Chapter 1 – Spirit Contract

Chi Qiong had a long dream.

In his dream, he was back to his childhood when there were no other living beings in the world, and it rained heavily for millions of years.

Chi Qiong hated the rain that drenched his feathers. He rose from the depths of the earth to the heavens, spread his wings amidst the endless downpour, ignited the dark sky with flames, and drew a streak of True Sun Fire from the horizon.

The relentless rain retaliated with thunderbolts from the heavens; countless purple lightning strikes pummeled Chi Qiong’s body. Occasionally, lightning bolts that missed their mark would strike the earth, instantly leveling mountains and transforming wastelands into abysses.

Only Chi Qiong’s wings that shrouded the sky remained unmoved in the face of these destructive thunderbolts, firmly anchored in the ninth heaven.

This battle against the heavens lasted for a century. After a hundred years, the thunder faded, the dark clouds dispersed, and the first rays of sunlight fell upon Chi Qiong’s golden wings. He squinted comfortably and let out a sigh that had been suppressed for millions of years under the warm sunlight.

A long phoenix cry echoed across the universe, and thus, the first breath of life filled the world.

After basking in the sun, Chi Qiong shrunk his body and found a land of eternal daylight to sleep. When he woke up again, time had transformed the world; everything looked different.

Many weak creatures appeared on the land and in the depths of the sea. Chi Qiong watched these creatures curiously, holding his breath with difficulty, afraid that his breath might rob these weak and pitiful creatures of their lives.

He secretly observed all living things for tens of thousands of years and discovered that they lacked much spirit. They merely busied themselves with survival, striving for existence day by day.

Sometimes, when Chi Qiong was in a good mood, he would bestow some spiritual energy on certain creatures. Those creatures, endowed with wisdom, would become divine beasts revered by all.

However, after receiving spiritual energy, the direction in which these creatures grew did not please the bird.

For instance, there was a creature called Kunpeng. Chi Qiong favored the shimmering scales on its feathers and gifted it a strand of spiritual energy to help it grow, so that these beautiful feathers could soar above the heavens.

But Kunpeng had an aspiration to roam the four seas. After gaining spiritual energy, it became a creature that was a bird in the sky and a fish in the water. Chi Qiong hated water the most. Having endured a million years of rain, he detested having his feathers wet and could not understand how a bird could have the dream of becoming a fish.

Even so, he continuously poured spiritual energy into the world, as if it was his innate mission. He was destined to nourish this land with vitality.

Gradually, Chi Qiong’s body grew smaller, small enough for creatures to see his entire form, small enough for a group of creatures born with intelligence and the ability to speak to call him “Phoenix.”

These creatures were known as humans, a species with extremely frail bodies but boundless wisdom.

When he received the name “Phoenix” from humans, Chi Qiong felt as if he heard a voice in the depths of his soul. It was a voice from the source, telling him that the time had come.

Life had already given birth to the wise rulers of all things, beings capable of growing in wisdom. Chi Qiong’s mission was over.

He looked at the sky where the sun rose and the moon set, looked at the earth teeming with life, and looked at his own wings that had shrunk to the point where they could no longer cover even a single mountain peak. Then, he closed his eyes quietly.

Chi Qiong never pondered the meaning of life, nor did he consider whether his bird life was arranged by someone else. He didn’t care about the world absorbing his vitality either.

Everything he did was because he liked it.

He dispelled the rain and summoned True Sun Fire because he disliked getting wet; he nourished all things with spiritual energy because he hated loneliness; he accepted the honorific name “Phoenix” and was willing to return to slumber because he found the humans who worshiped the phoenix totem every day too noisy, and he disliked being disturbed by human wishes constantly.

Chi Qiong was happy. He never compromised his own desires. Even though everything he did gave meaning to this world, he didn’t consider it a great feat.

He sank into a long, tranquil dream, sleeping between valleys, flying freely in his dreams, playing with the world as if he were a child.

In his dreams, he rolled over, each flip causing waves of turmoil.

One day, Chi Qiong rolled fiercely over a lake in his dream, intending to transform the lake into a plain in his dream. He spread his wings, and the whole bird flew into the lake like a parabolic arc —

The imagined plain did not appear. Instead, there was a tiny, fluffy bird that fell into a puddle, turning into a pitiful, soaked bird.

“Chirp?” Chi Qiong let out a puzzled sound, opening his small eyes.

What happened? Wasn’t he supposed to be in a deep sleep? Hadn’t he witnessed the rise and fall of human dynasties, the rapid progress of technology, in his dreams?

Shouldn’t he continue to sleep until the world was destroyed, until all living things perished, until this world became desolate once more, then awaken to bestow new life upon it?

Confused, Chi Qiong stared with his black-bean-like eyes and saw two young men before him.

One of them looked displeased, retracted his leg and spit in disgust at Chi Qiong in the mud, saying maliciously, “I went through all the trouble to reach the place where my teacher said the source of spiritual energy was, thinking there would be some divine beast. But it turned out to be just an ugly little chick, wasting my time!”

There was a bit of mud on his shoe, clearly indicating that Chi Qiong had been kicked into the puddle by this person.

“The nine parts of the spiritual energy have flown to every corner of Two Principles Mountain,” said the other young man irritably. “The real divine beasts must have left with the nine streams of light long ago. You insisted on coming here, and now look! We’ve wasted so much time and effort, and the powerful spirit beasts have already been found by others!” The two blamed each other.

Chi Qiong tilted his head, listened to their conversation, and tried to understand this completely unfamiliar era.

The person who spoke earlier was further infuriated by the accusation, thinking of how he had gone through great lengths to get here, only to find such a useless chicken. Filled with anger, he lifted his leg again to stomp on Chi Qiong.

Chi Qiong narrowed his black-bean eyes. He was a good-natured ancient divine phoenix, but he wasn’t without temper. Anyone daring to disrespect him would taste the scorching fire of the heavens!

Chi Qiong spread his tender wings and opened his mouth to emit a “chirp-chirp” phoenix cry, bravely confronting the abuser.

Chi Qiong believed himself to be intimidating at that moment. In reality, to outsiders, he was just a fist-sized chick, attempting to open its wings to escape the impending blow but unable to fly.

Just as the foot was about to land on Chi Qiong’s petite body, a young man with handsome features, a fit physique, and movements agile like a cheetah came flying over and punched the abuser away.

The young man bent down to scoop Chi Qiong out of the water and coldly addressed the abuser. “Unable to form a Spirit Contract with a powerful spirit beast, you take it out on a baby. Yun Xinglei, you’re really something!”

The young man was quite skilled. Yun Xinglei was sent flying several meters by his punch, hitting a tree in a sorry state.

Yun Xinglei got up, his face filled with unwillingness, and lunged at the young man, but was held back by his companion.

“Why aren’t you helping me teach him a lesson, Qi Liu? Why are you stopping me?” Yun Xinglei shouted angrily.

Qi Liu, who was called by that name, was no more than seventeen or eighteen years old, yet he had a very gloomy demeanor. His eyes were narrow and long, gleaming with a sinister light, making people feel uncomfortable.

Qi Liu had a slender build. Stretching out his long arms, he blocked Yun Xinglei and whispered persuasively, “Calm down. Have you forgotten how important today is? It’s already noon, we’ve wasted twelve hours, and we have half a day left. We need to speed up and find other spirit beasts.”

“But…”

“Forget the ‘but.’ What good would it do now? Can you beat him?” Qi Liu asked.

Yun Xinglei glanced at the young man’s fists, swallowed, and subconsciously took a step back.

He couldn’t win.

The young man was named Yun Xiguang, and like him, he was from the Yun family. By seniority, Yun Xiguang was his younger uncle. Both were roughly the same age and had been compared to each other since childhood. Yun Xiguang was once the true pride of the heavens, and at that time, Yun Xinglei didn’t dare to provoke his younger uncle, harboring resentment in his heart.

Later, Yun Xiguang’s family suffered a great calamity, his parents died in that disaster, and Yun Xiguang himself sustained serious injuries. Although he recovered, he lost the ability to form Spirit Contracts, falling from the clouds into the mud.

Seeing Yun Xiguang finally fall from his pedestal, Yun Xinglei recalled the pain of being compared during his youth. Feeling he could now overshadow Yun Xiguang, he occasionally belittled and harmed him. However, Yun Xiguang paid no attention to his malicious words, always looking at Yun Xinglei with a cold gaze of disdain.

This gaze further enraged Yun Xinglei. He teamed up with a few friends to teach Yun Xiguang a lesson but didn’t expect that despite his past severe injury, Yun Xiguang was still incredibly skilled. He beat all five of them to the ground alone and made Yun Xinglei limp for over a month.

Since then, although Yun Xinglei still resented Yun Xiguang, he dared not provoke him anymore.

Recalling that beating, Yun Xinglei felt a dull ache in the leg that had been lame for a month. He glared viciously at Yun Xiguang, swallowed his anger, and gritted his teeth. “Yun Xiguang, don’t think that just because you have good moves now, you can always be superior to me. Don’t forget, you’re a worthless nobody who can’t form a Spirit Contract! Wait until I find my own powerful spirit beast. We’ll see then!”

After delivering his standard villainous vow, Yun Xinglei and Qi Liu quickly left the area, searching for new spirit beasts.

The small forest was left with only Yun Xiguang. He looked at the backs of Yun Xinglei and Qi Liu and gently shook his head.

“Chirp?” A tiny sound came from his palm.

Yun Xiguang lowered his head, looking at the dirty little spirit bird in his hand.

This spirit bird seemed so weak and helpless, dripping with mud, evoking sympathy.

“How could there be a young spirit beast like you on Two Principles Mountain?” Yun Xiguang wondered.

This place was called Two Principles Mountain, the sleeping grounds of ancient spirit beasts. Only awakened adult spirit beasts were present; rarely would there be young spirit beasts.

Chi Qiong had just woken up and was still disoriented. He neither understood the conflict between Yun Xiguang and Yun Xinglei, nor did he realize that the term “young spirit beast” referred to him. He only felt that the young man before him was quite decent because he helped him avoid unnecessary trouble.

Although Chi Qiong wanted to teach Yun Xinglei a lesson, he knew that with one flap of his wings, Yun Xinglei wouldn’t be worth sparing. If the mountain were destroyed due to his wrath, harming other living things, that would be bad.

The young man helped him out, resolving this small trouble for him, and Chi Qiong was pleased.

He solemnly retracted his wings, nodded slightly at Yun Xiguang, and emitted a melodious phoenix cry, acknowledging the young man.

Yun Xiguang saw the little spirit bird in his palm shake its wings, nodding its head repeatedly and emitting constant soft “chirp” sounds, looking cute and pitiful. His heart softened.

He took out a pack of tissues and carefully wiped the mud off the little spirit bird.

The little spirit bird looked ragged, but its feathers seemed to have a water-repellent property. The mud simply clung to its surface without soaking the feathers. Yun Xiguang lightly wiped, and the little spirit bird was clean again.

Chi Qiong hated getting wet the most. He originally intended to use True Sun Fire to instantly turn the mud into ashes, making it disappear forever from this world. But before he could act, the young man had dried his body for him. Although Chi Qiong somewhat disapproved of the young man’s superfluous actions, he enjoyed being served, closing his eyes and enjoying the feeling silently.

Back then, when humans revered him as a totem, if anyone could touch even his toe, it would become a legend, passed down for over a hundred years.

Thinking of this, Chi Qiong proudly opened his eyes, sweeping a glance at Yun Xiguang, and said solemnly, “Seeing your manners, this Exalted One shall grant you the opportunity to serve this Exalted One. This is the highest honor.”

His words reached Yun Xiguang’s ears as comfortable “chirp-chirp” calls.

Yun Xiguang had a rather cold personality. He only intervened because he couldn’t bear to see Yun Xinglei bullying the weak. He hadn’t planned on keeping this little bird.

But seeing the adorable appearance of the little spirit bird, Yun Xiguang’s heart stirred slightly.

His spirit root at the center of his brows had been destroyed, diagnosed that he could never become a Spiritbond Master in this lifetime. Unless he could find a young spirit beast and raise it from childhood, he might not need to form a Spirit Contract; relying solely on emotions, he could possess a spirit beast.

However, powerful spirit beasts in the current world were all ancient beings revived. Young spirit beasts were extremely weak, not much stronger than ordinary animals in the world. Even if by a stroke of incredible luck, he found a young spirit beast with excellent potential that could grow into a powerful spirit beast, wild nature was difficult to tame. Without a Spirit Contract, the more powerful the spirit beast, the more dangerous it would become, possibly even turning on the Spiritbond Master.

In other words, Yun Xiguang could never become a powerful Spiritbond Master no matter what.

Of course, Yun Xiguang had long accepted his current situation, seeking alternative ways to strengthen himself and confident that he wouldn’t be weaker than other Spiritbond Masters. But to investigate the truth behind his parents’ deaths, he still needed the identity of a Spiritbond Master to mask his true strength.

With this in mind, Yun Xiguang met Chi Qiong’s small eyes, looking at that round little body, and couldn’t help but smile.

Yun Xiguang was raised as a Spiritbond Master since childhood. The first thing he learned was to respect spirit beasts, treating them as equal partners. Even if he needed a cover, he didn’t wish to force any spirit beast casually. He wanted to find a spirit beast that could be a partner, supporting each other.

He extended his finger to rub the little spirit bird’s head and softly asked, “Are you willing to go with me?”

“Chirp?” Chi Qiong tilted his head.

Chi Qiong: Are you going to worship this Exalted One? That requires this Exalted One’s consideration. Not just anyone has the honor.

Yun Xiguang merely asked out of curiosity, not expecting the little spirit bird to understand his words. Unexpectedly, the little black eyes of the spirit bird revealed a thoughtful expression, clearly understanding his words.

“I will regard you as a partner, treat you with respect as I would a mentor, protect you as if you were myself. From now on, our spirits will be in harmony, until you undergo transformation or my lifespan ends.” Yun Xiguang spoke the words a Spiritbond Master would say when forming a contract.

Chi Qiong understood his words and began to think seriously.

He was an ancient spirit. Let alone forming a contract with him, even a speck of his spiritual energy could extend one’s life, making one immortal for ten thousand years. Wasn’t this contract time a bit too long?

Chi Qiong occasionally enjoyed becoming a totem for a human tribe out of boredom, enjoying their offerings and guarding them for hundreds of years before quietly leaving. But the duration this person proposed was too long; he wouldn’t agree to it.

Just as Chi Qiong was about to refuse, he saw the young man take out a homemade ham sausage and offer it in front of him.

The modern seasoning’s peculiar aroma enticed Chi Qiong to lower his head and peck at the ham sausage. The fragrance permeated his taste buds, and Chi Qiong delightedly spread his wings, chirping.

“Do you like it?” Yun Xiguang extended his finger to rub Chi Qiong’s head.

“Chirp!” Chi Qiong lowered his head and quickly took a few more bites.

Yun Xiguang’s gaze grew softer, whispering, “I’ll take that as a yes.”

He carefully placed the little spirit bird on his shoulder, feeding it ham sausage while walking down the mountain.

He had already found a spirit beast and formed a Spirit Contract; there was no need to stay on Two Principles Mountain.

Chi Qiong finished eating the ham sausage and felt a bit sleepy, so he closed his eyes and leaned against Yun Xiguang’s neck to sleep.

As for the Spirit Contract…

He’d think about it after having enough delicious food. After all, he hadn’t agreed yet.