Legendary Beast Cultivator

"Are you from the mighty Mu Yue Clan?" The question escaped Gu Yinhun’s mouth slowly. His eyes remained locked onto the child standing under the fading silhouette of the Qilin.

Mu Yue Cang Ming remained calm and unbothered, his small hands hidden inside the long sleeves of his robe. The magnificent Qilin silhouette behind him vanished into the thin air.

"Why do you ask?" Cang Ming questioned, tilting his head slightly. "Does my clan matter to this investigation?"

"No..." Gu Yinhun stuttered, shaking his head once. "But I have heard about the Mu Yue Clan."

"Hahaha!" Xue Jianhong laughed, resting the broadsword against his shoulder. "Who in the Qinglin Continent has not heard about them?"

"Jianhong..." Chi Leiyang sighed, rubbing his temples.

"What?"

"Wrap your sword."

"Why?" Xue Jianhong’s eyes darted toward the weapon resting against his shoulder.

"We came to investigate a demonic cultivator." Chi Leiyang pointed toward the cracked floor which was caused by the sheer pressure and strength of Xue Jianhong. "Not to destroy the Gu Clan Training Hall."

"Tsk!" Xue Jianhong clicked his tongue before picking up the black cloth from the ground.

Gu Yinhun silently watched him wrap the broadsword, his gaze filled with disdain. The more Gu Yinhun understood about the three investigators before him, the more questions appeared inside his mind.

’The Detective Faction had sent two Spirit Beast Realm Peak Stage investigators and a Core Beast Realm cultivator possessing a Divine Beast for Gu Shiyan?’ Gu Yinhun thought, watching the investigators. ’No... There must be something else. Do they know about... Nahhh. I was overthinking!’

"Clan Head Gu Yinhun," Cang Ming calmly walked toward the stone platform and sat upon its edge. Gu Yinhun looked at him. "Sit."

"This is my Training Hall," Gu Yinhun frowned, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

"I know!" Cang Ming boasted.

"Then why are you telling me to sit?"

"Do you want to stand?" Cang Ming scathed, raising an eyebrow.

Gu Yinhun and Cang Ming stared at each other. A few seconds passed, and Gu Yinhun slowly sat on a stone chair opposite to him.

Chi Leiyang turned away and covered his mouth, and Xue Jianhong grinned.

"Good," Cang Ming crossed one leg over another.

’This brat...’ Gu Yinhun’s expression twitched expeditiously, and clenched his teeth but remained silent.

"Clan Head Gu, forgive our master. He doesn’t speak politely," Chi Leiyang stepped between them.

Cang Ming looked at him, and Chi Leiyang immediately corrected himself. "He speaks efficiently."

"Hahaha!" Xue Jianhong burst into laughter.

"Gu Yinhun," Cang Ming ignored them, his gaze locked on Gu Clan Head. "Let us continue."

"Ask," Gu Yinhun slowly nodded.

"When did Gu Shiyan begin cultivating?"

Gu Yinhun thought for a moment before answering.

"When he was fifteen years old he was rejected by the river and our clan granted him a beast from our inventory."

"What beast did you grant him?"

"A Fire Serpent."

Cang Ming’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"And according to the witnesses, the essence leaking from Gu Shiyan’s aperture during the competition was dark-green and a layer was hiding his original cultivation stage," Chi Leiyang stated, stepping forward slowly.

Listening to Chi Leiyang’s words, Gu Yinhun frowned in disbelief.

"Then why did you not mention about hiding his cultivation stage?"

Gu Yinhun remained silent, and Xue Jianhong finished wrapping his broadsword and placed it behind his back again.

"You are hiding something, and you are terrible at lying."

"I said I am not hiding anything!" Gu Yinhun’s voice boomed across the hall.

"Don’t shout." Cang Ming bellowed, raising a finger.

Gu Yinhun’s mouth quivered immediately.

"I like working under him," Xue Jianhong chuckled, turning toward Chi Leiyang.

"Clan Head Gu, your son possessed a Fire Serpent, but the corrupted essence emerging from his aperture was a mix of dark-green and blood strains," Cang Ming leaned slightly forward. "Did you ever sense this essence before the competition?"

"No.."

"Oh nice... you don’t even know your son is hiding his cultivation stage.. Okay then, did Gu Shiyan ever ask you about aperture modifications?"

Gu Yinhun’s eyes squinted once, but the investigators saw it.

"Clan Head Gu," Chi Leiyang’s voice filled with anger. "Your son asked you something, didn’t he?"

"No," Gu Yinhun sneered, and looked away.

"Sigh~ Another lie," Xue Jianhong mocked.

"I am not lying!" Gu Yinhun slammed his fist against the stone chair.

"Tell me the truth," Cang Ming warned, clenching his fists. "Or else the Mu Yue clan’s head will ask further questions!"

Shang Chi was Mu Yue Clan Head and father of Cang Ming. He was a True Beast Realm — Upper Stage Cultivator, and a Golden Roc holder.

Gu Yinhun remained silent for a few breaths, his eyes slowly darting toward the cracked stone floor.

"Three months ago, Shiyan came to me." Gu Yinhun murmured, his voice became low. "He asked me whether an aperture could hold two different kinds of Beast Essence."

"And what did you tell him?" Cang Ming’s eyes narrowed.

"I told him it was impossible."

"Did he ask anything else?"

"Yes." Gu Yinhun continued, closing his eyes. "He asked what would happen if a foreign essence pathway was forcefully carved into an aperture."

Chi Leiyang and Xue Jianhong exchanged an anxious glare.

"I told him that the aperture would most likely detonate." Gu Yinhun frowned as he clenched his fist. "I warned him never to experiment with such things."

"Did you ask why he wanted to know?"

"Yes... He said," Gu Yinhun paused, his expression became strange. "He said he found it inside an old cultivation record."

"Where is that record?" Chi Leiyang immediately asked.

"I never saw it. He said he returned it to the academy library."

"Did you verify with the academy?" Chi Leiyang bellowed, grabbing his shoulder.

"No."

"Father of the year," Xue Jianhong scoffed, clapping his hands.

"What did you say?" Gu Yinhun jolted his head toward him.

"I said you are a magnificent father."

"You—"

Cang Ming interrupted Gu Yinhun’s words by raising his hand.

Instantly both became silent. The child lowered his head slightly.

’A foreign essence. Hidden aperture stage. And blood strains.’ Cang Ming thought, his fingers tapped slowly against his knee. "Chi Leiyang."

"Yes?"

"Have you heard about a demonic method capable of carving a second essence pathway into an aperture?"

Chi Leiyang thought deeply before saying a no, and Xue Jianhong shook his head in disapproval.

"Show us Gu Shiyan’s room," Cang Ming stood up, adjusting his robes.

"What?" Gu Yinhun immediately looked up.

"I said show his room,"

"You have already questioned me."

"And now we will search for his belongings."

"I cannot allow outsiders to search the private chambers of my deceased son." Gu Yinhun argued.

"Xue Jianhong," Cang Ming sighed.

"Yes, master?"

"Write a letter to the Detective Faction that I am declaring a war against the Gu Clan!" Cang Ming commanded, walking past from Gu Yinhun.

"What the fuck? No... No... Wait!!" Gu Yinhun grimaced, waving his hands. "I will take you there."

"Hahaha!" Xue Jianhong patted Gu Yinhun’s shoulder. "Good decision."

****

A few minutes later, the four figures crossed the inner courtyard of the Gu Clan residence. The news of three strangers entering the residence and knocking out the entrance guards had already spread among the servants.

Gu Yinhun walked in front, behind him was Cang Ming. Chi Leiyang and Xue Jianhong followed.

"Clan Head Yinhun," Chi Leiyang called. "Who took care of Gu Shiyan’s belongings after his death?"

"No one."

"Why?"

"I ordered them not to touch anything," Gu Yinhun stopped walking for a moment, then continued.

"You expected an investigation?" Chi Leiyang frowned.

"No."

Chi Leiyang let out a suspicious look toward Gu Yinhun. Soon, Gu Yinhun stopped before a small residence separated from the main compound. Compared to the luxurious halls of the Gu Clan, Gu Shiyan’s residence appeared strangely simple.

A small stone courtyard with two dead trees. A training dummy covered in countless blade marks, and a dark wooden door.

Gu Yinhun took out a key, and opened the door slowly.

Cang Ming entered first. The room was dark, and Chi Leiyang lit a nearby lantern. A faint orange glow spread across the chamber. There was almost nothing unusual.

There was a bed, a wooden desk, the cultivation manuals, three sets of academy robes, and a small shelf containing beast food.

Chi Leiyang immediately began examining the desk. Cang Ming walked slowly through the room, his gaze swept across everything. The strange sensation he had sensed outside the Gu Clan residence appeared again. It was too faint.

"Move that!" Cang Ming pointed toward the wooden shelf.

Xue Jianhong walked toward the shelf. He grabbed the entire structure.

"Wait, remove the books first—" Chi Leiyang started.

Xue Jianhong pulled the entire shelf away from the wall, and dozens of books fell onto the floor with dull thuds. Behind the shelf was an ordinary stone wall.

"There is nothing there," Gu Yinhun frowned, a faint smile lingering on his face.

Cang Ming approached the wall, his fingers touched the cold stone. He knocked on three different places. The third produced a slightly different sound of hollowness.

As Cang Ming darted his eyes toward Xue Jianhong, he immediately punched the wall.

"YOU—!" Gu Yinhun’s eyes widened in rage.

"What?" Xue Jianhong looked at him.

"You destroyed my wall!"

"I found a secret compartment."

"You could have opened it normally!"

Xue Jianhong didn’t care about those words.

Cang Ming crouched before the broken section, there was indeed a narrow hidden space behind the wall.

Inside it, a small black wooden box rested silently.

"I have never seen that box," Gu Yinhun stared at it.

Leiyang tried to take that box out.

"Humph~" Cang Ming sighed, leaning forward. "Wait!! Don’t touch it."

"Why?" Chi Leiyang frowned, staggering backward.

"The aura," Cang Ming muttered, slowly standing up. "This is what I sensed from outside."

Xue Jianhong’s hand immediately moved toward his sword. Chi Leiyang crouched and carefully observed the box. There was nothing on it, except a single symbol had been carved into the lid — a circle with an eye in it.

Chi Leiyang’s expression slowly changed. Cang Ming stared at the symbol. For some reason, the Qilin inside his aperture had become angry.

"Move back!" Cang Ming yelled.

Everyone immediately stepped away, and Cang Ming raised his hand. A bead of dark-blue Beast Essence emerged from his finger, wrapping around the wooden box. The lid slowly opened. Nothing happened.

Cang Ming pulled the box from the hidden compartment and placed it upon the floor, and everyone looked inside. It was empty.

"We broke a wall for an empty box?" Xue Jianhong was disappointed.

Chi Leiyang ignored him. "Look properly..."

At the bottom of the box, there was a thin layer of dry blood residue.

"No..." Gu Yinhun stepped backward, his face becoming pale. "I didn’t know about this. I swear."

The child continued staring into the box. "I believe you."

"Because if you knew this existed..." Cang Ming slowly raised his gaze, looking around the room. "...you would have destroyed it before we arrived."

"What the fuck this box has?" Chi Leiyang muttered, keenly observing the box. "Is it a manual, beast core, or dead beast blood?"

Many questions lingered in their minds, but there was an unknown smile curled on Gu Yinhun’s lips for a second before vanishing into a frown.

Cang Ming looked toward the symbol carved into the box. "I don’t know."

"But whoever gave this to Gu Shiyan..." Cang Ming said, closing the lid of the box, "might still be inside Green Hollow City."

****

Far away from the Gu Clan residence, at the eastern edge of Green Hollow City... The night wind howled between the warehouses.

A figure stood beneath the darkness, its entire body was covered in a long gray cloak. Before it, a second figure crouched.

"Gu Shiyan is dead," the second figure said, his voice was so deep and strange. "The investigators arrived this evening. One of them is from the Mu Yue Clan."

The standing figure turned his head slightly. "Mu Yue?"

"Hahaha... Let them investigate... Gu Shiyan was only the first seed," the standing figure laughed. "Green Hollow city has many more suitable vessels."