Hou

On the outskirts of Sunset Forest, a strange beast leaped between the branches.

It had a horn on its head, and its forepaws and hind legs were extremely swollen, their explosive muscle lines making it look exceptionally powerful.

Its tail bore a bony spike, while its body was black with silver stripes.

At last, it arrived before a mountainside overgrown with weeds. It seemed to roar a few times, and the weeds and shrubs slowly parted to either side, revealing a cave.

The strange beast entered the cave. Once it had gone inside, the plants covered the entrance again.

"Oh, you're back?" A pair of blue eyes opened and looked at the strange beast.

"Roar! Roar!" the beast replied.

Clearly, these two were Bai Xiao and Black Leopard. However, in a sense, Black Leopard was no longer Black Leopard, but a kind of composite beast.

Naturally, it was Bai Xiao's handiwork.

After the last battle, Bai Xiao had subdued Black Leopard. One reason was gratitude—after all, Bai Xiao had saved Black Leopard. The other was Bai Xiao's strength. Soul beasts inherently obeyed the strong. (Besides, could Black Leopard have escaped even if it wanted to?)

Bai Xiao discovered that Black Leopard was covered in wounds, some so deep that bone was visible. It nearly broke Bai Xiao's heart!

So he immediately used his Martial Soul to create an anesthetic toxin and knock Black Leopard out, then dragged it onto the operating table—which was usually Bai Xiao's laboratory.

After Bai Xiao's series of treatments (modifications), Black Leopard felt as though it had been reborn. (Black Leopard: Didn't I become an entirely different species? Even my mother wouldn't recognize me.)

At first, Black Leopard was somewhat unaccustomed to it. After all, it was Bai Xiao's first time performing this kind of surgery (modification). But it was fine. Bai Xiao said, "What are you dissatisfied with? We can change it!"

Black Leopard had no idea how many times it had been anesthetized before it was finally modified into its current form. Its speed, strength, and agility had all improved dramatically. It had practically become a weapon born solely for battle.

During the surgery (experiments), Bai Xiao used his Cell Martial Soul to implant tissues from other soul beasts he had previously collected into Black Leopard's body, fusing them with its own tissues.

Thanks to Bai Xiao's Martial Soul, the two tissues experienced no rejection whatsoever. In fact, the connection points were almost impossible to see.

After the surgery, Bai Xiao also used his Martial Soul to accelerate the cell division in Black Leopard's injured areas. Through Bai Xiao's experiments, the connected areas would not become weak points.

Bai Xiao had even deliberately fused his own flesh and blood with Black Leopard's flesh and blood, then differentiated it into neural tissue. He implanted it into the back of Black Leopard's neck, allowing Bai Xiao and Black Leopard to communicate simply.

Based on the condition of the brains in high-level soul beast corpses, Bai Xiao also catalyzed Black Leopard's brain development, greatly increasing its intelligence.

Only now did Black Leopard truly count as Bai Xiao's companion. Bai Xiao named the current Black Leopard "Hou."

"Little Hou, you said you found a hundred-year-old plant soul beast!"

"Roar roar. (Yes.)"

"Good. I'll get ready, and you can take me there in a while," Bai Xiao said.

"Roar~" Hou lay down, closed its eyes, and rested.

Before long, Bai Xiao had finished packing up. When Hou saw this, it immediately got to its feet. Bai Xiao pushed off with his left hand and jumped with both legs, landing on Hou's back. (After all, Bai Xiao's body was only six years old now.)

"Let's go!" Bai Xiao said.

Hou moved its claws and began sprinting toward the cave entrance. The plants concealing it opened the entrance before they arrived, then covered it again after the two had passed through.

A black figure leaped between the branches, heading deeper into Sunset Forest.