Cold Refusal

"Can you give her to me?"

The white-clothed girl suddenly said this, and Qin Shaofeng's face instantly darkened.

He had originally thought she had come over to talk to him because Bai Xue was adorable, but now it seemed she wanted Bai Xue for herself!

How could that be possible?

Not to mention that once the system had confirmed a Battle Beast, Qin Shaofeng could no longer abandon it.

Even if he could, Qin Shaofeng would never give up Bai Xue.

Not only did Little Yue'er adore Bai Xue, Qin Shaofeng himself liked her immensely as well.

Giving Bai Xue away was absolutely impossible.

That one sentence from the white-clothed girl instantly shattered her image in Qin Shaofeng's mind. He even began to feel a trace of disgust toward her.

Did she really think that just because she was beautiful, she could have anything she wanted?

Seeing Qin Shaofeng remain silent, the white-clothed girl spoke again. "Don't worry, I won't take her for nothing. I can grant you one request. As long as it is within my power, I will not refuse!"

What?

Lian Chenghao, whose attention had long since been drawn by their conversation, was startled upon hearing those words from his Junior Sister.

He knew a little about this Junior Sister of his. Within his master's wife's family, she was the only daughter of the family Patriarch, a princess in all but name.

With her status and standing, such a promise was likely something even the ruler of the Lianyang Kingdom would desperately desire.

Although he could be considered her senior brother, there was still quite a gap between them in both status and position.

This kid was really lucky!

Why didn't I have a demon fox like that?

For a moment, Lian Chenghao actually felt somewhat envious of Qin Shaofeng.

Yet what Lian Chenghao never expected was that Qin Shaofeng refused his Junior Sister without even pausing to think.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I will not give Bai Xue to you!"

As he spoke, Qin Shaofeng's tone carried a trace of coldness. His disgust toward this white-clothed girl, who appeared like some elven fairy descended into the mortal world, grew deeper and deeper.

Qin Shaofeng's resolute rejection made a flicker of disappointment pass through the white-clothed girl's eyes.

At that sight, Lian Chenghao's heart could not help aching. He hurriedly explained to Qin Shaofeng, "Qin Shaofeng, don't be so quick to refuse. You don't know that my Junior Sister—"

"Senior Lian!"

Before Lian Chenghao could finish, Qin Shaofeng cut him off directly.

"I know what you want to say," Qin Shaofeng said flatly. "You merely want to tell me how noble your Junior Sister's identity is, and that a promise from her is incomparably precious. Even without you saying it, I could already sense that from the giant eagle earlier and its owner."

"However..."

His tone shifted as Qin Shaofeng stared straight at Lian Chenghao and said firmly, "Although Bai Xue is only a demon fox, to me, she is family. I will never hand my family over to someone else. And though I, Qin Shaofeng, am no great man, if there is something I want, I will obtain it through my own strength. Getting something for nothing has never been my way!"

"Of course, if you intend to seize her by force now, then I have nothing to say. After all, I'm simply too weak!"

Silence!

Qin Shaofeng's words greatly surprised Lian Chenghao.

With his cultivation and experience, he could naturally tell truth from falsehood.

And precisely because of that, he was all the more astonished.

Lian Chenghao had never imagined that a mere youth from some remote little city could speak such words.

Was he ignorant? Yet every word he said was coherent, and he clearly understood the situation he was in.

That was not ignorance!

"Haha, Qin Shaofeng, you're not bad, kid!"

Suddenly, Lian Chenghao burst into laughter as he looked at Qin Shaofeng. For the first time, his gaze held a trace of approval.

Setting everything else aside, Qin Shaofeng's determination alone was enough to make him see the young man in a different light.

Still, Qin Shaofeng's final sentence left Lian Chenghao somewhat speechless.

"Kid, don't worry. You're overthinking this nonsense about forcibly snatching something. With my Junior Sister's status, why would she ever seize something from another by force?"

With a soft smile, Lian Chenghao could not help glancing at the white-clothed girl, sighing faintly within his heart. Junior Sister, even your Fifth Senior Brother can't help you here. Who told you this kid was such a blockhead?

He could throw away even a promise from the Meng Family's Little Princess just like that. This sort of person really was...

Truly one of a kind!

"I'm sorry!"

Just then, the white-clothed girl suddenly spoke. Then, with an apologetic expression, she said to Qin Shaofeng, "I'm sorry for making you misunderstand. I wasn't trying to forcibly take Bai Xue from you. I just like her. Since you don't agree, I won't press the matter. But may I be friends with her?"

Uh...

The white-clothed girl's sudden change left Qin Shaofeng completely baffled.

What was going on here?

Though he did not quite understand, out of courtesy—and considering his current circumstances—Qin Shaofeng ultimately nodded. "That's fine, as long as Bai Xue doesn't object."

Though Qin Shaofeng appeared to have agreed, he had actually played a clever trick.

Bai Xue agreeing?

Back when the White-clothed girl had made her request, Bai Xue had already bared her teeth and claws at her, growling without pause.

Clearly, the little fellow was angry.

Under such circumstances, was it even possible for the little fellow to agree on its own?

But just as that thought crossed Qin Shaofeng's mind, the White-clothed girl gave a soft smile and said to him, "Thank you!"

The White-clothed girl did not seem to do anything. Her lips merely moved, and then something happened that left Qin Shaofeng dumbfounded.

As though it had heard something the White-clothed girl said, Bai Xue stopped baring its teeth and claws. Tilting its adorable little head slightly, it looked at the White-clothed girl with a puzzled expression, as if pondering something.

In the end, Bai Xue gave a light leap and actually jumped into the White-clothed girl's arms.

This...

The sight before him left Qin Shaofeng utterly confused.

Lian Chenghao, however, smiled lightly, somewhat smugly. "What, confused? I'll tell you the truth. My Junior Sister was born with the ability to communicate with demon beasts. As long as it's a demon beast, no matter how lowly, she can communicate and converse with it."

What?

There was actually such an ability?

Qin Shaofeng's heart jolted, but he seemed to understand something soon afterward.

Glancing at the White-clothed girl, Qin Shaofeng sneered inwardly.

Since force would not work, was she planning to use this ability to make Bai Xue follow her?

Without realizing it, Qin Shaofeng had already formed a slightly unfavorable impression of the White-clothed girl.

In his view, she was definitely using the pretense of becoming friends with Bai Xue to win its favor, intending for it to eventually betray him, its master.

After all, even if a contract had been formed, if a Battle Beast was still young, it could easily betray its master once it had been beguiled.

But Qin Shaofeng was not worried about that at all.

No matter how much you beguile it, can you beguile the system too?

From the flutter in his heart when they had first met to the current situation...

The White-clothed girl's image in Qin Shaofeng's mind had undergone a complete overturn.

However, Qin Shaofeng did not show it. While they continued their journey, he no longer spoke with Lian Chenghao, instead pretending to sit cross-legged in cultivation.

But was the White-clothed girl truly the sort of person Qin Shaofeng imagined her to be?

Three hours later, Little Gold came to a stop once more.

This time, they had not stopped in some wilderness of mountains and forests, nor in some remote little town, but in a prosperous great city five or six times the size of Lanjiang City.

Likewise, they did not stay long this time. After just half an hour, Little Gold took them into the air again.

However, there was now one more person on Little Gold's back—a brawny, towering man.

Was he also an examinee?

Looking at the burly man before him, built like a small tower, Qin Shaofeng was puzzled.

Judging by his build, the other party was certainly not young anymore. Did he still meet Lianyang Academy's enrollment requirements?

Hadn't they said that once someone was over eighteen, if their cultivation had not reached the Xiantian Realm, Lianyang Academy would never accept them?

The more Qin Shaofeng looked, the more confused he became. Unable to hold it in any longer, he asked, "Big brother, are you also a student of Lianyang Academy?"

No matter how he looked at him, the man did not seem like an examinee, so Qin Shaofeng guessed that he ought to be a student of Lianyang Academy.

But the moment Qin Shaofeng spoke, Lian Chenghao in front of them could not help bursting into laughter.

"Ha ha ha, big brother?"

As if he had thought of something incredibly amusing, Lian Chenghao laughed with wild exaggeration. Even the White-clothed girl, who had been completely engrossed in playing with Bai Xue, could not help glancing over.

The burly man suddenly blushed. Looking at the laughing Lian Chenghao, he anxiously explained to Qin Shaofeng, "I'm not a student of Lianyang Academy yet. I'm also an examinee. And don't call me big brother—I, um, only turned fourteen a month ago!"

Four... fourteen?

Qin Shaofeng was utterly shocked by those words. His eyes flew wide as he stared in disbelief at the man before him, who stood nearly two meters tall and was covered in explosive muscles—the very image of a mighty strongman.

Yet such a fierce-looking man was only fourteen, even a year younger than Qin Shaofeng!

Just what had this kid eaten to grow so big?

How could he have grown into this?

Could it be that the humans of this world possessed some sort of giant bloodline, and this kid was one of them?

Qin Shaofeng's heart churned with shock and suspicion as he instinctively activated his Fiery Golden Eyes.

Character: Du Meng

Level: Early stage of the tenth level of Houtian

Inner Qi Points: 1800/1800

Talent Spirit Root: Earth

Early stage of the tenth level of Houtian?

The information fed back by Fiery Golden Eyes gave Qin Shaofeng quite a fright. He had never expected this fourteen-year-old, oversized burly lad before him to be a minor expert at the early stage of the tenth level of Houtian.

Even his Inner Qi Points far exceeded those of ordinary people.

Under normal circumstances, someone at the tenth level of Houtian would have roughly 650 Inner Qi Points. Yet this fellow possessed 1,800—nearly three times that of an ordinary person.

Clearly, the cultivation technique he practiced was no simple one!

But after seeing his name, Qin Shaofeng was somewhat speechless.

Du Meng?

More like Du Fierce, wasn't it!

With such a fierce build, it was truly astonishing!

And this was a burly young lad whose development had reached an outrageous extent.

It made Qin Shaofeng vividly realize that this truly was not Earth!

Still, it was not as Qin Shaofeng had guessed—Du Meng did not possess some giant's bloodline.

Unlike the White-clothed girl, Du Meng got along quite well with Qin Shaofeng.

After chatting for a while, Qin Shaofeng learned that Du Meng could be considered Senior Brother Lian Chenghao's nominal disciple. Since childhood, he had cultivated a powerful body-tempering technique, which was why he had grown into his present build.

This time, Du Meng was heading to Lianyang Academy in order to join it and become a Five-Star Student before turning fifteen.

Only then could he officially become Senior Brother Lian Chenghao's disciple!