“Will you be alright on your own, Wu?”

“I’ll be fine. You shouldn’t keep Rin jiejie waiting.”

“Are you sure?”

“Mm. You don’t have to worry about me, big sis.”

“You’re a brave little guy, aren’t you? I would have been terrified if I were out here alone at your age.”

“Hehe. I have nothing to worry about. Did you forget who my partner is?”

“Yeah, you lucky little. You get to go with Sage Tianlan. Well, see you back at the safe zone, Wu.”

“I’ll come back with lots of points.”

“Remember what Sage Tianlan said. There’ no need to be greedy. All you need is 50 points to pass.”

“Mm.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

Fang Wu watched as his cousins Fang Min and Fang Rin went on their way. He was the last one left and the one left over when they had previously split into pairs. There was always going to be someone left over when 17 were split into pairs, but Wu knew that he hadn’t been that one by chance. The truth of the matter was, he was the youngest and also the only one who had yet to reach the internalisation realm. When it came time to pick partners, no one looked his way.

Even if he were added to an already established pair, he would only be an extra burden they would have to look after.

He didn’t feel any indignation towards his cousins, but it wasn’t pleasant to be the odd one out. He had intended to stay behind so as not to cause anyone trouble, but that was when Sage Tianlan suddenly invited him to be his partner. With such an offer on the table, his spirits were immediately lifted, but the same problem still existed. He could tell that Sage Tianlan had taken pity on him and had taken on the burden of looking after him.

He was conflicted. On one hand, he wanted the experience of participating in the third trial, but on the other, he didn’t want to get in anyone’s way. Now that he was here though, he realised just how useless he was. He had put on a brave front for his cousins, but the truth was, he didn’t want to be alone out here.

The first thing he did after they were gone was to find a safe place to hide. He needed a place none of the dangerous spirit beasts would come looking for him, and also a place where none of the other participants would go.

He chose to climb a certain tree and hoped that Sage Tianlan would find him before the next environment shift.

***

“That’s an interesting strategy, Fang Wu. Are you using this position to expand your range of vision?”

Wu almost let go of the tree in fright but he managed to catch himself.

When he turned to the source of the sound, he saw the familiar face of Sage Tianlan who had climbed the tree next to his.

“Haha, ha. You got me… I wanted to see if I could spot any externalisation realm beasts from here.”

“You don’t need to do that. I can see all the good spots. Are you ready to go?”

“Mm. Just a mo-”

As he tried to descend, Wu accidentally slipped off the tree branches and ended up falling towards the ground.

He let out a yell and closed his eyes while bracing himself for the impact.

“Got you.”

Before he could hit the ground, someone grabbed him and put him down gently.

“Thanks, Sage Tianlan. Sorry for the trouble.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Tianlan started walking and Wu followed after him.

***

“Um. Sage Tianlan,” said Wu with a timid-sounding voice.

“Hm?”

“Are you sure you want me around? I’m the weakest and I wasn’t even able to learn the map you showed us. I’ll only be a burden to you.”

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

Wu drooped his head down.

“I know that you wanted to make me feel better, but if I can’t help you at all, then I’ll only feel like I leeched off of you.”

Tianlan chuckled.

“Why did you choose to hide in that tree?”

“H-Hide? No, I was-”

“You can’t fool me. I saw the whole thing.”

“… I went up the tree because no one would come after me up there.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

“Well, the spirit beasts that hang out in this region are the grey-back cats, the dark-light jackals and the gristle-mane hogs. Gristle-mane hogs aren't able to climb trees, so I would be safe from them. Grey-back cats are nocturnal, so they probably wouldn’t come after me during the day. And dark-light jackals have a strong sense of smell, so I chose a sentry-pine tree because they hate the smell of the sap. I figured that since none of the spirit beasts would be here at this time, other cultivators would probably avoid searching the treetops because there wouldn’t be any points in it for them. That’s what I thought. Is… is it wrong?”

“No. It’s a solid line of reasoning, but I don’t remember putting all of that information into the map. How did you know those things about the spirit beasts?”

“I like spirit beasts. I wasted a lot of time reading about them instead of focusing on my cultivation, so I know a little bit about the common ones.”

“You like spirit beasts?”

“Mm. That’s why I want to become a beast tamer when I grow up. I think spirit beasts are really cool, but they don’t like us humans so it’s hard to get close to them. But beast tamers know how to befriend them.”

Tianlan smiled.

“I see.”

***

Shiva was currently feeling the cleansing effects of having consumed some yin element natural treasures which were helping to remove the fire element qi from her core.

“Rhava, this is unbelievable! I can feel strength coursing through my body. It’s like all of these months of accumulation are bearing fruit all at once. I… I think I can go for two breakthroughs.”

“So, his observation was truly accurate. We hadn’t reached the limits of our bloodline yet.”

Rhava was both relieved and regretful. It was his idea that had caused them to reach their bottlenecks. He had only sought faster progress, overlooking the fact that they were exposing themselves to harmful levels of fire qi. If they had continued going the way they were, he was afraid he would have lost his sister forever.

“You should eat some too, Rhava. Maybe you’ll go straight to the next realm.”

“Mm. But we have to be careful. While I’m facing my tribulation, the humans might come after us. It would be bad if we’re both in growth states. I’ll go after your energy stabilises.”

“Mm.”

“The time isn’t long now, Shiva. I’ll get us out of here.”

***

Fang Wu walked forward, cautiously. In front of him was an injured Mangy Mutt and he was following it as it headed for the boundary of the region. He couldn’t help looking back to make sure he could still see Sage Tianlan.

What he was attempting was just too crazy. Sage Tianlan had told him about how the Mangy Mutts moved and had taught him a trick to use against them, but if it failed, he would be eaten alive.

He only had the courage to try it because he knew Sage Tianlan wouldn’t let anything happen to him. But even so, it was terrifying. Just the beast in front of him was capable of killing him by itself, not to mention the pack it belonged to.

Once they reached the boundary, Wu tensed up, and when the environment shifted and he saw the look of contempt on the beast’s face, he immediately shouted out what Tianlan taught him. It was a strained growl that hurt his throat, but he put all of the strength he could muster behind it, letting it ring out loud and clear.

He closed his eyes as he saw the beast heads passing through the thin white veil that was the boundary between the two environments, but he soon heard the submissive whimpering of a group of wild dogs.

When he opened his eyes again, he was both shocked and elated to see the Mangy Mutts with their heads lowered, clearing the way for him. Before he knew it, there was a beaming smile on his face. He turned back to see Tianlan encouraging him to proceed.

He walked forward, carefully passing the beasts, and crossed the boundary before returning with a number of black bags. When he sent his spiritual perception into the bags, he could see that there was a large number of beast cores therein. With a cursory glance, he could tell that it was more than enough for both he and Tianlan to pass the third trial.

He turned to Tianlan and gave him a thumbs-up, to which Tianlan responded by nodding his head, signalling to Wu that the plan hadn’t changed.

Wu calculated out 50 points worth of cores for himself and another 50 for Tianlan, then threw the rest to the ground before using another growl Tianlan had told him.

Two of these growls was his current limit and he had to rub his throat for some relief after using the second one, but he had achieved his goal. The Mangy Mutts cautiously approached the beast cores before eating them. Wu silently observed them and watched as they grew increasingly comfortable around him until it was as if he wasn’t there at all.

He couldn’t suppress the smile on his face. This was his first taste at the life of a beast tamer and it had only reaffirmed his desire to walk this path.

It had also confirmed what he already knew to be true.

‘There’s nothing the childish sages can’t do!’

***

“You’re doing it Rhava! You’re reaching a new realm!”

Shiva couldn’t contain her excitement as she watched the grey clouds swirl up above the cave she and her brother called home. It would be a while before the next environment shift, so her brother had plenty of time to overcome his lightning tribulation. Then they would be on equal footing with Vajra and would be able to discuss cooperation with him.

As for Rhava failing to withstand the tribulation, Shiva put that thought aside. There was no way her brother would fail unless there was a third party acting against him.

With that in mind, she went to the entrance of the cave.

“I’ll keep a lookout. We can’t let anyone disturb you.”

“Be careful, Shiva.”

Shiva smiled.

“Shouldn’t I be saying that to you?”

The snow wolf siblings were experiencing unspeakable joy at this moment, but over in the volcanic region, a sleeping beast opened it blood-red eyes and directed its gaze at a snow-capped mountain off in the distance.

Noticing the swirling grey clouds in the sky, it narrowed its eyes and stood on its feet.

“Rhava.”

***

Fang Wu was still feeling the excitement of his earlier encounter.

“Did you see how they were playing with each other? That was amazing! Thank you so much, Sage Tianlan.”

“You’re welcome. But don’t go around thinking you can get every spirit beast to become docile with the things that I taught you. It was a very specific set of circumstances that allowed you to placate those Mangy Mutts.”

“Of course. I’ll have to study hard to learn how to communicate with different kinds of spirit beasts. Then maybe one day I’ll be able to talk to them like you can.”

“Do you understand why I taught you those words and had you do it by yourself?”

“I think so. You were showing me that one’s cultivation isn’t the only kind of strength one can have. Knowledge can be its own kind of strength. All of those spirit beasts were stronger than me, but because I knew what to say, a dangerous situation became a safe one.”

“That’s right. So, the next time you find yourself the weakest in the group, don’t automatically assume that you’re a burden. First, ask yourself what you can bring to the team. As you’ve seen here, the time you spent reading about spirit beasts may just be what allows you to walk away unharmed.”

Wu’s eyes sparkled as he listened to Tianlan’s words. This was the first time anyone had encouraged him to pursue his interest in spirit beasts. And it was coming from someone he respected a great deal.

Little did Tianlan know, he had just ignited a flame that would burn in Fang Wu’s heart for the rest of his life. He, who would come to be known as Qianshou Wu, would never forget to honour his hero and mentor, Sage Tianlan.