C8 Sword Spirit!

The landscape was a verdant expanse of rolling mountains.

Cliffs and sheer drops were interspersed with gently sloping hillsides. Towering peaks reached for the heavens, while deep valleys yawned below.

Glancing back, Su Bai estimated that the siblings would be eating for a while longer. To pass the time, he found a flat stone and settled down cross-legged upon it.

He retrieved the flying sword, a relic of the deceased old Taoist, from his storage ring. After fiddling with it for a moment, Su Bai bit his tongue tip and anointed the sword with a few drops of his blood, then laid it across his thighs.

Employing the technique used to bond with the storage ring, Su Bai closed his eyes and attempted to connect with the flying sword through his consciousness.

As soon as Su Bai's consciousness touched the flying sword, an unexpected event occurred!

His consciousness was abruptly pulled into another dimension.

In this realm, a white-haired, bearded elder sat cross-legged at the center!

This elder was the spitting image of the old Taoist who had perished in the swamp!

Upon Su Bai's arrival, the elder's eyes snapped open.

"Ha! Who is this little thief daring to trespass into the flying sword's domain!"

Su Bai was taken aback.

Before he could react, the elder gestured swiftly, and a phantom blade shot from the ether, aiming straight for Su Bai's forehead.

"Ah!"

A scream tore from Su Bai's lips as his consciousness was expelled from the sword's space.

In that moment, Su Bai was wracked with an excruciating headache, as if his skull might split apart.

Outside the cave, Su Bai's cries startled the feasting siblings.

Exchanging a quick glance, they hurried out to investigate.

Emerging from the cave, each sibling still clutched a pig's trotter.

"Sister, what happened to him?"

"I'm not sure. He might have lost control while practicing his cultivation!"

"Oh no, could he die? If he does, we'll go hungry again!"

"I don't think so; look, he's still moving!"

The young fox crouched beside Su Bai, who lay on the ground twitching, and prodded him with a stick as if he were receiving an electric shock.

The intense pain persisted for a full three minutes before it began to fade.

Gradually, Su Bai felt his soul re-anchor into his body, and control over his limbs returned.

"Hey, if you poke me one more time, believe me, I'll eat you!"

The little fox was so terrified that she plopped down on the ground.

"Ah, you, you're alright!"

Su Bai dusted himself off and stood up.

"Stop with the 'you, you' and just call me boss. From now on, I'm your boss!"

And just like that, Su Bai gained his first follower.

Relieved that Su Bai was unharmed, the siblings headed back to the cave for a meal.

Su Bai remained standing, lost in thought.

He was certain that the old Daoist who had brawled with the giant crocodile in the swamp was dead for sure.

Since the old Daoist was gone, who then was the old man in the flying sword's space?

Could it be the Sword Spirit?

The more Su Bai pondered, the more he believed that the old man in the flying sword was likely the Sword Spirit.

But how does one get a flying sword with a Sword Spirit to acknowledge its master?

Su Bai scratched his head, unsure of how to proceed.

No matter, with the flying sword in hand, he wasn't worried about claiming it as his own in the future.

After settling into the cave, Su Bai's life resumed its peaceful rhythm for a while.

Besides feasting on crocodile carcasses daily, he spent his time exploring the vicinity.

From the entire crocodile carcass, only the skin remained.

Su Bai's energy points had risen from 250-1000 to 920-1000.

He wasn't far from having enough energy to evolve again. Yet, Su Bai wasn't in a rush to evolve, as there was no point in hurrying without a food source.

There were some wild animals on the mountain.

But the energy contained in ordinary beasts was minimal.

Even devouring an entire wild pig wouldn't raise his energy points by 0.1.

As a tadpole, Su Bai recalled gaining one energy point from swallowing a small fish.

Now, it would take ten large wild boars to gain a single energy point.

This vast disparity left Su Bai at a loss for words.

His initial plan for rapid evolution had to be shelved.

Lately, he had been roaming around Mount Bloodhowl.

Su Bai discovered that Mount Bloodhowl was teeming with wild wolves, yet he had never come across a wolf demon.

He was actually eager to encounter one, as devouring it would allow him to continue his evolution.

One day, while by a pond, Su Bai caught a glimpse of his own reflection for the first time.

It was a relief.

Even though he had transformed from a toad, he looked quite handsome in his human form.

This gave Su Bai a small surge of joy.

Meanwhile, a thought involuntarily crossed his mind.

In almost all cultivation novels, the protagonists had access to powerful cultivation methods or spells.

But he had none, save for the tiny bell in his mind.

Su Xiaoman had mentioned that demonic beasts didn't need cultivation methods to evolve. They simply needed to devour in a straightforward, brutal manner to evolve.

Humans, on the other hand, were different. They could practice cultivation methods and absorb the spiritual essence of Heaven and Earth to evolve!

Su Bai pondered whether he, now in human form, could practice cultivation methods.

Regrettably, he didn't possess any cultivation methods to test this theory.

In that moment, Su Bai felt a twinge of regret; it was unfortunate that the old Taoist's storage ring lacked any cultivation methods or spells.

"I'll worry about cultivation methods later. For now, I just need to focus on devouring to evolve!"

He was a mere 80 energy points away from evolving, which meant devouring 800 wild boars. The thought alone sent a shiver down Su Bai's spine.

If he actually had to devour 800 wild boars to evolve, he'd likely be sick to his stomach at the mere sight of pigs in the future.

Wolves were no different.

Though smaller in size than wild boars, the energy they contained was nearly identical, roughly 0.1 energy points each.

However, wolves were quicker and more challenging to catch.

With a wild boar slung over his shoulder, Su Bai made his way back to the cave.

At that moment, an unexpected visitor had arrived in the cave.

Had Su Bai seen this visitor, he would have surely salivated.

The visitor was a wolf demon, a strikingly handsome one at that.

In human form, the wolf demon was no less impressive in appearance.

This wolf demon, likely a descendant of a shape-shifted demonic beast, retained a thick tail even in human form.

At this moment, a wolf was howling loudly at the entrance of the cave.

"Xiaoman, my love, will you marry me?"

If Su Bai were here to hear this, he'd surely spit out his disgust in disbelief. He'd have a few choice words to say.

"Wow, it's downright creepy when wolves learn to talk! It's enough to give someone goosebumps!"

Sadly, the fox inside remained unmoved by the wolf's amorous declaration.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not the one for you. Please leave."

The wolf demon showed no signs of backing down.

"Awoo, Xiaoman, can't you see the depth of my love for you? I vow to take only you as my wife!"