Chapter 8 – Disguise

After Li Zheng established the rules, Qin Shu nodded and lifted his gaze to the sky.

His spirit beast, Bai Ze, was hidden above in the clouds, eyeing the plump fledgling perched on Yun Xiguang’s shoulder with confusion.

Bai Ze’s keen intuition couldn’t help but focus on this chick, but its strength and aura told it that this was just an ordinary spirit bird, weak and frail.

Most importantly, during this year’s Awakening Thunder, when the spirit beasts of Two Principles Mountain came to life, a surge of profound spiritual energy transformed into nine streaks of light that flew in different directions.

At that moment, Bai Ze recognized that the source of these nine streams of spiritual energy was identical to the primordial vitality that had endowed all things with life in ancient times. Bai Ze understood the implications.

This proved that the first creature in the world to bear the honorific name “Phoenix,” which had summoned the first True Sun Fire and nearly lived as long as heaven and earth itself, the ancient divine beast, had fallen.

Bai Ze could perceive events five thousand years in the past and future. Through those nine streaks of light, it saw a land strewn with corpses, a barren wasteland scorched black, a world devoid of life.

That wasn’t the new blood of life bringing vitality to the world. These nine streams of spiritual energy symbolized calamity and destruction.

If these were obtained by some malevolent individuals or evil sect spirit beasts, they would bring endless disasters to this world.

The prelude to destruction had begun.

Last night, when Two Principles Mountain opened, the students thought the nine streams of spiritual energy were the awakening of nine powerful spirit beasts. They eagerly climbed the mountain to search for their own spirit beasts.

However, Bai Ze and the other divine beasts were so overwhelmed by these nine streams of spiritual energy that they couldn’t raise their heads, prostrating themselves on the ground. An irrepressible sorrow welled up within them, paying homage to the one who departed.

Receiving Qin Shu’s signal, Bai Ze pulled its thoughts from reminiscence, no longer looking at the chick that was too round to stand up properly.

“The world will face a new upheaval, whether good or bad…” it murmured softly.

Bai Ze raised its head and emitted a silent howl.

Its howl’s frequency was far beyond human hearing range, and none of those present could hear Bai Ze’s voice. But everyone’s minds were flooded with the rules set by Li Zheng. Bai Ze had transmitted the battle rules to everyone present through some mysterious channel in an instant.

This was one of Bai Ze’s abilities, the domain of absolute rule.

Zhuzhao Academy was Bai Ze’s domain. Here, Bai Ze could establish unbreakable rules. Those within its domain must abide by the rules.

Unless someone possessed the ability to defy natural law, capable of overturning the entire Two Principles Mountain in an instant and rising above the rules, they absolutely couldn’t violate the rules.

Within Zhuzhao Academy, Qin Shu and Bai Ze were invincible.

In today’s world, no divine beast could achieve this.

Bai Ze itself possessed Heaven-grade spirit beast power. Unfortunately, Qin Shu and Bai Ze weren’t connected by a Spirit Contract, so he was merely an Earth-grade Spiritbond Master, forever unable to become a Heaven-grade Spiritbond Master. His limit was set.

For this very reason, no one was optimistic about Yun Xiguang. No matter how outstanding he was, no matter how lucky he got, encountering powerful spirit beasts, his ceiling was restricted by his spirit root.

Yun Xiguang, deemed to have reached his limit, raised an eyebrow slightly upon hearing the rules for the free-for-all.

Wu Ailang, standing beside him, said excitedly, “A free-for-all is great! This way, we can fish in troubled waters, using the crowd to take advantage of my newly comprehended Sharp Fang and Ice Claw skills to secretly attack our enemies. The Snow Wolf’s abilities are perfect for being an assassin!”

Yun Xiguang gave him a look of pity and said indifferently, “I’m afraid it won’t go as you wish. Once it turns into a free-for-all, the development of this battle will likely be 2 against 18.”

“2 against 18? Are we teaming up to fight Yun Xinglei and Qi Liu?” Wu Ailang said happily, “I like a gang fight too! I’ve been looking at these aristocratic family kids with disdain for a while now; one is arrogant and bullying, picking on others everywhere; the other has a gloomy appearance, always lurking in the shadows, watching people like a snake; fighting them together will be awesome!”

Yun Xiguang’s expression grew more complicated as he sighed, “You’ve misunderstood. 2 against 18 means they, the 18 of them, are going against us two.”

Wu Ailang froze. “How could that be? I have great people skills, the classmates all like me; they wouldn’t…”

Before he could finish speaking, he noticed that the 18 classmates around them were moving in unison, surrounding the two of them with a menacing gaze, ready to attack them at the referee’s command.

Wu Ailang fell silent.

The Snow Wolf shuffled its paws quietly and hid behind Yun Xiguang without making a sound. It didn’t forget to take care of its foolish contractor. Opening its mouth, it bit Wu Ailang’s butt, dragged him over, and hid half of his body behind Yun Xiguang.

“What… What’s going on? Even if they don’t like you, they shouldn’t all side with Yun Xinglei, right? Does Yun Xinglei have that kind of popularity?” Wu Ailang asked in a low voice.

Yun Xiguang replied, “What they’re concerned about isn’t Yun Xinglei’s interpersonal relationships, but his abilities force them to join forces against us.”

“What abilities?” Wu Ailang looked at the crowd, realizing he couldn’t find Yun Xinglei’s figure. He scanned the area, “Where is he?”

Yun Xinglei, who was usually arrogant and stood out in the crowd due to his aristocratic family’s haughty demeanor, had vanished.

Wu Ailang counted the people: “1, 2, 3… 18, that’s correct, there are 18 people, but I can’t find Yun Xinglei.”

Yun Xiguang said, “Human-Faced Owl, seen yet forgotten, which is human and which is owl. Hidden among the crowd, unseen, thus avoiding attacks — this is the most basic ability of the Human-Faced Owl. You won’t see him.”

Yun Xinglei wanted to gain recognition from the Yun Family and become the family’s successor. However, even after Yun Xiguang’s fall from grace, the Yun Family still had no shortage of exceptionally talented individuals. The position of family head would never come to Yun Xinglei.

Yun Xinglei could only pin his hopes on a spirit beast. Only by forming a contract with a powerful divine beast capable of filling seas and swallowing mountains would he have a chance to compete for the position of family head.

But on this crucial day that could determine his fate, Yun Xinglei still hadn’t found a powerful divine beast and chose the Human-Faced Owl originally arranged by the Yun Family for him.

Each child born into the Yun Family would undergo an evaluation. They assessed which type of spirit beast would suit them for a contract and cultivated them in that direction from a young age. It was as if their fate was decided from birth, leaving the family members with no ability to resist.

The result of Yun Xinglei’s evaluation was that despite appearing the most prominent and attention-grabbing, he was actually inwardly humble, better suited for hiding in the crowd.

The Human-Faced Owl was ugly, repulsive to behold, seemingly the most attention-drawing spirit beast. Yet, they could hide in the night, making it impossible to find their figures.

Spirit beasts lacked human emotions. They didn’t care about the evaluations of other spirit beasts, and the abilities they possessed were better suited for survival in the ancient desolate world.

But Yun Xinglei was different. He had a strong sense of self-respect and was also extremely insecure. After receiving such an evaluation, he felt intense dissatisfaction and constantly tried to change his fate.

However, what he didn’t realize was that the more he tried to cover his insecurity with arrogance, the uglier his appearance became, and the darker and uglier his inner self grew, which increased his compatibility with the Human-Faced Owl.

The evaluations the Yun Family made of their children were like curses, impossible to escape.

Only Yun Xiguang could make the Yun Family repeatedly alter their assessment of him.

When Yun Xiguang was born, the Yun Family evaluated him as having average talent and suggested he choose a spirit beast like a wolf or leopard, to serve as the family’s vanguard, always prepared to sacrifice himself for the clan.

Later, something unknown happened. When Yun Xiguang was five years old, the Yun Family reassessed him, deeming him to have excellent talent, suitable for significant roles.

Yun Xinglei didn’t understand why Yun Xiguang was so special. Why could he change his destiny? Why, even after being abandoned by the family, did Yun Xiguang remain so indifferent? Shouldn’t he be disheartened? Shouldn’t he fall into depravity? Shouldn’t he become like a maggot, rolling in the mud?

Why, even in such a state, did he still possess such clear eyes? Why wasn’t he tainted or dirtied?

This incomprehension and mindset made Yun Xinglei increasingly compatible with the Human-Faced Owl.

Members of the Yun Family, as long as they followed the family’s training, could surpass other Spiritbond Masters early on. Yun Xinglei, who had just formed a contract with the Human-Faced Owl, already had a Spiritbond Master-beast compatibility rate of over 50%.

When the compatibility rate reached over 50%, humans could merge with their spirit beasts.

The spirit beast would transform into an energy body, integrating into the human’s body, taking control of the Spiritbond Master’s body, and utilizing the strength granted by the law-recognized body.

After the rules for the free-for-all were announced, Yun Xinglei merged with the Human-Faced Owl immediately. While Wu Ailang was naively dreaming of becoming an assassin, Yun Xinglei emitted an unpleasant screech, similar to the midnight hoot of an owl.

His screech blended into the air, unnoticed by the classmates. This sound was meant for the other classmates’ spirit beasts.

Spirit beasts didn’t care about human conflicts. They had just awakened to face the flames of heaven, reluctantly contracting with humans to survive. They didn’t care about the outcome of the humans’ battles; they just wanted to return to rest and heal from the heavenly fire injuries.

The Human-Faced Owl’s screech had two abilities. First, it incited the spirit beasts’ emotions. Second, it could help spirit beasts take control of their Spiritbond Masters.

Under high Spiritbond Master-beast compatibility, the Human-Faced Owl’s ability might not take effect. But these students had just become Spiritbond Masters and had no experience in this regard. After a few screeches, the spirit beasts took the initiative.

The spirit beasts didn’t want to fight two mature Spiritbond Masters and wished to return to rest quickly, so they agreed to Yun Xinglei’s suggestion, focusing their attack on Yun Xiguang and Wu Ailang. After all, one had no spirit root, and his spirit beast was just a chick; the other seemed foolish and easy to deal with.

Before the referee announced the start of the match, Yun Xinglei had already made his move.

The grandstands were filled with seasoned veterans who instantly saw through Yun Xinglei’s actions.

The Yun Family elder who came to attend the ceremony smiled and nodded, whispering, “Our Yun Family offspring grow exactly as the family expects. Yun Xinglei is truly a promising support player. He will grow more suitable for the Yun Family, more in line with the family’s expectations for him.”

Li Zheng had just taken office and hadn’t had time to review the information on various families, so he didn’t fully understand the Yun Family’s rules. But just hearing these words made Li Zheng involuntarily frown.

The words of Elder Yun didn’t treat Yun Xinglei as a human, but rather as a component. By continuously refining this component, they made it more suitable for the vast machine that was the Yun Family, allowing the Yun Family to function better.

Such a family… No wonder Yun Xiguang had become so aloof and distant.

Because he had become a discarded component, cast out of the Yun Family and outside the crowd.

If he hadn’t sent Yun Xiguang back to the Yun Family at that time… Li Zheng couldn’t help but have this thought, then he bitterly smiled and shook his head.

Let alone the fact that he was just an ordinary member back then, even now, as the director of the Special Affairs Bureau, he couldn’t shake the massive entity that was the Yun Family.

With Yun Xinglei’s move, everyone understood that Yun Xiguang’s defeat was inevitable.

Even if his teammate, the Snow Wolf, had powerful abilities, it was impossible for him to lead Yun Xiguang to victory against so many people.

Fortunately, in this match, the only loser was Yun Xiguang. Only he would be expelled from the Spiritbond Master circle. The others would still receive their Spiritbond Master certificates, completely unaffected.

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on Yun Xiguang, waiting for the once-proud prodigy to utterly plummet.

Yun Xiguang reached out to take Chi Qiong from his shoulder and cradled him in one hand. He addressed his enemies, “Do you think the one I contracted with is just a chick?”

Chi Qiong, having left Yun Xiguang’s warm neck nest, felt a little cold. He fluffed his wings and drowsily rubbed his beak against Yun Xiguang’s palm.

Upon seeing this scene, everyone present was speechless.

Wasn’t that the case? This was just an ordinary chick! Claiming it was a spirit beast was an insult to spirit beasts; this thing wasn’t even comparable to a regular bird, was it? At least a regular bird could fly; this thing was too round to even take flight!

Facing everyone’s gazes, Yun Xiguang knew that no one believed the next words he was about to say, but he had to say them. Because he intended to use Heavenly Fire to intimidate these eighteen spirit beasts. When the spirit beasts were immobilized by the intimidation of Heavenly Fire, Wu Ailang would use Sharp Fang and Ice Claw to severely injure the eighteen opponents.

Given his current control over Heavenly Fire, he could only intimidate them for less than three minutes. During this period, he himself would also suffer the agony of being burned by Heavenly Fire, unable to move.

This was a risky strategy, but Yun Xiguang had no choice.

Only in this way could he and Wu Ailang secure victory.

Yun Xiguang was confident he could do it, but with so many important figures in the stands, he couldn’t possibly use Heavenly Fire without attracting their attention.

His parents’ deaths were surely related to those nine words and Heavenly Fire. Yun Xiguang couldn’t let anyone know he could control Heavenly Fire.

Therefore, he needed a reason, no matter how exaggerated it might seem. As long as he stated it firmly, it would be true.

Holding Chi Qiong, Yun Xiguang lifted his head with an arrogant attitude. “He is the one I found at the origin of the nine streams of spiritual energy. Although he is young, he has already absorbed the power of one stream of spiritual energy and fused it with Heavenly Fire. His down feathers, once they touch the ground, can turn into Heavenly Fire, suppressing all beasts.”

Everyone was speechless again.

From the grandstand’s dignitaries to Yun Xinglei and Qi Liu opposite him, they all looked at Yun Xiguang with a “you’re kidding me” expression.

Bai Ze, hidden in the clouds, almost blurted out “bullshit” as a rule. Thankfully, Bai Ze promptly restrained itself from cursing, sparing the entire Zhuzhao Academy from the suffering of a forced farting episode under the rule’s compulsion.

Regardless of how much others didn’t believe him, Yun Xiguang maintained a resolute expression. He never spoke boastfully, and his expression was so determined that some people hesitated, unsure if what he said could be true.

After all, Yun Xiguang’s short life had experienced too many events. It seemed nothing was surprising when it happened to him.

Chi Qiong, who had been sleeping drowsily, suddenly woke up after being removed from the neck nest. Rolling around in Yun Xiguang’s palm, he drowsily came to consciousness.

Upon waking and hearing Yun Xiguang’s declaration of “suppressing all beasts,” the ancient divine beast’s instinctive pride immediately roused Chi Qiong.

He habitually raised his short neck, lifted a phoenix claw with pride, and gently lowered it, signaling the beasts to rise without excessive formalities.

Everyone was speechless again.

Yun Xiguang, are you sure this chick scratching its claws in your hand is a fire-type divine beast?

Are you out of your mind?