Chapter 10 – The Mysterious Book

This class of students didn’t have a grand graduation ceremony; no big shots from the Spiritbond World awarded them certificates; they didn’t receive the blessings of the headmaster and Bai Ze. There was only Teacher Ji Xuan arranging for people to carry the unconscious students and their spirit beasts back to the dormitory, and casually tossing a C-grade Spiritbond Master certificate onto their bodies.

Of the few who were awake enough to receive their certificates from Ji Xuan, only Wu Ailang and Yun Xiguang were among them. Wu Ailang flipped through his certificate unsatisfiedly and said, “Why are we only at C-grade? We did so well, defeating eighteen opponents with just one move. Shouldn’t we be at least B-grade?”

Ji Xuan looked at Wu Ailang with an expression reserved for fools, wondering if he truly believed that the celestial phenomenon had been due to that small bird’s doing.

But as a homeroom teacher, Ji Xuan felt obligated to consider Wu Ailang’s intelligence and dignity. He said gently, “I don’t have the authority to change your certificate. If you wish to upgrade, you can submit an application for a rank examination to the school. Given your record, the school should arrange a special upgrade exam for you.”

When the time came for the upgrade exam, Wu Ailang would learn what it meant to be humbled. Ji Xuan thought with a smile.

“Another exam? Forget it then, I’m always failing history anyway.” Wu Ailang scratched his head and said, “My promotion can’t come through exams. After graduation, I’ll rely on achievements to advance. After all, my strength and Snow Wolf’s are so great, we’re bound to make achievements!”

Ji Xuan’s eyes brimmed with pity for the intellectually challenged. He said warmly, “I believe in you.”

Wu Ailang suddenly turned to Yun Xiguang and said, “But Brother Yun, you could apply for the exam! Your academic performance is the best in the class, and you know so much extra-curricular knowledge. Your spirit beast… no, your divine beast is so powerful. Let’s apply for an A-grade exam right away! You’re definitely better than Teacher Ji Xuan!”

Ji Xuan: “….”

It was hard to maintain his smile.

Yun Xiguang hadn’t even listened to what Ji Xuan was saying. His attention was entirely focused on Chi Qiong.

After the celestial phenomenon, the little spirit bird fell from atop Snow Wolf and had been in a limp, unconscious state ever since.

Previously, when the little bird slept, its body was soft, but a gentle touch to its head would elicit a sleepy nuzzle in response.

But now, no matter how much Yun Xiguang kneaded the little bird, there was no reaction at all. If it weren’t for the warmth of its body and the slight rise and fall of its round belly, Yun Xiguang might have suspected that it had been frightened to death.

Yun Xiguang gently tugged on the little bird’s tender wing, worry filled his heart.

Could it have been frightened into unconsciousness by that foolish Snow Wolf? Why did it need to fly so high?

A hint of resentment welled up in Yun Xiguang’s heart, and he glared at Snow Wolf, only to find that it was staring intently at him. When their gazes met, it awkwardly wagged its tail.

A snow wolf capable of freezing a thousand miles of ice plains had become a complete idiot.

According to the information Yun Xiguang had, snow wolves weren’t such stupid spirit beasts.

At that moment, Yun Xiguang heard Wu Ailang’s naive words and noticed the barely restrained, stiff smile on Teacher Ji Xuan’s face. He remembered that spirit beasts and Spiritbond Masters could influence each other.

Two people living together long enough would inevitably affect one another, let alone spirit beasts and Spiritbond Masters bound by a Spirit Contract.

If a Spiritbond Master was too foolish, the spirit beast’s intelligence would gradually decrease; if the spirit beast’s temperament was too aggressive, even a mild-mannered Spiritbond Master might become mentally unstable.

That was why noble families emphasized compatibility.

For instance, Yun Xinglei and the human-faced owl. Because they were compatible, they could fully utilize the human-faced owl’s power while helping it learn human wisdom, thereby further enhancing their strength.

Or Qin Shu and Bai Ze. The reason Qin Shu could become the headmaster of Zhuzhao Academy wasn’t because he’d gotten lucky meeting Bai achievements.Ze, but because he himself was an extremely outstanding individual. He and Bai Ze complemented each other, which led to their current achievements.

If Qin Shu had been excessively dull, the outcome for him and Bai Ze would have been either a decrease in Bai Ze’s intelligence, turning it into a fool like Snow Wolf, or Qin Shu being unable to handle Bai Ze’s wisdom, resulting in his brain exploding from the strain.

Receiving a divine beast didn’t automatically make one a Heaven-grade Spiritbond Master. Everyone’s accomplishments were achieved step by step.

That snow wolf must have been influenced by Wu Ailang’s intelligence.

With that thought, Yun Xiguang couldn’t help feeling a bit sympathetic toward Snow Wolf. He figured it wasn’t Snow Wolf’s fault that it had frightened the little spirit bird into unconsciousness. The main culprit was Wu Ailang’s foolishness, which had led to Snow Wolf’s own stupidity.

So Yun Xiguang raised his hand and gently placed it on top of Snow Wolf’s head, consoling it, “You’ve worked hard.”

To avoid hurting Wu Ailang’s meager self-esteem, Yun Xiguang withheld the phrase “having such a foolish Spiritbond Master,” but he trusted that Snow Wolf would understand.

Gratified by Yun Xiguang’s praise, Snow Wolf was almost overwhelmed with joy. It had been uncertain about its performance, wondering if it hadn’t flown high enough. After all, there was still Bai Ze in the sky, and it had failed to surpass Bai Ze and position itself above it with the Phoenix Venerable. Snow Wolf had expected criticism or even punishment, but instead received praise and comfort. Its mind settled, it was immensely pleased and wagged its tail wildly at Yun Xiguang, looking even more foolish.

Yun Xiguang gave an awkward smile. He suddenly realized that perhaps Snow Wolf and Wu Ailang were genuinely well-suited for each other, and he had meddled unnecessarily.

Ji Xuan forced himself not to beat Wu Ailang and shifted his gaze to Yun Xiguang. He saw him cradling the weak and helpless spirit bird in his palm and couldn’t help but sigh softly.

Ji Xuan had been teaching this class for many years and knew each student well. He harbored deep concern for Yun Xiguang, the child who had been abandoned from the very beginning.

Influenced by his spirit beast, Ji Xuan was a contradictory person. He knew Yun Xiguang’s dreams. On one hand, he hoped Yun Xiguang could achieve his dreams, but on the other, he didn’t want the child to embark on a path destined to be filled with hardship and obstacles.

Yun Xiguang’s parents had risked everything to save his life, not hoping that he would seek revenge for them, but that he could live a good life.

Surviving was more important than anything else.

Ji Xuan sighed softly, held the certificate in both hands, and presented it to Yun Xiguang. He instructed him kindly, “Xiguang, you should understand that the reason you could become a Spiritbond Master this time was due to luck. Your lies couldn’t deceive me or the big shots in the stands. Do you know why they gave you the certificate even though they knew you were lying?”

Yun Xiguang lifted his head. His eyes, which seemed to see through everything, gazed at Ji Xuan. He said knowingly, “Because in the Spiritbond World, luck is also a form of strength. My ancestor of the Yun family became the first Spiritbond Master in the world through luck, and I have avoided danger multiple times, proving that I am also a lucky person.

“Luck is a scarce resource in the Spiritbond World. Since I possess this resource, I am someone worth cultivating.

“But this doesn’t mean they will rely heavily on me; instead, they will consume me. They will send me to dangerous places, using my luck to help my teammates win.

“I will continue to be ‘used’ in this manner until my luck is exhausted and I can no longer protect myself.”

“How do you know all this?” Ji Xuan sighed softly. “You see things so clearly. Why can’t you understand that your parents wanted you to live on? They didn’t want you to lose your life seeking revenge. Do you understand?”

“I understand,” Yun Xiguang said, touching his brow.

His spirit root had been destroyed by his mother’s own hands. One reason was to help him evade the disaster, and the other was that she knew the enemy was too powerful. She wanted to personally sever his hopes of revenge.

The last words left by his mother weren’t for him to take revenge, but to find someone trustworthy and entrust these words to them.

From then on, he could lead an ordinary life, mediocre but peaceful.

“Teacher Ji Xuan, I’ll ask you a question. If you can answer it, I’ll promise to stop obsessing over this.” Yun Xiguang said.

“What question? You can’t use some obscure question to stump your teacher.” Ji Xuan said.

Yun Xiguang smiled. “It’s not a difficult question, simple to the point where you can’t imagine. I just want to ask, do you know the names of my parents?”

“A question that simple? Of course, I know. Their names are…” At this point, Ji Xuan’s voice faltered, as if stuck on repeat, emitting meaningless sounds, unable to speak.

“Is it that you can’t remember, or that you can’t say it?” Yun Xiguang asked.

Ji Xuan’s expression was filled with shock. He opened his mouth, struggling to utter those two names, but ultimately failed.

In the end, he could only say weakly, “I can’t remember, and I can’t say it.”

“I feel the same way,” Yun Xiguang looked into the distance, concealing complex emotions in his eyes.

“Teacher Ji Xuan, can you understand this feeling? I remember the kindness of my parents, but I can’t recall their appearance; I remember their actions on the day of the incident, but I can’t call out their names; I continuously chase after the traces they left behind, yet I’ve never dreamed of them once.” Yun Xiguang said, “I have a feeling that if one day, even I stop pursuing the truth, their traces will completely disappear. In the end, even I will forget their existence.”

Two people, loving and understanding each other, giving birth to the fruit of love, only to end up leaving no trace behind, disappearing without a trace.

“I just want to call out their names in the dead of night, yet I can’t even do something as simple as that.” Two clear tears involuntarily rolled down Yun Xiguang’s eyes.

“But precisely because of this, it proves how terrifying the power of the real culprit behind the scenes was back then. They could alter the memories of so many people and erase all written records. They’re not something we can deal with! This world has the Spiritbond Master Association, Heaven-grade Spiritbond Masters, and divine beasts. Can’t you leave everything to them?” Ji Xuan asked.

“Teacher, I think that if a person is alive, they should at least know where they come from and why they die, rather than leading a mediocre life, suffering for a lifetime, and regretting for a lifetime.” Yun Xiguang said.

Ji Xuan’s head painfully split in half, then returned to normal, splitting again, repeating several times. Clearly, his inner struggle was intense.

After repeating this process more than ten times, Ji Xuan’s head merged back into one, indicating that he had made a decision.

He knocked out Wu Ailang and Snow Wolf, who had been watching the scene, and pulled Yun Xiguang close, whispering a sentence in his ear, “There’s a way to possess the power of a spirit beast without forming a contract.”

Yun Xiguang’s pupils trembled slightly.

Ji Xuan said, “Fifty years ago, a person like this appeared, bringing great calamity to the Spiritbond World, causing three years of natural disasters in this country. The government, the Spiritbond Master Association, and the noble families sent elites to search for three long years before finding this person and working together to kill him. But after his death, everyone was shocked to discover that he didn’t have a contract with a spirit beast, yet he possessed various bizarre powers.

“Afterward, the three major forces covered up this matter, not allowing anyone to mention it. My father participated in the battle back then. He told me that the reason this person had such formidable power was that he possessed a miraculous book called The Beast Codex.”

The Beast Codex! Among the nine words left by his parents in their dying message, there was this book!

“That book appeared on that person’s corpse. Someone who was closest to it only managed to flip through two pages before the book disappeared.” Ji Xuan said, “Later, the person who read the book became one of the three Heaven-grade Spiritbond Masters in the Spiritbond World, precisely the current president of the Spiritbond Master Association. He was already sixty years old when he fought back then and is now one hundred and ten years old, yet he still looks like he’s in his forties or fifties. I think that if you insist on taking this path and if you have enough good fortune, The Beast Codex might be your only hope for survival.”

“Teacher, is it really alright to tell me such confidential information?” Yun Xiguang asked.

“Hahahaha!” Ji Xuan threw his head back in laughter and then said, “Your teacher doesn’t remember saying anything.”

After that, his head split open again, returned to normal, his eyes reverting to their worried state, completely different from his previous resolute expression when leaking secrets.

Ji Xuan had actually forgotten what he had said and done.

Having two heads did have its advantages. Things he didn’t want to remember could be stored in the less-used one.

“You should go back and rest,” Ji Xuan looked disheartened, as if unable to persuade Yun Xiguang, and waved him away.

Yun Xiguang felt warmth in his heart. He nodded slightly at Ji Xuan and returned to his residence, cradling the little spirit bird.

As for Wu Ailang and Snow Wolf, they lay where they were, ignored.

They wouldn’t freeze to death anyway. Once they woke up, they would naturally return to their quarters.