It's a deal.

Could it be...

He hurriedly walked inside.

Beside him, Jiang Youfu and Liu Yunan, not understanding what was going on, followed him in.

As soon as Lin Xiao lifted the straw curtain, he saw Little Luan, who had grown a full size larger, about to kick the wild pheasant on the ground awake with its claw out of sheer impatience.

With its claw raised mid-air right above Da Tao's face, Little Luan saw Lin Xiao lift the curtain and blinked its small chicken eyes innocently.

"Cluck?"

Seeing its readiness to abuse the other chicken, Lin Xiao felt a bit helpless. He pointed at the wild pheasant on the ground, which had already reached the first layer of Spirit Opening, and asked:

"Is this your disciple?"

Little Luan immediately retracted its claw, stood up straight, and patted its chicken breast with its wing with great pride:

"That's right, cluck! This is my disciple! I gave it a new name, Da Tao! You can just call it Da Tao from now on."

Jiang Youfu, standing beside Lin Xiao, poked his head over and saw Little Luan, looking very surprised:

"Little Luan, you're actually at the fifth layer of Spirit Opening! You have the same cultivation level as me now. You cultivate way too fast!"

Meanwhile, Liu Yunan, who initially only felt that he couldn't see through Little Luan's cultivation, was also shocked upon hearing what Fuzi said:

"What?! Little Luan is already at the fifth layer of Spirit Opening?"

Didn't that mean it was higher than him? He was only at the fourth layer of Qi Refining, and it would still be some time before he reached the fifth layer.

Hearing Jiang Youfu's words, Little Luan was also very surprised:

"Cluck, cluck, cluck?!"

What? It was actually at the fifth layer of Spirit Opening?

It immediately spun around in place to examine itself.

No wonder it had grown so much bigger and felt so much stronger!

Looking at Little Luan, who had just realized it had advanced, Lin Xiao pointed at Da Tao on the ground again and asked:

"This disciple of yours, alright, Da Tao, it's at the first layer of Spirit Opening, did you know?"

"Cluck?" Little Luan raised a wing to scratch its head and turned to look at Da Tao on the ground. Only then did the careless chicken realize that its disciple seemed to actually have some spiritual energy now.

Its eyes immediately lit up, and with one kick, it woke the still-sleeping Da Tao.

"Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck!"

Kicked awake, Da Tao woke up with a bewildered look on its face. It shivered as it looked at the terrifying big chicken in front of it and the three humans outside the curtain, completely oblivious to the fact that this big chicken was its master and what it had just said.

Seeing the rough Little Luan, Lin Xiao felt that Da Tao was a bit pitiful for having acknowledged such a master.

He continued asking Little Luan:

"Did you take them all to eat that bead I gave you yesterday? By the way, where are your other two disciples?"

Hearing the first half of his question, Little Luan nodded and proudly clucked about how it had very generously shared a tiny bit of the delicious bead with them.

But when it heard the second half, tears immediately welled up in Little Luan's small chicken eyes, and it cried and complained to Lin Xiao with clucks:

"Their bodies were too weak. They went to sleep and then they were gone! I buried them outside." As it spoke, it pointed its wing to the right side of the thatched shed.

Lin Xiao: ...

So, those two pitiful wild pheasants had died from overeating because they consumed the monster core of a Tongyuan stage demonic beast while only being ordinary chickens...

Looking at Little Luan, who had recovered after being sad for only a few seconds, Lin Xiao decided it was best not to tell it this tragic truth.

He simply instructed Little Luan:

"That bead I gave you... eat less of it at a time. Don't eat it too frequently, eat it slowly, understand? As for your disciple Da Tao, don't give it any more for now."

If it ate any more, it would be gone too.

Lin Xiao guessed that the reason Da Tao was able to survive was probably because Little Luan hadn't distributed the fragments evenly among the three of them, and Da Tao had eaten the least, thus surviving by sheer luck.

As for why he didn't think Da Tao survived due to outstanding talent or bloodline...

These three wild chickens had been cultivating with Little Luan every day in the sect, which was so rich in spiritual energy, yet they hadn't made any progress for so long. One didn't even need to think to know that they were definitely just very ordinary wild pheasants.

Listening to Lin Xiao's instructions, Little Luan tilted its head, thought for a moment, and then nodded.

It didn't understand why Lin Xiao said this, but it knew that this delicious bead was given by Lin Xiao, so it would listen to him.

Seeing it agree, Lin Xiao finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He had been careless this time, actually causing Little Luan to lose two disciples. Fortunately, Little Luan hadn't recklessly swallowed the entire monster core in one gulp, otherwise, it would probably have followed in the footsteps of its disciples...

He also blamed himself for not asking Senior Liao clearly back then about how to feed it to demonic beasts. Senior Liao probably thought he would use the monster core for weapon forging or alchemy.

Looking at Da Tao, who was still lying on the ground looking silly, and Little Luan, who had started to show off its masterly prestige and discipline its disciple again, Lin Xiao thought to himself that it seemed he should look through that Synthesis Formula for Demonic Beast Cultivation Grounds.

He felt a bit guilty in his heart; he seemed to have neglected Little Luan too much.

Although it was just a wild pheasant, it was also a part of their sect.

He gently stroked Little Luan's small chicken head twice and said softly:

"When I have time in a couple of days, I'll build a suitable place for you and Da Tao to live."

Hearing that they could have a new place to live, Little Luan raised its head and looked at him with great surprise and joy:

"Cluck, cluck, cluck!"

Lin Xiao smiled and nodded, saying:

"Yes, it's a promise."

Da Tao, who had finally managed to sober up a bit, finally recognized that this chicken, which had grown much larger, was its master. Then it discovered that it could actually understand what its master and this human were saying?

How magical.

At this moment, a strong light suddenly flashed past outside, followed by a startling clap of thunder exploding in the sky.

The humidity in the air suddenly became heavier and heavier.

The sudden thunder scared Jiang Youfu so much that his cheeks trembled twice.

Da Tao even shuddered and shrank under its master, burying its head, not daring to look outside.

Little Luan looked at Da Tao, who was hiding under its crotch and shivering. It decisively lowered its head, grabbed Da Tao's trembling cockscomb in its beak, and dragged it out from under its crotch.

"Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck!"

Useless! What's there to be afraid of just from a little thunder!

But Da Tao still tried to burrow into its embrace out of fear.

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

"It's going to rain soon, so we'll head down the mountain first. It's best if you sleep on the straw mats tonight. If the rain gets too heavy and it's hard to stay in this thatched shed, go over to the mountain residence and find Senior Liao or Mo Yuanjiao and the others, understand?"

While shooing away its timid disciple who insisted on burrowing into its embrace, Little Luan nodded to Lin Xiao and the other two, saying:

"Got it, got it, you guys hurry up and go."

It had to teach its disciple!

So, Lin Xiao and the other two bid farewell to the master-disciple chicken duo and went down the mountain to return home.

As soon as they arrived home, another streak of lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a booming clap of thunder exploding in the air.

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

The villagers huddled inside their houses, waiting to welcome this first heavy rain of the Grain Full solar term.