Li Fan heard a cat meowing from behind him, so he stopped painting, smiled, and said, "The composition is already full. Adding more would make it look bad. There's no place for you in this painting."
He turned around, only to find that the three Great Birds had vanished.
Li Fan couldn't help feeling puzzled. Why had they flown away...?
But the little cat was still there.
He put away the painting case, walked over to the cat, and squatted down.
Bai Xiaoqing looked at the young man's handsome face. His smile was so gentle, but she was terrified to the point of desperation. All she could do was, "Meow, meow meow~~"
"A stray cat?"
Li Fan murmured.
The little white cat was snow-white from head to toe, without a single stray color. Its large eyes were bright and lively, yet it looked so pitiful that anyone would feel the urge to dote on it.
"Perfect. The courtyard still needs a cat. I'll take you in."
He reached out and stroked the little white cat's head.
Bai Xiaoqing was terrified, so she could only submit and meow obediently.
Li Fan immediately picked up the little white cat and turned to descend the mountain.
Bai Xiaoqing had still been somewhat frightened and wary, but once Li Fan held her tightly against his chest, an intoxicated expression instantly appeared on her face!
This feels so good!
His entire body was filled with Dao Rhyme, carrying an aroma of the Great Dao that made every pore on her body feel as though it were about to open wide!
She practically never wanted to leave!
However, when Li Fan walked down the rugged mountain path, the experience wasn't quite as pleasant, because it was a little bumpy.
Someone this mighty could take one step and have Heaven and Earth beneath his feet, so why does he still have to walk...?
Bai Xiaoqing was puzzled, but she quickly shoved the thought to the back of her mind. The young man's body was simply too comfortable.
Before long, Li Fan entered Small Mountain Village.
"Xiao Li, you're back? Huh, where did you pick up that stray cat?"
Someone warmly greeted Li Fan on the road. When they saw the little white cat in his arms, everyone looked surprised.
"Yeah. I thought it would be interesting to raise it."
Li Fan smiled.
"Oh, Xiao Li, I told you that you needed a companion! Why raise a cat? Aren't all the young ladies in our village waiting for you? Wouldn't getting a wife be better than raising some useless cat? If you had listened to Aunt Li's advice, you'd already have a plump little boy in your arms!"
A middle-aged woman beside them teased him, then said, "Seriously, what do you think of Old Sun's Daughter? She really likes you."
Faced with that topic, Li Fan fled in disarray.
In Li Fan's arms, Bai Xiaoqing's large eyes were filled with astonishment. Those people were clearly all mortals...
How could such a terrifyingly powerful figure be living in seclusion in an ordinary little mountain village? Living among mortals?
When Li Fan carried her to the entrance of his Small Courtyard, Bai Xiaoqing suddenly felt her heart pounding.
Could I really be kept as a pet...?
She was, at the very least, a princess of the White Tiger Lineage!
She had accidentally wandered into the Cangli Mountain Range and been hunted by divine beasts. Fine. But why had she ended up becoming a pet...?
She suddenly began to resist.
Li Fan had already pushed open the door and entered the Small Courtyard. He placed her on the stone table, then went inside to find food for the cat.
If I'm going to escape, now is the time...
Bai Xiaoqing's large eyes turned, and she lightly leaped off the stone table, preparing to transform into a streak of light and flee.
But at that very moment, the earth chicken wandering nearby suddenly glanced at Bai Xiaoqing.
Bai Xiaoqing's mind exploded!
A fear rooted in instinct instantly spread through her. Her four limbs went limp, and she collapsed onto the ground!
What is going on...? What kind of Colossal Fiend could possess such might?
Bai Xiaoqing began to tremble!
Fortunately, Li Fan came out of the room at that moment. He was holding a bowl, and when he saw the little white cat lying on the ground, he smiled and said, "Look at you being naughty. You fell, didn't you?"
With that, he stepped forward and picked up the little white cat.
In an instant, the feeling of facing an Ancient Ferocious Beast vanished!
Bai Xiaoqing was seized by lingering fear. Her tiger's courage had nearly been scared to pieces...
Good heavens, what kind of terrifying divine beast was that? Just one glance had been enough to make her completely unable to withstand it!
Any one of them would probably be a terrifying giant beast capable of stirring up enormous waves in the outside world...
Not to mention her—even if her Imperial Father came, he would be no more than an ant before them!
And this young man actually raised an entire group of them...
Bai Xiaoqing felt that her outlook on life as a cat—no, her outlook on life as a tiger—had been utterly overturned that day.
"There's no meat left at home. I don't know if you'll eat these vegetarian things..."
Li Fan took a piece of wheat cake from the bowl, broke it into small pieces, and offered it to the little white cat.
Bai Xiaoqing was still immersed in shock, but the moment she smelled the wheat cake's fragrance, her large eyes lit up!
"Meow! Meow meow!"
She let out a delighted cry.
Opening her tiny flesh-colored mouth, she swallowed the wheat cake in Li Fan's hand in one bite.
At that moment, an expression of bliss and intoxication appeared on her face!
Heavens!
This was too delicious!!
And what powerful spirituality it contained...
The instant she swallowed the piece of wheat cake, she clearly sensed that the White Tiger Ancestral Blood within her had grown stronger by another fraction...
She grew excited and trembled.
Could this be her supreme opportunity?
Could she become a true Pure-blooded Divine Beast White Tiger by staying in this courtyard and following this senior?
At that moment, she suddenly felt that becoming a human's pet wasn't completely unacceptable after all...
"Heh, even cats know how to enjoy themselves."
Li Fan smiled. He knew his cooking was definitely good, but he hadn't expected that even a cat would like it.
This solved a major problem. Otherwise, where would he find meat for the cat? Was he supposed to kill one of the chickens he raised to feed it?
There weren't many of them to begin with. It would be a waste to kill one.
The Small Mountain Village where Li Fan lived was peaceful beyond compare.
Yet he had no idea that, far away, the cities in the southern part of the Fire Kingdom had already suffered a catastrophe!
There was no other reason. The beast tide from the Cangli Mountain Range had directly slammed into the cities of the Southern Fire Kingdom!
For a time, several cities, including Yuan City and Lijing City, were nearly submerged by the beast tide. Their walls were breached, leaving devastation everywhere and countless people dead!
The beast tide sent the entire Fire Kingdom into shock!
At that moment.
Lihuo Sect.
Yu Qishui and the others, who had already returned, were sitting inside the great hall.
"Master, what should we do next?"
Wei Yushan asked.
Yu Qishui pondered before saying, "Without a doubt, Senior Li is setting up a scheme!"
"Moreover, the figures capable of participating in this scheme must be extraordinary."
"Our Lihuo Sect has already helped Senior Li draw out part of it—that is, Lie Huo Mountain."
"But I believe this is definitely not enough. Otherwise, Senior Li wouldn't have needed to raise us to the Nascent Soul Realm!"
As he spoke, Wei Yushan and Mu Qianning both nodded.
The more they thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed.
For a figure of this level, even a casual move on the board had to contain profound meaning.
"Then what should we do now to follow Senior Li's plan?"
Wei Yushan asked.
Yu Qishui shook his head. "What kind of person is Senior Li? How would we dare presume to speculate about his plans?"
"There is one thing we can confirm: Senior Li and whoever stands behind Lie Huo Mountain are absolutely opposed to each other!"
"Then, as juniors promoted by Senior Li, we certainly can't go wrong by becoming their enemies!"
"Today, we declare war on Lie Huo Mountain!"
He swept out his sleeve!
Wei Yushan was shocked. This was definitely a major matter!
Over the past six months, Lie Huo Mountain had been incomparably arrogant. It had gone from being a second-rate sect to sweeping across the entire southern part of the Fire Kingdom.
Nearly every sect had been swallowed up.
To declare war now meant openly standing against them!
But when he thought of Senior Li in Small Mountain Village, courage surged through Wei Yushan as well. What was there to fear from a mere Lie Huo Mountain?!
He rose and said, "Good. I'll issue the Sect Master Order immediately!"
"Declare war on Lie Huo Mountain!"
As soon as the news spread, it stirred up another commotion throughout the Fire Kingdom!
Before you continue