Beibei

The training the next day proceeded as usual. Naturally, the events from the original story—Dillon and Rudeus fighting over the Shadow Mouse while battling above Wushan Town—occurred just as expected. Because he had anticipated it, Lin Feng did not get hit on the head by falling rocks like his counterpart in the original story.

This battle between Saint-level Magi came and went in a flash. With the departure of the two, the incident simply became fodder for the residents of Wushan Town to discuss over tea.

However, Lin Feng knew clearly that their arrival meant that Beibei, the companion who would accompany him in his future cultivation within the Magical Beast Mountain Range and his travels through the infernal realms, had already arrived in his backyard. Yet, Lin Feng was in no rush to tame Beibei. Beibei was his regardless; he wasn't going anywhere. His current priority was to cultivate magic and train his body under the guidance of Grandpa Doehring. In the original story, Lin Feng only discovered Beibei and lured him into submission one month before heading to Fenlai City for the magical talent test.

From the second day on, Lin Feng began his arduous life of bitter cultivation.

Because he could not tell his father about the existence of Doehring Cowart, Lin Feng had to continue his warrior training in the early morning and evening. In the mornings, he still had to study politics, religion, etiquette, military strategy, geography, art, and various other subjects in front of his father.

Only in the afternoon, his originally free time, would Lin Feng run to the "Wushan" mountain on the northeast side of the small town. Hiding in a quiet spot, he would absorb magical knowledge under the guidance of Doehring Cowart, study magic diligently, and perform meditation to refine his magical power.

Furthermore, every night after dinner, Lin Feng would also spend a significant amount of time meditating.

Lin Feng only slept for six hours a day; the rest of his time was spent on warrior training, academic study, magical training, and meditation. One must not think six hours of sleep was enough; in reality, meditating and exercising one's spiritual energy every day was extremely exhausting—far more tiring than it was for a normal person. The six hours of sleep Lin Feng got each day were incredibly deep.

Fulfilling, extremely fulfilling.

In these days, time passed day by day, and Lin Feng's progress was obvious; it could even be considered a transformation!

During this process of hard work, there were moments of surprise, such as the first time he absorbed earth-style elements into his body and refined them into magical power; there were also near-fainting spells from over-meditating and exhausting his spiritual energy; and there was the excitement of the first time he successfully cast an earth-style spell, even if that first spell only caused a tiny "Earth Spike" barely twenty centimeters long to grow from the ground.

Effort after effort.

Lin Feng's perseverance and the speed of his progress also drew sighs of admiration from the Saint-level Magus of the Puang Empire from five thousand years ago, Doehring Cowart.

Because he underwent warrior training without interruption every day, Lin Feng's body became increasingly sturdy. Because he absorbed earth-style elements to refine magical power and meditated frequently, his entire temperament became calm and steady. Lin Feng's changes also left his father, Hogg, as well as Hillman and the others, extremely surprised and delighted.

In his previous life, Lin Feng was a weak scholar. While not quite "unable to truss a chicken," his willpower and current small frame made the training load Hillman gave him quite a struggle. Fortunately, Lin Feng had a longing to return home early, and he deeply understood that this basic training would be of great benefit to his future, so no matter how bitter or tiring it was, he gritted his teeth and persisted. His desperate drive was even stronger than that of the Lin Feng in the original book.

After all, the Lin Feng in the original book was only eight years old at the time; although he had a heart that yearned to become stronger, he had not yet suffered any tempering, and his mind was not as mature as Lin Feng's.

Spring passed and autumn came; in the blink of an eye, it was autumn.

There was only about a month left until the magic academy recruitment test.

Lin Feng knew it was time to tame Beibei.

On this day, after routinely cleaning the ancestral hall in the backyard, Lin Feng did not immediately return to the front yard. Instead, he chuckled to himself, "Little Beibei, your boss is here. Wait obediently for me to tame you."

Saying this, he began searching for Beibei in the backyard.

"Squeak, squeak."

After searching for a while, Lin Feng indeed discovered Beibei's tracks.

He saw a black mouse nearly twenty centimeters long gnawing on a piece of gravel. Then, the black mouse's figure flashed, and it arrived at another spot ten meters away where some bluestone was placed, where it gnawed a few more times. The black mouse's fur was soft all over, its eyes were bright and rolling, and its fluffy tail was extremely cute.

Even this black mouse actually stood upright on its two hind legs and hopped around to play.

Seeing this little mouse, Lin Feng knew it was his future brother, the divine beast God-Eater Rat, Beibei.

Doehring Cowart flew out from the Coiling Dragon Ring and stood beside Lin Feng, looking at the black mouse with some surprise: "A Shadow Mouse. It's actually a magical beast 'Shadow Mouse'. Judging by its size, it should still be a juvenile among the 'Shadow Mouse' magical beasts."

It's not a Shadow Mouse; it's the offspring of a cross between a Shadow Mouse and a Stone-Eater Rat, the second God-Eater Rat in countless planes.

Lin Feng curled his lips. Naturally, he wouldn't say these words out loud.

Following this, after Doehring Cowart gave an introduction regarding Shadow Mice and Stone-Eater Rats, Lin Feng added a new task to his daily routine: feeding Beibei.

To gain Beibei's trust and have him voluntarily form an equal contract, Lin Feng began following the method used by the Lin Feng in the original book. At first, he gave Beibei raw pheasants and wild rabbits with the fur still on; gradually, he gave him pheasants and rabbits with the fur removed; and after half a month, he began roasting the pheasants and rabbits before bringing them to Beibei's mouth. With this period of feeding, Beibei gradually developed a fondness for Lin Feng.

"Squeak, squeak!" As Lin Feng walked into the backyard carrying a freshly roasted pheasant, he saw a black shadow streak toward him, and its target was precisely the pheasant in his hand.

By the time Lin Feng reacted, the pheasant in his hand was already gone.

"Lin Feng, looking at his current behavior, the day you tame him is not far off." Doehring Cowart flew out from the Coiling Dragon Ring, stroked his beard, and chuckled.

In the blink of an eye, twenty days had passed since Lin Feng started feeding the little Shadow Mouse. The little Shadow Mouse was now extremely close to Lin Feng, but for some reason, even though they were incredibly intimate, the little Shadow Mouse still showed no signs of performing an "equal contract."

Night shrouded the earth, and the entire Wushan Town was very quiet.

In the living room of the Baruch Clan mansion, candlelight burned, illuminating the room. Lin Feng's family of three and the butler, Hiri, were all sitting at the long table having dinner together.

"Lin Feng, I heard you often prepare roasted wild rabbits to take to the old house complex in the backyard?" Halfway through the meal, Hogg put down his knife and fork and looked at Lin Feng, speaking up.

Lin Feng's heart jolted.

Looks like I have to come clean, Lin Feng thought to himself. He looked at Hogg and nodded, saying, "Father, I discovered a cute animal in the backyard recently. It's very adorable, so I often bring it some food."

"A cute animal?" Little Wharton's eyes immediately lit up.

"Oh."

Hogg nodded. "Few people go to the backyard, so it's possible there are animals there. By the way, the magic recruitment test in the royal capital, 'Fenlai City', is estimated to start in a week. Aren't you planning to participate?"

"Ah, the magic recruitment test?" Lin Feng only then suddenly remembered this matter.

A stream of air visible only to Lin Feng flew out from the Coiling Dragon Ring, transforming into the white-haired, white-bearded elder, Doehring Cowart. Doehring Cowart smiled at Lin Feng: "Lin Feng, the magic recruitment test? You can go or not go. With my guidance, could it be any worse than the teaching of those academy mages?"

Lin Feng agreed, but he wouldn't follow Doehring Cowart's wishes. He still had to go to the Ernst Institute; after all, that was where Lin Feng first met Delia, and the foundation of their relationship was established there. Although he might not necessarily marry Delia like the Lin Feng in the original book, if Delia truly grew up to be beautiful and moving, and fell deeply in love with him, then following the original story and marrying her was not impossible.

Moreover, having arrived in this world for half a year, Lin Feng had never been to Fenlai City. He also wanted to go and see what kind of prosperous scene a city in the Coiling Dragon world was like.

Lin Feng said to Doehring Cowart in his heart: "Grandpa Doehring, although I have your guidance for earth-style magic and my own hard work, I believe I will definitely reach the Saint-level or even higher in the future. However, besides earth-style, I have talent in other elements as well, so I want to go to the magic academy to learn magic of other elements."

"Lin Feng, it was my lack of consideration. Since that is the case, you should agree to your father." After Doehring Cowart finished speaking, he returned to the Coiling Dragon Ring.