"Proprietor, your girlfriend Nora—she isn't human. She's a vampire. My nose is very sharp; I can never be wrong."
Xiong Da cast a cautious glance at Nora, who was still intently reviewing their recent spar, before whispering to Yu Xian.
"Then what about me?" Yu Xian asked with a half-smile, looking at Xiong Da.
*The proprietor?*
Xiong Da gave Yu Xian a puzzled look, sniffed forcefully with his nose, and then shook his head. "No other scent. You're definitely human, Proprietor."
In truth, he was quite crafty; before answering, he had also secretly listened to Yu Xian's heartbeat.
Hearing this, Yu Xian smiled without replying. Once Nora finished her review, he stepped forward and said to her, "Shall I take you over to your mother's place now?"
"Mm. It'll give me time to think carefully about what other weapons and equipment I should buy to perform better." Nora nodded, then turned to Xiong Da with a smile. "Goodbye, Xiong Da. If we get the chance, let's spar again!"
"Can I say no?" Xiong Da had no desire to fight.
Winning offered no benefits, and losing meant losing face; he had no interest in humoring Nora in a spar.
"If you win, I'll give you a bottle of top-grade royal jelly," Nora tempted him.
Xiong Da's eyes lit up, drool dripping from his mouth. "Top-grade royal jelly? What kind of good stuff is that? How does it taste?"
"There's a Tiger-rank insect tamer in Rongcheng whose strongest insect pet is a Tiger-rank queen bee. Every year, he sells a portion of top-grade royal jelly. It's said that anyone who's tasted it can never forget the flavor, calling it the finest honey in existence!" Nora said with a smile.
Xiong Da had to admit he was tempted. Swallowing his saliva, he bargained, "No way. Even if I lose, I still have to get a bottle of top-grade royal jelly, or I'm not doing it."
"Then how about this: if you win, I'll give you three bottles; if it's a draw, two bottles; and if you lose, I'll still give you one bottle!" Nora said.
That had actually been her intention from the start, but knowing Xiong Da would definitely haggle, she had deliberately offered only one bottle to leave room for negotiation.
Xiong Da beamed with joy. "It's a deal! No going back on your word."
"All right, I'll take Nora back. Wait here for me and don't wander off," Yu Xian told Xiong Da, then teleported back to Ice City with Nora.
*Did they really just leave like that?*
*Aren't they afraid I'll change my mind and run away?*
Seeing them leave without hesitation, Xiong Da was momentarily stunned. He glanced left and right, suspecting they were hiding somewhere to test him, but after watching for quite a while, he found no sign of anyone watching.
A gust of night wind blew past. He plopped his rear down onto the ground and gazed at the brightly lit Ice City in the distance. Glistening tears welled in his dark, beady eyes as he murmured to himself, "Mama, looks like your Xiong Da has finally met good people."
His mother had been an enormous brown bear magical beast. Because humans had saved her when she was young, she had spent her entire life remembering their kindness, teaching him and his younger brother from childhood never to harm humans.
In the end, while protecting an injured human, his mother had left him forever.
Yu Xian brought Nora to the doorstep of her mother's home.
Still unsure of how to face Nora's mother, he watched Nora enter the front door before returning outside the city once more.
In an instant, he appeared beside Xiong Da. Taking out a chair and sitting down, he handed a jar of honey to Xiong Da.
"Your great-great-great-grandfather Xiong Guan was actually a very formidable man. After succumbing to cultivation deviation, he knew he might harm others, which was why he left the city at all costs. Let's raise a toast to him!" Yu Xian retrieved a bottle of honey water from his storage ring, looked up at the star-studded sky, and said with a smile.
Clutching the honey, Xiong Da stared at Yu Xian in shock, unable to hold back his curiosity: "Proprietor, could you be an immortal from legends who never ages?"
"Huh?" Yu Xian furrowed his brows in confusion.
Xiong Da said earnestly, "Otherwise, Proprietor, how could you know about my great-great-great-grandfather?"
"Being clever is a good thing, but letting your imagination run wild will only lead to trouble. Eat your honey," Yu Xian said with an exasperated roll of his eyes.
Xiong Da grunted in acknowledgment, unscrewed the cap, and happily licked away, finishing the honey in no time.
"It seems you don't just understand human nature; you've also kept a bit of animalistic wildness. You'll need to watch yourself—keep that wildness in check day-to-day, and save it to unleash when you fight," Yu Xian said seriously, watching Xiong Da.
This had actually been Zhenwo Changjing's assessment of Xiong Da; Yu Xian was merely passing it along in his own words.
"Oh, I'll listen to you, Proprietor," Xiong Da agreed, patting the white crescent moon on his chest.
Just then, Yu Xian noticed that the white crescent moon on Xiong Da's chest was glowing with faint white light, seeming to resonate with the moon in the sky.
Earlier, he had only learned about Xiong Da through Super Smell, which didn't mean he knew everything about him. Moved by curiosity, he simply used Appraisal on Xiong Da.
Instantly, Xiong Da's stats appeared before him.
——————
True Name: Xiong Da
Codename: Cassock-Stealing Bear
Race: Human / Black Bear / Polar Bear / Brown Bear / Panda / Red Panda
Gender: Male
Age: 66
Life: 6666/6666
Vitality: 50/50
Might: 0.08
Fortune: Lucky Star Shining Bright
Theoretical Lifespan: March 24, Year 3648922477, 12:53:12
Rank: Mid Tiger
Universal Rank: Earth Rank
Faction: Neutral
Cultivation Arts: Black Wind Scripture, Black Cassock Scripture
Abilities:
[Divine Ability - Black Wind: A divine ability inherited from his ancestors. With a wave of his hand, he can whip up a sky-blotting black demonic gale that carves bones, shears flesh, melts gold, and dissolves stone.]
[Divine Ability - Black Heart Fire: Fueling the Black Heart Fire nurtured within his heart with demonic power; explodes upon contact with water.]
[Great Bear Black Seal: Channels demonic power from within into the lunar eclipse black seal on his back, granting a massive increase in combat strength.]
[Waning Moon Demon Seal: Automatically increases demonic power under moonlight; once a year, grants an opportunity to double demonic power.]
[Black Bear Pure Yang Body: A pure yang physique that specifically counters all ghosts and specters. Doubles the efficiency of cultivating fire-attribute arts.]
[North Star Yang-Apex Physique: Overflowing with yang qi and fearless against the cold. Grants immunity to high- and low-temperature attacks of the same rank.]
[Bear's Brute Strength: Physical strength continuously strengthens through cultivation; each rank increase doubles strength. Ineffective beyond Dragon-rank.]
[Invulnerability: After body refining, the entire body becomes rock-hard, impervious to blades and spears. When shielded by demonic power, defense increases further.]
[Bronze Skin, Iron Bones: Refines the body with the black wind; upon great completion, grants bronze skin and iron bones. Defense scales continuously with overall strength.]
[Cassock Demon Robe: Draws black wind demonic power into the body to refine it into a black cassock, which can withstand fifty percent of damage from enemies of the same rank.]
——————
*What kind of crossbreed is this?!*
Yu Xian's eyelid twitched slightly as he looked at Xiong Da's race. This was the first time he had ever seen an existence with such a mixed pedigree; before this, he had always assumed any creature could belong to only a single race.
This time, it had truly been an eye-opener—like taking a knife to the rear.
Especially that last one: red panda.
He glanced at Xiong Da, who sat on the ground looking like a mountain, and felt an intense urge to ask Xiong Da's ancestors: *Are you guys serious?*
Chapter 151