John hadn't even read of such a creature in any of the many books he had read during his lifetime. The only way he recognized it was that he recalled stories his mother used to tell him when he was younger regarding many fantastical and mythical creatures. They were apparently stories that had been passed down throughout the world for untold millennia.
According to his mother, there were several heavenly creatures, whose power was so unimaginable that they stood at the top of all existence. These creatures each controlled a certain power, and reigned as the undisputed rulers regarding those powers.
His mother only described three creatures however, as the others had been lost to time. The first was the Phoenix, whose control over fire was undisputed, and could even be reborn anew within its flames.
The second was the pure-blooded dragon, which controlled the aspect of pure physical power. The stories described dragons destroying stars with a single wave of their claws. While there were elemental dragons, they were normally lesser variant dragons, and only the true pure-blood dragons reigned supreme.
Lastly, his mother described a creature of lightning, whose control over the element was so fearsome that it was practically god-like. While there were other creatures, such as the lightning dragon John saw before that contained immense power, only this creature could stand at the top and claim it was the true ruler of lightning.
John replayed his mothers description of the creature in his head while he stared at the creature in front of him, carefully comparing the two to make sure he had not made a mistake in identifying it.
"According to mother, the creature has a blue and gold dragon-like head, with a thick blue mane that flows upwards from below its neck to its ears. Two regal and majestic antlers on both sides of its head...a body similar to that of a horse, covered in dark blue and gold scales..and a long, regal tail…."
After comparing the two for quite some time, John felt more than sure it was a match. Although the creature was in its infant state and slightly different than the description his mother had told him, it was still incredibly similar.
It had yet to grow its antlers, which rested on its head as no more than two small stubs, and its mane was small and almost unnoticeable, but John was sure there was no mistake in his analysis.
"A Divine Lightning Kirin!"
John could hardly believe it, despite the evidence being directly in front of him.
The description matched almost perfectly, however, there was one aspect of the creature that John had not been told by his mother. An incredibly profound and beautiful crystal existed at the very center of its forehead. It pulsed blue light from within, as if there was lightning snaking about within the crystal.
The creature stared up and John curiously, having seen him finally for the first time. It had known that their souls were connected some time ago, but today was the first time it had set its eyes on him.
It stood about two feet tall, with a body around three feet long, which made it look quite adorable at the moment. After a moment of staring at John, the creature felt a longing to be near him, and walked over to him. It rubbed up against his legs and let out an excited noise, clearly happy.
After getting over his stunned stupor, a smile broke out on John's face as he crouched down and began to pet the head of the Kirin. The Kirin shivered in delight, and began to rub up against John even harder, making adorable sounds the entire time. The companion soulbond the two had established made them feel incredibly close, as if they were a direct family.
"Haha," John couldn't contain his happiness as well, and began to laugh happily. He was happy not only because of the amazing lineage of his newfound companion, but because the creature itself gave him a feeling of comfort and belonging.
John picked up the creature and held it in front of his face. Its tongue stuck out and began to lick his face.
"Haha, alright that's enough of that. Now, what should we call you?" John asked Kirin. However, the Kirin only tilted its head to the side, slightly confused.
Although they could understand each other's feelings through the soulbond, direct communication was not possible at the moment, as the Kirin did not understand speech yet.
John scratched his head, unsure of what to name the creature. He had always been terrible at naming things, and his pets of the past all had simple names. After a long time, he was still unable to come up with a suitable name.
"Aahhhhhh, why is this so hard?" John cried out in frustration as he looked at the tiny Kirin in his hands.
"I should just name you something like Kirii and be done with it," John grumbled out loud, slightly as a joke. He had named pets in the past similarly, but didn't think such a name would fit a creature as majestic as a Kirin.
However, upon hearing the name, the Kirins head perked up, and it let out a soft noise of happiness. Although it couldn't understand John's speech, it could tell that it had called him by that name, and approved of it.
An odd look appeared on John's face as he stared at the creature.
"You couldn't really like Kirii...right?"
The Kirin made another noise of happiness, causing the odd look on John's face to become even more exaggerated.
"Well, I suppose Kirii it is then," John said out loud as he set the Kirin down again. Having settled the name, John was about to bring the Kirin out of his soul space, when a frown appeared on his face. He had just thought of a huge problem.
"If I can recognize you, surely someone else in the Sect could as well. I can't just bring you out like this," John said to Kirii.
Kirii leaned its head to the side, trying to understand what John was trying to convey. John grumbled for a moment, unsure of what to do. He continued to think of a way to bring Kirii out of his soul space without arousing suspicion, but was unable to do so.
Suddenly, light flared from Kirii, causing John to shield his eyes slightly. The light began to fade, and John raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"You can transform?" John asked excitedly.
The once regal and majestic looking Kirin now looked different. Although it still looked relatively similar to its previous form, the antler stubbs were gone, the small mane vanished, and the dragon-like head transformed into one more similar to that of a horse.
A happy expression appeared on John's face, as he could now take Kirii out of his soul space.
"I guess I don't know the extent of what you can do. What else can you do?" John asked excitedly, but all he got in return was a confused stare from Kirii. Despite waiting for some time, Kirii continued to stare at John unmoving, causing him to sigh.
"Well, it's not a big deal. Anyways, let's bring you out of my soul space."
With a thought, John's divine sense left his soul space, wrapping around Kirii as he did so. Kirii appeared right next to the pool he was in, and began to look around at the nearby world excitedly. It was the first time it had seen the real world, and everything was a new experience for it.
John hopped out of the pool and dried off, before putting on one of his black and red War Hall robes. After getting dressed, John inspected Kirii more closely.
"Wow, you're already equivalent to an early Core Formation cultivator despite just being born? Isn't that cheating a bit?" John asked with a pained expression.
He had trudged through many life and death situations to climb to where he was, and yet Kirii was simply born with a higher cultivation than his.
He could feel a dense power emanate from the core of Kirii, where its Core Crystal was located. Beasts cultivated differently than humans. They were blessed by the universe, and were able to increase their strength merely by eating and absorbing the surrounding Qi in the air.
They didn't have to train like humans, although the trade off was that their intelligence was normally lower and their attacks less profound.
When beasts reached a certain level of power, a crystal core would form in their body and become the main source of their strength. Beasts would have the same strength as a Core Formation human at this point, and after this stage, beasts would follow the same cultivation tiers as humans.
Even still, they still did not need to actively cultivate, and were able to raise their power just by existing. However, unlike humans, beasts had natural limits, and depending on their type and innate bloodline, they would reach a point where their cultivations would cap out and never increase.
The more profound a creature's bloodline, the higher their cultivations could reach. Since Kirii was a Kirin, John was sure that it would not have any issues soaring to the top of the cultivation world alongside him.
While thinking about this, a thought crossed John's mind. He began walking into his mansion, and Kirii followed behind closely.
"Oh, you're done healing alrea-?" Reya asked John, but her wordspaused as she spotted Kirii behind John.
John's breath caught in his throat. Despite Kirii transforming, John was unsure of how other cultivators would perceive it. After a moment of silence, Reya dashed forward towards Kirii.
She hastily picked him up.
"Wahhh, what's this creature? It's so cute!" Reya said loudly while hugging Kirii. She had never seen something like it before, but found it completely adorable. Kirii enjoyed the sensation of being picked up, and happily accepted Reya's embrace.
John heaved a sigh of relief, and responded with a smile on his face. "That's my soul companion. I found him a few months ago."
"Soul companion? How do you know such a technique?" Reya asked while continuing to hug Kirii. Although soul companion techniques were not all that rare, they were not common techniques either.
John scratched his nose. "Uhhh, I got it from my clan. Anyways, Kirii and I have business to attend to."
"Oh, sorry!" Reya replied and quickly put down Kirii. Her expression turned slightly sad, indicating she wanted to play with Kirii more.
John shook his head and continued on, eventually arriving in the basement. Kirii followed closely, and John stopped in the very center of the room. He pointed to the wall on the opposite side of the room, and spoke out to Kirii.
"If you can understand me, try attacking that wall over there."
He was unsure if Kirii could unleash an attack, but wanted to try it anyway. Kirii stood there in silence, looking at John curiously. John continued to try to convey his intentions for nearly an hour, but Kirii stood there, looking at him curiously.
"Oh well, I guess it's too much to ask a newborn to do such things right away. We'll try again tomorrow."
John patted Kirii on the head, before walking over to the corner of the room containing the cultivation chamber. He sat down on the ground, and calmed his mind.
'Now, lets see if the remaining human blood essence I have is enough to push me to the Late Qi Condensation Realm.'