[What were those crystals Elder Li was messing with?]

We were in the kitchen making a meal after a fight. I was blessed to be a personal Disciple of an Elder and could eat Spirit Beast meat every single day! It was so much better than anything else I ever had, there was no comparison.

“Oh? He didn’t tell you?”

[No? Should I know about it? Tell me.]

“Nope.”

[What do you mean, nope?]

“I’m not telling you, it’s a secret, hehe!” Shao Lin laughed mischievously and stuffed his face with aromatic Gison cheese. Those creatures were really versatile and delicious, but that was beside the point.

[What is the meaning of this? Aren’t we supposed to be a team? Why won’t you tell me?]

“Hmm… Well, can you keep a secret?”

[Of course!]

“Well, see, so can I!”

[...]

I was rendered speechless. He got me there. I couldn’t argue with that logic.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty sure you’ll see what the crystals are all about soon. It’s just not the time yet. You need to focus on beating me first, haha!”

[Bullshit! How come you suddenly became so much faster after a few days? Are you on drugs or something?]

“Only a few. But they are only to strengthen my Soul, nothing else.”

[...]

Bro, I was kidding. He was seriously taking steroids?! Then again, that’s kind of normal in a Cultivation world as far as I knew. They didn’t care about drugs here, in fact, they encouraged it.

Take the pill, snort the magic powder, drink the potion, and smoke some herbs. It was all a normal part of life.

I took my meal and went to eat in the arena among the massive statues. Looking at them filled me with awe and motivation to get better. Those massive stone giants, warriors of all kinds, I would be like them one day.

“Enjoying the view?” Shao Lin came behind me. I barely heard him coming in. Usually his steps would echo in the large room, but...

[I can’t decide which one I like better. The human warriors look cool, but those with partially beastly looks aren’t bad either. Especially that half-dragon one. Man, look at those scales, I bet he’s hard to kill.]

“Yeah…” He said absentmindedly. “I prefer that guy over there, the archer. Just one look into his eyes makes me feel like I’m just a small worthless animal on the run. Wish I could be like him one day.”

[Right… By the way, are these statues of real people? Or are they just decorations?]

“Ah, well… I don’t know if they were real people in the past, but they do serve as mostly decoration now. But if you are wondering if the partial beastification is real, then the answer is undoubtedly yes.”

[Beastification? You mean those human-beast hybrids?]

“That’s right. That’s part of a shape-shifting branch of magic. The polymorph is quite useful in some circumstances, though it also has some downsides.”

Transformation magic? Are you kidding me? So furries were real? I wasn’t sure what to think about that, to be honest. Still curious though.

[For example?]

“The transformation doesn’t always revert completely. Over time some people may permanently gain certain physical characteristics of the beasts they transform into.”

[Holy shit, really?! So I could grow actual Dragon scales?!] That would be awesome!

Shao Lin almost went into panic mode. “Ah! What are you saying?! Not to mention it’s difficult to control how the metamorphosis happens, especially with stronger creatures, you need to get your hands on their blood and Soul first! And trying to merge with a Dragon is...”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

[Difficult?]

“More like insane! I don’t even know if the Elders can get their hands on some of their blood. Not to mention you would probably burn to ash if you tried the merger recklessly.”

What a bummer. I really hoped I could merge with a Dragon. I was already a small part Phoenix, so a Dragon shouldn’t be too difficult, right? They were both creatures of flames after all.

Ah! Maybe I could collect all four mythical creatures? I didn’t know if they were actually special, but imagine having the Essence of four beasts. A Phoenix for regeneration, a Dragon for attack, a Tortoise for defense, and then the Tiger for speed and agility. The ultimate combination of mythical powers.

[Hey, do the four mythical beasts have any special powers?]

“The what?”

[You know, the Phoenix, Dragon, Tortoise, and the Tiger. Those creatures of legend.]

Shao Lin looked at me with a suspicious sideways glance. “I mean… A Phoenix should be pretty strong, but those creatures are already extinct. A Dragon is at the top of the food chain, so there is no question about its power. As far as the tiger and the tortoise…”

[Yes?]

Shao Lin shrugged. “Don’t know man… I never heard any legends about them. Oh, but I did hear a tortoise soup is pretty good.”

I quietly groaned. I forgot this was a different world. Of course, our old legends wouldn’t exist here. Still, it would be cool to see the beast for myself at least. Another thing to add to my infinitely long bucket list.

[What about some other creatures? How does one even merge with them?]

“There’s a ritual you can do when first stepping into the Golden Core. By merging with the Essence of a beast as well as its Soul, you can gain some of its abilities as well as the option to transform.” Shao Lin said. “But without a proper technique you can mess up the transformation and injure yourself, or in the worst case, become a cripple.”

[Again that Golden Core…]

“It’s what’s required. You need Golden Qi for-”

[Yes, yes… I understand. It’s just so… frustrating.]

I was honestly starting to think the Golden Core Realm was only the beginning of Cultivation as apparently 99% of all the fun techniques required it. I really needed to go out more and consume some more Souls.

[By the way, what was your beast again?]

“Me? It’s the hawk. I chose it for its superior sight and speed mostly, though it gives me some other abilities as well.”

[Yeah, no kidding… Your speed is quite insane. But can you transform? How would that even work?]

Shao Lin shook his head. “No, I can’t- Well, I don’t want to transform, there is no point to it.”

[Aww…] I was hoping I could see it. What a disappointment.

“But I can show you its form.” Shao Lin’s body suddenly began to glow, and the golden barrier that usually formed around him expanded, taking the form of a large bird. Shao Lin remained contained inside its body as the golden glow became a 4-meter-tall hawk-like creature.

[Dude!] That was hella impressive. I took a few steps back to better admire the beast in all its glory.

“This is the seed for the Avatar. In the Spirit Realm people can make their Avatar fight for them without the need to stay close.” Shao Lin said and began flapping his wings as he rose to the sky amid a small hurricane.

“For now it's still too unstable so I have to stay inside for it to work. Also, I can’t make it too big.” He flew across the arena for a while and then landed back on the ground, deactivating his beast form.

“Huff… Man that uses a lot of energy!”

[That’s so cool! So you can create whatever creature you bonded with?]

He shook his head resolutely. “No, that’s just how my Soul looks. You need a mold to create the form after all, otherwise, it would be too difficult. Can you even imagine how many details you would have to keep in mind otherwise?”

[Ah? So it’s like that…] I felt slightly disappointed. Guess I won’t be able to create a Dragon out of Qi. Not easily at least. But does that mean I would be able to summon a winged warrior to fight for me after reaching the Spirit Realm? That didn’t sound too bad.

Once again, a cool ability was locked behind an elite requirement. Maaaaaan! This sucked.

If this was a game I would complain on the forums for having to do so many quests before getting the ability to do the cool shit.

But then again, I guess that’s what made it valuable. If every scrub could summon an Avatar at the very beginning to fight for him it would quickly lose its charm.

“Well, anyway… Ready to go another round? Or do you need more rest?”

I absentmindedly stared into the distance, considering his words.

[Nah. I feel like I’m barely improving in recent days. Maybe we should take a break. It’s also been a while since I last saw my friends… I wonder if they are okay?] Fighting every day was great, but no matter who it was, a change of scenery was good for the mind. Being underground for months was beginning to take its toll on me.

“A break? Sure, we can go stretch our legs outside. I also miss seeing how the Sect is doing. I bet they are having a blast with the Beast Tide.”

[Yeah… Or everybody died and we’re going to come out to a wasteland.] I joked.

“Haha, right… Alright, let’s go!”

We ran through the hallways and came out through the secret entrance to a cold, dead world. No matter where we turned, there was not a single living thing in sight.

Everything was covered in a layer of white snow.

“Aaaah~! Fresh air. So invigorating.”

[It truly is.] At some point, I lost the ability to feel cold. Now it just felt nice and refreshing. With every breath, I felt my mind clear, and I just enjoyed the mountain air with closed eyes for a bit.

“Ready?”

I opened my eyes and saw Shao Lin already a few steps ahead of me. He was walking on top of the icy blanket with ease as the golden light beneath his feet held him steady, while I had to trudge through knee-height snow.

It was not too bad if we ignore the fact that my clothes and boots were quickly getting wet. My body was too hot and began melting the snow as I walked.

The first thing we did was visit a proper clothing store where I got myself a pair of insulated knee-height boots and a proper Core Disciple robe. The Elder’s badge went right on top of it so there wouldn’t be any misunderstandings.

The stuff cost ten times as much as those I bought months prior, but the quality was that much higher because of it. Apparently, the robe could even resist some of the weaker Golden Qi strikes.

Considering it cost me a Spirit Stone, that was to be expected. Oh, and according to the seller, it could block the scanning gazes from all but Spirit Realm and above. It was a nice touch.