Chapter Fifteen

The white beast lay listlessly on the ground, its breath faint and weak. Sensing his gaze, its eyelids fluttered slightly before drooping shut once more. Its snow-white fur was matted with patches of crimson blood, the stark contrast making the scene all the more shocking.

Shen Luo’s throat tightened, his hands trembling as he carefully examined her wounds.

The poison was vicious and potent, leaving Su Li drifting in and out of consciousness as she lay in his arms.

It wrenched his heart to see her like this.

In his memory, except for the time he’d found her and brought her back, Shen Luo had never seen her injured. A flood of emotions overwhelmed him.

“It’ll be alright soon,” he murmured, gently rubbing her head, making a solemn promise.

His eyes shone with a dark, unwavering light, and, almost instinctively, Su Li nuzzled against his palm.

Most of the pills in his spiritual ring were below the fourth tier, meant to replenish energy and calm the mind. Shen Luo carefully selected a few of the highest quality, feeding them to Su Li and watching her swallow before turning to the three figures in the corner. “Do any of you have an antidote pill?” he asked.

The three shook their heads.

Antidote pills were priceless, the most unique among fifth-tier elixirs, simply because the detoxifying spirit herb they required grew only in the most extreme and rare environments.

Shen Luo’s eyes landed on the corpses strewn nearby. His heart stirred, and he bent down to search their storage rings one by one.

“Master, let me help you.” The azure bird flapped its plump body, awkwardly fetching the storage rings from the corpses in the distance and dropping them into Shen Luo’s palm.

He patted the bird’s head in praise. “Well done, Fengxi.”

The azure bird stiffened at once, sneaking a guilty glance at Su Li. Under the sharp gaze of those feline eyes, its beastly body trembled, and it instinctively fled in a panic.

It loved being with its master, but was far more afraid of Sister Tuan.

The life of a beast was surely too hard!

Watching the awkward retreat, Shen Luo frowned slightly, thinking, “Why has Fengxi grown so fat it can’t even fly?”

Soon, his attention returned to the storage rings in his hand—piles of spirit stones, artifacts, elixirs… and then, unexpectedly, a fifth-tier antidote pill.

The pill was smooth and lustrous, exuding a rich fragrance. More importantly, it was a supreme-grade spiritual pill! Delighted, Shen Luo marveled at his luck.

Suddenly, a whistling sound sliced through the air ahead.

Shen Luo twisted aside just in time to avoid it—a long whip lashed the ground where he’d been. He looked up in surprise to see a young woman in yellow, her face taut with anger.

The girl’s expression was earnest as she declared, “Though these men deserved death, you shouldn’t have seized their storage rings and profited off the dead. Such actions are beneath a gentleman’s dignity.”

A sudden hush fell over the clearing.

Tiger Soul snorted lightly. “Only humans care about such ridiculous, convoluted rules.”

In the cultivation world, killing for treasures was nothing unusual—might made right. Clearly, she was yet another noble daughter, sheltered by her family and ignorant of the world’s dangers.

This scene was all too familiar.

Su Li suddenly recalled that, in the comic, the first time these two met, it was indeed Shangguan Yuefang who intervened to stop a group of thugs openly trying to snatch Shen Luo’s storage ring.

Could it be that the world’s consciousness was so strong it forcibly altered the plot?

World consciousness?

She lifted her head thoughtfully toward the sky.

Stars were scattered across the heavens, while a crescent moon silently slipped behind the clouds.

Su Li narrowed her eyes. She sincerely hoped she wouldn’t discover the truth—this inexplicable journey through worlds was truly outrageous!

Then she looked at Shen Luo. He frowned, his voice cold and detached as he stated, “I was only looking for an antidote pill.”

“That won’t do,” Shangguan Yuefang replied, retrieving her whip. Her lovely face was set in stern lines, her beauty taking on a unique flavor under the moonlight. “When my father returns, I’ll ask him for a pill to give you.”

Su Li couldn’t help but marvel. The male lead’s childhood friend was indeed honest and upright.

But Shen Luo was in no mood to appreciate it. After a moment of speechless exasperation, his expression turned impatient, and he turned to leave.

Shangguan Yuefang, proud of her talent and beauty, was accustomed to admiration. Thwarted again, her expression turned irritable, and she snapped her whip with a fierce flourish.

The force surged toward Shen Luo’s back, and he had no time to evade.

Su Li’s gaze grew icy. She sprang into the air, gathering her energy into her paw and slashing a shield of black qi to intercept the whip’s shadow. A metallic tang rose in her throat, and she plummeted to the ground.

“Furball!”

Shen Luo’s eyes widened in horror as he lunged after her, but he was a moment too late.

Suddenly, a surge of overwhelming, tyrannical beastly power erupted from within him, spreading out in a suffocating wave.

The three nearby were instantly struck, blood gushing from their orifices as their vision went black.

The blue-robed youth, weakest of all, fainted on the spot.

It all happened in an instant. Out of nowhere, a massive figure appeared, catching the white beast securely upon its back.

Locked in the gaze of those golden tiger eyes, Shangguan Yuefang’s blood churned, and she coughed up a mouthful of blood.

For a mere beast soul to possess such terrifying strength? Shen Fan was momentarily dazed. More astonishing still was the utter dominance his ice ape felt under the bloodline suppression of this high-ranking beast.

Could this twelfth-tier beast—at least at the Out-of-Body stage—be the one Shen Luo had obtained from the Spirit Garden’s secret realm?

As the clan leader’s heir, Shen Fan had always known the Spirit Garden was, in truth, a secret realm. A glint of light flashed in his eyes—with this beast’s help, the Shen family might finally avenge their humiliation!

A thunderous roar split the night as Tiger Soul raised its head.

Under the crushing pressure, all birds, beasts, and insects in the vicinity fled in terror.

Yet one little azure shadow flapped over, its beady eyes wide with worry.

The azure bird was always carefree, and since Tiger Soul hadn’t released its pressure on Shen Luo or itself, it boldly perched on the tiger’s back and nudged the unmoving white beast with its head.

Su Li lazily lifted her eyelids to glance at it, and the silly bird wept with joy.

For the first time, Su Li found its foolish appearance rather endearing.

“Give Furball back to me.”

The boy’s cool, resolute voice rang out suddenly.

Shen Luo spread his hands before him, his gaze fixed intently on the white beast.

The moment he saw Tiger Soul, he realized that the stone had harbored a beast of such terrifying might.

It had saved Furball, and for that, the boy was deeply grateful—but nothing more.

Tiger Soul was thoroughly disgruntled. It was bad enough to be bullied by another beast, but now even a mere human child dared give it orders? It sulked, sharpening its claws. Was this continent, ten thousand years in the future, truly teeming with tigers as mighty as itself?

The azure bird pecked the tiger’s back comfortingly, thinking cheerfully: At last, the two of us can huddle together for warmth.

Tiger Soul, still indignant, wrapped Su Li in a swirl of black qi and delivered her gently into Shen Luo’s arms.

Watching the boy tenderly cradle the white beast, the great tiger slunk back into the Divine Tiger Talisman, resolved to lie low for a while.

The fifth-tier antidote pill was indeed a supreme remedy—even its fragrance alone could rouse a beast’s spirit.

As the elixir melted on her tongue, Su Li felt the pain in her hind leg ease at once. Pure vital energy surged through her body, driving the toxins toward her wound.

At that moment, her right hind leg was gently lifted by the boy. Su Li stared at him in confusion.

Shen Luo pressed a kiss to her forehead, his voice earnest and grave as he instructed, “Never get hurt again.” Then, without warning, he bent down, his warm lips sealing over the wound on her leg as he sucked forcefully, spitting out the blood, then sucking again…

Su Li froze, her eyes wide with shock.

Her mind went utterly blank.