Teacher by day, Farmer by passion

Ace and Qiong Qi soon found themselves standing before a towering gate.

"Oh well… looks like I'm here again," Ace muttered, his tone felt more resigned than being surprised.

Qiong Qi flew a slow, lazy circle above him before landing neatly on his shoulder.

[Human, what exactly are we doing here?] the beast asked, its voice dry with a mild disdain.

"Patience my guy… patience," Ace replied calmly. "Master's got work to do."

Qiong Qi leapt down with a snort.

[Human, I have yet to acknowledge you as my master. Stop clinging to your delusional grandeur.]

"Right, right…" Ace mumbled, brushing the comment aside.

Then, he turned to face the massive gate and said with theatrical flair, "Open sesame."

With a deep groan, the gates slowly creaked open, revealing a misty path ahead.

Qiong Qi fluttered back to his perch on Ace's shoulder, its nose twitching.

[Human, I smell food. Is this your grand plan? To stuff me full and hope that in the process I end up becoming your soul bond?]

Ace gave him a blank look.

The Qiong Qi stared back.

[…It's working.]

Ace didn't dignify that with a response.

Just then, two translucent, soul-like figures emerged from the shimmering threshold.

One flying gracefully while the other strolling out with a dramatic flair.

Yet at that exact moment, Qiong Qi didn't hold back as he instantly lunged at one of the spirits the moment it emerged.

With a snap of his jaws, he bit into it… only to realize, mid-crunch, that the spirit was far too large to devour whole.

Unbothered, he did what any normal beast might do, he chomped off a chunk and swallowed it.

Or so he thought.

The moment he swallowed, the piece he bit off shimmered and flew right back into the spirit, reattaching seamlessly as if nothing had happened.

The spirit recoiled but it wasn't the spirit that felt offended. Instead it was Qiong Qi who was dearly annoyed.

[Human, you've angered me. Greatly. You will now find me food I can eat, or I...]

He trailed off.

Ace raised an eyebrow and glanced at the beast.

"You'll what?"

Qiong Qi stared back without blinking.

Ace stared harder.

[Human, now would be a fine time to fall under the grace of the great Divine Beast Qiong Qi. Don't be shy.]

He spoke with utter shamelessness.

Ace stared for a second, then gave a sigh and turned his attention to the two spirits that had fully emerged from the gate.

"I don't have time for your shenanigans."

[Oi, Human! We just met! How can you accuse me of shenanigans already? At least believe in the honor of a divine beast!]

Ace ignored him entirely and studied the two newly summoned spirits.

At the exact same time, both knelt respectfully and said in unison, "Master."

Now that he saw their features clearly, he realized they were nearly identical, twins, in fact.

The only difference was their hair: one had crimson red, the other a cool blue.

He pointed casually. "Red and Blue. That's what I'll call you from now on."

His verry demeanor seemed to have earned the wrath of the beast that it decided to share some of its own wisdom.

[Human! At least pretend to be serious! Give them real names, you fool!]

Ace side eyed Qiong Qi. "Alright, what do you suggest?"

[The blue-haired girl shall be named 'Angel.' And the red one? 'Food.']

Ace turned his head slowly to glare at Qiong Qi, then shook his head in disbelief.

"To you," he said, addressing the blue-haired spirit, "your name is Xi Chun."

"And you," he said to the red-haired one, "will be called Tushan."

A system notification immediately popped up in his mind.

[Congratulations. You have successfully bonded two spirits into your garden.]

Ace blinked. "System, did I get two spirits because I haven't used the gate in a while?"

[No. But you are clearly a fool for not using the gate more often.]

Ace stared blankly into the air.

Then, as if on cue, Qiong Qi piped up again.

[Human, come. Now that you are done. Let's go eat that pig over there.]

"Go ahead," Ace said with a wave of his hand, not bothering to even look at where Qiong Qi seemed to be staring.

Not far from them, a spirit pig was leisurely munching on grass, completely unaware of the danger fast approaching.

Qiong Qi didn't hesitate.

With a gleeful cry, it shot through the air, wings cutting the wind as it made a beeline for the unsuspecting pig.

Meanwhile, Ace opened the system tab to inspect the details of the two spirit girls he had just summoned.

[Name: Xi Chun]

Occupation: Entertainer

Proficiency: Chess, Singing, Guqin and poison tasting.

[Name: Tushan]

Occupation: Culinary Spirit

Proficiency: Can cook virtually anything, from common herbs to rare spirit beasts.

Note: The system has detected a troubling habit; Tushan frequently experiments with food in highly unconventional ways.

This behavior has been flagged as a critical concern, with even the divine beast Qiong Qi deeming it a reckless waste of ingredients… severe enough that the beast judgement says to kill the spirit.

Ace looked up at the two spirits, a faint smirk tugging at his lips.

The heavens are truly smiling on me, he thought, eyes lingering on Tushan.

Now Shane won't be the only one cooking now! As for her troubling habits wih cooking, maybe it's not that huge of an issue. Ace thought to himself as he stared at tushan.

As long as the natives are fed, it should be fine even if they had to go to the toilet multiple times.

"You'll be assigned to the kitchen team, there's been a severe lack of people," he said excitedly.

The moment the words left his mouth, Xi Chun abruptly stood up, her face twisted like someone who had just swallowed a mosquito.

Then there was Tushan.

Have you ever seen a man tossed into a room filled with luxury cars?

No? Well, her reaction mirrored that level of unfiltered euphoria.

Her eyes sparkled like starlight, her mouth hung open in disbelief, and her whole body trembled with the suppressed urge to jump up and down.

Then, unable to contain it any longer... she screamed.

A pure, joyous shriek of excitement that echoed like music through the air.