Chapter 30 - Tale Under The Stars

By the time they finished eating, the evening had come. The moon shone clearly in the sky, surrounded by the shining stars that bathed the surrounding grass in the moonlight.

In the spiderweb house, Hei, Lian, Ye, Xing, and Bao Bei were relaxing lying on the ground while digesting the evening meal.

Although it was ordinarily uncomfortable to sleep on the floor if you weren't used to it, Lian had made no complaints and silently ate with the whole family together.

When they had rested enough, all of them came out of the spiderweb house. It was time to start the ritual to revive the spirit vein.

‘The ritual to revive the spirit vein is done through a special formation that does nothing but sending the energy contained in external objects towards the spirit vein itself.’ Bao Bei said as she began to draw the formation on the ground with absolute precision.

Hei, fascinated by his mother's mastery, couldn't help but ask, "Mom, do you know formations?"

‘Not really, I’m not such a great expert, but this is a particular formation known only to very few divine beasts. I was taught a long time ago by a friend. It was a lotus flower divine beast.’

When she mentioned her old friend, Bao Bei's eyes became sad, looking back at what had happened in the past before she met Hei.

Seeing his mother becoming sad, Hei tried to change the subject.

"Mother, there is one thing that isn’t clear to me. Some time ago, you said that spirit beasts also included plants and inanimate objects. If animal-type spirit beasts are nothing but animals that have awakened their spirit power, then the plants with spirit power that we cultivate are themselves spirit beasts?"

Hearing her son's question, Bao Bei came to her senses and replied quietly, ‘No, they aren’t spirit beasts. Well, for plants, in addition to spirit power, a consciousness must also be formed within them. And this process takes many years. As for inanimate objects, they require spirit power, consciousness, and the creation of a blood-like substance that makes them alive. The times for this process are even longer than for the plants and cannot be artificially induced, thus making the inanimate type spirit beasts very rare.’

Hei listened to this explanation with interest, wondering what kind of spirit beast his mother had seen in her life.

Noticing the interest of her son, Bao Bei smiled and sighed inwardly at the same time. She had finished drawing the formation and arranging all the spirit cores in their possession. Now, all that remained was to activate the formation and wait for the result. So, in the waiting, she would finally tell them about her past.

While the formation slowly lit up, recalling the spirit cores and external environment's spirit power towards the underground spirit vein, Bao Bei had Hei, Ye, and Xing come near her. She also made Lian and Shui sit next to them while the other buffaloes slept peacefully after the long walk during the day.

At that point, she connected her mind to that of Shui and Lian. In that way, she could transmit her voice to them too. Unlike Shui, with whom she had once communicated to the pond before departing from Kang's group, this was the first time Bao Bei was speaking to Lian.

The young girl with an expressionless gaze seemed somewhat amazed for a second but then returned to her usual inexpressive self. Xing and Ye were on her legs as they watched their mother with interest. They hadn’t forgotten the promise she had made to them: telling what she had always tried not to say.

‘Now that we have arrived here, it is time to tell you what I couldn’t bear to say before. But to make you understand, you must remember the discussion about the spirit beasts and divine beasts that I told you long ago.‘

Even though her sons remembered it, Shui was only instinctively conscious without knowing the specific details while Lian was unaware of it. So Bao Bei again proceeded to explain that topic.

Once that part was over, she moved on to the next one, ‘the elemental laws are also learnable by all beings with spirit power. When you reach the meridian stage, Hei, you could communicate with the spirit power in the environment and start what is called the elemental conversion. As for the precise process, we will discuss it in detail in the future when the time comes.’

At that point, Bao Bei paused and then resumed with a tone that hid a note of bitterness and anger.

‘Learning the elemental laws allows you to change the very nature of your spirit power, thus being able to carry out attacks with ever stronger power and range. However, the problem lies in the difficulty; although external objects can be used to accelerate the elemental conversion, there are no shortcuts in the study of an elemental law except for one: a bloodline.’

‘Bloodline?’ Hei thought to himself as he wondered what it was.

Suddenly it occurred to him that his mother would always add some of her blood to the milk he received. Unsure if it could be the same thing, he tried to ask a question, but he was anticipated by Bao Bei, who continued her explanation.

‘With a bloodline, it refers to the blood of us divine beasts. Us spirit beasts, when we reach the sixth level and become a divine beast, we receive a bloodline. After receiving a bloodline, we can awaken our bloodline's element and another one that is our innate element. So, in the end, we possess two elements.

Humans and demons, instead, can only control a single element law. Yet, somehow, they discovered that by absorbing the bloodline of a divine beast, they could acquire a second element, and the learning speed of that element was greatly accelerated. Thus, it began the mad hunt for us divine beasts.

We divine beasts used to live alone or with a mate and our cubs, but we were reluctant to join in a pack, considering there were few specimens for every single species of divine beast. Therefore, humans and demons could hunt the first divine beasts by attacking them en masse. When we realized the danger, humans and demons had already acquired too many powers.

Divine beasts are also mostly arrogant by nature. Without bottlenecks in their cultivation, they mocked the attacks made by humans and demons, merely believing that they had been successful only because the dead divine beasts were weak. For them, joining together in a single flag was unthinkable.

Fortunately, your father decided to unite the divine beasts and set out to become stronger and challenge all the leaders in their territories and submit them to his command.

Incidentally, it was during one of his trips that I met your father. At the time, I was still a weak little spider. I met him wounded after a brutal confrontation with another divine beast.

When I saw him hurt, something inside me stirred. I didn't know why, but inside me, I felt that I couldn't let him die like this. So I helped him heal, and he decided to take me with him to thank me for my help. Thanks to him, I was able to reach the divine beast level, and during our travels, we fell in love.

As time went by, he became stronger and stronger and succeeded in his goal. Finally, we divine beasts were reunited.

The demons and humans at that point, gave your father the name of ‘Serpent of Darkness,’ since his element was darkness, while the divine beasts gave him the title of Beast Emperor.

As this happened, the tension between human and demon empires became more intense as multiple genes appeared in both factions. But it was when two particular individuals emerged, that situation between the two races degenerated. One was a human with the bloodline of the white dragon and took the lead of the humans obtaining the title of Hero; the other was a demon who had the bloodline of the black dragon and controlled the demons as the new Demon Emperor.

When the two reached the sixth grade and were approaching the seventh, a big war finally broke out to decide who would dominate the whole world. In that great battle, there was a high possibility that the winner would reach the divine rank and become a God.

Your father, therefore, organized an offensive with all the remaining fighters of our race. The goal was to get in the middle of the fight and kill the strongest humans and demons that possessed bloodlines. Your father personally engaged the Hero and the Demon Emperor in combat by himself.

I don't exactly remember what happened that day. Around me, there was nothing but destruction and death. But, at one point, there was a great roar, and the earth began to crack. Your father took me from the collapsed battlefield and told me that he had reached the divine rank; however, unfortunately, his body couldn’t hold all that power.

Before everything went to pieces, he teleported me elsewhere, telling me to live, and that was the last time I saw him. Later I woke up in the Multicolored Leaf Forest, where I then met you, Hei.’

Like that, the long speech of Bao Bei ended. Although it was only a summary of the many years she had lived in that atmosphere of war and tension, from the tone of his mother, Hei could perceive all the emotions she must have felt. Joy and love for a new partner; the fear and pain of her companions’ deaths and of always being in danger; anger to be treated only as an object without consideration for their lives.

Ye and Xing were silent, with their eyes turned to the ground. Although spiders and snakes couldn’t physically cry, it was easy to understand that they were doing so inside them.

Hei stood up and approached them. His own eyes were also filled with tears. Although he hadn’t known him, from their mother's story, it was clear that he had been an extraordinary being who had struggled with all of himself to forge a future for Bao Bei and all the other divine beasts. To that being, he had nothing but respect; unlike instead, the sensation he felt for himself: in fact, Hei was cursing himself because he was human, the same race that had caused so much pain to his mother and that it could also endanger his two little sisters.

Shui instead bellowed at the moon full of anger. Even though it was a very young spirit beast, considering their long life span, an innate emotion of belonging to those who had died was firmly rooted within it. In fact, in the struggle for survival, it wasn’t only the divine beasts that fought. Even the spirit beasts that hadn’t reached the sixth level struggled with everything they had to give a future to their descendants.

Lian was silent as usual, but unlike her expressionless look, she was crying, and her gaze turned towards Ye and Xing. At that point, she stretched both her hands to caress the two little spirit beasts as she rested her forehead on the ground as if kowtow herself to apologize.

Sensing their thoughts, Bao Bei came closer, and with some spider webs strings, she touched the cheek of all of them.

‘What has happened cannot be changed. Although I lost your father and my companions, in the end, I got you. Hei, you don't have to feel disgusted with your human origins. Not all humans are like that, and you know it. One hundred thousand years ago, together with us spirit beasts, several humans fought too. They were beast tamers who loved their adventure partners and died with us, even going so far as to deny their race.

As for the protection of Ye and Xing, you don't have to worry. The humans and demons of my past belong to an area called the Destiny Continent. According to my hypothesis, Rainbow Island is one of the various islands that surround this Continent. Although it is possible to reach it by boat, there is still a long way from here to there. So you don't have to worry.

You should instead concentrate on becoming strong, stronger than everything and everyone so as to protect those you love. That's why I gave you my bloodline. Although it is a taboo for us divine beasts, I am convinced that you are the hope for all of us, but at the same time, I don’t want you to follow this tortuous path that brings suffering and pain. If possible, I would like you to stay here with your sisters far from any danger.

To reach the divine rank, your father sacrificed the very essence of us divine beasts, precluding future spirit beasts from reaching the sixth level while sealing the cubs of divine beasts that were too small in a safe place. I'm not sure if there were other survivors, but I doubt it, and in any case, after all these years, they must already be dead.

Therefore, in the eyes of the world, divine beasts should be extinct. Although it was a huge sacrifice, it was the only way to prevent the death of all of us and the whole world. So, unless they show too many big powers, Ye and Xing will be confused as simple spirit beasts.

Honestly, when I picked you up that night, I didn't know what I had in mind. Inside of me, I was angry, sad, and scared about being alone, but then I saw you, so small and helpless yet so tenacious in wanting to continue living. Your father once told me that the differences between the various races are dictated by the society in which they grow. So I decided to raise you as a spirit beast because I hoped you could one day secure our future: a bridge of understanding between us spirit and divine beasts and humans.

Although this is what I wanted, over the years, I have learned to love you more and more, and in the end, I want you to decide the path you want to take. As a mother, I don't want to put up with such a burden. I just want you to be happy with Ye and Xing.’

After talking to Hei, Bao Bei turned to her two little daughters.

‘I know you are sad and angry, but remember that the faults of the past shouldn’t be placed against the future descendants, not to mention that even we spirit and divine beasts are not without fault. For the sake of freedom and our future, we have committed so many crimes. I don't want you to make the same mistakes. Stay by your brother's side and protect each other, okay?’

Ye and Xing nodded vigorously to communicate that they had understood. So she switched to Shui, who was still bellowing in anger.

‘The same goes for you, Shui. A future with humans is possible, and the living proof is before you. Don't let the pain of our species dull your judgment.’

Shui bent hits legs and rested its head on the ground. Even though it was angry, it certainly couldn't forget the kindness and compassion Hei had shown to it and the other buffaloes, not as something inferior but as a peer worthy of being treated with respect.

Finally, Bao Bei turned to Lian, who still had her head resting on the ground and in tears.

‘I have a vague idea of what you suffered in your prison. Unfortunately, you had to go through all this, but now you are safe. You are part of our family, so don't be afraid. The only thing I ask is to help my children on their journey. Please, Lian.’

Lian, therefore, looked up and in a hoarse, weak voice answered with a simple "Yes." By the tone used, one could see that it was some time that she didn’t use her voice. But it was a good thing that she wasn't mute.

At that point, Hei, who hadn’t said anything, stood up with a determined look and told his mother what he had decided.

"I don't need time to decide, mother. I promise you here, that I will protect my family from all dangers, even if it cost me my life, and I will create a safe house for us spirit beasts. A place where we can all live peacefully! "

Upon hearing Hei's statement, Bao Bei was suddenly stunned. His firm tone and his resoluteness reminded her so much of her late companion.

‘You were right, Hei An, all our sacrifices weren’t in vain. Our dream will be handed down to the next generation, and I'm sure Hei will be the one who will accomplish it for us. But for them to be ready, in the meantime, I will train them and protect them until I am able to do it.’

This was the thought that Bao Bei expressed in her heart. She prayed for the future of her children to be different from what she had to face in her past.