You must be my master

The atmosphere fell into silence for a moment.

Stunned—not only were the surrounding spectator spirit beasts dumbfounded, but even the "tool beast" itself froze in place.

What... just happened?

Why did I instinctively kneel on the ground like that?

To be honest, the sight of a massive spirit beast kneeling before you was quite dramatic.

Especially when this very beast had been wearing an arrogant expression just moments ago.

Qin Luo took a closer look at the spirit beast.

Aside from its snow-white fur and the strange scales covering its body, it also had a pair of translucent horns on its head, wreathed in faint wisps of cold air.

Horns?

Interesting.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

Qin Luo blinked, and suddenly, an image flashed through his mind.

It was that peculiar little pet by Su Muwan's side during his previous journey to the primordial world—a journey he had taken through a realistic dream conjured by the bronze cauldron.

Xiaobai.

For some reason, Qin Luo thought of that strange-looking little cat.

Huh?

What a coincidence.

Could that cat still be alive after all this time?

How did it survive?

Qin Luo quickly ran a mental calculation.

In an instant, a scene unfolded in his mind.

["Immortal Su!! What do you think you're doing?!"]

["Do you have any idea how many will die if you start the Immortal-Demon War?! Come back with us now!! Let the Immortal Court’s Tribunal decide your punishment!!"]

["Tch. How tiresome."]

[Splat!]

["!! Su Muwan!! You vile woman!! You just killed an Immortal King!! This is treason!! Immortal Su is betraying the Celestial Court!!"]

["Sniff... Master... why would you do this...?"]

["Hmph. Since when do I, Su Muwan, need others to tell me how to act?"]

Qin Luo blinked again.

Good news—this really was the same Xiaobai from back then.

Bad news—Su Muwan was once again the villain.

The Immortal-Demon War... the shattering of both the Immortal and Demon Realms...

It seemed Su Muwan was the catalyst for it all.

But...

Huh?

How was she connected to this?

Wasn’t she just the female lead of a minor world?

Qin Luo couldn’t make sense of it.

Could it be because of the bronze cauldron??

If so, that thing was even more ridiculously overpowered than he thought.

It could alter the course of the greater cosmos?

Returning to the present...

Su Muwan looked down at the spirit beast prostrating before her and snorted. "Would’ve been easier if you’d just done this from the start."

The snow-white spirit beast seemed to snap out of its daze.

Instantly, shame and fury overtook it. It scrambled to its feet, baring its fangs at Su Muwan. "Human! Don’t get too full of yourself!"

"This Sovereign merely—"

Before it could finish—

"Sit!"

Su Muwan barked.

Whoosh!

"Wahh... (╥﹏╥)"

The spirit beast immediately dropped back into a submissive crouch.

It was bewildered.

Why was this happening?

Why was it obeying this woman’s commands?

Once was bad enough, but now it had reflexively complied a second time!

Aside from its true master, no one should be able to—... Wait.

As the realization dawned, the spirit beast’s eyes widened in shock as it stared at Su Muwan.

It had noticed the resemblance earlier—Su Muwan looked strikingly similar to its master.

But it hadn’t dwelled on it. Now, however, this instinctive obedience... this soul-deep compulsion...

Could it be?!

At this thought, the spirit beast’s pupils constricted into icy-blue slits.

Su Muwan’s haughty gaze—the way she looked at others as if they were mere trash—

Perfectly overlapped with a figure buried deep in its memories.

"...Master...?"

It murmured, as if seeking final confirmation.

"Hey, hey—I told you not to bare your fangs at—... Huh?"

Su Muwan had been about to scold it again, but then she noticed the spirit beast trembling violently.

Two frozen tears rolled from its eyes.

She recoiled in alarm. "Qin Luo! Why is this thing crying?!"

The next moment—

Huummm—

A blinding light erupted from the spirit beast’s body as the power of divine laws surged like a tidal wave, churning the sea of clouds.

When the spectacle faded...

"MASTER!!"

A silver-bell-like wail pierced the heavens.

As the radiance dissipated, a silver-haired girl stood before Qin Luo and Su Muwan.

"Waaahh!!"

She lunged at Su Muwan like a fledgling bird returning to its nest. "I missed you so much!!!"

Splat!

Su Muwan sidestepped, and the girl faceplanted onto the clouds.

...What?

What was going on?!

Even Su Muwan was stunned. "Who the hell are you?!"

Then it hit her.

She whirled toward Qin Luo, aghast. "Qin Luo! What did you do behind my back?! Who trained her to act like this?!"

Qin Luo’s eye twitched. "Young Mistress, what are you talking about? This is your pet."

"No way! I don’t remember raising something this big—... Wait, is she even human?"

"Xiaobai. Remember her?"

"Xiaobai?"

"That cat-like thing that did nothing but gorge on spirit fruits—or even the pits—like a little glutton."

"Oh. That Xiaobai."

Su Muwan finally connected the dots. She stared in disbelief at the silver-haired girl sprawled on the ground.

It was hard to reconcile the image of that chubby little furball with this girl.

Meanwhile, Xiaobai lifted her tear-streaked face, looking up at Su Muwan with watery eyes. "Master! It’s me, Xiaobai!"

"After the Immortal-Demon War, you were hunted down by the other Immortal Sovereigns and vanished!"

"I’ve been waiting for you all this time! The Immortal and Demon Realms shattered, the greater cosmos reshaped itself, and malevolent entities emerged..."

"Three million years... I waited three million years!!"

"And now... I’ve finally found you again! Waaahh!"

She burst into another round of sobbing.

Su Muwan’s lips twitched. "Three million years ago, I wasn’t even born yet..."

Even if her previous experience had been through the bronze cauldron’s time-leap, the whole "Immortal-Demon War" plotline hadn’t even happened yet, right?

"Impossible!"

Xiaobai thrust out her small hand, revealing a frost-patterned mark on its back.

She explained, "This is the contract seal you carved yourself! You said once this mark was made, I’d always be able to sense your presence!"

"Although..."

She wiped her tears. "Even now, this close to you, the seal isn’t reacting at all..."

Su Muwan stared blankly at the frost pattern.

Then she crouched down, rubbed Xiaobai’s hand...

...and opened her palm to reveal a smudge of black grime.

"Look. It came off," she said matter-of-factly.

Xiaobai: ?

Qin Luo also crouched and poked the mark. "So it was just drawn on. No wonder it didn’t do anything."

"But..."

He gave Su Muwan a look of mild disbelief. "Young Mistress, was it really okay to deceive your pet like that?"

Su Muwan coughed. "I probably just thought it’d be fun to tease her... Wait, no!"

She glared at Qin Luo. "I’ve never done anything like this! I refuse to take responsibility for it!"

While Qin Luo and Su Muwan were more or less piecing things together, Xiaobai remained frozen in place.

She stared at her half-erased "contract seal."

So... this wasn’t the real thing?

"No... that can't be... If not, then why would I listen to you?"

"Uh..."

Qin Luo offered an explanation: "Maybe you really have been brainwashed by the young miss."

!!

"Ugh—!"

Xiaobai fainted.