"An infinite future means infinite possibilities. As long as there is the slightest possibility, it means it is bound to happen..."
Those words spoken by Di Yi echoed endlessly in Li Fan's mind.
Possessing True Reversion and able to start over almost infinitely, he understood the meaning behind those words better than anyone else.
Moreover, a sudden surge stirred Li Fan's heart. He had a premonition that a deeper secret lay hidden within that statement—something related to his future path, or perhaps to True Reversion itself.
Yet it was like gazing at flowers through a dense fog, entirely impossible to perceive in its entirety.
While Li Fan sank into a brainstorm of his own reveries, the child Di Yi fell silent after finishing those words.
Meeting her direct gaze, Xu Ke also shuddered involuntarily and shut his mouth.
Though he had always feared neither heaven nor earth, he now realized how reckless his words had been and dared not pursue the matter further.
After a long time, perhaps to break the awkward tension, he chuckled awkwardly and changed the subject. "Oh, right! Since you're Di Yi..." Xu Ke patted his head, pretending he had just remembered, and pulled out a vermilion wooden box, holding it out.
"Senior Brother Lu Ya told me to bring this here. He didn't specify who to give it to, but since you're the boss here, giving it to you definitely can't go wrong."
Xu Ke looked Di Yi up and down, speaking with a hint of relief.
"This is..."
Di Yi's gaze swept over the wooden box, and a solemn expression surfaced on the small face.
Reaching out, the child drew it over. Dark light flickered across the small hands, unraveling the restrictions upon it in an instant.
"Roar!"
A monstrous malevolent aura, accompanied by an indignant and furious roar, suddenly surged toward the heavens from within the box.
The baleful energy was almost tangible, spiraling into a violent tornado.
Boundless bloodlust poured out instantly, sweeping across the surroundings like a shockwave.
In the haze, one could almost see the roaring silhouette of a peerless ferocious beast.
Caught completely off guard, Xu Ke was frightened so badly that he fell flat on his rear.
Lost in thought, Li Fan was also jolted awake by this terrifying spectacle.
His feathers stood on end, shivering involuntarily all over as though confronting a natural predator.
Fortunately, child Di Yi's fingers curled slightly, forming an unbreakable cage.
It firmly sealed and contained the malevolent energy within.
No matter how wildly it thrashed or violently it struggled, it could not break free.
"Even in death, you still haven't changed that foul temper of yours," Di Yi coldly snorted, faint black light shimmering in hand.
A moment later, as if sensing Di Yi's aura, the peerless ferocious beast in the box finally began to quiet down.
The roars grew fainter and fainter, eventually fading into total silence.
Only then, still shaken, did Xu Ke and Li Fan clearly see what lay inside the wooden box.
It was the head of a ferocious beast, its eyes wide and glaring in unresolved death.
Like shattered porcelain, crisscrossing scars covered its surface.
At the wound on the severed neck, flesh and blood still squirmed continuously, as though the beast had not yet breathed its final breath.
Xu Ke had never expected the item Senior Brother Lu Ya entrusted him to deliver all the way to Nanming Demon Mountain would be something like this. His little face instantly turned pale as a sheet.
He hastily waved his hands, blurting, "It wasn't me!"
The child Di Yi froze on the spot, then burst into a fit of giggles.
"Don't worry. Even if you claimed you killed it, no one in the world would believe you.
"The Lord of Slaughter among demonic beasts, reputed to be peerless in warfare throughout the realm—Di Erli...
"Very few beings could possibly kill him. You are definitely not one of them."
Not much grief or anger showed on Di Yi's face. After offering that faint explanation, Di Yi stared intently at Di Erli's head, seemingly studying and searching for something.
"Di Erli?" Even after clearing his name of suspicion, Xu Ke was not relieved; instead, he was even more terrified.
He swallowed hard. "He's the second? Doesn't that mean he was even stronger than Third Grandpa?
"How could he end up like this..."
Xu Ke glanced subconsciously at the head in the wooden box, asking with great difficulty.
Li Fan's heart also churned with profound shock.
From Di Yi's words, it was clear that Di Erli was likely the strongest among the demonic beasts aside from Di Yi.
If compared to human cultivators, he would be on par with the Longevity realm.
Yet now, his head had been severed by someone...
Who did it?
Considering the wooden box had come from Lu Ya of the Beast Taming Sect, and while Lu Ya lacked the strength to accomplish such a feat, he knew someone who did.
Mr. Bai.
In an instant, an aloof, transcendent figure surfaced in Li Fan's mind.
Was it him?
Li Fan and Xu Ke exchanged a glance, clearly arriving at the same thought.
Just as the two pieced together the culprit, Di Yi also seemed to spot subtle clues within the wounds on the head.
"He who excels in battle dies in battle.
"I warned you many times, but you refused to listen. Ending up like this today is entirely your own doing."
Di Yi's expression turned stern, the tone cold as frost.
A faint roar echoed from within Di Erli's severed head, sounding like an indignant response.
"It's fine that you've returned, too."
Di Yi suddenly uttered those cryptic words.
Then, something that sent chills down Xu Ke's spine occurred.
Di Yi placed a hand over Di Erli's head. Then, that tender, fair little hand—ordinarily looking like that of a child—began to swell and twist.
Mass after mass of flesh surged from the child Di Yi's hand like black sludge.
It engulfed and devoured Di Erli's head.
Instinctively, Xu Ke grabbed Li Fan and backed away several paces.
He wanted to get far away from this seemingly harmless child Di Yi.
After only a few breaths, the churning black cloud of flesh was drawn back.
Di Yi returned to that innocent, pristine child form.
And Di Erli's head had vanished without a trace.
"Thank you for bringing this fool back.
"This time, without several tens of thousands of years, I won't let him leave again."
Di Yi spoke with utmost seriousness.
Xu Ke rubbed his head awkwardly, completely at a loss for what to say.
"I also understand Di San's intention..."
Di Yi glanced at Xu Ke and smiled.
Without any reproach, Di Yi simply murmured those words.
Then her belly ballooned outward in a flash. In mere moments, it swelled into a grotesque shape several times larger than her current child-sized body.
Something seemed to be gestating inside, rolling back and forth relentlessly.
*Rip!*
The sound of tearing flesh emanated from her body, and before long, a plump, round creature separated from her form.
"Take this little fellow back and give it to Lu Ya.
"He'll know what to do."
Having shrunk back into a child, Di Yi looked at Xu Ke, fell silent for a moment, and then suddenly spoke up: "This is your reward for delivering Di Erli.
"Aside from this, I have something else to give you."
Chapter 536