Hou flapped his wings, floating over the centre of the Circle Inheritance. He looked down and saw in the very centre was a small circular engraving. Just large enough for someone to sit in.
Before he could be told what to do, he could feel it. He started to float down the the ground, spreading out his wings out wide.
Qi Lan and Mo Huai did not stop him and stayed in the air looking down upon him. Hou was gliding down when he felt a strong attraction to the circle, he retracted his Cloudy Eagle Divine Wings falling down.
However instead of falling hard knot he ground, he sat in a mediative pose and was sucked into the circle engraving. He sat floating in the air above the circle.
Hou then started to inherit, the second inheritance. This step is called 'experience' by Qi Lan. Hou did not have any expectations and simply let whatever happens happens.
Hou felt like he was in the complete dark. It was all silent. Then he heard a loud drum.
Badum
Badum
The drum sounded over and over. A steady beating. Then Hou felt a liquid all over him, and he felt restricted. Like he was tied up. He could not move much.
He sat like this for months. He was growing, he could feel he was stronger than he was before. He could move slightly more. He was kicking. He was moving. He was breathing. He was drowning. He was screaming.
He was.
Born. Hou was ejected from his mother. He saw a women, an elderly women with sweat on her face. Then he was handed, over he could see....
He could see his mother. He just knew, an innate connection. This was his mother, a young adult early 20's. She had light brown hair and green eyes.
And like that, the memory ended. And as one ended, another begun. He was conceived once more, a wolf. He was gestated and born.
Each birth ended and lead Hou to another. He went through thousands of birth until he started to question why,
'Birth. That is what this inheritance should be called, it is the birth and miracle of creation. This inheritance was made by the Ancestor created by Yao Tian. They had neither truly experienced birth, this is something crucial. Why is birth something the Ancestor felt was important....'
And before Hou could think, he was sent into another birth. But this birth was different, it was the birth of the ancestor himself!
He felt the creation of a being incomprehensible to him. Made from a whole portion of the spirits which Yao Tian had destroyed.
Just like before he started from the start, before he was born. He was inside Yao Tian's thoughts as just an idea. Ideas can be a sort of life.
He felt the idea leave Yao Tian as action, all the spirits in the world were taken. The spirit world was destroyed and shattered. All those spirits were split into multiple portions.
Hou followed one portion, becoming the ancestor of Nine Clouds Sovereign Sect. He was made of laws and in a semi corporeal state, until he settled and turned material.
Yao Tian had made him in his image and the Soul Stone soul was starting to form. However, even as a newly created creature the ancestor rejected it.
He stopped the soul from turning to stone, instead he took in the experiences of the spirits he was made from. He forged his own path independent of his creator, Yao Tian.
He took inspiration from birth and formed a nascent Soul. A soul not made of hard stone but soft living tissue, metaphorically speaking.
He made his soul into what he was originally, a being of semi-corporeality, a fetus which would grow stronger which nutrients and become something new.
Something that Hou could not see. For as soon as the Nascent Soul was formed, Hou woke up. He landed on the ground and stood up with energy.
He did not know how long he was in there but it felt like a long time to him, now that he was free he wanted to grow. He felt the ambition of the ancestor still with him, the daring attitude to reject the easy way and forge a path dependant of others.
'Nascent soul.... I can see the potential. This is much better than the rigid spirit stone that Yao Tian had created. The new surpasses the old eventually."
Hou was looking into the distance, thinking only of what he needed. He first needed to become much stronger, he needed many many laws. But to become stronger he needed the Soul Stone soul. It was a paradox he could not figure out.
Qi Lan and Mo Huai floated down, they had been taking care of Hou making sure his body did not die while he absorbed the inheritance.
"You must've gotten quite something, you were there a whole month!" Mo Huai commented.
Qi Lan was also curious and asked,
"What did you get there? Everyone has slightly different experiences."
"It was...different than what you said. I wouldn't describe it as 'experiences' but 'birth'. I won't go into yet, I want to figure it out myself"
"Thats totally fine, it is your inherited knowledge alone. If you do need help though Mo Huai would be willing to." Qi Lan said as she pushed Mo Huai.
'I think this is a matter beyond just me. This Nascent Soul method of progression sounds much better than the Soul Stone one but I can't seem to do it without first the Soul Stone method. Unlike the ancestor I wasn't born with nigh unlimited laws! When I'm next free, I'll do a meeting with Yue and Araxis.'
"Yeah I'm fine, but when are we next staying for a bit. Perhaps a shirt few days break?"
Mo Huai thought for a second and said,
"We can do it when we get to the next district for your next inheritance. Next we go to Nine Clouds Qi Arts' domain, Cloud Prism. It's...a peculiar place."