Taking the Little Lion as a Pet

The Little Amethyst Winged Lion King was also over two meters long, about the same size as his father.

He likewise had a single horn, a pair of wings, and four sturdy legs covered in purple crystals.

The little lion glared furiously at the thief who had stolen his companion item, purple smoke rising from his body.

He stomped heavily on the ground with all four paws and fiercely pounced at Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan circulated the wind-attribute Dou Qi within his body and dodged to the side, avoiding the little lion's pounce.

The moment the little lion landed, he pounced again, giving Xiao Yan no chance to catch his breath.

Xiao Yan could only keep dodging, not daring to clash head-on with the little lion.

The little lion was a Third-Rank Magical Beast, equivalent to a Da Dou Shi. He was not someone Xiao Yan could defeat at his current level.

Half an hour later, the wind-attribute Dou Qi in Xiao Yan's body had been completely exhausted from such intense use.

Without wind-attribute Dou Qi, Xiao Yan's speed suddenly dropped. Facing the little lion's pounce, he could no longer evade so easily.

He was struck in the chest by a paw and sent flying backward.

With a "wah," Xiao Yan spat out a mouthful of blood.

At the same time, a log updated on the system panel: Skill Points +1. Total Skill Points: 151.

A fierce glint flashed in Xiao Yan's eyes. He was going all out.

"System, add points!"

As Xiao Yan frantically added points, his physical realm steadily rose.

Second Rank, Level One, Level Two, Level Three... all the way to Level Eight.

At the Second Rank, every level required twenty Skill Points.

Feeling the powerful strength in his body, Xiao Yan grinned, revealing bloodstained teeth that made him look somewhat terrifying.

"Eight Extremes Collapse!"

Facing the little lion's pounce, Xiao Yan advanced instead of retreating. A layer of light rose around his right fist, pale yellow with a trace of purple, as it shot like lightning toward the little lion's abdomen.

With a thunderous boom, powerful energy exploded, sending both man and beast flying backward.

The little lion spun several times in midair before landing.

Xiao Yan, however, had it worse. He flew backward and smashed into the stone wall, breaking even the ribs in his chest.

"Explode, explode, explode, explode, explode, explode, explode, explode!"

Xiao Yan's face was pale as he silently recited the word "explode" eight times.

The little lion had just landed and shaken himself, intending to pounce again, when a series of crackling explosions erupted inside his body. He immediately let out a miserable cry of pain, and the purple smoke around his body was blasted apart.

The little lion spat out a large mouthful of purple blood. His body staggered before collapsing onto the ground, his aura dropping by an entire rank.

Enduring the intense pain, Xiao Yan pried himself out of the stone wall and tossed several healing pills into his mouth as though they cost nothing.

The restorative energy contained in the pills spread through his body and, following the circulation of his Dou Qi, rapidly healed his internal injuries.

Moreover, the purple energy from the Amethyst Crystal Source worked together with the medicinal energy, repairing Xiao Yan's muscles and strengthening his bones.

In only a few minutes, more than half of Xiao Yan's injuries had healed.

He glanced at the little lion struggling to get back up and sneered. With a flash, he appeared in front of him.

Then he mounted the little lion and repeatedly rained his fists down on him.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang...

The little lion cried out miserably. In his fury, purple flames suddenly rose from his body as he tried to burn the hateful Xiao Yan to death.

"Just what I wanted!"

Xiao Yan laughed heartily. Purple Flame could not harm him at all.

Circulating the Flame Mantra, he absorbed the Purple Flame. Before long, the little lion discovered in horror that the Purple Flame inside his body was gone.

His strongest attack had failed to injure the thief. The little lion spread his wings and flew unsteadily through the cave, swaying from side to side as he tried to throw Xiao Yan off his back.

Xiao Yan gripped the little lion's brown mane tightly with one hand while continuously striking his body with the other.

After who knew how many punches, the little lion could no longer endure it. He fell from the air and crashed onto the ground, barely clinging to life.

Xiao Yan stood up from the little lion's back. Throwing punch after punch at him had left Xiao Yan utterly exhausted as well.

After calming his violently pounding heart, Xiao Yan looked at the little lion lying on the ground. A pitiful look had actually appeared in the beast's eyes.

The little lion was aggrieved too. He was clearly stronger than his opponent, yet he had run into someone cheating with the Myriad Flame Emperor Body, which restrained all flames.

Xiao Yan rubbed his nose and decided not to kill the little lion.

He had taken the little lion's companion item and beaten him up too. It did seem rather excessive.

"First, I'll find the Purple Spirit Crystal!"

Holding the crystal Yun Yun had given him, Xiao Yan began searching through the cave. He was exceptionally sensitive to temperature.

Following the steadily rising temperature of the crystal in his hand, he entered another stone chamber. His gaze quickly locked onto a large piece of crystal on the ground.

He reached out and knocked on it, discovering that it was hollow underneath. After prying open the large crystal, a powerful purple light shot out, forcing him to hurriedly close his eyes.

Only after the pain in his eyes gradually faded did Xiao Yan slowly open them and look down into the small hole.

Inside lay an irregular purple spirit stone the size of a fist, resting quietly within.

Purple energy flowed across the purple spirit stone, making it extraordinarily beautiful.

Xiao Yan carefully took out the Purple Spirit Crystal. Just as he was about to place it into his storage ring, he heard a whimper behind him.

Turning around, he saw the little lion limping after him. When the little lion saw Xiao Yan taking away the Purple Spirit Crystal he used for cultivation, he immediately cried out anxiously.

Had he not been seriously injured and unable to defeat Xiao Yan, he would have already pounced over to snatch it back.

He raised a front paw and pointed at the Purple Spirit Crystal, then pointed at himself.

That's mine!

Xiao Yan shrugged, put the Purple Spirit Crystal into his ring, and said,

"Little fellow, sorry for the trouble, but someone specifically asked for this."

With that, Xiao Yan turned and headed toward the cave entrance.

As he walked, Xiao Yan discovered that the little lion was actually following behind him.

Xiao Yan turned around, looked at the little lion, and chuckled.

"Little fellow, following me is useless. I won't return the Purple Spirit Crystal to you.

"I have to leave. Once your father comes back, I won't be able to get away."

With that, he began running quickly through the cave and soon reached the entrance. The little lion followed him out as well.

It gave Xiao Yan quite a headache.

"Don't force me to kill you!"

Xiao Yan turned back and said viciously.

The little lion retreated again and again in fright, but stubbornly refused to flee.

Seeing this, Xiao Yan's eyes turned as he said, "You can follow me, but you have to become my pet and obey all my orders.

"If you satisfy me, then I might even give you some of the Amethyst Companion Source in my body later.

"If you agree, nod your head. If you don't, turn around and leave."

Third-Rank Magical Beasts already possessed the intelligence of human children, and the little lion was the Amethyst Winged Lion King, so his intelligence was even greater.

Upon hearing that, he nodded.

Xiao Yan was pleased to see him agree. Having a Third-Rank Magical Beast as a pet would be quite impressive.

He walked up to the little lion, stroked his purple mane, and said,

"Then I'll give you a name. You'll be called Little Zi."

The little lion shook his head, clearly dissatisfied with the name.

Xiao Yan patted his lion head and smiled. "It doesn't matter whether you agree or not. From now on, you're called Little Zi."

As he spoke, he took a healing pill from his ring and fed it into Little Zi's mouth.

Little Zi sniffed the pill, which gave off an unusual medicinal fragrance. His purple beast eyes brightened slightly, and he swallowed it in one gulp.

"Hehe, following me will bring you nothing but benefits."

Xiao Yan clapped his hands and leaped toward the foot of the mountain, with Little Zi running after him.

Before long, man and beast returned to the cave.

"You brought the Little Amethyst Winged Lion King back. It will cause many inconveniences for your future cultivation."

Yao Lao's voice came from the ring and echoed in Xiao Yan's mind.

"Teacher, you're afraid of exposing yourself, aren't you?"

Xiao Yan replied through soul transmission, "It's fine. Once matters here are settled, I'll take Little Zi and leave this place. Without his father around, he won't pose any threat to us."

Thinking that Yun Yun might return to the cave to find him, Xiao Yan told Little Zi to hide near the cave.

After waiting in the cave for over an hour, Yun Yun appeared.

There was a trace of weariness on her beautiful face.

When she saw Xiao Yan, a hint of surprise appeared in her eyes.

Xiao Yan took out the Purple Spirit Crystal, handed it to her, and smiled. "I did not fail you!"

"Thank you!"

Yun Yun accepted the Purple Spirit Crystal and said softly.

After that, the two fell silent.

At night, Yun Yun looked at the sleeping Xiao Yan, her expression complicated.

She carefully placed several items beside Xiao Yan.

"I wonder if you'll hate me once you learn who I really am?"

Yun Yun looked at the young man's handsome face and softly sighed. Then she turned and left the cave, becoming a streak of green light beneath the night sky before vanishing beyond the horizon.

And when Yun Yun left, Xiao Yan opened his eyes in the darkness and stared blankly at the cave entrance.