Taming Beasts, But I'm the Beast

A short, light read to follow after finishing an emperor novel. A spirit-beast-taming story set in an Eastern fantasy world, not in the style of Pokemon. The male lead can transform into a human.

Not sure why there isn't a spirit-beast-taming tag.

-

Ao Xuan is the only divine beast in the world.

After several hundred years, he is summoned by a spirit beast master once again. He answers the call, but when he regains consciousness, he discovers that he has become the contracted beast of a little kid.

And this child looks remarkably like his previous spirit beast master.

Ao Xuan: ...

Not again. He really doesn't want to raise another kid!

-

The child is noisy and loves asking questions.

He asks about Ao Xuan's past, how big the world is, how high the sky reaches, how wide the earth stretches, whether there is life beyond life, and whether one can return after ascending...

Ao Xuan is thoroughly exasperated, but to humor the child, he sometimes tells him about the past.

He tells him about the child's ancestor, his previous spirit beast master.

An adult who was just as noisy as the child.

-

"What happened after that?" the child asks.

Ao Xuan can't help recalling what happened several hundred years ago. His voice turns distant. "After that..."

He smiles. "After that, he died."

"He failed to overcome the tribulation. His body and Dao were destroyed, and his soul was scattered to the winds."

"Were... were you sad?"

Was he sad? Perhaps he was, perhaps he wasn't.

In the end, Ao Xuan merely pats the child's head and comforts him. "So you need to cultivate well, building your practice on a solid foundation. Your state of mind must keep pace with your cultivation, so that one day you can ascend and become an immortal."

"What about you?" the child asks again.

"Hmm?"

The child keeps chattering: "I know you're a divine beast. As the only divine beast in this world, you can't leave this world or ascend. What will you do after I ascend?"

Looking into the child's stubborn eyes, Ao Xuan remembers the spirit beast masters he met long ago.

They all asked him that question.

But he...

He smiles, doesn't continue the topic, and simply tells the child to hurry up and go to sleep.

-

Ao Xuan...

His greatest wish is to be free.

He was once a divine dragon who roamed the four seas...

[Blurb archived 2025/10/18]

*Short story, no romantic tension, no one-sided crushes

*In an ideal world, it would balance lightheartedness with bittersweetness. We'll have to see how it turns out when written.

*If anything makes you uncomfortable while reading, you can choose to x out. I refuse all writing advice; comments and gifts are welcome if you feel like it, and you are free to come or go. Grateful that our paths crossed.

Theme: Humans and nature living together in harmony