Divine Beast Bai Ze

"Mm, delicious, delicious!"

A young man in a Daoist robe, with tousled hair and horns on his head, was cooking hotpot deep in the mountains.

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

"I sneaked out. Boss probably won't blame me, right?"

Da Bai thought it over, then stopped worrying about it. He was a dignified divine beast, after all. Boss certainly wouldn't have the heart to hit him.

He then used his chopsticks to pick up a piece of meat and stuff it into his mouth.

"I have to say, this cooking method called hotpot is really delicious!"

Da Bai happily cooked hotpot. Ever since Qing Xuan had taught him this way of eating, he, who had once eaten only spirit grass and medicine, had started eating meat as well.

But Da Bai was so absorbed in eating that he did not even notice someone approaching from behind.

"Hey, friend!"

"Fuck!!!"

Da Bai sprang up, swung his chopsticks backward, pointed them at the newcomer, and shouted.

"What demon dares to scare your Grandpa Da Bai!"

Bai Ze looked at the highly animated youth before him and twitched his nose. "A divine beast? 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, so I came to take a look."

Bai Ze greeted him amicably. Although he was very curious about what Da Bai was eating, it was better not to ask in this situation, lest the guy overreact.

Da Bai calmed down. Sensing that Bai Ze truly bore no ill intent and seeing that they were both Innate Divine Beasts, he decided not to hold being startled against him.

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

"Sit. I'm the divine beast Fuzhu. My boss named me Da Bai, so you can call me Da Bai."

Bai Ze sat beside Da Bai and looked at the large pot before them. The colors within were clearly separated, the broth bubbling away. He sniffed it, and the rich fragrance immediately made his eyes light up.

"That's the smell!"

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

"This is hotpot. My boss put a great deal of effort into developing it, and it's delicious!" Da Bai replied proudly. He then took out another pair of chopsticks and handed them to Bai Ze.

"Come, have a taste too!"

Bai Ze took the chopsticks and imitated Da Bai. He tried picking food from the pot for quite a while but could not grab anything, his face growing a little awkward.

"Hahahahaha, don't panic. Try a few more times. I spent ages learning to use chopsticks the first time too."

As he spoke, Da Bai began teaching Bai Ze how to use chopsticks. As expected of an Innate Divine Beast, Bai Ze learned everything quickly. Before long, he had mastered the use of chopsticks.

Bai Ze picked up a piece of dragon meat and put it into his mouth. His eyes instantly lit up. The fresh, fragrant, numbing, spicy meat was wonderfully chewy, every bite brimming with satisfaction. It even carried a faint trace of spiritual energy that melted into his body.

"This is so delicious!!!"

Bai Ze's eyes gleamed as his chopsticks reached into the pot again. Seeing this, Da Bai hurriedly began eating too, and the two started a contest for hotpot meat slices.

At this moment, within Penglai Immortal Palace.

Qing Xuan slowly opened his eyes. Feeling that he had broken through to the middle stage of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm, he was very satisfied with his hundred years of closed-door cultivation.

"It's time to come out. Counting the days, my two disciples should be born soon."

Qing Xuan floated out of the palace. After waiting for a moment, a puzzled expression suddenly appeared on his face.

"Strange. Usually, the moment I come out of closed-door cultivation, Da Bai senses my aura and rushes over. Why hasn't he come today?"

Qing Xuan flew into the sky, and the power of his Primordial Spirit surged forth, covering all of Penglai Immortal Island.

"Strange. 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 that Da Bai was not there either. Finally, he went to Square Inch Immortal Island, but Da Bai was not there as well.

"Fuck, where's my Da Bai? Where's my mount?"

Qing Xuan was a little dumbfounded. He had merely gone into closed-door cultivation, yet his mount had disappeared. He then summoned the Twelve Spirit Beasts and asked.

"Where is your leader?"

The Twelve Spirit Beasts looked at one another, then Chen Dragon spoke.

"Reporting to Daojun, Leader Da Bai saw that Daojun was in closed-door cultivation and, out of boredom, ran off the islands."

Although Qing Xuan's expression did not change after hearing this, he could not help grumbling inwardly.

"Fuck, what the hell? I went into closed-door cultivation, and my mount went out to play!

Are you kidding me! Is this Journey to the West? Don't tell me Sun Wukong is going to come complain to me later!"

Qing Xuan was rather speechless. In his previous life, whenever he watched the 1986 version of Journey to the West, he had wanted to complain about this very thing. The demons they encountered were always some immortal's attendant or another's mount. Couldn't they keep better watch over them? He had never expected this to happen to him now.

Qing Xuan was not worried about Da Bai. After all, Da Bai was now a Great Demon at the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm. It would be good enough if he did not cause trouble for others.

"Forget it. Kong Xuan and the others will be born in a few years. I can't leave for now, so I'll let Da Bai have fun outside on his own."

After thinking it over, Qing Xuan decided not to go out and search for Da Bai. He then looked at the Twelve Spirit Beasts before him, had a sudden idea, and decided to have hotpot. The more people there were for hotpot, the livelier it would be. He planned to take out the Spirit-Rich Twin Pot, reached in, and—

"Fuck, where's my pot???"

At this moment, after sharing a hotpot meal, Da Bai and Bai Ze had achieved the bond of sharing a pot, so they continued traveling together.

Da Bai then used a water-element divine art to kill a Demon Beast at the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm. He removed its innards, stripped off its hide and fur, and stored the demon beast's meat away.

Bai Ze raised an eyebrow. Although he had seen it many times already, Da Bai, despite also being an Innate Divine Beast, knew far too many spells and divine arts.

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

"Huh? Didn't I tell you? I'm from the Three Immortal Islands. My boss taught me all of these."

Da Bai was a little confused. He remembered mentioning it before, didn't he?

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

As a divine beast living on the Eastern Primordial Continent, Bai Ze had long heard other demons say that there were three great islands wreathed in clouds and mist in the East Sea, where immortals lived.

"That's right! That's right! My boss is Daojun Qing Xuan, Lord of Three Immortal Islands, and I am the King of a Hundred Beasts under Daojun Qing Xuan of the Three Immortal Islands, Leader of the Myriad Spirit Alliance, the Innate Divine Beast Fuzhu Da Bai!!!"

Da Bai lifted his head high, proudly and loudly declaring his reputation.

Bai Ze saw Da Bai repeatedly glancing at him and played along.

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

"Hehe, of course. I'm the first Grand Unity Golden Immortal under Boss."

Da Bai secretly delighted in being praised.

Bai Ze thought for a moment before speaking.

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

"Of course you can. Come back with me, and I'll talk to Boss. Boss will definitely agree.

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

Da Bai said happily to Bai Ze. He had to bring Bai Ze back. Although Bai Ze was not particularly strong, he was still a Grand Unity Golden Immortal and could at least bolster their image.

"Oh, right, we can even form a group, like the 'Phoenix Legend' group Boss talks about.

My name is Da Bai, and yours is Bai Ze. Our group can be called 'Bai Bai Legend'!"

"Ah!"