Chapter 165: Happy New Year

Feng Ke'er frowned slightly and questioned, "Feiyi, does your master look like someone so short-sighted?" In the Spiritual Realm, no one would not want to hook up with a pill refiner.

And no matter how one looked at it, Immortal Zeng Yun did not look like someone with narrow vision. Therefore, since she firmly believed the fox was a pill-devouring beast, she should have been eager to ingratiate herself; how could she possibly kill the goose that laid the golden eggs just for a piece of Profound Heaven Stone?

Yao beasts in the Spiritual Realm inherently possessed very little loyalty. Knowing her time was running out, Feiyi spilled everything: "When my master went to the Eastern Spirit Continent to probe Fellow Daoist Hu's background, she accidentally alerted someone from the Shi family. Both the Hu family and the Shi family are premier pill-refining aristocratic families in the Spiritual Realm. The Shi family promised that as long as my master presents them with a Profound Heaven Stone, they will accept her as an honorary guest elder."

So Zeng Yun had attached herself to another pill-refining family. If she successfully became an honorary guest elder of the Shi family, she would henceforth enjoy the Shi family's regular offerings, gaining both prestige and substance.

Feng Keer believed it. In the world of cultivation, moral principles and righteousness were merely bluffing tricks. Maximizing benefits was the ultimate truth. Anyone with even a bit of brainpower would choose the Shi family.

Having asked everything she needed to ask, she waved her hand, signaling Huli to give the other party a quick end. Feiyi's Nascent Soul was already destroyed, and the Soul-Returning Pill could only prolong life without any pain-relieving efficacy. Consequently, she trembled incessantly. She looked as though she had just been fished out of the water, drenched in cold sweat all over. She looked quite pathetic.

Huli's gaze darkened slightly as he raised his right hand and struck down toward Feiyi's crown.

"Wait!" Unexpectedly, Feiyi herself urgently called a halt. "Fellow Daoist Hu, please allow me to ask your master one more question."

Huli stopped and looked at Feng Keer.

Feng Keer nodded. "Speak."

"Thank you, Exalted One." Feiyi forced her wet, furry face upward, looking into her eyes. "Exalted One, how did you discover my whereabouts? Where did Feiyi slip up? Since you were able to take him as your natal guardian beast, why are you so hard-hearted toward me?"

Fine. What she actually wanted to figure out the most was this last question.

The Phantom Fox clan excelled the most at disguise. Being exceptionally talented, she was an elite among her clan. Ever since she attained human form, she had never failed a single tracking or assassination assignment.

Yet Huli was merely a weak silver fox. Aside from good looks, a knack for mind-reading, and the ability to charm the world, in what way could a silver fox ever compare to a Phantom Fox? Therefore, she accepted her fate, but it was hard for her to concede defeat to a silver fox.

Feng Keer paused slightly and sighed, "Feiyi, all things in this world, as long as they exist—regardless of strength or weakness—have their own reason for being. Furthermore, there is always a heaven beyond heaven and a person beyond person. There are always experts among experts. I took Huli as my natal guardian beast because I share this affinity with him. What does it have to do with who is stronger or weaker? We cultivators let everything follow the flow of affinity. Feiyi, you have become attached to appearances."

These words proved more effective than a potent painkiller. Having heard them, Feiyi dropped her jaw in a daze, no longer even feeling the excruciating pain.

At that moment, the effect of the Soul-Returning Pill was nearing its end. Her body, resembling weathered rock, began to peel off layer by layer starting from her two hind legs.

Suddenly, Feiyi raised her head and let out a long howl. Exerting every last ounce of her strength, she transformed back into human form.

A brilliant smile bloomed on her sweat-drenched, delicate face. Her eyes shone as bright as stars. Struggling to crawl up, she prostrated herself flat on the ground with utter conviction: "Feiyi understands. Thank you, Exalted One, for your enlightenment."

"If one hears the Dao in the morning, one can die content in the evening." Seeing this, Feng Keer sighed with emotion, squatted down, and reached out with both hands to help her up. "Feiyi, do you have any unfulfilled wishes?"

Feiyi straightened her posture, kneeling upright, unfastened the beast tooth from her neck, and gently placed it on the ground. "Exalted One, this was plundered by Feiyi." With that, she turned her head to look at Huli standing nearby. "Fellow Daoist Hu, Senior Bai is not Feiyi's father. Feiyi plotted against him. Therefore, you have never owed Feiyi anything." Fearing Huli would not believe her, she exhausted her very last trace of primordial energy to explain, "Senior Bai harbored unwillingness, and before dying, he used a blood curse to leave a sliver of divine sense on this tooth. My master and I exhausted every method but could not erase it, so we simply added an extra layer of restriction on top of it. Take a careful look, and you won't find it hard to spot."

Huli nodded slightly and said in a calm voice, "I know." An extra layer of restriction had been added to the beast tooth; with his clumsy eyes, he might not have been able to discern it, but his master had seen it at a glance. Kindness is repaid with kindness, and enmity with enmity. Their silver fox clan had always been distinct in gratitude and grudges. Thus, he had decisively entered the game.

Having said everything she wanted to say, Feiyi's wish was fulfilled. As a fierce gale rose, her body turned into a wisp of light smoke, scattering with the wind and vanishing into nothingness. Only an identity jade token was left empty on the ground.

It is often said that behind every pitiful person lies something hateful. Feng Keer could only let out a sigh, turned to Huli, and said, "Fox, I finally understand why the status ofyao beasts is so low."

Huli walked over, picked up the identity jade token from the ground, turned it over and over in his hands, and whispered, "That was close."

"What is it?" Feng Keer leaned in, puzzled. It was a pale cyan jade token, dusty, completely devoid of luster, and covered in cracks on the surface.

"It's different from your identity jade token." She nodded affirmatively.

"It is indeed different." Huli flipped the back side to show her. "Her side has characters on it, while mine has a auspicious cloud pattern."

"That's a 'slave' character!" Keer suddenly realized. "Are those the kinds of jade tokens sold in that small artifact shop?"

Huli nodded. "So identity jade tokens for slave beasts are different after all. Fortunately, my spiritual stones weren't enough; otherwise, had I muddled through and spent a huge price on a useless item, how utterly humiliating that would be." Wasting spiritual stones and the like was secondary. The main thing was that he entered the Dao through commerce; if he were to commit such a primary school error, how could he ever show his face!

Feng Keer had not thought that far. Earlier, when Huli mentioned buying her a fake identity jade token through the black market, she had found it preposterous: Could something like that even work? Could heavenly retribution really be just a bluffing legend?

Now, facts proved that Huli had simply thought things too naive.

Seeing that the moment Feiyi died, her jade token cracked and turned lifeless, Feng Keer felt a jolt in her heart and exclaimed, "Oh no, could that woman surnamed Zeng already know about Feiyi's death?" When the lotus sword pierced Feiyi's sea of consciousness, she had inadvertently discovered that Feiyi was still Zeng Yun's slave beast.

That day, the latter had indeed dissolved the servant contract in Feiyi's sea of consciousness right to her face. However, neither Feng Keer nor Huli had noticed that Zeng Yun had tampered with the servant contract talisman she gave to Huli. The master of the contract remained Zeng Yun herself. No wonder she had been so enthusiastic, dipping into her own pocket and running around for the alliance. So this wench was playing a textbook immortal scam!

"Dammit. I'm afraid Feiyi was their suicide operative. They are very likely already rushing this way." Agitated, Huli unconsciously crushed the jade token into fine powder.

Deal with four pseudo-immortals? Feng Keer drew a sharp breath. "Let's go, we need to leave this place quickly." As the saying goes, of the thirty-six stratagems, leaving is the best.

As her voice trailed off, a deep rumbling sound echoed through the heavily distorted sky above their heads.

The weather was changing, thunder was rolling, it was going to rain... No way! Of all things, what one fears comes! Someone raised her head and looked up at the sound, her fragile heart immediately frightened into a blank state—Good grief, when on earth did that purplish-red tribulation cloud, as thick as a small hill, pile up above her head?!

"Heavens, heavenly retribution!" Huli pointed at the tribulation cloud and became flustered.

The spiritual energy within a radius of dozens of miles condensed into cloud vapor at a visible speed, surging upward into the sky and piling atop that dense tribulation cloud. Within a dozen breaths, the tribulation cloud expanded by nearly double!

Such a ferocious tribulation cloud. Judging by this posture, this was definitely not the heavens coming to supplement his ascension tribulation lightning.

Reacting in a rush of anxiety, Huli grabbed one of Feng Keer's arms and roared, "Master, leave this to me, quickly hide inside the spatial orb."

Feng Keer reversed her hand, broke free from his grip, tightly grabbed his large robe sleeve instead, and nodded solemnly, "Alright. Take care of yourself."

Huli abruptly flashed his mountain-clearing claws, feigned a look of absolute confidence, and nodded vigorously. "Master, rest assured. I have an identity jade token, and my cultivation is also one tier higher than yours. What can heavenly retribution do to me!"

You fool. Go ahead and put up a front, put on a strong front with all your might! Warmth bloomed in Feng Keer's heart as she also nodded forcefully, "Fox, you and I share a single life; you must take good care of yourself. No matter what happens, do not try to be a hero." Saying this, before he could react, she gave a backhanded lift and tossed Huli directly into the mustard seed space.

Her aim was a bit off. Poor Huli tumbled headfirst into a pool of warm water within the space.

"Cough, cough, cough." Caught off guard, Huli swallowed several mouthfuls of water.

By the time he surfaced, Feng Keer had already closed the mustard seed space.

"Master! Master!" He leaped out of the pool and frantically slapped against the wooden partition walls of the bathroom. Every extra person meant an extra portion of strength. He knew his cultivation was limited and his strength meager, making him incapable of handling heavenly retribution. But remaining outside to guard his master's Dharma—surely he could manage that much, right? If those scoundrels surnamed Zeng rushed over, he could at least help his master fend them off a little, couldn't he?

Master, you said it yourself, the two of us share a single life. With a major disaster right before us, why won't you allow me to bear it alongside you?

His struggles and his thoughts were, of course, crystal clear to Feng Keer. But she knew even better that Huli staying outside would be utterly useless—he was a yao beast whose body tempering was incomplete. Even though he had practiced the first layer of the Clearing Heart Mantra for so long, greatly improving his divine sense and spiritual power, he still didn't even reach two-thirds of a human cultivator at the same realm. Therefore, whether it was the heavenly retribution or those individuals surnamed Zeng, he couldn't afford to touch any of them. Since that was the case, life was so precious; why let him die in vain? Furthermore, he was her only friend in this world.

Feng Keer had already prepared herself for the worst: if she tried her utmost and still could not escape disaster, then she would use her very last breath of primordial energy to dissolve the contract with Huli.

Ha, this blockhead had no idea that the contract talisman she drew on his forehead was an upgraded version! The natal guardian beast contract upgraded by Feng Keer could be dissolved. However, once dissolved, the two of them could never forge a contract a second time. Any kind of contract could never be forged again.

Through nearly two years of day-and-night companionship, she knew Huli was the best natal guardian beast. Although he wasn't the most formidable, he was the one who could make her feel the warmest. He possessed no extraordinary skills or innate talents, and his temper wasn't very good either. Yet, bit by bit, he had won her trust and approval.

Perhaps in the Three Realms, no second natal guardian beast could ever be found as good as him. Being able to take him as her natal guardian beast was her honor. She was a very selfish person. Therefore, until the very last moment, she would not let go.

Of course, the modified contract talisman was a secret that could never be shared with anyone. Not even the fox!

Frowning, Feng Keer pressed a finger vertically against her lips, made a silencing gesture toward the frantic fox, and roared fiercely, "Quiet! Not letting me get distracted is the greatest help you can give me!"

Looking at the image appearing on the wooden plank wall, Huli was petrified. The master was right; he was simply too weak. Even Feiyi looked down upon him.

Calling it a natal guardianship—in truth, all the way along this journey, it was the master who had been guarding him.

Now, with disaster looming, if he stayed outside, he would accomplish nothing other than causing trouble for his master.

He was fundamentally not a qualified natal guardian beast. He was a piece of deadwood that could only drag his master down!

Utterly soul-smashed, Huli slumped down by the edge of the water pool.

+++++++++Dividing Line++++++++

Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, the grand New Year. Peak-something wishes all my dear readers an auspicious start to the New Year. Uh, well, since it's the first day of the New Year, this chapter's title is hard to choose, so let's just use the phrase everyone said the most today instead. Haha, make you all laugh. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation.)

Tongtian Baodian 165_Tongtian Baodian full text free reading_Chapter 165 Happy New Year Update Complete!