Zoo Director

"Greetings, Your Excellency!"

"Hello, hello..."

"Greetings, Your Excellency!"

"Mm-hmm, you're quite adorable..."

"Greetings, Your Excellency!"

"Alright, alright, rise quickly, rise quickly—no need for such formality..."

As Li Xuan continued down the path, the creatures grew more and more excited, all crowding around to bow and pay their respects to him.

After all, the peace and safety of these thousands of miles around depended entirely on this lord's protection.

And outside...

Outside, everything was nearly torn apart!

Without having cultivated to Mystic Immortal or taken form, who would dare to go out there?

Li Xuan's face was full of smiles as he greeted these adorable creatures.

Since they had awakened their spiritual intelligence, they were hardly any different from children.

"Ding."

"Choice System activated."

"Choice One: Completely subdue the creatures before you, establish a new faction. Reward: 100x cultivation speed, 100,000-year cultivation experience scroll, Innate Supreme Treasure (Innate Five Directions Banner), Innate Supreme Treasure (God-Slaying Spear), Innate Supreme Treasure (Earth Book)."

"Choice Two: Kill all creatures before you, absorb their vital essence to raise your cultivation to Mystic Immortal. Reward: 100x cultivation speed, 100,000-year cultivation experience scroll, Innate Supreme Treasure (Immortal-Slaying Sword), Innate Supreme Treasure (Immortal-Trapping Sword), Innate Supreme Treasure (Immortal-Severing Sword), Innate Supreme Treasure (Immortal-Butchering Sword)."

"Choice Three: Continue to coexist peacefully with the creatures before you, sheltering them from harm under the Dragon-Phoenix-Han Tribulation. Reward: 10x cultivation speed, 1,000-year cultivation experience scroll, Innate Spiritual Treasure (Immortal-Slaying Flying Knife)."

Just as he was greeting these little animals, the system's choices appeared again.

Li Xuan looked at the three options, his brow slightly furrowing.

Establish a faction? Wouldn't that make him a target for everyone? He had no such intention.

Slaughter all these creatures cleanly just to harvest their vital essence? That was even less acceptable. Though Li Xuan mockingly called himself no saint, he wasn't the kind of vicious person who would stop at nothing for cultivation.

Thus, despite his craving for those few Innate Supreme Treasures and the Four Swords of Zhu Xian, he ultimately waved his hand and tapped the third choice.

Then, he smiled again and began playing with the little creatures.

"Ding. Choice made: coexist peacefully with the creatures. Begin now: shelter them for 103,600 years, until the Dragon-Han Great Tribulation fully ends."

Hearing the prompt in his ear, Li Xuan's eye twitched, and a hint of regret set in...

103,600 years...

Good heavens, I've really become a zoo director...

But this was his own choice. Zoo director it is, then...

Li Xuan mused inwardly.

"Help..."

"Help~."

Just then, a faint cry suddenly rang out, and then the shouting grew louder.

"Help! Your Excellency! Your Excellency, help!"

The voice calling for help was clearly heading straight for him.

Li Xuan frowned slightly and looked up.

In the eastern sky, several streaks of light shot toward him.

At the front was a woman.

She was tall, dressed in a snow-white palace gown, with a beautiful, lovely face.

But at this moment, she was in utter panic, covered in wounds, with blood staining large patches of her clothes.

"Ah! It's Sister Ming Tu!"

"Oh no! Someone is chasing Sister Ming Tu!"

"Sister Ming Tu is calling for help! We have to save her!"

"Your Excellency! Please save Sister Ming Tu!"

The woman, gravely wounded and pursued all the way here, wasn't just seen by Li Xuan.

The various creatures gathered around him naturally saw her too.

Instantly, their eyes filled with anxiety, and they began chattering at Li Xuan.

Help?

Ming Tu?

Li Xuan frowned slightly, feeling a flicker of familiarity.

Name: Bright Rabbit. Identity: Primordial Being. Cultivation: Third Grade Mystic Immortal. Treasures: Three Hundred Thousand Silver Needles, Precious Felt Carpet, Cinnabar Sword. Technique: Moon-Worshipping Rabbit Technique. Combat Rating: Ordinary.

But after another glance at the woman's profile, he suddenly remembered.

Right. Ten thousand years ago.

Among that group of animal beings, the first one to face him and bow in worship—a rabbit as white as jade—had been called Bright Rabbit.

Only... that rabbit back then had turned into this?

Long legs... a translucent white gauze dress... a delicate, alluring face... and those two fluffy rabbit ears that hadn't fully transformed away?

Mm... well, well...

"Little beast! Why not just die already?! Your beast clan is finished!"

"Haha! Still running?! Not bad figure—if you submit and serve us brothers well, we might spare your life!"

"That's right! Why don't you stop?!"

"Hmph! Still begging for help? An 'exalted one'? What exalted one?! The strong of your beast clan are nearly all dead! Even if there were some exalted one, why would they come save you?! They'd be hiding away like a coward!"

Four streaks of light chased after Bright Rabbit, noticeably faster than her own flight.

At the same time, jeers and taunts, dripping with malice, grew clearer.

"Exalted one! Save me! Save me!"

The voices behind her carried boundless cruelty. Bright Rabbit couldn't imagine what would happen if she fell into the hands of those four beings from the Scaled Tribe.

And the thick mist in the distance was her only hope.

But the exalted one had always been in meditation, always cultivating, unmoving for thousands of years. Could he even hear her plea?

And even if he did...

Would he save her?

Despair crept into Bright Rabbit's heart. She truly regretted now—why couldn't she have held her patience, why did she have to go out and see the outside world...

At first, the outside world wasn't bad.

She'd made many beast friends.

But in the last thousand years, everything had suddenly fallen into chaos.

The three great categories of beings were slaughtering each other everywhere, fighting endlessly.

Her friends had died one after another.

Birds, beasts, and scaled creatures—countless tribes across billions—why did they have to fight for supremacy?

Weren't they all Primordial Beings?

"Still running?!"

"Forget it! Stop toying with her—just kill her!"

"Tch, I was going to catch her for fun, but now I've lost interest."

Though they dismissed the so-called exalted one, the four Scaled Tribe beings still felt some wariness.

If some powerful beast expert really was hiding here, it would be trouble.

So they sneered coldly, their flying light accelerating as they closed in on Bright Rabbit.

Sensing the four Scaled Tribe beings drawing nearer, while the misty region ahead was still thousands of miles away, Bright Rabbit's heart sank into utter despair.

"I'm sorry, exalted one... I left your protection on my own... so this is all... what I deserve!"

Tears welled in Bright Rabbit's large eyes. She bit her lip, ready to self-detonate her demon core.

Better that than falling into the hands of those snakes and insects, being devoured by them!

But before she could channel her energy, a voice reached her ears.

"Bright Rabbit? My, my, ten thousand years gone by, and the little rabbit has grown into a big girl, hasn't she?"