Rule Zero: The Village Mission

The Spiritual Animal

Chapter 7: The Frost-Bound Awakening and the Merchant’s Treaty

The morning mist had barely begun to lift from the Twin Springs when the first sound of unwanted hooves reached the perimeter. Roxia Luvia, already awake and sipping a makeshift tea made from the discarded tips of silver-leaves, stood on the porch of the Great Hall. In the distance, beyond the shimmering veil of her concealment array, she could see the banners. White and gold. The Royal Merchants of the Cloud Clan had come to find the source of the "commoner’s lilies" that had caused a minor riot in the market the day before.

She didn't panic. Her overthinking mind had already played out this scenario a dozen times. In this world, the Great Clans operated under a rigid Covenant of Non-Conflict. Unless a formal war was declared or an examination was underway, they could not seize property by force. They had to negotiate.

"Kai, Renji, Kaito," Luvia called out. The four boys stepped out from the shadows, their iron axes resting on their shoulders. "Stand at the boundary. Don't speak. Just look like you know how to use those."

The merchants, led by a man in opulent, silk-trimmed robes named Merchant Xan Feng, stopped at the edge of the springs. He looked at the Great Hall, then at the "discards" wearing the Roxia tags, and finally at Luvia.

"This is unclaimed land," Feng stated, his voice oily. "By the laws of the Cloud Clan, we have the right to purchase the harvest of any rare flora found within the neutral zones."

Luvia stepped forward, her arms crossed. "It was unclaimed. Now, it is the Roxia Domain. And I don't sell my rights. I sell products."

The negotiation was fierce but lopsided. Luvia knew she held the monopoly. "Here is the deal, Merchant Feng. I will give you 50% of my harvest—the Moon-drenched Lilies and the Silver-bark logs—at your standard wholesale price. You can take them back to your royal labs, turn them into high-grade perfumes and medicine chests, and sell them for a thousand gold to your kings. I don't care."

Feng smirked. "And the other 50%?"

"The other 50% stays with me," Luvia said firmly. "I will sell the raw materials to the lower public at whatever price I choose. My people deserve the same quality as your royals, and if you try to argue, I’ll stop selling to you entirely. My property, my rules."

Feng bristled, but the Covenant was absolute. He couldn't steal the land without a decree from the Supreme Teacher. He grudgingly signed a trade ledger, and by midday, the merchants were gone, leaving behind a deposit of 5,000 gold and a trail of frustrated dust.

With the merchants gone and the sun high, Luvia gathered her ten followers near the dark, silent surface of the Cold Spring. The air here was noticeably colder, the water so clear it looked like a jagged diamond cut into the earth.

"Listen to me," Luvia said, her voice grave. "You’ve worked hard. You’ve earned your beds and your stew. But the Examination is coming. To survive, you need your spiritual animals. The System—I mean, the universe—has shown me that this spring is the key."

She explained the theory of the absolute zero temperature, her words echoing like a teacher lecturing a classroom. "The cold will try to freeze your Qi core. It will hurt. It will feel like your soul is shattering. But your core will not let you die. It will summon your guardian to protect you. Who is first?"

To her surprise, Roxia Mian stepped forward, stripping off her outer linen tunic. "I was a failure in the Lotus Clan. I won't be a failure here."

She stepped into the water. The moment the liquid touched her skin, she gasped, her face turning a ghostly pale. She sank until the water reached her shoulders. Seconds felt like hours. Suddenly, the water began to boil with a freezing blue light. A piercing cry erupted from the mist, and a shimmering, translucent Ice-Silk Crane materialized above her, wrapping its wings around Mian to shield her from the frost.

Luvia’s vision flickered as the System began to speak in her mind.

[SPIRITUAL ANIMAL IDENTIFIED: THE ICE-SILK CRANE.]

[CLASS: SUPPORT/DEFENSE. SPECIALTY: QI FILTRATION. IT CAN WOVE SPIRITUAL ENERGY INTO SHIELDS AS STRONG AS DIAMOND. PERFECTLY SUITED FOR ROXIA MIAN’S CALM DISPOSITION.]

Next was Kai. He roared as he plunged into the depths. The water turned a murky, iron grey. From the depths, a massive Stone-Crag Bear lunged out, its fur made of literal granite.

[SPIRITUAL ANIMAL IDENTIFIED: THE STONE-CRAG BEAR.]

[CLASS: TANK/SIEGE. SPECIALTY: EARTH-BINDING. IT CAN REINFORCE THE FOUNDATIONS OF BUILDINGS OR CRUSH ARMOR WITH A SINGLE PAW. A TRUE GUARDIAN FOR THE LOGGING TEAM.]

One by one, the discards faced the agony of the spring.

Renji awakened the Shadow-Dart Fox, a creature of pure speed.

Hina summoned the River-Serpent, a blue dragon-like beast that could control water.

Kaito found the Iron-Horned Stag, a noble beast of endurance.

Sora awakened the Verdant Hare, which Luvia learned could accelerate plant growth—a massive boon for the farm.

Mei and Lin awakened twin Sun-and-Moon Swallows, which shared a telepathic link.

Kenzo got the Wind-Runner Lynx.

Yuki the Ember-Tail Squirrel, and Akane the Golden Spider, capable of weaving spiritual steel-wire.

By sunset, the ten outcasts were no longer just workers. They were a pack. They stood shivering but empowered, their animals hovering or sitting beside them, glowing with new-found life.

That night, for the first time, the Roxia Clan slept in luxury. The Great Hall was filled with the soft snoring of people who finally felt safe. Luvia lay in her own bed, her mind drifting toward the future.

When the sun rose the next morning, the village felt different. Luvia stepped outside and gasped. The farm, fueled by Sora’s Verdant Hare, had exploded in size. The water-stalks were already waist-high, glowing with health. But the real surprise was the river.

"Leader! Look!" Kenzo shouted, pointing at the rushing crystalline water.

Luvia walked to the bank. The river was teeming with Prism-Scale Trout—rare fish that only appeared in waters of absolute purity. Their scales glittered like jewels.

"System," Luvia thought. "Tell me."

[NOTICE: THE PURIFICATION EFFECT OF THE TWIN SPRINGS HAS ATTRACTED THE PRISM-SCALE TROUT. A SINGLE FISH IS WORTH 100 GOLD IN THE MARKET. THEY ARE A DELICACY THAT BOOSTS QI RECOVERY.]

"Another revenue stream," Luvia smiled. "We’re going to be rich."

But as she looked at her people, she realized that a communal hall was no longer enough. They were a clan now. They needed their own space.

"New Mission!" Luvia announced, clapping her hands. "The Great Hall is now our meeting place and kitchen. But from today, we build the Roxia District. Every one of you will have your own house. I’ve already bought the blueprints from the market."

She used her notebook to sketch the designs she had seen. Each house would be a masterpiece of "Roxia" engineering:

Private Bedroom: With a soft bed and thick wool blankets.

Small Kitchen: For personal snacks and tea.

Bathroom: Utilizing the hot spring’s natural heat for warm showers.

Changing Screens: Made of the black silk they had salvaged.

Storage Room: Each house would have its own vault to stock their personal earnings and tools.

"We aren't just building huts," Luvia told them, her eyes flashing with pride. "We are building the most comfortable, modern, and high-tech village this historical world has ever seen. We’ll have a drainage system, a stone-paved path, and gardens for every door."

The boys grabbed their axes and the girls grabbed their tools, but this time, their spiritual animals worked alongside them. The Stone-Crag Bear hauled stones that would have taken ten men to move; the Golden Spider wove silk screens for the windows; the Ice-Silk Crane chilled the storage rooms to act as natural refrigerators.

As Luvia watched her village grow, she felt the "Pending" status of her own spiritual animal pulse. The progress bar was at 90%.

"Almost there," she whispered.

The Twin Spring Clan was no longer a secret. It was a rising power. And as the houses began to take shape—each with a bathroom and a storage room that would make a Cloud Clan royal jealous—Roxia Luvia knew she had finally found the loophole she was looking for.

She wasn't just surviving the system. She was owning it.