Chapter 42: Shizun, listen to your disciple’s explanation… Part 2

Feng Xixing was silent for a moment, then said quietly, “I once heard others speak of you.”

Bai Nanyi seemed to find this interesting. “What did they say?”

“…Bai Nanyi, formerly the leader of the Fox Clan in the Demon Realm, once followed the Previous Demon Lord. After the Previous Demon Lord’s soul was extinguished, he… died due to betrayal by his subordinates.” Feng Xixing recited it like a text, his voice utterly devoid of inflection.

These were indeed words he had heard others say, but it was from his previous life, after he had already become the Devil Lord.

At that time, the Devil Realm was flourishing—beneath the Devil Lord were seven Devil Generals, and beneath them were thirteen Devil Kings. But the Devil Realm’s barren resources were nowhere near enough to satisfy the greed of these Devil Creatures, so someone proposed invading the other realms.

Although Feng Xixing wasn’t interested in such matters, he was also too lazy to interfere.

The other realms had all held out for a few years to varying degrees. Only the Demon Realm could be said to have collapsed at the first blow. That Devil General had taken less than half a year to kill the Current Demon Lord.

Afterwards, he had heard that Devil General lamenting to others that if the Demon Realm’s Previous Demon Lord had still been alive, or even if Bai Nanyi had been there, he couldn’t have conquered the Demon Realm so quickly.

According to the timeline that person mentioned, Bai Nanyi should have already been dead for over a decade by now. He just hadn’t expected that not only was Bai Nanyi not dead, but he had actually appeared within the Star Point Sect.

“Betrayal by subordinates?” Bai Nanyi narrowed his eyes slightly.

To whitewash the peace, the current Demon Lord of the Demon Realm had long branded him with the crime of betraying his clan. How, then, had this Human Cultivator learned he was betrayed by his subordinates?

Feng Xixing sensed Bai Nanyi’s suspicion of him but had no intention of explaining. Unwilling to waste any more time with Bai Nanyi, he bowed slightly. “This disciple has urgent matters to attend to. I beg Senior’s forgiveness.”

With that, he moved to walk around Bai Nanyi.

Bai Nanyi, however, let out a light laugh and asked, “If that urgent matter of yours concerns a Little Cat Demon, then there’s no need to rush.”

Feng Xixing’s steps halted. For the first time, he looked up and directly met Bai Nanyi’s gaze, his eyes faintly cold. “What do you mean by that?!”

Having lived for nearly a thousand years, Bai Nanyi had never met a Human Cultivator who dared speak to him like this. If this person weren’t connected to the Little Cat Demon, perhaps he would have felt some appreciation for Feng Xixing.

But the moment he remembered this was the Human Cultivator raising the Little Black Cat, Bai Nanyi instantly found a pile of faults. A cold personality, low cultivation, and an Ice Spiritual Root—he couldn’t even warm the Little Black Cat’s blankets.

“It’s nothing much.” Bai Nanyi looked at Feng Xixing, stepping back two paces to completely block the entrance. “It’s just that if you want to enter Spirit Beast Peak, you must first defeat This Venerable.”

Feng Xixing’s expression darkened, and the look he gave Bai Nanyi held no warmth whatsoever.

Bai Nanyi knew his demand was bullying. Though his realm had fallen due to injury, he was still a Demon Beast at the Soul Condensation Stage. This Human Cultivator, though talented, had been cultivating for far too short a time. If his senses were correct, this man was only at the Golden Core Late Stage.

Golden Core Late Stage against Mid Soul Condensation Stage… what would this Human Cultivator do?

…

Lin Chuyun, meanwhile, had no idea his Little Disciple was being bullied. Early in the morning, he had been squatting at the cave entrance, waiting for Feng Xixing to come pick him up. Yet no matter how long he waited, he saw no sign of his Little Disciple, and the tail behind him was getting tired from wagging.

“I say, your disciple has clearly just forgotten about you,” Feng Wu said with gleeful schadenfreude.

The Little Black Cat instantly bristled, smacking a paw down and swatting the flying Little Red Bird to the ground, pinning him under his paw. “My disciple would never forget me!”

Caught off guard and successfully ambushed, Feng Wu was so angry he spat a flame at the Little Black Cat’s paw. But strangely, the flame landed on the Little Black Cat’s paw and didn’t even singe a single fur.

“Huh?” Feng Wu was stunned. His flame was inherited from the Vermilion Bird! Let alone the paw of a Little Cat Demon, even Demon Beasts a full rank higher than him couldn’t withstand his flame.

Lin Chuyun hadn’t noticed anything he’d done himself. His mind was completely filled with Feng Wu’s words. Could it be that his Little Disciple really had forgotten him?

The Little Black Cat wilted; even his tail had no energy to wag. He released his paw, freeing Feng Wu, and the entire cat silently squatted on the stone, his gaze fixed on the direction of Spirit Beast Peak’s entrance.

“You…” Seeing him like this, Feng Wu’s heart softened a little. “Don’t overthink it. Maybe your disciple just got held up?”

“Held up?” Lin Chuyun was taken aback.

Feng Wu nodded. “Yeah, don’t you remember? That guy Jiang Fengmo is a total Artifact-Refining Maniac.”

Lin Chuyun’s knowledge of Jiang Fengmo was limited to what the original host knew and what was in the book. He knew he was the Peak Master of Spirit Wind Peak and the original host’s Fifth Senior Brother. He also knew this person rarely left Spirit Wind Peak, with Xu Quanfeng handling all external affairs. Beyond that, he knew practically nothing about him.

“Artifact-Refining Maniac, huh…” Lin Chuyun muttered to himself.

If that were the case, his Little Disciple really might have been held up. After all, with the forging materials he had prepared, his Little Disciple’s Spirit Sword would at least be Spirit Tier.

“Then I’ll wait a little longer.” The Little Black Cat lay down, seemingly no longer anxious, though his gaze remained fixed on the entrance.

Feng Wu breathed a sigh of relief inwardly but couldn’t help glancing at the entrance too. What was that guy Feng Xixing doing? If he didn’t come soon and the Little Cat Demon started crying, he wasn’t going to deal with it!

…

“Too weak.” Bai Nanyi shook his head, casually waving a hand to block the incoming Spirit Sword. With a reverse shock of power, he sent Feng Xixing flying back.

Feng Xixing stared at him with icy eyes, his hand unhesitatingly continuing the attack with his Spirit Sword. This was already his one hundred and seventieth attempt. On previous occasions, Bai Nanyi hadn’t even needed to move; he had directly repelled his Sword Qi.

Soul Condensation Stage and Golden Core Stage were indeed too far apart. Even though Feng Xixing’s current ability far exceeded the Golden Core Stage, he was powerless against Bai Nanyi’s realm advantage.

Feng Xixing narrowed his eyes slightly, the killing intent in his heart growing colder. The Spirit Sword seemed to sense its master’s Spiritual Consciousness and trembled gently. Bai Nanyi felt an inexplicable unease in his heart. He frowned slightly and looked up into the Human Cultivator’s eyes.

In that instant, Bai Nanyi found his surroundings changed. He seemed to be back in the Fox Clan’s Forbidden Ground, surrounded by the bodies of Fox Clan guards who had died protecting him. And that traitor stood not far away, staring at him coldly.

Bai Nanyi was immersed in the illusion for only a moment before realizing something was wrong. The next second, he shook his Soul Condensation Stage Demon Power, directly shattering the illusion around him.

Feng Xixing had already charged to his side, just one step away from crossing the boundary into Spirit Beast Peak.

Bai Nanyi inwardly sighed a pity for him, but his hand showed no mercy whatsoever. He raised it, intending to swat Feng Xixing back out.

However, the moment he moved, he sensed something was off. His movement was inexplicably half a beat slower than usual. Because of that half-beat difference, he failed to slap Feng Xixing back, instead accidentally knocking him past the boundary line.

Bai Nanyi spun around swiftly and saw Feng Xixing standing just inside the entrance boundary line, staring at him coldly. He then glanced down at the frost covering his own body and realized why his movements had been slowed.

Because the illusion had been broken and he’d taken a palm strike, a trace of blood trickled from the corner of Feng Xixing’s lips. He gave Bai Nanyi a cold glance, turned around, and was about to head deeper inside, only to be stopped by Bai Nanyi. “Hold it.”

Feng Xixing turned his head, his gaze at Bai Nanyi tinged with a hint of sarcasm. “Is Senior planning to go back on his own words?”

Bai Nanyi rolled his eyes. With a hook of his finger, he pulled Feng Xixing right in front of him. Feng Xixing’s Spirit Sword stabbed out without hesitation, but Bai Nanyi casually swatted it aside.

“Don’t move,” Bai Nanyi said irritably, grabbing Feng Xixing’s wrist with one hand.

Although Bai Nanyi was dissatisfied with this Human Cultivator, he also knew how much the Little Cat Demon liked him. If the Little Cat Demon saw this Human Cultivator injured, he would definitely be sad.

He quickly located the chaotic Demon Qi wreaking havoc inside Feng Xixing’s Qi Sea, crushed it with a single squeeze, and then repaired the damaged Qi Sea.

“Alright, you can go—” Bai Nanyi’s words stopped abruptly. His gaze passed over Feng Xixing’s shoulder and landed not far behind him.

A sudden unease rose in Feng Xixing’s heart. He whipped his head around and saw Feng Wu standing not far away, with a Little Black Cat perched in his palm.

The Little Black Cat was staring blankly at his wrist, the tail that had been wagging halfway frozen stiff. Out of sheer shock, his cat pupils had even rounded further.

Feng Xixing looked at the Little Black Cat, then down at his own wrist. A sudden realization struck him. He quickly broke free from Bai Nanyi’s grip and retreated three steps back, his face showing a rare hint of urgency.

“Shizun, listen to your disciple’s explanation…” Feng Xixing took a step forward, but before he could finish, he saw the Little Black Cat quickly turn around, directly presenting him with his back.

Even the little tail, usually so enthusiastic towards him, hung still and quiet, not moving an inch.