Authors Note: I have been reading a lot of Xianxia lately. Coiling Dragon, Stellar Transformations, Desolate Era, Martial God Asura, etc etc. So it would come as no surprise that I got an idea of my own xianxia novel. I would like it to be original though I must warn you it could end up as just a mix of all the xianxia I have read. Just so you know, so judge accordingly.
I am not Chinese so the names would probably not be Chinese. I will still follow the convention of writing surnames first, like the Chinese names.
Working swiftly on the next Long Island chapter btw.
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A typical morning in the small town of Manthan in the kingdom of Karmapatta, which lies south of the Malabar mountains.
"Hai...ha!....ha!....ha!"
Loud noises of exertion reverberate the surroundings in a small field.
"Extend your limbs more, the more you stretch the more flexible they will become." A booming voice was heard which commanded complete obedience.
"Hai...ha!....ha!....ha!" And the students followed.
"Halt!" An order was given. Like a taut string was suddenly loosened, the legs of almost a fifty people bent down on the ground, completely tired. A lot of them rubbed their legs vigorously to get the blood flowing. Leg stretching exercises were always very brutal for even the best of them. It always felt like the instructors were trying to extend their legs by a few inches. Not that anyone had grown taller this way.
The chief instructor, Tri Manlu, was an old man with silver hair wearing a loose blue dress and right now he was standing with crossed arms watching the field. Anyone looking at his eyes would be spellbound by their intensity and would feel like the eyes could look into their soul itself. And he probably could.
The person who could look into the soul cannot be lied to. Everyone of the students knew that and none tried to cheat on this exercise, no matter how painful it became.
Just a moment ago, they were all hanging upside down on the trees using only the strength of their feet. The exercise varied for different ages. Based on the age, all students were divided into grades. Light grade meant the ages of 6-9, bronze grade were ages 9 - 12 and silver grade were 12-15 years old.
Light grade students were simply trying to hang upside down while the instructors gently pulled. The bronze grade ones were holding onto weights with their hands. The silver grade ones needed to lift the weights to their legs and back. No wonder most of them collapsed on the ground.
Tri Manlu looked at the few fellows still able to stand after this. A small smile appeared on his face as he saw Sa Muni still standing. But then his smile vanished and the stern look came back.
"Being a spirit warrior is about the strength of your soul. Without a strong soul, you cannot make contracts with magical beast spirits. A strong soul can only reside in a strong body. Without a strong body, your soul cannot improve. Even if you somehow make contracts with the beast spirits, you will not be able to use their power with a weak body. Remember the more powerful a beast spirit, the more body strength you will need to host it's power."
Everyone listened with rapt attention.
Tri Manlu took off his shirt and closed his eyes. Suddenly, a strange power surrounded his body. His hair grew longer and his skin grew darker. More hair appeared in his chest and arms, like a werewolf. He opened his eyes and they had turned into animal eyes. Two canine teeth extended out of his mouth like a beast and his breath came out as mist.
"Grrr...." A small growl and then he jumped. Right above the students and reaching the trees in a single jump. About a 20 metre distance was covered in an instant.
He swung his hands and smashed it on a thick tree. The tree, whose width measured 2 or 3 hands, broke apart in two.
He took in a deep misty breath and recovered his original human form and walked back.
All the students watched the entire scene from start to end with twinkling eyes. A lot of them had a sort of reverence and worshiping look. They knew that in front of them was a genuine spirit warrior. One who was able to make a contract with a magical beast spirit and borrow it's power.
"Next!" Another short command. No other words needed to be said after this demonstration. Everyone of those children suddenly had a fierce desire to become stronger.
"Hai...ha!....ha!....ha!"
Sa Muni was one of the few in the light grade class who could remain standing. Like many others he also worshiped Tri Manlu. And like every other person, he also wanted to become a spirit warrior.
After the morning exercise, he headed home.
"Sister...I am back!" He called out as he entered.
"Wash up first and then come to eat!" A female voice answered.
Sa Muni quickly washed up and came into the kitchen to find his elder sister, Sa Meri hard at work.
"Muni, take out the bowls and spoons. The stew is almost ready." Sa Meri said.
"Yeee~s." Sa Muni replied with an extended yes.
"A short yes is enough. After you are done, go call father." She instructed.
A short while later, the family sat down on the table. There was Sa Ban, the father, Sa Meri and Sa Muni.
"Muni...how was the exercise today?" Sa Ban asked with interest. It had not been long since Sa Muni had joined the regular morning exercise and each day he found something new to talk about. As his father, he was very interested in his son's thoughts.
"Awesome! Teacher did a beast spirit transformation today and broke a tree in two. I want to do that too.." Sa Muni said.
"Oh..he did that. Hmm...Tri Manlu is a level 5 spirit warrior after all. His beast spirit is strong." Sa Ban nodded.
"Father, you have a beast spirit too right?" Sa Muni asked with interest.
"Ah yes. But I am only a level 1 spirit warrior. Far weaker than your teacher. My body is weak as well so I can't use my beast spirit power too much either. But I can still do this." Saying that Sa Ban lifted the entire table including the plates and pots with one hand.
"Father, don't do that. Muni will learn bad habits." Sa Meri complained on the side.
"Ah...yes. Muni, do not imitate what father did...." Sa Ban started. "Ever." He added as an afterthought as he looked sheepishly at his daughter's frowning face.
Without a mother, Sa Meri had become the virtual head of the house. Inside the house, not even Father had much authority.
"So Meri, what do you want for your birthday?" Sa Ban asked.
"Father, I have already told you, I do not want to waste money. If you want to give me something, give me the money instead." Sa Meri said.
"How could I do that? After all it is not everyday my daughter turns sixteen. I definitely need to give you a gift on your birthday. Don't you agree Muni?"
"Yes, Father. Me and Father will give sis an awesome gift." Sa Muni replied.
"Awesome...right! Awesome is what exactly, is it big or expensive?" Sa Meri teased.
"Awesome is awesome. Right father?" Sa Muni simply replied.
"Absolutely son! Give up...Meri..even my son agrees with me." Sa Ban laughed.
"Oh I give up. Get me something awesome then..." Sa Meri laughed as well.
After lunch, it was Sa Meri's turn to teach Sa Muni.
"So, tell me how many levels do spirit warriors have?" she asked.
"There are 9 levels of spirit warriors. Then there are immortal spirit warriors." Muni replied.
"And how are the levels decided?" she asked again.
"By the beast with which the warrior makes a contract with. A level 1 spirit warrior has a level 1 beast spirit. And a level 8 warrior has a level 8 beast spirit. An immortal warrior has an immortal beast spirit."
"Very good. You remembered well. Today I will tell you why we need beast spirit contracts and what kinds are there. You know when a magical beast dies, it leaves behind its soul. All souls, after remaining for a period of time on earth shall ascend to the world of souls where one can reincarnate again. This is the same for both creatures, magical and non magical.
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The time a soul can spend on earth depends on its strength. Weak souls can ascend after just a few minutes while strong souls can stay here for many decades. Extremely strong ones can stay here for centuries even. A normal human soul is very weak and can only stay for a few days but the weakest magical beast souls can stay for months.
But all creatures lose the ability to cultivate martial arts when they die and become a soul. So they can never enter Elysium, the palace of the Lord Emperor of the world of souls. Only the most powerful souls are allowed entry into the palace. And the ones who do live a life of extreme riches and happiness for eternity."
Sa Meri looked at Muni who listened with his mouth open and laughed.
"Then comes the contract. A beast spirit will contract with a living human. The human gives a part of his spiritual power to the beast soul to cultivate and in return he can borrow the power of that beast spirit and become a spirit warrior. You can only contract with a magical beast spirit which is similar to your soul. So if you are good you can only contract a good beast spirit, if you are evil, you will only be able to contract with an evil beast spirit. There are other conditions but you don't need to know them for now."
"Sis, what is spirit and soul? Is it different?" Sa Muni asked.
"Soul is your life. All creatures have a soul. But only after cultivation, a soul can use spiritual energy or spirit. Spirit is like their power and ability. Like birds fly and fish can breathe underwater. So flying type beast souls give you the ability to fly and water type beast souls will give you ability to breathe underwater. That is what we call as spirit. Beast souls with spirit powers are simply called as beast spirits.
Human souls are weak so we cannot use spirit power. But magical beasts are different. Their souls are strong and can use spirit power. They have this ability even when they die. It is this spirit power that we borrow. On the other hand, after contracting with a spirit, we gain the ability to absorb spirit power. We cannot do much with it and can only give it to the beast souls to cultivate. The stronger the beast soul becomes, the stronger power you can use.
But remember, spirit power is not infinite. Every time you use spirit power, the beast soul becomes weaker. If you use all the spirit power of a beast soul, that soul will die. On the other hand, if the beast soul takes all your spirit power, you will die."
Sa Muni was horrified. "Can beast souls do that?" he asked.
"Only evil beast souls do that. Or when you don't treat your beast soul well, it will try to kill you. Remember to always treat your beast soul well." Sa Meri replied.
Muni nodded his head.
"After a beast soul gains enough spiritual energy, it will become an immortal beast soul and the human will become an immortal." Sa Meri added.
"An immortal?"
"Yes. Only immortal souls have a chance to enter Elysium. Not only that, an immortal is extremely powerful. You know, most of the emperors are immortal. Even the Emperor of our Karmapatta kingdom is an immortal."
"Really...wow! How strong would he be?" Sa Muni exclaimed.
"Very strong. You can't even imagine how strong." Sa Meri laughed.
"Ah but contracting with beast spirits is not the only way...right! There are beast companions as well!" Sa Muni asked. He knew about magical beast companions. The lord of Manthan town had one. A Green Serpent, it was called. It was always lying around their home breathing smoke. Muni was very afraid of that beast.
"Ah..yes." Sa Meri frowned. But then she relaxed as she explained. "Rarely, a living magical beast and a human can enter into a contract as well. If the magical beast is alive, his cultivation does not depend on you and if it gets stronger, you automatically become stronger. But the requirements for that contract is even harder than for magical beast spirits. For one, both the character of you and your beast companion would have to be the same. And two, the magical beast needs to agree to it. Now why would a magical beast agree to such a contract? It does not need anything from you right! So it is very rare. The lord of this town has that kind.
Then there is another, a simple master-slave contract which you call as mount. A master-slave contract can only be done with a living magical beast. Basically, after you become powerful, you subdue a beast to follow your commands. But you cannot use its spirit power." Sa Meri explained.
Sa Muni nodded. "Yes...one day I will also have a mount!"
Sa Meri laughed. "And that will be the day, you actually learn your numbers. Let's begin with that!"
"Oh no..." Sa Muni groaned.
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The Sa family business was actually farming. Sa Ban was one of the few successful ones who could make money off the land. Using the gains of a few business deals he had made, which turned out to be relatively profitable, he had bought more land and hired some people to work on the field.
Life was definitely looking up for Sa Ban. A beautiful and responsible daughter and a good son. His children were often praised by others, especially his daughter who was like the light of his eyes. She was two years from 18, the legal age of marriage, but even now he had received several offers for her. But he was in no hurry to decide.
If she found someone who loved her, he would be more than happy to oblige. But he wouldn't force her to marry and let her decide. He trusted that she will make him proud either way, such was her character. After all, she was a level 3 spirit warrior and not many men could be her match.
And then there was Muni.
Not many people outside the house realized that Muni was quite intelligent and clever. At just 2 years old, he had started to walk and talk. When he reached 3, he started understanding simple letters and reading. Now at six years old, he was far brighter than most children his age. It indicated that he had a talented soul which improved rapidly over time. It ensured that he will definitely become a powerful spirit warrior. Added to that was his character which was brave and kind but also astute and observant. Qualities required for all good spirit warriors.
But being talented in itself would bring jealousy and problems of all sorts. After all, how many are there in the martial world, who want others to be more powerful than themselves. How to determine such a character to be trustworthy? Which is why Muni was being taught by his sister, instead of the local teacher.
There was just one other person who knew about Muni's abilities. That was Tri Manlu, the only other person in town Sa Ban fully trusted. Fortunately, he was the one who taught the morning exercises.
Sa Muni's talent had started to show. How many 6 year olds could match 9 year olds in physical ability? And he had joined the morning exercises just a few weeks ago! With the rate of his improvement, by the end of the year, he might have the physical ability of 13 year old children.
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Unaware of the thoughts of the people around him, Sa Muni was playing on the mountain side. He quickly climbed a tree like a monkey and sat on it's top branch as he surveyed the landscape around him. This was his favorite way to pass time. When he spotted something interesting, he would climb down and go investigate. Often it was a small animal, like a rabbit or a mouse. Other times it would be a nest really high up on the trees.
Beyond the gates of his house, Sa Muni was nature's child, learning from nature itself. What do birds do? Where do mice disappear to? What do rabbits eat? Does this taste good? His six year old mind was like a dark deep catacomb of many many questions.
And off he would go ferreting at the next mystery.
"Ah I shouldn't eat that..." He noticed the mice avoiding some kind of grass. He went down to investigate and noted the appearance and shape in his head. He may not know the name of this thing but he learned he had to be careful of it.
"I will look it up later.." And he climbed another tree, looking for the next adventure.