Subduing the Wind Shadow Wolf, Battling to Level Up

Xiao Qing raised his long blade, thrusting it fiercely into the heart of the Golden Winged Bird, throwing his entire body weight behind the strike.

The sudden, agonizing pain jolted the Golden Winged Bird from its slumber, and it began to struggle in torment.

However, the tree hollow was cramped; with both Xiao Qing and the bird inside, there was simply no room for it to thrash about.

Blood soon began to flow out along the edge of the blade.

Feeling the struggles of the Golden Winged Bird beneath him grow weaker, Xiao Qing did not let his guard down.

He had slaughtered chickens before and knew that even after they bled out, they could still have stress reactions; it was better to be cautious just in case.

Xiao Qing remained pressed against the Golden Winged Bird for a full half-hour.

Watching the white spirit ring that had been hovering over the Golden Winged Bird for some time, Xiao Qing let out a long sigh of relief; he could finally set his mind at ease.

Xiao Qing took a powder from his cloth bag designed to mask the scent of blood and sprinkled it evenly throughout the tree hollow.

After finishing these tasks, Xiao Qing leaned against the wall of the hollow and fell asleep.

Two days later, beneath the tree hollow.

He watched the Soft Bone Charm Rabbit he had just retrieved from the trap as it roasted over the fire; the fat seeping from the meat dripped onto the red-hot wooden sticks, sizzling as it hit.

Thanks to the notebook my old man left behind, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to catch this rabbit. But I'm afraid I'll never have the chance to go back and see them again!

Thinking of this, Xiao Qing poked at the campfire, his expression somewhat lonely. After being reborn into this world, he had finally found people who treated him well, only for them to leave one after another, leaving him all alone.

Just as Xiao Qing was staring at the campfire, feeling emo, the Prism Ball inside his body suddenly stirred.

Awakened by the movement of the Prism Ball, Xiao Qing decisively summoned it and cast it outward.

"Almost forgot, I still caught a Wind Shadow Wolf."

The Wind Shadow Wolf emerged from the Prism Ball, rushed over, and sat obediently in front of Xiao Qing, wagging its tail excitedly.

"Hmm? Aren't you a wolf? How did you turn into a dog?"

Seeing the Wind Shadow Wolf, which looked just like the local dogs from his hometown in his past life, Xiao Qing habitually rubbed its "dog head."

"Awoo!"

The Wind Shadow Wolf licked the back of Xiao Qing's hand, acting exactly like the dog he had raised back home in his previous life.

"I should give you a name! Can't just keep calling you Wind Shadow Wolf."

Xiao Qing fell into deep thought. The Wind Shadow Wolf tilted its head curiously, staring at Xiao Qing, eager to know what name he would choose.

The surroundings remained quiet for a moment. Xiao Qing looked at the lake shimmering under the sunlight, and inspiration suddenly struck.

"The weather is nice today, the sun is just right, and you and I are quite fated, so let's call you Xiao Feng!"

Xiao Qing was exceptionally satisfied with the name "Xiao Feng," as he really couldn't think of anything more suitable for a Wind Shadow Wolf on the spot.

It was better to be simple; just like how he named the puppies back home when he was a kid—naming them based on their traits.

Xiao Feng clearly couldn't judge the quality of the name; it only felt that since Xiao Qing was happy and satisfied with it, then that was its name.

"Awoo!"

Xiao Feng barked happily at Xiao Qing, seemingly expressing its satisfaction with the name "Xiao Feng."

"Looks like you really like that name! Since the rabbit is roasted, I'll share a leg with you."

Watching Xiao Feng wagging its tail at him, Xiao Qing smiled involuntarily, tore off a rabbit leg, and tossed it at the wolf's feet.

Although the Prism Ball could provide energy to Xiao Feng so it wouldn't feel hunger, as an animal, Xiao Feng couldn't shake the habit of eating.

And so, one man and one dog sat in front of the tree hollow, admiring the beautiful lake view and leisurely eating the rabbit meat.

After satisfying his hunger, Xiao Qing prepared to take Xiao Feng to test how much experience they could gain from a single battle.

"Xiao Feng, given your twenty-three years of cultivation, we can't beat most of the spirit beasts nearby, so try to find low-combat-power ones like the Soft Bone Charm Rabbit."

"That way, even if we can't win, we can still run away, got it?"

Perhaps due to the Prism Ball, Xiao Feng, as a Wind Shadow Wolf, could actually understand the gist of what Xiao Qing was saying.

The prerequisite was that Xiao Qing didn't use idioms—those compressed text packages were, to a spirit beast illiterate like Xiao Feng, a case of "you know me, but I don't know you."

Conversely, Xiao Qing could also understand most of what Xiao Feng's howls meant.

"Awoo!"

Upon learning it could go hunting again, Xiao Feng barked affirmatively at Xiao Qing.

"Alright, Xiao Feng, you take the lead and find an opponent suitable for our first duel!"

Xiao Qing patted Xiao Feng's head, urging it to head into the forest.

Hearing Xiao Qing's command, Xiao Feng immediately darted into the forest, sniffed the air, determined a direction, turned back to bark at Xiao Qing, and took off.

Xiao Feng's movements were so fast that before Xiao Qing could even react, its figure had already vanished from his sight.

Unsure of what Xiao Feng's target was, Xiao Qing stood his ground, not daring to leave rashly.

Over the past few days, Xiao Qing had deeply realized how terrifying it was to get lost in the Star Dou Forest.

But not even a minute later, a streak of light suddenly flew out from the forest, rushing toward Xiao Qing.

Xiao Qing, already on high alert, immediately sidestepped the moment he saw the streak of light, only to realize that it seemed to have locked onto him; no matter where he moved, the light followed.

Just as the streak of light was about to strike Xiao Qing, a Prism Ball suddenly appeared in his hand.

Looking at the Prism Ball in his grasp, Xiao Qing didn't have time to think and threw it directly at the incoming light.

The moment the Prism Ball made contact with the light, the streak was sucked into the sphere.

At that moment, information transmitted from the Prism Ball back into his hand, and only then did Xiao Qing realize that Xiao Feng could not stray too far from him.

Just a moment ago, the distance between Xiao Feng and him had exceeded one thousand meters, and as a Soul Beast tamed by Xiao Qing, Xiao Feng was naturally and forcibly recalled into the Prism Ball.

Of course, the distance between Xiao Qing and Xiao Feng was not fixed.

As Xiao Qing's spiritual power grew, the range in which Xiao Feng could move would also increase, and the same would apply to any Soul Beasts Xiao Qing tamed in the future.

After this incident, Xiao Feng no longer rushed forward recklessly as it had before.

Instead, it walked obediently in front of Xiao Qing, leading him toward the target it had discovered earlier.

After walking through the forest for quite a while, Xiao Qing finally followed Xiao Feng to the target of their hunt.

At this moment, Xiao Qing mimicked Xiao Feng, crouching behind a bush downwind, tilting his head to quietly stare at a hole in the ground.

Having hunted alone often after his parents died, Xiao Qing could tell at a glance that this was the burrow of a Lightning Rabbit.

The Lightning Rabbit was a type of Soul Beast with extreme speed, so when hunting them, Xiao Qing would usually set a trap along their habitual path.

Once the Lightning Rabbit emerged from its hole, Xiao Qing would create a disturbance to startle it, causing the rabbit to bolt in a straight line.

As long as he tried a few times and grasped the pattern, he could scare the Lightning Rabbit into running toward the trap, thereby securing a pot of delicious rabbit meat.

I do not know how much time had passed, but Xiao Qing, his legs numb from crouching, had long since sat down on the ground, boredly keeping watch alongside Xiao Feng.

He had not expected this Lightning Rabbit to be so unwilling to come out of its hole for so long, making Xiao Qing wonder if the creature was even home.

Just as Xiao Qing's attention began to drift, a pair of rabbit ears covered in pale yellow fuzz poked out from the previously silent hole.

In an instant, Xiao Qing sat up, staring at those two rabbit ears with a hint of excitement.

The Lightning Rabbit inside the hole twitched its ears, listening cautiously for any movement in the surroundings.

The experienced Xiao Feng remained as it had been before, sitting motionless on the spot as if it were fast asleep.