Beastmaster of the Ages

"How pretty!" Xian Xian\'s spiritform eyes were tinted pink.

Above the pink star, they saw another spiritform with pink eyes. It looked like a crystal doll, quiet, refined, and obediently sitting. The gaze it cast at the world around it finally settled on Tianming and the rest. This was the First Aeonic Ancestral Star. The spiritform jumped off the star barefoot and headed in Tianming\'s direction, eyes locked with his own. But halfway there, it suddenly stopped when it noticed Feiling and curiously cocked its head.

"Come here," Feiling said, stretching her arms wide with a smile.

"Okay!" The doll flew toward Feiling, completely ignoring Tianming. It dove into her embrace and hugged her like a koala. While it didn\'t speak, it was clear from its gaze that it greatly enjoyed the reunion.

"Let\'s give a proper name," Tianming said.

"Alright." Feiling hugged it tight and looked into its eyes. "Let\'s call you Ji Ji!"

Ying Huo was the first one to jump out, blushing. "That isn’t appropriate, right? A female shouldn\'t be called Ji Ji! It sounds ugly! It conflicts with what I\'m called, too! No way." [1]

"The \'Ji\' used here is the one for beauties, not chickens."

"That\'s right! That name is perfect! Before Seventh hatched, it always went \'jijijiji\', chirping nonstop. It must\'ve been calling its own name!" Xian Xian excitedly said. Not to mention, the combination of their names made Xian Ji (仙姬), which could be read to mean immortal or celestial beauty.

Tianming imagined that there might be some sort of imprint in their memories about their past lives that they could never forget. Xian Xian, like Ji Ji, had been attached to Feiling since it’d hatched as well. In fact, Tianming hadn’t named either of them. Feiling was the one who came up with those names naturally, as if each was the first thing that came to her mind. It also helped that the names were two syllables, making for quite an orderly naming scheme.

"Ji Ji. Okay." The little doll nodded, albeit not too enthusiastically given its subdued personality. Yet it was a stark difference from the mischievous fellow Tianming remembered seeing in the dreamscape. Ji Ji was definitely more than what it was letting on.

"Ji Ji, come play with Big Sister Xian Xian!" Xian Xian was elated to have another female playmate that also had a spiritform.

"Nope." Ji Ji left Xian Xian hanging with just a single word. It let go of Feiling and got down, then held her hand and blankly stood there, as if out of habit. Ying Huo and the rest were also ignored, though that wasn\'t too surprising, since they were all a little reserved upon first hatching. While Ji Ji was cold toward Ying Huo and the rest, it did feel close enough to Feiling and Tianming, given its gentle speaking tone.

Tianming went over and lifted the spiritform. The doll stared at him, wide eyed and curious, but didn\'t smile in the slightest, which was probably for the better. Tianming wouldn\'t want to be reminded of the devious smile he remembered seeing in the dreamscape.

"Ji Ji, we’re one family from now on. Let\'s look out for each other," he said.

"Family? Will you protect me?"

"Of course. All of us will."

"Everyone? Them too?"

"That\'s right. They’re just like you. They\'re your elder siblings."

"Let\'s hope that\'s the case."

That was quite an attitude to have. Tianming could still deal with the rowdy ones, but a sensitive and contemplative lifebound beast like Ji Ji was a little beyond him.

"Let\'s take it slow," Feiling said.

"Alright." At the very least, Ji Ji hadn’t run off like Sixth, so Tianming was more than grateful for that. While it was cold, it at least warmed up to him and Feiling, being only slightly wary of the rest. "Ji Ji, can you tell me your capabilities or what you\'re good at?" He was quite curious about what his first supersovereign beast would be capable of.

"Me? I have two abilities. Two unique points." Despite its age, Ji Ji was far more articulate than Yin Chen had been at the same age.

"Alright, I\'m listening."

"The first is called Spiritual Attachment." Both Tianming and Feiling were taken aback at the mention of that ability.

"Huh?"

"Spiritual Attachment," it repeated. Wasn\'t that the same romantic skill that Feiling had used with Tianming long ago? But now that she had fused with the innate godchild, she could no longer use it.

"Can you try it now?" Tianming asked.

"I\'m not attaching to you. Instead, the sixth astral discs in your body already have that effect."

"Ah, so that\'s it!" Tianming recalled that his beast ki and saint ki would be powered up whenever Feiling used Spiritual Attachment. This time, the genesis ancestral nova source had fused with his astralforce to achieve the same effect. When combined, he didn\'t just have the power of six different astralforces, but perhaps seven or eight!

"Who else can you use it on?"

"Them." Ji Ji shot a careful gaze toward the other lifebound beasts.

"Give it a try," Tianming said.

"No." It shook its head.

"Why?"

"I\'m worried they\'ll hurt me," it earnestly said.

"Come on!" Ying Huo and the rest felt like trouble was welling up.

"Lil Sis, Chicken Bro is the gentlest male you\'ll find in this world!" Ying Huo said with a gentle tone, pitching its voice higher.

"Meow! Meow!" Meow Meow attempted a display of cuteness, which had overwhelmed many a beauty, yet Ji Ji didn\'t bite.

1. The \'Ji\' (姬) in Ji Ji\'s name is a character for \'princess/beauty\', much like \'hime\' in Japanese. However, it\'s phonetically identical to the character for \'chicken\' (鸡), which is also sometimes used as a euphemism for male genitals. ☜