The moment the beanpole locked eyes on him, alarm bells rang in Li Fan's mind.
Right then, Xu Ke, whose mind was linked with Li Fan's, realized what was happening as well.
Shielding Li Fan behind him, Xu Ke asked with a tense face, "Song Yang? What do you want?"
Perhaps the chaos unfolding across the Beast Taming Sect—a sight rare across hundreds of years—emboldened him, for Song Yang dropped his act entirely and said with vicious malice, "I really don't understand how an idiot like you could have such good luck!
"You ask what I want? Naturally, to take back what should have been mine all along!"
Song Yang bared his fangs, his eyes brimming with murderous intent.
At his gesture, his companion spirit beast, the two-headed black snake, slithered across the ground, creeping closer and closer.
Xu Ke backed away in horror, stammering, "Senior Brother Song, did you misunderstand something? I haven't taken anything that belongs to you..."
Even as he spoke, Xu Ke remained planted before Li Fan, trying to block Song Yang's line of sight.
This small gesture naturally did not escape Song Yang. With a sneer, he said, "Kid, stop playing dumb. Transfer ownership of the Profound Bird to me, and I might spare your life. Otherwise..."
Song Yang snorted coldly. "Don't blame me for disregarding sect camaraderie. You know very well the agony of having your blood essence forcefully extracted to transfer a companion spirit beast."
Xu Ke panicked at those words. "Song Yang! Plundering a fellow disciple's spirit beast is a grave sect taboo! How dare you..."
Song Yang cut him off impatiently. "Incurably stupid! At a time like this, you're still babbling about the sect! Can't you see the Beast Taming Sect can barely save itself right now?!"
His patience seemed entirely worn out, and unwilling to waste more breath, he commanded outright, "Hei Ling, get him!"
The two-headed black snake was already primed to strike. At Song Yang's order, its body reared slightly.
From the mouth of the head whose eyes were open, it spewed a jet of black venom.
The black liquid shot like an arrow toward Xu Ke.
Xu Ke channeled wind beneath his feet and twisted sharply, barely dodging it.
The black liquid sizzled as it splattered onto the ground.
Xu Ke glanced down, his face turning pale.
Not only were the grass and trees corroded into nothingness, but even the stones could not withstand the venom's caustic bite.
He had yet to master protective spiritual energy; a single hit would likely kill or cripple him.
With that thought, Xu Ke grabbed an object from his robes and hurled it violently toward Song Yang and the two-headed snake.
Meanwhile, he pulled out a white feather from inside his garments, intending to summon a crane and fly away.
Song Yang, however, seemed prepared for this.
Before Xu Ke's concealed weapon could detonate, an azure light caught it and froze it in midair.
Even more, the snake head that had kept its eyes shut snapped them open.
It blasted a beam of black light directly into the crane feather.
The white feather ignited as if set ablaze, turning into falling ash that drifted down inch by inch.
"It's useless, Xu Ke. To deal with you, I made thorough preparations. I shadowed you in secret for months; every trick up your sleeve is completely clear to me!
"What do you have to fight me with!" Song Yang looked at Xu Ke as if gazing upon a dead man.
The next instant, the black snake spat another stream of venom.
It flew straight toward Xu Ke, who was too shaken to dodge in time.
At the critical moment between life and death, a beam of white light suddenly shot from behind him, colliding head-on with the black venom.
The toxic liquid capable of dissolving solid stone proved utterly unable to withstand the white light for even a single exchange.
The moment they made contact, it vanished completely.
With undiminished power, the white radiance surged straight for the two-headed black snake.
The closed-eyed head snapped open once more, unleashing black light to barely block the white beam.
Even as Song Yang was shocked, greed flashed in his eyes.
"Heavenly Destiny Profound Light!
"The Heavenly Destiny Profound Bird is truly extraordinary. Still in its infancy, yet it can clash head-on with Hei Ling. If it reached its complete form...
"Most important of all is its companion divine ability, [Destiny Is Mine]."
Looking at the listless Li Fan, Song Yang's desire to seize the Profound Bird grew all the stronger.
"Are you all right?" Seizing the time bought by that beam of profound light, Xu Ke sprinted away with rapid steps.
Yet the gap in strength between him and Song Yang was simply too wide; it wouldn't be long before he was run down.
At this moment, Xu Ke wasn't worried about his own survival first.
Instead, his heart ached as he looked at Li Fan, who had overexerted himself to unleash his innate divine ability just to save his life.
"So weak... A single blow is my limit," Li Fan thought helplessly amidst his drowsiness.
Lacking even the strength to scratch Xu Ke with his claws, Li Fan merely let out a soft chirp to signal that he was fine for now.
Just moments ago, seeing Xu Ke's life in danger, Li Fan, as his companion spirit beast, had suddenly awakened memories in his bloodline and executed [Heavenly Destiny Profound Light] to save him.
Through this, Li Fan learned the identity of the strange bird he possessed.
The Heavenly Destiny Profound Bird.
The Profound Bird's own raw power was usually unremarkable, but it possessed one ability that made every other exotic beast and cultivator look upon it with supreme envy, yearning to claim it for themselves:
Condensing and enhancing destiny.
Destiny and fortune were not ethereal illusions, but real, tangible forces.
Some cultivators possessed peerless talent and disposition, yet lacked that tiny sliver of luck, ultimately stalling on the Dao path and dying with regret.
The Profound Bird, however, could help those it recognized defy the heavens and alter their fortune.
Furthermore, as the bird grew stronger, its ability to gather destiny would scale alongside it.
In the end, it could evolve from "altering fortune" to "altering destiny" itself.
This was what was meant by [Destiny Is Mine].
The master of a Profound Bird was the child of destiny.
Turning calamity into blessing and encountering one serendipity after another were mere everyday occurrences.
"No wonder that beanpole wants so badly to catch me.
"Turns out this strange bird I possessed is such a hot commodity.
"Destiny..."
Fighting through exhaustion, Li Fan forced his eyes open and tried to activate the divine ability he had just awakened.
Looking toward Xu Ke, he saw a purplish-gold brilliance shooting skyward from the top of the boy's head.
Though one or two wisps of black smoke coiled around it right now, they could not obscure the noble air of that purplish-gold light.
"Huh? This kid...
"Turns out fortune favors him naturally. I was flattering myself by worrying.
"And it cost me so much energy!"
Annoyed, Li Fan took a fierce bite out of Xu Ke.
Yet because he was so weak, it was no different from a tickle, causing neither pain nor itch.
Running for his life, Xu Ke didn't pay it any mind at all.
Because behind him, Song Yang, glaring like a predator, was already closing in.
Just as Xu Ke was exhausted to the brink of despair, he suddenly saw, not far ahead, a qingluan standing around in bewilderment.
Lying beneath its feet was what appeared to be the corpse of its original master.
Xu Ke's heart leaped with joy.
With a leap, he bounded up to the qingluan, wrapped his arms around it, and scrambled onto its back.
At the same time, he shouted, "Xiao Qing, let's go!"
The qingluan startled, instinctively spreading its wings.
With a gentle flap, it soared into the sky, vanishing high into the clouds.
Chapter 318