"Ah! Where did it go?...Wait! Don't run!" There was a sound of someone shouting. Mu Chen snapped his eyes open and sat up.

It was still night time. Unlike the sun's, the light of the moon wasn't bright enough to penetrate through the thick canopy of foliage and branches. The usually gloomy forest was even darker during the night.

Mu Chen stood up and looked around.

"A cultivator? What is a cultivator doing here?" Mu Chen thought. Ordinary mortals wouldn't dare to come into the forest. But on other hand, this part of the forest wasn't attractive enough for most cultivators since there were no monster beasts with cores here. The value of a monster core was several times higher than blood essence.

"The voice sounded familiar." Was it someone he knew? Mu Chen wasn't sure because he heard it when he was asleep.

Mu Chen looked in the direction the sound had come from. Just then, a flash of white flickered past his shoulder. It was fast and silent. Mu Chen was only able to tell it was some small white animal before it disappeared within the shadows.

Mu Chen was thinking about giving chase when a figure flying on a sword came into his vision. The person on the flying sword didn't expect to see someone standing in his path and swirled sideways to avoid impact and lost balance.

"Aaaaahhhh!" That person screamed as he fell. Mu Chen reached out and grabbed his hand, preventing him from falling.

"Help! Help! I am falling! I am falling!" The guy screamed as he dangled. Mu Chen lifted him and helped him find his footing on the branch. The flying sword continued to fly a bit further then fell on the ground with a thud.

"Mother! That was scary!" The guy said as he sat down on the branch trying to catch his breath. "Thank you, friend!" They were fifty feet above the ground. If one fell from such a height, even if they didn't die, they would break a few bones.

Mu Chen smiled in response and looked at the person in front of him. "Long time no see, Xia Ping."

"I—Eh?!" Xia Ping squinted as he tried to get a look at his savior. Mu Chen's appearance was completely different from his usual one. With just a beast hide as a loincloth and dark colored juice of wildflowers smeared all over him, Mu Chen looked like a wild man. In the darkness, it was even more difficult to identify him.

"Ah! Ah! Brother Chen?!" Xia Ping gawked. "Is-is it really you?!" He jumped on his feet and hugged Mu Chen. "What are you doing here? Don't you know the forest is dangerous? Why do you look like a beggar? Did the Mu Family kick you out? How long have you been here? Is this why you haven't been replying to our messages?..."

Xia Ping began a barrage of questions making Mu Chen sigh with emotion. He hadn't seen him in almost a year, but he still cared for him. Mu Chen realized while he had become withdrawn, more than just one person had been worried about him.

"Xia Ping. Thank you!" Mu Chen placed his hand on his shoulder. "And sorry!"

"Eh?" Xia Ping was confused.

"Nevermind." Mu Chen shook his head. "What are you doing here? Isn't your sect's base much further away from here?"

"Ah! Yes!" Xia Ping began to look around in eagerness. "I was looking for a white little monster beast. Did you see where it went?" Then he sighed and became deflated. "Forget it. It must have already disappeared. Anyway, Brother Chen, you haven't answered my questions. Why are you here? Didn't you lose your cultivation?"

"Let's first find someplace more comfortable." Mu Chen said and jumped from one branch to another.

Xia Ping recalled his flying sword and followed Mu Chen. They found a small clearing for them to sit down and chat. A large trunk of a tree had fallen and it made a good bench.

"Brother Chen, did you become a strongman?" Xia Ping asked as they both sat on the log facing each other.

"Something like that." Mu Chen shrugged. "Since I lost my ability to cultivate, I've been training my physical body for the past year."

"Haha! I knew Brother Chen wouldn't be content to stay an ordinary mortal." Xia Ping said. "So the Mu Family didn't kick you out? Then why didn't you reply to our messages?"

"Messages?" Mu Chen paused. "So it's not just Fengying's, but your messages had been blocked too."

"Blocked?" Xia Ping said. "Was it Mu Changshou?" He added.

Mu Chen looked at Xia Ping with his brow raised. "How did you know it was him?"

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Ah! Brother Chen also suspects him?" Xia Ping told Mu Chen about his and Li Kun's suspicions.

"There is no need to suspect. Mu Changshou is the one." Mu Chen said with his eyes cold. "And he is definitely a gu cultivator." Mu Chen told Xia Ping about Mu Yukong's betrayal and his subsequent death.

"I didn't expect Mu Yukong to betray Brother Chen. That bastard!" Xia Ping smacked the log they were sitting on. "It's no wonder he avoided us. Every time we asked him to deliver messages, he would make excuses. Turned out his Big Brother was Mu Changshou after all...But Mu Changshou is even more ruthless and sinister than what we thought." Xia Ping was agitated and stood up. "Brother Chen, let's take revenge! I will inform Brother Kun."

"Sit down! You idiot!" Mu Chen pulled Xia Ping. "Right now, it's still Mu Family's internal affair. But if you guys intervene, it will become a war between three sects."

"But Brother Chen...it's because of him, your cultivation..."

"Relax, I am not planning to let him go. But I need to recover my cultivation first. So I want to enter the secret realm first, and see if I can get a Heaven and Earth treasure." Mu Chen said.

"Eh? A Heaven and Earth treasure?" Xia Ping was stupefied. "Brother Chen, could it be...you are not permanently crippled? There's hope?"

Mu Chen shrugged. The news that was leaked to the public was that he had been permanently crippled. But the Mu Family didn't bother to rectify it, because doing so would instead negatively affect their reputation.

"So the three of us can continue to walk on the path of cultivation?" Xia Ping began to laugh out loud. "Ah! I can't wait to inform Brother Li."

"That day won't be far away." Mu Chen smiled and both chatted a bit more.

"...you chased that little monster beast all the way here?"

"Ah! Brother Chen, can you believe I chased that little rascal for several hours," Xia Ping sighed, "but only saw its tail?"

Mu Chen could only nod in agreement. Even he had only managed to catch a glimpse of that monster beast. "But don't you already have many tamed beasts? Why chase after that one?"

"Brother Chen, I have many tamed beasts," Xia Ping sighed, "but I don't have any companion beast."

"Companion Beast? Are they different from tamed beasts?" Mu Chen knew a bit about beast taming from Xia Ping, but it wasn't a lot.

"Very different." Xia Ping said. "The general tamed beasts are bound to listen to the order of whoever holds the beast token because they have a spiritual imprint. You can also train them to listen to voice commands, like the ones you see pulling the carriages. But companion beasts are different." He paused. "A companion beast cannot have any spiritual imprint. Without the use of any spiritual imprint, the only way they will listen to your instructions is if they trust and care about you. You have to foster the bond between the two of you by yourself. So usually, you need to raise them when they are young."

"So...it's a pet?" Mu Chen said.

"Cough...cough!" Xia Ping choked. "Brother Chen, how can you compare a companion beast to a pet?! They are not just pets, they are your partners whom you can entrust your life to!"

"Can you really trust your life in the hands of a monster beast which is not in your control?" Mu Chen shrugged.

"Not just any monster beast can become a beast companion. But Master said there are monster beasts that have intelligence comparable to humans." Xia Ping said, causing Mu Chen's heart to jump. "And they experience emotion the same way as we do. They can become your companion beasts and as long as the bond is strong, they will not betray you."

"But isn't it much faster to just control them using spiritual imprint?" Mu Chen said. "Why go through all this trouble?"

"The spiritual imprint affects the beast's potential, so the future cultivation of such beasts is limited." Xia Ping shook his head. "But unlike tamed beasts, the companion beast can continue to get stronger alongside the cultivator. And once such monster beast's cultivation reaches a certain level, they can even transform into a human. According to our sect records, it was a monster beast which had transformed into human form, that taught us how to tame beasts." Xia Ping whispered.

"Transform into a human form?" Mu Chen was shocked. "How come I never heard of this before?"

"The spread of information has been prohibited. Top-level cultivators don't want to acknowledge it, because they see monster beasts as a resource and they want everyone to maintain this belief. I only knew about it when Master told me about companion beasts." Xia Ping sighed.

"So that monster beast?"

"It looked young and intelligent, so I wanted to make it my companion beast." Xia Ping said.

"It looks like I messed up your good deed." Mu Chen felt awful. If he hadn't been in the way, Xia Ping might still have a chance to capture that monster beast.

"Ah! Brother Chen, don't blame yourself." Xia Ping said. "Like I said, companion beasts are different. It is a relationship of equals. Both sides have to be willing, only then the bond can be formed. You can't force a monster beast to be your companion beast. Without trust, the relationship will fall apart."

"Partners, huh?" Mu Chen muttered. For beast tamers, the companion beast was someone whom they could trust their life. They were partners in life or death. Just like how his sword was his partner?

Partners? Trust? Huh? Mu Chen jumped to his feet. His movement surprised Xia Ping, but Mu Chen ignored him because he had a flash of enlightenment.

Without the sword, there could not be a swordsman. Without a person to wield it, the sword was just a sharpened piece of metal. Both complemented each other. The sword was inseparable from the swordsman. They were each other's partners and they fought alongside each other.

Mu Chen looked at his sword. Although they were partners, he had made a grave mistake-he didn't trust his sword. Because he knew it was just an ordinary sword, he knew it wasn't sharp enough to cut through everything. He was afraid of accidentally breaking it, if he used too much force.

Mu Chen recalled the moment he had cut the assassin in half. At that time, he wasn't concerned whether his sword could cut or not. Nor was he worried if it would break. At that time, none of it mattered.

"My approach was wrong…" Mu Chen muttered. He had thought facing life-threatening and desperate situations was the key.

"Brother Chen? Is there something wrong?"

"Xia Ping. Thank you!" Mu Chen patted Xia Ping on his shoulder. "But I have to go now."

"Eh?" Xia Pong was bewildered by the turn of events.

"Don't worry about me." Mu Chen said. "We will have a drink later. But right now, I have something I need to do."

Mu Chen bid Xia Ping goodbye and rushed towards the valley. By the time he reached the valley, it was daybreak. The sunlight wasn't too bright, but it illuminated much of the darkness that had covered the forest and along with it, a speck of white.