Child of the Forest?
Qi Ping was a little surprised to hear this.
But after thinking about the information on a spirit beast like the old mountain sage, he could understand.
The mountain sage is a rather rare spirit beast and belongs to the monkey-type spirit beasts.
This kind of spirit beast has an extremely fierce appearance, looking even more terrifying than many violent spirit beasts.
But in fact, beneath the mountain sage’s frightening exterior, its personality is still very gentle. It likes to eat spirit fruits and likes small animals. Whenever it sees those small animals in trouble, it often lends a helping hand, so there are often many small animals gathered around a mountain sage.
In terms of ability, the mountain sage can control mountain rocks and trees, making it a spirit beast with both metal and wood attributes.
When fighting in a forest, it can also receive the forest’s blessing, just like the nine-colored deer bloodline.
In various abilities, the mountain sage is actually a little similar to a druid, except that its abilities in every aspect are actually much weaker. The reason small animals gather around it is also usually because they have been helped by the mountain sage.
Therefore, the mountain sage is also extremely sensitive to the aura of the forest, so it can sense the aura of the 【Three-Colored Spirit】 from the druid and three-colored deer bloodline on Qi Ping. That is why it subconsciously blurted out the words “Child of the Forest.”
It was just that the mountain sage’s bloodline level is second-rank advanced, and under normal circumstances it should at most break through to second-rank perfection.
But Qi Ping observed that there was not much transformation in this mountain sage’s bloodline, so it should have obtained some kind of opportunity and barely broken through to third-rank initial stage.
But no matter what, this mountain sage is still a third-rank spirit beast, corresponding to a Golden Core-level cultivator among humans!
“Child of the Forest… in a certain sense, you could say that!” Qi Ping responded with a smile.
“You, as a human, hmm? No… you can understand what I’m saying?” The old mountain suddenly realized something and looked at Qi Ping in shock.
It was currently using the mountain sage’s unique communication language. It was not speaking the human language, nor was it using its soul to express its meaning, yet the person in front of it, who carried the aura of the Child of the Forest, had actually understood it!
“This is just my innate ability, so there’s no need to find it strange,” Qi Ping explained.
This old mountain sage gave him a pretty good feeling. Looking at it through a druid’s perception, there was none of that unpleasant smell on the old mountain sage.
In addition, this kind of spirit beast’s gentle personality also made Qi Ping quite fond of it, so he wanted to see if he could make a contract with the old mountain sage as his own spirit beast.
However, it would not be through an animal companion contract, but through a spirit beast contract from the cultivation world.
Because Qi Ping currently had no spare animal companion contract slots. Secondly, although the old mountain sage had dual metal and wood attribute talents, its talent was somewhat insufficient in Qi Ping’s eyes, and being old also meant its potential for cultivation was relatively low. For animal companions, Qi Ping still preferred those with high potential, unless he encountered an extremely suitable talent.
But no matter what, this old mountain sage was still a Golden Core-level spirit beast. Even if its combat strength might be a bit weak, it was still enough to give Qi Ping a great deal of help.
Still, everything depended on what the old mountain sage wanted.
“So that’s how it is. But why do you carry the aura of the Child of the Forest? And you give me a particularly kind feeling. Intuition-wise…”
Perhaps because the old mountain sage had been trapped for a long time without speaking, or perhaps because Qi Ping’s aura made it feel very comfortable, the old mountain sage asked Qi Ping one question after another.
Qi Ping was not annoyed. Facing the old mountain sage’s questions about him, the current region, and the cultivation world, as long as they did not involve secrets, he answered them one by one.
At the same time, the old mountain sage also chattered on about its past.
It said it was born in a place called Moon-Watching Forest. There, it had the company of its mountain sage mother, and there were many spirit fruits to eat every day. It grew up in such a carefree environment.
While growing up, it also made many animal friends, such as a little mountain finch, a little yellow weasel, a little fox, and even a handsome little leopard!
But when it had grown into a young mountain sage, a group of murderous cultivators destroyed all of this. One by one, its former animal friends died before its eyes, and even its mountain sage mother, who had always stayed by its side, had her heart pierced by a sword while protecting it.
Later, when it was about to die at the hands of that group of cultivators, a white-robed youth saved it. After that, it followed that white-robed youth roaming the world. That white-robed youth had a sip of wine, and so did it. This roaming period was also one of its fondest memories.
Its third-rank initial-stage cultivation was also helped by that white-robed youth to break through.
This kind of life went on for a very, very long time. Through countless experiences, it also saw all the warmth and coldness of the cultivation world and the many facets of the human world…
But later, in an unexpected battle, the white-robed youth died, and it gradually ended up in this cage with no daylight.
It no longer remembered how long had passed. It only knew that its originally strong body had become much thinner and had gained many white hairs.
The old mountain sage kept talking like this, sometimes crying loudly, sometimes laughing loudly…
Qi Ping was not annoyed. He just kept listening, listening to the story of a white-robed youth and a mountain sage freely roaming the immortal cultivation world.
He had also yearned for such a life, but because he was afraid of death, the idea that had just sprouted was snuffed out by him.
Qi Ping and the old mountain sage talked for a full half day, and only after everything was said did the old mountain sage stop.
“Can I acknowledge you as my master? I still want to see this cultivation world. Mainly, I still want to eat spirit fruits and drink wine, hehe…” At the end, the old mountain sage suddenly looked at Qi Ping with longing and asked sincerely.
“Of course you can. I can’t promise much else, but I’m not short on spirit fruits, and I can provide enough fine wine!”
After that, Qi Ping released the old mountain sage without worry.
The reason he dared to do so was partly out of trust in the old mountain sage, and partly out of confidence in his own strength. With the bee swarm and the six-in-one water-fire formation, the old mountain sage in its weakened state could not possibly be his opponent.
After coming out, the old mountain sage also looked at Qi Ping in surprise, shocked by Qi Ping’s boldness. He had actually released a third-rank spirit beast so easily.
What happened afterward did not involve any surprises. The contract ceremony between Qi Ping and the old mountain sage was completed very quickly, and the old mountain sage formally acknowledged Qi Ping as its master.
After the contract ceremony was completed, Qi Ping took out many spirit fruits from his storage ring and also had people bring over a lot of fine wine.
The old mountain sage did not hold back either and began eating and drinking in big mouthfuls. As it drank, memories of roaming the world with fine wine accompanying it surged into its heart again.
Seeing this, Qi Ping did not disturb it, but began to close his eyes and rest.
Breaking the Golden Core restriction and contracting the old mountain sage had consumed quite a lot of his energy. He had to recover to his best condition as soon as possible to face the battle ahead.
Just like that, after about half a day passed, a terrifying sword intent suddenly tore across the sky above Starfall City…
