“Hmmmm.” Qingfeng appraises me, flipping to the next page on a book called Compendium of Thousand Beasts.
After testing my new toilet, I bolted out of the toilet. Swiftly running to catch up to the old man. The sound of flushing behind me. Catching up with him on the steps to his own house. Then I confess that everything between my legs is gone. Now the old man sitting beside me, arms folded, equally serious in Qingfeng’s office.
“No sword?” Qingfeng inquire and I shake my head
“No sheath?” I shake my head again
“What about the eggs?”
“It’s all gone.”
“Then how do you do in the toilet?”
To that, I project a magnum revolver. Checking the bullets within the cylinder.
“I’m sure there are more appropriate questions for my problems. Or I will shove this thing up your ass and fire.” Qingfeng immediately straightens his back
“How about you master? You didn't know this when you checked him?” He moves to the old man
“No. I assume everything’s fine down below.” The old man throws his hands up and Qingfeng nodded
“HMMmmm.” Qingfeng hums again, thinking for the apparent cause
He looks at the page in his book and me then back and forth. Then he finally notices something.
“Danxing, you current body is now comprised not only of a spirit deer right? What else is in there?” He ask in thrill
I don’t know where he’s going, but I shift my head into the wolf one.
“That’s it! That’s it!” He went to swiftly flip the pages, stopping after few dozens pages
He raises his index finger, telling me to stop moving as he appraises me and what is in the books. The old man leans forward, also checking the book. From my side, the page he is in is depicting some kind of wolf or a dog. Can’t differentiate with the image style.
“Look a bit to the side.” He order and I followed
“Hmmmm.” This time the old man also hums along with Qingfeng
“Alright, what else is in there?”
Seems like there’s some progress. I never get to shift my head into the snake one yet but here I go. The change felt a bit harder. Like the resistance in attempting to wear a shirt that is a bit too small. I managed to change my head after a minute or so and Qingfeng immediately went to flip the pages again. This time the book settles on a page depicting various snakes with metallic sheen on their scales. Both Qingfeng and the old man appraised me and checked the book.
“Try to look up this time.” I followed Qingfeng instruction
“Hmmmm.” The old man and Qingfeng hums along again
“Alright we’re done.”
I looked down at both of them. My head turned back to the deer skull as if it was the default. The old man has his elbows on the table, hand cupped together in front of his mouth. So does Qingfeng.
“What? What!? What do you guys get?” I demand some answers
A brief telephatic conversation between Qingfeng and the old man happens.
“Danxing… how should I say this. Well, your body is made of three different spiritual beasts.” Qingfeng start awkwardly
“Out with it.” I interrupt his attempt of wasting time
“It is clear without doubt that your deer part is a male. But uh…” Qingfeng swallows back a cringe and delivers the next sentence, “Your wolf and snake parts are female.”
“WHAT!?” I slams my hands on the table
“And you know this? How?” I demand more clarity of the situation
“Wolf and snake skulls have discerning features to see if they are male or female. Believe me I am an expert in this.” Qingfeng tries to explain
I take a deep breath. Oh this is just great. I am one part male and two part female. literally. But wait,
“This doesn’t explain why I don’t have anything down there.” To this the two just shrugged
“This is the first case of something like this. Oh, make sure you report anything to me. This will be an important first case scenario.” Qingfeng said excitedly
“Can you shift your form like before? You already know some form of shapeshifting using your soul.” He remember that I try to change my hand back to normal human then also notices that I am using shoes
“You mean the biomancy? Well, I am not exactly versed in this, at most this is just a patchwork of an effort.”
“Better than nothing. I have some theory on what is happening to your body. If not that, then at least we know the normal state of your body. Try changing your entire body this time.” The old man suggest
That’s right! I never try fully changing my entire body in an attempt to make a human form. It should be doable as I am already somewhat used to keeping my hooves into human feet for an extended period of time. So I start. Standing and clenching my entire body so I can consciously feel every part of my body. No need to make alterations, just attempt to make the easiest shift to human form. But then I remember that I don’t remember what I look like at all. My entire memories have already been replaced with my current body. Fuck it! Just force my body to adopt the easiest human form that suits it.
My black furred and scaled hands turned into human hands. Then the arms. I don’t know how the rest changes but I felt some changes in how the robes felt on my body. The robes feel bigger as my body becomes more compact. The sound of my skull cracking as my head changes. Then something wet flowed up in a ticklish manner, enclosing my head. Must be the muscles and skin. After a few seconds I felt nothing more changes, I concentrated on everything to sustain the shapeshift.
“Alright, how do I look?” My voice became somewhat lighter
The old man raises his eyebrows and nods approvingly while Qingfeng has his face red. I looked down, raising my hand. Moving the fingers. Everything looks fine, why is Qingfeng's face red though. Then I noticed that the chest area of the robes did not become loose as I shifted into human form. So I touch it and I immediately know what it is so my hands don't linger. It's a uh— a woman’s breast. Felt bigger than my last girlfriend and realer than the VR version too.
“What is this?” I ask, none too thrilled with this progression, “And you, fetch me some mirror.” I told Qingfeng which finally made him snap out of it
“Like Qingfeng said, this is the first time this ever happened. At least in this sect. All the more reason for you to go and find out how exactly you remake your body.” The old man adds
Qingfeng gives me a mirror and I check myself. I still have three pairs of eyes. The other two pairs are below and lower sides of the primary pair of eyes. On an undoubtedly beautiful female face with sharp features, black hair, and some patches of golden scales. Oh, my antlers are still on my head.
“As for why, you are now like this, I can only theorize. In an attempt to assume human form, you are unconsciously using the easiest method. Which is following the trace of the spiritual beast with highest cultivation in your body.” The old man offers a plausible explanation
“How does that work?”
“When spiritual beasts arise in cultivation, they gradually get the power to assume human form. This usually begins on the fifth level of Foundation Establishment and becomes more powerful with each level. When they reach Golden Core, they can assume human form somewhat indefinitely. From the looks of it, the golden serpent that is part of your body has the highest cultivation.”
“You seem very calm about this?” Qingfeng finally points out
“Well, this is not the first time I use a female avatar in VR games.” In fact, it felt just like I was playing those deep dive VR games. But everything just felt more real.
“A what now?”
“Its a form of entertainment back in my world.” I try to find the word to explain how VR games work, “It’s like… using sophisticated illusion to play games, where you can play as an avatar which you modeled yourself.”
“And you play as a female?” Qingfeng looks more confused than before
“Well, the way we play it,” I project a miniature person in armor like in these CRPGs, “We control this person but we usually view from the back. So it’s somewhat common knowledge that if you are going to spend hours playing these things it's better to make a female avatar. At least it will offer a better backside view. Sometimes we play it using the avatar’s point of view too so I am not too excited about this anymore.” Qingfeng finally nods in understanding
“That is an interesting use of an illusion array.” The old man adds as he stands
“Oh you have those things too here?” Immediately excited at the prospect of playing games again
The old man looks up to me, his eyes serious, “No.”
“No, as in there’s none? Or no as in I’m not allowed?” I ask playfully as I follow him
“You can return back to normal.” Immediately I undo the shapeshifting, turning my body back to its chimeric form with deer skull for the head
“So, how to fix this?” I return to being serious. While there might be some that is thrilled at the prospect, I am content in being and remaining as a man
“The easiest, most probable way is to of course cultivate until you surpass the golden serpent’s cultivation level before it dies. Though it might not be a guarantee.” He concludes as he opens the door
“Good work Qingfeng.” The old man said
“Ah yes, thank you.” I add to Qingfeng too
“Be sure to tell me if anything else goes on.” Qingfeng waves as we leave his office
“Looks like we can’t really delay your departure any longer, follow me.” The old man said
“Where are we going?”
“To prepare you for your mission.”
The old man simply lifts me and flies to another peak at the other side of ours. This peak is much bigger and extravagant. With plenty of towers and such. Much busier too.
“This is the Xiānhuǐ (仙燬| Immortal Forge) peak. Just go here if you want any weapons or artifacts made.” The old man introduces the place as he leads
“How many of these spirit stones are used for these weapons or artifacts?”
“The cheap ones? Hundreds of spirit stones, but their quality is lacking. Proper ones range from one thousand the least to tens of thousands.” I made a mental note, looks like the three hundreds of spirit stones I won from the bet is not even that much
He leads me to the biggest tower in the middle. Also noting that we are not exactly welcome here either. The inner disciples looked at me and the old man in barely concealed hostility. They even pretended not to notice our arrival and went away to not greet us. The old man said nothing so I don’t complain too. When we reached the gate for the biggest tower, the oldest man I ever saw was already waiting for us. Long white hair and beard unkempt. His face is heavy with wrinkles and eyes sunken like those in the picture of those that returned from war. His right arm is missing. He must be the elder of this immortal forge.
“Luochen.” He greets in tired voice
“Save it, the sooner you leave my mountain the better.” He interrupts when my old man tries to greet him and leads us both inside
I looked at the old man, his emotions remained level and unreadable. While the elder of the Immortal Forge is laced not in hostility but fear. There must be some history between the two. The old man cut the elder’s right arm isn’t he. Regardless, none of us speak as he leads us inside. Opening the vault door into a chamber filled with weapons. But mostly swords.
“A weapon for your son right? Just take one and leave.” The elder said and sit in the corner, head hung low
I looked at the old man who just nodded. Let’s just not overstay our welcome. I appraise the weapons hanging on the wall and on the various shelves and displays. My hand is immediately shocked when I try to lift up a sword.
“Weapons in this room are special. Most if not all have their own wills and they might be unwilling to serve you.” The old man explains
I see. So this is some sort of test too? So do I just pick any that is willing to serve me or force one into submission? Do I just get my hands on every weapon to check? Which is exactly what I do. The swords hanging on the wall. The bigger greatswords stuffed unceremoniously in barrels, a bow, and a spear in a display. All shock my hands away. Seems like none is willing so I don’t bother touching any. Do I even need a weapon? I already have my guns. But still, maybe a weapon is better than none in case I am out of Qi and cannot project anymore guns. I get the idea that none of these weapons are willing to serve me as. Is it the elder’s doing? Or the weapons themselves refusing me because of my relation with the old man?
So instead I choose at random. A sword that fits my size. Unremarkable and plain. No flair and decoration like the others as if the one that made it decided to just stop then and there. In normal hands, this will be a great sword. But for my size, it is only a longsword at most. Immediately the sword vehemently refuses my touch as I grip it and lift it. Sending painful shock then attacking my hand with its own Qi. I flick the body of the sword with my A.T. Field and it immediately quiets down. But doing it this way feels wrong. The sword submits to me now but I felt like this sword will not give me its inherent power willingly. Well, better than nothing.
Before I could finalize my decision, I caught the sight of something at the corner. Immediately I put the plain greatsword back into its barrel carefully before I went there. At the corner, is a warhammer. Full of dust and has lost its luster. I picked it up and felt that there’s no resistance. Using my A.T. Field to clean all the dust away, it now looks greenish black. It has a triangular hammer head with a curved pick at the back. The entire hammer, pick, and handle is made out of entirely just one material that seems carved into shape. A weapon that is out of place from all the extravagant flair and designs of these vaults. Immediately the warhammer expands its size and weight to better fit my hand. Hoho! Aight, this one is much better.
“No.” The old man immediately said as soon as he saw my choice
“What! Why not?” Confused by his sudden refusal
“Just pick that last plain greatsword!” The old man demands
“I ask why not which.” I grip my warhammer closer
“A sword is much better! It can cut, thrust, cleave! Not to mention all the sword styles and manuals.” The old man insists
“But with a hammer, everything is a nail” I point out the simplicity of a hammer
“No means no! Pick a sword!” The old man’s voice booms
“Look man, back in my homeworld, a sword is a decoration. This,” I pointed at my hammer, “This is a real weapon.”
“Then your people are barbarians.” I gasp
“How dare you!”
“A sword is much better! Let me show you!” A sword flies to his hand
He raises the sword from its scabbard and makes an overhead swing. Immediately all the swords in the vault shuddered at the same time, shaking the entire room.
“AAAAAHHH!” The elder of the immortal forge immediately screams in terror
Terror that immediately turned into a whimper as the old man’s attention was on him. Trying to make him smaller and shielding his face, no, hiding the Luochen’s form from his eyes.
“Just leave.” He begs and repeats
The old man takes a breath. Then he looks at the sword in his hands, already cracked just from one swing, which then breaks. I lean to the side to see the old man’s face. His expression is unreadable.
“You sure about that hammer?” The old man asks again
“Yes.” I confirm my choice
The old man cupped his hands and bowed to the cowering elder before leaving
“Thank you for the hammer.” I cupped my hands and bowed too before following the old man to leave
“I still think sword is better.”
“Maybe if any of the swords are willing to serve me then I might reconsider.”
Only after both the Xuans left did the inner disciples of the Immortal Forge go inside to check on their master. Consoling him that the war is long over. But immediately another figure appears. In a regal daoist robe, but his neck is still bandaged.
“Elder Chizeng.” The inner disciples bowed and greeted him
A clear difference in treatment with Luochen.
“Leave us.” Chizeng said and the inner disciples reluctantly leaves
Chizeng then pulls out a chair from his storage ring and sits in front of the whimpering old man.
“Bǎiduàn (百鍛|Hundred Forges), the sect is now unrecognizable.” Chizeng laments
“Even now, more and more new disciples, even ELDERS! Forgetting our grudge! Everyone is looking up to Tianjiao and Luochen.” He spat at the names, outside elders with no ties to Tianhe Sect
“And now, heaven has rewarded Luochen with a son. Is it fair?” At this, Elder Baiduan finally clenches his remaining hand
“It's unfair! IT’S UNFAIR! But ... .I'm not as strong as you Chizeng.” Baiduan cries, “I am powerless when he kills everyone.”
“Don’t worry old friend,” Chizeng put his hand on his shoulder, ”I have something in mind.”
Finally, Elder Baiduan's face looks up to Chizeng. Ugly from his tears and snot. But his face no longer contorted in fear but wrath. His teeth gritted so hard it bleeds. A reminder for the old unyielding forgemaster that has made one hundred golden core artifacts in a year.
“What would you have me do?”