Deep in the ruins of Guanjiangkou, a slender black hound fled for its life through the demon fog, half a bloodstained divine bone clenched between its teeth.
Behind it, three mountain demons trampled the scorched earth, their foul wind already sweeping against its back.
At that moment, Gu Changqing appeared above the battlefield.
He had just recalled his incarnation from Chaoge.
The idle piece that was Bi Gan had already been placed on the board.
Next came his first main quest after ascending to Great Luo.
Find the Heavenly Mandate Hound.
Subdue Xiaotian.
Activate Divine Pet Return.
Gu Changqing had not returned to the Mountain God Temple. Instead, he had come to this old battlefield outside Guanjiangkou.
Yang Jian had once shattered the heavenly net here with his fists, and the Hell Furnace had refined the place afterward.
The mountains had collapsed, and the riverbed had cracked dry.
Charred stumps jutted slantwise from the soil, while shattered Heavenly Soldier armor lay half-buried beneath the ashes.
Deeper within, a faint trace of divine blood left by Yang Jian during his battle still lingered.
Extremely faint.
Extremely well hidden.
Ordinary immortals and gods would have dismissed it as lingering baleful energy from the battlefield.
Yet that slender black hound had followed this very scent all the way here.
Gu Changqing lowered his gaze.
The hound was so thin that little remained but bones. Its fur was matted, and bloody mud filled the gaps between its claws.
Yet it kept the half-piece of divine bone clenched tightly in its jaws, a savage refusal to bow smoldering in its eyes.
The three mountain demons caught up.
One ape demon bared its fangs and reached for the hound's neck.
The hound whipped its head around and bit down on the ape demon's wrist.
Crack!
It actually tore a chunk of flesh from the ape demon's wrist.
"Aaargh!"
The ape demon screamed. Its demonic aura surged, and it kicked the hound flying.
The hound struck a scorched rock, blood spilling from its mouth, yet it still refused to release the divine bone.
The other two mountain demons closed in.
Deep within the ruins, a much larger mass of demonic aura stirred slightly, seemingly urging them to seize the bone.
Gu Changqing did not rush to act.
The first piece in the Divine Pet Return module had to be worthy of fortune.
He flicked a fingertip.
A piece of flesh rich in spiritual energy landed three paces before the hound.
The scent of meat spread.
The three mountain demons' eyes instantly turned red.
The hound was also so hungry that its forepaws trembled, and a stifled whimper rose in its throat.
Yet after a single glance, it forced its head aside.
Its nostrils kept twitching.
All its attention remained fixed on the lingering trace of divine blood in the deepest part of the ruins.
A hint of interest appeared in Gu Changqing's eyes.
He raised his hand again and sent out a hundred-year-old Vermilion Fruit.
The Vermilion Fruit glowed with a gentle spiritual radiance.
If an ordinary beast ate it, it would at least cleanse its turbid energy and reach the threshold of spiritual awakening.
The hound stared at the Vermilion Fruit, drool dripping from the corners of its mouth.
It was almost at its limit.
Yet a few breaths later, its hind paws shifted half a step back across the scorched earth, and it forcibly turned its head away.
Food had never been the only thing it sought.
Gu Changqing finally understood.
This hound's bloodline was weak, but it concealed an exceedingly rare gift.
It could distinguish divine blood.
It could trace lingering causes.
Amid countless chaotic scents, it could cling to the traces left by the battle master it was destined to serve.
In its original fate, it would have found its immortal destiny at Guanjiangkou and been subdued by Yang Jian, later accompanying True Lord Erlang, the Manifest Sage, in his campaigns across the Three Realms.
Now Yang Jian's course of fate had changed.
This Heavenly Mandate Hound's opportunity should unfold in a different way as well.
"An uncut jade buried in dust."
Gu Changqing took a step and landed before the hound.
The three mountain demons stiffened.
They had not even seen who had arrived. They only felt an invisible pressure force every wisp of their demonic aura back into their bodies.
The hound abruptly raised its head, a low growl rumbling in its throat.
It was wary.
But it did not flee.
There was not the slightest killing intent in the blue-robed Daoist before it.
There was even an aura that made its bloodline tremble.
Gu Changqing raised his hand.
A dark-gold blood seal condensed at his fingertip.
It was not a complete drop of his source blood essence, but a Fortune Blood Seal he had condensed through his primordial chaos god-demon body.
It contained Great Luo Dao resonance, along with three god-demon auras: strength, causality, and illusion-piercing.
The moment the blood seal appeared, the hound began trembling violently.
Within this blood seal, it sensed a source of a higher order.
That aura encompassed the sharpness in Yang Jian's lingering blood, yet was countless times stronger than the divine blood it had been pursuing.
Gu Changqing spoke calmly.
"Come with me."
"I will give you a path that lets you bite through the Three Realms."
The hound stared at him.
The next moment, it released the divine bone from its mouth and lowered its forepaws to the ground.
A faint wisp of life flame voluntarily drifted from between its brows and floated before Gu Changqing's palm.
This was a beast's most absolute form of submission.
Once it surrendered its life flame, its life and death rested on a single thought.
Gu Changqing tapped his fingertip.
The dark-gold blood seal sank into the hound's brow.
Boom!
A deep rumble instantly erupted within the hound.
Its dried-out fur fell away inch by inch, its bones grew anew, and its flesh rapidly filled out.
Its once-scrawny body kept growing taller within the dark-gold flames.
Its claws sharpened.
Its canine teeth gleamed coldly.
A new coat of black fur grew over its body, deep as ink, every strand carrying a cold metallic sheen.
The three mountain demons staggered backward in terror.
But before they could flee, the hound abruptly opened its eyes.
Sshk!
A fine dark-gold mark emerged between its brows.
Before that mark had truly opened, vast swaths of the surrounding demon fog had already been pierced clear.
The hound took a step forward.
It used no spell whatsoever.
It merely pounced.
The ape demon at the front did not even have time to scream before its throat was bitten through.
The second mountain demon turned to flee.
A black shadow flashed past.
Half its demonic body was torn apart, and demon blood splattered across the scorched earth.
The third mountain demon fell to its knees and begged for mercy.
The hound growled. The dark-gold mark on its brow glimmered, and it saw straight through to the earth-vein demon seal entwined within the demon's body.
Gu Changqing's gaze shifted slightly.
Its Eye of Illusory Truth-Piercing had not awakened, yet its rudiments were already taking shape.
The hound did not pounce again.
It returned to Gu Changqing and bowed its head to the ground three times.
Looking at the black divine hound before him, Gu Changqing spoke slowly.
"From this day onward, your name is Xiaotian."
The moment he finished speaking, a system notification sounded.
[Ding! Congratulations, host, on successfully subduing the Heavenly Mandate Hound: Xiaotian!] [Divine Pet Return module activated!] [Divine pet name: Xiaotian] [Divine pet rank: early Heavenly Immortal] [Bloodline status: initial fusion with the primordial chaos blood seal complete; three major potentials awakening] [Divine ability potentials: Eye of Illusory Truth-Piercing, God-Devouring Fangs, Causal Trace, Fate Lock] [Return rules: gains from the divine pet's cultivation, devouring, and advancement can grant the host a critical hit return of up to a hundred thousandfold!]
Gu Changqing looked at the system panel and nodded in satisfaction.
A hundred-thousandfold Divine Pet Return.
Once this hound matured, its value would certainly rival that of a Heavenly Mandate disciple.
Just then, Xiaotian suddenly turned and gave a deep roar toward the depths of the ruins.
The dark-gold mark on its brow warmed slightly.
Beneath the earth vein, an enormous mass of demonic aura churned.
A half-step Golden Immortal Spirit-Devouring Demon King lurked there.
He had gained intelligence through the baleful remnants of Yang Jian's battle, then seized Guanjiangkou's damaged spiritual vein and refined these ruins into a demon lair.
The three mountain demons had been acting on his orders, sent to seize the remnant divine blood bone in Xiaotian's mouth.
Rumble!
The ground split open.
Black demon fog gushed from the fissure.
A cold, sinister voice rose from the depths of the earth vein.
"What wandering Daoist dares steal the blood meal this king has set his sights on?"
Xiaotian crouched low, slowly baring its canine teeth.
Within its body, its still-unawakened God-Devouring Fangs grew faintly hot, stimulated by the Demon King's source energy.
If it could tear out his Demon Core, its first divine ability would have a chance to awaken ahead of time.
Gu Changqing lowered his eyes and glanced at it.
"Want to bite him?"
Xiaotian answered with a low growl.
Gu Changqing looked up toward the split earth vein, his expression calm.
"Perfect."
"We'll use this Demon King to hone your God-Devouring Fangs."