Divine Beast Bai Ze

"Mmm, so good, so good!"

A young man in a Daoist robe, with disheveled hair and horns growing from his head, was enjoying hotpot deep in the mountains.

"I wonder if Boss has come out of closed-door cultivation yet?"

"I snuck out—Boss probably won't be mad at me, right?"

Da Bai thought it over in his mind, then brushed it aside. After all, he was a proper divine beast; Boss definitely wouldn't have the heart to hit him.

He picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Got to say, this thing called hotpot is really delicious!"

Da Bai happily cooked his hotpot. Ever since Qing Xuan had taught him this way of eating, he—who used to only eat spirit grass and medicine—had started eating meat too.

But Da Bai was so absorbed in his meal that he didn't notice someone walking up behind him.

"Hey, friend!"

"Holy crap!!!"

Da Bai leaped up, swinging his chopsticks backward to point at the newcomer, and shouted.

"What demon dares scare your Grandpa Da Bai!"

Bai Ze looked at the young man making such a fuss, then sniffed. "A divine beast, huh? Could it be a rabbit spirit?"

"Hehehe, I'm the divine beast Bai Ze. I mean no harm—don't get worked up, don't get worked up! I smelled something delicious over here and came to check it out."

Bai Ze greeted him amicably. Though he was curious about what the other was eating, now wasn't the time to ask, lest he set this guy off.

Da Bai calmed down, sensing that Bai Ze truly meant no harm. Since they were both innate divine beasts, he decided not to hold a grudge over the scare.

Da Bai walked back to the hotpot and sat down, then said to Bai Ze.

"Have a seat. I'm the divine beast Fuzhu. My boss named me Da Bai—just call me Da Bai."

Bai Ze sat beside Da Bai, looking at the large pot before him. The broth was clearly layered, bubbling and rolling. He sniffed—the aroma was rich—and his eyes lit up.

"That's the smell!"

"Da Bai, what are you eating? It smells amazing!" Bai Ze asked curiously.

"This is hotpot. My boss put a lot of thought into inventing it—it's super tasty!" Da Bai replied proudly, then pulled out another pair of chopsticks and handed them to Bai Ze.

"Here, try some!"

Bai Ze took the chopsticks, imitating Da Bai's technique. After fumbling in the pot for a while without picking anything up, his face showed a hint of embarrassment.

"Hahahaha, don't worry, just try a few more times. It took me a while to learn chopsticks too."

With that, Da Bai started teaching Bai Ze how to use chopsticks. As expected of an innate divine beast—quick to learn anything. Before long, Bai Ze had mastered the technique.

Bai Ze picked up a piece of dragon meat and brought it to his mouth. His eyes immediately lit up. The savory, spicy, and numbing meat slice was chewy and satisfying with every bite, and a trace of spiritual energy seeped into his body.

"So good!!!"

Bai Ze's eyes sparkled as he reached his chopsticks into the pot again. Seeing this, Da Bai hurriedly joined in, and the two began a hotpot meat-snatching contest.

At that moment, in the Penglai Immortal Palace.

Qing Xuan slowly opened his eyes, sensing that he had broken through to the mid-stage of the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm. He was very satisfied with the hundred years of closed-door cultivation.

"Time to come out. Counting the days, my two disciples should be born soon."

Qing Xuan drifted out of the palace. After waiting a moment, his expression turned puzzled.

"Strange. Usually, when I come out, Da Bai senses my aura and rushes over. Why hasn't he come today?"

Qing Xuan flew into the sky, unleashing his primordial spirit power to sweep across the entire Penglai Immortal Island.

"Odd. Da Bai isn't on Penglai Immortal Island. Did he go to the other two islands?"

Qing Xuan flew toward Yingzhou Immortal Island, only to find Da Bai wasn't there either. Finally, he went to Square Inch Immortal Island—still no sign of Da Bai.

"Holy crap, where's my Da Bai? Where's my mount?"

Qing Xuan was a bit dumbfounded. How did his mount go missing while he was in closed-door cultivation? He then called over the Twelve Spirit Beasts and asked.

"Where's your alliance leader?"

The Twelve Spirit Beasts exchanged glances, then Chen Dragon spoke up.

"Reporting to Daojun, Alliance Leader Da Bai got bored while you were in closed-door cultivation and ran off the island."

Hearing this, Qing Xuan's expression remained unchanged, but inside he couldn't help complaining.

"What the hell? I'm in closed-door cultivation, and my mount goes out to play!

Is this a joke? Journey to the West? Next thing you know, Sun Wukong's going to come complaining to me!"

Qing Xuan was quite speechless. Watching the 1986 version of Journey to the West in his past life, he'd always wanted to complain about this—every demon they ran into was either some boy attendant's or some mount's pet. Couldn't they keep them in check? He never thought it would happen to him.

Qing Xuan wasn't worried about Da Bai, though. After all, Da Bai was now a great demon at the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm. It would be a blessing if he didn't go causing trouble for others.

"Forget it. In a few years, Kong Xuan and the others will be born. I can't leave right now, so I'll just let Da Bai play outside on his own."

Qing Xuan thought it over and decided not to go looking for Da Bai. Then, looking at the Twelve Spirit Beasts before him, an idea struck him. He felt like having hotpot—the more people, the livelier it was—so he reached for the Spirit-Rich Twin Pot.

"Holy shit, where's my pot???"

By this point, Da Bai and Bai Ze had shared a hotpot and achieved the feat of 'brotherhood through the pot,' so the two had been traveling together ever since.

Da Bai then cast a water-element magic skill, killing a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal demon beast. After that, he cleaned out its innards, stripped off its hide, and stored the beast meat away.

Bai Ze raised an eyebrow. Though he had seen it many times, as fellow Innate Divine Beasts, the sheer number of magic skills and divine abilities Da Bai knew was truly excessive.

Bai Ze thought for a moment. "Da Bai, how do you know so many spells?"

"Ah? Didn't I say? I'm from the Three Immortal Islands. My Boss taught me all of these."

Da Bai looked a bit confused. He was pretty sure he had mentioned it before.

"Three Immortal Islands? The three immortal islands above the East Sea?"

As a divine beast living on the Eastern Primordial Continent, he had long heard other beasts say that above the East Sea sat three great islands shrouded in mist and clouds, where immortals dwelled.

"That's right! That's right! My Boss is Daojun Qing Xuan, Lord of the Three Immortal Islands, and I am—

The King of a Hundred Beasts under Daojun Qing Xuan of the Three Immortal Islands, the Leader of the Myriad Spirit Alliance, the Innate Divine Beast, Fuzhu Da Bai!!!"

Da Bai lifted his head high, proudly and loudly proclaiming his name.

Bai Ze watched Da Bai, who kept sneaking glances at him, and played along.

"Wow! Da Bai, you're amazing!"

"Hehe, of course. I'm the first Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal under my Boss."

Da Bai felt secretly pleased at being praised.

Bai Ze thought for a moment and then spoke.

"Da Bai, can I join the Three Immortal Islands?"

"Of course you can. Come back with me, Bai Ze. I'll tell my Boss, and he'll definitely agree.

You can also join my Myriad Spirit Alliance. I'll make you Deputy Leader, commanding a million spirit beasts."

Da Bai happily said to Bai Ze, determined to bring him back. Even though he wasn't that strong, he was still a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal—good enough to save face.

"Oh, right! We can even form a duo, just like that 'Phoenix Legend' combo my Boss always talks about.

I'm Da Bai, you're Bai Ze—our combo name can be 'Bai Bai Legend'!"

"Ah!"