The little man eventually left, and he left in peace.
Looking at the two Louis XVI lying in his bedroom, one large and one small, Xu Bai furrowed his brow slightly.
As the saying went, the first time was awkward, the second time familiar. Compared to the first time, when merely seeing a corpse had made him physically ill, he was clearly handling it much better now. Still, the stench of blood made him uncomfortable.
"First, carry them into the Beast Taming Space. Later, find somewhere deserted and dump them."
He waved a hand and gave the order.
First walked over. As the tiger's tail passed Xu Bai, it brushed lightly against his calf, clearly expressing its displeasure at having its tail used as a paintbrush earlier.
When it reached the corpses, First didn't use its mouth. Instead, it controlled four of the thicker iron skewers to lift "Louis XVI" and the head, then leisurely carried them into the Beast Taming Space.
Xu Bai chuckled, unbothered by First's little tantrum. Looking at the bloodstains covering the room, he sighed. "Looks like this house is no longer fit to live in. I'll find somewhere else after helping Little Blue complete its second revival."
He stepped out of the room and walked over to Little Blue. Reaching out to rub its leaves, he smiled. "I have you to thank for warning me today. Otherwise, I might not have discovered them so soon."
'Hee-hee, it was only what I was supposed to do. You don't have to thank me.' Little Blue's leaves swayed as if it were waving its hand.
"Fine, I won't thank you, and you don't have to thank me either." Xu Bai smiled faintly. "Let's not waste time. I'll help you with your second revival right now!"
Little Blue: ????
'Beast Tamer, what did you just say? What second revival? I don't quite understand.'
Xu Bai looked enlightened, then said with a perfectly straight face, "Oh, that was a slip of the tongue. I meant I'm going to help you get stronger."
'Really?' Little Blue was uneasy, feeling that its Beast Tamer was hiding something from it.
"Don't worry. Would I really harm you?" Xu Bai reassured it, then spoke sternly. "You promised me, after all. Don't tell me you're going back on your word?"
Little Blue trembled and timidly asked, 'Beast Tamer, I forgot to ask about the process back then. Can you tell me now?'
"What's there to ask? You'll find out when the time comes." As he spoke, Xu Bai took materials from the Beast Taming Space, then offered another reassurance. "Relax. It's like this for everyone the first time. There's no need to be nervous. Feeling dizzy is normal."
That reassurance only made Little Blue more frightened. The whole plant began to tremble uncontrollably, just like a child about to get a shot.
'Beast Tamer, can you give me some time to prepare? I'm scared...' Little Blue wound one of its vines gently around Xu Bai's finger and pleaded.
"We've come this far. What's there to prepare for? You can't lose your nerve at the last moment." Xu Bai paused, then put on a stern expression. "Are you trying to go back on your word?"
Those words instantly silenced Little Blue. After a long while, it seemed to make up its mind. 'Beast Tamer, go ahead. I keep my promises!'
After saying that, the glow of the Blue Silver Grass quickly dimmed.
"Did it close its eyes?" Xu Bai thought with amusement, then began preparing for the second revival.
First, he lit the Bitter Tree Heart. Wisps of smoke rose, and before long the air was filled with a faint fragrance like tea leaves.
'Beast Tamer, are you burning the corpse of one of my kind...?' Feeling the smoke, Little Blue couldn't help asking.
"This is a Bitter Tree Heart. You're not even in the same family, so it doesn't count as one of your kind."
Xu Bai answered casually and moved on to the second step: pouring Flower Spirit Dew.
'Beast Tamer, what is this...?' Little Blue couldn't help asking again.
"Something good. Don't worry about it." Xu Bai replied, continuing to the next step: burying the Soul Nourishing Stone among its roots.
Little Blue: 'Beast Tamer, what did you bury under my roots?'
Xu Bai: "Something that'll keep you alive. Relax, it's not dangerous..."
After many more exchanges like that, Xu Bai finally finished preparing everything.
At that moment, Little Blue was surrounded by a heap of assorted things, looking just like a patient in intensive care covered in all sorts of medical equipment.
"We can begin the revival..." Xu Bai took a deep breath, pulled a dagger with some kind of special metal from his clothing, then slowly drew it from its sheath.
'Beast Tamer, weren't you going to help me get stronger? Why are you drawing a knife? Ga—'
Before Little Blue could finish speaking, Xu Bai swiftly and precisely plunged the dagger into its vine, just above the base.
The next moment, the dim light on Little Blue rapidly faded away. All its leaves lost their luster and became lifeless for no apparent reason, as if it had truly died.
Seeing this, Xu Bai assumed it was normal and paid it no mind.
Only after another hour passed with no change in Little Blue did he begin to panic.
"It couldn't really be dead, could it? But if it had actually died, a Soul Ring should have appeared by now..."
Xu Bai fretted inwardly as he used his mind to leaf through the Manual, carefully rereading the instructions for the second revival and recalling whether he might have gotten any steps wrong.
Yet after checking everything over and over, he couldn't find a single problem.
"The Manual can't be unreliable, can it...?"
The moment the thought arose, Xu Bai forcefully suppressed it.
That was too dangerous a thought. It showed a clear lack of confidence in the very foundation he relied on.
What if the Manual had a consciousness of its own and sensed what he was thinking? If it ran off in a fit of anger, wouldn't he be screwed?
Fortunately, Little Blue, lifeless for so long, finally changed at that moment. The whole plant suddenly burst into brilliant green light.
It was just like an evolution effect.
Within the green light, Little Blue's size didn't change, but the patterns on its body rapidly transformed.
Thrilled, Xu Bai studied it for a long while before he finally spotted traces of the patterns on the Bitter Tree's bark in its new markings. The color of its leaves had also shifted from pale blue to blue-green.
Soon, the light faded and its appearance stopped changing.
"It should have worked..."
Xu Bai's eyes flickered as he opened the Manual:
[Beast Tamer top 1]: Mutated Green-Red Tiger (First) [Attributes]: ... ... [Beast Tamer top 2]: Mutated Blue Silver Grass (Little Blue) [Current Age]: 150 years [Species Potential]: 1,000 years [Species Skills]: Early Wisdom (Proficient), Tenacious (Perfect), Soul Calming and Spirit Purifying (Beginner) [Evolution Path]: Nine Tribulations Blue Silver Grass [Current Soul Beasts Recorded in Manual]: 52 (Viewable)
"Its age increased by fifty years. That should be an added effect. The main thing is this new species skill..."
Xu Bai clicked his tongue in amazement. Both were Hundred-Year Soul Beasts, yet First only had one species skill, while Little Blue had three.
Although the quality of these three skills was nowhere near that of First's Metal Spirit Power, Little Blue had more of them!
And it would gain even more in the future!
"Tenacious" was the one and only species skill all Blue Silver Grass possessed.
Little Blue had gained "Early Wisdom" during its first revival, and now it had gained "Soul Calming and Spirit Purifying" during its second.
It stood to reason that after its third revival, its fourth, and so on... all the way to its ninth, Little Blue would gain another skill each time.
By then, it would be Blue Silver Grass with ten species skills, and its age would still only be ten thousand years. That was far more heaven-defying than Soul Masters.
Most importantly, "Soul Calming and Spirit Purifying" didn't seem like a skill Blue Silver Grass should be able to acquire. It seemed more like a fusion of the Bitter Tree and the Soul-Calming Stone's abilities...
So this was the value of having compatibility with the Fortune attribute—even if that compatibility was only 1%.