Si Chou Perspective

The next day, Si Chou entered his office with something new. He rolled it between his fingers thoughtfully as he sat down at his desk. I flew over from my little enclosure to see what he was looking at.

A round ball? No, it smelled different. It was red in color, and had the smell of nature to it. Herbs, minerals, that kind of thing.

Si Chou glanced at me, then smiled. "Ah… Do you know what this is?"

I shook my head. He stared at me, then sighed. "It is a cultivation pill. Not an advanced one, but still expensive for my sect. I was thinking of giving it to you."

I glanced at the thing. After a moment of thought I shrugged and lifted up into the air, flying back to my enclosure.

"...Is that it?"

I looked over at him. He seemed curious and surprised all at once.

"With this, you can advance your strength. Not by much, but enough to be noticed." He stood up and walked over to the enclosure, staring down at me. "I don't… You are intelligent. More than I thought you were. And the way you fought wasn't natural."

He leaned down to look closer at me. "What have I created? …What do you want?"

I thought about that for a moment. Well… I wanted lots of things. A human body, or at least human hands. The ability to control my own life rather than being owned by Si Chou. But the main thing was-

I scratched into the dirt of my enclosure, the motion drawing Si Chou's attention. He watched as I finished and looked down at the symbol I'd scratched. Then I sighed and erased a portion, scratching it more clearly this time.

Look, it wasn't my first language and I wasn't used to writing with claws.

When done, I backed away to let him read the symbol. 壽.

"Shou," he said aloud. Longevity.

Si Chou looked down at me, then at the symbol. "You want immortality?"

I would have shaken my head, but that was close enough. Immortality might be interesting, but dammit I just wanted to live past the next year. I nodded.

Si Chou let out a laugh that sounded just a bit manic, then followed it with a more honest looking smile. "Ah. You don't do things by halves, huh?"

I chittered at him as best as I could. 'Dude, I would do things by halves if I wasn't going to die in less than a year.'

"Yes, I feel the same way," he said, clearly not understanding me. God. Then, Si Chou placed the cultivation pill in his hand before me. "Here. I will help you, my friend. Together we will make you something interesting, eh?"

I walked over to the pill laying in the dirt and smiled internally. Si Chou was a good dude. Maybe one day I'd get to have a real conversation with him.

For the moment, I simply began to slice into the cultivation pill with my mouthparts, swallowing it piece by piece as he watched me with what felt like amusement and confusion.

And with every bite, I felt the Qi within me stir. I was small, so I think it was more effective than it would have been for a human, but he'd been right that it wasn't super effective. I felt myself grow just a touch, like the fire inside me got a few logs rather than, I don't know, gasoline. Still, Si Chou had sacrificed something that could improve himself, to someone he couldn't even understand. I'd return the favor one day.

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Interlude: Si Chou

Si Chou, over his seventy years, had gained much. While his life wasn't perfect, it was good. Ever Pursuing Arrow wasn't the most important sect, not even close, but as cultivators they were able to live a more luxurious life than most. He could do his research in peace, drink good wine and eat good food, enjoy the company of beautiful men and women, and enjoy life. And he could pursue his interests.

Beetles. Beetles fascinated him. They were everywhere, for one. Hundreds of different species, on every continent, in every part of the world. Insects as a whole were interesting, from dragonflies, to ants, to even the humble mayfly, but beetles became a bit of an obsession of his.

So fifty years ago he started breeding them as a hobby. It had become something of a passion, watching the humble creatures grow from tiny eggs to large and powerful chitin clad warriors. It saddened him that they all died so quickly after they reached adulthood. On a lark, he gathered materials to turn them into spirit beasts. With enough work, he would have a beetle that would not only live longer, but maybe even more!

Wood rich in Qi was the answer. While the forest next to the sect was forbidden by Imperial Decree ever since the Demonic Incursion was stifled centuries ago, the wood of that forest was full of the lifeforce running in every cultivator. He bought several logs of the stuff from a lumber mill that didn't know what they had and started feeding them to beetles, while also keeping his own office clean of anything that might impede the process.

And now, fifty years of failures later, Pi Chi was born… Pi Chi. A name he had mostly given as a joke.

It wasn't that funny. The new beetle, a descendant of the very first ones he'd started with, was something different. Not just smart enough to recognize himself in a mirror, a test all the others had failed, but smart enough to work. To work hard, to study hard, exercise, fight, with all of his passion.

Si Chou had started training him for fun, half expecting the beetle to simply ignore him. Instead, well…

The beetle had a better work ethic than he did. Than most of his sect did really. The Ever Pursuing Arrow sect would never be one that could challenge the heavens. Their strongest member was in the Heaven Realm. He had been struck by lightning once he hit that realm and immediately decided he was fine without getting hit again.

That was the Ever Pursuing Arrow. A sect of people who enjoyed life and felt no need to reach for impossible heights.

Except, apparently, for this beetle raised among them. Who climbed up ropes the size of trees, crossed magma moats, fought beetles twice his size, read books with letters impossible for him to comprehend.

Right now, the beetle was pulling on a stone with a rope, dragging it along behind him through the courtyard. Si Chou tried to figure out the size comparison. The strongest beetles could lift hundreds of times their size, but Pi Chi was doing was far beyond that.

"Si Chou," the voice of an older man drew his attention.

"Ah. Core Disciple Jan," Si Chou said brightly.

"Senior Disciple," Jan said back respectfully before smiling briefly. He was a tall man, with thin muscles, a short white beard, and bright green eyes, wearing the same green and white robes as Si Chou but of higher quality. He looked over at Pi Chi.

"That's the beetle, hm?"

"Yes. My first student," Si Chou said with a smile.

"A diligent one." Jan's tone drew Si Chou's surprised gaze.

Jan looked serious. Not mocking or even gently teasing. While his sect wasn't the most serious, his bug raising efforts were always treated as an oddity, nothing worth looking at. What was this? Jan glanced back and smiled.

"I assumed, at first, you were planning to make a pill out of him." Jan laughed at the disgusted look Si Chou displayed. "But no. He is growing quickly. How long does he have?"

"...Less than a year," Si Chou admitted.

"Longer, if you keep at it," Jan said, chuckling. "He's wrestling other beetles?"

"Yes. Though he is quickly leaving their weight class," Si Chou said proudly.

"I can imagine. Perhaps he needs a better fight?" Jan suggested. "Other animals."

"Hm… why the interest, Core Disciple Jan?" Si Chou asked.

"Because he is new," Jan admitted. "This sect… we are small. Unchanging. Anything new is a blessing. Even something so small… Does your student understand? As in, does he read and learn?"

"Yes. But he does have trouble. His eyesight makes his reading a difficulty."

Jan scoffed. "Then you simply must find him a better book. I recommend hiring a scribe."

Si Chou blinked. "A scribe… yes. Yes, perhaps they can write something- but the amount of time they would need to write so much knowledge."

"The basics at least. I suggest that if you really will engage in this, teaching him what even the lowliest cultivator learns will help." Jan smiled. "It would be a shame, for the first curiosity we've had in years to disappear.

Si Chou smiled at the thought. He hesitated then. "He's different from what I expected."

"In what way?"

"Smarter," Si Chou said.

Jan laughed. "Well, he is a Spirit Beast."
"No, you-... I am using the incorrect language. He has personality. He is driven. Determined. Focused. When I first put him into the ring, I saw it. He fights like he must win, more than any person I've ever-"

"He fights like the day may be his last?" Jan asked pointedly.

That was it. His beetle wasn't just slightly intelligent. He was more of a fighter than Si Chou had ever been. After years of simply enjoying his life, he had never been the type to be so desperate to win.

His beetle had said it. Shou. He wanted life. Immortality. What a laugh. A weak cultivator from a weak sect, creating a beetle with more drive than he had ever had.

"I sometimes wonder what it will be like if he becomes like other Spirit Beasts."

"In what way. Like those that become monsters?" Jan asked.

"No. Never that. But I have heard stories of them growing to be able to speak or even… to gain human forms," Si Chou said slowly. "I would like to speak with him. One day."

"It will happen," Jan said with surety. Then he blinked. "Ah. A rat seems to be attacking him."

"Give him a second."

The rat in question rushed Pi Chi with intense speed. Just before his fangs could strike, Pi Chi snapped his horns out, grabbing the rat around the head. As the furred animal squeaked in shock, Pi Chi lifted him up and slammed him down into the floor of the courtyard with a sound that drew the attention of the rest of the courtyard.

Pi Chi let go of the rat and went back to dragging the rock behind him. The rat, stunned, tried to stand, only to groggily stagger and fall over.

"Hah! A little wrestler, hm?" Jan chuckled.

Little wrestler. That was a thought. Pi Chi wasn't a good name after all. And his grandfather would be amused.

He would wait however. First he would find a scribe to work on a book for his pupil, and then he would give him his new name. And one day… They could talk over tea.