40 The Next Step (1/2)
Kankuro and Youen stared curiously at the small dot of light floating out of Hikari's chest.
The light flashed brilliantly for a short moment. When they had blinked once again, there stood on the top of the table a lustrous creature the size of a small dog.
The pure-white creature had the body of a horse, the face of a dolphin, and five horns and five branches of long, silky soft tails with a shade of tan on each ends. Even with its diminutive size, it was exhuming a proud and majestic aura.
”B-big brother, this is... don't tell me...” Youen pointed at the creature with trembling hands.
”Yes,” Hikari nodded. ”This is a spirit beast from this world!”
”This One is a Tailed Beast!” Kokuo groaned.
”It can talk! It is indeed a spirit beast!”
The two of them quickly stood up and gave it a cupped fist salute alongside a respectful bow.
””This humble one greets the Venerable One!””
”Hoo...” Kokuo's eyes were brimming with indulgence. ”I thought you're an exception, but is everyone from your past life actually treating these 'spirit beasts' well?”
”Any cultivators, even unorthodox ones, will treat Spirit Beasts with utmost reverence, Venerable One,” Hikari responded.
”Hmm? Explain it to This One. ”
”In our realms, Beast is the term for lesser beings who had attained even a sliver amount of consciousness, the most basic prerequisite to pursue Dao. If they managed to learn how to cultivate their qi, either through their bloodline or from chance encounter, they will be considered as Magical Beast.
From there on, those who deviated from Dao and become blinded by power are called Demonic Beast, while those who could attain Dao, the enlightened ones, are called Spirit Beast. The latter is always capable of speech, and of similar rank to deity-level cultivators, perhaps even stronger. To show respect to the strong is a common sense, no?”
”Hmm, This One likes the way your people think!” Kokuo nodded. ”Maybe This One should go there with you when the time comes.”
”Well... sure?”
'If we could go there, that is...'
”Uh... Would Venerable One graces us with your name?” Kankuro timidly asked.
”Hmm. It is not a problem,” Kokuo replied. ”This One is called Kokuo, the great Five-Tails. Burn that in your mind!”
””King Mu?”” The two said at the same time.
A vein popped up on the white beast's head.
”This One said, Kokuo! Who the hell is this King Mu?!”
”Ah, it's this wise Emperor from the Zhou Dynasty-” Kankuro answered.
”What does that have to do with This One?! This One doesn't even know what that 'chou' thingy is!”
”Uh...” Youen scratched his cheek. ”That's how your name is written in our language...”
”...”
So that was why the girl called him like that way back when...
”Forget it. Hikari, This One has a surprise for you.”
”Oh?” she raised an eyebrow. ”What is it?”
Hmph. The Tailed Beast had a smug look on its face. It began opening its mouth very slowly, as if trying to create a dramatic effect.
When its voice finally came out, she couldn't hide her astonishment.
”I can speak your language now.”
Everyone was pleasantly surprised. Their eyes widened in disbelief.
”Venerable One... since when?!”
”Heheheh. This is result of my three years observation hearing you and that doggy.”
”Impressive! As expected of an exalted spirit beast! This humble one admits defeat!” Kankuro clapped his hands merrily.
”Fufufu... As the saying goes, 'Young plants can not be forced to grow by stretching them'. It seems that all those times watching in silence finally bear fruit,” Daji chimed in.
”It's not only cute, but also highly intelligent. It's surely a high-ranked spirit beast! Have you really mastered our language? Can you speak up more? Hey, hey, say more~” Youen urged while waving his fists in excitement.
Facing the barrage of more and more complex foreign words, as well as their expectant faces, the wise and honorable Tailed Beast... cowered and retreated back. It lowered its head until it reached the surface of the table in a manner resembling a dogeza.
”This One... This One apologizes...”
”””...”””
Why did it revert back to normal tongue...
Apparently, Kokuo could only understand limited number of words. It seemed more learning was required beyond this point.
The reincarnators' feeling was like getting a reward from the lottery, but the reward turned out to be free potato supply for a year. It was the pitiful kind of disappointment where you don't know whether you should be happy or sad...
Leaving the now-depressed Tailed Beast aside, Kankuro's expression grew serious as he turned to Hikari.
”Venerable Yao, the spirit beast came out from your body, does that mean...?”
The brown-haired girl winced.
”Yeah, so... it's sealed inside my body...”
The two blinked rapidly.
”Big brother... don't you know that sealing a spirit beast inside any container is an act punishable by Heaven...?”
”Venerable Yao, I know that you're trying to cultivate as fast as possible, but this method is...”
”You guys, calm down. It's not my fault!” she groaned. ”It's already like this by the time that I woke up.”
”Just let it out, then,” Kankuro remarked.
”I can't. I've already unlocked the seal, but if I fully separate Venerable One from my current body, I'll die. The only option is to wait until this body has reached high enough cultivation stage to the point where losing Venerable One wouldn't be fatal.”
”So... Nascent Soul stage or higher, huh... how long would that take?” the Anbu murmured.
”Well, how are you guys' cultivation?”
”Qi Condensation stage, seventh rank,” Youen promptly replied.
”Qi Condensation stage, first rank,” Kankuro replied, his face slightly red from shame.
”My cultivation is a bit different, since I'm following the path of a Magical Beast. But if I compare it to you guys, it's equivalent to Qi Condensation stage fourth rank,” Daji said.
So, everyone were still in Qi Condensation stage at this point...
”...I'm also in Qi Condensation stage, fifth rank... and that's after four years of constant training...”
Hikari knocked her head on the table, thinking that life was really hard.
If they were still stuck in Qi Condensation stage at this age, wouldn't they miss the timing to reach Foundation Establishment stage? Could they even reach Nascent Soul stage in their entire lifetime?!
”My seventh rank is achieved through eight years of cultivation, and that's only because this body is better-honed than your younger body, big brother... relying on chakra alone is really bad for our progress.”
”You guys are lucky to be able to train for years!” The black-clothed boy laughed in self-mockery. ”I had only started six months ago...”
”Eh?” Hikari turned to him. ”Come to think of it, Ox-Head... this is supposed to be 'reincarnation', right?”
”Yes?”
”Then why did I wake up in an eight-years-old body?”
”Oh, it's because our souls were damaged in the process.”
Usually, a proper reincarnation was harmless for the soul. In a pristine condition, a soul's memories, if they hadn't been removed by Five-Fragrance Tea, would resurface around the time that their physical body was able to form consciousness.
However, in the case of a wounded soul, the memories from their previous life would be buried until the soul could return back to its normal state. The amount of time spent recovering was proportional to the damage.
”In my case, I needed around thirteen years before my memories resurfaced.”
”It's more or less the same for me,” Youen commented.
”Then... why is everyone ended up arriving in the same place?” Hikari wondered out loud. ”With that many reincarnation path mixed in one pool, shouldn't we become separated in various planes of existence?”
”Ah, that...”
Kankuro glanced at Hikari.
”...it's Venerable Yao's fault.”
”Eh?!”
The black-clothed boy coughed.
”Basically, when a soul entered a path, the entrance's light would intensify for a moment. Usually, it doesn't mean anything, since they're all contained in separate pools. However, at that moment, everyone who had fallen into the mixed pool was trying their best to survive. Logically, they would grasp toward the brightest light that they could find. The little difference that Venerable Yao had started ended up attracting everyone toward this world... is what I hypothesized.”
”...”
Uh.
UHHHH.