Chapter 6 – Nirvana

Yun Xiguang didn’t want to get too entangled with others, but he was indeed short of a teammate, and Wu Ailang, who had clung to him, seemed like a good choice.

The Snowfield Silver Wolf was a relatively mild spirit beast. This wasn’t to say that silver wolves were easy to control, but their power was something humans could accept.

As the contract deepened and the integration increased, the abilities a Spiritbond Master could command from a Snowfield Silver Wolf, starting from the most basic to the advanced, were: cold resistance, sharp fangs, ice claws, small-scale freezing, and falling snow. Starting from sharp fangs, the Snowfield Silver Wolf’s abilities came with certain diseases.

Sharp fangs had a chance to spread rabies, ice claws would cause frostbite, small-scale freezing could lead to pneumonia, and falling snow could make all enemies within its range run a high fever.

Except for sharp fangs, the chances of contracting other diseases were above 80%, while the probability for sharp fangs was low, below 5%. But once infected, without the Snowfield Silver Wolf personally administering the antidote, death would occur within ten days.

Further integration led to the Beast Avatar.

Due to the limitations of the laws, spirit beasts couldn’t use their powers in the real world; their strength had to be channeled through a contract by a Spiritbond Master.

The Beast Avatar was the highest-grade ability of a contract. It was the projection of a spirit beast’s power that could only be unleashed when it was completely fused with a human body. Once a human manifested the Beast Avatar, they would, to some extent, transcend human boundaries. Those with slightly weaker willpower would be unable to return to their human form.

The more conventional the spirit beast, the easier it was to restore one’s human form.

A creature like the Snowfield Silver Wolf, recognized by humans and also a mammal like them, made it very easy for a Spiritbond Master to dispel the Beast Avatar. After dispelling it, besides having slightly sharper teeth and longer nails, there wouldn’t be any significant impact.

But if it was a spirit beast beyond human imagination, such as Professor Ji Xuan’s Pingpeng, the mental damage would be considerably greater.

Ji Xuan was very powerful, and he could regain his human shape, but his mind still suffered to some extent. His personality became fragmented, and he lacked decisiveness. During class, he would often spend hours agonizing over whether his left or right foot entered the classroom first.

He was forty-nine years old this year, and his soul energy had been depleted.

Ji Xuan frequently told his students that they might be the last batch he taught. His time was running out, and after the day of Awakening Thunder this year, he would likely wither away.

Spiritbond Masters generally didn’t live long lives. The average lifespan of those who died of natural causes was 48.6 years, and if unnatural deaths were included, the figure dropped to 40.3 years.

The Snowfield Silver Wolf was an excellent spirit beast, which meant Wu Ailang would have an easier path ahead.

The early abilities of a Snowfield Silver Wolf, sharp fangs and ice claws, were easy to master and came with diseases. Among C-grade and B-grade Spiritbond Masters, these abilities ranked at the top, and few could match them.

Yun Xinglei and Qi Liu were trained since childhood in their noble families. Even though they had just formed their contracts, they could certainly unleash a considerable amount of their spirit beast’s power. Even with the help of heavenly fire, Yun Xiguang would struggle against them both, and his chances of winning weren’t great.

With Wu Ailang’s assistance, Yun Xiguang could triumph more easily.

After weighing the pros and cons, he said, “Alright, we’ll team up and win the championship. There are still 20 minutes before the competition starts. You need to quickly grasp the abilities of sharp fangs and ice claws. The key to mastering these two abilities is emotional synchronization. This isn’t as simple as matching the environment. You must share an emotion with the Snowfield Silver Wolf, make it feel….”

While Yun Xiguang spoke, he glanced at the Snowfield Silver Wolf, and his voice trailed off abruptly.

This wolf, with its glossy fur, each hair like a silver filament, now looked bald. It could be roasted on a fire without plucking a single hair.

“Hmm, I’m listening. What do I do?” Wu Ailang asked, unaware of the state of his spirit beast.

Yun Xiguang looked down at the ground, where silver filaments lay like snow, vanishing without a trace.

The Snowfield Silver Wolf’s fur was transformed from ice and snow. It was able to grow or shrink, appear or disappear. Only when it was severely injured or didn’t want to have fur would it turn into this featherless chicken-like state.

This silver wolf looked energetic, so it was unlikely to be severely injured. That meant it didn’t want to have fur.

But why?

Yun Xiguang met the Snowfield Silver Wolf’s gaze and sensed a hint of fear and grievance in its eyes.

Fear and grievance…

Yun Xiguang glanced at Wu Ailang and had an idea.

He lifted his jacket, revealing two daggers tucked at his waist. With a speed that couldn’t be seen by the naked eye, he drew one of the daggers and threw it at Wu Ailang, stabbing a patch of hair off the top of his head.

“What are you doing?” Wu Ailang asked in shock, covering his head.

Yun Xiguang didn’t explain but released a terrifying killing intent. Terrified, Wu Ailang turned to run, but Yun Xiguang grabbed him by the back of the neck and pressed him to the ground with one hand.

Yun Xiguang swung the dagger at Wu Ailang’s head with a cold expression. Wu Ailang’s eyes filled with fear. He howled in pain and cried out for help. He appealed to gods and earth spirits, from the Snowfield Silver Wolf to Yun Xiguang himself, but it was all in vain.

Fortunately, Yun Xiguang was quick, and in less than a minute, he shaved Wu Ailang’s head clean and placed the dagger in front of Wu Ailang’s eyes, gently turning it to let Wu Ailang see his reflection in the blade.

Wu Ailang used the blade as a mirror and saw a bald version of himself in the reflection.

“You… what are you trying to do? Aren’t we good friends?” Wu Ailang asked Yun Xiguang with a face full of grievance.

“Mm, the emotions are in place.” Yun Xiguang pushed Wu Ailang onto the Snowfield Silver Wolf and instructed, “Hurry up and empathize with your spirit beast. Quickly master the abilities of sharp fangs and ice claws.”

Only then did Wu Ailang notice that the Snowfield Silver Wolf had become a bald wolf. Instantly, a wave of sorrow washed over him, and he hugged the wolf’s neck tightly, wailing, “Wolf, why are you and I so unfortunate!”

The forced suffering and the pain of losing its beautiful fur resonated in the hearts of man and beast; the Spiritbond Master and the spirit beast were in sync.

Light shone from between the Snowfield Silver Wolf’s brows, and a thread that couldn’t be seen extended from the root of Wu Ailang’s contract mark, merging into the glow between the silver wolf’s brows.

At that moment, Wu Ailang felt as if he was possessed by the Snowfield Silver Wolf, running across the endless ice fields.

These were the soul memories of the Snowfield Silver Wolf, and also the space created by the contract between a Spiritbond Master and a spirit beast, a realm accessible only by their spirits.

Wu Ailang felt the joy of running freely on the ice fields, the ease of playing with ice and snow, the struggle of chasing prey, and the fear of a certain existence.

The moment fear arose, the scene in the contract space changed. He raised his head along with the memory of the snow wolf and saw a wing made of flames covering the entire ice field.

The wing flicked lightly, and countless golden flames rained down from the sky. The ice field cracked, and glaciers melted into rivers rushing down the mountains, revealing the fertile land under the snow.

Countless creatures of the ice field scattered in all directions, struggling to find a sliver of survival under the calamity of heaven.

The Snowfield Silver Wolf ran desperately through the sea of fire. Everywhere was burning flames that devoured everything, leaving no safe haven.

That was the deepest fear in the Snowfield Silver Wolf’s memory.

What a terrifying existence!

This entity wasn’t here to destroy the ice field. It hadn’t even paid attention to this ice field.

The ice field turning into fertile land was merely due to the wing brushing past during its flight in the nine heavens.

The Snowfield Silver Wolf ran in the opposite direction of the wing, exhausted and with its paws bleeding, finally leaving the land before it was completely destroyed.

It found a small hill not yet engulfed by flames, stood on the hilltop, and gazed at the ice field, now resembling hell on earth, and emitted a mournful howl.

The terror of life and death, the pain of losing its home, imprinted the scent of the wing deeply in its memory.

Even if it couldn’t glimpse the true form of this great existence, it wouldn’t forget this fear.

After that, the Snowfield Silver Wolf wandered for a thousand years, eventually arriving at the Two Principles Mountain.

When it stepped onto the land of the Two Principles Mountain, it felt the aura of that great existence again.

The aura was already very weak, like a hibernating bear, barely a breeze of breath after a long time.

If it hadn’t triggered the fear etched in its soul, the Snowfield Silver Wolf wouldn’t have sensed this aura.

Its whole body trembled. It was unable to move its legs or take a step forward.

In the end, it could only curl up, bury itself deep in the soil, and sleep next to the edge of that aura.

In its dreams, it saw the true form of that great existence.

Its wings spread wide, covering the entire Two Principles Mountain, with nine long phoenix feathers behind it. It was an ancient divine phoenix.

“Can you sense my true form, you mere insect?” The terrifying voice of the ancient divine phoenix sounded.

The silver wolf’s four paws clung tightly to the ground, crouching at the feet of the great existence. It couldn’t speak and didn’t dare to howl.

“There’s no need to be afraid. My era has ended,” the ancient divine phoenix tilted its head slightly, and a melodious phoenix cry emanated from its mouth.

A lingering song rang out, an ancient ballad passed down from the primeval times, called “Nirvana”.

Phoenix perches on the Phoenix tree, reborn from nirvana.

“I shall return to the universe,” the ancient divine phoenix left these words.

Then, flames blazed fiercely on its body, shining like a blazing sun that illuminated the entire universe.

After the fire dissipated, the Snowfield Silver Wolf saw a fluffy yellow spirit bird sleeping in the ashes. It slept soundly, smacking its lips occasionally, as if dreaming of something wonderful.

Around the little yellow bird were nine small phoenix feathers, the source of power for the newborn divine phoenix.

After waking up, it would absorb the power of the nine phoenix feathers again and become that terrifying existence once more.

After that, the Snowfield Silver Wolf fell into a deeper sleep until a voice that reverberated through its soul awakened it on the day of Awakening Thunder this year, returning it to the world.

After reading the memories of the Snowfield Silver Wolf, Wu Ailang slowly opened his eyes, his spirit detaching from the contract space.

He had a deeper exchange with his spirit beast, gained more understanding, but…

“Why are you looking so puzzled? Haven’t you learned sharp fangs and ice claws?” Yun Xiguang asked.

“No,” Wu Ailang scratched his bald head, confused. “In the Yun family’s records, has there ever been mention of pixelation in the contract space?”

“Pixelation?” Now it was Yun Xiguang’s turn to be confused.

“Yeah,” Wu Ailang said in surprise. “In the Snowfield Silver Wolf’s contract space, I saw it encounter a huge red pixelation on the Two Principles Mountain. It was truly a screen full of pixelation, constantly flickering, almost blinding my eyes.”

“Did the Snow Wolf transmit any emotions about the pixelation to you?” Yun Xiguang tried to understand this bizarre scene.

Wu Ailang said, “I don’t know. The emotions seemed to be pixelated as well.”

Yun Xiguang hadn’t encountered this situation either. In theory, in the contract space, the spirit beast and human were spiritually connected. As long as the spirit beast was willing to show it, no matter how abstract, humans could understand it. Pixelation simply shouldn’t happen.

Yun Xiguang was perplexed, but time didn’t allow him to think further.

The bell in the auditorium rang, and the announcement echoed throughout the campus. The martial arts tournament would begin in five minutes.