"Our land was founded by a great master."
Pillars of fire ignited the streets, casting a harsh red glow out across the stone land that led to the base of the mountain.
"Han Yuan was the first ever human to escape the clutches of the elves. She fled far away across the sea and founded the first ever nation of man, and it is on that land that she discovered we still exist hundreds of years later."
Rain dropped from the sky, and yet the fire remained strong, hissing and sizzling but never going out.
"It was also she who discovered the first ever Spirit and learned the art of Cultivation. She founded Yin-Yang energy, the embodiment of the elements, and the formation of Qi Lines and the act of bodily fusion with a spirit. Without her act of mercy, we, the Martial Cultivators, would be lost and devoured by those who are our enemies."
Ken felt her nails dig into her palm. The rain fell upon her, soaking her clothes and freezing her skin, but she ignored it. Her eyes traced the path in front of her, watching it snake all the way up to the mountain she would have to climb.
"We are the descendants of the mighty Han Yuan. As such, we follow in her footsteps. They say she climbed to the top of this mountain, and she battled the great sage who resided at the top. She defeated the King of the Monkeys and claimed his very existence as her power, thus creating the first-ever Martial Cultivator. We, the Yuans, are known as the Wild Beasts that defy the Heavens, and we specialize in utilizing monkey-based spirits. Today it is time for you to gain yours as well."
Ken gave a small nod, and she turned to the one who had been speaking. Her brother Kim Ohk Yuan was a tall and imposing man. He was around one hundred and thirty but only looked to be in his late forties. Being the fifteenth child of their father, he was rather high up in the rankings and had spent years dedicating himself to the family mission.
Kim Ohk had long, jagged red hair that stabbed backward like a river of knives, and nearly every part of his flesh was covered in nasty scars. He wore the pelt of animals, and standing on his shoulders was an eight-foot-tall baboon spirit, forged from roaring flame. The spirit was turned around and every now and then would present its ass and slap at it.
Truly a fearsome creature.
"Brother Ken-"
"Sister." Ken corrected and rolled her eyes.
"Brother Ken," Kim Ohk carried on. "Today is your time. You have troubled our family for long enough, but all your sins and flaws can be repaid. If you can reach the center of the mountain and claim a powerful monkey spirit, then Father will overlook your transgressions."
"He can kiss my ass," Ken sneered. "I took the Yin-based pill because this form suited me better. It is as simple as that. I don't care if he had some important yang-based plans for me. This is who I am."
"You're lucky Father is busy. If he heard you saying that…" Kim Ohk let out a sigh and shook his head while his baboon began to rapidly slap at its ass. "Now that you're fourteen, it is time you get a spirit anyway. I was ten when I got mine, so you're already very late. No doubt Feng has been going easy on you."
"And where is Feng anyway?" Ken asked curiously.
"Your mentor is busy with the elder meeting," Kim Ohk stated. "Medora has been causing an upheaval recently and is trying to convince us to go to war with the Spell Swords across the sea. No doubt our father will knock some sense into her. Or he'll throw a biscuit at her and treat her like a dog…"
"Probably that one," Ken chuckled.
"Yes, you're probably right." Kim Ohk shook his head, and then his look suddenly grew serious. "Now, brother Ken-"
"Sister."
"It is time you begin your first steps. When we next meet, I expect you'll have a spirit worthy of the Yuan's. Go and claim your mighty monkey." Kim Ohk slashed his hand through the air, and with a casual wave of Qi, he caused all the fire to flare and then fade, rapidly sizzling out.
And just like that, Ken Yuan began her journey.
Spirits were strange creatures. No one knew where exactly they came from or how they came into existence. It was also unknown why they were so similar to monsters.
A monster was a being from another world or a human who mutated due to the intense radiation that resided in dungeons. Monsters came in all forms, and because they were beings created from this radiation, they were made of cells and DNA just like any organic being, but spirits were different.
A spirit didn't have a true body. They were pure mana given shape and did not need to eat or sleep unless it was to recover their own natural energy. Because they were beings made of pure chaotic mana, it was possible for spirits to reside in the body of a host, turning into a special core and fusing with the host's body, creating a type of bodily fusion.
People have studied spirits and found uses for them, but their creation and point of origin were still one huge mystery.
Spirits were only found in Rossum. They didn't wander the rest of the outside world, and the only time they wouldn't be in the land of cultivators was when an owner of a spirit would leave. Even then, if the host died, the spirit would always return back to its home. It was as if being on this land was an instinct they couldn't shake.
The other thing that made spirits odd was their ties to greater powers. A lot of spirits referred to things that made no sense, talking about heaven as if it were a physical thing or place. Some even referred to it as a land known as Rome, but they would never explain what that was.
The strongest of all the Spirits was the mighty Wukong, the great Sage of the Mountain. He was the spirit of the Yuan clan and their secret weapon. It was thanks to him that they were able to stand at the top and continue to follow the path Han Yuan did.
All members of the Yuan clan received flame-based or metal-based monkey spirits. That was a tradition that absolutely could not be broken. To do so would be to bring absolute shame upon the head of the clan.
Ken felt a strange chill as she approached the entrance to a cave. She had walked the path for nearly an hour now. It led directly up the slope of the mountain and took her to the destination where she would claim her spirit.
This mountain was known as the Sage's Mountain, and at one point it had been covered in a lush forest, filled with hundreds of different monkey spirits who all worshipped their king. A grand waterfall which came from the heaven itself used to drape itself around the mountain and light would bounce and dance off particles of water.
That was how the mountain used to be. Now it was nothing like that. After an intense battle with Han Yuan, the mountain had been scorched and destroyed. Ash flowed in the air, burned trees barely stood, and hundreds of years later the smell of smoke and death was an ever-present scent.
Ken peered into the cave. It opened up into a massive chasm where an old and heavily destroyed palace stood. Walls were shattered and cracked along it, and the very stone itself had once melted and rehardened, leaving it disfigured and ugly.
When she got even closer, she met her challenger.
The legendary sage, the Monkey King, Lord of fire and metal, Wukong, resided deep beneath a vault where he would be sealed until the head of the clan called upon him. What stood before her now wasn't Wukong, but it was something that looked similar to him. This was because Wukong had the ability to create clones of himself.
That was what was currently glaring at her.
The clone had a body that was forged out of a mix of metal and stone. The materials twisted together, and dozens of cracks ran along its form. Its left leg was barely held together, and its right arm nearly hung off its side.
Unlike most spirits, Wukong actually looked closer to a human. Or, at least, he had a shape close to a person. Two arms, two legs, a waist, and a body. His actual form was covered in flowing white fur made out of fire, and he often wore finely crafted robes forged of metal.
His clone had been stripped of his armor, and his trusty weapon had been taken away as well. This clone had existed for nearly five hundred years now, and various seals and talismans were slapped over the cracks of his broken body, both keeping him held together as well as sealing him, preventing him from leaving the cave.
The fake had been turned into a tool. Most of his consciousness had been ripped away, and he was used sort of as a vessel. Han Yuan had hollowed him out and sliced his back open, taking out his insides and core. She had then stuffed him full of all the other spirit monkeys and sealed him back up.
It was Han Yuan's hope that she could cultivate a powerful flame spirit this way. The process was similar to creating Gu poison. The spirits inside would all fight and merge within the sealed Wukong clone vessel, which then in turn worked like a forge, his body ripping them down and processing them into an intense superheated core that held so much power it rivaled the sun itself.
When a Yuan would battle this clone, two things would happen. If they were worthy, they'd defeat the clone, and in the process his back would rip open and spill out fire. A newly born spirit monkey would claw its way out of his open wound, and that would be how the Yuan gained their spirit.
If the Yuan member failed, however…
Well, even a clone needed to eat every now and then.
Ken stared down the clone, who in turn began to slowly approach her. She quickly entered her stance, Qi flowing through her veins as she drew upon her power. Of course, the actual Wukong was so powerful that beating him would be impossible even if she somehow got a thousand times stronger. One of his clones should also be far too strong, but luckily for her, this particular clone was dozens of times weaker, lacking in its gear, injured, and kept in a starved state. It was also forced to carry the burden of hundreds of spirits, and most of its mind and intelligence had been torn apart, leading it to be more akin to an angry beast.
At least that was what she had been told. This beast shouldn't have been able to speak, so of course she was shocked when it did.
"Han Yuan?" A broken, twisted growl came out of the clone's mouth. Bits of metal and stone dropped from his jaw as he spoke, and his eyes glared into hers. Ken was caught off guard so much that she wasn't even able to react as the clone reached her and stared down directly into her eyes. It studied her for several seconds, then snorted. "No." It turned away and began to walk back to where it had been resting. "Not Han Yuan. Just a fake."
Ken blinked and then shook her head. "I was sent to fight you." She declared. "I'm here to claim my spirit."
The fake Wukong ignored her and took a seat, crossing his arms. He clasped his hands together and then began to meditate.
Ken growled and stomped over. "Did you hear me?"
The clone opened his eyes and glanced back up at her, looking indifferent. "You lie."
"What?"
"You are not here for a spirit. Begone."
Ken frowned. "No. My brother sent me here."
"And yet you haven't attacked."
"What?"
"All your… Siblings, if you can even call them that, attacked me on sight. They were vicious and cruel." The stone monkey explained. "They brought weapons or pills and would attack me while my back was turned. They did so without even allowing me to speak and often took me by surprise. They'd beat me till an inch of my life and rip one of the poor souls within me out, crushing its will and sense of self, forcing it to belong to them. I killed them when I could, but that only caused the next one to strike harder and faster."
Ken flinched and looked away, feeling a weird sense of shame. She hadn't truly thought about how this process would go or what it must have been like for Wukong. After all, this was just a clone and not the real one, and growing up, her family always acted as if he was a dumb animal, yet now he was talking and basically telling her that her family was all cowards.
"You didn't mask your Qi." The false Wukong stated. "You approached without holding back your power and didn't try to hide. You also didn't bring weapons, and I sense no pills upon you. The only advantage you have is Han Yuan's body, which has been honed into something akin to a deadly weapon from years of cultivation, as well as the skills of Feng."
"You know my teacher?"
"Indeed. I smell his scales all over you. No doubt that fool has favored you greatly. You're the first of Han Yuan's experiments who seem… Almost human."
"What do you mean, almost human?" Ken demanded.
The stone monkey shook its head. "Leave me. I do not wish to discuss your history, nor do I wish to see the face of my enemy. Begone."
"But I need a spirit," Ken retorted. "I was sent to fight you and claim one."
"And so you wish to rip me open and tear one out?" The monkey asked, raising an eyebrow. "Your mother sealed my people within this metal body, hoping that my life force and energy would imbue themselves into the spirits and, in turn, empower them. After all, I am a powerful being who even devoured the fruits of Oberon's world tree." The clone laughed, and Ken frowned, suddenly feeling even more uneasy.
"You make it sound as if you're the actual Wukong."
"That's because I am."
"What! But you should be sealed in the vault?"
"And indeed I am." Far, far away, beneath the Yuan's palace, a massive furnace resided. Chained within that furnace, a beast of white flame resided, and he smiled. "I am, and I exist there; for me is me. This body is me; therefore, it exists and is I." Back in the cave, the "other" Wukong tapped the side of his head. "One is not superior to the other, for one must be whole. This is simply an extension, not another me."
Ken winced. "Oh. I'm sorry."
"For what?" The monkey sage asked, a bit puzzled.
"You felt everything then, didn't you?"
The monkey laughed. "And if I wasn't connected? Wouldn't the clone, should he in fact be his own person, have also felt everything? You only now act surprised and full of remorse? You very much are the spitting image of Han Yuan."
Ken glared down at the floor, and her hands tightened into a fist. "Sorry." She said again.
"Sorry does nothing to change anything now, does it, you fool?"
"That's fair." Ken sighed, and her shoulders slumped slightly. "Still, I need a spirit."
"And are you so cruel as to destroy one?"
"I would never!"
"Well, that's exactly what you're asking to do." The monkey's look suddenly turned a bit colder. "Your creator cursed my very existence and this body. The beings inside of me were melted and destroyed, forced to merge with what was left of my core. Inside of me, they are able to reside within the inner world my soul has cultivated, but should they be ripped out, the shift of one realm to the next is far too much for their mind. It would shatter and collapse and, in turn, have to be rebuilt." Slowly, Wukong stood up. He towered over her once more and stared down. "If you really want a spirit, then you will have to engage as all your wretched kind did. Know that I won't take it easy on you, and that without the element of surprise, I will rip out your throat."
Ken rolled her eyes and huffed. "Relax. I'm not going to fight you. Just so you know, I'd totally win, though."
"I highly doubt that."
"Well, you're a dumb monkey; what would you even know?"
"I'm a great sage! Equal to heaven."
"And I'm a divine warrior who has surpassed the heavens," Ken announced. "Throughout this world and the next, I alone am the honored one."
Wukong snorted. "You're quite cocky. So, if you do not wish to claim a spirit from then, what shall you do?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Ken turned and waved her hand, heading for the exit. "I'm leaving."
Wukong blinked. Suddenly it was his turn to be surprised. "Just like that?"
"Just like that."
And so, just like that, Ken left the cave. She wandered back down the mountain in the freezing rain and eventually arrived back at the spot she had started. She wasn't surprised to see her brother looking annoyed as she approached. The baboon on his shoulders was snarling and rapidly swatting at its ass.
"Where is your spirit?" Kim Ohk demanded.
"Did you know that the stone monkey in there can talk?" Ken questioned.
"Where is your spirit?" Kim Ohk said it louder this time. "Why do you not possess one?"
Ken folded her arms and gave him a cold look. "I was told that if I were to get one, it would cause the spirit's mind to collapse." She glanced lazily at the fat-assed baboon. "Now that I think about it, not a single spirit our family possesses has been able to speak, with the sole exception being the other ones they pick up in the wild. Every monkey spirit the Yuan family has is always quite… stupid. Aren't you concerned with that? We took a living creature, a being of pure mana, and we shattered its very mind."
"Of course we did." Kim Ohk raised his voice. "Do you know how hard it is to merge with a spirit and do so safely? It is not a thing that one can simply do casually. Even the strongest cultivators must spend years forging a bond with their spirit just to gain a weakened state. We in the Yuan family are special, however." Kim Ohk reached up, and he slapped his spirit's ass as hard as he could. "We've found a way to bypass the required time. By collapsing the mind of the spirit, its form becomes highly unstable, and thus its only way to exist is through us. It must bond. We ensure it will be obedient and loyal because it is stupid and lacks all self-will. This is why our family does this. Not only because the spirits created from the great sage's leftovers are extremely potent, but also because it allows us to reach a stage of spiritual and bodily fusion that goes beyond what normal cultivators can reach." Kim Ohk pointed toward the mountain. "Now. Go. Battle the old fool, rip him open, and claim your prize."
Ken glared toward her sibling. "I will not."
"You will."
"I will not." She said again.
Kim Ohk reached her in the blink of an eye and grabbed her by her robes, lifting her up. His spirit growled alongside him as he glared into her eyes, which were starting to fill with fear. "You must," he spat. "You're worthless and behind. Lacking in talent. Either you will die and be devoured by the sage so he can feed the spirits within or you'll claim a spirit of your own and finally carry your weight. Those are your two options."
"I'll claim a spirit," Ken said after thinking about it. "But it won't be one from the monkey. I'll nurture one on my own."
"That will leave you crippled and weak." Kim Ohk shook his head. "Such a thing would leave you far behind the rest of us."
"So what?" Ken snarled. "I don't care what you guys want for me; my life is my own. I will cultivate my talents the way I want, got that?"
Kim Ohk's hand squeezed around her robes, but after a moment he let go and dropped her. She eyed him up and stepped past him and began to head back to her palace.
"Burn her." Ken froze when she heard her brother speak, and she whipped around just in time to see the baboon spreading its butt open with its hands, and then it farted, unleashing a stream of fire directly toward her.
The energy bubbled and swirled, about to devour her alive, but at the last second, Feng, her mentor, suddenly appeared before her. A barrier of red blood flowed from his hand as he wordlessly blocked the spell.
Kim Ohk took a cautious step back, suddenly surprised to see the smiling face of Feng.
"T-Teacher?" Ken glanced toward her mentor. "I thought you were at the meeting with the other elders?"
"Yes, well, it got a bit derailed." Feng hummed. "Your father ended up ticking mighty wolf Medora off and… Anyway, we got kicked out!" The blind man said sheepishly. Then he turned his attention to Kim Ohk. "Now, as for you, young man, you should really get your spirit under control."
Kim Ohk's look turned to one of rage, and his spirit shifted and morphed around him. Kim Ohk's hair ignited and became a fiery red, and his muscles began to expand and swell, and a mane of fur and hair grew out of his neck.
"Really?" Feng raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to fight like that?"
Kim Ohk growled, and then he changed again.
Most cultivators had two forms they could take on. The first was by absorbing the mana of their spirit and forming a partial core within them. In this state, their hair and eyes would change, and they'd gain access to stronger Qi techniques. The second form involved absorbing the spirit itself and merging with it. This would in turn allow the spirit to fully serve as their own inner core, and they'd gain the features of their bonded beast.
This was the natural progression of all Martial Cultivators; however, there was one more form beyond that. One in which the Yuan's could perform for their spirits were so shattered and mindless that they were nothing more than an extension of their will.
The core within Kim Ohk blazed with energy, and then it started to hatch as he went beyond his merger and entered into the formation of a Nascent Soul, his very being on the level of his will and existence fusing with all of his spirit.
A tremendous amount of Qi exploded out of Kim Ohk, and the very fabric of space began to twist around him as he roared and transformed. All Yuan's who had access to this were said to have a power of strength that put even the captains of Esteria to shame, and only the king's elite Black Hand or the Holy Saint could handle them.
Instead of just gaining the characteristics of his spirit, Kim Ohk became a more perfected blend of their two forms. He now resembled a massive ape with fiery red fur and blazing eyes. His muscles were swollen and bulging, and his ass became far fatter, puffs of flame flowing out of his cheeks as he unleashed a silent but deadly gas.
Kim Ohk stood on his hind legs, now towering over twelve feet tall, and he acted more like a gorilla, rapidly beating his fists against his chest. "I am Kim Ohk Yuan! Head of the Red Ass division! The power of the sun exists within my bowels, and at any moment I can unleash it and-"
Feng rammed his palm into Kim Ohk's gut, and a burst of raw Qi blasted out of his strike, flaring white. A second later, Kim Ohk was launched back, going further and further until he vanished into a small dot on the horizon.
"There." Feng clapped his hands together. "Perhaps a dip in the ocean will cool his head off?"
"But we're nowhere near the ocean?" Ken questioned.
Feng's smile grew. "I know. He'll be flying for a bit." Then he turned to her and placed his hands on his hips. "Now! As for you, young lady. Why don't you have a spirit?"
Ken's look soured. "I don't want a monkey." She stated. "I'd rather get something else."
"Alright." Feng nodded.
"Really?" Ken looked back at her mentor, taken aback. "You're okay with that?"
"Of course." Feng reached out and placed a hand on her head. "In fact, I know just the place where we can get you one."