His body matured at a startling pace, growing two or three times larger than at birth, and the nest woven from Xu Ke’s hair was beginning to grow cramped.
Thankfully, a soft coat of down was starting to spread over Li Fan’s previously bare skin. It seemed he wouldn’t be far from being capable of flying on his own.
This trip into the Fallen Immortal Realm had been strangely tranquil.
Staying by Xu Ke’s side day after day brought no danger, but also no opportunity.
But when Li Fan’s remaining time in the Fallen Immortal Realm dropped to three days, everything abruptly changed.
That day, a crisp, thunderous dragon roar swept across the Beast Taming Sect’s domain.
Azure radiance flooded the world, and the sky churned as wind and clouds surged.
Li Fan looked up to see an enormous dragon claw half-hidden in the cloud banks, so vast it seemed to cover the heavens.
Even though it wasn’t aimed at him, the pressure leaking from it made the young Li Fan shake uncontrollably. It was a crushing dominance that left him unable to even think about resisting.
The claw savagely raked at the empty air ahead, as though striking an enemy.
Li Fan’s heart clenched as he watched the blow that looked capable of splitting heaven and earth.
Yet, nothing happened.
It was as if the claw had collided with an absolute boundary. It could neither press forward nor withdraw, suspended in place.
“Is this how the Beast Taming Sect welcomes its guests?” Moments later, a remarkably pleasant voice rang out, spreading through heaven and earth. It was gentle, soothing, and endlessly warm.
As his companion beast, Li Fan immediately felt Xu Ke’s body tremble slightly. Not with fear, but with excitement and bafflement.
“Mister Bai?” Xu Ke murmured, eyes full of disbelief.
As if in reply, the voice sounded again. “A fine dragon claw. Perfect for bringing back to nourish the children.”
Before the words fully faded, a brilliance overwhelmed the azure glow. A dragon’s miserable shriek tore through the air. The seemingly invincible claw was cleanly severed, vanishing from the sky.
Faintly, a figure could be seen standing where the claw had once been.
The Beast Taming Sect’s fury erupted at once.
The sky dimmed. A flame-wreathed Vermilion Bird, a winged yellow dragon, a twin-winged white tiger, a two-horned Qilin, a savage long-fanged hound... One dreadful exotic beast after another exuding powerful auras manifested in the heavens, hemming in that slender-looking figure.
They seemed ready to rush forward and tear the intruder apart.
Then Mister Bai spoke again. “Have you all come to bring gifts for the children too?”
The world fell dead silent. The fierce expressions on the beasts’ faces froze.
One man faced a host of savage beasts, and everything became eerily still.
“No answer? Then I’ll take it as a yes.” Mister Bai’s tone remained unhurried. “Seems I misjudged you. The Beast Taming Sect truly is warm and hospitable.”
He looked toward the twin-winged white tiger. “Fine wings. Eating them should make one run faster.”
Because he said it, the white tiger’s wings were gone.
Then his gaze shifted to the two-horned qilin. “Fine horns. Ground into powder, they could treat bruises and sprains.”
Because he said it, the qilin’s horns were gone.
None of the beasts in the sky could resist him in the slightest. They didn’t even grasp what was happening before some part of their bodies was neatly severed and taken as a “gift.”
Terror washed over them. Their earlier arrogance collapsed into panic and despair as they fled.
But they couldn’t escape Mister Bai’s gaze.
Wherever his eyes landed, accompanied by his calm, measured words, one or two beasts would inevitably be mutilated.
Below, the Beast Taming Sect disciples who witnessed it stood in stunned silence. Their elders had always taught them how mighty spirit beasts like the Vermilion Bird, Qilin, Xuanwu, and Phoenix were.
So what were they seeing now?
These exalted creatures, the very pillars of the sect, were being butchered like livestock.
Who was that person? What level of strength did he possess? And why was he doing this?
Questions churned in every disciple’s mind, but Xu Ke was the most shaken of all. He stared blankly at the figure in the sky, completely at a loss.
“That... that can’t be Mister Bai, can it?” he muttered. “When I left that small temple, he was clearly only a mortal. He said so himself...”
Li Fan was no better. Watching beasts countless times stronger than he was get slaughtered with such ease stirred a primal fear in this body that wrapped tight around his heart.
His consciousness barely managed to take control, forcing him to lift his head and look at that frail-seeming figure in the sky.
Just as Xu Ke fell into the deepest doubt of his life, a voice rang out and crushed any lingering hope.
“Enough, Mister Bai. I know you’ve come for me.”
A blue-robed man, Lu Ya, appeared before the slender figure.
And the figure truly did stop. He let the terrified beasts scatter without pursuing further.
“Lu Ya, it’s been a long time,” Mister Bai said, smiling.
Lu Ya didn’t answer.
“It really is... Mister Bai?” Xu Ke, unable to accept it, went weak in the legs and collapsed to the ground.
Then a question that was even harder to bear surged up: “Why would Mister Bai do this?”
To Xu Ke, Mister Bai had been the greatest and kindest person alive. But his masters, elders, and fellow disciples in the Beast Taming Sect had treated him well too.
“Why?”
He sank into overwhelming confusion.
In the sky, Mister Bai and Lu Ya seemed to exchange a few words. Then both vanished.
On the ground, the Beast Taming Sect slid into chaos.
In an instant, the authority built over the years by the sect’s seniors was shattered. Some decided the sect was nothing but an empty name with no future; dark thoughts took root, and they chose to loot what they could and run amid the disorder.
Others were petrified, hiding in sealed rooms and refusing to come out.
And some loyal disciples felt the paths they had devoted their lives to had been casually trampled, leaving them in total despair.
Amid the turmoil, Li Fan suddenly sensed danger drawing near.
At some point, Song Yang and his two-headed serpent spirit beast had crept quietly to Xu Ke’s side.
Song Yang’s eyes were locked on Li Fan, overflowing with greed.