Legendary Beast Cultivator

The black wooden box rested silently inside Chi Leiyang’s storage pouch with a heavy, quivering weight. The investigators and clan head were silent.

The four figures slowly walked out of Gu Shiyan’s residence under the pale moonlight brushing against the stone path. The night breeze swirled across the dead branches in the courtyard, making a dry rustling sound.

Gu Yinhun silently watched the investigators leave, his posture was still, his face filled in solemn grief. But behind that flawless composure, something dark and unreadable expression lingered deep within his eyes, reflecting the cold light of the moon.

Cang Ming suddenly halted near the exit gate. Without turning around to face the older man, he spoke, his voice carrying a calm clarity.

"Clan Head Gu Yinhun." Gu Yinhun looked up, his gaze steady. "If you remember anything... anything at all... send word to the Detective Faction."

"Sure!" Gu Yinhun slowly nodded, his expression indifferent. "I will let you know."

The three investigators left the Gu Clan residence without another word, their robes swirling in the wind. Behind them, the massive iron gates slowly closed together before shutting with a thunderous thud.

The eerie silence returned to the pathway. Xue Jianhong and Chi Leiyang exchanged a few glances as they walked forward beside Cang Ming.

The main streets of Green Hollow City remained lively even in the late hour. The shimmering lanterns cast a warm, flickering glow over the merchant district, where crowded caravans blocked the roads, preparing for tomorrow’s early departure to the other cities. The smell of scorched meat, beast food, and cheap liquor filled the air.

Chi Leiyang adjusted the robes and looked around the crowded street. "Where now? The academy library?"

"Makes sense. That’s where the kid spent half his time, right?" Xue Jianhong shrugged, checking the wrap at the hilt of his broadsword.

"No. We will go to the library later, it won’t disappear tonight. The records will wait for us," Cang Ming shook his head, his gaze sweeping over the caravans and crowd.

"Then?" Xue Jianhong asked, his face filled with anxiety.

"Let’s ask the more witnesses," Cang Ming chuckled. "The merchants, other clansmen and many more watched the competition!"

"Huhh... Well let’s go!" Chi Leiyang narrowed his single eye, catching on immediately.

"If Gu Shiyan behaved strangely in his prior battles or something, someone obviously observed that changes. Hidden traits reveal themselves under pressure," Cang Ming nodded once, squinting his eyes.

"There were hundreds of spectators in the arena. Half the city was there," Xue Jianhong scratched his head, looking overwhelmed by the sheer crowd of people passing by. "Who should we ask?"

"We only need one who truly watches with keen interest," Cang Ming elucidated, walking into the street.

Half an hour later, the three investigators arrived at the city’s western caravan station, a sprawling courtyard filled with the chaotic sounds of selling things.

The dozens of merchant wagons stood in neat rows. The workers unloaded crates of dried medicinal herbs, preserved beast meat, raw ores, and timber, while a few hired guards watched the surroundings lazily from the top of the stack.

Chi Leiyang approached an elderly merchant who was aggressively guiding a group of laborers with a rolled-up scroll. "We’re looking for information."

"Depends on who’s asking, and who you’re looking for, brat," The old merchant raised his head, wiping sweat from his temples, irritated by the interruption.

"Brat? Huh... Okay I will get to the point," Chi Leiyang jeered, adjusting his bamboo hat. "Were you present at the Grand Academy Competition?"

"Of course I was," the merchant yelled back. "I don’t miss a talent scout opportunity. What about it?"

"We need to ask about one of the participants — Gu Shiyan," Chi Leiyang’s expression sharpened.

"Ehh.. About that monster... that strange brat? The one from the Gu Clan?" The merchant scowled, pointing the rolled scroll toward Chi Leiyang.

Chi Leiyang’s eye sharpened, stepping closer. "Do you remember him vividly?"

"Hmph~ It’s hard to forget. He gave everyone in the front rows goosebumps and a taste of fear. He fought like a rabid, cornered madman with pure malice," The merchant paused, a strange, mocking laugh escaping his lips. "But he wasn’t the one everyone was actually talking about after the battle concluded."

"Then who?" Cang Ming immediately asked, raising his eyebrow in anxiety.

"A young brat... I recently heard rumors that he brutally killed two of his fellow disciples because they tried to attack him. He is from the Qing clan, Hahaha! How can I forget him... his black hair, his calm eyes. While everyone else was sweating and shouting frantically, he looked like he was thinking ten paces ahead, completely unbothered and detached to all the mortal emotions and noises. He was rejected by the River of Origin, but... that brat was terrifying in a different way." The merchant’s face frowned, a genuine spark of excitement flickering in his drowsy eyes. Cang Ming silently listened, observing the change in the merchant’s demeanor.

"I’ve travelled through seven major cities and watched many academy competitions like this for nearly thirty years," the merchant continued, rubbing his grey beard sluggishly. "I’ve seen talented children. I’ve seen pampered geniuses from the high clans, but... But I’ve never seen a kid look at a battlefield the way he did."

"What made him different?" Chi Leiyang crossed his arms, leaning against a nearby wagon wheel.

"He never wasted a single movement. I don’t know if he felt scared or not but outside he never panicked, even when Gu Shiyan became crazy. He didn’t fight out of anger, pride, or a desire to show off; he fought because he had already decided the battle’s conclusion before it even began."

"Overconfident?" Xue Jianhong muttered, raising an eyebrow.

"No," The merchant slowly shook his head, his voice low as whisper. "He was cold, and unnaturally calm like he has decades of experience in the battles. Even when the crowd was roaring, he remained silent. When everyone else hesitated, he acted without a shred of doubt. When everyone celebrated his victory, he simply turned around and walked away calmly." The old merchant paused, staring into the distance as if rewatching the matches in his mind. "I’ve only seen that kind of look once before in my life. A veteran beast hunter who survived forty years alone outside civilization, living among the monsters. Their eyes... they were exactly the same. They carried no warmth... they carried just the pure urge of survival and power."

"And his name?" Chi Leiyang smirked, an interesting smirk curling on his lips.

"Lin Yuan," the merchant boasted while saying his name.

The heavy silence fell over the small pocket of space between the wagons. The name seemed to linger suffocatingly in the cool night breeze.

"Lin Yuan," Cang Ming repeated quietly, his face slightly becoming interesting. "Lin... Yuan."

The old merchant nodded. "He defeated Gu Fang Xin just a second after the battle even started. Then he fought Gu Shiyan head-on even though he was facing a Peak stage monster with demonic nature and survived. He was rejected by destiny itself at the awakening ceremony, but he never looked defeated for a single second."

"Interesting! A man of... Nah, a brat of pride!" Chi Leiyang let out a low whisper.

"So another monster lives in this little backwater city," Xue Jianhong grinned, a spark of anticipation in his eyes. "And he is from an influential clan, maybe his beast was also a legendary or divine beast."

"If I had to choose," the merchant grimaced, darted his eyes around as if worried about being overheard, "I’d rather offend ten clan heirs with all their guards than provoke Lin Yuan. The heirs care about their reputation, but that kid only cares about the conclusion. And his beast is an uncommon turtle!"

"The fuck? Turtle?" Xue Jianhong barked, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"Turtle? Interesting," Chi Leiyang looked toward Cang Ming. "What do you think?"

The sixteen-year-old investigator remained silent for a few breaths, his gaze locked on the ground. His expression remained calm and unbothered.

"Lin Yuan defeated the demonic cultivator," Cang Ming murmured, his voice cutting through the noise of the caravan station. "I hope Lin Yuan never falls into the demonic pathway!"

"And according to the old man, it wasn’t fluke or luck. It was an analysed slaughter," Chi Leiyang nodded. "He was a demon under the flesh of a young child..."

Cang Ming slowly turned his head, looking toward the distant, dark silhouette of the academy grounds under the moon.

"Tomorrow. Change the schedules. I want to meet him," Cang Ming’s voice boomed across the merchant street. "I want to meet Lin Yuan!"

Xue Jianhong laughed, clapping his hands together. "Excellent. I suddenly became very interested too. Let’s see what a monster rejected by fate looks like."

Chi Leiyang adjusted his bamboo hat, a smirk curling on his lips. "So, the monster first, and the library later."

"Yes!"

****

Far away, in the Qing clan residence, Lin Yuan sat cross-legged upon his thin bed, entirely concentrated in his cultivation.

Inside the vast pool of his aperture, the rabbit beast floated lazily within the swirling essence. The Moon Rabbit quietly absorbed drops of cold Beast Essence, its small form emanating a pale, silver glow.

Lin Yuan or his beasts didn’t know that somewhere under the same moon, a sixteen-year-old investigator possessing a Divine Beast had already got interested with a single name and etched into his memory.