Years Later

"You will hurt yourself, little one," said a Night panther, a dreaded predator of the Tai Ping forest. It was mid-day, and the forest was calm. The panther had chosen to make its home is a hidden valley, large enough to suit the territory of a fearsome Golden Core beast, yet not as noticeable to match its nature – that of a stealthy and quiet species.

Many years ago, when the panther had chosen to make its den here, it was heavy with child and rushed for time. Now, there was little to regret. As the sun sprinkled in from the canopy of towering trees, playful sounds emitted from the floor surrounding the den.

Four small cubs, each as big as a man's forearm rolled around in the foliage. Mere cubs born a few summers ago, they innocently enjoyed their days under the protection of their mother. One cub stood out, not due to its size or sound, but by the soft purple highlights that flowed through its otherwise silky black coat.

All four cubs were predominantly black in coloration, the genetic traits of the Night Panther, and one of its many assets to survival.

"But mother…." the purple cub whined. He was fighting his brother, he wanted to show him that he was the strongest!

"No buts, little one. It is time for practice now nonetheless. All of you must enter the den, I will be back with food shortly. And remember…"

"Yes, yes, we got it already! No going outside the valley"

"Good. Ziye, you are in charge while I am gone. Be good"

"Yes mother, don't worry!" The purple cub, Ziye, was excited to be left in charge. Only recently their mother would leave the valley when they were awake. Most nights she would only leave when they were all asleep, because, as she put it, "you are too young, little one."

"Mhm…" The Night panther once again inspected all its cubs. It never would have thought she would grow so attached to the stray cub she had picked up many moons ago. Now, it was just as precious to her as the cubs whom she had given birth to.

With a final look and ensuring all the cubs had gone into the cave, the mother ran out and soon disappeared in the foliage.

"Ziye, Ziye, can we go outside now?" Spoke the smallest, a tiny cub who was the youngest in mind. Spoiled by her siblings, she would act much younger than them, even if three of them were born in the same litter, and one had been born around the same time as well.

"Not now Lamel, without mother it's better to stay in the cave. Come, you can play inside. I have to go to practice."

"Practice brother? Why don't you ever let us join! We are already three summers old, I also want to grow strong like you!" Eavil was the second brother amongst the siblings. He could never win against his brother Ziye, and attributed it to he strange 'training' he always does when not playing.

"Hmm. Fine then. You are also three summers old. It is not bad to start practicing now. What about you Lamel, Hiva? Do you also want to start practicing? It will not be easy, and once you begin you cannot stop. I will not teach you if you plan on quitting halfway through. This is the path to becoming strong, and you still have some time before you have to worry.

"No Ziye, Eavil is right. We must all start practicing as well. We are already no longer cubs, regardless of what mother says. Three summers are enough time to play, now we must become strong as well. We cannot burden mother too much. Prey is scarcer due to that Old Cat competing with mother. And eating food we hunted is the best experience. Lamel is still very happy when mother brings up her rabbit kill." The second sister of the pack ended with a laugh.

"Humph, you are just jealous because I killed a prey and you didn't." Lamel was quick to retort.

"Fine, fine don't fight. Follow me, I will teach you how to practice." There was nothing to hide for Ziye. The memories and knowledge it had gained had long since been digested by him. The ancient arts and methods of reaching power were carved into his brain. If he could not put them to use, what use were the memories?

If he could not trust his family, then who could he trust? That is why, when Ziye learned to communicate in the language of beasts of this plane, he quickly told his mother about his memories. If he could help her get stronger to protect here and their family, then it was worth any sacrifice.

She was in disbelief when she first heard, as this was not something to mention lightly. Ancestral memories, such a concept was not unheard of in the Tai Ping Forest, but it was beyond rare. Only the Beast Lord Clans who controlled the depths of the forest had ancestral memories, and each of their offspring was protected under tight security.

When Sarest, their mother, learned of this, she was afraid yet excited for her cub. Beasts with ancestral memories were at the least Sacred Beasts. But the knowledge her little cub had was beyond even that. She was afraid he may even be the rumored Divine Beast. There was only one clan of Divine Beasts in the Tai Ping forests, and they were the Dragons, not a panther clan.

She quickly got over it however, there was no reason to think so deeply. If her cub had such amazing prospects, she could only do her best to protect him before he was strong enough to do so himself. Thankfully, it seemed Ziye not only had amazing knowledge for his own use, but he was able to guide her through a practicing method she had never heard of. It was beyond the simple instinctual practice most clan-less beasts in the forest did, and a single minute was as effective as a day before. Before, she doubted if she could ever break past the Gold Core bottleneck into the Nascent Soul stage. Now, there was hope she could get even beyond that!

Even the beast clans in the central forest only have Nascent Soul stage beasts as their main force. It was the sign of an elite, even on a global stage.

The other cubs knew about this as well. Although they did not understand exactly what ancestral knowledge was, but they know that their brother Ziye had a way to becoming smart and strong. He was even teaching their mother!

None of them were jealous, their minds not even recognizing such a thought. They were only happy for how capable their brother was. In this world where might makes right, a strong ally by blood is no worse than a lifeline.

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The three siblings quickly lined up in front of their brother. Today, they would embark on the path to the strong! Today, they would leave their identity as cubs behind, and race towards their goals of becoming true Beast Lords.

Their mother had taught them since young what the world was like. There was no mercy out there, and there was no point protecting them from knowing about it. The sooner they were ready, the safer they all would be.