Chapter 660: Silk Slash Red Nine Heads

With the disciples of the Medicine King Sect now managing affairs, Li Fan naturally had little left to worry about.

After spending a month absorbing all the errant Heavenly Fate within the Beast Seed Realm, he finally achieved a transformative breakthrough. Within the Black Bird's Feather, a faint, illusory outline of a newly hatched chick, its feathers yet to sprout, could be vaguely seen. It bore a certain resemblance to Little Black in his youth, yet also possessed subtle differences.

Li Fan closed his eyes. The next instant, the entire Beast Seed Realm appeared before him like a shimmering mist. Every scene within it, down to the minutest detail, was instantly discernible to him. However, Li Fan also noticed that areas around Fang Zaiji and Liu San, both Integration-Dao powerhouses, exhibited a certain degree of light and shadow distortion, rendering them indistinct. This occurred even though they had sensed Li Fan's observation and hadn't attempted to conceal themselves.

“In the Profound Yellow Realm, the influence of an Integration-Dao powerhouse extends nearly across an entire province. Yet, in this minor world, an Integration-Dao cultivator can already contend with the world itself. This is an innate disparity in power,” Li Fan mused, gaining insight.

With a slight shift in thought, he took a step, instantly traversing countless miles, appearing by a clear pool atop a mountain. Earlier, when he and Fang Zaiji were sweeping through the Beast Seed Realm, they had passed this very mountain. Yet, surprisingly, they hadn't discovered the pool at its summit. It was only after he had fully mastered the world's Heavenly Fate that he became aware of the anomaly here.

By the pool, there was a wooden house. Li Fan pushed open the wooden door and walked in. Inside the room, a Black Bird, its feathers having lost their luster, stood with its head held high. Though it still appeared magnificent, it had already lost all signs of life.

“Little Black…” Li Fan instantly recognized the Black Bird.

“Is this… death from natural causes?”

After observing for a moment, Li Fan couldn't help but fall silent. Even though its lifespan far exceeded that of cultivators, having lived from ancient times until the present, this Heavenly Fated Black Bird had finally reached the end of its life.

However, Li Fan soon detected something amiss. Logically, Little Qing was an exotic beast from the same era as Little Black, and the Azure Luan Bird's strength was far inferior to that of the Heavenly Fated Black Bird. Not to mention, Little Black had already integrated with this world's Heavenly Fate. It made no sense for Little Qing to still be alive and well, while Little Black had already perished.

“Could it be that Little Black, for some reason, significantly depleted its lifespan?”

Li Fan narrowed his eyes. Activating the 'Heavenly Fate is With Me' divine ability, with the Heavenly Fate domain protecting him, Li Fan gently touched the Black Bird's corpse.

“Whoosh!”

As if a gentle breeze had swept past, Little Black's corpse instantly transformed into countless minuscule particles, dissipating without a trace. Concurrently, countless hazy scenes flickered through Li Fan's mind.

Initially, these memories were largely similar to Li Fan’s experiences within the Immortalfall Realm: his happy growth alongside Xu Ke in the Beast Taming Sect, the encounter with Mr. Bai breaking into the mountain gate, and subsequently being dispatched to the Southern Nether Sacred Beast Mountain. Ultimately, after failing the 'Concentric Ring' trial, he was banished here by Di Sanmo. The distinction was that, in the actual timeline, Little Black failed to capitalize on the opportunity to meet Mr. Bai. Without the True Profound Fortune Art, he could only cultivate relying on the innate divine abilities encoded in his bloodline after arriving in this minor world.

Although he had endured countless ages and barely attained the 'Heavenly Fate is With Me' divine ability, he had also become inextricably linked to the fate of this world. While leaving this world was not entirely impossible, it would demand an exorbitant price. However, as long as he didn't depart from his home world too frequently, or continually replenished himself with Heavenly Fate upon his return, he wouldn't easily suffer fatal damage.

Yet, Little Black did precisely that.

This was because…

Li Fan sorted through and examined Little Black's memories after coming to the Beast Seed Realm. In the beginning, to prevent Little Black from feeling lonely, Xu Ke would frequently send messages, recounting his experiences and observations.

“Little Black, you wouldn’t believe how incredibly thrilling this journey has been! Not only did I encounter numerous peculiar minor worlds, but I was also pursued by demonic beasts!”

“Ah, at first, we thought someone had spilled the beans. Later, we discovered it was purely bad luck; we collided with a pack of demonic beasts that, for some unknown reason, were also present in that minor world. We struck first, but ultimately one demonic beast escaped, leading to the exposure of our planned retreat.”

“Fortunately, we’re almost at our destination!”

“Little Black, Little Black! Do you remember Mr. Bai? I originally thought he was already powerful, but I never imagined he’d be even stronger than I thought! A group of fellow disciples and I were ordered to explore a minor world, and we unexpectedly encountered an incredibly terrifying monster!”

“Nine heads, an utterly colossal body looming in the sky! Each gaping maw seemed capable of ripping and devouring a part of the world!”

“I honestly thought I was dead for sure! That I would never see you again, Little Black!”

“But before I left the Profound Yellow Realm, Senior Brother Lu Ya gave me a red string woven by Mr. Bai. Just as that nine-headed monstrous bird fixed its gaze on me, a fine thread shot out from the red string!”

“Before I could even react, the red thread, like a sharp sword, tore through the air. In an instant, it severed six of that monstrous bird's heads!”

“What’s more, the red string hadn’t dispersed; it remained intact and literally dragged the monster down from the sky!”

“I was utterly dumbfounded! Mr. Bai is truly incredibly powerful!”

“Little Black, I've received an extremely important mission, and I might not be able to communicate with you for a very long time.”

“I’m truly sorry. But don’t worry, it’ll be fine once I return!”

“Little Black, tell me, why are cultivators, who were originally humans, so cruel to their own kind once they embark on the path of cultivation?”

Scene after scene flashed rapidly before Li Fan’s eyes. Li Fan thus realized that Xu Ke had once visited the Beast Seed Realm and met Little Black. At that time, Xu Ke had grown into a dashing and valiant youth. Master and servant reunited, chatting for a long time by the clear pool atop the mountain.

Later, Xu Ke ultimately came and left in haste. Little Black had originally wished to follow Xu Ke, but firstly, the prohibition set by Di Sanmo was still active, and secondly, Xu Ke warned that a great upheaval was occurring outside, making it dangerous for Little Black to accompany him. He instructed Little Black to remain there, promising to return for him when the time was right.

After parting, the two communicated several more times. However, the intervals between each communication grew progressively longer, and Xu Ke’s growth was evident from the tone and content of their exchanges.

Until one day…

Little Black suddenly lost his sense of Xu Ke. As Xu Ke’s companion spirit beast, even though their master-servant relationship had ceased to exist, a profound connection still lingered between them. Even if separated by vast distances, even across multiple worlds, Little Black could faintly sense Xu Ke’s existence.

And now that this loss of connection occurred, there was only one possibility: That Xu Ke was dead.