As a Heavenly Destiny Profound Bird, Xiao Hei naturally knew very well how extraordinary Xu Ke's fortune was.
Purple-gold fortune was one in billions. Wherever he went, disaster invariably turned into good fortune, peril transformed into auspiciousness, countless treasures were his for the taking, and fortuitous encounters never ceased.
How could someone like him die so easily?
Granted, fortune was not omnipotent. Possessing immense fortune did not make one immortal. If one encountered a catastrophe that far exceeded what one's destiny could bear, there remained the risk of perishing.
Yet Xu Ke did not rely solely on his own fortune; he also possessed the protection of Mr. Bai's red cord. Even a single thread from that red cord had been enough to severely wound Chi Jiutou, a top powerhouse among the demonic beast clans. Mr. Bai's strength was unfathomably formidable. From Xiao Hei's last communication with Xu Ke, it knew that some of the red cord remained around his wrist. Xiao Hei firmly believed that within this Xuanhuang Realm, whatever danger Xu Ke encountered, the remaining red cord should have been enough to help him escape with his life.
Thus, Xiao Hei found Xu Ke's inexplicable death completely incomprehensible and impossible to accept. It vowed that it had to uncover the truth behind his death.
Once the seal placed by Di Sanmo loosened, it disregarded the shackles this world imposed upon it and forcibly departed the Beast Seed Realm, seeking to retrace Xu Ke's life path to uncover the secret of his demise.
The Xuanhuang Realm had countless subordinate pocket worlds. Trying to uncover the truth based solely on a few scattered words from back then was naturally fraught with immense difficulty. However, as the Heavenly Destiny Profound Bird and Xu Ke had once been master and servant, guided by the unseen hand of fate after spending a thousand years searching, Xiao Hei by chance entered an exceedingly vast pocket world. The floating corpse of Chi Jiutou in the sky made Xiao Hei realize it had finally found the right place.
And after meeting its old friend, the qingluan Qing, Xiao Hei learned from her what had truly transpired.
After the fleeing Beast Taming Sect settled in a pocket world known as the Lingxu Realm, it passed through a relatively stable period of development. Although the spiritual energy density of the Lingxu Realm was somewhat weaker than that of the Xuanhuang Realm, it was barely sufficient to meet the survival needs of the sect's disciples. Because the restriction that dharmas cannot be cultivated concurrently still persisted, the Beast Taming Sect devised two simultaneous approaches for its future. The first was to gather the sect's most gifted disciples and have the sect master and various elders collectively impart everything they had learned throughout their lives, hoping that this group would eventually deduce new cultivation methods for the members of the Beast Taming Sect to practice. The second was to research a method that would allow them to connect mentally and spiritually with demonic beasts even without practicing the True Beast Taming Art.
One was "deducing dharmas," and the other was "beast taming." With both approaches pursued in tandem, if the Beast Taming Sect were given enough time, it might well have regained its past glory.
Though Xu Ke lacked talent for comprehending the Dao, he possessed a natural affinity for demonic beasts. Thus, under the sect master's instructions, he became part of the group researching new methods of beast taming. Every day, he observed and contemplated the Beast Taming Sect's supreme treasure, the Myriad Beasts Reincarnation Wheel, losing himself in study, oblivious to the passage of time.
Yet one day, Xu Ke suddenly received news that his senior brother, Lu Ya, was gravely injured and unconscious. Shaken to the core, he disregarded everyone's objections and slipped back to the Xuanhuang Realm alone.
At that time, terrifying miasma had begun emerging from the bodies of mortals, permeating the entire cultivation world. After Xu Ke returned to the Xuanhuang Realm, he inevitably contracted this affliction as well. Fortunately, his luck held, and after seven days, he inexplicably recovered on his own.
Right around this time, the dying Lu Ya seemed to sense Xu Ke's arrival and abruptly woke up. Moreover, his complexion was ruddy, bearing no sign of severe injury at all. Yet Xu Ke knew this was merely the terminal lucidity before death, and that Lu Ya did not have much time left. An overwhelming sorrow surged in his heart.
Lu Ya's expression was gentle. He dismissed everyone else and summoned Xu Ke alone to his bedside.
That night, no one knew what the two had talked about.
All that was known was that from that day forth, Xu Ke remained behind at the Beast Taming Sect's old grounds in the Xuanhuang Realm. He stayed there until the Great Migration Plan was launched, when, as the representative of the Beast Taming Sect's remaining members, he took charge of relocating countless mortals to a spirit-barren pocket world.
A century drifted by in the blink of an eye.
The destination of that final batch of mortals was the very pocket world where he had once encountered Chi Jiutou.
After helping all the mortals complete the final migration, for reasons unknown, Xu Ke never returned to the Beast Taming Sect in the Lingxu Realm. He even went so far as to actively cut off all contact. From then on, he concealed his name and lived in seclusion as an ordinary mortal.
Of course, he did not live entirely like a mortal.
Unbeknownst to those around him, he used the six heads of Chi Jiutou that had been severed in this world as incubators, using docile demonic beasts brought from the Beast Taming Sect as stock to breed and propagate a wide variety of mutated demonic beasts.
Qing and Hong, the two birds fortunate enough to remain by Xu Ke's side all along, did not understand his purpose, yet they continually assisted him in documenting all his research findings in meticulous detail.
Over several generations of breeding, the types and numbers of mutated demonic beasts grew increasingly plentiful.
Although these mutated demonic beasts were considerably weaker than primordial demonic beasts, the ferocity in their bloodlines was correspondingly diminished. At the very least, they would not attack humans indiscriminately without provocation.
Many years passed in this manner, until the diversity and quantity of newly created strange beasts in this world reached an extraordinary flourish.
One day, for reasons unknown, Chi Jiutou arrived in this realm once more.
Still bearing lingering fears, it crouched in the firmament and observed for a long time, only relaxing when it detected no threat. Accompanying it was a brown peng bird. Both appeared utterly battered, with numerous scorched marks across their bodies.
"If I'd known, I would have left with Lord Di Yi! Why stay in the Xuanhuang Realm just to suffer this wretched treatment!"
"Without Lord Di Yi's great leadership, we demonic beasts truly are worse off by the year. We originally thought that once the Great Tribulation descended, humanity would swiftly be wiped out. Who could have imagined that formidable figures would keep popping up one after another! There's no justice in the world!"
"That fellow from the Purple Cloud Sect wasn't that bad—he wasn't ridiculously strong. But speaking of true powerhouses, back then, right here in this place..."
"Tsk, tsk. The scars on my head still throb with a faint ache from time to time even now!"
The two fearsome demonic beasts chatted unscrupulously in the sky, treating the countless mortals of this world as mere rations to replenish their vital energy and blood.
"Heh heh, Brother, pay it no mind. Once we devour this realm and restore our strength, we'll go settle scores with those bastards!" The peng bird stared fixedly at the trembling mortals below, drool practically dripping from its beak.
Yet among demonic beasts, the hierarchy was strict after all.
"After you, Brother!" The peng bird suppressed its ravenous hunger and spoke fawningly.
Chi Jiutou gave a cold snort. Its body expanded once more in an instant, and its remaining three heads opened their bloody maws, preparing to swallow this world whole.
Just then, however, it caught sight of that familiar streak of red once again.
"How is this possible?..."
This time, Chi Jiutou was not nearly as lucky as before.
The thread pierced straight through its body, dragging it down from outside the world.
Seeing its big brother slain in an instant right beside it, the peng bird was scared out of its wits.
Caring nothing for kinship of clan, it transformed into a streak of black light and fled in panic.
Mortals with their naked eyes could not perceive the full picture. They only saw that the two terrifyingly ferocious demonic beasts in the firmament, just as they were about to commit their atrocities, were struck down by an immortal.
Rejoicing that their lives had been spared, they erupted into cheers, praising the immortal's mercy and might.
Only Xu Ke, standing among the crowd, gently stroked the red cord that had grown yet another loop thinner, remaining silent.
Chapter 668