The Beast Monument

Roar! Shree!

Roar!

Mo Fan was awakened by the sound of the loud cries of a great beast. Opening his eyes, Mo Fan saw a giant tablet filled with unreadable characters written on the surface. However, he could still make out the enormous letters sitting atop the tablet that read, 'The Beast Monument'.

Around the tablet, what seemed to be drawings of ancient beasts such as the Dragon, Phoenix and Qilin appeared. Mo Fan somehow felt that he could move inside the strange space surrounding him as he floated slowly towards the great tablet.

Roar!

As he came closer, the inscribed dragon on the Beast Monument appeared as if it came to life! Golden light shone upon the dragon as its cries resounded in Mo Fan's mortal ears, as the dragon moved away from the tablet and coiled in the air. As the golden lights faded into the darkness, a huge golden dragon looked down upon Mo Fan as he stared back at it.

"What!? The dragon came out of the tablet?" Mo Fan shouted internally.

The great golden dragon once again turned into a golden light as its huge body transformed into what seemed to be a totem that landed just two li away from Mo Fan. On the surface of the totem, a countless number of dragons could be seen as the golden lights faded completely. Mo Fan had no idea what it meant until suddenly a voice appeared inside his head.

"So this is the chosen heir of the great Beast Monument?" the voice said, "I'm afraid so, though he is quite a suitable one to be the successor with his physique." a feminine voice replied.

"What? Who's there?" Mo Fan shouted.

"Where are you two speaking from?" he continued.

"Now, now, brat we are speaking to your mind directly from inside the monument." the first voice answered him.

"From inside the monument? I see, but you didn't answer my first question, and what's this about being the successor?" Mo Fan asked.

"One at a time now, for starters just know that we will not harm you. In fact, we will help you with your path in cultivation! As for being the successor, you see your blood had dripped onto the Successors Stone when you were digging which brought you here into the monument's space. One could say it was a coincidence, but I'd say it was fate." the voice said.

"Oh, I see, cultivation huh. I Mo Fan had planned to live my entire life as a mortal with my family, alas, it seems like I have no other choice. I must find whoever or whatever massacred my village." Mo Fan said resolutely whilst also smiling bitterly.

"Good, now you see this totem before you? It carries the power of the Dragon race. Focus your mind into the totem and it will guide you towards suitable cultivation techniques every time you reach a new realm. Alas, the technique won't only be providing you the powers of the Dragon race, but also of the Phoenix, Qilin, Roc and many other great beasts. Only when you begin your path of cultivation will you be worthy of succeeding the Beast Monument!" the feminine voice said.

Mo Fan listened to the voice as he faced the totem before him and closed his eyes. Clearing his mind, Mo Fan felt as though his mind could travel far from the body as he made his way inside the totem.

Woosh* Woosh*

The Dragon Totem lit up as giant golden words appeared in his mind. "The Great Way has no end, without Yin there cannot be Yang. The Dao is the one true path towards the heavens and the Great Beast shall lead the way!"

Mo Fan recited those lines over and over again until a great light whisked into his mind as a scripture appeared in his sight. The scripture slowly opened on its own as Mo Fan could make out the words 'The Invincible Beast Body' technique.

"I see, so this is a body tempering technique. It's perfect for me since I have not yet begun my path whilst also being a technique of the God level!" Mo Fan thought.

On the Tianhai Continent, just as there are stages of cultivation, there are stages for Cultivation techniques, Martial Arts techniques, and Movement techniques. They are from the lowest to the highest namely, Yellow, Black, Royal, Mystic, Earth, Heaven, and God levels, they are then separated into the lower, middle, and peak levels within each level. On the Tianhai Continent, the Earth and Heaven levels are considered the peak of all techniques, even a majority of the great big sects of the continent only have Mystic level techniques.

Though, in the other realms far from the Tianhai Continent, the Earth and Heaven class techniques are slightly less rare. Throughout history, it was known that only the first Spiritual God had a God level technique whilst many Spiritual Gods after he had lower-level techniques.

If Mo Fan's Invincible Beast Body technique were to be made public, even though it's only for those who have not yet begun, the entire world and even those from the other realms will cross over to the Tianhai Continent and kill him for it for their younger generation to prosper! That's just how great the techniques are!

After receiving the technique, Mo Fan awoke instantly from the Beast Monument and was back in his village. "Ge!" a feminine voice cried as he showed signs of movement.

Mo Fan opened his eyes to see the stars above him whilst his sister Mo Yingyue sat down beside him with teary eyes. "Hahaha, Yingyue your elder brother is ok." he laughed as he slowly sat up.

"Ge, you fainted for three days, I thought you wouldn't wake up again and would leave me all alone!" Mo Yingyue said to him.

"No, if I Mo Fan am still alive, I will never allow my only remaining family to be alone," he said with an icy voice that didn't seem to be him.

He then got up and looked at his hands which had healed completely without leaving any scars. "I see, the Successors Stone must have healed my wounds during the past three days when I was asleep," he thought.

"Though I'm not sure exactly where it is"

Mo Fan then looked around to see that the corpses were no longer around which was probably due to Mo Yingyue's efforts whilst he was unconscious. Turning around, Mo Fan said, "Yingyue, let's go to our families graves"

"Yea" Mo Yingyue replied.

…

Once he arrived in front of his family's graves, Mo Fan got down on both knees and kneeled as he kowtowed three times very slowly. After making sure that his parents would be relieved in the next world, Mo Fan had a determined look in his eyes.

Woosh*

Suddenly, a powerful wind blew around the two siblings causing some dust to get into his eyes. "What's this? Everyone in this village was killed?" an old man said.

After rubbing his eyes, Mo Fan looked into the air above his parent's grave and saw an old man with a long white beard in a pure white daoist robe hovering above them. Mo Fan replied "Everyone… besides the two of us"

"I see... Since fate has brought us together let me take you two in." the old daoist said and with a wave of his hand, Mo Fan and Mo Yingyue floated in the air next to him.

A crane appeared next to the old daoist as Mo Fan and Mo Yingyue sat down on it whilst the old man himself stood on a sword and flew into the air bring along with him the twins.

***********

Swish! Swish!

As the twins sat atop the old Daoist's white crane, the old man himself thought "The girl, she seems to have a strong affinity with Yin type techniques. Could it be that I was fortunate enough to find myself a disciple with a legendary Yin type physique? As for the boy, for some reason I can't sense anything special about him, it feels like something is blocking me from peering into him… Well everyone has their own secrets" he pondered.

"The girl seems to be extremely attached to the boy, I'll take them both in to be the only disciples throughout my lifetime!"

…

After flying for a couple of hours, the old Daoist and his crane found a place to land. Once they made their way down, the old Daoist patted his crane and said to the twins "Stay here, I'll bring back some meat." then he disappeared from his spot as if he could teleport.

Mo Fan didn't even have time to nod when the old man disappeared. He then sat down cross-legged in a lotus position and closed his eyes. Clearing his mind of thoughts, Mo Fan recited the words of the Invincible Beast Body technique over and over again.

Only when the old man came back with a huge magical beast behind him, did Mo Fan awaken from his meditative state.

Magical beasts were around since the beginning of the Tianhai Continent. Just like cultivators, a magical beast can cultivate to become stronger however, the way they cultivate and become stronger are different.

Where Cultivators absorbed Qi from the heaven and earth and contain it in their lower dantian, Magical beasts, become stronger by consuming cultivators or other beasts. Just as cultivators have stages, Magical Beasts from lowest to highest are graded from Rank One to Rank Thirteen which matches up with the stages of cultivation. However, Magical Beasts are much stronger than cultivators of the same rank which is why many cultivators hunt them in groups or else they could only end up as food for the beasts.

Magical beasts will sometimes leave behind their cores which are known as Beast Cores which cultivators can take and absorb to further their cultivation or sell them and trade for treasure. Naturally, the meat of Magical Beasts can be eaten by cultivators which can help to nourish their blood and qi. Though only those who are in the Body Tempering realm have the most use for the meat.

Plop*

The old daoist cut up the magical beast into small parts then cooked enough of it over a fire whilst the rest stayed inside his spatial ring. A spatial ring comes in many sizes and is common amongst cultivators, they are used to store many things such as weapons, armor, techniques, etc and even food that is stored in them can be preserved for longer!

Sizzz. Sizz.

As he barbequed it over the flames, the twins watched without saying a thing. The old Daoist finished cooking it after a while then gave some to the twins who devoured it like a rabbit. "Hahaha, there's no need to eat so quickly, the meat isn't going anywhere." the old man laughed as he handed the twins more meat.

…

After finishing their meal, the old Daoist looked at the twins and asked, "How much do you know about cultivation sects?". Hearing this, Mo Fan replied, "Nothing, I was never interested since I had planned to stay a mortal for life"

"I see, let me give you a basic idea. The sect I am from is called the Heavenly Sword Gate, in case you couldn't tell from the name, we are all sword cultivators. My Heavenly Sword Gate is one of the top four sects in the entire Xuanyun Empire. I'm guessing you already know that your village is only one of the many villages and towns in the Xuanyun Empire correct?" he asked.

The twins nodded, "The Xuanyun Empire is a large empire, even then it is considered to be a small empire compared to the many other empires around us. The many empires are then part of a single part of the continent, which is then separated further into nine states with the Central State otherwise known as the Spring State is the greatest of the nine"

"I see, the Tianhai Continent is indeed large." Mo Fan replied.

"Now since fate has brought us together, I Daoist Li will accept two disciples on this day!" Daoist Li said as he stroked his long white beard.

Hearing this Mo Fan got off his seat and kowtowed three times and spoke, "Your disciple Mo Fan greets master." which Mo Yingyue followed suit. "Good, good!" Daoist Li laughed, the twins then got up and slept through the night to continue their journey the next morning at dawn.

…

When dawn came, the three of them ate the Magical Beast meat before continuing their journey towards the Heavenly Sword Gate. During their journey, Mo Fan asked, "Master, how far are we from the sect?"

"Hmm? Not too far about another two days of traveling." Daoist Li replied on his flying sword. "I see." Mo Fan nodded as he smiled when Mo Yingyue leaned against his back and slept soundly throughout the journey.