The Intellectually Challenged Little Black

Two and a half months passed in the blink of an eye, and Feng Baiyu truly felt the benefits brought by the Gold of Life.

Over these two months, he had once again enjoyed the thrill of leveling up.

One year and one month after his awakening, Feng Baiyu was already an eighteenth-level Spirit Master.

Aside from a Six-Winged Angel with innate twentieth-level spirit power, no one could say this speed was slow!

"Only two levels left, but I still have more than half of my God Trial to go!" Feng Baiyu looked at his progress. Although it would be difficult to complete it within half the allotted time, he could at least try to finish as early as possible.

"Cock-a-doodle-doo!"

Just as Feng Baiyu was cultivating, Little Black began bullying the surrounding animals and young spirit beasts again.

"Little Black!" Feng Baiyu warned, "Play is play, but don't go destroying the flowers and plants I've planted."

Those plants had been sent by the Treasure Pavilion, though they were just common goods with no special effects other than looking nice.

Feng Baiyu hadn't minded, however, and after paying for them, he had transplanted them all into the courtyard.

It didn't matter if these plants had no effects; he couldn't dampen the sender's enthusiasm. Who knew when, by some stroke of luck, he might end up with something good?

Forget about immortal herbs; even getting his hands on a single spirit medicine would be worth it.

Hearing Feng Baiyu's words, Little Black became much more careful while playing.

Little Black was Feng Baiyu's external spirit, and it possessed considerable combat power of its own.

Feng Baiyu had tested it before; in terms of attack and defense, Little Black was already on par with weaker thousand-year spirit beasts.

The only problem was that Little Black was a stat-stick with zero operational skill; it had no idea how to actually apply its power.

Every time it bullied a spirit beast, it only displayed the instinctive fighting style of a chicken.

It would scratch with its claws and peck with its beak. If it were a real battle, it was only slightly stronger than some ten-year spirit beasts.

"Still not enough intelligence," Feng Baiyu said softly, watching Little Black fight. "I just don't know when Little Black will be able to display the combat power it truly deserves!"

"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" Little Black chirped at Feng Baiyu, flapping its wings as it flew over to him.

It rubbed its sleek, black feathers against Feng Baiyu, as if showing affection.

Feng Baiyu stroked Little Black's feathers, feeling that petting Little Black was more interesting than petting a cat.

"Here, eat up." Feng Baiyu handed something resembling an apple to Little Black.

This was a fruit produced by a plant-type century-old spirit beast, and it was one of the foods Feng Baiyu had discovered Little Black liked best.

After all, it was an external spirit; if he didn't keep it well-fed, Feng Baiyu worried it might go off to hunt for bugs.

Little Black ate happily, finishing the fruit in no time. Once full, it flapped its wings and headed back down to play.

"You've had your fill, but I'm getting a bit hungry." Feng Baiyu rubbed his stomach and called out, "Shui Guan, let's go out to eat!"

"Very well, Young Master." Shui Duanliu agreed immediately, having no intention of refusing Feng Baiyu's request.

Feng Baiyu left the Feng Mansion with Shui Duanliu, but he didn't head to any of the restaurants in Spirit City. The chefs at those restaurants were certainly not bad, but they were still a cut below the Spirit King the Feng Family had specially recruited last year, whose spirit was an iron pot.

Feng Baiyu was tired of eating at home, so naturally, he wouldn't go to those hotels to eat such mundane fare.

What he wanted more was to eat something with a bit more atmosphere.

He was like a child let out for a breather, wanting a taste of every bit of unhealthy, nutritious-less junk food he saw.

Shui Duanliu stood by, watching the young master's actions, and a smile couldn't help but bloom on his face.

This is how a child should act!

The young master spends his days in bitter cultivation; he's probably forgotten he's only a seven-year-old boy.

Shui Duanliu had watched Feng Baiyu grow up. Having no children of his own, he had long treated Feng Baiyu like his own son. While Feng Baiyu's progress in cultivation made him happy, seeing him carefree and possessing a youthful spirit made him even happier.

If, if only he could become my niece's husband...

Shui Duanliu felt a flicker of hope. The family had sent word that his niece, Shui Bing'er, had awakened the Ice Phoenix spirit and possessed innate spirit power as high as level nine.

Although she couldn't compare to a monster like the young master, she was surely the most outstanding girl of the younger generation!

Shui Duanliu felt that, given his niece's situation, she should be able to catch the young master's eye.

While Shui Duanliu was lost in his daydreams, Feng Baiyu arrived once again at the candied hawthorn stall.

Ever since Feng Baiyu discovered that this place sold decent candied hawthorns, he had been here four or five times. He didn't just come himself; he occasionally had servants run over to bring some back for him.

"Two skewers of candied hawthorns, please." Feng Baiyu said, handing over the money.

"Right away, Young Master Feng." The shopkeeper smiled as she took the money and quickly prepared two delicious skewers, handing them over.

Feng Baiyu was a regular now, and she knew exactly what he wanted.

Feng Baiyu took the candied hawthorns and walked away without a moment's hesitation.

"Shui Guan," Feng Baiyu asked, "I haven't heard much about what's happening outside due to my recent cultivation. Have there been any major events lately?"

As the steward of the Feng Mansion, Shui Duanliu was well-informed about the outside world, especially regarding things Feng Baiyu liked. Hearing the inquiry, he quickly replied:

"Young Master, aside from the fact that countless people have been forming groups to hunt phoenixes, which is quite a big deal, there have only been a few geniuses appearing who possess thousand-year second spirit rings."

"Three of them are the descendants of Guangling Douluo, Lion Douluo, and Qianjun Douluo, respectively, and the fourth is Hu Liena, a student from the Spirit City Academy," Shui Duanliu said nonchalantly. "They all have second spirit rings just over a thousand years old, but even so, it's enough for them to show off."

"There are four of them?"

It wasn't that Feng Baiyu thought the number was small; rather, he felt it was too many.

For the outstanding descendants of the Consecration Hall elders, obtaining a second spirit ring was something that happened around the age of ten or so. He hadn't expected that among the few Consecrators of Spirit Hall, there would be three of the appropriate age.

Feng Baiyu was not surprised by Hu Liena's thousand-year second spirit ring; Bibi Dong had approached him for a trade precisely for this disciple. As for Xie Yue, well—it could only be said that he had obtained his second spirit ring too early to benefit from this advantage.

Listening to Feng Baiyu's words, Shui Duanliu continued to speak about the situation in Spirit City.

If there were only one thousand-year second spirit ring, others would consider it a stroke of luck. But with four appearing, it meant that the method for achieving a thousand-year second spirit ring had already been mastered.

Recently, it wasn't just those affiliated with Spirit Hall who had begun searching for the method; even the well-informed two great empires and numerous sects and noble families had started seeking it out.

It was a pity that no one knew how it was done. Even when some brought heavy rewards to inquire with those four individuals and the powers behind them, no one would speak a word.

Even those who managed to uncover a few clues and learned that the matter might be related to Whale Glue remained in the dark about how to use it to strengthen the body.