Chapter 25 - Bai Long
As soon as he was born, they separated him from his mother and kept him caged up. His very first memory was of a bunch of humans looking at him through a barrier.
Alone and scared for most of his young life, he had given up trying to get out of the facility he was born in, but something inside him kept telling him he was meant for bigger things.
His very blood spoke to him every day, telling him he was meant for greatness, telling him that nothing could hold him back, telling him to be free.
But the reality was much different.
Humans wanted him to give in and surrender. To lower his head in front of these lower beings was the same as death, and so he chose death instead.
To go out with his head held high, to go out of his own volition was the most he could ask for. So he didn't fight back, instead of serving those vermins, he chose eternal sleep.
But just when he was about to leave this unknown plane, he felt his blood throb as if it had met a friend.
"Hey, hey you, over here! This prince is talking to you!" said an immature voice in his head. He opened his eyes and saw a little cub talking to him in a language he didn't know but still understood.
"My human likes you, serve him and you can leave this place," the white fluffball spoke again.
"Never!" he replied without hesitation.
"Why? He is a good human, and very kind. He will pet you and give you lots of belly rubs and feed you! What else could you ask for?" the cub replied in an inviting tone as if that was the most enticing thing in existence.
"Do you have no shame? How can you serve these vile beings? Where is your pride?" he replied, angered!
"Shame? Pride? What's that? Can you eat it? Is it delicious?" the cub asked with sparkling eyes.
"Enough! Leave me alone. I want to leave this place in peace," he replied closing his eyes.
"Come on, join us! Explore the world with us! It's huge you know. There are trillions of different beasts out there, fight them with us, explore the abyss with us!" the cub said once again in an exciting tone.
"Kid, you didn't have a choice but to serve him, I will not choose to do so," he replied.
"I don't serve him, he serves me. He feeds me and gives me baths and carries me around and listens to me. He is my human!" the cub said proudly and went up to Hao Xuan and meowed at him. He bent down to pick him up and patted his head.
"See?" the cub said as he turned towards the beast with a smirk.
"He is really kind. He protected me even at the expense of his own life. He will never ever hurt you, trust me. This prince will never lie to you!" the cub said as his eyes glowed blue.
The beast felt his blood boil and a suppressive force came over him as if the little cub in front of him was an overlord and he couldn't look straight at him.
"One of the generals under my Royal Father started out with the same bloodline as you. Come with us, follow my human and I will show you the way. You will stand above everyone and no one will be able to look down upon you," the cub said once more.
"I will not serve anyone. Not you, not 'your' human," the beast replied firmly. The one thing he would never give up was his freedom. Nothing was worth it.
"Fine fine. Become his partner then, no need to be a slave. Soon enough you will see for yourself that he is different from the others and then you will follow him because you want to, not because you have to," the cub said while shaking his head, as if making a huge compromise.
The beast looked at the human. He had a kind face and his eyes were pure and honest.
When Hao Xuan saw the beast looking at him, he felt weird as if an actual person was looking at him and not a wild beast. So without even realizing it, he awkwardly scratched his head and with a little bow said "H-hello."
This surprised everyone in the room other than Zhurong who looked at the tied up beast with an "I told you so" look.
The beast was the one most surprised by this. All the humans he had met treated him like an object, like if he didn't do what they wanted then he was useless.
So he thought about it for a few seconds and looked at the killing formation which was almost charged up.
He looked at Hao Xuan who was still standing there uncomfortably with Zhurong cozily laying down in his arms, and for the first time, he felt like that human was different. He felt like that Hao Xuan wouldn't treat him like something to be used and then just discarded.
And with a life bond, he wouldn't be in a disadvantage as Hao Xuan won't be able to order him around like a servant.
"Alright, I agree. I'll make a life bond with him, but if he ever orders me to do something I don't want to then I'll kill him myself," the beast said as made up his mind.
The man in the glasses and First were surprised by the sudden change in the beast's behavior. Since they couldn't hear the conversation between Zhurong and the beast, they were just looking at its expression.
The beast lowered his head in front of Hao Xuan and a bright white light came out of its head and headed towards him.
Hao Xuan had no idea what was happening so he just backed up a few steps, looking at the incoming blob of light.
"Brother, the beast is making a contract with you. A life bond of its own choosing! That is a shard of the beast's soul, close your eyes and let it enter your body and then you will be connected to it until one of you dies," First explained hurriedly when he saw Hao Xuan moving away from it.
When he heard First's explanation, Hao Xuan calmed down and looked at the light that was almost right in front of him. He stopped circulating his Qi and touched the shard which then went straight towards his chest.
As soon as the shard entered Hao Xuan he could feel a connection to the beast. He just had to close his eyes and concentrate and would be able to feel wherever the beast was and in what condition, almost like he was part of Hao Xuan now. He could feel what the beast was feeling and vice versa.
"Give me a name, human," said a voice in Hao Xuan's head, waking him from his stupor. It sounded like a teenagers voice that had just passed puberty. Hao Xuan looked towards the beast. It was standing up looking straight at him.
"I don't know, you can choose your own name," he replied.
"Oh I know one! How about Bai Long?" Zhurong said butting in.
"What?! Who?" Hao Xuan spoke up startled.
"Its me master! Zhurong!" he replied in a happy tone.
"Zhurong? You can talk? How? We didn't even make a bond," Hao Xuan asked even more surprised.
"I don't know. I just tried and I could," Zhurong replied casually.
Hao Xuan stood in his place bewildered by these events.
The man in glasses moved forward and put his hand on a small screen on the side of the barrier and clicked on a few things and the formation turned off. He turned around and looked at Hao Xuan who was looking at Zhurong and then at the beast.
"How did he do it?" he wondered but didn't ask. Obviously, the kid had some connections to be able to choose from the second highest tier beasts at his age, it was normal for him to have some secrets.
"Bai, your name is Bai," Hao Xuan said out loud. The beast nodded and roared loudly. Finally, he was going to leave this cursed place once and for all.
"Alright, now close your eyes and concentrate on your first major meridian. Since you have bonded with Bai, he is a part of you now. If you die, so will he. You can 'store' him inside your meridian like a storage ring. Also, one thing to remember is that the bonded beasts cultivation level will be restricted to the same as its human, so at most Bai can only be as strong as you," First explained.
Hao Xuan closed his eyes and thought about storing Bai in the meridian and he turned into a light and entered his body.
Hao Xuan could feel him inside the meridian. Bai could use the Qi from the meridian to cultivate even. It was like a whole another world inside the meridian.
"I'll take you guys out now," said the man as he saw the beast disappear into thin air.
They went back the way they came from and were back out in the city within a couple of hours. It was already getting late and the sun was about to set.
"Come, let's get you a haircut," First said with a smile and led Hao Xuan towards the outskirts of the city.