Chapter 5 – Teammates

Thanks to Bai Ze’s intervention, the farce finally came to an end.

However, the graduation ceremony turned into a martial arts competition, and the students who had pulled an all-nighter were expected to participate immediately.

They were just a group of students who had recently formed contracts with spirit beasts; some didn’t even know what abilities their contracted spirit beasts possessed, let alone fight alongside them.

This was a subject they would learn over the next four years, yet they were expected to apply it in actual combat now, with no time to prepare. Everyone felt extremely uneasy.

Everyone had seen Yun Xiguang’s skills earlier. No student felt confident enough to beat him after being awake for a day and night straight.

Of course, after going through this ordeal, they no longer cared whether Yun Xiguang became a Spiritbond Master or not.

In the end, they had no grudge against Yun Xiguang; they had merely been incited by Yun Xinglei.

Thinking about the many big shots at the graduation ceremony and having to control spirit beasts they weren’t familiar with and had no emotional bond with in front of these important figures, they felt it would be humiliating.

At this thought, some students couldn’t help but shoot a resentful glance at Yun Xinglei.

Yun Xinglei, at the center of the conflict, wasn’t as tense. As a scion of a prominent family, the Yun family had countless collections, and he had been privately tutored by the family’s Spiritbond Masters. Yun Xinglei knew much more about spirit beasts than his classmates.

He was aware of his human-faced owl’s capabilities and had a family secret technique that allowed him to achieve over 50% compatibility with a spirit beast even when unfamiliar with it. His strength far exceeded that of his peers.

For Yun Xinglei, this impromptu martial arts competition was not only a good opportunity to suppress Yun Xiguang but also a chance to showcase himself in front of the big shots in the Spiritbond World.

The Yun family had many outstanding members, and to stand out and receive more family resources, there was no better opportunity than this.

Yun Xinglei looked at Qi Liu and said, “Do you want to team up with me?”

Qi Liu had narrow, somewhat gloomy eyes. He glanced at Yun Xiguang and said, “I think Yun Xiguang is stronger. If I team up with him, we’ll have a higher chance of winning.”

Yun Xinglei didn’t get angry. He said, “But I feel that your enmity toward Yun Xiguang is no less than mine. You don’t like the Yun family, and you might not be able to tolerate me either, but you’ve been trying to maintain a relationship with me as if my hatred for Yun Xiguang is what you value most. I’ve always wondered why you dislike him so much when you’re not from the Yun family.”

Qi Liu hadn’t expected that Yun Xinglei, who appeared simple-minded, could accurately pinpoint his inner thoughts. His pupils involuntarily transformed into vertical slits, like those of a cold-blooded creature.

Scales appeared uncontrollably on his neck and hands, and he opened his mouth to spit out a sharp, forked snake tongue.

“Seven years ago, my father and I visited the Yun family, and I met him once. After that, I started to dislike him,” Qi Liu said.

“At that time, he wasn’t that annoying,” Yun Xinglei said.

Seven years ago, Yun Xiguang had become an orphan, discarded by the Yun family. He had become low-key and quiet, spending his days sitting quietly in the library reading the diaries left by his parents, looking thin and pitiful. Every time Yun Xinglei saw Yun Xiguang like this, a strange sense of pleasure would well up in his heart.

Qi Liu didn’t say anything; his thoughts drifted back seven years. Back then, his father and the people from the Yun family were discussing something together, leaving him to play by himself.

By chance, he wandered into the library and saw an exceptionally beautiful boy sleeping at the table with a book in his arms, a tear still un-wiped at the corner of his eye.

Qi Liu wanted to befriend this boy. He leaned forward and reached out to pat the boy’s shoulder.

But suddenly, he remembered that this was the Yun family’s residence, the first major clan in the Spiritbond World. This boy must be a member of the Yun family, while he was just a child from a small clan. Would he be despised?

He felt that he should demonstrate his potential as a Spiritbond Master to match the Yun family.

With a thought, the skin on his hand gradually turned into cold scales.

The Qi family was also a spirit summoning clan, though not as large and influential as the Yun family. They only understood the habits and preferences of snake-type spirit beasts, but they were still more knowledgeable than ordinary Spiritbond Masters.

Most students had no idea what kind of spirit beast to choose before the Awakening Festival. They basically took whatever they encountered; if they found a spirit beast compatible with their constitution, their future prospects would be broader. However, if they were unlucky and encountered a spirit beast incompatible with their constitution, the stronger the spirit beast, the more painful it would be for the Spiritbond Master.

To avoid this situation, several prominent families would let their children select a type of spirit beast from a young age and train them to adapt early on. This allowed them to quickly adjust to the spirit beast’s power and cultivate a Beast Avatar faster.

Qi Liu had been immersed in his father’s spirit beast since childhood, and his body was already prepared to form a contract with a snake-type spirit beast. He had excellent aptitude and had cultivated external scales at such a young age, which his father had always been proud of.

He wanted to show this boy his strength. He extended his hand covered in scales and wiped away the tear at the corner of the boy’s eye.

When the cold scales touched the skin, the boy opened his eyes. What he saw was this hand covered in scales.

Instantly, expressions of horror, pain, disgust, and even hatred flashed across the boy’s face. He pushed away the hand, hugged the book on the table, retreated several steps, and looked at Qi Liu warily as if he were some poison.

Qi Liu froze in place, unable to utter a word.

The boy quickly regained his composure. Looking at the emblem on Qi Liu’s clothes, he spoke politely but distantly, “A member of the Qi family?”

Qi Liu nodded mechanically.

The boy walked around Qi Liu, keeping a distance from him, and said coldly, “Those outside the Yun family can borrow books from the outer three layers. I won’t disturb you; you can read here.”

With that, the boy turned and left, holding the book tightly.

Throughout the entire encounter, the boy never asked for his name, only showing indifference and aloofness.

Qi Liu felt deeply despised, experiencing immense sadness and humiliation.

Later, when he enrolled in the Spiritbond Academy, he learned that the boy was named Yun Xiguang.

Recalling what happened back then, Qi Liu’s expression darkened even further. He said to Yun Xinglei, “I just couldn’t stand the way he looked down on others.”

Yun Xinglei smiled. “We’re quite similar in that regard. How about it? Want to team up?”

Qi Liu lowered his eyes, concealing his emotions, and nodded slightly.

Yun Xiguang, hated by both of them, didn’t care about others’ opinions of him. He was merely somewhat troubled by the need to form teams.

He was confident in defeating his classmates. As for the assessment of fighting alongside a spirit beast, after determining the winner, placing Little Spirit Bird on the opponent’s spirit beast to scratch a couple of times would count as fighting together.

Yun Xiguang wasn’t worried about Little Spirit Bird; he just didn’t want to team up with anyone else.

However, Bai Ze had an explanation for this.

After all, Yun Xinglei had questioned whether “Yun Xiguang would be a burden to his teammates and thus was unworthy of becoming a Spiritbond Master.” To convince everyone, Yun Xiguang needed to refute Yun Xinglei’s argument.

Therefore, Yun Xiguang had to form a team.

Yun Xiguang was a lone wolf. He didn’t trust anyone and didn’t intend to blend in with his classmates.

He carried too many secrets and didn’t want to be moved by anyone or reveal his innermost thoughts to anyone.

Yun Xiguang had tasted the pain of losing loved ones. He understood the anguish that came with it. The things he had to do were too dangerous, and the enemies he faced were too powerful. He didn’t want to have a close friend who would grieve for him after his death.

Don’t let others experience the pain you’ve endured.

Alone, he could act more freely.

No one would willingly be his teammate.

But with twenty classmates, someone was bound to be left out. It was uncertain who would be paired with him.

Just as he was slightly worried about this, Yun Xiguang heard a call from behind him: “Oh, why do you keep biting my butt!”

He turned around to see Wu Ailang, the only classmate who had stood by his side, being chased by his spirit beast, the silver wolf, which was biting his butt.

The silver wolf didn’t stop until it had driven Wu Ailang to Yun Xiguang’s side. Wu Ailang, covering the several large holes in his pants, gave Yun Xiguang an awkward smile.

“Hey, you…” Wu Ailang thought for a moment and said, “Can you lend me your pants?”

Yun Xiguang’s eye twitched, and he said coldly, “No.”

Wu Ailang wasn’t upset at being rejected. He showed an understanding expression and nodded. “True, you don’t seem to have any extra pants. You can’t possibly expose your butt just to prevent me from doing so.”

Yun Xiguang’s eyebrow twitched again. He didn’t need Wu Ailang to understand these things.

He quickened his pace.

Who knew that Wu Ailang would catch up with a thick face, shamelessly saying, “But you can lend me your clothes! I can wrap them around my waist and cover my butt. Classmate, have mercy. We’re about to start the martial arts competition. Can you bear to watch me expose my butt in front of so many important figures in the Spiritbond World?”

Yun Xiguang wanted to refuse, but Wu Ailang’s words made an unbearable scene involuntarily flash in his mind, and the corner of his mouth involuntarily curled up slightly.

But Yun Xiguang still firmly refused him: “No.”

He didn’t want to use his jacket to cover someone else’s butt.

“Oh.” Wu Ailang looked dejected, like a little dog with drooping ears.

The silver wolf behind him also lowered its head, drooping its ears and tail. The man and the wolf looked strikingly similar.

Taking advantage of the fact that they couldn’t see him lowering his head, Yun Xiguang laughed a couple of times without caring about his image. In the instant that Wu Ailang raised his head, he regained his stern expression.

Maintaining an unwelcoming demeanor, his voice was no longer as icy. He said, “Snowfield silver wolves are cold-resistant spirit beasts. Their fur can transform into a Spiritbond Master’s outerwear, helping the Spiritbond Master resist a certain degree of external force attacks. As long as you can establish the most basic rapport with the spirit beast, you can release hair and turn it into clothing, avoiding such embarrassment.”

“Release hair and turn it into clothing? Won’t I go bald then?” Wu Ailang covered his head and said.

Yun Xiguang took a deep breath and said, “People lose dozens of hairs every day. As long as your hair follicles are healthy, you won’t go bald. And why are you focusing on baldness? Why aren’t you asking me how to establish the most basic rapport with a snowfield silver wolf?”

“Yeah, how do you do that?” Wu Ailang rubbed his chin and said, “The school didn’t teach us that.”

“Establishing surface-grade rapport is very simple; all you need to do is empathize with the spirit beast. The simplest method is to experience the environment where the spirit beast lives,” Yun Xiguang said as he walked, leading Wu Ailang to a large freezer that could accommodate about ten people.

Spirit beasts had different temperaments; some liked water, some liked fire, some liked the cold, and some preferred swamps.

The students hadn’t established the most basic rapport with their spirit beasts and couldn’t suppress the desires of the spirit beasts. Before completing the initial communication, they needed to meet the demands of the spirit beasts at all times.

To prevent the students from being counterattacked by irritable spirit beasts, the Zhuzhao Academy had freezers, furnaces, and other environmental simulators scattered everywhere to allow the students to soothe their spirit beasts promptly.

Yun Xiguang opened the freezer, pushed the curious Wu Ailang inside, and the silver wolf followed.

“Help! It’s freezing!” Wu Ailang cried out in cold the moment he entered the freezer, trying to crawl out.

Yun Xiguang kicked him back in with his foot, slammed the freezer door shut, and watched Wu Ailang freeze mercilessly.

After three minutes, Wu Ailang stopped calling out. Yun Xiguang opened the freezer door and saw Wu Ailang walking out while wearing a suit of clothes that shimmered with silver light and had an icy texture.

The style of the clothes was similar to the casual wear Wu Ailang had worn before, but the material was completely different.

“It really turned into clothes! You’re amazing! You know everything the school didn’t teach us,” Wu Ailang admired.

Yun Xiguang said, “Because these spirit beast-related knowledge are summaries of the Yun family’s travels around the world, collected and stored in the Yun family library. This is knowledge independently researched by the Yun family and doesn’t need to be reported to the Spiritbond Master Association. The Zhuzhao Academy doesn’t have this knowledge.

“This is the foundation of prominent families. Ordinary students find it difficult to reach the achievements of prominent families because, from the beginning, everyone starts from different starting points.

“Each prominent family has its own secrets and cultivation methods, and I only know some superficial aspects.”

Back then, due to his lack of understanding of the Qi family’s cultivation method, he mistook Qi Liu for a snake when he woke up.

When his parents met their demise, a giant snake flew across the sky. For a long time, the massive body of that snake became a nightmare for Yun Xiguang, causing him to tremble and fear uncontrollably at the sight of snakes.

As a result, he hurt Qi Liu.

Yun Xiguang still remembered the injured look in Qi Liu’s eyes. After that, he forced himself to frequently climb mountains and face the non-venomous snakes on the mountain, enduring the urge to run away and the feeling of wanting to vomit from fear, reaching out to touch those snakes.

He was ruthless to himself, forcing himself for a whole year before waking up from this nightmare.

He didn’t want to hurt others again, nor did he want to have such a weakness.

“Why doesn’t the Zhuzhao Academy recruit from prominent families then? What do they need us ordinary students for?” Wu Ailang asked in confusion.

“Because prominent families are stagnant and complacent; without a sense of crisis, they will eventually be devoured by the evil spirit beasts hidden in the world. Besides, there are always exceptional talents in this world who, despite having no foundation, can stand at the pinnacle of the Spiritbond World. Both the president of the Zhuzhao Academy and the president of the Spiritbond Master Association are examples. The Zhuzhao Academy won’t give up any opportunity to nurture geniuses. It will provide opportunities to every qualified student,” Yun Xiguang said.

“So I’m a genius!” Wu Ailang nodded vigorously.

Yun Xiguang sighed inwardly. He had rarely been in the mood to speak so much, but Wu Ailang had summarized it with just one sentence.

“The impromptu martial arts competition is about to start. I’m leaving,” Yun Xiguang didn’t want to continue talking to Wu Ailang.

“Hey, don’t go!” Wu Ailang hurriedly caught up. “Do you have a teammate? Aren’t we supposed to form teams? I don’t have a teammate yet. Let’s team up.”

He then casually put his arm around Yun Xiguang’s shoulders and even stretched out his finger to poke Chi Qiong on his shoulder.

“The fur isn’t as thick as my snow wolf’s. It’s not good-looking,” Wu Ailang said.

Hearing his words, the silver wolf under Wu Ailang’s feet suddenly clamped its tail tightly and began shedding hair frantically.