[Ding!]
A bright light suddenly filled An Xuan's room, and he watched in awe as the small cell began to wiggle and shift, slowly expanding.
The shape began to change, contorting and twitching strangely as if it were in the process of transforming.
Then, after a few minutes of anticipation, the light slowly diminished...
And then, before An Xuan's eyes,
A little girl, with long, black hair and deep, pitch-black eyes, stood in front of him. Her eyes were large and round, like two dark pearls, staring at him with intense curiosity.
"Masshter...!" she called out with a big happy smile, her voice soft and childlike, mispronouncing the word 'master' in an adorable way.
Without warning, she jumped up and clung to his waist. Her arms and legs wrapped around his back, her grip surprisingly strong and almost... squid-like.
"Mei'er..." he muttered surprised.
He had honestly thought that she would have tentacles as her arms or something like that, but fortunately, she didn't.
Gooo...
Stitch...
Suddenly, as he tried to gently pull her arms off of him, he heard a faint squelching noise. He froze and looked down, noticing something strange.
On her arms, there were small, nearly invisible suction-like circles...
Just like squid had in their members.
"Ah... right," An Xuan sighed, remembering the system's warning about her having some racial features.
"I should've expected that."
He carefully lifted Mei'er into his arms.
As she was hoisted up, she giggled with delight, her little body wriggling in excitement.
Then, from her back, three tentacles sprouted, swaying in the air as if they were just as happy as she was.
"..."
An Xuan kept his mouth shut.
And before he could say anything...
Tack, tack!
Someone knocked on his honest abode.
"Ah... Mei'er, return to the system," An Xuan whispered, gently.
Mei'er dissolved into a flash of light, her form dissipating into wisps before completely vanishing.
Then, An Xuan approached the door and opened it.
"Ah... professor," he exclaimed in surprise.
What was she doing here at this hour?
Seeing his surprise, Miss Lin let out a soft sigh, as if she had expected him to still be awake.
"Can I come in?"
"Ah, sure," An Xuan replied, stepping aside to let her in.
As soon as she entered, An Xuan quickly closed the door behind her, hoping to avoid attracting attention.
After all, this kind of situation could be seen as ambiguous...
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Miss Lin glanced around the room, her eyes narrowing slightly as frustration flickered in them.
"Your abode..." she muttered, trailing off as if unsure what to say next.
An Xuan gave a small, slightly sheepish smile.
"Ah, this... it's nothing special."
"My talent is rather insignificant, and everything—from resources to your cultivation abode—is tiered based on one's abilities. So, this should correspond to my trash talent."
She shook her head, her expression softening as she looked back at him.
"I know," she sighed deeply.
"But still, this kind of place... it's too shabby."
Standing up from the bed, Miss Lin moved towards him, grasping his hands softly.
"How about you move in with me?" she offered.
"I have more than enough space—my place can fit ten people, no problem. There's even a special pentagram on the floor that helps with Qi absorption."
Miss Lin spoke softly to him, looking deeply into her, wanting to help him as much as she could, after all, he was still her student.
Hearing her words, An Xuan only kept a small yet lazy smile.
"Don't worry, Professor. I just need to clean up a bit, and soon this little place of mine will be as good as new."
Miss Lin's heart seemed to ache at his words. She stepped closer, her hands gently brushing his face before she suddenly pulled him toward her chest.
"Gah..!"
"Oh, my dear student..." she muttered softly.
"You don't need to hide behind that smile. You're still awake because you're worrying about your talent, right? You don't have to carry it all alone anymore. Let me protect you from now on. You can always depend on me."
For a moment, An Xuan felt himself trapped in the embrace, the pressure against his chest making it hard to breathe. Desperately, he tapped her back, trying to get her attention.
When she finally noticed, she quickly pulled back, her cheeks flushing a deep red.
"I'm so sorry... I got carried away," she said softly, her voice a little embarrassed.
An Xuan coughed, trying to regain his breath.
"It's... it's okay."
'Damn... what size are those breasts? E-cup...? Maybe an F-cup or even higher?' An Xuan couldn't help but wonder.
"...That aside! Are you sure you don't want to live with me?" her eyes locked onto his, quivering softly as she stared at him.
"Like I said, it's alright." he nodded his head.
'I still need to keep Mei'er hidden after all...'
Miss Lin let out a resigned sigh, her shoulders slumping slightly.
"If you need anything... anything at all, just ask," she said softly.
An Xuan nodded, giving her a reassuring smile
After a long moment, she finally left his room, the door clicking softly behind her. An Xuan let out a deep sigh of relief, running a hand through his hair as he sank back onto the bed.
"This goes against my plans..."
He clicked his tongue.
—
The morning light filtered through the small window, and An Xuan slowly opened his eyes, stretching his arms over his head with a satisfying groan.
Looking down, he saw Mei'er still curled up in his lap, a peaceful smile on her cute face as she breathed in and out with a rhythmic, gentle pattern.
[Beep! You have cultivated for seven hours with Mei'er! +14 Evolution Points!]
"Oh... the value increased by two times. It must be because Mei'er has now reached the Novice Beast Realm."
[Ding! You have ascended and become a cultivator!]
[+100 Evolution Points!]
Immediately, upon seeing that he received more points, he tapped to increase Mei'er's Realm, spending the points he had just received.
[- 100 Evolution Points!]
[Ding! Mei'er has reached the Middle Stage of the Novice Beast Realm!]
Happy with the results, An Xuan stretched and got out of bed, the soft morning light brushing his face as he moved to the floor.
Getting into a push-up position, he started.
"One, two, three, four..."
He started counting. His original record was one hundred and twenty consecutive pushups, and now that he had become a cultivator, he wanted to see how many he could do.
Minutes passed, and with each push-up, his arms began to shake, until eventually, he collapsed to the ground, his forehead covered in sweat.
"572 pushups... my physical capabilities increased to almost five times," he panted, taking a deep breath before getting to his feet.
Feeling his body still buzzing from the workout, An Xuan headed toward the bathroom. To his surprise, there was a bathtub—nothing fancy, just a simple wooden one.
Beside it sat a couple of buckets, and he checked the water temperature.
It was freezing cold.
"Really...?" he sighed.
Then, he approached the bathtub and also checked its temperature, and to no one's surprise, it was also very cold.
But, he still needed to take a bath so he entered the bathtub...
"Ah... this feels strangely refreshing," he muttered, lying out in the wooden bathtub.
At the same time, An Xuan closed his eyes and mentally spoke to Mei'er:
'Make sure to train your 'Poisonous Ink' and 'Phantom Tentacles' abilities.'
Just a few hours ago, he discovered that if Mei'er also used her own skills, the mastery would go up.
So, he decided that when he's out, he's going to let Mei'er train her abilities.
After soaking for a while, An Xuan climbed out of the bath, shivering slightly as he grabbed a towel to dry himself off. He then slipped on the robes the sect had given him.
As soon as he put them on, they adjusted perfectly to his frame, the fabric somehow soft and comfortable.
"Mei'er, I'm going out, don't get out of here and if you see anyone approaching our abode, immediately return to the system!"
"Okayy..." she mumbled, happily playing around with her abilities.
Getting out of the abode, An Xuan looked at his surroundings briefly before walking towards the main hall.
Today, the elders were also explaining something that they needed to know about.
As he reached the main hall, he could already see his classmates awaiting the elder's arrival.
And as soon as his eyes landed on his classmate's robes, he immediately understood that the elders were using the robes to know what level of talent one had.
He looked down at his own black robe.
It was fine, but the dark color made it stand out in an odd way.
It almost felt like it symbolized the worst kind of talent, like a constant reminder of his so-called "worthless" rank.
Meanwhile, Miss Lin and Little Xue wore beautiful golden and pure white robes.
'This is pure racism... and I'm not even black, well, only my robes are.'
Then, he found an empty seat and sat down, waiting for the elders to arrive.
A few minutes later, the room fell silent, and Sect Leader Yu Long entered, with his hands behind his back.
"Hello again, everyone!" he greeted loudly, his voice booming across the hall.
"As I mentioned yesterday, there are a few more things I need to explain to you," he continued.
"First off, let's go over the layout of our sect."
Yu Long gestured to the right.
"On the right side of the main hall, you'll find the library pavilion, where you can access techniques based on your talent level. To the left is the treasure pavilion, and further down is the mission pavilion."
He paused for a moment, letting the students absorb the information. "In the mission pavilion, you'll find requests posted by your fellow sect members, or even external requests. Once you complete them, you'll earn contribution points."
"Contribution points are the currency of this sect," Yu Long explained.
"With them, you can purchase treasures or even manuals that you normally wouldn't have access to based on your current rank."
As he said those words, An Xuan felt Yu Long's eyes briefly linger on him, but he kept the same neutral expression.
Yu Long cleared his throat and continued. "Behind the main hall is the Beast Pavilion, where you'll be escorted shortly to choose a beast. Any questions?"
And surprisingly, no one asked, even An Xuan didn't, so he continued:
"Then, let's depart to the Beast Pavillion."
When they arrived, the students' eyes widened in amazement.
Creatures of all shapes and sizes filled the pavilion—some resembling snakes others looking like beasts from myths and legends.
There were plenty of them.
"Alright, form a line according to your rank," Yu Long instructed, and the students started to group themselves by their talent level.
And of course, An Xuan stood alone.
Yu Long's gaze shifted toward him, and he approached with a sympathetic look.
"Disciple Xuan," he called out to him.
"It's unfortunate that your talent is... lacking, so you probably won't be able to form a bond with any of these beasts. But, we've decided to grant you something else in place of that."
He stretched his hand, and magically, a ring appeared, along with pitch-black sword.
"This is a mid-grade spatial ring," Yu Long explained.
"It has 100 cubic meters of space inside. And this sword... is a peak Spirit Grade weapon, which will give you a small advantage in combat."
"The ranks of weapons are as follows: Mortal, Spirit, Earth, Heaven, and Immortal-grade. So, this sword is quite valuable, considering your current standing. I hope you make good use of it."
Yu Long patted An Xuan's shoulder gently, almost pitying him
And he wasn't the only one, even his classmates looked at him with eyes full of pity.
"Thank you, Sect Leader." An Xuan replied as he cupped his hands, mimicking the proper etiquette from one of the disciples he had seen.
Seeing the gesture, Yu Long's face brightened for a moment before quickly returning to his usual stern expression.
He turned away and began calling the other students to form their beast bonds, completely leaving An Xuan aside.
An Xuan stood quietly, his eyes lingering on the sword and the ring in his hands.
'Isn't this perfect?'
His lips curved into a smirk as his gaze turned to the forest area.
A day ago, it was mentioned that the forest is called 'Mysterious Forest' and there, a lot of beasts wander around, fighting themselves to survive.
And now that An Xuan had some kind of equipment...
He knew exactly where to go.