Qilin Lion

Three days later, the two of them rose and set off.

Thirteen gently hoisted Sanbao onto his back with one hand and hurried down the mountain. Compared to when he had climbed up, his steps were now noticeably lighter and quicker. Sanbao felt as though they were racing with the wind, and the two soon reached the middle of the valley's grassy clearing. It was here that Sanbao had completed Blood Fusion and undergone a rebirth of the soul. But now there was no sign of the Crimson Flame Eagle, only withered grass and red feathers scattered across the ground.

This really was no safe place. In only a few days, other Spirit Beasts had eaten the Crimson Flame Eagle, bones, skin, and all, leaving behind nothing but a pile of feathers...

After a brief pause, the two hurried southwest.

Several hours later, Thirteen suddenly slowed down. Sanbao was sprawled across his back, drowsy and groggy. When he felt Thirteen decelerate, he spoke up:

"Thirteen, are you getting tired? If you are, let's rest for a bit~"

"I'm not tired, but we may have a little trouble on our hands, Sanbao. You have to hold on tight to me in a moment." Thirteen's expression was grave. His pace gradually slowed, and after going less than a hundred meters farther, he stopped altogether.

"Did we run into some powerful Spirit Beasts? Are they lying in ambush somewhere?" Sanbao looked around. He saw nothing out of the ordinary, but his drowsiness had vanished, and he warily scanned their surroundings.

High-ranked Spirit Beasts had naturally keen senses of smell. Without considerable strength, they would never dare come out and ambush someone as powerful as a Spirit Emperor like Thirteen.

For some reason, Sanbao sensed a particularly dangerous presence coming from the brush ahead and to the left.

"Thirteen, there's danger ahead on the left!"

"Exactly, Sanbao. But there's one on the right, too..." Thirteen had barely finished speaking when two enormous, striped beasts suddenly sprang out from either side ahead of them. They were two Lightning Leopards at the peak of the fifth rank.

Thirteen's expression turned solemn. As he rapidly retreated, a streak of green light shot from his right hand. At the same time, he swiftly pulled away his left hand, which had been supporting Sanbao, and swung his palm, striking the Lightning Leopard lunging from the left with all his might. Both sides were knocked back several meters.

Sanbao's vision blurred. Everything lurched, and he nearly fell off Thirteen's back. A powerful aura pressed against his chest, leaving him terribly uncomfortable.

Roar...

One of the Lightning Leopards let out a pained howl.

He was injured.

The leopard on the right had fared even worse than the one on the left. The sudden streak of green light had left a vivid red mark on its foreleg.

After the clash, both sides entered a brief standoff. The two Spirit Beasts clearly hadn't expected the human before them to be so powerful—he had wounded one of them in a single move.

Thirteen still hadn't fully recovered, and he was also hampered by Sanbao. Under normal circumstances, these two beasts wouldn't have lasted ten moves against him.

Whether from nervousness or excitement, Sanbao trembled all over, clutching Thirteen tightly. Looking down, he saw that Thirteen's right hand held a sharp little purple-red sword. The green light from earlier had come from this blade.

A sword that could flash with light to strike an enemy—and knock that enormous Lightning Leopard back in an instant. This was the power of a high-ranking Spirit Cultivator. Sanbao was seeing a Spirit Cultivator's might for the first time, and his heart quailed.

As they faced off, both sides sized up their opponent. It was a contest of auras, too. Thirteen was, after all, a four-star Spirit Emperor. Though he hadn't fully recovered from his injuries, his presence was formidable, and it grew steadier with every passing moment, showing signs of erupting into a fierce assault.

Just as the two Spirit Beasts sensed, Thirteen slowly raised the sword in his hand, preparing to attack. At that moment, both beasts let out low growls, then darted into the brush ahead. They soon vanished into the distant woods.

In the end, the two beasts had been cowed by Thirteen's aura and had chosen to abandon their attack.

"They just left? Thirteen, why didn't you kill them?" Seeing the two beasts go, Sanbao felt a little disappointed. The chance to witness an exciting battle had gone up in smoke.

"Easier said than done. Take a look."

Thirteen raised the right hand he had used to meet the Lightning Leopard's attack. It was already red all over and slightly swollen. It turned out that the clash had hurt Thirteen, too. He hadn't effortlessly repelled the two charging Spirit Beasts with a single move, as Sanbao had imagined.

"Lightning Leopards at the peak of the fifth rank are not only incredibly strong, but extremely fast, too. I haven't fully recovered, and with you weighing me down, I can only take their attacks passively. I can't launch one of my own. Even if I wanted to kill them, I wouldn't have the strength for it. Of course, they're deluding themselves if they think they can kill me. If we really fought, we'd only end up badly injured on both sides. These two leopards were clever enough to back down."

After this unexpected encounter, the two of them grew even more cautious. Thirteen's injuries gradually improved, and the rest of their journey passed without serious incident. Two months later, they finally made it out of the Thousand Desolation Mountains.

During that time, Sanbao had truly witnessed the might of a high-ranking Spirit Cultivator. To ordinary people, jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards were tall and ferocious. But in the eyes of a high-ranking Spirit Cultivator like Thirteen, they were no different from ants—utterly helpless.

Large Spirit Beasts with little intelligence often tried to treat the two of them as prey. But as long as Thirteen gave his sharp sword a casual wave, they were practically guaranteed roast meat for their next meal.

Of course, there were times when the two of them ended up in a terrible state. Once, they accidentally killed a Sharp-Beaked Bee blocking their way, only to provoke the revenge of tens of thousands of its kind. They were chased in every direction, fleeing in utter disarray.

"Boss, I want a big bowl of noodles—the biggest bowl you've got. And toss in one egg. No, two!" When they reached the first small town outside the Thousand Desolation Mountains, Sanbao hurried straight to a noodle stall.

"I'll have the same." Thirteen remained unhurried, merely sweeping his gaze around the area.

"All right, honored guests, just a moment~" The stall owner, who also served as the waiter, answered them while muttering under his breath, "One's too old, the other's too young, but they sure have big appetites!"

Little did he know that the two of them hadn't seen a trace of human life for many days. Naturally, the delicious aroma of the noodles had made their mouths water.

"Have you heard? The Tianlan Empire in the north has changed dynasties. The Purple-Eyed Golden Peng is no longer on the throne~"

"Aw, Zhang the Fourth, that's old news. I knew it three months ago. They say the new royal family is a Divine Beast Family called the Qilin Lion. They're no ordinary family, either. I heard that a Qilin Lion can open its mouth in the sky and inhale an entire city into its belly..."

"Zhao the Third, that's a load of crap. Even if it had that kind of power, its belly couldn't possibly be that big. Am I right, everyone..."

"Who cares how big its belly is? I heard Phoenix Immortal Pavilion has a new top courtesan. Now that's the kind of thing that can really knock your socks off..."

The little town was bustling. Even at this tiny noodle stall, they could hear news about the Tianlan Empire, which surprised Sanbao. He was also surprised by how long it had taken for the news to reach them.

In fact, the Tianlan Luo Clan had fallen two years ago. It had taken all this time for the news to get here. What a slow pace. In his previous life, news this big would probably have spread across the entire world within minutes.

Soon, two steaming bowls of egg noodles were set before them. They devoured them, quickly polished off every last bite, then looked up at each other. Only then did they realize they had eaten at exactly the same speed. They burst out laughing.

"So good, so delicious... Hahaha!"

"Thirteen, where do you think we should go now?" Once they had left the Thousand Desolation Mountains and the danger behind, Sanbao finally remembered that he was now a homeless child. Fortunately, he had Thirteen, a peerless expert, by his side, so he wasn't worried about how they would get by.

"Sanbao, where do you think we should go?" Thirteen smiled without answering. Instead, he asked Sanbao.

"I think we should find somewhere to lie low, then return to Lanjing and settle the score once we've grown stronger." Sanbao knew Thirteen was testing him, so he answered without hesitation.

"Good, Sanbao. This old servant is very pleased with that answer. You're brave and resourceful, neither reckless nor lacking in spirit~" For Sanbao, who wasn't even ten years old, to have such a clear-headed yet ambitious plan filled Thirteen with pride.

Although Sanbao hadn't undergone Blood Fusion long ago, the change in his personality was striking. The old Sanbao had been timid and insecure, content with the status quo and lacking any drive to advance. Now he was confident and resourceful, and most importantly, he had suddenly grown much more mature. Although he had lost some of his memories, gaining maturity and wisdom in return had unquestionably been worth it.

This put Thirteen at ease, too. As long as he could settle Sanbao in somewhere safe, he could leave without worry.

"Thirteen, have you already picked a place?" Seeing his confident expression, Sanbao knew everything had been arranged long ago.

"You'll find out when we get there..." Thirteen kept him in suspense. Sanbao found it frustrating, yet he couldn't help feeling curious. What kind of place would it be?