Little Yu Xin left the Blazecore Artisan Hall in the evening with a blank look on his face.
His cultivation was only at Qi Refining Level 1 on the surface, which wasn't enough to begin forging metallic artifacts. His body was also small and should not be put under too much strain, especially as a young immortal cultivator.
For now, he would be learning to make textile artifacts. Mr. Yan had informed him of this and called in the second maidservant who had earlier escorted Little Yu Xin to class.
Her name was Xiao Rou, and she would be teaching him mortal stitching. Apparently, you couldn't learn to stitch artifacts if you couldn't even weave mortal cloth.
Sister Xiao Rou was nice, with a soft voice and a gentle face. But it was still hard for him to accept for a moment.
Little Yu Xin let out a silent sigh. That's how the world works. Everything must start from the absolute basics. If you can't even walk, starting by running is basically dreaming.
He quickly spotted his father standing at the entrance.
At this moment, the other kids were still working in the forge, and Zhao Qingqing seemed to be staying in the forging hall. It was likely that Mr. Yan would personally escort her home.
"Now that I think about it, that girl Zhao Qingqing must have a pretty big background..."
Little Yu Xin pondered this as he walked toward his father.
Yu Jin asked enthusiastically, "So, how did your first day of artifact refining go?"
Little Yu Xin tried to phrase his reply positively. "I learned a lot of new things..."
Which was true; he indeed had not known how to stitch before.
Yu Jin didn't pay much attention to it and said, "Let's go find you a spiritual beast pet."
Little Yu Xin remembered the matter and couldn't help but feel excited.
Who doesn't want a spiritual pet? A partner to go into battle with you, a companion for life and death.
Yu Jin soon led them away from the Blazecore Artisan Hall toward the city center.
They walked for a while before reaching a large and opulent pavilion. It was constructed from luxurious-looking spiritual wood and adorned with gold decorations. Above the gate, golden characters read:
'Gilded Claw Beast Pavilion'
A cultivator soon came out to greet them—a woman whose cultivation was surprisingly at the Acquired Level 9, similar to Yu Jin.
'This woman is only a maid!'
Little Yu Xin was shocked. He knew there were many cultivation levels in this world, and there were places where Rank 1 cultivators were considered worthless. But it still gave him a jolt to see such a scene in a third-rank city like Flame City.
What about fourth-rank, fifth-rank, or even more powerful cities?
It also showed him the value of skills. If this woman were also a high-grade Rank 1 artifact refiner, she would most likely not be in the same situation.
In this world, not everything was about raw power. Sometimes, having a skilled trade could also bring great opportunities.
The woman was dressed in golden clothing. She appeared middle-aged with a kind expression, though it was hard to tell—after all, Rank 1 cultivators typically looked to be in their twenties until at least the age of sixty.
The woman asked politely, "Have you come to purchase a spiritual pet?"
Yu Jin smiled and said, "Yes. This is my son, Yu Xin. He needs a spiritual beast as both a mount and a guardian."
The woman asked, "What rank?"
Yu Jin said, "A Rank 1 middle-stage spiritual beast."
A spiritual beast at Rank 1 middle-stage was equivalent to a cultivator at Acquired Level 4–6.
Martial cultivators were similar to spiritual beasts in that their physiques were very strong. The True Qi of a martial artist and the Demonic Qi of a spiritual beast were comparable.
Little Yu Xin asked a question that had been itching in his mind: "When Mr. Yan mentioned the cultivation world, he said there were many desolate beasts. Why can't I contract a desolate beast?"
Before Yu Jin could answer, the woman chuckled and said, "Spiritual beasts possess spirituality. They are quite clever even at Rank 1. At Rank 2, their intelligence nears that of humans, and at Rank 3, they can even speak human language."
"Desolate beasts, on the other hand, never develop intelligence. It is said that in ancient times, a desolate beast ascended to the immortal realm, and even just before ascension, it still had no intelligence."
"They are believed to have chaotic souls and no intellect, so they cannot form spiritual contracts."
The woman paused briefly before continuing, "But we do have desolate beasts here—both dead and alive. They are generally used as a food source."
Little Yu Xin was dumbstruck. When he first heard that desolate beasts were the most abundant beings in the Great Desolate World, he had assumed they would be powerful and dominant.
But it turned out the reality was the opposite. They were the most common food source in the cultivation world.
Even if they were strong, without the intelligence to unite, they were merely fat pieces of meat for others to enjoy at will.
The woman didn't dwell on it and asked her final question: "What kind of spiritual beast would you like?"
Little Yu Xin was conflicted. A spiritual beast companion sounded wonderful, but it was a major decision that would affect one's Dao path.
After some thought, he decided to look for something that aligned with his wind-element spiritual energy.
"Let's look at spiritual birds first," he said.
The woman nodded and led them inside the pavilion to see the spiritual beasts. Little Yu Xin found it odd that the floor was slightly shaking, but since no one mentioned it, he didn't bring it up.
Inside were many interesting-looking spiritual beasts. Many were cubs or newborns. There were even insects—technically spiritual beasts as well.
Spiritual contracts were much easier to form with newborn spiritual beasts. They had weak wills and a strong sense of trust.
Forming a contract was harder with spiritual beasts that had grown somewhat. They had their own wills, and if they didn't choose you, you couldn't form a righteous-path spiritual contract with them.
Little Yu Xin and Yu Jin followed the woman upstairs into a room lined with many cages containing spiritual birds, all at Rank 1 middle-stage.
There were eagles, falcons, and cranes. Little Yu Xin entered the room with his father.
The spiritual beasts noticed him, but none seemed particularly interested. They all felt a comfortable aura from him, like a spring breeze.
But spiritual beasts at Rank 1 already possessed some intelligence. They understood that this tiny human would find it difficult to feed and support them.
That was the reason most people didn't have spiritual beast companions. Spiritual beasts needed to eat to survive during Rank 1, and from Rank 2 onward, they required cultivation resources as well.
That was why Yu Jin and Liu Hua didn't have spiritual beasts. They were already stressed about their own resources and had no capacity to worry about a beast.
It was also why spiritual pets were mostly found with the wealthy scions of aristocratic families.
Little Yu Xin had no worries about resources—he had the Sign-in System—but he couldn't very well tell that to the spiritual beasts, could he?
Little Yu Xin felt a little disappointed. It seemed no spiritual beast felt a connection with him.
"Let's go find a spiritual beast that is willing to contract with me," he said, dejected.
The woman wasn't surprised. All beings in heaven and earth sought their own betterment; even spiritual beasts considered a potential companion's cultivation and resources.
Aerial spiritual beasts were far more popular than others, so this was to be expected.
They went back downstairs to look at the other spiritual beasts available. They saw many, but either the beasts were unwilling to contract with Little Yu Xin, or he was not interested in them.
Little Yu Xin himself was confused. What kind of spirit beast do I even want to contract?
His mind churned until his eyes landed on an all-white horse. The horse's aura wasn't very strong, only at the early phase of Rank 1 middle-stage (similar to Acquired Level 4).
It looked beautiful and pure, with a compassionate yet fierce aura.
But Little Yu Xin's mind was made up instantly. He didn't know why, but he wanted to contract that horse.
The woman noticed his gaze and said, "We acquired this horse recently. Its Demonic Qi is of the rare light element. But it hasn't shown eagerness to form a contract..."
As she spoke, she walked toward the horse. The horse, however, automatically moved toward Little Yu Xin and nudged him gently, seeming ready to form a contract.
The woman was stunned. The horse was a mutated light-element foal from a herd of fire-element horses. While the light element made it rare, it also made it very hard to contract, as light-element spiritual beasts were extremely sensitive to evil thoughts and karma.
They would practically never form a contract with anyone harboring even slight evil. They might even attack outright if they detected malice.
The woman was surprised that the child possessed such a Dao heart, seemingly free of evil. She comforted herself by thinking it was merely a child's naive purity.
What she didn't know was that Little Yu Xin still retained memories of his previous life, including many difficulties and challenges. Yet he had never thought of harming others to achieve his goals—not in his previous life, and not in this one.
Yu Jin didn't overthink it and was simply happy his son could contract a fine spiritual beast.
Afterward, Yu Jin and the woman bargained over the price for a while before settling the deal. They made sure Little Yu Xin couldn't hear.
Yu Jin didn't want his son worrying about money and spirit stones at such a young age.
Just as they were about to leave, Little Yu Xin finally asked the question that had been on his mind since entering the shop.
"Miss, why is the floor slightly shaking?"
The woman didn't think much of it and casually replied, "Oh, we have some Rank 2 spiritual beasts and desolate beasts in the dungeon below."