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They tore through the poor insect who tried its best to escape. Unfortunately for it, his two siblings would not let that happen. They pecked at him with renewed vigor after they had their first taste. The insect's blood and its entrails were being sprayed all over the place. Even right in front of him and maybe on him too.

But he couldn't move. The gory show in front of him truly depicted the law of nature. He had been used to seeing death and such but it was his first-time observing animals eating from so close. The very sight of the greed and gluttony of the two baby owls left him tongue-tied. Not like he could have spoken yet but the point was that it was a trauma-inducing sight. Even to a cultivator like him who had seen wars.

The insect was devoured in minutes and his two siblings with blood and gore all over themselves moved back with delight as they went to sit next to their eggs. They were broken but there was still warmth being emitted from them.

As for the mother owl, she was looking at him curiously. She didn't seem to understand why one of her babies didn't eat. Was he sick? Was he weak? She pondered for only a moment before she moved forward closer to him. She saw the cute thing retreat a few steps or trying to do so as he fell again. He was a sorry sight but maybe it was due to being so recently born? Maybe he hit the egg with his head?

She bent over and vomited some of her own dinner in front of him hoping he would take more interest in it. She saw that his other siblings were very interested. But he didn't seem to be. Rather, he was trying to retreat even further…

He saw his Mother walk to him. He was scared about what she might do so tried to step back. He ended up falling again. As he looked down and saw his two claws, he despaired. Of course, it would be difficult to move. He was used to having feet, not claws!

What happened next terrified him much more than his lack of feet though. The mother owl was only centimeters away from him and she…vomited. What was she expecting? Was she sick? As he looked behind him due to hearing some movements, he understood.

His siblings were salivating already. This was probably his Mother trying to give him some food after he failed to get any of the insect… How nice of her. But he wasn't in the mood. Eating an insect was already tough on his mind but eating a vomited…something? No, thanks. He didn't want to.

He got up with difficulty and turned around. He was going for a sweet escape. Let the siblings have the vomit. Unfortunately for him, the mother owl had no such plans. She grabbed him by the back with her beak and put him back in front of the vomit.

He ran away again.

And she brought him back in front of it once more. She really wanted him to eat, it seemed. In the end, he could only give up and accept his fate. He moved forward and bent over the vomit… And it was surprisingly smelling good to him? How come?

He didn't manage to think much more as some kind of instinct took over and he soon found himself gulping the vomit with fierce gusto. And he found it tasty.

Here he was, eating an owl's vomit and enjoying it… Oh, how fate was toying with him!

Once he was done though, he could only admit it had been good. He enjoyed the meal. In the end, he was a baby owl and those seemed to enjoy eating their mother's vomit. He couldn't help it. That's just how it was.

He did however swear that he would never eat it again. Because of his pride.

Tough luck though as his next meal was solely vomit. And he had to share it with his two siblings. The two babies were quite ferocious as well. They did not seem to want to share anything with him as they kept pushing him aside.

He began to push them as well soon enough as it got on his nerves. But he wasn't being that impressive. He was being sent away more than the opposite. Why? Probably because he wasn't used to being an owl? Or maybe because he was used to being something else? Regardless, he was getting less food.

Wherever he was, night and day did exist. He had become aware of it as lights disappeared from time to time. Surprisingly, he could still see perfectly in the dark. He knew it was dark but to him, it still felt like it wasn't. But thanks to it, he managed to keep count of the days that went by.

And after the third day of being pushed around by his two siblings, he had had enough. He was already dealing with a torrent of complicated emotions and this was the drop that led to the overflowing of the vase. He got angry.

What was he? A cultivator! Now, he was a spiritual beast. But could spiritual beast not cultivate? Of course, they could. Then, he would cultivate and slam those two siblings of his. After that, he would be able to eat more.

He went to the side and sat. Or whatever an owl could do that was the closest to sitting. And he began to meditate as he closed his eyes, trying to feel the surrounding energy.

In cultivation, there were two realms, namely the body strengthening realm and the spiritual accumulation realm. The first one consisted in five stages where one built a core and grew it little by little. With every addition, the energy contained would disperse and strengthen the body, hence its name.

At this realm, cultivators generally weren't able to sense the spiritual energy in their surroundings. This energy belonged to a different plane of existence and so, it was impossible to see it without taking appropriate measures. In general, cultivators used a candle made of a certain plant to light up the grains of energy in their surroundings. Then, they could simply focus on willing them to be absorbed by their bodies.

The first time one would absorb a drop of spiritual energy, one would enter his soul sea. That's where he would be able to start on crafting his core and accumulate energy. It was one's self on the other plane.

Right now, however, he didn't have any candles to lit. And even if he did, he probably would be unable to do so. Fortunately for him, he was no longer human. Well, it was probably one of the perks of not being one. He wasn't sure if he was fortunate about it.

Regardless, as a spiritual beast, he did not need to lit a candle. Spiritual beasts had 'spiritual' in their names for a reason. It was because they could sense the spiritual energy in their surroundings innately. Much like a sixth sense. And what he needed to do was to find that sense.

It took him a few days but he did manage to make it. He found his ability to sense the spiritual energy. And he began to feel the dots of energy floating around himself. It usually took months for a spiritual beast to awake to the ability naturally but as he had previous experience with cultivation and he knew what to search for it happened in less than two weeks.

He couldn't see the dots of energy but he could feel them. He was able to sense their existence. And that was enough. He only needed to sense one, focus on it and will it to come to him, to be absorbed inside himself.

It was quite an easy step. He had done this so many times before… It was like riding a flying sword, one never forgot.

Soon, a little, minuscule, drop of spiritual energy moved closer and closer to him before it went through his body. And then, he lost consciousness. Or rather, he entered it.

He felt himself being inside a dark space with nothing else in it. Wait, no, there was something. A little blinking dot. This was spiritual energy. This was the energy of the world. And this was proof that he wasn't an insane baby owl who dreamt a weird nonsensical previous life.

Now that he finally felt something familiar, he felt relieved in a way. At the very least, some things were still there. He was happy to see the floating little light.

Of course, he couldn't stay here and do nothing for the spiritual energy would dissipate otherwise. But there was nothing one could do with a single speck. He needed three more.