"Come out, all of you!" Ren's voice echoed up the mountain, calling down the beasts that the sect was raising. A loud caw came from the forest above followed by other noises from the excited beasts. The mixed breaths of the different animals reached Ren's senses. They had also been busy while he was away, and he could tell by how much their levels had risen.
A blue phoenix shot into the air before diving beak first down to fly towards Ren's direction as if showing off.
The others gradually came into sight: some soaring through the air and others running through the forest. All elated that the person who had given them a home without slaughtering them was back.
In a few breaths, Ren found himself surrounded by eight beasts: two ice phoenixes, three unicorns, one qilin, one blue snake from the Aquastra clan, and one golden fang tiger. They were all still young, with the phoenixes being the oldest of the beasts.
They all came to bow in front of Ren. Though his power was hidden by the void, the beasts could feel his breaths from his ginseng body, and that alone was enough to make them cower before him.
"There will also be a test to choose which beast will become the sect's guardian. Or do you have any amongst you whom you've already chosen to lead you?" he asked, calmly reading their bodily expressions since they still couldn't communicate.
Just like cultivators, beasts would naturally choose the strongest to lead and protect them. And when they looked over at the tiger, Ren knew he had his answer.
"So you're the strongest? Good. Now show me what you can do," he said gazing at the tiger.
It obediently rose and came to stand before him, its back almost the same level as his waist. He wondered how tall it'd become in a few years, probably taller than him.
It faced the other beasts and brought its right leg forward gaping its mouth. A deep heavy roar reverberated, sending out strong waves that shook the other beasts' souls. Ren evaluated the roar and concluded that it could knock back a cultivator below the level of one thousand.
Its teeth looked sharp enough to bite through bones, especially its golden fangs which Ren had learned were used to make weapons and pills. He worried that when it formed its core, those nosy and greedy cultivators would come to hunt it.
Not that he wasn't strong enough to protect it, he just didn't want any unnecessary attention.
"Good. All of you, meet me back at the pagoda. I want to see your progress along with my disciples. No one eats for free in my sect."
The phoenixes cawed flapping their wings, telling him to ride them, but Ren pretended not to understand and opened a black hole. He walked through it, leaving the beasts to find their way back on their own.
The tiger roared with less intensity, ordering them to do as they had been told.
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SOUL SECT
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The sect leader walked into the hall and all elders rose, saluting and bowing, " Greetings, sect leader."
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"Mm!" He dismissed them politely and walked up to the dais to sit above them as customary. "Sit."
They obeyed and lent him their eyes and attention as well, wondering why he had summoned them so hastily.
"The spirits are restless. The air is cold. The beasts fill with fear, and the stars shine with hesitation..." He looked down at the confused elders before proceeding to interpret his divination. "Our tribulation has arrived. What manner or form it will take has not been revealed, so we must tread carefully outside our walls. Inform all the disciples that none should act with anger or leave the sect without permission.
"I cannot order a lockdown due to the upcoming event which we must partake in, but nobody should go out unless it is necessary."
"Sect leader," one of the eleven elders called rising. "How long will we be like this? If other sects catch wind of our impending doom, won't they take this chance to weaken our power in the city and the world?"
The sect leader sighed moving the fingers of his right hand, his eyes shutting. "That, I cannot answer, elder Zhao. But if we manage to survive this tribulation, we will acquire a great opportunity."
"What kind of opportunity?" Another elder spoke.
"Such trivial questions should not be what you fill your heads with. Just inform all disciples, especially the outer disciples who are new to this journey."
"We understand, sect leader," they answered.
"May the gods bless us through the calamity that is yet to come," the sect leader breathed opening his eyes.
All he had seen about the said calamity was...darkness.
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The disciples were allowed to use the upper floors of the pagoda while the beasts were to absorb the energy from outside the building since they couldn't stay still as humans could.
When everything was sorted, Ren finally returned to the courtyard prepared especially for him. The rooms surrounding it looked pleasing enough to the eyes. But his attention was wholly grabbed by the twelve-foot-tall tree at the center of the courtyard. A steady, wide trunk and gray branches spread outwards, its leaves were now a beautiful shade of purple that added color to the courtyard. Hanging from the branches were white flowered vines that danced at the slightest touch from the wind.
He placed a hand on it and smiled faintly. "Han, have I been holding back your growth all this time?" He whispered as his forehead touched the rough bark.
It felt serene and calming just standing under the mysterious tree. "You've grown so big."
Something caressed his temple and cheek, beckoning him to open his eyes. He lifted his hand and the vine covered in white flowers wrapped itself gently around his wrist.
More vines came, fully winding at Ren's waist before lifting him.
He panicked when it lifted him in the air, briefly reminding him of the demonic willow's attack.
But Han just wanted to let Ren sit on one of the branches and enjoy the view from above.
He relaxed that there was no danger, but still felt frightened by the being.
As if Han could understand Ren's fear, it kept the vines around him, as if assuring him that he'd not fall off.
"So you're a spiritual plant. I didn't know back then. You had no soul."
More vines came in front of Ren, bringing a cup full of clear liquid.
"What is this?" He asked receiving the offer. His perception sharpened to detect any hidden danger but all he felt was the sweet scent coming from it.
A vine pushed the cup toward Ren's mouth, urging him to taste it. Which he did after verifying that there was nothing suspicious about it.
Tasting the liquid, Ren's eyes grew round, filled with surprise from how sweet it was. He had never had anything like it ever since he gained a human body.
It wasn't overly sweet or bitter at all, neither was it thick or thin, something in between that soothed one's throat and filled his stomach as if he was eating a meal.
As soon as he had drunk it, his conscious left his body and entered the tree.
The ground was covered by vines full of flowers, and the space all around him was blinding white. He looked around searching for the tree's spirit that had brought him here. It suddenly appeared before him in the human form of a boy, no older than fifteen years. His long purple hair flowed down his front, partially covering his crotch, a body it had extracted from the memories in the core Ren had placed in the pot months ago.
He smiled embracing him. "Master." His voice was both feminine and manly. "You've finally come home."
Ren pushed him back frowning. "Why did you take this body?"
"You gave me life, master. I was an ordinary plant growing in the forest waiting to be picked and crushed for pills, but you took me away and gave me a heart," he said, looking down at the center of his chest. The golden core pulsated, making itself seen by Ren. "I am and I am not the person you lost. I have his memories but not his feelings. I can make my own decisions."
Ren slapped his eyes. "I made a mistake, didn't I?"
"How can you say that, master? Don't you value both me and that person? Is it not why you took us away from that mountain when you left?"
"Even if I did, I didn't expect you to take his form."
"But master likes both Hans...We are one, but he is gone and I am here."
He couldn't get sense through to the tree spirit, so he just let him do as he pleased. Arguing was tiring to Ren's jaw, which he considered unnecessary. The old Han was gone. And if he was responsible for creating this new Han, then he might as well let him keep both the name and the face of the snake beast who once saved his life.