(Author: Hello everyone. Zhuang now has a magical beast and two tiny horns the color of steel. His fire element qi is now white and chills but still burns like fire. He must now train in the mountains with Shuang, but has an advantage no one has. Side note: drinking cold Coca-Cola in hot summer weather sure is refreshing while typing this chapter. Enjoy.)

Chapter 5: Wyrm Blood

Zhuang looked all over the mountain range for a cave to begin cultivating. He killed weak magical creatures that barely had any spirit energy and let Shuang eat the demonic cores. The demonic cores were too weak for his taste and the appetite of his magical beast was frightening. He had to store corpses of the weak magical beasts so Shuang could eat them later.

"Bloodthirsty little glutton," Zhuang grinned. "You wouldn't happen to know where I can cultivate do you?"

"I do master," Shuang said in a strange language, yet Zhuang could understand it.

"What language is that you are...," Zhuang began, shocked as he spoke the same language. "Shouldn't we speak in each other's heads? Why are we speaking in this language?"

"It is the language of draconic creatures and I do not know the human tongue. You automatically know the draconic language as some of our knowledge is transferred to each other," Shuang answered. "Master's eyes contain hints of a demonic core mutation and you also have wyrm horns, albeit strange ones, after we bonded souls. You're not exactly human now. Your body also makes me jealous master. As your element qi became a variant of chilling fire, you are now immune to fire and ice qi attacks. I doubt even the magic of a magus could harm you using those elements."

"This new body gets more and more interesting," Zhuang laughed. "You said you knew where I could train. Is it among other wyrms?"

"Yes master," Shuang said. "But you will be fine. You are part wyrm now. Despite being weak, master will not be eaten as I voluntarily accepted the soul binding. Wyrms are a lot more profound than humans know. I knew when you touched my eggshell that your soul wasn't a human's but that of an evil jade spirit that fused with the human soul and forcibly took control of the body. Spirits are highly respected by magical beasts. It is a shame some are forcibly bound by a magus under the assumption that they are elemental spirits."

"Since I am a demi-human with the martial body of an evil jade spirit, I can train under the guidance of wyrms?" Zhuang laughed. "Amazing. Truly, I thank you Shuang. However, won't your parents be mad? Did Senior Cecilia kill your parents?"

"No one really cares," Shuang replied. "They died as they are weak. Wyrms only care about magical treasures and having the power to take protect their treasures or seize it from another. I was in an egg anyway. My absence is no loss to the others. Follow me master. The wyrms will train you in your five element qi attributes. They should know the human tongue so you should have no trouble understanding them"

After four hours of traveling, Zhuang slowly learned about his new body. Losing his humanity, he could eat the flesh and drink the blood of a magical beast instead of having to cook it. If he didn't want to eat but felt hungry or thirsty, he could circulate the spirit energy in his body to nourish it as an alternative.

He ate demonic cores from magical beasts he killed to replace the spirit energy he lost. He didn't consume powerful demonic cores as he feared another transformation. He was able to prevent a transformation to an extent as he had a martial body, but he had limits. As he followed Shuang, he observed the spirit energy around him and in the magical beasts he saw. He would watch how magical beasts used their qi when he and Shuang hunted them.

He gasped in awe as he approached a cave and saw a pair of six hundred year wyrms laying at the entrance. They looked at him as if he was an anomaly they had never seen before as he followed Shuang inside. Zhuang would never admit it, but he felt shivers down his spine and wanted to run in the opposite direction as he walked past them.

Inside, Zhuang saw something that shocked him even more. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief as he entered a hidden valley of enormous trees and jade crystals with thousands of wyrms inside. He momentarily forgot to breathe in shock and gasped for breath after a moment. He almost pissed himself as the wyrms looked at him, their white, large teeth shining under the reflection of the crystals.

"A human? What's it doing here?"

"That human's got horns?"

"A demi-human? Probably an idiot that fed on too many demonic cores."

"It's part wyrm! I can sense wyrm blood in his veins!"

"Me too! It feels like a volcanic wyrm's demonic core and a steel cloud wyrm's soul was absorbed into his body!"

"It's the steel cloud egg that got stolen from outside the valley! It hatched!"

"It's soul doesn't seem human though. It feels like a spirit's soul."

"Evil jade spirit! It took over the human's body?"

Zhuang held his head as so many wyrms spoke the draconic language. Hearing so many voices made him feel dizzy. He frowned as the wyrms immediately scattered after hearing a roar and watched them dip their heads toward the ground as a path formed. Shuang let out a happy roar and Zhuang followed Shuang nervously as the wyrms stared at him as he passed. Even thousand year wyrms dipped their heads as they passed.

Zhuang and the wyrm hatchling stopped before a cliff's edge overlooking a large lake. Zhuang lost his balance as he felt an enormous earthquake and stared at the lake as the water seemed to rise. A large white dragon about a mile high in height stared down at him. It was a ten thousand year oppressive behemoth wyrm. There was no doubt the gigantic wyrm was the alpha in the valley.

"Hello evil jade spirit. How many years has it been? Over ten thousand years?" the wyrm asked, its voice as powerful as a thunderbolt.

"We've met?" Zhuang asked, confused.

"You used to be the evil jade spirit that would become the martial spirit of a Seventh before the Rule of Six was established," the wyrm said. "I know as I had met you when I was maybe a hatchling as your former master laid havoc to this world as other Sevenths and Eighths wrecked tyranny and chaos on other worlds before they were all killed and the martial spirits were imprisoned."

"When I was caged and enslaved," Zhuang growled. "Those damn overseers sealed me in the form of an orb. I HATE OOOORBS! I HATE CAGES!"

Zhuang's rage took over and he unconsciously circulated his fire element qi, burning the cliff side and shattering the surface into pieces with his chilled fire.

"Ah, sorry," Zhuang said as he regained his composure. "Being in a body I can control feels unbelievable. I still can't believe I am free."

"I can relate," the wyrm said. "I once had my soul forcibly bound. After my master was weakened from surviving a tribulation, I coaxed a few magical beasts and they slayed him. I enjoyed eating him. Look at my size! He forced me to be his little pet and petted me as he forcibly had me shrink into the size of a fist. A bloody fist! Your pain must be greater though. I can only imagine how many millennia you have suffered in loneliness and humiliation."

"Thank you," Zhuang said, meaning it from his heart. "Human emotions are a troubling side effect as my personality changed because of it. At least I am free. I need to cultivate my five elemental qi and reach the third level of condensation. Can you help me?"

"Of course! You are an evil jade spirit!" the ancient wyrm laughed. "I will even give you a human pool full of my blood for you to bathe in everyday. You're body will be able to contain more qi than ever before. I will have a few wyrms teach you about the nature of spirit energy and how it affects element qi in a being's body. It is different from a ethereal body such as the one you used to have. Otherwise, you would be unfathomably more powerful than me. Your cultivation will be slower but your soul and body will be more powerful than others. I will personally tutor little Shuang here. As for my name, call me Ancient One as I have cast aside my name upon being free. Good luck and enjoy your freedom evil jade spirit. There is no greater feeling."

Chapter 4: Soul Binding Main Page Chapter 6: Among Wyrms