Chapter 601

Chapter 601: The Unicorn Snake

A thunderous roar echoed throughout Hidden Spirit Island.

Everyone watched as a flash of lightning streaked into the distance, vanishing into the horizon in an instant.

“He’s much faster now than when I first saw him,” Xu Fan joked.

“Well, he’s in a hurry to see his wife and kid,” Spirit Cut chuckled beside him.

When Spirit Cut arrived, Xu Fan was in the middle of making a heavenly path oath.

“You see, once you have a family, whether you’re human or beast, you can’t help but be tied down,” Xu Fan mused.

“So that’s why you convinced them to come here,” Spirit Cut teased, laughing.

“I did it for his own good. Otherwise, a widow and her child would be left in a pitiful state,” Xu Fan said with a smile.

“Calling a beast king a ‘widow’ doesn’t quite fit, does it?”

“The Qing Bird Clan might not be among the Top Powerful Families, but their leader is strong, almost at the level of a half-step Invincible Beast King.”

“With that kind of power, bullying a fellow clan member carrying an interspecies child is child’s play.”

Xu Fan waved his hand, pulling up information about the Qing Bird Clan.

“Grand Elder, I didn’t realize your influence reached that far.”

Spirit Cut glanced at the timestamp on the data; the latest update was from just half a month ago.

“It’s not that impressive. I just got the information from Ning Dao. They can now connect directly to the Elder Council headquarters.”

Xu Fan pointed to a message on the light curtain.

“The Third Grand Elder of the Qing Bird Clan is carrying an interspecies child, which has caused unrest within the clan.”

“This news alone has likely sped up the Swift Thunder Beast Sovereign by at least thirty percent.”

Hearing this, Spirit Cut began to do the math.

“Jade Light Beast King, Clean Feather Beast King, Rain Goose Beast King, Swift Thunder Beast Sovereign, Wind Thunder Beast Sovereign, plus me and that Great Ascension stage puppet—our Hidden Spirit Sect now has seven respected elder-level fighting strengths,” Spirit Cut said, sounding impressed with himself.

“Did you know? The Qianling Sect has three Grand Elders and three Great Ascension stage elders, all promoted within the last thousand years.”

“In terms of fighting strength, you could take on all three of them single-handedly.”

“Don’t let the number of beast kings in our Hidden Spirit Sect fool you. Aside from those two Thunder Birds, the rest are mostly for show. At best, they can pilot a Star Ship.”

“If a real fight broke out, they’d just be cannon fodder,” Xu Fan explained.

“Except for those two Thunder Birds?” Spirit Cut asked, raising an eyebrow at Xu Fan.

Sensing the skepticism in Spirit Cut’s tone, Xu Fan gave him a puzzled look.

“Except for those two Thunder Birds!” Spirit Cut repeated, emphasizing his point.

Finally, Xu Fan caught on.

“I’m talking about beast kings. Why are you, a respected elder, getting involved?”

“With celestial being artifacts, you’d outmatch those two Thunder Birds anyway,” Xu Fan said without hesitation.

“Celestial being artifacts!”

A sharp thorn pierced deeply into Spirit Cut’s heart.

“Well, I’m pretty accurate when it comes to judging fighting strength. If you don’t use a celestial tool, the best you can hope for is a draw,” Xu Fan said tactfully.

“Grand Elder, do you really think my fighting strength is that weak?” Spirit Cut asked.

“Let me put it this way.”

Xu Fan waved his hand and drew a long line. One end represented an ordinary cultivator who had just reached the Great Ascension stage, and the other end represented an invincible respected elder.

Spirit Cut understood the line.

“Are you trying to show me where I stand?” Spirit Cut said.

Xu Fan nodded and pointed to a spot about two-fifths of the way between an ordinary respected elder and an invincible respected elder.

After a moment of thought, he moved his finger slightly closer to the invincible respected elder.

“Is my strength really only this much?”

Spirit Cut looked at where Xu Fan was pointing, his voice tinged with disappointment.

“If you use a celestial tool, your strength would be here,” Xu Fan said, moving his finger to the halfway point.

Spirit Cut stared at Xu Fan’s finger, which still didn’t quite reach the midpoint, and thought to himself:

This character is a lost cause. Time to start over.

“Grand Elder, I’m going back to practice the spiritual re-cultivation technique,” Spirit Cut said, transforming into a streak of blood light and flying toward his cave.

“Not everyone can handle the harsh truth,” Xu Fan said, watching the blood light disappear.

As Xu Fan was lost in thought, the Cloud Flower Deer bounded over to him.

“Why aren’t you in the Source Realm? What are you doing here?” Xu Fan asked the Cloud Flower Deer with a smile.

“Ying ying~” (I found a poor little beast with no home. Can we take it in?)

The Cloud Flower Deer looked at Xu Fan with big, watery eyes, as if it would burst into tears if he said no.

Xu Fan suddenly felt suspicious. Something was off.

The Cloud Flower Deer had never asked for permission before when bringing home little friends.

“You didn’t kidnap some sacred beast from a holy land, did you? That’s not good,” Xu Fan said patiently.

At that moment, the Cloud Flower Deer turned and pulled a strange-looking little unicorn snake out of thin air. It was about four inches long, with a grayish-yellow body that was oddly cute in its ugliness.

The little unicorn snake seemed dazed by the sudden change of environment. When it saw the Cloud Flower Deer, it hissed and leaped onto the deer’s head.

“Ying ying~” (It’s really just a little beast, living in a small world with no food or water. We should take care of it.)

Xu Fan ignored the Cloud Flower Deer’s plea and instead stared at the oddly cute little snake with a strange expression.

“Grape, check the database. What kind of species is this? I can’t figure it out,” Xu Fan said.

“No data found for this beast,” Grape replied.

“Could it be a new hybrid species?” Xu Fan mused, stroking his chin.

“Little Deer, be honest with me. Does this little beast really have no owner or parents?” Xu Fan asked seriously.

The Cloud Flower Deer nodded solemnly.

“Fine, we’ll take it in. The Hidden Spirit Sect can spare some food and water.”

Xu Fan took out a high-quality spirit feeding pill and held it out to the little unicorn snake.

Even though he didn’t know what kind of snake it was, he could tell it was something special.

The little unicorn snake eyed the spirit feeding pill, swallowed it in one gulp, and then affectionately nuzzled Xu Fan’s finger.

“Alright, you can play with this little snake from now on,” Xu Fan said.

“But if its owner or parents come looking for it, you mustn’t hide it,” Xu Fan warned.

The Cloud Flower Deer nodded happily and bounded off with the little snake.

Xu Fan watched the little snake perched on the Cloud Flower Deer’s head, feeling more and more that something wasn’t right.

“Why do I keep feeling like something’s off?” Xu Fan muttered.

“Never mind. I’ll wait until that little snake grows a bit more to figure out what it is.”

With that, Xu Fan returned to his courtyard to continue his relaxed routine.

The next morning, just as Xu Fan finished his usual cultivation, Grape delivered some bad news.

“The little unicorn snake that the Cloud Flower Deer brought back yesterday has consumed spiritual energy equal to one-thousandth of the Hidden Spirit Sect’s total reserves!”