28 Make Way

Yun Da Xia had never thought to question the state of her soul.

Faced with the knowledge that it had been so unstable to resist the coaxing of a spirit beast, her brows furrowed. Although her consciousness was in a foreign body and her cultivation crippled by the host, there was no doubt that she was the same woman from the modern world. She believed that she was only limited by physical constraints, and tempering that would yield the same results of her past.

But if her soul was damaged in any way, that would be a different story.

"Did anything happen?" She asked the wolf; knife still in hand. Blood and bruises would not cause her soul to become unstable. At most physical torment could only cause the soul to enter the cycle for reincarnation, not damage it. If souls were unhinged, that meant the lines had been crossed.

The beast tilted its head, "I woke up to your screams. By then, even your energy started to mess with mine." Pausing, its eyes narrowed, "Its strange."

"What is?"

"Your qi is nothing like I've ever seen before." It began to circle around her, curious. A chill ran down her spine at his words. "How so?"

It paused, looking at her with amber eyes. "I don't know."

Yun Da Xia resisted the urge to scream. She put a hand against her temple and sat down; trying to process everything that had happened. First, she had been nearly drained of her blood. Next, her soul was looking to tear itself apart. Last, she was bound to a beast of Sacred rank.

"You have the forest at your disposal. Why would you need my blood instead of just getting wolfsbane from here?"

It laid down before her; man and beast engaging in conversation. "Since the trees were saplings, my kind were the ones that ruled over the forest. In an effort to protect ourselves, we sacrificed in order to eliminate wolfsbane from growing here."

"I was poisoned by humans." It laughed, but there was no mirth to be found. "They didn't even want to kill and harvest me. It was all for sport."

"Before they died by my sister's claws, they laughingly told us that the antidote was the plants we had worked to destroy in our lands."

It was still a young boy's voice that came from the wolf's mouth. The bitterness that laced his words was something that a child shouldn't have. "So why did you save me?" Even as a doctor, Yun Da Xia didn't know if she would be able to get over the resentment he must face.

"I am alive because of you."

"But I'm a human cultivator that has not even broken into the Silver rank. Where is your pride?" In fact, she felt no glory in attaining the bond of a Sacred beast. It would draw too much attention to her–attention she could not afford and would not be able to unless she attained the pinnacles of cultivation once more.

"Pride? I have none." The words were spoken so casually; it made her forehead creased. "Fate played a joke on my kind; giving me this eye color." The warm tones in its irises sparkled underneath the moonlight. "Its the symbol of the next in line. Ever since I understood what it meant, I knew it was a mistake. I'm weak and I'm not cunning. I am inferior in every way to my sister. She is the one who deserves to lead. The only thing that was stopping her was me."

"What nullifies my right to ascension is either a spiritual contract or death. If you hadn't shown up, I would have been content with dying; by that poison, by natural causes, or by my own doing."

Yun Da Xia didn't speak any words of affirmation. He spoke without fear of mincing his words or hiding his intentions. Maybe that did support his belief in his inadequacy. Even if she lathered him with praise, it would do nothing to quench his feelings of inferiority.

She didn't know how to deal with baggage; from humans or from beasts. She could barely face her own.

A forced cough escaped her lips, "Uh, I'm glad you're alive." She paused. "So… we're in the contract space right?" Her awkward transition only highlighted the peculiar air. Thankfully, the beast nodded.

With every beast contract, a space was carved within a cultivator's middle dantian for it's familiar to reside in. It was somewhat similar to an inter-spacial ring, but it would not be able to handle storing regular things within. If the space collapsed due to misuse, then there would be lifelong consequences on the cultivator.

"It's quite nice." She commented; looking at the huge wolf, glad that he wouldn't feel discomfort here. She may not have wanted such a high ranking spirit beast, but only the death would be able to break the bond.

It was another reason why the academy had used the contracting method as the initiation rite.

If a bonded beast died, a cultivator might live their life damaged. But if a cultivator died, then their beast would accompany them.

"We should go. My family might begin to worry," Yun Da Xia looked at the sky. "How long have I been here?"

"The moon has completed a full cycle. About a single human month."