"It came with me when I was picking the snow lotuses," Hao Ren said.
"Oh…" Zhao Yanzi bit her lip and gazed at the snow lion before her.
With its big round eyes, the snow lion stared back at Zhao Yanzi who was sitting on the step.
"It doesn't have a name yet," Hao Ren told her.
Zhao Yanzi glanced at Hao Ren before turning her gaze back to the snow lion. "Call it Little White."
With eyes still moist and nose still red, she was a picture of despondency.
"Little White!" Hao Ren clapped his hands at the snow lion.
Hearing Hao Ren's words, the snow lion immediately stood up from where it had been sitting before skipping up the steps.
Then, it jumped into Hao Ren's arms. While it was in the air, it turned from its one-meter size into the size of about two palms.
"Grr…" Clinging to Hao Ren's chest, the snow lion cub responded affectionately.
Beside Hao Ren, Zhao Yanzi's eyes lit up.
"Little White!" She called it.
Little White looked at her timidly. Hao Ren patted its little bum, and it joyously jumped into Zhao Yanzi's hands.
"So cute." Carrying fluffy Little White, Zhao Yanzi forgot her apprehension and sadness. She smiled.
Little White rubbed against her palms, and she giggled at the itchiness.
"It's a demon beast. Can you keep it?" With Little White in her hands, Zhao Yanzi asked Hao Ren abruptly.
"What's the difference between demon beasts and spirit beasts?" Hao Ren asked.
"Almost the same. The only difference is that demon beasts are wild and spirit beasts are tamed," Zhao Yanzi answered.
"Then, Little White is a spirit beast. It listens to me," Hao Ren said.
He reached out and touched Little White's head, and Little White rubbed its head against his palm.
"Little White looks quite tamed. Usually, demon beasts are not tamed easily," Zhao Yanzi said.
Hao Ren thought for a while and said, "Su Han said Little White is a Bin Level spirit beast."
In fact, he had not meant to ask her about this stuff, but he was trying to distract her from her sadness.
Sure enough, Zhao Yanzi took the opportunity to show off her knowledge. She explained, "The spirit beasts are divided into four levels; Jia, Yi, Bin, and Ding. Jia Level is the most powerful level, and spirit beasts of the Jia Level are usually mounts of immortals. Yi is the second level, but beasts of this level are very powerful helpers in battles. Spirit beasts of Bin Level such as Little White are more powerful than ordinary spirit beasts and have some talent, but they are no match for real masters. Spirit beasts of the Ding Level have no strong power at all, but their skins are so thick that ordinary cultivation techniques can't harm them. If they launch an attack in a group, an ordinary cultivator is no match for them."
Hao Ren had never imagined that he would tame a spirit beast, but Little White had followed him out willingly. Although it was only a Bin Level spirit beast, Hao Ren was delighted with it.
"From the look of it, Little White should be only half a year old," now familiar with Little White, Zhao Yanzi pinched its little nose and said.
"Half a year?!" Hao Ren was surprised.
"Yeah. If it were not so young, it wouldn't have been so eager for attention or be so obedient." Zhao Yanzi nodded with conviction.
Hao Ren thought about the adult snow lions in the karst cave. Each of them was over three meters tall, and they were not at the most powerful state yet… Hao Ren was excited when he imagined the scenario when the little animal running around his heels turned into a hill-sized snow lion when it was in a battle. "Princess! Fuma!"
At this moment, Premier Xia, with his back bent slightly, was running toward them, panting.
Growl… Little White who had been sitting quietly in Zhao Yanzi's arms suddenly jumped up and turned into its original size, blocking Premier Xia's way.
Startled by the sudden appearance of a demon beast, Premier Xia almost fell to the ground.
"Little White! Don't be rude!" Hao Ren beckoned at it.
Little White hesitated before jumping back into Hao Ren's hands, turning into its miniature version.
Premier Xia steadied his steps and wiped sweat from his forehead. Zhao Yanzi stood up anxiously. "Is it about Third Uncle?"
"Third Lord, Third Lord…" Premier Xia panted and broke his sentence into two parts. Hao Ren began to share Zhao Yanzi's anxiety.
"Third Lord is awake!" Finally, Premier Xia finished his sentence.
Zhao Yanzi was exhilarated at the news. Without thinking, she grabbed Hao Ren's hand and dashed forward.
Little White followed them joyously, thinking they were playing a game of chase.
With his bent back, Premier Xia walked fast. Shortly, he led them into the little palace where Zhao Kuo was resting.
In the room, Zhao Kuo was awake, though his face was still pale. Elder Xingyue sat by the bed, still despondent.
"Third Uncle!" Zhao Yanzi shrugged off Hao Ren's hand and rushed toward Zhao Kuo.
Zhao Guang stopped her immediately. "Your Third Uncle is still weak. You must not disturb him!"
Standing by the bed, Zhao Yanzi was so excited that she burst into tears again.
Hao Ren followed Premier Xia to the bed. Seeing Zhao Yanzi crying her heart out once again, Hao Ren witnessed the sensitive and fragile side of this strong headed girl.
Little white followed Hao Ren into the room and jumped into his arms.
"Snow lion…" Zhao Kuo was surprised to see Little White in Hao Ren's arms.
"Third Uncle, this is Little White." Zhao Yanzi dried her tears and smiled. "Hao Ren brought it with him when he picked snow lotuses for you."
"Did you go to the Snow Lotus Cave in Sky Mountain?" Zhao Kuo stared at Hao Ren in surprise.
"Yeah." Hao Ren nodded slightly.
"Brother, how could you do that? The Snow Lotus Cave is a very dangerous place. How did you let this kid go there and pick snow lotuses?" Zhao Kuo turned to ask Zhao Guang.
"Little Daoist Zhen said it was dangerous, but he didn't mention it was very dangerous." Zhao Guang frowned.
"He doesn't know!" Choking on his words, Zhao Kuo coughed. "One hundred years ago, I broke into the Snow Lotus Cave in Sky Mountain and found the snow lions there each had the power of the Xun Level!"
"Xun Level?" Zhao Guang looked at Hao Ren in astonishment, not understanding how he got the snow lotuses from a group of Xun Level demon beasts.
But Zhao Hongyu nodded appreciatively at the fact that Hao Ren had not mentioned a word about the dangers in the cave. If Zhao Kuo had not brought it up, they would have thought it was an easy trip.
Hao Ren's modesty and disregard for vanity was the style of a master.
"Yeah. At that time, I was only at low-tier Kun Level. To pick a 500-year seven-colored snow lotus, I ventured too deep into the cave and almost couldn't get out intact! The snow lions are very smart; they lured me deep into the cave before surrounding me. Without the help of a treasure, I couldn't have gotten out!" Zhao Kuo said.
Zhao Guang smiled. "To save your life, Ren got six 1,000-year seven-colored snow lotuses!"
Zhao Kuo's bull-like eyes widened as he looked at Hao Ren in astonishment.
Hao Ren smiled faintly. Indeed, the trip to the cave was quite dangerous, but everything ended well for him.
"Kid, I owe you one," Zhao Kuo stared at Hao Ren and said.
"Third Uncle, you are still weak! Don't talk so much!" Zhao Yanzi reminded him in concern.
Meanwhile, her gaze toward Hao Ren looked different.
"Although snow lions are just Bin Level spirit beasts, they are the rare kind with both ice and fire elements. Last time when I broke into the Snow Lotus Cave, they almost burned off half of my eyebrow!" Despite Zhao Yanzi's reminder, Zhao Kuo continued.
"Is Little White that powerful?" Zhao Yanzi's bright eyes blinked with interest.
"The adult snow lions can spit fire, release fire with their paws, and can even condense ice as well. I'm not sure if they possess any other powers." Zhao Kuo said.
Equipped with his great cultivation power, Zhao Kuo had traveled the world and thus knew a lot of things that even Zhao Guang and Zhao Hongyu didn't know, not to mention Zhao Yanzi.
Hao Ren looked down at Little White in his arms and imagined it spitting fires in a majestic white body with fiery paws. It would be an awe-inspiring sight! However, Little White was now wiggling in his arms, looking nothing like he had imagined.
Opening the hidden space in the necklace, Hao Ren put the cub inside. There was a Water Repellent Bead in the space, and Little White began to play with it as soon as it landed.
"Third Uncle, although you didn't pass the Heavenly Tribulation and didn't reach the Heaven Dragon Realm, you are still powerful. Let's go and get some demon beasts as pets!" Zhao Yanzi squatted before the bed and caught Zhao Kuo's hand, pleading cutely.
She was a bit envious of Hao Ren having such a pretty pet. She wanted to have her own demon beast pet.
Zhao Kuo had by now regained some of the colors in his face. Hearing her request, however, his face dimmed.
"Your Third Uncle…" Zhao Guang lowered his voice. "He's alive, but his cultivation strength is gone, including the last one-twentieth of his power."
"Really?" Zhao Yanzi widened her eyes and looked at Zhao Kuo in astonishment.
Zhao Kuo, who had swept across the mortal world unrivaled, had been reduced to a weakling lower than the Kan Level!
"Hahaha…" Lying in bed, Zhao Kuo burst into laughter abruptly.
He struggled to sit up and pointed his hand into the sky. "Sneaky Heaven! Broken Heaven! As long as I have a breath in me, I will fight you to the end!"
His former crazy expression returned while he clenched his fists. "What if I'm now a weakling? What if all my meridians are broken? As long as I'm alive, I will cultivate again to the Qian Level! I, Zhao Kuo, will rewrite the rules of Heaven!!! One day, I'll poke a hole in Heaven!"
Boom!
As if in answer to Zhao Kuo's arrogance, a muffled thunder boomed in the sky above the Dragon Palace at the bottom of the sea.
Zhao Guang sighed slightly. "Brother, rest. As to your cultivation, we'll talk about it later. Elder Xingyue, please take care of Elder Zhao. The rest of you come out with me."
"Yes. Your Majesty," Xingyue answered with a bow of her head.
When they were outside, Zhao Guang thought for a while before saying, "Remember, we tell the people outside that Elder Zhao has successfully passed the Heavenly Tribulation. Elder Sun, you take Ren back on land. Zi will stay here for a few days to keep her Third Uncle company."