Gu Lin Wang was waiting at the front gate of the Heaven & Earth pavilion this morning because it was his day to enter. Unfortunately, he couldn't enter until his counterpart arrived, the Protector Mei Lihua due to the agreement the two sides had made. In his human form, Gu Lin Wang looked like a man in his twenties with brown hair and black eyes, wearing robes that resemble a winter forest of green, white, and brown. He really liked these robes since he had specifically designed and purchased them during his last visit to the pavilion. He wasn't sure how, but if one looked at his robes, you could see a tranquil forest on a mountainside with a herd of deer occupying the area.
Just as Gu Lin Wang was admiring himself, a voice caught his attention, "Elder Gu, sorry for my late appearance. Are you ready to enter?"
Looking up, Gu Lin Wang saw a woman with black hair and green eyes with highlight of gold mixed in. Similar to himself, Elder Mei wore robes that were jade and emerald in color with floral patterns. The robes were embroidered with the name of the Verdant Soul Pavilion and hair pins and crown had flower accents giving her an elegant look.
"Protector Mei, good morning", he replied, "I'm ready to enter, shall we?"
Mei Lihua nodded and turned around to face the group of cultivators behind her, "Line up and prepare to enter."
Gu Lin Wang echoed her commands to the spiritual beasts that he was responsible for today, and the pair verified pairs consisting of a human and a beast each entry. Once everyone entered, Gu Lin Wang and Mei Lihua went through the gate also. He observed how the two groups went different directions, as the beasts went to the restaurant first while the humans went to the room filled with the mysterious artifacts. He quickly bade Mei Lihua farewell before heading to the restaurant himself.
Once Gu Lin Wang arrived, he sat in a private booth while looking over the menu. Surprisingly, this eatery had many vegetarian meals he could enjoy, though he would occasionally have something with meat. During his first visit, he had caused a slight ruckus believing that Owner Fang Shi were imprisoning spiritual beast like himself to feed his customers. Instead, Fang Shi had explained that the cultivator that created the store raised normal livestock in a certain way that greatly increased their blood essence. If an animal were to awaken a spiritual consciousness, the cultivator would free it. Any meals that were served only used meat from animals that didn't awaken their spirit consciousness.
Today's meal was vegetarian, as Gu Lin Wang ordered a salad made from the highest quality 2nd class spiritual plants. It didn't take long for a server to bring his order to him with a small bowl of 'dressing', spirit fruits, and a pitcher of juice. After a pleasant breakfast, he made his way to the 'pod cafe', as he heard the others call it. His first experience with these strange artifacts was eye opening since it was unusual for spiritual beasts to enter secret realms. Cultivators always fought fiercely to keep secret realms to themselves, and spiritual beasts were hesitant to leave their homelands. As he entered the cultivation hall, Gu Lin Wang looked at the rows of artifacts before heading to the counter to rent a 'premium pod'. Once he was assigned his pod, he immediately went to it and looked it over. To be honest, when he first laid eyes on the cylindrical pod, he felt it was a trap to capture him. He was quickly reminded that he had already been captured before though, and no longer feared the artifact. Once inside the pod closed giving him his privacy, and a familiar pine forest appeared as he entered his personalized starting room. Unlike the current season, the forest here wasn't snow covered but rather felt like it was the later part of the season of the Dragon (spring =
Dragon, summer = Phoenix, Autumn = Tiger, and Winter = Lian).
Gu Lin Wang enter a grove where the adventure games were when a light screen caught his eye.
(Introducing Spiritbound, a new adventure for everyone to enjoy - 10 spirit stones
Monster Slayer has been updated to include additional support for spiritual beasts with awakened consciousness. Join in the hunting parties with your original form, or become the hunted as you defend yourself against a hunting party.)
"Finally!", Gu Lin Wang grew excited, "I was tired of only fighting in my human form."
Without hesitation, he enter Monster Slayer and found the option to fight against a hunting party.
He selected the option, and immediately heard, "Scanning user…converting abilities…creating form…ready."
A bright light strong enough to affect him caused Gu Lin Wang to shut his eyes for a few moments, and when he opened them he was shocked. As an awakened spiritual beast, he was much larger than a normal elk but now he was even larger. If Fang Shi saw him now, he would've been reminded of a certain spirit boss of Eld*n ri*g.
Gu Lin Wang sensed his bloodline, and felt that an awakening had happened that allowed him to have control over ice within a certain distance from himself.
"This is great!", he exclaimed, "But it's hard to control this form. Why is it like this?"
"Would you like an explanation, user?", a voice interrupted his pondering.
"Who are you?", he asked in confusion and concern.
"I am an assistant added into the cultivation realm during this last upgrade to help customers with questions", the voice responded.
"An artifact spirit", Gu Lin Wang guessed.
"You can think of me that way", the voice answered, "I can answer some questions when it comes to the artifact and the secret realm."
"Fine, I would like to know why this form is difficult to control", Gu Lin Wang inquired.
"Based on the evaluation from the earlier scan, this is a possible form the user may have in the future", the voice explained, "Since this form is higher than your current realm, the artifact protects you from being overwhelmed by the increased power. Since you never experienced the beast saint or emperor form before, your control over this form is limited but will still be formidable against hunting parties."
"You mean this is how I will look in the future?", Gu Lin Wang was smiling.
"It's only a possibility, and Heaven & Earth pavilion will not guarantee that your future will definitely be this."
"That's fine", Gu Lin Wang was pleased, "Thank you for your assistance, I will continue now."
"As you wish", the voice said before going silent.
Gu Lin Wang spent the next four hours in Monster Slayer where he spent the first two hours as the target, the third as a hunter, and the final hour as the hunter again. His performance during the first two rounds was awkward, but due to being matched up against other customers from the same store, Gu Lin Wang was victorious. The third round in his human form in a hunting party was also embarrassing, and the success of the hunt was more because of the other three on his team than himself. The fourth round was disastrous as the hunting team easily won after capturing him. When he asked the assistant what why it suddenly became more difficult, the answer shocked him.
"Your first three rounds were played with other guests from the Tianbao and Evernight region", the voice clarified, "The final round was against guests from the Blue Moon store. The store in the Evernight region has been open for a season, but the Blue Moon store has been opened for several years now."
Gu Lin Wang's mood was still soured by the defeat even though it was reasonably justified. He suddenly remembered that a new game had been released as well, so he paid the price and opened Spiritbound.
The space around him changed as the screen turned blue. Clouds appeared, and he found himself flying over land that reminded him of the wilderness he lived in, except it was green like the season of the Dragon and not white like the season of the Luan. Passing over the land, Gu Lin Wang saw a human city approaching and started to become nervous but there was nothing he could do to stop it. Everything slowed down, and he found himself floating over an arena where two humans and beasts were locked in combat. Just before he could see who the victor was, the scene changed and he landed on the ground of a strange room. Everywhere he looked was endlessly flat, and the sky appeared to be permanently dark. A light appeared in the sky, and it began to write letters in the air eventually spelling 'Spiritbound'.
"Welcome the Blue Star", the voice of an old man came from behind Gu Lin Wang causing the latter to quickly turn around.
"Who are you?", Gu Ling Wang was nervous.
Ever since entering the game, he felt his realm had majorly decreased.
"You can call me Sage Whitewood", the old man chuckled, "You're an awakened spiritual beast. How should I address you?"
"Gu Ling Wang", he replied.
"Excellent", Whitewood smiled, "Here on the Blue Star, cultivation is different than what your used to. Humans, awakened beasts, and members of other races seek to partner with beasts who have yet to form a spiritual consciousness. Humans and spiritual beasts that have awakened use spirit bonds with these creatures to form a equal connection. This starts at a young age, and the pairs train, fight, and live together as they seek their goals. Both sides gain benefits from this as humans perfect their mind, body, and soul through the bond, and the beasts accumulate their strength to rapidly adapt to their surroundings."
As Sage Whitewood explained the rules of the world, images would appear that gave Gu Lin Wang a clear idea of what the sage spoke of.
"As you begin your journey, you will only be able to bond with a singular beast", Sage Whitewood elaborated, "As you gain strength, you will find that can create addition bonds with other beasts. So far, the number of bonds you can form is five. Are you ready to start your journey?"
Gu Lin Wang felt something was strange with this realm,'Cooperation between humans and beasts, and it's on equal terms?'
"I'm ready", he said before thinking, 'It's just a game, if it turns out this is an attempt to paint beast taming as righteous, I'll simply leave and not play again.'
His environment changed again, and Gu Lin Wang found himself in a forest near a small human settlement. What surprised him was that even though the village was small, he could feel the energy of strong formations protecting it. Looking around he saw many elk just like himself, but two things catch his eye: the other elk are very young, and none of them have awakened their consciousness like he had.
"Good morning", a voice called out behind him, causing him to quickly turn around and the other elk to scatter.
"Sage Whitewood", Gu Lin Wang went to bow only to realize he was in his original form.
Not only that, but he also realized he was much shorter than before shouting in disbelief, "How did this happen? Why am I a mere calf?"
"In this world, everyone starts from the beginning", the sage answered his concerns, "No need to worry though my little friend, any progress you achieve will be remembered. If you are ready to begin, follow me to my courtyard."
Worried, Gu Ling Wang exited the game to make sure he hadn't been affected before returning. When he returned, he confirmed the Sage's words that he would return to the same time and place as his exit. Feeling more confident, he nodded towards the Sage and the pair walked into the village. Sage Whitewood's courtyard seemed simple when they arrived, but once they entered, Gu Lin Wang observed scrolls racks, alchemical equipment, and cabinets full of materials everywhere.
"Spirit bonding is a recent phenomenon that has quickly become widespread around the world in the last few years", the Sage said as he stroked his beard, "I've become very interested in discovering all the different spiritual beasts, and learning more about them but I can't be everywhere at once. To assist my ambitions, several grandmasters including me came to together to create this."
The old man pulled a Tianmu from his sleeve, and Gu Ling Wang instantly recognized it as the same artifact that was being sold in the pavilion.
"Take this with you as you go on your journey", Sage Whitewood encouraged him, "As you find, fight, and create bonds with different spirit beasts, you can send me your findings. My hope is that I can create a grand library that will house all the knowledge that can gathered about spirit beasts. Not everyone shares my dream, as everyone has their own ideas about what it means to bond with their partner. Some look to battle, others try to improve society, and yet there are those who would rob or kill. To help you, I have several juvenile spirit beasts here that are excited to meet their partner, so let's see how compatible you are."
Suddenly, the front gate opened and a young boy of ten walked through, "Grandfather, I'm here…wait who's this?"
"Bai Jun, don't be rude to my guest", the old man replied, "This morning I just happen to detect an elk calf gain spiritual awareness. This is a very auspicious sign, so I went out to invite them here."
The grandson, Bai Jun walked up to Gu Lin Wang, "Have you selected a name yet?"
"I have", Gu Ling Wang responded, "Press call me Gu Ling Wang."
"Very well", Sage Whitewood smiled, "Since I have both of you here, it's time to find a partner and a cultivation method."
Without waiting for either of them, Sage Whitewood went through a door in the back of the room with the boy and and elk calf following after him. Once outside in the backyard, Gu Ling Wang felt five distinct auras of different elements.
"In my travels, I have formed bonds with my fair share of spirit beasts", Sage Whitewood said, "As I've gotten older, my partners expressed their desires to find mates. Of course I agreed, and they have left to have successful encounters. Occasionally, their child and grandchildren will wish to experience the same things as them and my beast friends will leave them here. There are the five primary elements of fire, water, wood, earth, and metal, and I currently am taking care of spirit beasts of each element. I invite you to introduce yourselves to them, and let's see if either of you are fated to find beast partners today."
Gu Lin Wang first observed a tree that resembled a parasol tree, and noticed a predatory bird the size of a duck perched on a branch. It had feathers of yellow, orange, and red giving him the feeling that it would appear as a bolt of fire while flying. Impressed, he strolled by a small pond and in the waters was turtle the size of a dinner plate. It was aesthetically different from the bird with its dark coloration of its shell. Two beasts sat on top of a small hill: a lizard and a pangolin. The lizard was the size of a medium sized dog , and its exterior was a mixture of light and dark browns. If Gu Lin Wang had describe it with one word, that word would be - dense. The scales of the lizard were spiked and looked very heavy, Gu Lin Wang thought that it could maybe win a foot race with the turtle, but it would be close. On the other side of the hill, the pangolin was slightly larger than the lizard, but it's armored plated glittered in the sun. While Gu Lin Wang wouldn't worry about this beast in his original form, the younger version in the game would be shredded by a thousand cuts if he battled it. The bronze armor scales of the pangolin were balanced between offense and defense as the scales thickness provided protection for the beast but the edge of each scales was incredibly sharp. The last area of as a small bamboo forest, and it actually took Gu Lin Wang a few moments to locate the beast residing there. An odd motion caught his attention, and he saw a two meter snake that could be very easily mistaken as a vine.
"Sage Whitewood, which one is the best to pick?", Gu Lin Wang couldn't help asking.
"It depends", the sage looked mysterious, "Some would pick a beast that share an element with themselves, some would pick a partner that could cover up a weakness, and others might pick one that would enhance their own strength. As it appears, your bloodline could master ice someday and ice is a powerful variant from water. Water has an advantage over fire, strengthens wood, and is at a disadvantage against earth. You might choose the turtle since your both compatible with water, choose the snake because wood dominates earth, or choose the pangolin as metal enhances water. Of course, you might pick one of the other two as well, this is your choice."
Gu Lin Wang sat back for about a half an hour before pointing in a direction, "I feel the closest connection with this one."