Fan Yumei knocked at the gate, and it wasn't long before Master Sun came to collect her. They moved quickly, heading straight toward his lab.
"Haha, Fan girl! How are you? You've helped me greatly today, my dear!" The old man had a skip in his step, practically jogging to meet her.
He opened the gate and led her inside.
"Help? How were they today? No trouble?" she asked, curiosity and confusion layered in her voice.
Fan Yumei walked beside him through the villa's long corridor, their footsteps echoing quietly as they neared the lab.
He waved her question away with a grin. "Haha, they were all wonderful! No trouble at all. Intelligent, unique, full of spirit. You've raised them well, my girl." Master Sun clapped her shoulder in obvious pride.
They reached the false wall. The biometric scanner blinked green, granting access. The hidden elevator doors hissed open, and they descended to the underground lab.
"Anything on the test results?" she asked, arms crossed, fingers rhythmically tapping her forearm.
"Not much… but a few strange readings suggest she was either dropped from a secret realm—or thrown out of one." Master Sun scratched his beard, voice suddenly serious.
"Huh? What?! How?! We just found her in the forest. There was a loud noise… and the egg. That was it," she replied, her eyes narrowing in thought. There had to be more to it. She and Uncle Hanji had never entered a realm—they were just on a walk when they found the egg.
She wracked her memory. What had she missed?
"There are many undocumented types of realms—dimensional spaces that briefly merge with our world," Master Sun said, pacing. "Ever since the fall of the old world—Earth—the world, maybe even the universe, changed. Evolved."
He turned to her, his face shadowed with memory.
She noticed the scars etched into his temples and jawline from battles long past.
"New realms and dimensions began appearing. Unknown energies poured in. Nature itself grew furious. Animals changed. Pets, farm animals, even goldfish weren't spared. They awakened. Grew stronger. Became beasts. And they turned on us."
He gestured wide, as if encompassing the entire world.
"The first six humans to awaken cultivation became legends—Soul Function, Elemental Caller, Combatant, Supporter, and Bloodliner. The five core paths. Cultivation hadn't been taught yet. Then it happened…"
He paused, voice dropping.
Fan Yumei straightened, arms unfolding as she leaned in, eyes urging him onward.
"One day, a realm opened and started merging with reality. Earth was already being torn apart—natural disasters, mass beast raids. Humanity was dying. But the Six entered that realm. It looked like Earth—but twisted. Hostile. Alive."
Fan Yumei didn't interrupt. She only nodded now and then.
"They emerged years later, different. Changed. They'd gained power beyond comprehension. Their cultivation cores awakened entire new systems—professions. Beast Tamer, Beast Healer, Mage, Refiner, Strategist, Herbalist, and more."
He ticked names off his fingers. "Huo, Ka, Tan, Yang, Yi… the awakening families. They gathered the remaining survivors and led them across—into this new world. What we now call paradise."
Fan Yumei froze hearing her mothers family name now her family. She was once again reminded of her family and her ancestors legacy weight of being the family head to the Ka family.
"The Ka family" she whispered to herself committing the name to memory and look out for any news involving the name.
Master Sun stood still, hands clasped behind his back.
"When Earth was finally swallowed and merged, history was rewritten. We fled into what even the beasts tried to escape from. There are still things in this universe and others that always remain hidden or unknown to us. Mystic is one of them tossed out from where ever she originated from.
Fan Yumei stared ahead in silence. This world was full of mysteries.
Mystic's egg hadn't just fallen into her lap. Something—someone—had dropped her here. Or… exiled her? Maybe.
Whatever secrets were buried in Mystic's origin—and in the origin of this world—she would uncover them. All of them. No matter where they led.
[Ding]
The lab doors slid open again, and the mood snapped from tension to absurdity.
⸻
Master Sun stepped out first, arms folded as he surveyed the spotless lab.
"Ah—much better. No stray papers this time or test valves." He raised an eyebrow at Fan Yumei. "Lufei, where did you hide that pile of experiment drafts again?"
Lufei poked her emerald antlers around the corner, face sheepish.
"…I filed them under 'Mystic's Snacks.' I thought it'd be easier to remember…"
Before anyone could reply, Mystic—in her cushioned cloud form—sauntered in, head low and tail swishing. She sniffed the air, nostrils flaring, then let out a dignified, melodic whale-song.
Mystic rolled upside down.
Mystic: Drafts taste like lint.
Fan Yumei blinked.
"Don't eat other people's research—were you secretly a dog in your last life?" She shook her head at her beast's antics.
Master Sun only nodded, as if this were perfectly normal.
"Mystic, please refrain from dietary critiques."
Fan Yumei jumped.
"Master Sun… you can understand her beast tongue?"
He smiled kindly.
"Your bond lets her talk to you and lets you sense her thoughts. I've trained in Soul Function long enough to speak and understand directly."
Fan Yumei's eyes widened—Master Sun's mastery of the ancient whale-song tongue surprised her.
She glanced at Maxius, the phantom eagle, who'd leapt in fright.
Maxius—the smallest of the trio—pranced in behind Mystic, wings juggling three glowing orbs of spirit qi. One orb slipped and bounced across the floor.
"Hey! No qi balls!" Fan Yumei chased after him and caught the bird's wing just in time.
"What have I told you, Maxius? No!"
But the orb rolled into Mystic's cloud. Mystic inspected it, then—much to everyone's horror—gulped it down in one bite.
Master Sun's nose wrinkled.
"And she ate an experimental qi orb?"
Lufei stomped her hoof.
"That was it! It might hurt her!"
Mystic belched a tiny burst of rainbow sparkles and crooned:
Mystic: Delicious. More… please.
Maxius hopped onto a workbench, wings spread wide.
"Ta-da! Read my performance data!"
He tripped over a stray storage cube and somersaulted spectacularly, landing nose-first in a beaker of glowing liquid. The beaker shattered, releasing indigo mist.
"Oh no," Maxius groaned.
"That was the 'Eternal Sunrise' reagent—unstable in open air!"
Fan Yumei lunged for the holo-panel.
"Vent shaft—on!"
A whoosh of vacuum engulfed the mist; the shards vanished.
Master Sun pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Next time you two 'help,' please don't nearly vaporize the lab—"
Maxius popped up, sputtering violet mist.
"Totally under control!"
Mystic lumbered over, flopped onto the floor, enlarged herself a little, and gently batted Maxius with her massive fins—tipping him into a pile of lab coats.
Fan Yumei folded her arms, half-amused, half-exasperated.
"You two are banned from 'helping' until further notice."
Mystic gave a soft, offended blowhole spray and muttered "Unfair. I improve ambiance."
She then nudged Maxius, who uncorked another orb (labeled DO NOT EAT) and winked at Fan Yumei.
Lufei shook her crystalline head.
"Honestly—what are we going to do with you all?"
Master Sun sighed, adjusting his refiner's jacket.
"Well—onward! Let's log these results before anything else explodes."
Fan Yumei laughed as she followed Master Sun deeper into the lab, Mystic floating on her cloud cushion above them, Lufei trotting at their side, and Maxius trailing—clutching his orb, just in case.