“Lu Ya? That name sounds somewhat familiar.” Reincarnating into a bird had suppressed Li Fan's ability to think quickly, but he faintly felt he had heard this name somewhere before.
After pondering for a long time, he still could not recall it.
In his frustration, he began scratching at the young boy's hair with his claws again. Seeing no reaction from the boy, Li Fan pecked down hard with his long beak.
“Ouch! That hurts!” The boy finally tore his gaze away from Lu Ya's departing figure.
However, mistakenly thinking Li Fan was urging him to find food, he hastily placated him, “All right, all right, I know you're hungry! We're going to look for food right now.”
“Little Red, let's go!” The boy patted the wing of the red-crowned crane beneath him.
The crane obediently flapped its wings. Shifting from still to blindingly fast once more, it skimmed through the clouds.
Amidst the howling wind, Li Fan faintly heard the boy's wistful murmuring: “Senior Brother Lu Ya is handsome and kind, and now he's become so powerful too—he's simply perfect. If everyone back in Ningyuan City knew, they'd definitely be thrilled. It's just a shame... I don't know why Senior Brother suddenly harbors such huge hostility toward Mr. Bai. Not only won't he let me go back, he won't even let me send flying letters...”
The boy's brow furrowed tightly, his face filled with a troubled expression that did not suit his age at all.
Meanwhile, Li Fan's body froze stiffly.
Ningyuan City, Mr. Bai.
These two words instantly ignited the memories buried deep within his mind.
A scrawny, frail figure with sallow hair immediately rose before Li Fan's eyes.
“It's him?”
“The plot here in the Beast Taming Sect actually continues directly from the events in Ningyuan City?”
“The little beggar boy back then can already control such a powerful beast now. Judging by that aura just now, that tiger-headed, human-bodied beast was at least above the Nascent Soul realm. Just how many years have passed?”
“Then again, the Beast Taming Sect's techniques have long been lost to history. Perhaps there really is a possibility that a spirit beast under one's control can be far stronger than the cultivator himself.”
“Mr. Bai... that mysterious fellow again.”
“Why is it that every time I enter the Fallen Immortal Realm, whatever I experience is connected to him?”
“Once is a coincidence, but twice, three times—one can't help but feel suspicious.”
Countless thoughts surged into his mind in an instant. Amidst this emotional turmoil, Li Fan felt the small bit of energy he had just accumulated rapidly draining away.
His eyelids drooped uncontrollably. In the moment before sinking into sleep, he seemed to catch sight of that blurry figure once more.
***
Li Fan was awakened by a sweet fruit offered into his mouth.
Once the fruit entered his stomach, waves of warmth washed over his entire body, quickly banishing his drowsiness.
Opening his eyes, he saw the young boy squatting stealthily on the ground, using spirit plants taller than himself to conceal his figure.
From time to time, he picked one or two plump, round red fruits and handed them to Li Fan.
Li Fan did not stand on ceremony in the slightest and swallowed them straight down.
Feeling his strength increase a bit more, Li Fan continued scratching at the boy with his claws, gesturing for more.
The boy shuttled back and forth through the spirit field, harvesting all the finest-growing fruits for Li Fan to enjoy.
While feasting to his heart's content, Li Fan found the young boy looking much more pleasing to the eye.
“All right, that's about enough. If we keep stealing, people will notice how much is missing.”
“Heh heh, let's switch to another spot.”
The boy adjusted Li Fan, who was quite full and sitting somewhat askew on his head, straightening him up.
Without summoning the crane, he stepped upon the wind and dashed directly toward the next field.
After raiding several places in this fashion, they ran into a group of peers unexpectedly.
“Xu Ke, what are you doing here?!”
A voice suddenly sounded from behind the young boy, startling him.
Turning around and seeing who it was, the boy let out a breath of relief.
Sizing up the other person, the boy named Xu Ke made a shushing gesture and lowered his voice. “The same thing as you, of course—giving my companion spirit beast a little extra treat.”
Deeply dissatisfied that his feeding session had been interrupted, Li Fan shot an unfriendly glare at this person named Song Yang.
Thin and gaunt, with sinister eyes, he looked far from benevolent.
Coiled around his neck was a black two-headed snake.
One head had its eyes shut tight, while the other stared fixedly at Li Fan, flicking its tongue continuously.
Xu Ke instinctively gathered his hair together, hiding Li Fan within it.
Song Yang, however, looked as though he had heard the greatest joke in the world. He sneered disdainfully at Xu Ke. “The same as me? Are you worthy?”
“My companion spirit beast is a descendant of the Black Water Snake God Zhu Jiuyin, blessed with limitless potential. Achieving Soul Formation in the future is a sure thing! If it hasn't eaten its fill, it's only right for me to come get it an extra meal.”
“As for that strange bird of yours, what kind of creature is it? One look tells you it has no powerful bloodline.”
“As the saying goes, dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes, and the son of a rat can only dig holes. Xu Ke, you don't actually think you can turn your life around just by relying on some mangy bird, do you?”
Xu Ke was, after all, only a child. Hearing his companion spirit beast slandered, he couldn't help arguing, “My bird isn't bad at all! Everyone says it's the descendant of a divine bird, and in the future—”
Before he could finish, Song Yang cut him off harshly.
“Descendant of a divine bird? Which divine bird? A phoenix? A Vermilion Bird? No matter how you look at that freak of a bird, it doesn't look like either!”
“You didn't actually take those polite comforting words seriously, did you? What a fool!”
Song Yang sneered and jeered, and even the two-headed snake hanging on his body matched his expression with a mocking look.
“You're talking nonsense!” Xu Ke's face flushed bright red, his voice rising sharply.
Yet as if deliberately trying to provoke Xu Ke, Song Yang not only refused to stop, but escalated his mockery even further.
Atop Xu Ke's head, Li Fan, already impatient, felt a surge of unprovoked fury at being slandered by this skinny beanpole.
Just as he was about to make a move, Xu Ke pressed him down firmly.
“Little guy, don't be rash! You can't beat that snake. Besides, sect law forbids disciples from fighting among themselves. Anyone caught will be severely punished, and whoever starts the fight gets penalized even worse.”
“Let's just ignore him.”
Xu Ke's voice sounded simultaneously in Li Fan's mind.
Having reincarnated a hundred times, how could Li Fan not see that this fellow named Song Yang was deliberately stirring up trouble?
Unfortunately, having possessed this strange bird, its inherent nature was wild, hot-tempered, and easily enraged.
It was fortunate that Xu Ke used both hands and strained with all his might to barely keep Li Fan pinned down.
Otherwise, Li Fan would have already lunged forward.
Paying no further heed to Song Yang's cold mockery, Xu Ke buried his head and walked away without looking back.
Watching Xu Ke's retreating figure, a glint of malice flashed across Song Yang's eyes.
To soothe Li Fan, Xu Ke took him on several more sweeps through the spirit fields.
With his belly packed with various types of spirit plants, Li Fan gradually calmed down.
In the days that followed, Li Fan passed his time eating, drinking, and thriving.
Chapter 316