Like a Ray in My Night

45 A Valley with Spiritual Energy

By the time Mei Chao Bing and Yun Bei Fen stopped, they had left the forest behind and entered a valley. Looking into the distance, it seemed as if it was surrounded by mountains on four sides. In fact, there was a path leading from one side of the valley to the other though. Yun Bei Fen had also seen a large number of ponds and lakes dotting the landscape when Mei Chao Bing brought him over. It truly seemed like an idyllic place but after the surprise in the forest, Yun Bei Fen didn't dare to assume anything. This might as well be a place that was fraught with danger!
Yun Bei Fen got down from the sword with Mei Chao Bing's help and stayed glued to his senior martial brother, holding onto his robe and looking up at his face expectantly.
Mei Chao Bing kept his sword and gave him a smile. "We're here. This is the place I was talking about. The landscape of the valley is varied and spiritual energy is high, thus lots of spiritual beasts have gathered here. Do you have any idea what kind of spiritual beast you'd like to have?"
Yun Bei Fen shook his head. To be honest, he probably knew more about how to use the sword than he knew about spiritual beasts and he didn't know much about using a sword. He wouldn't dare to blindly blurt something out. No, it was much better to wait for what senior martial brother Mei thought and take his advice on this.
Seeing his little bunny expectantly blink his eyes, Mei Chao Bing couldn't help but rub his head. "Alright, if you don't know now, it's not a problem either. We can look around for a while and you can slowly decide. It's not bad for you to see some more things anyway. You haven't left the sect all these years. You'll need to make some more experiences from now on to make up for it."
Yun Bei Fen nodded happily. As long as Mei Chao Bing was with him while he made his experiences he didn't mind at all! In fact, he'd like to make a lot more if it was like this.
Mei Chao Bing took his little bunny's hand and pulled him with him, deeper into the valley. He pointed out whatever he thought might benefit Yun Bei Fen and even made him stop every now and then to collect some herbs. This valley was indeed filled with spiritual energy so there were lots of herbs growing that could be used for pill refinement. Even though Yun Bei Fen had never learned how to do that and he didn't know either, just bringing these herbs back to the Teng Yong Sect would be good. And even if he didn't want to give them to the sect, holding onto them in case he ever needed somebody to refine something for him would also not be bad. It was always better to be prepared for the worst than to blindly live into the day and risk to be without a way out in the future.
As for the spiritual beasts ... There already were some but they were of a rather low level. Sure, as somebody who had only established his foundation not too long ago, Yun Bei Fen wouldn't be able to form a contract with a spiritual beast of a very high level. But he was here to help him so Yun Bei Fen wouldn't have to settle for a spiritual beast that had too low a level. Something in the middle ground should be alright and if he could get one with an even higher level, then he should go for that option. After all, the spiritual beast was supposed to give Yun Bei Fen a bit more safety when he wasn't around to protect him or if things were too rough in the border region for him to settle things on his own. He doubted that something like that would happen but if they encountered many enemies on their own, then every little thing that could stand between Yun Bei Fen and an enemy was good. He shouldn't risk anything with this.
On the other hand, Yun Bei Fen curiously looked at these creatures. Actually, as long as he didn't use his senses to try and see the spiritual energy, they looked almost like normal animals. If it weren't for some slight differences like some markings on their fur or some slightly differently shaped ears or tails, he really wouldn't have thought that they were anything else. He couldn't help but curiously look at Mei Chao Bing. "Senior ... Mei Chao Bing, why do they look so much like animals?"
Mei Chao Bing turned to his little bunny and his fingers brushed through his hair. "That's because, in the beginning, they were exactly that. Just like humans learned to cultivate, animals also learned to take in spiritual energy. Some of them evolved into what we know as spiritual beasts now. Sometimes, the features they got through that evolution were passed on to their children and a new race formed but sometimes it's also just a few spiritual beasts living among the normal animals."
Yun Bei Fen nodded his head. So it was like this! He really wouldn't have thought. Well, it made sense though. They had to come from somewhere, after all. "Then would it really be alright to take one of them away if there might only be one of them in a herd of animals?"
Mei Chao Bing pondered the question and finally nodded. "Getting a spiritual animal to sign a contract with you will always depend on both sides. So if it isn't willing to follow you because of the animals living with it, then you won't be able to form a contract anyway. And if you do manage to sign a contract, then that means that the spiritual beast thinks it's alright to leave here."
Yun Bei Fen nodded. "So it's like that!" In that case, he didn't need to worry. He happily clung to Mei Chao Bing's arm and looked around eagerly. If there was a spiritual beast he liked, he could just try! If it wanted to sign such a contract, then it shouldn't be a problem. Now, he only needed to keep his eyes open and find one that he liked.