Eternal Beast Cultivation

“Dammit… Again a failure!" A fifty-year-old man sighed, sitting in the middle of a binding magic circle — a simple circle with a star in middle and pentagram symbols encircled around it.

The old man's name is Noir, his hair was slightly messy and black, his pale blue eyes are clinking in disappointment of another failure. His face is lean, and calm, his body slim and hands gesturing a magical seal in front of his chest.

Noir was an Advanced-Level Wizard, who never showed interest towards magic because it requires grimoire, spell incantations and wand. So, Noir was involved in an experiment to make a spell which binds all the magic patterns to his soul, so he can use magic without grimoire, spell incantations and wand. He tried a forbidden ritual, which binds all the magic patterns into his soul, so that whenever he wants to cast a spell the ritual itself activates magic itself as Noir thought in his mind.

But it was always a failure. His entire life was mainly focused on this experiment even though he faced numerous failures.

"I need to try again…" Slowly Noir raised to a standing posture, his left hand dusting his shoulders off.

Noir slowly bent down and re-drawing the magic circle again, meticulously. Noir frowned, sitting in the middle of the magic circle. Noir gestured his hands at chest, concentrating his mind into the forbidden ritual. The ritual responded, shimmering with a faint light.

A few minutes after Noir began his ritual, a small ache flickered in his chest. Noir ignored the pain, focusing his consciousness precisely into the ritual. Again the ache snapped behind his ribs, but now it was a sharp pain. Noir groaned, clutching his chest tightly. Noir’s vision fractured, the shimmering lines of the ritual blurring into a chaotic swirl of light. He tried to take a breath, but he couldn't. The sharp pain transitioned into a hollow void, his ears filled with a high-pitched whine, drowning the hum of the lingering wind. His fingers, still clawing his tunic, suddenly lost their strength and slipped away. The ritual circle flickered once and died.

THUD!

'I think… This is my end…' Noir wheezed, a small bead of tear crawled out from his left eye.

The silence that followed wasn’t just the end of the spell – it was stillness of a heart that had finally given everything it had. Noir died due to exhaustion, as he attempted a forbidden ritual multiple times, daily, continuously.

****

"Don't kill me", A young man screamed in sheer pain and agony. "AHHHHHHHHH–"

A sound of a beast roar rumbled in Noir's mind. Noir didn't understand what was happening. He slowly opened his eyes. He found himself lying on a grass field, blood sprawling out from his chest.

'Am I supposed to be dead?' Noir thought, slowly trying to rise into a sitting posture. Then the claw marks on his chest began to vanish.

Noir was confused, then a flush of memories hit into his consciousness along with an agonizing ache. It was the memories of the body he was in. It was the body of a fifteen-year-old boy and his name was Lin Yuan, who wore a traditional, heavy layered robe. His hair was different from Noir. It was long, messy black hair and his eyes were deep black with quiet intensity. He died due to a wild beast attack.

He slowly got up and walked out of the mountain as he knew the path to home. It was because of Lin's memories. He was in a world named 'Origin World', where beast cultivation is survival. He was on Qing Feng mountain, west of the Qinglin continent. Lin Yuan resides in Green Hollow city in the west of the Qinglin continent. He is from the Qing Clan. The full name of Lin Yuan is 'Qing Lin Yuan'. He was a calm, yet so elegant child.

"Lin…" A familiar male voice broke out on the way to his home. It was his elder brother — Qing Lin Fengyu, young master of the Qing Clan.

"Found you," Lin Fengyu calmed his breath, and sprinted towards Lin Yuan. "Here you are, brother."

"Big brother?" Lin Yuan called out in confusion."Why did you come for me? I am about to come home now."

"Father was calling you, brother," Lin Fengyu said, his chest heaving vehemently with the exhaustion of sprinting. "You turned fifteen this year. You need to walk into the 'River of Origin'."

"Huh… okay! Let's go, big brother," Lin Yuan said, starting to walk beside Lin Fengyu to their home.

'River of Origin… The sacred river is said to have existed since the beginning of the world, and according to ancient rumours, it was born from the shattered core of the First Cultivator. It was not merely water, but a living will, a silent judge that perceived one’s bloodline, talent, and fate. Every child, upon reaching the age of fifteen, was required to step into its currents. In that brief moment, the River would reveal their destiny, like awakening their Beast Cultivation Pathway and granting them a core beast aligned with their aperture affinity. Along with it, a spiritual parchment would emerge, inscribed with the name of the sect most suited to guide their growth. Across the world, sects respected this judgment without question, treating it as an unerring decree of heaven.

There were fifteen recognized core beasts, the foundation of all cultivation paths. These beasts were divided into ranks: Common, Rare, Epic, Legendary, and Divine, each representing a vast difference in potential and future growth. A cultivator’s entire life, status, and limits were often decided in that single moment by the River’s choice. From there, all disciples began at the same starting point—the Baby Beast Realm—nurturing their core beast, refining essence, and gradually ascending through higher realms. All beasts have specific attributes like water, thunder, fire, etc… Though effort could refine one’s strength, the truth remained unchanged: The higher the beast’s rank, the greater the path ahead.

After a quiet walk, they reached home. Inside their house, Lin Zhentian — father of Lin Yuan, getting ready to take Lin Yuan to the River of Origin. He wore clan traditional robes, his eyes pale black, slowly darted towards incoming Lin Yuan.

"Why are your robes torn, Lin Yuan?" Lin Zhentian asked, walking towards Lin Yuan and adjusting his robe at the hip. Lin Mei Xue — mother of Lin Yuan, sprinted out of her room and halted beside Lin Zhentian, her hands clasping at her chest.

"I just fell from a tree at the mountain, father," Lin Yuan answered boldly. "I will change it right away."

Lin Yuan bowed to his father and mother — A traditional blow — and walked into his room. And following Lin Mei Xue walked into his room, hurriedly with another traditional robe.

"Thank you, mother." Lin Yuan smiled, taking the traditional robe from his mother.

After a few minutes, they started to west riverbank of 'River of Origin' in a golden-green caravan with 2 white steed horses.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

"An Epic Beast! A Good Find, Xin Chi", A father roared in happiness, lifting his son up.

"A Rare Beast! He is a prodigy." A group of people murmured seeing a white-haired boy named Cui Xie.

Lin Zhentian grabbed Lin Yuan's hand, and slowly walked towards the river. "Walk inside, Lin Yuan." Lin Zhentian slightly pushed his son.

Lin Yuan walked into the River of Origin. Lin Yuan stood still, closing his eyes to maintain calm.

SPLASH!!

The river threw Lin Yuan backward to the ground, rejecting him completely. Lin Yuan groaned in sheer pain of the jolt.

"W-what???" Lin Zhentian yelled, rushing towards his son, his eyes worried.

"The River rejected him."

The people began to murmur seeing Lin Yuan rejected by the River of Origin. Lin Zhentian crawled near Lin Yuan, slowly helping him stand. After listening to the murmurs, Lin Zhentian stared with an angry look on his face. The murmurs stopped.

"Are you okay, son?" Lin Zhentian asked in disappointment.

"Yes, father!" Lin Yuan grunted, walking towards the caravan.

After the rejection, everyone mocked him daily. He can't go to the stores or to play with his friends.

'Even if I am transmigrated… I am still unlucky,' Lin Yuan thought in pure despair and slept in his room.

****

For the past few days, Lin Yuan's daily routine is — Going to Qing Feng mountain, and trying to figure out his cultivation path.

As usual, Lin Yuan went to the mountain and sat on a rock to do meditation.

WHOOSH! CRUNCH!

A low crunchy sound of dry leaves echoed in his ears. Lin Yuan slowly opened his eyes, and turned towards his right.

A small, cute turtle is crawling out from the nearby cave. Lin Yuan stood up, started walking near the turtle. He slowly bent down, reaching out to take the turtle into his hands.

The moment his fingers touched the turtle’s shell— 

A faint, stable pulse spread into his palm.

Lin Yuan froze, petrified, his eyes narrowing slightly. 'This…'

The energy wasn’t violent. It wasn’t chaotic. It was… stable. Noir’s memories stirred.

Mana flow. Spell structures. Energy anchors. Everything clicked into his mind.

'Magic required structure… And these beasts… are no different.' Lin Yuan thought, slowly lifting the turtle.

It didn’t resist. It simply looked at him.

'If one beast defines a path…' Lin Yuan frowned, his grip tightening on the turtle slightly. 'Then multiple beasts can build one more stronger.'

Lin Yuan’s breathing slowed, and his thoughts sharpened.

'One for stability…' Lin Yuan’s gaze fixed on the turtle. 'Then others… for agility… attack… control…'

A faint smile appeared. It was a smile of realization.

“I don’t need the River…” Lin Yuan whispered, standing up slowly, the turtle resting calmly in his hand. The wind moved gently around him. For the first time since transmigration, there was a spark in his eyes. “I’ll build my own path.”