The Charm of Soul Pets (WN)

The Chu Family’s Courtyard

The Chu Family Guard, Chu Si and the others, half kneeled on the ground. Their heads were lowered as they waited for Chu Ming to speak.

“He helped free you from the group besiegement, and he then brought you out of Broken Forest?” after a while, Chu Ming finally inquired.

“Yes… young master Chu is no longer the young master Chu from back then. He’s undergone a huge change.” Chu Si’s face was red.

As the Chu Family Guard, they were ordered to protect Chu Mu and then safely bring him back to the family.

In the end, the opposite happened. The experienced Chu Mu brought them out of the group besiegement and then safely led them home.

Chu Si had stayed in the Chu Family for many years and was already considered an experienced soul pet trainer. Yet, this matter that had caused him to lose face had happened, making him feel extremely embarrassed...

“Family head, are you not going to see the young master?” Chu Si looked at Chu Ming as he inquired.

“Returning safely is good. Seeing or not seeing him is secondary. Chu Si, withdraw first.” said Chu Ming.

Chu Si nodded his head and gave a bow before retreating.

“Father, Chu Mu seems to really have changed. Just now I briefly glanced over him and was able to feel his reserved temperament. It was rather mysterious, and I wasn’t able to fully see through it.” said the eldest, Chu Tianheng.

“Then do you feel that he can become a recommended with his current strength?” Chu Ming looked at Chu Tianheng.

Chu Tianheng was Chu Ming’s eldest son, so Chu Ming understood his nature very well. Chu Tianheng normally didn’t speak very much. He was silent and calm, but he was very precise with his judgement of others. Therefore, when Chu Tianheng was unable to see through Chu Mu, Chu Ming was a bit surprised.

“For the time being, I haven’t understood Chu Mu’s true strength. Him being able to kill Yang Jie shouldn’t be false, but both Chu Xing and Chu He’s strength are above Yang Jie’s. There would be a relatively large amount of danger if we were to recommend him. Chu Mu is still a bit young, and it would be easy for him to be at a disadvantage, so we should still let Chu Xing and Chu He deal with it. After all, they have prepared a long time for this, and they will have better plans at dealing with it.” said Chu Tianheng.

“Mhm, then we should proceed as originally planned.” Chu Ming nodded his head.

Chu Mu’s courtyard was on the eastern end of the Chu Family estate. When he opened his windows in the morning, he could see the sun rising out in the horizon, where the birds would fly. Afterwards, a ray of pure sunlight would shed in front of Chu Mu’s window...

It had been very long since Chu Mu had had this feeling. The moment he woke up, Chu Mu felt that he had returned to four years ago, and that the experiences over these past four years had been but an intense nightmare.

“Wu wu wu”

Mo Xie, who still wanted to sleep, shifted her body, not letting the sunlight affect her sleep. Chu Mu stroked the small fellow’s fur and lightly put her to the side. Then, he had his maid enter and attend to his change of clothes.

The maid had already been changed, and it wasn’t his original maid, so Chu Mu wasn’t too used to this. After washing his face and rinsing his mouth, he changed into a clean set of clothes. The lazy Mo Xie had finally woken up, and she ran over to the basin to wash her own adorable face before shaking her head to cast off the water droplets.

“The weather isn’t bad.” After returning home, Chu Mu’s mood had improved a lot. His only dissatisfaction was that his father wasn’t here.

When he had returned yesterday, Chu Mu had seen the majority of the Chu Family people. Being able to see the faces of his familiar family caused a wave of emotion and gratitude to surface within Chu Mu’s heart.

Of course, Chu Mu wasn’t a such a naive young man. He knew which people treated him well in the family, and which people had neglected him. To these people who neglected him, Chu Mu simply treated them as if they didn’t exist.

“Young master, the family head wishes for you to go the great hall after morning tea.” said the maid to Chu Mu.

Chu Mu nodded his head and sent the maid off. He fed his soul pets their breakfast before eating his fill himself.

At the great hall, Chu Mu could clearly feel that the Chu Family members present today were relatively many. It seemed that there was going to be a large family meeting.

“Chu Mu, come over to grandfather.” Chu Ming called Chu Mu to his side in front of everybody, and had him sit beside his head seat.

Yesterday night, Chu Ming had already seen Chu Mu, and it was the first time Chu Mu had seen this old man’s tearful appearance.

His grandfather, Chu Ming, had always been extremely loving towards Chu Mu. Even though Chu Mu was unable to summon a soul pet, he still harbored no prejudice towards Chu Mu. Moreover, he had protected him, so Chu Mu’s feelings for his grandfather were naturally rather profound.

Yesterday night, after seeing Chu Ming’s haggard face that seemed to have aged ten years since four years ago, Chu Mu silently decided that he would definitely make the Chu Family rise up within Gangluo City on this trip back.

“Originally, grandfather wanted to have a large feast for you in order to celebrate and welcome you back after such a long time. However, the Chu Family is in troubled times, and is at the time of recommendation. Once the recommendation is over, grandfather will hold a grand adulthood ceremony for you.” said Chu Ming.

Chu Mu nodded his head and didn’t say anything else. His eyes swept over the Chu Family members present today.

The Chu Family was split into two branches. The first was the family head Chu Ming’s, while the other was the second family head Chu Nan’s.

Chu Ming had six sons in total. His eldest son, Chu Tian Heng, and second son, Chu Tianlin, had already been seen by Chu Mu. Chu Tianlin was a quick impulsed and hot blooded uncle. He was also the one who took care of Chu Mu the best.

His son, Chu Ning, had the exact same personality as him. He was full of hot blood and was justice-seeking, unable to tolerate the acts of crafty individuals

Chu Mu’s big uncle, Chu Tianlin, was a reserved man whose personality was introverted and calm. Any small or large matter in the family had to go through him. Chu Tianheng had one son and one daughter who, respectively, were Chu Xing and Chu Qian.

Chu Xing was the eldest brother among the Chu Family’s third generation, and he was the strongest amongst the Chu Family’s younger generation. Chu Qian was the eldest sister in the Chu Family, but had been fancied by the Great Chu Family. Currently, she was a female disciple in the Great Chu Family’s inner family. Apparently, she was rather famous.

Chu Ming’s third son was Chu Tianqi, who had passed away a few years ago in the wilderness.

His son, Yang He, was the Chu Family young generation’s second expert, and had received the Chu Family’s attention.

Chu Ming’s fourth son was Chu Tiancheng, also Chu Mu’s father. Chu Tiancheng had come from the Great Chu Family, and it was rumored in the family that because of the Great Chu Family’s successor dispute, Chu Tiancheng, with his meager one person strength, had been cast aside and sent to the remote Gangluo City’s Chu Family clan...

Chu Ming’s fifth son was Chu Tianren, who was in charge of foreign family business. He only had one girl, Chu Yishui, in the family who was the small sister of the family.

Chu Ming’s sixth son, Chu Tianjue, was in charge of the Chu Family’s servants. His power was only second to Chu Tianheng’s. His daughter, Chu Ying, had strength that was second to Chu He. She was a relatively overbearing young lady within the family.

In the Chu Family side branch, there was another young expert called Chu Lang. His strength was ranked in the top five among the Chu Family young experts and he had been valued as extremely important by the Chu Family.

The other line of descendents was the second family head Chu Nan’s. The heirs of Chu Nan were not many. Chu Nan only had one son, Chu Tianjing, whose son was Chu Yi.

Chu Yi was the most arrogant young master of the Chu Family, and his strength could barely be considered fifth among the Chu Family young experts.

Chu Yi’s natural disposition was impudent, and it brought the Chu Family a lot of trouble. Towards others, he was unkind and rude. Back when Chu Mu was unable to summon a soul pet and didn’t have the qualifications to become a soul pet trainer of his generation, he often suffered from this fellow’s mockery and ridicule.

Yesterday, when Chu Mu returned with the Chu Family Guard, Chu Yi had intentionally used a phrase to mock Chu Mu: “There’s another vermin in the family again.”

Chu Yi was the only grandson of Chu Nan and could be said be very doted upon. Often, there wasn’t anyone who provoked this evil Chu Family tyrant.

Of course, Chu Mu had a means of controlling this fellow, through his eldest brother, Chu Xing. Chu Xing’s strength was the strongest, and if Chu Yi did anything excessive, Chu Xing would ignore his granduncle Chu Nan’s doting on this child and fiercely beat him as always.

When Chu Mu returned yesterday, Chu Xing didn’t want to ruin their brotherly atmosphere of reunion, and couldn’t be bothered to argue with that fellow and his character.

As for this morning’s meeting in the Chu Family great hall, Chu Mu could see Chu Yi’s arrogant gaze. If it was before, Chu Mu could have been annoyed, but right now, he acted as if this despicable fellow didn’t exist.

This morning’s meeting was clearly to discuss the recommendation in three months.

The recommendation was the most important competition in Gangluo City. Each large family would nominate five young experts to enter the entire Gangluo City’s public competition.

The original intention of the recommendation wasn’t to have a competition between the large families. Rather, it was for each family to nominate exceptionally outstanding people, and to recommend them to the Luo Region City to participate and see who was the best.

However, as the conflicts between each large family in Gangluo City grew more fierce, the recommendation of young experts in Gangluo City became a secondary matter. Firstly, it would truly be very hard for the young experts from the families in Gangluo City to compete with the gathering of experts from numerous other cities. Secondly, the recommended people would often be preselected by the city’s hegemon, the Yang Family. After all, the entire Luo Region was essentially the Greater Yang Family’s region.

Therefore, the recommendation gradually evolved into a competition between the various large families’ younger generation with territory on the line!

One important factor of the prosperity of a family was its capital, and its deep-seated connections. Yet, even more importantly was the territory each family possessed.

The most important thing a family could not lack was powerful soul pet trainers. As for the origins of soul pet trainer’s soul pets, they would often be through their families, whether by means of purchasing them or obtaining them in territories.

The territory of a family often had visible trademarks, and it was prohibited for outsiders of the family to capture and kill soul pets there.

These territories would often have extremely rich sources of soul pets that could fit the needs of various different soul pet trainers. If there was a surplus of supply, they could be sold to other factions, and immense profits could be obtained.

Normally, one piece of regular sixth rank territory had four fairly good commander rank soul pets that could be obtained from within every year. There were also many warrior rank and servant rank soul pets and, through careful selection, could have an aptitude not inferior to commander ranks. In this way alone, a family could virtually be able to cultivate many experts with commander rank soul pets!

Therefore, territory was the most valuable asset of a family, and it maintained the lifeline of a family’s development!

The meeting this time clearly was to decide the five members of the recommendation competition. Truthfully, everyone present knew what was going on.

“This time, Chu Xing will lead the team and the team members will consist of Chu He, Chu Yi, Chu Ying and Chu Lang.”

“I hope that you will be able to fight back a few pieces of territory for the family!”

Chu Ming’s gaze swept through the five people sitting under him as he seriously spoke.

“Yes!!!”

The five people earnestly nodded their heads and received the Chu Family’s important task.

Hearing that Chu Mu’s name wasn’t in the five people, Chu Ning and Chu Tianlin immediately revealed questioning expressions. They had already told Chu Ming about Chu Mu’s strength, so Chu Ming should have considered putting Chu Mu into the team.

“Grandfather, why aren’t you letting Chu Mu compete?” suddenly spoke Chu Ning.

Chu Ning had witnessed Chu Mu fight Yang Jie and, although Chu Mu could only summon two soul pets, his strength was comparable to those soul masters. If he were to let Chu Mu participate, their hope of winning this recommendation was extremely large.

“That’s right father. Chu Mu’s current strength is very powerful. His Evil Flamed Six Tailed Demon Fox seems to have already reached the fifth phase. His Night Thunder Dream Beast is also at the fifth phase fifth stage. Even with this, could it be that it’s still not enough to be in this generation’s top five?” Chu Tianlin was very surprised by Chu Ming’s announcement.

“An Evil Flamed Six Tailed Demon Fox!! A Night Thunder Dream Beast!”

When Chu Tianlin spoke of Chu Mu’s soul pets, it instantly caused a huge gasp!

Night Thunder Dream Beasts and Evil Flamed Six Tailed Demon Foxes were rare soul pets. If they were fostered, their strength truly was enough to contend against the Chu Family’s top five!

“Chu Mu has just returned to the family and is probably very tired. There’s no need for him to participate in such a dangerous competition.” said Chu Ming.

“But…” Chu Tianlin and Chu Ning still wanted to persuade him.

Chu Ming creased his eyebrows, indicating that these two shouldn’t speak any further.

“Grandfather, since Chu Mu can summon soul pets now, then he should help our family. Fortunately, a few days ago, younger sister troubled me to bring her to our family territory to help her capture a soul pet. How about this, why doesn’t Chu Mu accompany younger sister to our territory. It just so happens that I should be using my time to train my soul pets.” Chu Yi tactlessly said.

“Yes, that works too. Chu Mu, why don’t you rest for the next few days. If you have time, bring younger sister to our territory. There shouldn’t be a problem, right?” The second family master Chu Nan nodded his head without waiting for Chu Ming, and he removed Chu Mu from the discussion.

Chu Mu looked at Chu Nan, but indifferently nodded his head: “There’s no problem.”

Chu Mu had just obtained a new soul pet, the Mo Ye. The small Mo Ye was at the third phase fifth stage, and happened to need fights with a few low phase and low stage soul pets to accumulate fighting experience and quickly grow and evolve.

Chu Ming specially glanced at Chu Mu and saw that there was no trace of dissatisfaction. He then nodded his eyes and swept his gaze over everyone.

“Then we’ll end today’s meeting here. Everyone can leave.” Chu Ming said to everyone.

Everyone nodded their heads and paid their respects before leaving. As they left, they ostensibly were all discussing Chu Mu’s Night Thunder Dream Beast and Evil Flamed Six Tailed Demon Fox.

Very soon, the only people remaining in the hall were Chu Mu, Chu Ming, Chu Tianheng, and Chu Tianlin, who felt very aggrieved by the situation just now.

“Father, what are you doing? Chu Mu is no longer the Chu Mu from back then. He’s capable of undertaking our family’s important task. Why are you excluding him?!” Chu Tianlin was impulsive and in one breath, he spat out what was making him aggrieved.

Chu Ming ignored Chu Tianlin and instead looked at Chu Mu. He slowly said: “Chu Mu, you should understand why grandfather doesn’t want you to participate, right?”

Chu Mu nodded his head and said: “Grandfather doesn’t want something to happen to me; moreover, grandfather wants me to train a few years and participate in the next recommendation, right?”

Chu Ming and Chu Tianheng both nodded their heads in praise.

The two of them truly had guessed that Chu Mu’s current strength was very formidable, capable of reversing the situation.

However, Chu Mu currently could only summon two soul pets, and his age was a bit younger than the five others. Thus, the probability of danger was higher.

Instead, it would be better to let the very promising Chu Mu develop for a few years and have him participate in five years. At that time, he would definitely be able to sweep through all of Gangluo City’s experts!

“Grandfather is very grateful that you have such a heart. Just now, I was afraid that you thought grandfather was giving you the cold shoulder. Right now, you can be said to be our family’s winning treasure. I’m sure that in five years, you will definitely cause the entire Gangluo City to shake in your presence!” Chu Ming patted Chu Mu on the shoulder and said earnestly.

Chu Mu merely nodded his head, but what he was thinking in his heart was completely different from what Chu Ming was thinking!

“Then I’ll have to trouble you to accompany Yishui to our family territory. You can temper yourself there, and if you have anything you need, don’t hesitate to tell grandfather. Grandfather will try his best to give anything to you.” said Chu Ming.

“Thanks, grandfather.” said Chu Mu.

“Ok, you can go first then. I need to discuss a few things with your big uncle and second uncle.” Chu Ming said to Chu Mu.

Chu Mu gave a simple bow before slowly walking away in large strides out of the large hall.

Seeing Chu Mu leaved so unperturbed, Chu Tianheng’s eyes slightly changed. He said: “Chu Mu has truly grown up. Just now he didn’t even say anything even under those circumstances. Moreover, his gaze didn’t change at all. Such shrewdness and calmness isn’t something your average person possesses.”

Chu Ming nodded his head in agreement and said: “I hope that he will bring our Chu Family hope.”

Once he left the hall, Chu Mu quietly stood in place facing the expansive residence. He looked exactly like an immobile statue.

A while later, a smile slowly surfaced on Chu Mu’s face as he thought:

“Five years?”

He simply didn’t need such a long time. In three months, he would cause the entire Gangluo City to shake in his presence!!

Nightmare Palace’s immense power wasn’t something a Luo Region could compare with. Moreover, Chu Mu, who had an eminently high position in Nightmare Palace, already belonged to the ranks of peak experts. In the entire Luo Region, perhaps only the Luo Region Nightmare Prince who was famous both in Nightmare Palace and outside, could compete with Chu Mu. Chu Mu simply didn’t need to put the other figures in his eyes.

Right now, Chu Mu was already enough to sweep through Gangluo City. As for five years later, Chu Mu felt that he would be able to sweep through the Luo Region, irrespective of age.

Chu Ming didn’t understand Chu Mu’s true strength. Yet, Chu Mu didn’t mind. In these three months, Chu Mu would keep a slightly low profile until the day of the competition, where he would cause his family, the Yang Family, and even the entire Gangluo City to tremble in his presence!