Chapter 69

The three who entered soon saw Xiao Fan standing before the bedroom, and they froze in surprise.

"Dad, Mom, Brother, you're back so early." Xiao Fan spoke up first.

"..." After a moment of silence, his father explained, "We thought it was still early, and you've been working hard lately, so we didn't tell you."

"Then is Brother's body fine now?"

"Yes, we checked this morning—the doctor even said he's recovering fast," his mother hurried to say.

"After all, I'm a body cultivator," Xiao Ming smiled, then turned to look at Xiao Fan.

Facing his brother's gaze, he wasn't as nervous as he had been last night.

"You're getting ready to go out."

"Yeah, I just woke up and planned to stretch my legs, get some exercise."

The two brothers exchanged glances for a while.

"Alright, come back early," Xiao Ming smiled. "I'm being discharged today—we'll treat ourselves to something good for lunch."

"Got it, Brother."

Their conversation sounded perfectly normal.

Xiao Fan, eager to test the "Mu Ling Yang Wu Jing," didn't think much of it—he figured his brother would assume he was preparing for the third trial.

Thus, he walked past the three and stepped out through the open door.

"Ah Ming..."

"Don't worry, Mom," Xiao Ming reassured her. "We'll put our things down first, then I'll follow him and keep an eye on him. I've got this."

Hearing this, the two felt considerably more at ease.

Ah Ming is a disciple of the Long Xiang Qing Tian Sect—his realm and experience are far beyond what they can match.

After calming his parents, Xiao Ming changed into a plain gray outfit and stepped outside.

With a series of crisp pops, his nearly two-meter-tall frame rapidly shrank, soon reducing to about one meter sixty-seven, his straight spine now hunched.

His nose sank lower, his lips thickened, his skin grew loose and sagging, and patches of gray-black age spots appeared.

In under a minute, Xiao Ming transformed from a tall, imposing youth into a frail, elderly man.

His clothes, being sect uniforms, automatically adjusted to his new form, so they remained perfectly fitted.

At this point, even if he stood right in front of Xiao Fan, Xiao Fan wouldn't recognize him.

"Xiao Fan..."

Earlier, as they passed each other, he had left a mark on Xiao Fan—he could sense his location with a mere flick of perception.

He leapt straight down from the seventh floor.

Xiao Ming landed steadily beside three children, about seven or eight years old, who were playfully swinging wooden swords at each other.

The highest-ranked among them was barely at Qi Condensation Level One—and even that was a fake Level One, possessing only raw spiritual energy, with no understanding of its use or any deliberate body refinement.

They stopped their play and stared at the old man who had landed beside them.

Their expression summed up one thing:... My friends and I were all stunned.

"Grandpa, are you a sword cultivator?" asked the Level One child, the boldest of the three.

"No," Xiao Ming smiled "kindly." "I'm a body cultivator."

"Body cultivator!"

"This is what a body cultivator looks like!"

The other two children exclaimed in awe.

Xiao Ming said nothing more, leapt lightly, and vanished far away.

"Whoa—!" The child who had mustered the courage to ask scratched his head. "Don't body cultivators fly?"

"Sword cultivators are definitely cooler!"

"My dad says body cultivators are all stable hands!"

"It's 'brutes,' not 'stable hands'!"

Xiao Ming, already far away, paused—he had reached a realm where his hearing and sight were sharp enough to catch distant sounds.

This damn world—when will body cultivators ever get respect? Even these little brats have already built a cultivation hierarchy of contempt.

…………

By the roadside, a plain-looking figure with a gentle aura held a large handful of candies, handing them out to passing children.

"Thank you, Uncle!" the polite ones would say. "Call me Brother, not Uncle," he'd smile and reply.

Soon, the handful of candies was down to just one—he planned to save it for himself.

Peeling back the wrapper, the candy gleamed like a beautiful gem, carrying a fruity fragrance.

He placed it in his mouth, closed his eyes, and seemed to savor it.

After a long while, he opened his eyes and gazed at the children playing nearby, a faint smile forming.

"Yuan, you've done quite well..."

Had he not been so wary, perhaps they could have become decent friends.

Then he turned his gaze toward the opposite side of the street.

The morning sun shone brightly, casting shadows across the trees lining the road.

Beneath one of those shadows.

Xiao Fan crouched slightly, feeding a small snack to a large gray rat with one hand, while gently stroking its head with the other.

Passersby who saw this scene felt a chill—this guy must be crazy. But among cultivators, weirdos were common, so no one said anything.

'Stand up!'

Xiao Fan commanded inwardly.

The gray giant rat immediately stood upright.

"Crouch!"

"Roll over!"

"Do a somersault!"

No matter what command Xiao Fan gave, the rat obeyed obediently.

But doing somersaults was still too difficult for it, so it fell flat on its back.

Yet after climbing back up, it began somersaulting again—and it kept falling over and getting up, over and over, without stopping.

So it really does obey every order?

Ding ding!

Two crisp sounds rang out, and two Spirit Coins rolled to his side; many around him turned to look, some even pulled out their phones to take photos.

"Bro, don't make it do somersaults—do something else!" someone shouted.

It was the very man who had just tossed down two Spirit Coins.

Xiao Fan: "..."

Seeing so many people gathered around him, he felt a wave of disgust, just like when he'd watched female streamers in the past.

"Tsk! I wondered why this guy was feeding a giant rat—turns out he's a Beast Tamer!" someone said.

Beast Tamer—a profession that once flourished but has now nearly vanished.

After all, even the demonic races above the Union Dao stage are gone.

A profession with a maximum ceiling of the Void Return realm, and one that's damn hard to find a bonded demonic beast—who in their right mind would become a Beast Tamer?

So now, its lineage is nearly extinct.

Xiao Fan hadn't expected to be mistaken for a Beast Tamer.

Just as he was about to turn and walk away, ignoring these people, several more Spirit Coins—substantial amounts—were tossed his way.

"Do something impressive! I've never seen a Beast Tamer in my life!" The speaker wore the uniform of the Ji Shi Valley.

Ji Shi Valley—Alchemists—rich people!

Hmm...

After a while, Xiao Fan earned a fortune using nothing but an utterly ordinary rat.

These alchemists really are rich! In the end, the Ji Shi Valley alchemist even tried to buy the Beast Tamer's cultivation method from him, offering a highly tempting price.

If Xiao Fan actually knew any Beast Tamer method, he'd have sold it!

Unfortunately, he didn't.

He would never sell the "Pastoral Spirit Nourishing Scripture."

And even if he did sell it... whether others could even hear it was another matter entirely! Meanwhile, Xiao Ming, hiding in the shadows, watched this scene with growing confusion.

Could it be that Xiao Fan wasn't here to do something bad—but to make money?

When did he learn Beast Taming techniques? Please collect, please follow-read!! (End of Chapter)