Beibei

The next day's training went on as usual. Of course, just as in the original story, Dillon and Rudy fought over the Shadow Mouse and battled above Wushan Town. Since Lin Feng had seen it coming, he didn't get hit on the head by a falling rock like the original Lin Feng.

The battle between the two Saint Realm powerhouses began and ended quickly. After they left, the incident became little more than a topic of conversation among the residents of Wushan Town.

But Lin Feng knew that their arrival meant that Beibei, the companion who would one day train and venture through the Magical Beast Mountain Range and the Infernal Realm with him, had reached his family's backyard. Still, Lin Feng wasn't in a hurry to tame Beibei. Beibei was his, after all, and wasn't going anywhere. For now, his most important task was to train in magic and strengthen his body under Grandpa Doehring's guidance. In the original story, Lin Feng had discovered Beibei and coaxed him into becoming his companion only a month before going to Fenlai City for the magic aptitude test.

Starting the next day, Lin Feng began a grueling regimen of training.

Since he couldn't tell his father that Doehring Cowart existed, Lin Feng continued his warrior training in the mornings and evenings. During the day, he still had to study politics, religion, etiquette, military strategy, geography, art, and other subjects in front of his father.

Only in the afternoon, during what had originally been his free time, could Lin Feng head to Wushan Mountain, northeast of town, and hide somewhere quiet. Under Doehring Cowart's instruction, he absorbed knowledge of magic and studied hard, while meditating to refine his magical power.

He also spent a great deal of time meditating every night after dinner.

Lin Feng slept only six hours a day. The rest of his time went to warrior training, studying, magic practice, meditation, and other pursuits. Don't think six hours of sleep was enough. Meditating to train his spiritual energy every day was exhausting—far more tiring than an ordinary person's routine. Lin Feng slept deeply during those six hours.

His days were full—intensely full.

As the days passed, Lin Feng's progress became obvious. It was almost like a complete transformation!

His hard work brought the thrill of absorbing Earth Element energy into his body for the first time and refining it into magical power. It also brought the near-fainting exhaustion of overmeditating and draining too much spiritual energy. And then there was the exhilaration of casting Earth Element magic for the first time, even if that first spell had only made a tiny Earth Spike, twenty centimeters long, rise from the ground.

He kept pushing himself, again and again.

Lin Feng's perseverance and rate of progress earned the admiration of Doehring Cowart, the Saint-level Magus of the Puang Empire from five thousand years ago.

With warrior training every day, Lin Feng's body grew stronger and more solid. Absorbing Earth Element energy and refining it into magical power, along with frequent meditation, also made him calmer and more composed. His changes astonished and delighted his father, Hogg, as well as Hillman and the others.

In his previous life, Lin Feng had been a frail scholar. He hadn't been so weak that he couldn't lift a chicken, but his willpower and small body made it hard for him to keep up with Hillman's training regimen. Fortunately, Lin Feng longed to return home, and he understood how much this basic training would benefit him in the future. No matter how hard or exhausting it was, he gritted his teeth and persevered. He pushed himself even harder than the Lin Feng in the original story.

After all, the original Lin Feng was only eight years old at this point. Though he wanted to grow stronger, he hadn't endured any real hardship, and his mind wasn't as mature as Lin Feng's.

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

There was less than a month left before the magic aptitude tests and enrollment.

Lin Feng knew it was time to tame Beibei.

That day, after finishing his usual chore of sweeping the ancestral hall in the backyard, Lin Feng didn't head straight back to the front courtyard. Instead, he grinned to himself. "Little Beibei, your big brother's here. Just wait right there and let me tame you."

Then he started searching the backyard for Beibei.

"Squeak, squeak!"

After searching for a while, Lin Feng found Beibei.

A black rat, nearly twenty centimeters long, was gnawing on a piece of gravel. Then it flashed away and appeared more than ten meters off, beside another spot where a piece of bluestone lay. It gnawed on that, too. Its fur was soft, its eyes bright and lively, and its fluffy tail made it adorable beyond words.

It even stood upright on its hind legs and hopped around playfully.

The moment Lin Feng saw the little rat, he knew it was Beibei, the God-Eater Rat Divine Beast who would become his brother.

Doehring Cowart flew out of the Coiling Dragon Ring and stood beside Lin Feng, looking at the black rat in surprise. "A Shadow Mouse? It's actually a magical beast Shadow Mouse. Judging by its size, it must still be a young one."

"He's not a Shadow Mouse. He's the offspring of a Shadow Mouse and a Stone-Eater Rat—the second God-Eater Rat in all the countless planes."

Lin Feng curled his lip. Naturally, he didn't say any of that aloud.

After Doehring finished explaining Shadow Mice and Stone-Eater Rats, Lin Feng added another task to his daily routine: feeding Beibei.

To earn Beibei's trust and get him to form an Equal Contract of his own accord, Lin Feng followed the original Lin Feng's method. At first, he fed Beibei raw pheasants and rabbits with their fur still on. Gradually, he started removing their fur first. After half a month, he began roasting the pheasants and rabbits before offering them to Beibei. As the days of feeding went by, Beibei gradually grew fond of Lin Feng.

"Squeak, squeak!" Lin Feng had just entered the backyard with a freshly roasted pheasant in hand when a black blur shot toward him. Its target was the pheasant.

By the time Lin Feng reacted, the pheasant had already vanished from his hand.

"Lin Feng, judging by how he's acting now, it won't be long before you tame him." Doehring Cowart flew out of the Coiling Dragon Ring, stroking his beard as he chuckled.

In the blink of an eye, twenty days had passed since Lin Feng started feeding the little Shadow Mouse. Beibei was now extremely close to him. But for some reason, even though they were practically inseparable, Beibei still showed no sign of casting an Equal Contract.

Night fell over the land, and all of Wushan Town was quiet.

Candles burned in the living room of the Baruch Clan's manor, illuminating the room. Lin Feng's family of three and their steward, Hiri, sat around the long table, sharing dinner.

"Lin Feng, I heard you've been taking roasted rabbits to those old buildings in the backyard lately." Halfway through the meal, Hogg set down his knife and fork and looked at Lin Feng.

Lin Feng's heart skipped a beat.

Looks like I'll have to come clean. Lin Feng nodded at Hogg. "Father, I found a cute little animal in the backyard recently. It's adorable, so I've been bringing it food."

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

"Oh."

Hogg nodded. "Hardly anyone goes to the backyard, so it's possible there's an animal there. By the way, the magic aptitude tests and enrollment in the royal capital, Fenlai City, should begin in about a week. Weren't you planning to take part?"

"Ah, the magic aptitude tests?" Lin Feng suddenly remembered.

A stream of air visible only to Lin Feng flew out of the Coiling Dragon Ring and transformed into the white-haired elder, Doehring Cowart. He smiled at Lin Feng. "Lin Feng, the magic aptitude tests and enrollment? You can go or not. With me teaching you, would those mages at the academy really be any better?"

Lin Feng agreed, but he wasn't going to do as Doehring Cowart wished. He still had to attend the Ernst Institute. After all, that was where Lin Feng and Delia first met, and where the foundation of their relationship was laid. He wasn't sure he would marry Delia in this life, as the Lin Feng in the original story had, but if Delia turned out to be beautiful and fell deeply in love with him, then marrying her and following the original story wouldn't be out of the question.

Besides, Lin Feng had been in this world for half a year and had never visited Fenlai City. He wanted to see just how prosperous the cities of the Panlong world were.

Lin Feng spoke to Doehring Cowart in his mind. "Grandpa Doehring, you'll teach me Earth Element magic, and with my own efforts, I'm sure I'll reach the Saint Realm or even higher someday. But I have talent in other elements besides Earth Element, so I want to study magic from other elements at the academy."

"Lin Feng, I didn't consider that. In that case, accept your father's offer." After saying that, Doehring Cowart returned to the Coiling Dragon Ring.