The Sacred Flame Lineage

Chapter 5: The Sacred Flame Lineage

A few days later, more than a dozen cats had appeared in the East Side Courtyard.

There were white ones, black ones, orange ones, and a few tabbies with more varied coats.

Little Flame crouched beneath the veranda, its tail swishing back and forth. Like a seasoned senior, it watched the new arrivals in the courtyard with utmost seriousness.

Lin Yan leaned against the railing, looking over the courtyard full of cats, and felt quite pleased.

"Now this looks like a proper sect."

"Though it's not really a sect yet. At most, it's an expanded cat den."

"But with more cats, we've got the presence to match."

Thinking of that, Lin Yan glanced at the System Panel again.

[Sacred Fire Spirit Cat: 12/12]

That's right.

In just a few days since he obtained [Sacred Fire Spirit Touch], he had already reached the limit.

Of course, things hadn't gone entirely smoothly.

That first morning, Bibi Dong carried him and Little Flame to a side hall, where Yue Guan and Gui Mei were waiting.

When Yue Guan saw the two cats, his gaze lingered for a moment.

Especially when he looked at Little Flame, his expression turned complicated, as if he wanted to ask something but thought it might not be polite.

Gui Mei, on the other hand, showed no expression.

Still, the eyes hidden in the shadows lingered on the two cats for a couple of extra seconds.

At the time, Lin Yan was sprawled in Bibi Dong's arms, every inch of him tense.

"Here we go."

"At last, it's time for the most crucial battle in this cat's fight to protect his reputation."

"Your Holiness, please know your stuff. Otherwise, I'll spend the rest of my life saddled with a reputation for 'having a kitten right after I was born.'"

But Bibi Dong was even more straightforward than he'd expected.

She simply said:

"A newly born, companion spirit."

Yue Guan understood at once.

At least, he seemed to understand.

"I see. This subordinate understands."

He said he understood, but his eyes still kept drifting toward Lin Yan.

The look seemed to say: The abilities of rare Soul Beasts like you are certainly... unique.

Lin Yan pretended not to notice and lowered his head to lick his paw.

As long as he understood.

As long as he didn't get the wrong idea.

The matter was soon behind them.

After hearing the report, Bibi Dong immediately assigned the East Side Courtyard to them.

It wasn't very large, but it was quiet, close to her bedchamber, and had an old tree, a small flower bed, and a room with a brazier kept burning.

She left them with just one instruction:

"Let them stay here."

"Don't let anyone disturb them."

And just like that, Lin Yan and Little Flame officially had a home in Spirit Hall.

Of course, the deed would never bear his name.

Still, if he rounded up, he'd managed to cling to a powerful backer and move into a luxurious little courtyard.

That night, Lin Yan carefully reviewed his life since transmigrating.

He'd started out in Death Canyon.

Nearly suffered a social death along the way.

And now he was living in the side courtyard of Pope's Palace.

Looking at it that way, things had progressed pretty quickly.

Of course, what made him happy wasn't his new home. It was something else.

After they settled into the East Side Courtyard, the system soon popped up with a new notification.

[Ding! Side quest "Cat Sect Founding" progress increased.]

[The host now has a stable place to live and move around.]

[The host now meets the basic requirements for expansion.]

[Sacred Flame Spirit Ignition can now be expanded.]

[Current Spirit Ignition limit: 1→12.]

When Lin Yan saw the notification, he nearly sprang out of his nest.

Good news.

He could finally expand in earnest.

Bad news.

He still had to solve a very practical problem first.

—Where was he supposed to get the cats?

He could rely on his own shedding to ignite spirits, of course.

But there was no way he could keep that up for long.

First, it consumed too much Soul Power.

Second, it was mentally exhausting.

Third, and most importantly,

it was too embarrassing.

One Little Flame appearing overnight could be explained as a companion spirit.

Three more appearing over two days could just barely be passed off as the effect of a Soul Skill.

But if over a dozen kittens suddenly showed up in Pope's Palace five days later, it would be hard to explain that away as "the unusual ability of a rare Soul Beast."

It would look like "this cat was secretly running a nursery in the side courtyard."

Just imagining the scene made Lin Yan silently cover his face with a paw.

"No."

"Absolutely not."

"I may be a cat, but I still care about my reputation."

So he quickly changed tactics.

If using his own fur to ignite spirits invited strange speculation, why not use actual cats as catalysts?

The moment the idea occurred to him, an opportunity came knocking.

Perhaps it was because the news that the Pope had started keeping cats was quietly spreading through the palace.

Starting the next day, the lady-in-waiting in charge of the East Side Courtyard began paying extra attention to them.

They got milk.

They got minced meat.

Even their sleeping mats were replaced with softer ones.

By the third day, the kitchen had even sent over two palace cats that were supposed to catch mice, saying they were "to keep the little masters company."

When Lin Yan heard the words "little masters," his tail stopped moving for a moment.

"Wait."

"Have I really risen that high in rank in Pope's Palace?"

But surprise aside, those two palace cats were perfect candidates.

One was a white cat.

The other was a calico.

Their coats were sleek and they looked healthy. Clearly, they'd never had to go hungry.

Still, when they first entered the courtyard, they seemed a little timid and huddled by the doorway, afraid to move.

Little Flame went over first.

It raised a paw and gently patted the white cat on the head.

The white cat froze.

Then it sniffed Little Flame.

It soon relaxed.

Lin Yan's eyes lit up at the sight.

"Excellent."

"The first cat I raised has already learned how to welcome new members."

"Looks like I'm not the only one working to build this sect."

The opportunity was too good to pass up, so Lin Yan used the white cat for his first experiment that very day.

The result was even better than he'd expected.

With a real cat as the catalyst, Sacred Flame Spirit Ignition became much easier.

It took less energy.

The process was steadier.

And the kittens that emerged afterward no longer seemed to have been "born" out of thin air. Instead, they seemed like ordinary cats who had gained a little extra spirit and a Core Flame.

That made them much easier to explain.

Basically, an ordinary cat had gradually become a spirit cat after spending time around him, a rare Soul Beast.

It made sense.

Perfect sense.

And his reputation stayed intact.

That night, Lin Yan looked at the second Sacred Flame Spirit Cat he'd created and felt thoroughly satisfied.

It still looked like the original white cat, except that it now had a faint flame pattern on its forehead and a much livelier gaze.

Most importantly, as soon as the Spirit Ignition was complete, it started rubbing against him.

It rubbed against him while softly mewing.

It was very well-behaved.

Lin Yan immediately decided that this would be his expansion strategy from now on.

If there was a real cat, he'd ignite its spirit.

If there wasn't, he'd consider shedding.

If he could expand scientifically, he'd do his best to keep things from getting weird.

And so, over the following days, more and more cats appeared in the East Side Courtyard.

Some were palace cats sent by the kitchen.

Some were strays that had followed the scent of milk.

Two even climbed over the wall one night, only to be cornered by Little Flame and the newly awakened white cat. They were so frightened that they didn't dare move, and Lin Yan ended up igniting their spirits too.

As he kept doing it, Lin Yan gradually began to notice a pattern.

Cats with calmer temperaments had a higher success rate.

Cats that were close to him developed faster after their spirits were ignited.

And after Spirit Ignition, kittens with different coat colors and personalities seemed to develop in different ways.

The first white cat he'd ignited was naturally drawn to [Purring Dream].

When it curled up by the bed, its soothing effect, while nowhere near as strong as his or Little Flame's, was still quite impressive.

One black cat was clearly better at concealing its presence.

It didn't stand out much as it wandered around the courtyard, but at night, when it slipped into the shadows, even Lin Yan had to look twice to find it.

As for one orange cat, its greatest strength after Spirit Ignition wasn't fighting or soothing people. It was how affectionate it was.

Whether rubbing against someone's legs, rolling over to show its belly, or nudging their hand with its head, it had every trick down pat.

After watching its performance for a while, Lin Yan already felt concerned for the future lady-in-waiting staff of Spirit Hall.

"This one..."

"Is it going for a Charm build?"

"It might not be much of a fighter, but it seems like it could still do a lot of damage in a crowd."

In short, after a few days, the East Side Courtyard officially had its first batch of Sacred Flame Spirit Cats.

There were twelve in all, including Little Flame.

It wasn't a huge number.

But it was enough to make an impression.

At the very least, anyone who entered the courtyard would no longer see just two lonely kittens. They'd see a little group of youngsters who wandered around on their own, lined up for their meals, and lounged together beneath the tree in the afternoon sun.

What pleased Lin Yan even more was that the cats weren't causing any trouble.

On the contrary, they were very obedient.

Almost too obedient.

Whenever he spoke, no matter what the little ones were doing, they immediately stopped and turned to look at him in unison.

Once, he casually called, "Come here."

And all twelve cats came running over at once.

Black, white, orange, tabby—they surrounded him in ring after ring.

They looked up at him, their eyes bright.

For a moment, Lin Yan felt strangely touched.

In his previous life, he had been an ordinary person.

Working, renting an apartment, cramming onto the subway, revising proposals.

He couldn't say he had been especially lonely, but his life had certainly never been lively.

After arriving in Douluo, he had gone from being a person to being a cat.

In those first few chapters, he had adapted while grumbling, and most of the time he seemed pretty optimistic.

But it would have been a lie to say he hadn't felt lonely at all.

Only now, watching the kittens in the courtyard gather around him, did he get a truly clear sense of it for the first time—

In this world, he was finally doing more than just surviving.

He had finally gained something of his own.

As he thought about it, the faint, lingering feeling of being adrift that had come with his transmigration slowly began to settle.

"Fine, then."

"Starting today, this meow counts as someone with an organization... no, as a cat with an organization."

"This actually feels pretty good."

Of course, being touched was one thing, but he still had to manage them.

After all, when there were more cats, problems came with them.

For instance, two little rascals were especially fond of sitting by the entrance to Bibi Dong's chambers.

The orange cat kept trying to climb onto a lady attendant's shoulder.

And the first black cat had already learned to sneak into the study and nap on top of piles of documents.

When Lin Yan discovered that, he had just one thought.

"Uh-oh."

"If I don't do something, the cats in this courtyard will run wild sooner or later."

So he quickly got to work on his first real "sect leader duty."

Setting rules.

First, no entering the Pope's chambers or the study without permission.

Second, no damaging documents or knocking over candlesticks.

Third, no scratching or biting anyone from the Spirit Hall unless they struck first.

Fourth, line up for meals.

Fifth, anyone who dared to yowl in the middle of the night and wake Bibi Dong wouldn't get any extra food the next day.

The rules weren't complicated.

But they worked.

The little rascals were already connected to his thoughts, and they were sensitive to his moods.

As soon as he got serious, all the cats in the courtyard behaved themselves.

Especially when he mentioned "no extra food"—the orange cat sat up straighter than any of them.

Lin Yan's mouth twitched.

"Well, well."

"So you do know how to listen for the important parts."

Just as the cat population in the East Side Courtyard was steadily growing, the system finally stirred.

[Ding! The host has established a stable group of followers.]

[Hidden side quest "Cat Sect Takes Shape" completed.]

[Reward: Meow Wish Value ×100, Century Cultivation Card ×1, Skill Fragment: Spark Resonance.]

Lin Yan's eyes lit up the moment he saw the rewards.

"Great!"

"Now that's more like it."

"This meow has been working hard to expand the ranks for days, and the system finally remembers to pay me."

There wasn't much to say about the first two rewards.

The main thing was that last one: [Spark Resonance].

Lin Yan immediately opened the description.

[Spark Resonance: Sacred Flame Spirit Cats can share some emotions and simple thoughts with one another. The host can amplify the coverage of abilities such as "Calming," "Affinity," and "Scent Tracking" through the Sacred Flame Spirit Cat group. Current range: limited.]

After reading the description, Lin Yan understood at once.

It was a group buff.

One cat calming someone down and twelve cats calming someone down were two entirely different things.

If the number of Sacred Flame Spirit Cats kept growing, the skill would only become more valuable.

Before long, it might not be just the East Side Courtyard.

With a solid enough plan, perhaps the little rascals could gradually influence the atmosphere throughout the entire Pope's Palace.

"Not bad."

"Looks like this meow's on the right path."

"First, gather cats. Then, build the sect. After that, figure out how to gradually bring people in, too."

"That order makes perfect sense."

With that, Lin Yan immediately used the [Century Cultivation Card] as well.

A warm current flowed through his body once more.

This time, his cultivation smoothly rose to the three-hundred-year level.

He was still a long way from being able to throw his weight around, but he could clearly feel that his Soul Power foundation had grown stronger. Spirit Ignition and Calming both took much less effort now.

And just as his cultivation stabilized, the twelve little rascals in the courtyard all looked toward him at the same time, as though they had sensed something.

For a moment, Lin Yan even had the strange impression that—

It wasn't him raising them.

Rather, whenever he grew stronger, they all became a little happier, too.

A system notification appeared softly at that moment.

[Group resonance established.]

[Sacred Flame Spirit Cat loyalty: High.]

[Suggestion: Select core members.]

At that, Lin Yan looked around the courtyard.

One black.

One white.

One orange.

One tabby.

And one little gray-blue cat.

Those five clearly had steadier auras than the other seven, and each had a distinct specialty.

The black cat was the best at hiding.

The White Cat was the best at quietly keeping someone company.

The orange cat was the best at burrowing into people's arms.

The tabby was the cleverest and a natural at patrolling the courtyard.

The gray-blue cat liked to sit by the furnace and the formation patterns, and was the most sensitive to the flow of Soul Power.

Lin Yan watched them for a while, his tail swaying slowly.

"Hmm."

"It's about time I picked a few who can help manage things."

"After all, with so many cats, relying on this meow alone will wear me out sooner or later."

Then he looked down at his own white fur and suddenly had a very practical concern.

"Good thing I'm mostly igniting actual cats this time. If I keep plucking fur at this rate as the ranks grow, this meow will go bald sooner or later."

"If I end up a bald cat before I make it big as a sect leader, that would be ridiculous."

The orange cat in the courtyard seemed to sense how he felt. It hurried over and nudged his paw with its head.

Lin Yan looked down at him and patted him with a paw.

"Don't worry."

"Starting tomorrow, this meow will assign everyone their jobs."