In the Fallen Star Mountain Range, which connects nine regions, at the corner of this mountain range bordering the Crimson Volcano Region, a great battle was about to take place between a chicken and a fire eagle. They stared at each other, ready to fight at any moment.
Five meters away, hidden behind a tree, a young man with black hair watched intently with his dark blue eyes, not missing a single detail.
On his face was an expression of concern for his chicken, but he didn't stop it. It was necessary: if she wanted to evolve, she would need to devour the eagle's core. This was a test for her.
"Felix, you can't lose! After all, you're going to be the strongest phoenix in the world!" he shouted, excited.
"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" the chicken clucked, nodding with determination.
Without waiting any longer, she rushed into action, using her feet on the ground with impressive speed, catching the eagle off guard. The bird, used to facing more conventional opponents, didn't expect this ordinary animal to be so fast.
Realizing she had underestimated her, the eagle tried to dodge, but it was too late; the chicken was already in front of her.
Using her spur, Felix drove it toward the eagle's body. The eagle managed to dodge partially but not in time to avoid the strike, which hit her leg. Letting out a scream, the eagle pulled away, glaring at the chicken with deep hatred.
Hiro, still hidden, seeing the eagle's posture, shouted, "Felix, be careful! This guy is about to use Qi!"
The chicken, hearing this, backed up two meters, maintaining her distance. From afar, she saw the eagle expel three small fireballs, about ten centimeters in diameter, straight at her.
Felix didn't panic. He allowed the fire to hit him, and when it did, he screamed, feeling his body burn and starting to smell like roasted chicken. Even so, he kept his calm — it was all part of the plan.
Falling to the ground, completely bloodied, the chicken looked defeated. The eagle, seeing her opportunity, smiled and flew toward her like the wind. When she crouched her beak, ready to devour her, she saw something that made her hesitate: Felix opened his eyes.
Seizing the chance, the chicken, noticing the eagle had no protection on her belly, moved her spur and drove it sharply into her stomach. Her sharp claws ripped open the eagle's stomach, which fell to the ground, unable to react, dying from blood loss.
"It worked! The secret move 'playing dead' succeeded!" Hiro exclaimed, excited. He and Felix had trained two moves before starting the hunt: speed and the false death technique.
Stepping out from behind the tree, Hiro quickly ran to Felix. Concerned about the chicken's wounds, he checked her condition. Then, he went to the eagle and began dissecting her body with a knife taken from his spatial ring.
After a few minutes, he took out an orange sphere, the size of a grape: the eagle's core. Without wasting any time, he placed it in Felix's mouth.
The chicken immediately swallowed it. As soon as the core reached her stomach, a magical circle formed by the contract with Hiro was activated, refining the energy and turning it into vital force, transforming her body and allowing her evolution.
After three minutes, the transformation was complete. Felix grew to one meter in height, and her once-ordinary feathers now shimmered in fiery red hues, as if she were a true firebird. She was still a chicken, but after the transformation, she had become a new species: the fire chicken. If she kept devouring more cores, she could evolve even further. This was one of the functions of the Immortal Beastmaster Formation.
After Felix's evolution into a first-stage beast, Hiro also felt a change. The same circle that was on the chicken's body also existed on his, but with one difference: his was golden, while his servant's was purple.
The circle released red energy into Hiro's heart. After an initial impact, his heart didn't explode; instead, it expanded slightly. This process was called Qi storage, the first realm of cultivation, aimed at turning the heart into a reservoir.
Feeling his body grow stronger, Hiro smiled. He had reached the first level of the Qi Storage Realm.
"Can I use magic now?" Hiro thought, excited. He remembered the eagle's technique and, using the little Qi he had in his reservoir, directed the energy through his body like reverse digestion. He shot two small fireballs at a solitary tree.
"Taaa!"
The impact of the flames made a cracking sound and left burns about thirty centimeters long on the tree's trunk, which began to burn until it turned to dust.
"Felix, now our fights will be easier. I'll be the mage, and you'll be the warrior," he said, patting the chicken's back and starting to plan their next move. His goal was the Zorrete Family.
___
One of the ten families of the Immortal Continent was the family his father, belonged to. He left with his mother, leaving Hiro behind.
Before leaving, his father had given him the Immortal Beastmaster Formation, which, according to him, he had obtained in ruins during one of his travels. Since he was already on the Qi cultivation path, he couldn't use it.
But his son was different. Since Hiro was the result of one of his father's adventures on the Mortal Continent and his mother didn't have cultivation, the formation was perfectly suited for him.
After telling Hiro all this, his father left with Hiro's mother, leaving him a talisman for protection and a challenge from the Zorrete family. Every man from this family had to grow up alone until the age of eighteen. According to his father, "As the son of Kai Zorrete, a great man who roamed the continent with a sword, how could I have a useless son? And on top of that, with an ancient formation?"
These were his last words before disappearing. Alone, Hiro cursed the useless man who took his mother and left him there. To make matters worse, he hadn't even explained where the Immortal Continent was. Hiro didn't know anything about it. He didn't even have much knowledge of the Mortal Continent, other than knowing that there were nine regions in that mountain range.