Cut the red nine heads with silk

With the joining and management of the Disciples from the Medicine King Sect, Li Fan naturally did not need to worry too much anymore.

After spending a month to fully absorb the stray heavenly fortune of the Beast Realm, he finally reached a degree of qualitative change.

Within the Xuan Birds Feather, one could faintly see the illusory phantom of a fledgling that had just been born not long ago and whose feathers had not yet grown.

It was somewhat similar to Xiao Hei when he was a child, yet there were also some differences.

Li Fan closed his eyes, and the next moment, the entire Beast Realm appeared before his eyes like a cluster of light fog.

Every detail of the scenes within could be instantly perceived.

However, Li Fan also discovered that within the areas around the two Dao Integration powerhouses, Fang Zaiji and Liu San, a certain range of light and shadow distortion had appeared, making things look not very clear.

This was still under the condition that the two of them had sensed Li Fan's prying and had not made any concealment.

"In the Xuanhuang World, the influence range of a Dao Integration powerhouse's ability is nearly the territory of a province."

"But in this Small World, a Dao Integration Realm Cultivator can already contend against the world."

"This is the natural gap in tiers."

Li Fan had a faint realization.

With a slight movement of his thoughts, he took a step forward, instantly crossing ten thousand miles to appear beside a clear pool on a mountain peak.

Previously, when he and Fang Zaiji swept through the Beast Realm, they had once passed by this peak, yet they unexpectedly failed to notice the pool at the summit.

It was only after he completely mastered the heavenly fortune of the world that he sensed the anomaly here.

By the edge of the pool, there was a wooden cabin.

Li Fan pushed open the wooden door and walked in.

Inside the room, a Xuan Bird whose feathers had entirely lost their luster was standing proudly with its head held high.

Although it still looked majestic and spirited, it had already lost the aura of life.

"Xiao Hei…"

Li Fan recognized the identity of the Xuan Bird at a glance.

"This is… dying of old age?"

After observing for a moment, Li Fan could not help but fall silent and say.

Even though its Lifespan was far longer than that of a Cultivator, having lived from the ancient era until now, this Heavenly Fate Blackbird had also welcomed the end of its life.

But soon, Li Fan sensed something amiss.

Logically speaking, Xiao Qing was an exotic beast of the same era as Xiao Hei, and the strength of the Azure Luan Bird was far inferior to the Heavenly Fate Blackbird.

Not to mention that Xiao Hei had already fused with the Heavenly Mandate of this world.

There was no reason for Xiao Qing to still be living well while Xiao Hei had already fallen first.

"Could it be that Xiao Hei consumed a massive amount of its own Lifespan due to some reason?"

Li Fan narrowed his eyes.

Circulating the [Heavenly Mandate is Mine] Divine Ability with the Heavenly Mandate Domain guarding his body, Li Fan gently touched the corpse of the Xuan Bird.

"Whoosh!"

As if a breeze brushed past, Xiao Hei's corpse instantly turned into tiny particles, drifting away without a trace.

At the same time, countless blurry images flashed through Li Fan's mind.

At the very beginning, it was largely similar to what Li Fan had experienced in the Realm of Fallen Immortals.

Growing up happily together with Xu Ke in the Beast Taming Sect, encountering Mr. Bai breaking into the mountain gate, and subsequently being dispatched to the Southern Underworld Sacred Beast Mountain…

Ultimately failing to pass the test of the "Concentric Ring" and being banished here by Emperor Sanmo.

The difference was that the Xiao Hei in real history failed to grasp the Opportunity to meet Mr. Bai.

Without the Creation True Profound Art, upon coming to this Small World, it could only cultivate by relying on the memory Divine Ability within its own Bloodline.

Although it had gone through long years and barely achieved the "Heavenly Mandate is Mine" Divine Ability, it had also bound itself together with the destiny of this world.

Wanting to leave this world was not impossible, but it required paying an extremely hefty price.

However, as long as it did not leave its Origin World too frequently, or continue to nourish itself with heavenly fortune after returning, it would not be so easily subjected to fatal damage.

Yet Xiao Hei had deliberately done just that.

This was because…

Li Fan collated and reviewed Xiao Hei's memories after arriving in the Beast Realm.

At the very beginning, to prevent Xiao Hei from being lonely, Xu Ke would still frequently send messages recounting his own experiences and observations.

"Xiao Hei, do you know that this journey has been far too thrilling and exciting!"

"Not only did we encounter numerous peculiar Small Worlds, but we were also hunted down by Yao Beasts!"

"Sigh, at first we thought someone had leaked the news."

"Later, we found out that it was purely our bad luck, running into a team of Yao Beasts that somehow also appeared in the Small World."

"We struck first, but ultimately let a Yao Beast escape, causing the news of our evacuation to be exposed as well."

"Fortunately, we were also getting close to our destination!"

"Xiao Hei, Xiao Hei!"

"Do you still remember Mr. Bai?"

"I originally thought he was already formidable enough."

"But I never expected that he was even stronger than I imagined!"

"A group of my fellow martial apprentices and I were ordered to explore a Small World."

"We never imagined we would actually run into an incomparably terrifying monster!"

"With nine heads, a body so colossal it sprawled across the sky!"

"With every open of its mouth, it seemed capable of tearing apart and swallowing a portion of the world!"

"At that time, I thought I was dead for sure!"

"I would never get to see you, Xiao Hei, ever again!"

"Yet before I left the Xuanhuang World, Senior Brother Lu Ya gave me a red cord woven by Mr. Bai."

"The moment that nine-headed monstrous bird cast its gaze toward me, a fine thread flew out from the red cord!"

"Before I even reacted, the red fine thread shot through the air like a sharp sword, instantly slicing off six of the monstrous bird's heads!"

"Moreover, the red cord had not dispersed yet, and it forcefully dragged it down from the sky!"

"I was completely dumbfounded at the time!"

"Mr. Bai is truly far too strong!"

"Xiao Hei, I have received an extremely important mission, and I might not be able to communicate with you for a very long time."

"I am truly sorry."

"But it doesn't matter, just wait for me to return!"

"Xiao Hei, tell me, why is it that Cultivators were originally humans too?"

"Yet once they embark on the Immortal Path, why can they be so cruel to their own kind?"

Scene after scene rapidly flashed past before Li Fan's eyes.

Thus, Li Fan knew that Xu Ke had once come to this Beast Realm and met Xiao Hei once.

At that time, Xu Ke had already grown into a handsome youth, valiant and extraordinary.

The master and servant gathered and chatted for a long time by the clear pool on this mountain summit.

Later on, Xu Ke after all came in a hurry and left in a hurry.

Xiao Hei originally wanted to follow Xu Ke away, but firstly, the Restriction set by Emperor Sanmo was still there at that time, and secondly, Xu Ke also said that major changes were happening in the outside world, so following him out would instead be dangerous.

He told Xiao Hei to stay here, and when the timing was ripe, he would come to pick Xiao Hei up and leave.

After parting, the two communicated several more times.

It was just that the intervals between each time grew increasingly longer; from the images and tone of the communications, one could also witness Xu Ke's growth.

Until one day…

Xiao Hei suddenly lost its connection with Xu Ke.

As Xu Ke's companion Spirit Beast, although the master-servant relationship no longer existed, there was still some profound and subtle connection between them.

Even separated by tens of thousands of miles, or even across several worlds, Xiao Hei could still faintly sense Xu Ke's existence.

But now that this disappearance of the connection had occurred, there was only one possibility.

That was, Xu Ke had died.