He spent his time at home in quiet contemplation, speaking with his Master and his friends here, those that have seen him grow up at the sect. It was usually on topics that were not important, such as recommending places to eat, gossiping about a new pretty disciple and random events around the sect.
He was home, in his own residence within the familiar, sprawling grounds of the Deep Water Menagerie. The entire valley was his domain, a sanctuary teeming with the life he had so carefully cultivated.
But rest was a tool for consolidation, not a goal in itself. On his fourth day back, he felt a familiar stirring, a desire to connect with some of his power and his older companions.
He walked out of his residence into the vast, open grounds of the menagerie. With a single, joyful thought, he sent a mental call out across the sanctuary, a call not for battle, but for a game.
The response was immediate. From the deep, central lake, a shimmering, serpentine form emerged—Lirael. From a series of aquatic caves, two sleek, midnight-blue drakes, Ying and Zhao, shot out, their movements perfectly synchronized.
From a specially constructed coral reef, a pair of electric-blue eels, Volt and Jolt, floating on the land, their tails crackling with contained lightning. Then came Aegis & Bastion, his Iron-Shell Guardian Turtles and Fury & Rage, the Azure-Clawed Hydras which had now become rank 5 beasts.
His beasts assembled before him, he hadn't fought with them for a long time but he would see and visit them from time to time in his Koi Sanctuary. He could feel their power, their loyalty, and their shared excitement. He smiled, a genuine, uncomplicated expression of joy.
"It's been a while," he said, his voice soft. He then deliberately suppressed his own overwhelming cultivation, sealing the power of his Celestial Leviathan Form and his nascent soul, lowering his physical and spiritual presence down to a level that was on par with his companions. This was not a test of his absolute power; this was for fun.
The sparring began. It was not a battle, but a chaotic, joyful, and highly skillful free-for-all. Lirael was the first to act, her long, serpentine body a blur as she tried to coil around him, to pin him with her immense strength. Li Yu laughed, nimbly dodging and weaving through her attempts to capture him.
Ying and Zhao, acting with the perfect coordination of loyal generals, flanked him, unleashing high-pressure jets of water from opposite sides, trying to catch him in a pincer. He stamped his foot, and a wall of earth rose to block their assault, the water exploding into a cloud of mist.
From that mist, Volt and Jolt shot forward, their bodies crackling with golden lightning, trying to paralyze him. He moved with a speed that still surprised them, the arcs of electricity harmlessly striking the ground where he had been a moment before.
Rage and Fury trying to get him with their mouths or entangle him so the others could get him. Aegis and Bastion defending the beasts blocking his paths and escape routes.
For the next few hours, they played. It was a challenge for him to deal with so many powerful, intelligent beasts at once, even with his combat experience now. He was pushed, he was tested, and he was, for the first time in a long time, simply having fun, re-connecting with the companions who had been with him.
Finally, tired and content, he called an end to the game. He sat down on the grass, and his beasts, their excitement spent, gathered around him, resting in a familiar, comfortable proximity. As he laid next to his beast companions his mind drifted back.
He thought back to the first tournament in the sect, seemingly so long ago. He remembered the feeling of being overwhelmed by the moment of it all, of the genius he saw in others combat abilities and instincts. Of being trapped by formations he's never seen before and being overwhelmed by it.
He remembered how he had relied on his beasts, on their numbers and their unique skills, to cover for his own weaknesses. His path then had been one of a controller, a summoner, a general commanding an army because he himself was not capable enough. He wanted to overwhelm others through the sheer power and number of his beasts afterwards. To always try to walk into a fight with overwhelming power and fight from an advantage, a simple idea but difficult to pull off.
He reflected on how he had slowly, almost unconsciously, drifted from that path. As his own physical strength and cultivation grew to monstrous proportions, he began to rely on it more and more. His staff, his fist and his void energy became his primary weapons. His combat style became one of overwhelming his opponents with his own raw strength and power.
Then, with the awakening of his nascent soul, he had begun to integrate soul attacks as well, adding another, even more terrifying dimension to his personal combat prowess. His beasts, his oldest companions, had slowly transitioned from his main fighting force to a powerful but secondary support system.
Or had they?
A new understanding suddenly dawned on him, as clear and as bright as a star igniting in the night sky. He hadn't been using his beasts in direct combat much anymore, it was true. But then he realized he was using them. He was using them every single day, just in a different way.
His strongest beasts now had human forms, and he had so seamlessly integrated them into his life and his plans that he had nearly forgotten their true nature. He was still controlling his beasts to help him fight, but the battlefield wasn't just the enemy in front of him, it was the organizations they were helping him with.
Kui, with his sharp, mercantile mind, was his beast of commerce, fighting on the economic front, building him an empire of wealth and resources. Xylia, with her feral strength and loyalty, was his beast of war, guarding his territories and commanding his armies.
Fengliu, the silent, unseen shadow, was his beast of information, his eyes and ears in the darkness, fighting a war of secrets and whispers. In actual battle, they were still his pack, holding off other powerful enemies or defeating them outright, allowing him to focus on the greatest threat. Sometimes they would be fighting the greatest threat for him, his mind going towards Khaos and the numerous times he had helped him.
He smiled to himself, a genuine, quiet smile of profound self-awareness. His path had not completely changed. It had simply evolved. He was still a beast master. His pack was just bigger now, his control more subtle, his ambitions a bit grander but to the same goal of being left alone to enjoy life.
He's come a long way, he thought, but he also had a long way to go. He looked towards the southern horizon, his thoughts returning to the shadowy factions that were bent on causing trouble for the world. His recent victories had been decisive, but they had also revealed the terrifying scale of his enemies.
If an Elder of the Beast Revolution Faction was already a peak Core Formation expert, what about those higher up? What about their true leaders? Were they Soul Formation experts like Jian Xuan? Or, perhaps, something even more terrifying?
He would need to be ready for it. He would need to grow stronger, and his pack, in all its forms, would need to grow stronger with him.