Taowu’s eyes flickered between light and shadow. “Perhaps I’m overthinking it. How could an ant like Feng Qingran possibly control the Primordial Green Lotus? She might just have luckily mastered some lotus-related incantations and techniques.”
Hearing this, Yingzhao felt a strange sense of incongruity. Taowu’s words clearly didn’t match its true thoughts.
Yingzhao looked once more toward Feng Qingran, standing at the center of the contract formation.
She was dressed in a light cyan robe, her delicate brows arched like willow leaves, her eyes like spring water under moonlight—rippling and mysterious.
Though her features were still youthful and slightly immature, an aura of ethereal, peerless beauty radiated from her brow.
Her every movement was graceful and poised, her bearing extraordinary, giving off a sense of noble elegance.
“Taowu, how many facets do you think Feng Qingran truly has?” Yingzhao wondered, momentarily puzzled. “One moment she makes us feel she’s just a little girl, the next she seems lofty and unattainable…”
“Toward us, she shows no mercy. Toward Yinglong, she is humble and respectful,” Taowu summarized succinctly.
“A perceptive little girl,” Yingzhao said, its mood complex. It had missed the best opportunity to cooperate with Feng Qingran.
Taowu’s gaze deepened. “That scroll definitely has a problem. Feng Qingran wouldn’t make us sign an ineffective contract knowing full well that fierce beasts don’t honor agreements.”
“We need to take another look at that scroll,” Yingzhao concurred.
Once the contract between Feng Qingran and Taotie was complete…
Taotie was filled with regret, shaking its canine head, hind legs squatting on the ground. “Wahhh… You tricked me… I can’t… I can’t just eat anything I want anymore…!”
Feng Qingran: …
All Taotie cared about was eating!
Feng Qingran pulled another porcelain bottle from her sleeve and handed it to Taotie. “Since you’re my contracted beast now, I definitely won’t let you starve. Have these to tide you over.”
A bottle of fasting pills would last her a hundred years. For Taotie, it wasn’t much, but at least it could satisfy a craving.
Taotie instantly stopped crying. Without even looking, it swallowed the bottle whole, then gazed fervently at Feng Qingran. “Master, any more?”
The other fierce beasts: …
So shameless! It’s on par with Qiongqi!
The Four Fiends truly form a matched set. No doubt about it.
“No more. You ate my rations, so you’ll have to work to make up for it from now on!” Seeing Taotie like this, Feng Qingran shook her head decisively.
Taotie’s appetite was truly no joke. A hundred years’ worth of food went down without even a burp.
Transparent drool dripped from Taotie’s mouth as it happily said, “Just tell me what to do, as long as there’s food!”
Just as Feng Qingran was about to say something more, Taowu and Yingzhao approached.
“Feng Qingran, we’d like to see the scroll again,” Taowu said, lowering its head.
Feng Qingran took a slight step back. These beasts were so huge—she was afraid of being stepped on!
“Master, sit on my back. That way you’ll look much more imposing,” Taotie said, crouching down for Feng Qingran to climb up.
Feng Qingran looked at the black dog that was half a person tall, then at Taowu, which was more than twice her height.
Would standing on it really make a difference?
Taotie glanced at Taowu and realized.
It backed up a few steps, transformed into its true form, and deliberately made itself twice as large as Taowu.
Then it lay on the ground and said cheerfully, “Master, hurry up and climb on.”
Feng Qingran shook her head firmly. “Stand up first. I’ll get on by myself.”
At the same time, Feng Qingran secretly resolved that her plan must begin implementation tomorrow. Constantly having to crane her neck to speak was exhausting.
Taotie obediently stood up.
The other fierce beasts all flew into mid-air, gathering to watch how Feng Qingran would actually get up.
Feng Qingran retrieved a talisman from her sleeve with her right hand.
As the talisman glowed, Feng Qingran leaped into the air, graceful as a swallow, landing steadily on Taotie’s back.
Zhu Yan, clutching its featherless wings, exclaimed, “How did she do that? She clearly has no spiritual power, yet she can use a talisman?”
“I’ve heard that among cultivators, there’s a type called ‘mortals.’ Mortals practice a skill called ‘lightness kung fu’…”
“I’ve heard that too! I’ve heard humans have lots of novel things! They can do many things without needing spiritual energy at all…”
…
The fierce beasts: They were so inexperienced! So embarrassing!
Standing on Taotie’s back, Feng Qingran took out the scroll and unrolled it. “Taowu, what did you want to see?”
Taowu and Yingzhao exchanged a glance, then looked up, carefully examining the contents of the scroll. Aside from that one line, the rest were paw prints.
Had they overthought it?
A smile touched Feng Qingran’s eyes. Of course nothing would show up yet.
The contract on the scroll needed forty-nine days before it would become visible.
Otherwise, how could she deal with all the beasts that hadn’t taken the bait yet?
Unable to find any issues, Taowu and Yingzhao had no choice but to respectfully return the scroll to Feng Qingran.
Seeing Yingzhao and Taowu’s attitude, the other beasts grew even more wary of Feng Qingran.
Feng Qingran calmly put away the scroll, then called the two winged dragons over. “This snow will cover the entire Ten Directions Domain tomorrow. I need you to distribute this antidote to the beasts that didn’t come.”
There were tens of thousands of fierce beasts in the Ten Directions Domain, but less than half were present now.
The very weakest beasts would hide and not emerge.
As for those at the absolute peak, they disdained coming out.
They could perceive all changes within the Ten Directions Domain. As long as nothing threatened them, they wouldn’t appear.
What Feng Qingran truly needed were those top-tier powerhouses.
