Feng’s past, nor was it the time to worry about humans turning into beasts because it would not currently help him survive.
‘Are there many magical beasts in this world?’ Hui Yue asked. After he thought things through Hui Yue concluded that divine beasts ought to be fairly rare. However for a beast to turn divine an evolution seemed to be needed. This thought caused him to have some assumptions he wished to clarify.
However, although this was a question which Hui Yue asked after some thought, it still caused Lan Feng to snort with contempt. For him this question was silly. Nonetheless, no matter how silly the question, he still replied with a serious answer.
‘Of course, there are magical beasts,’ Lan Feng replied with a certainty that made Hui Yue feel rather stupid for asking his question. ‘They live everywhere. Some are tamed and domesticated, but the majority of them live in the forests and mountains.’
Hui Yue nodded as he understood this concept. It sounded exactly like the animals within his old world. However, he now started thinking about whether or not there were any non-magical beasts in this world. Although Hui Yue wished to ask this question, he still waited until Lan Feng finished his explanation about magical beasts.
‘The beasts which have been domesticated will always be weaker than the ones roaming in the wild. If you are strong, you can force some magical beasts to serve you. Most of the bred magical beasts are either for mounts, guard dogs, or some similar duty of that sort. There are definitely a lot more magical beasts than there are humans in this world, though.’
Hui Yue was not very surprised when he heard that; however, he was slightly surprised to hear how the domesticated beasts had a lower strength than the wild ones. He had assumed that people would breed and mix beasts to create monsters. He had a feeling that this would turn into useful information later on.
‘Then are all beasts in this world magical beasts?’ Hui Yue finally asked as he knew that Lan Feng was done with his explanation. He continued to try and learn more, but once again he heard a snort, and suddenly a feeling of pity washed over him.
Lan Feng was pitying him for being so dumb! This caused another wave of rage to surge within Hui Yue. But even if Hui Yue was angry, he had no intention of giving voice to his emotions; instead, he kept quiet. He needed the phoenix to explain how this world worked and to get the answers he would have to swallow his anger.
‘No, only the beasts who are capable of cultivating are considered magical beasts.’ Lan Feng replied. Once again, even if he did pity Hui Yue, he gave a very satisfactory reply,
‘Then every beast could turn into a magical beast if it learned to cultivate, but it just rarely happens since they are too dumb to try.’ Hui Yue nodded thinking it made sense in a way.
Cultivation was a very interesting subject. Hui Yue felt astonished as he thought about how cultivation was something which in theory all living creatures were capable of doing, but it seemed that while some where talented others were not. Some knew how to cultivate while others did not, or they simply did not care.
Nonetheless, he was incapable of cultivating and instead he regained his focus and paid attention to the following explanation by Lan Feng.
‘Wild magical beasts are usually hunted by cultivators,’ Lan Feng continued his explanation of magical beasts.
‘Humans gather their cultivation base into their three dantians while magical beasts gather it in a core which is located within the beast’s head. Their core looks like a gemstone, and it contains their essence and Qi. A beast’s core can be used in different medicinal recipes
that can help increase one’s cultivation, or its strength can be extracted and used to enchant armor and weapons. There are quite a few ways they can be used by human cultivators, but they are never eaten. Rather, if one eats a core it will absorb all the Qi you have patiently cultivated.’
Hui Yue nodded again. All the information he was given was very valuable. It seemed that the gemstones were of high quality, but he was not silly enough to go hunting for them anytime soon.
Lan Feng laughed when he noticed Hui Yue’s interest was piqued, ‘Magical beasts are split into the same levels of cultivation as humans; however, a human needs to have a much more refined Qi to be able to take on a beast of the same level. Well, to be honest, you could win if you had good martial art skills, and those are something I can help you with I guess.’