It's a Deal

It can't be...

He hurried inside.

Jiang Youfu and Liu Yunan, who were standing nearby, were also confused and followed along.

As soon as Lin Xiao lifted the straw curtain, he saw that the Xiaoluan, which had grown larger, was impatiently trying to kick the wild pheasant on the ground with its chicken claws.

The Xiaoluan, its chicken claws already raised in mid-air and hovering over the Big Peach's face, blinked its innocent little chicken eyes when it saw Lin Xiao lift the straw curtain.

"Huh?"

Seeing its prelude to abusing the chicken, Lin Xiao sighed helplessly and pointed to the wild pheasant on the ground, which had already Spirit Awakening First Layer, and asked it:

"Is this your apprentice?"

Xiaoluan immediately put away her chicken feet and stood up straight, proudly patting her chicken breast with her chicken wing and saying:

"That's right! This is my apprentice! I gave it a new name, Big Peach! You can just call it Big Peach from now on."

Jiang Youfu, standing next to Lin Xiao, peeked over and saw Xiaoluan, and was quite surprised:

"Xiaoluan, you've actually Spirit Awakening Fifth Layer! You're at the same cultivation level as me! Your cultivation has progressed way too fast!"

Liu Yunan, who was standing to the side, initially felt that he couldn't see through Xiaoluan's cultivation level, and he was also very shocked when he heard Fuzi say this:

"What?! Xiaoluan has already Spirit Awakening Fifth Layer?"

Wouldn't that be higher than him? He's only at the Fourth Layer of Qi Refinement now, and it will still be some time before he reaches the Qi Refining Fifth Layer.

Xiaoluan was also very surprised to hear Jiang Youfu's words:

"Giggle?!"

What? I've actually Spirit Awakening Fifth Layer?

It immediately spun around in place and looked itself over.

No wonder it got so big and felt stronger!

Looking at Xiaoluan, who had just realized she had been promoted, Lin Xiao pointed to the Big Peach on the ground and asked it:

"Your disciple, well, Big Peach, it's Spirit Awakening First Layer, did you know that?"

"Huh?" Xiaoluan raised a chicken wing, scratched its head, and turned to look at the Big Peach on the ground. Only then did it realize that its careless apprentice seemed to actually have some Spiritual Power?

Its eyes immediately lit up, and it kicked the sleeping Big Peach awake with a single paw.

"Giggle giggle giggle!"

Kicked awake, Peach woke up in a daze, trembling at the sight of the terrifying Big Peach chicken in front of her and the three humans outside the curtain. She didn't even notice that the giant chicken was her master and what he had just said to her.

Looking at the rough and unruly Xiaoluan, Lin Xiao felt sorry for Big Peach, who had ended up having such a master.

He continued to ask Xiaoluan:

"Did you eat the bead I gave you yesterday, along with them? Oh, and you have two apprentices too?"

Upon hearing the first part of his question, Xiaoluan nodded and proudly told everyone how generously she had shared a little bit of her delicious beads with them.

Upon hearing the second half of the sentence, Xiaoluan's little eyes immediately welled up with tears, and it clucked and sobbed to Lin Xiao:

"They were both in such poor health, they just fell asleep and died! I buried them outside." As it spoke, it pointed with its chicken wing to the right side of the straw shed.

Lin Xiao:...

So, those two poor wild pheasants died from overeating because they ate the demon core of Tongyuan Stage Demon Beast while they were just ordinary chickens...?

Looking at Xiaoluan, who had recovered from her sadness in just a few seconds, Lin Xiao decided it was better not to tell her the tragic truth.

He simply instructed Xiaoluan:

"The bead I gave you... eat it in small amounts at a time, don't eat it too frequently, eat it slowly, understand? As for your apprentice, Big Peach, don't give it any more food for now."

Even if we eat more, it will all be gone.

Lin Xiao guessed that the reason why Big Peach was able to survive was probably because Xiaoluan did not distribute the pieces evenly among the three of them, Big Peach ate the least, so it was lucky to survive.

As for why I don't think Big Peach survived because of its superior talent or bloodline...

These three pheasants have been cultivating with Xiaoluan every day in a Spiritual Qi with such abundant spiritual energy, yet they haven't made any progress after all this time. It's obvious that they must be just ordinary wild pheasants.

After listening to Lin Xiao's instructions, Xiaoluan tilted her head and thought for a while before nodding.

It didn't understand why Lin Xiao said that, but it knew that the delicious beads were given to it by Lin Xiao, so it listened to him.

Lin Xiao breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it agree.

This time he was careless, causing Xiaoluan to lose two disciples. Fortunately, Xiaoluan didn't recklessly swallow the demon core, otherwise Xiaoluan would probably have followed in her disciples' footsteps...

It's also his fault for not asking Senior Liao clearly how to feed it to Demon Beast. Senior Liao probably thought he would use the demon core for refining weapons and pills.

Looking at Big Peach, who was still lying on the ground with a silly look on her face, and Xiaoluan, who was starting to show off her master's authority and scold her disciple again, Lin Xiao thought to himself that he should take a look at the "Demon Beast Cultivation Site Synthesis Formula".

He felt a pang of guilt, realizing he had perhaps neglected Xiaoluan too much.

Although it's just a wild pheasant, it's still part of their sect.

He gently stroked Xiao Xiaoluan's little head twice and whispered:

"When I have some free time in a couple of days, I'll build you and Big Peach a suitable place to live."

Upon hearing that she could have a new place to stay, Xiaoluan looked up at him with great surprise:

"Giggle!"

Lin Xiao smiled and nodded:

"Okay, it's a deal."

Having finally regained some consciousness, Big Peach chicken as her master. Then she discovered that she could actually understand what her master and this human were saying?

That's amazing!

Just then, a bright light flashed by outside, followed by a thunderclap in the air.

The humidity in the air suddenly became increasingly high.

The sudden clap of thunder startled Jiang Youfu so much that his cheeks twitched twice.

Big Peach shuddered and shrank under her master, burying her head and not daring to look outside.

Xiaoluan looked at Big Peach, who was trembling and hiding between its legs, and decisively lowered its head, grabbed Big Peach's trembling comb, and dragged it out from between its legs.

"Giggle giggle giggle!"

What a loser! What's there to be afraid of in a clap of thunder!

Big Peach, however, still fearfully burrowed into its embrace.

Seeing the interaction between the master and disciple, Lin Xiao smiled, stood up, and said to Xiaoluan Luan:

"It's about to rain, so we'll head down the mountain now. You'd better sleep on straw mats tonight. If the rain gets too heavy and it's not comfortable in this straw hut, then go to the mountain dwelling and find Senior Liao or Mo Yuanjiao, understand?"

While shooing away her timid disciple who insisted on snuggling into her arms, Xiaoluan nodded to Lin Xiao and the other two and said:

"Okay, okay, you guys should go now."

It's going to teach its apprentices!

So Lin Xiao and his two companions bid farewell to Xiaoluan and her two apprentices, and went down the mountain to go home.

As soon as they got home, another bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a deafening clap of thunder.

Every household brought out buckets and basins that could hold water and placed them in the yard, then closed their doors and windows tightly.

The villagers huddled in their houses, waiting for the first heavy rain of the Lesser Fullness of Grain (Xiaoman) season.