Song Yang immediately noticed the abnormal reaction of his companion beast and paled with shock.
He never expected that this recently hatched Heaven’s Will Xuan Bird could suppress his own two-headed black serpent with nothing but its aura.
Gazing at the Xuan Bird nestled within Xu Ke’s thick hair, the greed in Song Yang’s eyes grew even more intense.
Still, he knew his limits. With the two-headed black serpent proving unreliable, he would need another plan.
He snorted coldly, soothed his spirit beast, and turned to leave.
Having defused the crisis, Li Fan yawned and shrank back into his "nest."
Xu Ke, meanwhile, scratched his head, looking utterly bewildered.
Time flowed onward, and Li Fan’s strength continued to grow.
Soon, it reached its first pivotal point of metamorphosis.
Jet-black feathers now covered its entire body, though perhaps due to absorbing Xu Ke’s providence since birth, they were threaded with strands of violet-gold.
Thanks to his cultivation of the Creation Forge technique, which allowed him to control his size freely, his body hadn’t expanded. He remained just small enough to sleep comfortably within Xu Ke’s hair.
With his physical prowess alone, he could already trade blows with a late-stage Foundation Establishment demonic beast.
He had long since unlocked a spiritual link with Xu Ke, but Li Fan had never transmitted his thoughts over.
So, the oblivious Xu Ke remained completely unaware.
Instead, Li Fan took the opportunity to constantly peer into Xu Ke’s mind, attempting to extract the Beast Taming Sect’s foundational technique, the Beast Taming Art, from his thoughts.
Unfortunately, this foolish kid’s thoughts were too erratic, leaping about like a wild horse and impossible to pin down.
Furthermore, the Beast Taming Art seemed to be protected by a restriction designed to block the prying of spirit beasts, so Li Fan had never succeeded.
On this day, as Li Fan was sunning himself lazily in Xu Ke’s hair, a sudden, inexplicable premonition stirred him. He stood up abruptly, his expression grave.
If I haven’t calculated it wrong, today is the day Mister Bai appears.
To avoid drawing suspicion, Li Fan quickly shrank back down, hiding within the hair nest to observe.
A few hours later, a clear and resonant dragon’s roar shook heaven and earth, heralding Mister Bai’s official arrival.
Just like in his past life, the entire Beast Taming Sect could not muster a single fighter strong enough to withstand him.
A towering azure dragon, a twin-winged white tiger, a two-horned qilin... one after another, these exotic beasts had parts of their bodies severed and taken by Mister Bai as "gifts for the children."
Pained howls echoed throughout the Beast Taming Sect.
The disciples stood frozen in place, trembling.
It was at this moment that Li Fan moved.
Suppressing the fear in his heart with all his might, he transformed into a streak of black light and shot through the bloody rain falling from the slaughtered demonic beasts, straight toward the heavens.
That’s right. Li Fan’s target was Mister Bai himself!
For a long time, a suspicion had lingered in his heart.
Could this Mister Bai from the Fallen Immortal Realm be the Heavenly Physician from the real world in the future?
There were too many similarities between the two.
Both were profoundly skilled in healing arts. Both possessed unfathomable power. Both employed methods that blurred the lines between righteous and wicked.
During the Ningyuan Longevity Fruits Retrieval incident, Li Fan had never been able to see Mister Bai’s true face.
And amid the Beast Taming Sect Upheaval, affected by some unknown influence, Li Fan still could not clearly make out his features when looking up from below.
Thus, Li Fan decided to approach Mister Bai and see for himself!
To be honest, with his current cultivation at the Foundation Establishment realm, attempting this without external aid would be pure fantasy.
However, Li Fan had a measure of confidence.
Naturally, it was because of Xu Ke.
Xu Ke was a man favored by heaven's will. After becoming his companion beast, Li Fan had also come under the protection of that providence. More importantly, Xu Ke was also one of the "children" Mister Bai had spoken of!
With this connection, Li Fan believed that if Mister Bai's current demeanor was not an act, then he himself would not be in mortal danger.
Besides, this was the Fallen Immortal Realm. Even if he perished here, it would only mean damage to his divine sense. It was completely worth the attempt.
At this moment, as the Beast Taming Sect crumbled around them, the streak of black light that was Li Fan was impossibly conspicuous.
He was like a meteor flying against the tide, his momentum unstoppable.
“Who is that?”
“How is it so daring?”
These questions arose in the minds of every Beast Taming Sect disciple.
Even exotic beasts with power rivaling Spirit Transformation cultivators were being routed before the invading powerhouse. Where did this black bird, which seemed only at the Foundation Establishment realm, find its courage?
Amidst the shock and confusion of the crowd, Li Fan soared upward, drawing ever closer to the figure in the sky.
"Hmm?"
And so, Mister Bai cast his gaze downward.
In that instant, Li Fan felt the very space around him, even his own thoughts, freeze solid.
He was plunged into absolute stillness.
He didn't know how long it lasted—an eternity, or perhaps just a moment.
The restraints vanished in a flash, and Li Fan regained his ability to think.
So this is the might of a peak powerhouse...
Li Fan was inwardly horrified.
He finally understood why those who had slain Crimson Flame and achieved Dao Unity in the past had seemed so foolish when facing Ink Death, as if waiting idly for death.
They didn't resist or flee, not because they didn't want to, but because they couldn't!
The reason Li Fan could break free from Mister Bai's restraints now had nothing to do with his own power.
It was because of a faint cry of alarm that rose from below—Xu Ke.
"Little Hei!"
Li Fan believed that not a single move within the Beast Taming Sect could escape Mister Bai's notice.
With Xu Ke's shout, he would naturally notice the connection between the Xuan Bird Li Fan possessed and Xu Ke.
Thus, he would naturally refrain from harming Li Fan further, even allowing this audacious Xuan Bird to fly right up to him.
At close range, Li Fan finally saw Mister Bai's features clearly.
Even with the experience of hundreds of lifetimes, he was momentarily stunned.
He finally understood what the rumors in Ningyuan City had meant when they said Mister Bai was exceptionally good-looking.
He carried a faint scholarly air, yet his face seemed utterly flawless and breathtakingly beautiful; as if all the blessings of heaven and earth had converged upon this one person.
At that moment, Li Fan's mind was filled with thoughts like, "How can such a beautiful person exist under heaven?" and "What a pity this person isn't a woman."
Mister Bai looked at the Xuan Bird hovering dumbly in the air and smiled slightly.
Li Fan felt as if the sky, previously shrouded by dark clouds, had instantly cleared.
Mister Bai examined Li Fan and gave a slight shake of his head. "Child, why have you been practicing so haphazardly?"
With a single, gentle touch of his finger, a torrent of information flooded into Li Fan's mind.
Li Fan froze completely.
Then, his heart began to pound violently, a wild rhythm beyond his control.
It contained all the profundities of life, every conceivable path of sublimation and evolution...
It was the flawless, perfected version of the technique he had been cultivating.
The true Creation Forge Technique!