Chapter 5: Chapter 5: The Monsters that were created
"I have bonded with this human and become a spirit soul, My cultivation and his have become one. And now I no longer have to be trapped in this Swamp alone. Also, my presence in his Spirit Sea has caused his power to go through a drastic mutation. Rather than sitting here cultivating until I die, this was a much better option." Manchineel said as he floated over towards the two spirit beasts.
"Ever since the Sanctuary has been sealed off, locking the Swamp King inside there have been fewer and fewer Spirit Beasts advancing to the 100,000-year cultivation age. Those already that cultivation age do not have access to the herbs and other resources that would allow them to survive their Heavenly tribunals. Young Red, you might not survive your 300,000-year heavenly tribunal, while Young Blue definitely will not survive the 400,000-year one." The two looked downtrodden as what Old Tree was saying was correct. They would most likely die in the process.
Manchineel looked over at Xin; the two of them had a brief conversation with their eyes confirming that they were on the same page. "How about both of you become Little Xin's Spirit Souls? When I bonded with Dugu Bo I felt that once he reached Rank 99, it would be much easier for him to advance to godhood with me as his spirit soul, would you two like to be a part of a God?" When the words came from a Spirit Beast that was not only much more powerful but much older than them as well, it carried a lot of weight.
The first to do it was the Queen Dragon Wasp, she flew over to Xin as Manchineel explained the process to her. First, she bestowed the spirit bone, which was a Skull Bone, Dugu Bo used his spirit power to help stabilize his son's condition as Dugu Xin used two lives' worth of willpower to keep himself conscious. The Skill Bone caused one of Xin's eyes to turn a Platinum color, as the small child screamed.
Once the merging was over a Red ring floated silently behind Xin. His sickly completion was gone as his body was cleansed under the effects of the Queen Dragon Wasp's spirit power, "Good Young Red. Now, Young Blue, you are more powerful than Young Red. Not only that, little Xin'er is only Rank 11. So first, you must sacrifice some of your cultivation to advance him to Rank 20. With your current strength, that would be a negligible sacrifice. Then after that, you can do a similar thing as Young Red."
Young Blue waddled over to Xin and used one of its tails to start the process. Xin's body was recovering, and soon it felt like his blood was boiling as his Spirit power jumped from Rank 11 to Rank 20. Then the Spirit bone infusion started similarly to his Father, Xin got a chest bone, but unlike his father, his pain tolerance was low. The mark appeared on his lower back which looked similar to the spirit beast it originated from. After that, the infusion process began and a Six-year-old Spirit Grandmaster with two 100,000+-year-old spirit rings was born.
Shortly after Xin Passed out, Dugu Bo smiled, picked up his son, and headed back to the carriage. After a while, still covered in sweat and grime Xin looked at his father in the carriage and headed home, "Until you are a Titled Douluo, you shouldn't let too many people see your Spirit Rings, Also, we need to acquire many strong people. In the future, we will become an existence no one can ignore, which means we must be wary of The Spirit Hall. The Two Empires cannot go against this single organization. They may even try to annex the two, dragging us into war." Reaching into his robes, Xin handed his father a scroll, "On that list are powerful people with potential that we will need."
"Haha, even after passing out, you are still business," despite this, Dugu Bo still grabbed the scroll and read it seriously.
"The Most important one is Yue Guan; he has a sister who means the world to him and is currently in a lot of debt. We must find her before she is most likely killed; she is the key to getting Yue Guan. Next is Chen Xin. His father died, and he befriended Gu Rong, who is associated with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan. While not being a true member of the clan, Gu Rong shows talent above clan members. But also, the Seven Glazed Tile spirit is mostly used for support. While they have potential, they don't have strength there is a chance with the right motivation, they will ally with us." Xin looked at his father, who was reading the highly detailed scroll with seriousness. "The Spirit Hall has many Titled Douluo. To stand a chance against them, we must have our own Titled Douluo as well. As long as I am here, I will ensure we produce the strongest." Xin looked at his father, and the two made eye contact in his heart, Xin wanted to know why Dugu Bo never questioned why he knew these things, but that question never came.
"Once we get back, I'll go personally to collect the Yue girl. While I'm away, you can start adopting those orphans. I'll also send people out to collect Chen Xin and Maybe Gu Rong." Dugu Bo crosses his legs and then closes his eyes. Soon, things will get hectic.
As he said, Dugu Bo Left soon after they arrived back in Dugu County, 'Xin'er gave me pretty accurate descriptions of the people. It's obvious that he has spent a lot of time researching them all, but how? For most of his life, he was in his room or dealing with the servants unless he had a servant gather information for him. If he did, that child of mine is resourceful.' His destination was Balak City in the Balak Kingdom, where Yue Guan and his sister were from. His sister was said to be a genius who attended a prestigious Academy but died due to her debts. At this time, the academies in Balak are the best in the nation, and after that, off to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan.
Before Dugu Bo left, he gave Dugu Xin full reign over the Dugu Clan, 'In modern times, it would be absurd to give a 6-year-old this much power. I suppose the mindset of this time is drastically different, my age is one thing, but my power is already at a level many people will never accomplish.' Xin is seated in his room with many documents piled on his small desk.
'The Dugu Clan and its properties are managed extremely well, in fact bringing certain technologies to this era would hinder more than help. What needs to be figured out is how to incorporate spirit masters into critical fields. There are all kinds of spirits out there, and I will find a use for them all.' Standing up, Xin grabbed a few of the scrolls and made his way to the main courtyard. As he walked through the estate, the servants made way and lowered their heads until he was out of sight.
When he arrived in the Main Courtyard, there were already 5 Children lined up. They were filthy, wearing rags for clothing, looking extremely malnourished. Altogether, there were 3 Boys and 2 Girls, "Good work Zhong Jian. If there are any children in the Zhong Clan that are six but were said to have no Spirit Power, send them over as well." The man who went by Zhong Jian is a member of one of the three clans subservient to the Dugu Clan, and they hold the Noble rank of Baron. The Zhong clan have been loyal to the Dugu clan for hundreds of years, yet they have never produced a spirit master above the Spirit King Rank. Most of their members carry Body spirits of all types. Their current patriarch Has Spirit Wings, while Zhong Jian has Spirit Hair.
Walking past the Children, Dugu Xin took his place in the Seat of power (Basically a throne, but only those ranked Duke and above can call it that.). "So my name is Dugu Xin, I am Heir to the Dugu Clan and currently the regent while my father is away. You 5 are now members of the Dugu Clan and have been officially placed in our family registry. After bathing, you will go to the ancestral hall and pay respects. Then you will return here so I can set you on the path to becoming Spirit Masters."
Before, the children's eyes were deadpan, and while excited to get adopted, they felt they were exchanging one struggle for another. But when they were put in the family registry, they were officially members of the Noble Dugu Clan, which was an honor, "Brother Xin." After much hesitation, the most petite girl said this, her small hands clenching her tunic so hard the knuckles turned white. Her Black eyes stared down at the floor, too nervous to raise her head as her black hair matted to her cheeks.
In the seat of Power Xin's face didn't change at all, in fact, in his heart, there was extreme sadness due to the state of the children. "What is it?"
Mustering up her courage, "Is what you say true? We can be spirit masters?" This time she raised her head to look at Brother Xin in the face when she saw the one Goldeneye, One Platinum eye with the vertical pupils, and her heart sank slightly. Then there was a bright smile that appeared on his face, "Why, of course!" Xin then clapped, and servants came in, female servants for the girls and male servants for the boys. "Carry out my orders." The Servants bowed and then took their new masters to complete their tasks.
Closing his eyes, Xin entered his Spirit Sea, which was extremely lively with the addition of Young Red, whose name is Hong Liu. In the Spirit Sea, she takes the form of a 16-20-year-old young woman with white hair, red eyes, and wearing a lovely red dress. Young Blue whose name is Lan Ushi, is a Middle-aged man with blue hair and eyes smoking a pipe, and wearing a tiger robe.
"I thought you were a boy?" Hong Liu was rubbing Xin's Spirit, who had evolved into a Winged Glacial Phosphor Serpent Emperor.
Xin looked down, and since they were still at the age where the differences between girls and boys were small there was no significant reaction until they looked down there, "Welp, it's gone; this really doesn't help with my ongoing gender identity crisis…"
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