104:

  Xiao Feng could feel the warmth of the kit as he stroked its soft fur. For its size, the kit was remarkably light, so much so that it would be easy to forget that it was resting upon his lap— if not for the gentle rumble of its purring that continued on even after it had fallen into a light slumber.

  “Are you going to enter into a bond now?” Lianhua softly whispered her question, as her gaze remained fixated on the small, lithe form of the kit. “That marking upon its forehead…,” She paused, leaning in closer to get a better look, “I’ve never heard of a spiritual beast being born with symbols etched upon them. How peculiar,” She observed, voicing her thoughts for Xiao Feng’s benefit.

  “I’ll wait for the little guy to wake up,” Xiao Feng whispered back, before his eyes inevitably drifted towards the two symbols, an inverted triangle contained by a circle, forming a crest.

  As if realizing that it was being subjected to the conversation, the kit’s triangular ears twitched twice in quick succession before its silver eyes blinked open, gleaming with intelligence as it angled its gaze upward, meeting Xiao Feng’s.

  “Oh,” Xiao Feng awkwardly mumbled. “Well, hi there.”

  In response to the greeting, the kit sat up on its forelimbs, gazing up at him expectantly as it wagged both its tails in a hypnotic motion, rising and falling to an undulating rhythm.

  Moved by the sight, Xiao Feng carefully reached out with his right hand with intention to pet the kit on its forehead, half expecting to get bitten for the attempt. Instead, the kit’s triangular ears flattened inwards and as Xiao Feng’s hand cupped its head, it leaned into the touch and a satisfied purr escaped its chest.

  “I guess there’s no point in waiting any longer if you’re ready,” Xiao Feng muttered.

  The kit nuzzled his hand in apparent response.

  “Here goes nothing,” Xiao Feng muttered, before he entered his soul space.

  Once again, Xiao Feng found himself upon the manicured lawns of his sprawling college campus, standing atop a grassy knoll. Where he had once required the assistance of his predecessor to enter the soul space, stepping into the realm was something that came to him instinctively now.

  Next to him, his predecessor was seated in a cross-legged posture upon the grass, his eyes closed as if he was in a meditative trance.

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  “I’m surprised you’re choosing to reveal yourself,” Xiao Feng addressed his predecessor, his gaze directed forward as the imagery his eyes were capturing was painted over the manicured lawns of his college campus, resulting in a clear depiction of the kit that was now sitting up on his lap and a side-profile of Lianhua.

  “Hiding from the Beast Master’s bonded beast was a matter of self-preservation,” His predecessor calmly replied, his eyes still remaining shut as he did so. “Hiding my presence from the Beast you wish to enter a true bond with though, now that would be an act of deceit. Besides, any opportunity to learn more about a Beast Master’s methods is not something I would allow to slip past me.”

  “Why, are you interested in becoming one?” Xiao Feng asked.

  “Surely you jest,” His predecessor replied with a derisive snort. “No, the more I learn about the Dao of Beast Taming, the more mysterious it reveals itself to be. I would know more about the strengths of this true bond and more importantly, its weaknesses.”

  “Now I’m not certain I should let you be here for this,” Xiao Feng muttered, as his tone betrayed a little of his surprise.

  “I am a Martial Cultivator,” His predecessor replied in a matter-of-fact tone. “Powerful enemies do not scare me. Cultivators employing methods I do not have any knowledge on, now that is terrifying. On the battlefield, my essence cultivation art only held power because my enemies, the demons, were unaware such an art existed, let alone the fact that a mere foundation establishment cultivator was capable of using it. Had they known, had I been callous with the secret, then demonic path cultivators more skilled than I would have struck me down like a sickle cleaving through wheat.”

  “I guess you have a point,” Xiao Feng conceded. “I wonder how the kit will react to seeing two of us, though.”

  “To me?” His predecessor rhetorically asked, a chuckle escaping his lips. “Poorly, I would imagine. If the Beast Master’s theory about this Realm of Yul is to be believed.”

  “Let’s find out, then,” Xiao Feng declared as he reached out for the image of the kit solely through his soul form, his hand hovering an inch above it’s crown. When he had first attempted to reach out with his soul to Liulian, Beast Master Zen’s true bond, he had told her that he only wished to know her better. Which had been the truth, given the context of their relationship.

  However, now that Xiao Feng wished to enter into a true bond of his own, his approach had to be different. It was a question he had been occasionally pondering upon in the leading few weeks now, as he questioned what the foundation of a true bond was and what his opening proposal to the newly hatched beast should be.

  Offering an equal partnership seemed like a logical option, given that it was on the surface, seemingly what a true bond was. It was possible it would work and it should, if the Beast Bonding Pill had done it’s job, but it still felt wrong to Xiao Feng. A partnership implied calculation, even if it was a relationship of equals. To him, the terms of the three oaths required to form a true bond were purer than that.

  Perhaps if he had been dealing with a Wild Spiritual Beast that had lived on it’s own for a few years, offering a partnership would have been the correct move.

  But he was dealing with a baby kit instead.

  So he went with his instinct.

  “Wanna be friends?” Xiao Feng asked as his hand came to a rest upon the kit’s crown.

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