In the distant heavens above the mortal realms, far beyond the reach of Bai Tian Long's troubled world, the Ninth Dimension stood in its eternal, sovereign glory. Here, in a realm where even Saints walked like mortals and Dao-proving experts governed cities the size of continents, there lived a beast whose legend stretched from the ancient chaos to the modern stars.
Kong Wulin, the Saint-Fighting Monkey of the Ape Clan, grinned as he downed another gourd of wine, slamming it against the table carved from a Dao-proving bone-tree.
"Next!" he shouted.
Across from him, another ape—a towering brute named Ock Ironspine, an early-stage 9th Step warrior—snorted and flexed his massive arms.
"You've been drinking for seven years, old monkey. Don't tell me your fists have grown rusty!"
Wulin cackled, arms wide. "My fists are carved from the bones of the heavens! Rust doesn't dare touch me!"
Behind them, the whole of the Ape Clan gathered. This wasn't just a brawl—it was the Final Bout of the Heavenly Ape Garden, the last stage of Wulin's self-imposed ordeal. For seven years, he drank, wrestled, and fought ten early-stage 9th Step warriors and two mid-stage elders of the Ape Clan. All for one reason.
A peach.
But not just any peach—the Stone Spirit Monkey, a cub born from the Origin Stone of the world itself, bearing a sliver of primordial bloodline and the terrifying potential to awken it at 7-Step Dao-seeking.
A monster in the form of a child.
The bet was simple: If Wulin could defeat the guardians of the Heavenly Ape Garden, he could pick any four apes from the Sacred Incubation Grounds.
And Wulin won.
Ock fell, cracking the earth with his body. Wulin rolled his shoulders, bruised but smug.
"I told you," he grunted, grabbing the gourd again. "In the end, I got the peach."
---
Deep within the Sacred Ape Garden, where unhatched cubs slept within giant stone eggs or hibernated in deep spiritual cocoons, Wulin selected his four.
One Stone Spirit Monkey, for Bai Tian Long.
Three others, born of noble ape bloodlines, would be for Bai Tianhao, Bai Tianwu, and a future sibling yet unborn. Kong Wulin believed every child of Tianfang's blood should walk with a beast as fierce as their destiny.
Just as he picked up the stone-egg cradling the Stone Spirit Monkey, a ripple tore through space.
A terrifying pressure descended.
From deep within the mountain, the Ape Ancestor, a mighty 9th Step Great Ape Saint, awoke.
"Who dares—!"
But before his fury could erupt, a gentle dragon pressure washed over the realm.
> "This is a gift from the Heavenly Dragon. The child is mine. I will pay the price."
It was the voice of Tian Long, the Heavenly Dragon Ancestor.
The Ape Ancestor froze mid-snarl.
"Tian Long has a… grandson?" the ancient ape muttered, his spiritual sense retreating.
He blinked, then frowned.
"When did his daughter get married? Hah! That old bastard never mentioned a wedding. Was he shamed into it? Eloped? No way! If there was a marriage, I'd have heard about it. I attended his battles, drank his wine—he wouldn't hide this!"
A pause.
Then came a slow grin. Mischief sparkled in the Ape Ancestor's aged golden eyes.
"Aha… I see. I see. So much gossip. Hehehe. That old dragon will owe me a very long talk the next time we meet. Maybe another drunken duel too."
As the ancestor chuckled and faded back into slumber, the spirit mist around the garden thickened once more.
---
Outside the garden, Kong Wulin carried the four beasts within a sealed dimension orb, walking across the edge of the Ape Clan's floating continent.
He looked toward the lower realms, face contemplative.
> "B-A-I T-I-A-N L-O-N-G," he said aloud, carefully sounding the name.
> "You better be worth seven years of drinking and fighting. You better not shame your grandfather's name… or my liver's sacrifice."
The sky rumbled softly.
Wulin vanished into the void.
---
Thus, the Saint Fighting Monkey returned to the celestial highways with his prizes. And far below, unaware of the forces gathering in his name, a mortal boy named Bai Tian Long stared silently into the mist, his path still hidden, his roots unawakened, his destiny patiently waiting.
And the Stone Spirit Monkey slept soundly—until it was time to awaken.
-----
Mortal dimension ---
In the highest martial hall of the Eastern Continent's Phoenix Fall Realm, golden light bathed the towering chamber. The engraved sigil of the Heavenly Sword Sect shimmered on the obsidian floor, and thirteen thrones floated in the air—each one occupied by a figure of immeasurable might.
Kneeling in the center of the grand hall was a tall woman clad in cracked golden armor, her left arm wrapped in bandages woven from soul silk, and the sword crest on her chest dimmed slightly.
This was King Stage Cultivator Liu Qinyue, commander of the East Sword Watch—and one of the top experts assigned to crush the rebel remnants of the Bai Clan.
"…He fused with his beasts. An Imperial Beast Tamer," she said grimly, lowering her head in shame. "He unleashed a forbidden fusion technique. The courtyard exploded. I was struck even as I dodged. Had I not been reinforced by our formation and the golden essence silk armor, I might not have made it back."
From the thrones above, several King-level cultivators snorted.
"A male beast tamer? From a ruined Bai Clan? How did you even get wounded?"
"He was Nascent Soul. You are King Rank. A joke!"
"He must've caught you off guard."
But before another insult could fly, the pressure in the hall suddenly surged.
A ripple of Dao authority filled the room as the branch head of the Heavenly Sword Sect leaned forward. His eyes glowed with a silvery hue, his aura resting far above King Rank—nearing the Sovereign Peak of the Emperor stage.
"Silence," he said.
The air froze.
"You mock her," he said, voice calm, "but I would wager that had you stood in her place, many of you would not have made it back with your heads."
He turned to Liu Qinyue and gave a nod.
"To survive a full-force death strike from a Class 4 Imperial Beast Tamer—a Beast Taming Lord—is not a shameful thing. Their power is known throughout the realms."
One of the throned Elders frowned. "Still... a man?"
"Imperial Beast Tamers do not follow your biases," the branch head snapped. "Especially not those who carry ancient inheritance. If not for his sect being broken, that man might have risen to become a Beast Taming Monarch."
Another elder sighed. "So… the Bai Clan lives?"
"They fled," Liu Qinyue said. "The remnants escaped through a spatial gate. Their destination remains unknown."
---
Far below the vast skies, beneath the ruins of what was once the Bai Clan's sacred courtyard, a broken building stood untouched by time.
Inside it, a youth stirred.
The body was weak. Malnourished. Barely at the peak of Qi Condensation.
But within it burned something ancient.
Bai Zenyu's soul, housed within an ancestral fragment, had merged with this forgotten disciple's fallen shell. His mind swam with fragmented memories—both his own and that of the body's previous owner.
> This child's name was Bai Zhen… A youth from the outer branch. He died fighting, protecting children and elders. A brave spirit.
Zenyu's soul throbbed in resonance.
> Until the Bai Clan is reborn, I will carry your name, Bai Zhen.
He rose shakily to his feet.
His spirit was diminished. His core shattered. His beasts gone—still in soul slumber, seeking new bodies.
But his will burned.
---
> Imperial Beast Tamers…
In his mind, echoes of the ancient truth emerged.
Long ago, during the Era of Primordial Chaos, the world was ruled by beasts, elements, and titanic bloodlines. It was then that the First Chaos Human Emperor, a sovereign among mortals, forged a pact with the Primordial Beast Ancestor. Together, they created the sacred Imperial Beast Taming Contract.
Unlike Immortal Beast Tamers who used force or one-time spiritual bonds, Imperial Beast Tamers awakened a contracted space within the Tao itself. A sacred dimension where every beast they bonded with grew faster, stronger, and more attuned to the Great Dao.
It was an act of harmony—one beast, one human, one rise.
> "A true Imperial Beast Tamer," Zenyu muttered, "is a cultivator who walks side-by-side with fate. If I must rise again… then so shall they."
His eyes glinted.
"Let the world forget Bai Zenyu for now. But let it tremble… when Bai Zhen returns."
---