"What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that, Qiu?" a teenage girl with shoulder-length, chestnut-colored hair asked.
The boy across from her appeared her polar opposite. Where brown eyes sparkled with life and aspiration, his reflected the years and a calmness brought upon by their passage. Her hair was dark, while his were white as if all life had been sucked from them.
Both of them wore the red robes of Begonia Tower, the most powerful force of the Endless Seas in the Huang Realm.
The boy, Qiu, glanced at the fish bowl in Chun's hand. The fish bowl contained a white dolphin-like fish with a horn atop its head, and it was held by strings to a stick. Rather than a fish bowl, it appeared closer to a lantern. Glowed like one too.
"Is something wrong?" Chun asked again.
"Chun, did something happen to you while you were soul collecting?" Qiu asked.
Unlike most forces, such as the three hegemonic sects of the Huang Realm, first-rate, second-rate, or even third-rate forces, Begonia Tower had no permanent location. Instead, everyone lived in Soul Pagoda, an immortal rank artifact. The lifebound artifact of their founder and Tower Lord, Emperor Begonia, to be exact.
Since they did not reside in a permanent location, they could not take advantage of any spiritual veins to increase the density of qi. Without that, no matter how powerful Emperor Begonia was, Begonia Tower would not have become the first-rate force it was today.
The Soul Pagoda had the ability to gather the spiritual qi from the environment to increase the spiritual qi density inside, but it was not enough. To make up for this, Begonia Tower needed souls.
Soul collecting was a task and mission all the disciples, and even elders of Begonia Tower had to do. Although they were the premiere force of the Endless Seas, the Endless Seas' population could not compare to the three great continents.
So to collect souls, they would stop by the mainland. Their main targets were souls like ghosts who refused to reincarnate and stayed in the mortal world or the fragmented souls of cultivators. As such, the disciples of Begonia Tower were like reapers of death, visiting battlefields after battlefields, harvesting souls.
When they returned, they would offer the souls to the whirlpool at the center of the Soul Pagoda called the Soul Pool. The Soul Pool would then convert the souls into soul essence, which was further diluted into soul qi.
They were able to rise to the rank of a first-rate force because of this despite their minimal numbers compared to other forces. It was also one of the greatest secrets of the Soul Pagoda. All members swore an oath not to leak the news, or else the Tower Lord would shatter their souls.
"I almost got injured and captured, but I managed to escape," Chun said.
Qiu frowned. "Honestly, you should be more careful. Why are you doing soul collecting? You're still just a foundation establishment disciple. Wait till you reach the Core Formation Realm."
"Hmpf, you only managed to reach the Core Formation Realm five years ago. And you were also out collecting souls when you were a foundation establishment disciple too. Why can't I?" Chun returned.
Qiu rubbed his forehead helplessly. "Alright, alright, already. I can't beat your clever mouth. So, hurry up and offer the souls to the Soul Pool."
"No," Chun said, stunning Qiu. Her gaze fell on the white fish in the bowl with a hint of sadness and fondness. "I'm going to turn him into a soulbeast and resurrect him."
Qiu's heart skipped a beat when he heard her words. When he looked at the fish bowl again, his eyes turned cold.
Chun quickly hid the fish bowl behind her. "No, you can't kill him. He became like this to save me."
"Chun, you know that you can't turn a random soul from the outside into a soulbeast. You can only use the souls that have been processed. Don't break the rules," Qiu said.
"I can't. I owe him, I can't let others process him," Chun said. "Qiu, you've always doted on me since I was young. Just this once, just turn a blind eye this one time. I promise that I won't break any more rules."
"It's not that I don't want to help you, but you know the punishment for turning a foreign soul into a soulbeast without processing it. It's even harsher than embezzling souls. You'll be executed," Qiu said, trying to convince Chun out of her foolishness.
As Qiu expected, a hint of fear entered Chun's eyes. However, it quickly disappeared as she said, "It's okay. I would have died if it were not for him."
Qiu's eyes stared at Chun for a few moments. At that moment, he felt as if he had lost something but didn't know what. He relented. "Alright."
"Yay!" Chun said as she ran over and hugged Qiu. "I knew it. You're the best."
"Still, you shouldn't have no harvest returning. It looks like you fed all the souls to it?" Qiu said as he looked at the dolphin-like fish. He reached into his robe and pulled out a small sphere. Inside, silver wisps swirled.
"Hehe," Chun smiled and appeared very proud. "You also smuggled some souls. Hmpf, what were you doing, being all high and mighty."
"I didn't smuggle them. These are processed soul fragments I managed to get. I was originally going to use them for cultivating, but you should hurry up and turn this in to avoid suspicion."
Chun's face heated, and she avoided Qiu's gaze. "Sorry, and thank you. I'll definitely pay you back."
"What are you talking about? It should be me that is paying you back," Qiu said. "If it weren't for your grandfather, I would have already been a name on a spirit tablet."
Qiu and Chun were childhood friends. Unlike Chun, who had a nascent soul grandmaster as a grandfather, Qiu was an orphan. Because Qiu was an orphan, he had started soul collector as soon as he became a foundation establishment disciple.
Unfortunately, Qiu had been bitten by a poisonous snake monster. Although he managed to return to the Soul Pagoda, his death was all but written in stone. Chun had begged her grandfather to save Qiu, and he agreed.
Qiu had a perfect spiritual root, but the best Chun had was a flawless spiritual root. Chun's grandfather knew that Chun would suffer once he reached the limit of his lifespan, so he made Qiu promise to look after Chun.
Even without Chun's grandfather, Qiu had already decided to take care of Chun.
The poison infecting Qiu was almost impossible to cure. They had already ingrained themselves into his spiritual root, and even if the poison were expelled, Qiu would have been as good as crippled. So, Chun's grandfather shattered his owl spiritual core and used it to save Qiu, promoting his spiritual root to a half-step heavenly spiritual root.
The act had cut his lifespan in half. However, Chun's grandfather only had twenty years at most, so dying ten years earlier was insignificant. What was important was that he found a protector for his granddaughter, Chun.
Because of this, Qiu had always relented to Chun's whims. Just like how Chun felt like she owed the soul her life, Qiu owed Chun his life.
To transform a soul into a soulbeast was a long process that required time and resources. The first step was to change the shape of the soul and feed it souls. Chun had already accomplished this step. Qiu aided Chun with the next few steps.
Like this, years passed.
Qiu reached the peak of the Core Formation Realm and was just one step away from reaching the Nascent Soul Realm, becoming a true soul cultivator. Chun only reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm. Instead of cultivating, she spent most of her time with Kun.
Kun was the name of Chun's soulbeast and the name of the boy who saved her. He had successfully turned into a Redstar Spectral Fish. His body stayed much the same, predominately white, only now, there was a red mark originating from the base of its horn. It was in the shape of a star, hence the species' name.
The reborn Kun stayed in the shape of a fish and could not transform into a humanoid form. He would have to reach the True Demon Realm to gain that ability naturally or practice a secret art.
However, Kun didn't mind. He could only recall bits and pieces of his life before his rebirth and currently held the mindset of a child. Still, his power was solidly in the Core Formation Realm, outstripping Chun's.
Due to Chun, Qiu also created a soulbeast. It was the same species as Kun, but unlike Kun, Qiu created his soulbeast out of a fragment of his soul. It could be considered his clone, and because of its source, Qiu was able to turn it into his lifebound spiritual beast.
Qiu thought that these halcyon days would last forever, but he was wrong. He should have secretly killed Kun when he had the chance.
He had finally transcended his Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation, but upon completion, he had been attacked. To prevent the Soul Pagoda from being affected by the heavenly tribulation, all members of Begonia Tower had to undergo their heavenly tribulation outside.
His attackers had wanted to capture him, but Qiu managed to escape. Had he not been a disciple of Begonia Tower, it would have been near impossible since two venerables made up the ranks of his attackers. Begonia Tower's disciples were the best of the best. They had to be barring unexpected situations since their numbers were so small.
After escaping, Qiu returned to Begonia. Each disciple had a badge that was linked to their life that allowed them to find the Soul Pagoda. If the disciple died, the badge would break, preventing outsiders from using it to track down the Soul Pagoda.
Qiu didn't think much of it. He had just chalked it up to being unlucky, but a few months later, he realized he had been wrong.
It had been the little things at first. Just a few foundation establishment and core formation disciples that did not make it back. The casualties were higher than average, but it was also understandable. They had wanted to take advantage of the turmoil happening in the Mortal Continent to harvest souls. The greater the danger, the greater the rewards.
It was only when the casualties kept increasing that the higher echelons discovered something wrong. Someone was targeting them.
Begonia Tower did not immediately retreat. They had survived for over a hundred thousand years, so naturally, they had the means to conceal themselves from prying eyes. They wanted to wait and retrieve as many disciples as possible before leaving.
That is until they were discovered. The prided concealment technique of Begonia Tower had been cracked.
Under Tower Lord's orders, Begonia Tower cut its losses and fled, leaving the disciples still outside to die. Qiu lamented the loss of his fellow disciple brothers, but he sighed in relief at the knowledge that at least Chun would not meet the same fate.
He was right in the worst way possible.
After Begonia Tower fled the Mortal Continent, they were pursued by the Cultivator Alliance. The turmoil in the Mortal Continent had been a trap to lure them out and exterminate them.
As the days passed, it became clear that the Cultivator Alliance had a method to locate them. They were routed at each and every turn. Finally, Begonia Tower decided to wage war with the Cultivator Alliance.
Begonia Tower had an immortal emperor, but so did the Cultivator Alliance. And they had far more immortals and monarchs too. The chance at victory was slim, and even if they won, the price would be far too large. But what choice did they have?
Qiu constantly tried to discover the reason why the Cultivator Alliance could find them. He did not think himself special. What could he, a mere nascent soul grandmaster, discover that Emperor Begonia could not?
Then, a thought struck him on the eve before the war. He hoped he was wrong. What if there was a foreign element introduced to Begonia Tower, a Trojan horse?
He immediately went to find Chun, who was happily playing with Kun. The scene brought a rending pain to his heart. He wasn't a hundred percent sure, so he planned to separate Chun and Kun first, but he never expected that was all it took.
Before Qiu could even react, a horn pierced Chun's heart. Her eyes widened with shock rather than pain. She didn't even have time to cry as she stared at Kun.
"...why?"
Those were her last words as the light in her eyes dulled.
"CHUUUUUN!!!"
Monarch Soulfish abruptly awoke from his slumber. Sweat coated his forehead as he observed his surroundings. His memories returned, and he calmed down.
Yes, he had managed to escape from the Cultivator Alliance's pursuit.
He closed his eyes as he recalled what happened afterward. Kun had been a sleeper agent. Chun's almost near death had been planned, all to bring in the instrument of Begonia Tower's downfall.
Kun hadn't been the only agent, and Chun hadn't been the only victim. The reason why Kun succeeded was because of him, Qiu.
Regret flooded his heart every time he remembered.
Monarch Soulfish had outed Kun, but it was too late. In order to grasp the last remnant of Chun's soul, Qiu fell. His original body perished, and he was forced to hide in his soulbeast, the Redstar Spectral Fish.
From then on, there was no longer anyone named Qiu, only Soulfish.
Monarch Soulfish waited for his injuries to heal a bit more before returning to the Endless Seas. When he set off, he looked around him and couldn't help but feel that something was staring at him.
Did he imagine it?
