Be Gentle, Immortal Master

With a task to look forward to, time passed faster than ever, and the day for the fair had arrived before I knew it. It was a bright morning when we readied our flying swords, heading west towards the hidden mountain valleys where the Hall of Dragons and Phoenixes was located. 𝘧reewℯ𝚋noѵ𝒆l. cｏ𝙢

I had never visited a sect that focused on spiritual pets, and I squinted at our destination in the distance long before we landed, curiously studying the area. Although the sect was named a "Hall", there was no central structure like the imposing pagoda at Jade Temple. Small buildings dotted the valley in a similar fashion to Mount Hua, but the myriads of arenas spreading across the ground made all the difference. Some were fenced, some were fully enclosed with iron nets, some were filled with sand and rocks while others were covered by trees and grass. There were even a handful of deep man-made pools, surrounded by tall tiled walls.

"Those are their training fields for the beasts," Bai Ye followed my gaze and explained. "They mimic different types of terrains that the animals might encounter in the wild. But what we can see here are only the arenas for low-level spiritual beasts. Once they grow strong enough, they will be trained in visions and illusions that match the real world much more closely."

We landed as he spoke. The entire sect had turned into a fairground today, and there were people everywhere for as far as I could see, a lot of them with a spiritual beast on a leash. Temporary tents lined the sides of the walkways, selling various books, power-enhancing pet foods, training tools, and of course, spiritual beasts.

I peeked curiously through the spiritual seals harnessing the animals. Pets weren't too common at Mount Hua, and I never knew there were so many different varieties of them until now. Some looked like typical cats and dogs, only with an obvious presence of strong spiritual power and sometimes horns or wings, while others didn't look like anything I had ever seen before. I gasped as we moved through the crowd, and I wondered if I looked like a child walking into a toy shop for the first time.

Then my eyes landed on a small animal. It was roughly the size of a watermelon—in fact, almost in the shape of a watermelon as well, as it was so round that I could barely tell where its head started or where its legs were. I stopped in my tracks, staring at it with interest. The little animal looked up at me with its bright golden eyes, and it opened its mouth. But instead of letting out a bark or squeak, it blew a train of bubbles into my face.

"…" I glared at it speechlessly. It was fortunate that the cultivator at this booth was too busy attending to others, and no one noticed my embarrassing moment except Bai Ye. He laughed and helped me brush off the wet foam on my face.

"This is a puffer cat," he said. "It's still in its infancy, so all it can do now is to blow harmless water bubbles. But once it grows up, it will be able to breathe mists that achieve various purposes depending on the path of cultivation. Poison, for example, or illusions."

"Poison?" I winced. Why was poison such a favorable trait in spiritual pets these days? I stared at the animal again, and it suddenly didn't look as cute as it did a moment ago anymore. "Thank Heavens this isn't a fully grown one," I mumbled.

"None of the beasts for sale here are fully grown," Bai Ye chuckled. "Bonding with a spiritual pet is similar in a lot of ways to bonding with a demonic sword. The power grows simultaneously on both sides as the bond grows stronger, so it's always more desirable to start as early as possible. Most of the beasts here are less than a month old." He paused for a moment. "If you want a pet for yourself, Qing-er, now is a good time to pick one."

A little surprised at his suggestion, I turned to look at him. "You've never asked me if I wanted a spiritual pet before," I said. Now that I thought about it, it seemed strange given how well he knew that I loved little animals and how far he always went to give me everything that I needed and wanted. "Has it never occurred to you till this moment that I might want one?"

He raised an eyebrow at my question. Then his lips curled further. "No. You've always been fond of animals, but you are too kind to want to keep them for yourself."

My heart skipped a beat. He knew me too well … As much as I cared for all those hurt animals I had saved in the past, I never thought of keeping them in our hall after they recovered, because I knew they belonged to their home in the wild. Even though spiritual beasts were different, and I understood that most of them were raised and trained to be cultivator's companions from the minute they were born, I still didn't want to be the one to trap them by my side.

"I just prefer to see them free," I said, squeezing his hand, "like us."

Just as he was about to speak again, a hustle suddenly came from the crowd behind us. "Who let their mount loose?" Someone's annoyed complaint came into our ears.

Mount? I turned hastily to look. In the distance, I saw two shadows moving towards us, drawing closer and closer at such a fast speed that I could barely make out the look of them.

"It's the bixies," Bai Ye's voice rang next to me. His spiritual power had recovered well enough that he could see things much better than me now. "Watch out, Qing-er, they seem a bit too eager—"

Before he could finish the rest of the sentence, the shadows were in front of us.. With two squeals that indeed sounded too eager, they leaped, pinning me onto the ground.