After going through the painful process of being bullied at the academy, Yafan finally packed his things and walked home alone.
Looking at the cold, hard doors of the Duke of Stark's mansion, Yafan sometimes couldn't help but envy ordinary families, where several members live together in a small house. Even if life is difficult, it is still filled with warmth.
In contrast, it is not that his father and brothers treat him poorly; on the contrary, they are very good to him. However, they have been stationed away from home for many years, leaving little time for them to spend together. For him, this magnificent duke's mansion feels overly cold and enormous.
After pushing open the door and entering the hall, the old butler Bluansiva came toward him. As soon as he saw Yafan, he immediately said, "Young Master, I heard from Naken that you had something to do today and might come back late. But please pay attention to the time; I'm sure you haven't eaten yet! I'll immediately have someone bring dinner to your room." With that, he didn't give Yafan a chance to refuse and walked away.
Looking at the back of the butler, Afan couldn't help but smile. The old butler, Blan, was completely different from his grandson, Nacken, who was always looking for opportunities to bully him. Blan was a good-natured person who cared for and nagged every member of the family equally. If it weren't for Blan's sake, he would have long told his family about Nacken's bullying.
When Afan returned to his room, the table was already filled with the dishes sent by Blan. He ate a little and then asked someone to take it away.
After everyone left the room, Afan took out a thirty-centimeter brown wooden box from a hidden compartment in his wardrobe, opened the secret lock on the box, and inside it was filled with velvet, in the center of which lay a peculiar spirit beast egg.
This spirit beast egg is about the size of a palm, displaying an ivory white color, and it glimmers with a pearlescent sheen. When held under the moonlight, it faintly reveals strange silver patterns.
He discovered by chance that this spirit beast egg exhibits silver patterns under moonlight and golden patterns under sunlight. The journey of this spirit beast egg to his hands was quite complicated, as it was given to him by his uncle.
At the age of ten, when the envoy sent by Emperor Deye of the principality announced that his mental index was too low and that he was destined not to possess a spiritual beast, no one in the family dared to believe it.
Although he was still young at the time, he understood that his life had essentially been sentenced to exclusion. He fell into a low period, just when the eccentric whom his father spoke of—his uncle—came to visit him. Upon hearing this news, he was extremely furious.
To this day, he still remembers how his uncle shouted at him in anger: 'Can't you live without a spiritual beast? Look at me, I also live perfectly well without a spiritual beast, just take a look at your state...' His uncle, fuming, scolded his lifeless nephew, encouraging him in his own way.
However, even though his uncle spoke harshly, the next day, he still brought him this spirit beast egg and said, 'This is an egg of a holy spirit beast. If you can hatch this egg, no one will dare to look down on you.'
At that young age, he naively believed it, and since this spirit beast egg was indeed different from ordinary ones, he was genuinely happy to possess this beautiful spirit beast egg and was eager to hatch it as soon as possible.
But now he certainly knows that his uncle was just comforting him, not wanting him to be sad, because a year ago, he found that supposedly large and mysterious spirit beast trade association his uncle mentioned - it was actually just a shabby little shop selling spirit beast eggs in an inconspicuous corner just two streets away.
When he went to find the boss with the spirit beast egg, it was obvious that the boss was impressed by the egg. As soon as the boss saw the spirit beast egg in his hand, he smiled and told him that this egg was obtained by his grandfather during an expedition to an ancient ruin with eight companions.
At that time, they found nothing, and all the companions left disappointed. Only his grandfather was not discouraged and searched again, finally finding this spirit beast egg in an inconspicuous corner, probably laid there by some unknown wild spirit beast! So his grandfather took it back casually and placed it in the shop. As a result, it was passed down from his grandfather's generation to his.
Actually, this beast egg has been sold several times because of its unique and beautiful appearance, but it was ultimately returned every time because this beast egg wouldn't hatch at all. Later, he took it to someone for inspection and found that there were no signs of life inside; the egg was essentially 'dead.' However, because it was very pretty, it was displayed in the shop as decoration, as every spirit beast shop had a few so-called legendary spirit beast eggs.
As a result, eight years ago, a rather strange middle-aged man rushed in and said he wanted to buy the legendary spirit beast egg, so he naturally sold him this egg.
After the boss found out that the man was Yafen's uncle, he cheerfully presented a bill to Yafen, saying: 'Just right, this is the balance your uncle owes me, fifty gold coins from the Republic.' While saying this, he asked Yafen to pay.
Yafan couldn't help but be taken aback, shouting, "Fifty gold coins, are you eating people?! How can it be that expensive? That's enough for a family of four to eat for half a year! How much are you selling this egg for?" The boss laughed and said, "Not expensive! Not expensive! Just two hundred gold coins. The legendary sacred beast eggs always have some value!"
Yafan couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. Just as he was about to ask the boss if returns were possible, the boss had already taken the lead, pointing to a board on the right wall that read, 'Once the goods are out, no returns allowed.' Gritting his teeth, he took out the pocket money he had saved over the past two years and paid up.
Looking at the spirit beast egg in his hand, he remembered the events of these years. Although the hope of the so-called legendary sacred beast's egg was shattered, Yafan still had the habit of hugging it to sleep every day, using his body heat to incubate it, and doing everything he could to input his energy into the beast egg using the methods taught in school, hoping to accelerate the hatching speed and wishing for a miracle to happen one day.
But today, Yafan's state of mind was different from usual. After what happened that afternoon, the frustration of being oppressed had reached its peak, and his unwillingness grew infinitely. His desire for power surged, almost driving him to madness. Vaguely, the signs of his chronic headache seemed to be making a comeback.
But this time it was very strange. Just as Yafan felt a dull ache in his head, he suddenly had a peculiar sensation, as if something in his brain was being drawn away.
However, at that moment, he had no time to ponder why he felt this way. The headache was becoming more and more pronounced, and just as Yafan was trying to dispel the pain as he usually did, the spiritual beast egg in his hand emitted an unusual response. The egg, held in his palm, became abnormally hot, reaching a temperature that was almost scalding, and he felt some kind of impact from within.
For five years, this egg, which had been deemed dead, had shown its first sign of life, filling Yafan with mixed joy and surprise.
As Yafan watched eagerly, the originally smooth shell began to crack, then the cracks widened, and a strange aroma that was neither fragrant nor foul started to seep out, filling the entire room with a faint hint similar to the smell of rusted iron.
Then, a head the size of a dragon's eye stretched out, looking a bit like a wolf's head with brown hair, and then the whole body was exposed, it seemed that there was only a slap, Yafan's first instinct was, "So small!" So cute. "
The short fat limbs should be silver, but because they are covered with slippery mucus, they have a pearl color, as if they are four-legged beast-type little spirit beasts glanced at Yafan, stretched out their little tongue and licked his thumb a few times, made a cry like a mosquito, and then began to eat eggshells.
Yafang discovered that this little creature was really quick when it came to eating. In no time, the eggshell of the same size was completely devoured, and it adorably let out a satisfied burp, stretched lazily, and comfortably snuggled in his palm, making Yafang unable to stifle a laugh.
The anger and headache from earlier had long vanished, and he then noticed that the previous fragrance had turned into a foul, decaying stench. Without hesitation, Yafang hurriedly took the newborn spirit beast to the bathroom to give both himself and the little spirit beast a refreshing wash. He then realized that the spirit beast had a very dense and long fur, which appeared silver under the moonlight but grayish-white under the candlelight, just like when it was in the egg stage. He couldn't help but wonder if it would show a golden color under sunlight.
Three days later, in a corner of the Yunyang Academy library, Yafang closed the book in his hands. This was the seventy-fifth book he had checked out in three days, and it was the last one in the library concerning the types of spirit beasts.
Ever since the little spirit beast hatched, Yafan began researching what type of spirit beast it was. However, no matter how many relevant books he searched, he found no information about this little spirit beast. He didn't know its type or its attributes.
"Damn it," Yafan muttered under his breath. He didn't even know how to take care of it.
The little creature was comfortably curled up in a corner of the table, sleeping soundly, with the afternoon sun casting a brilliant golden hue over its body.
Yafan gently stroked its soft long fur with his fingers, sighed, and thought to himself: "Little guy, you sleep so comfortably, but I'm racking my brain over your food. In the past few days, I've tried all sorts of things to feed you, and not a single one is to your liking. What exactly do you want to eat?"
Generally, spirit beasts have specific feed that is exclusive to them. Although there are similarities, the flying ones, the swimming ones, and the crawling ones all rely on external food to provide energy during their juvenile phase before entering the growth period of the second stage, without exception.
However, this little creature named Yafan, who doesn't seem to understand anything, looks down on all the various feeds provided to it. For three days, apart from having eaten its own eggshell right after birth, this little spirit beast hasn't consumed anything at all. Yafan had to go to the library to check what kind of spirit beast this was and how to raise it.
Feeling Yafan's touch, the little spirit beast yawned, woke up, glanced at Yafan, lifted its head, sniffed the air with its nose, and suddenly made a nimble leap, jumping into Yafan's tote bag. Instantly, a crunching sound of something hard being chewed echoed in Yafan's ears, and upon opening the bag, Yafan was left dumbfounded.
It was eating the energy stone that Yafan had just bought today , which was originally purchased for tomorrow's class. Unexpectedly, this little creature just devoured it; that was something Yafan had never heard of.
Yafan watched helplessly as it devoured three fist-sized energy stones, still seeming unsatisfied as it jumped onto his shoulder, rubbing against his face and acting spoiled.
Yafan looked at this small creature, no bigger than his palm, as if it were a monster. Where did it put all that food? Did it still want more?
Yafan grabbed the little guy from his shoulder, holding it in his hand and said, "Seeing how greedy you are and with your wolf-like appearance, let's just call you 'Greedy Wolf.'"
Greedy Wolf seemed to understand that Yafan had given it a name, letting out a howl that was not the usual mournful wolf howl, but rather clearer and actually quite pleasant to hear.
Yafan tidied up a bit and was about to leave the library with the Greedy Wolf when he suddenly saw a group of people walking in front of him. He was momentarily taken aback and thought, 'What a small world, indeed.'
It turned out that the people coming in were Naken and his group. Naken was also taken aback to see Yafan, and when he noticed the Greedy Wolf in Yafan's hand, he was even more stunned. A strange smile then appeared on his face, causing Yafan to feel a chill run down his spine.
Naken grinned wickedly and said, 'Young Master Yafan, you also came to the library?' Yafan replied angrily, 'If you can come, of course, I can too!' 'Is this your spirit beast?' Naken asked, pointing at the Greedy Wolf in Yafan's hand.
Yafan nodded without speaking, secretly thinking that it was bad. He still remembered clearly what happened three days ago.
Sure enough, Naken said, 'Well, that's just perfect! We can continue what we didn't finish three days ago today.'Before Yafan could refuse, a group of people surrounded him and pushed him outside. The small-framed Yafan had no chance to resist at all and was dragged out by them.
The library of Yunyang College is located on the east side of the college. It is a building made of marble, with a square shape, and both the inside and outside are adorned with some patterns and unknown script, said to be an ancient form of writing that no one can understand anymore. It measures thirty meters in width and ten meters in height, divided into two floors. In front of it is a large square, measuring seven hundred square meters, used by the college for major celebrations. Normally, there aren't many people around; to the left and back is a forest.
Naken and his companions led Yafan into the forest on the left side of the library, finding a small clearing about five square meters. The others surrounded them, leaving only Naken and Yafan on opposite sides of the clearing.
Naken extended his right hand to summon his spirit beast, the Tiger King, and said to Yafan: 'Let's compete using the first form of our spirit beasts to see whose spirit beast is stronger. Don't say I'm taking advantage of you.'
Yafan knows that combat spirit beasts have three types of forms. The first type is their original form, which looks like an ordinary animal. The second type is incomplete mimicry, which attaches itself to the owner and provides significant offensive and defensive capabilities, but does not affect the owner's appearance or movements; this means the Tiger King is in the form that clings to Naken's arm, allowing the spirit beast to fully connect with the owner's body to gain energy from them. The third type is the complete form, which is only available to mature spirit beasts, providing over fifty percent physical protection to the owner and granting them full capabilities, also known as armor.
However, every time a spirit beast grows to a stage, its abilities will significantly improve, and even the weakest first form will vary according to its growth level.
Therefore, although Naken does not have the upper hand, in reality, with his Tiger King entering a growth phase versus the still larval stage of the Greedy Wolf, the outcome is quite predictable.But at this moment, the arrow is on the string and cannot be left unfired.
Under Naken's command, the tiger king let out a roar that was not befitting of its small size—a powerful leap that knocked the greedy wolf down before Yafan could even recover from the tiger's roar.
Yaven was taken aback, exclaiming, 'Not good.' Looking up, he saw Naken with his hands clasped, fingers extended and upright, gently touching his forehead with the tip of his index finger, his eyes fixed on the struggling greedy wolf and the tiger king. Muttering to himself, he chanted: 'Charge, claw slash, headbutt, claw tear...'As if their minds were connected, the tiger king executed the same actions following Naken's words.
Yawen felt as if he had lost his mind. This is the 'long-distance telepathic communication method' between spirit beasts and their masters.Generally, after reaching maturity, spirit beasts can understand human speech, but if the master and the spirit beast are separated, the master can use this method to command the spirit beast's actions or summon it back to their side from a distance.
Naken used this method partly because the Tiger King was still too young to understand human speech and accept his commands, and partly to use the Greed Wolf as a target, to train his own command abilities over the Tiger King, and also to display his strong confidence.Because everyone knows that once the 'long-distance telepathic communication method' is used, a resonance state will be established between the master and the spirit beast; if one party is injured, the other will suffer the same harm.
Naken's actions clearly told Yafan that he would never allow the Tiger King to be harmed.Sure enough, after a while, the Greedy Wolf was covered in wounds and in a state of extreme weakness under the Tiger King's attacks.Meanwhile, the Tiger King was unharmed and, under Naken's command, was attacking the Greedy Wolf even more fiercely.
In the small heart of the Greedy Wolf, everything in this world was so new and exciting. From the moment it opened its eyes and broke free from its shell, everything was filled with freshness. The only human it had contact with was named Yafan, who gave it a feeling of warmth that made it willingly follow him. Little did it expect that when it finally encountered a kindred spirit, instead of greeting it, the kindred was continuously hitting and biting it, causing it immense pain, and it had no idea what was happening.
It hurt so much, why wasn't Yafan helping it?
It seemed as if he heard the words in the heart of the greedy wolf, and Yafan couldn't help but shout, "Naken, stop! I concede, hurry up and stop!" While shouting, Yafan quickly ran towards the bloodied greedy wolf who was being attacked by the Tiger King.
Just one step away from embracing the greedy wolf, a sudden extremely cold force struck Yafan's left shoulder from the left side. Yafan cried out and was sent flying two or three meters to the right by this force. Yafan hurriedly turned his head and saw Lanny holding a spirit beast the same size as the Tiger King, resembling a pale blue carp. A thought flashed through his mind: "So Lanny also has a spirit beast." Then his mind became blurry, and he lost consciousness.
Uncertain how much time had passed, Yafan slowly woke up to the sound of calling. A concerned face, old yet caring, appeared before him—it was the old butler, Bulan. He didn't know when he had returned to his room at home.
Bulan looked at Yafan with a worried expression and said, "Young master, how could you have barged into someone else's spiritual beast duel? Fortunately, Naken passed by, otherwise you would not know when you would have been discovered."
Yafan turned to look at Naken standing beside Bulan, who was looking pleased with himself, confident that Yafan was afraid Bulan would worry and would not tell him about the incident.For the first time in history, Yafan felt an overwhelming hatred rise within him, and he couldn't help but grit his teeth and say, "Bulan, you should go rest! I'm fine."
Bulan shook his head and sighed, "Then young master, you must be careful. If anything happens, just call me or Naken."
After Bu Lan walked out, Naken leaned over and said to Yafan with a sinister smile, "Thank you for your mercy, Young Master. This is your spirit beast."
As he spoke, he took out a box from behind and handed it to Yafan, then struttingly walked out. Yafan opened the box and saw the starving Greedy Wolf lying inside, which made a barely audible sound upon seeing Yafan.
Yafan carefully picked it up and said, "Greedy Wolf, don't be afraid, I will definitely heal you." With that, Yafan, dragging his sore body, ran to the medical room at home, bringing back a large number of magic energy stones, including various attributes of wind, fire, water, and earth, and even rare light and dark attributes.
However, after a series of rescue attempts, Yafan began to feel flustered. Because not a single type of magical stone could work on the Greedy Wolf to heal its wounds.Watching the Greedy Wolf become increasingly weak, Yafan could no longer hold back and cried on the bed.
After turning ten, Yafan had not cried again, but now he finally broke down, because the Greedy Wolf was not just a spirit beast to him; it represented his ideals, the anchor of his soul, and his only friend, even though they had only spent three days together.Yafan did not know how long he had been crying when he suddenly felt a warmth on his face. Looking up, he realized that the Greedy Wolf had somehow struggled its way to him and was licking his tears with its tongue.
Yafan looked at its appearance and felt a pang in his heart. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Greedy Wolf, you wait, I will definitely heal you."After saying this, he placed it in his arms, crossed his legs, and extended his hands, trapping the Greedy Wolf between his palms.
With his eyes slightly closed, he focused his mind between his palms, chanting: "In witness of the heavens, gather courage, wisdom, and beauty into one powerful being, spirit beast! Please listen to my heartfelt plea with your deepest spirituality. I, Yafansidak, will forge an eternal blood pact with you. In this lifetime, only you and I shall be lifelong allies, contract."
After finishing the chant, Yafan was enveloped in a bright white light that grew stronger and stronger, concentrating around his palms and between his brows.
The greedy wolf, bathed in the white light, appeared to be in great pain, as the intangible white light pierced through its wounds like sharp long needles, causing the greedy wolf to let out a cry of agony, yet it could not move. Immediately afterward, the white light concentrated between Yafan's brows transformed into a beam of white light that directed towards the greedy wolf, creating a stunning sight of a pillar of light connecting the two. Through this beam of light, Yafan conveyed his thoughts to the greedy wolf.
A warm feeling that words cannot express echoed in the heart of the greedy wolf, making it unable to resist desperately absorbing this feeling. At the same time, the intense pain that had been unbearable in its body gradually faded away, replaced by a comfortable sensation of warmth throughout, and it also began to feel strength returning.
As if knowing that all of this came from the figure in front of it, Yafan, the greedy wolf lovingly licked the palm of Yafan's hand. Yafan smiled subtly, concentrating once more, and a stronger white light shot out from between his eyebrows.
If there had been anyone present at that moment, they would surely witness a wondrous spectacle.
As the white light emitted from Yafan's eyebrows and hands cast upon the Greedy Wolf, it seemed to be absorbed by it, gradually merging into its body. At the same time, the Greedy Wolf, which was originally no larger than a palm, began to grow at an unimaginable speed.
In less than three minutes, the Greedy Wolf had grown nearly three times its size, roughly the size of an ordinary small dog or cat.Yafan, however, seemed to be losing strength, letting out a faint groan as the white light from his hands gradually faded away and disappeared.
With the disappearance of the white light from Yafan's hands, the Greedy Wolf also stopped growing, but the white light from Yafan's eyebrows became even more intense, constantly shining down upon the Greedy Wolf.
He projected for nearly ten minutes before finally stopping.
After completing all the actions, Yafan appeared very weak, almost unable to speak.Just now, he used the family heirloom "Rebirth Technique," which can only be used five times in a lifetime, to heal the wounds of the greedy wolf.
As the name suggests, "Rebirth Technique" means to turn death into life. By using this method, the caster can transfer all of their body's energy to their spirit beast in a very short time, instantly enhancing the spirit beast's abilities by three to five times. On the battlefield, the effects are self-evident, capable of surprising enemies and even bringing the dead back to life.
But if that's all there is to it, it can't be considered the Stark family's secret skill. In fact, there are many other ways to achieve the same goal, such as using drugs, magic, etc.
In addition to that, the "Revitalization Technique" can also enhance the level of spirit beasts and the bond with their master. After using this method, spirit beasts will never leave their master for life, and it can significantly improve the spirit beast's spirituality and lifespan, unaffected by their innate limitations.
Of course, the "Revitalization Technique" is not without drawbacks. Aside from being usable only five times in a lifetime, every time the master uses it, the energy expenditure is so great that it could reduce all of their cultivation by more than half, and afterwards they need to rest for a year and a half to return to their previous state.
Moreover, Yafan does not possess any power that could be considered strong; he relies solely on the innate energy supply for the greedy wolf, which was quickly depleted, only enough for the greedy wolf to heal its wounds and grow rapidly.However, for some reason, Yafan's mental energy is more than five times that of an average person.
Although the greedy wolf did not enhance its abilities, its spirituality and connection with Yafan reached an incredible level, allowing Yafan in the future to communicate with the greedy wolf without needing to use the "Long-Distance Telepathy Technique".
And the high mental ability of Yafan is also the culprit behind his low mental index check. One must ask, with a mental power five times that of an average person, even a slight mental fluctuation will exceed that of an average person by more than five times. How could it not be deemed as a mental anomaly? However, Yafan is unaware of all of this; he is only worried about the greedy wolf now.The greedy wolf, which he had already cured, suddenly became very strange.
The formerly docile greedy wolf suddenly displayed fierce aggression, biting Yafan's right arm harshly, sucking a large gulp of his blood, swallowing it down, and then jumping out of Yafan's arms, letting out a strange howl.
Yafan thought to himself, "Oh no, could it be that the Resurrection Technique cannot be used on spirit beasts that have not yet recognized their master?"
In fact, whether he could or not was something no one could answer him, because among Yafan's ancestors, there was no one who had ever made such a sacrifice for a young spirit beast like he did, so naturally, no one could answer him.
But the subsequent change in the greedy wolf made Yafan smile with joy, because after the greedy wolf howled, countless golden threads emerged all over its body, and in one leap, it 'decomposed' and enveloped Yafan's right hand from the wrist to the elbow.
At that moment, the greedy wolf acknowledged him as its master, and also simultaneously entered its growth phase.Looking at the part of his right arm wrapped by the greedy wolf, its originally grayish-white color was gradually changing to match his skin tone, and Yafan couldn't help but feel delighted; the greedy wolf had finally recognized him as its master.
But soon, Yafan felt something was wrong; he had no feelings at all.At the moment when the greedy wolf possessed him, he felt no attributes, no brightness of light, no depth of darkness, no elegance of the wind, no coolness of water, no intensity of fire, no solidity of earth.
There was no feeling that could be used to judge the attributes of the greedy wolf.Thinking of the past three days together, Yafan couldn't help but murmur, "Greedy Wolf, could it be that you truly have no attributes?"
Note 1: Energy Stone is a special type of crystal that can store a certain amount of energy. Besides being used by spirit beasts, it has other purposes and can be recharged after use.
Note 2: Magic Energy Stone, a type of Energy Stone, is specifically for spirit beasts. It can provide a large amount of energy to spirit beasts in a short time, enhance their physical abilities, and aid in their recovery. It can be said to be a miracle drug for spirit beasts, though it is not affordable for an average household.