"Ah?"
Yin Qi couldn't help but freeze at Feng Baiyu's words.
Join the Feng Family? Them?
Yin Qi was only a Soul Emperor, an average-level teacher at Spirit City Academy.
Beyond that, he had no distinguished status.
His older sister and brother-in-law had been Soul Saints while they were alive, but even a Soul Saint was nothing much in the eyes of a Titled Douluo, was it?
He had never imagined that after stealing someone's Soul Beast with his nephew, they would end up turning misfortune into a blessing.
Yin Qi understood that Feng Baiyu wasn't interested in him, but in his nephew, the little genius.
Reaching level twenty at nine years old put him among the very best in all of Spirit City. Yin Qi dared say that his nephew Yan had the makings of a Titled Douluo!
But talent was only potential. Until it was realized, it meant nothing.
Now that they could have a Titled Douluo as their backing, it would be worth it even if his nephew had to serve as this young master's follower!
Yin Qi wasn't particularly capable, but he knew that the only Titled Douluo surnamed Feng in Spirit City was the Third Offering. And the Third Offering's grandson had been the talk of the town.
He could already absorb a Soul Ring over seven hundred years old after only a few months. How could his talent possibly be lacking?
Even if that Soul Ring had been reserved and claimed in advance, at six and a half years old, he had to have come to the Soul Beast Forest to obtain his First Soul Ring, right?
With talent and powerful backing, it was a tremendous honor for them to serve such a family.
Yin Qi felt this was his chance. He hurriedly knelt and kowtowed. "This subordinate pays his respects to the family head and the young family head."
"Get up." Feng Baiyu accepted the man's courtesy and said, "But remember, even after joining the Feng Family, you still have to complete any task I give you."
"Rest assured, Young Master." The task that had seemed so daunting to Yin Qi moments ago now filled him with enthusiasm. He said, "It's my honor to serve you. Even if I'm torn limb from limb, I'll get the job done."
Feng Baiyu hadn't expected Yin Qi to be such a smooth-tongued flatterer. He nodded slightly. "Once Yan finishes absorbing his Soul Ring, bring him to my home."
With that, Feng Baiyu picked up the dead Blazing Spirit Kite and left.
Watching her grandson, Feng Qingluan asked curiously, "Baiyu, that Blazing Spirit Kite is already dead. What do you want it for?"
"Even though it's dead, the energy inside it is still there," Feng Baiyu replied. "Grandpa should know that a Soul Beast's age doesn't mean it actually lived that long. It's just a unit for measuring its strength."
"Soul Beasts fight and hunt one another every day, and those corpses are the best nourishment for their growth!" Feng Baiyu explained. "If another Blazing Spirit Kite eats the corpse, it'll digest the energy more easily since they share the same origin. As long as we get that 720-year-old Blazing Spirit Kite to eat it, we can raise its age."
The idea that Soul Beasts could devour one another to grow stronger wasn't something Feng Baiyu had made up.
He had seen it in books in his previous life: the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, the Evil Spirit Orca, the Demon Soul Great White Shark, the Thousand-Jun Ant Emperor, the Man Faced Demon Spider...
And in the records of this life, he had also come across cases of Soul Beasts growing stronger by devouring one another.
Feng Baiyu wasn't sure how many years a Blazing Spirit Kite would gain by eating one of its own kind, but an increase of just thirty years would be enough for him.
Hearing her grandson's words, Feng Qingluan couldn't help laughing. "So that's what you had in mind."
Feng Qingluan had plenty of books at home, and even more in Spirit City's bookstores, but he rarely read them. He had never expected his grandson to discover such a clever trick for increasing a Soul Beast's age.
Or perhaps it wasn't a trick; most people simply wouldn't go to such lengths to pursue the absolute limit.
Some didn't need to, and some weren't capable of it.
But Feng Qingluan was a Titled Douluo. Raising the age of a mere seven-hundred-year Soul Beast was nothing to him.
"Since that's the case, let's go now!" Feng Qingluan released his spiritual power and quickly found the other Blazing Spirit Kite.
"Follow me!" Feng Qingluan said, leading his grandson toward the other Soul Beast.
In less than three minutes, they saw the Blazing Spirit Kite.
"Huh? Something's not right!" Feng Qingluan looked at the Blazing Spirit Kite's tail and said, "I haven't been keeping an eye on it these past few days, and its strength has increased quite a bit. It was a 720-year-old Soul Beast before, but now it's at the 740-year level!"
The Blazing Spirit Kite's age was determined by the color and number of feathers on its tail. Feng Qingluan needed only one look to tell how old it was.
"Baiyu." Feng Qingluan turned to his grandson and said, "It seems it's eaten some Soul Beast meat recently, or perhaps even eaten one of its own kind. Your idea was right. But it's already 740 years old. Do you still want to keep raising it?"
"Of course!" Feng Baiyu promptly nodded. "At 740 years, it's nowhere near my limit!"
Feng Qingluan had examined his grandson's body and determined that he could absorb a Soul Ring of around 780 years. The margin of error wouldn't exceed twenty years.
This 740-year-old Blazing Spirit Kite was indeed still a little short of his grandson's limit.
In truth, Feng Qingluan thought this one was already good enough. But seeing his grandson insist, he didn't argue.
"All right," Feng Qingluan replied, then rose into the air and captured the Blazing Spirit Kite alive.
The Blazing Spirit Kite sensed something was wrong and tried to flee, but what chance did a hundred-year Soul Beast have of escaping Feng Qingluan's grasp?
In mere moments, Feng Qingluan had brought the Blazing Spirit Kite before Feng Baiyu.
Feng Baiyu took the corpse of the other Blazing Spirit Kite out of his Storage Soul Tool, held it before the creature, and said coldly, "Eat it!"
The Blazing Spirit Kite struggled with all its might, but it was useless.
But Feng Baiyu saw a hint of covetousness in its eyes. Clearly, it wanted to eat the corpse too.
Seeing this, Feng Qingluan gave the Blazing Spirit Kite a hard slap, then forced its head down and made it gorge itself.
Feng Baiyu didn't know whether the two Blazing Spirit Kites were related, but the creature seemed to be enjoying the meal.
As the Blazing Spirit Kite finished eating, Feng Qingluan carefully sensed the changes as it devoured one of its own kind. He could feel the Soul Power inside its body slowly increasing.
It gained almost a year of strength every minute.
That made sense. The Blazing Spirit Kite had eaten one of its own kind that was stronger than itself. Such an increase was only natural.
"Not good!"
Suddenly, Feng Qingluan cried out, "Baiyu, kill it quickly! It's about to break through eight hundred years!"
Feng Baiyu watched the changes in the Blazing Spirit Kite's feathers and hurriedly thrust his long sword into it.
As Feng Baiyu cut the Blazing Spirit Kite down, its struggle came to an abrupt halt.
Looking at the corpse, Feng Baiyu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. "Its age is around eight hundred years. That's about the limit of what I can absorb."
"Baiyu." Feng Qingluan sounded a little worried. "That limit is a bit dangerous. How about we find another one?"
After all, they could raise one by feeding it a corpse. Finding one close to the right age to feed it wouldn't be difficult, and even raising a ten-year Soul Beast wouldn't be hard.
"Grandpa, let's go with this one."
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