After playing with little Mei for a while, Tian Shen noticed she was starting to look tired, so he let her curl up beside his pillow and rest.
It was nearing midnight and he then finally dozed off.
At his current strength— Body Refining Realm 9th stage—Tian Shen hadn't awakened his spiritual sense yet.
So sleep was still the best method for physical recovery.
Morning sunlight crept over the horizon.
Little Mei was already awake, quietly patting his cheek with her paw, careful not to disturb him until he opened his eyes. The moment he did, she cried out, clearly hungry.
Tian Shen got the message but scratched his head in confusion.
"What do you eat? Meat? Spirit fruit? Or... something else?"
With a few more chirps and some sensible thoughts, he understood.
She could eat various things—but Spiritual Stones, Fire Elemental treasures and Blood Elemental treasures were her favorites.
He didn't have any of that right now.
Although he had a tiny bit of Fire Element in his unassigned points, the system hadn't enabled any way to convert it into consumable for her yet.
So, he tidied himself up and carried Little Mei next door—to Feng Yin's courtyard—hoping to ask her for help.
But she wasn't awake yet or rather she was still cultivating, as she do not have any cheat skill like a certain lazy bun.
It was still too early.
With no other option, Tian Shen went to see Feng Yan.
"That... that's a Blood Fox?!"
Feng Yan nearly jumped when he saw the little fox nestled on Tian Shen's shoulder, playing with his hair.
Seeing the normally composed sect master react , Tian Shen said with a deadpan expression.
"Sect Master, You're the leader of our Beast Taming Sect. We used to be called the Beast Master Sect. How can you get this flustered just seeing a Spiritual Beast Companion? Where's your dignity?"
"Spiritual Beast? This is a Spiritual Beast Companion!?"
Feng Yan was losing it.
Just yesterday, he had talked to Tian Shen about the Beast Taming Hall, warning him that it would take time to receive the true inheritance of the sect.
He had mentally prepared himself to wait years.
But now, overnight, the kid already had a fully bonded Spiritual Beast Companion.
"Y-you actually entered the core of Beast Taming Hall?"
Feng Yan asked again, hope burning in his eyes.
"Nope. I got it from somewhere else."
Tian Shen replied nonchalantly.
Feng Yan's face twisted with worry.
"Do you know how dangerous that is? I told you yesterday—any cultivator below the Foundation Establishment Realm risks severe backlash from forming a Spiritual Companion Contract! Why didn't you listen?!"
"Sect Master, contracting Little Mei will definitely not result in a backlash. I'm very clear on this."
Tian Shen reassured firmly.
Feng Yan's tone rose, filled with disappointment.
"Do you know how to guard against Spiritual beasts? How to get along with a Spiritual Companion and earn its loyalty? How to raise one and increase its strength?"
Tian Shen glanced sideways at Little Mei, scratching his cheek awkwardly.
But he had the System!
Loyalty? The System handled that.
Cultivation? The System handled that too.
The only thing he needed to worry about... was to make sure that Little Mei had her fill.
"Sect Master, I need spirit stones and spirit fruits with blood and fire elements. Do we have any?"
He didn't bother explaining. Straight to the point.
"Spirit stones? Spiritual Fruits with blood and fire attributes?"
Feng Yan looked him up and down, then fixed his gaze on the small Blood Fox curled beside Tian Shen.
"She needs them? Do you even know how to nurture her?"
He sighed, but turned around anyway.
"Forget it. I'll get them for you."
Even though he was exasperated, Tian Shen had already formed a contract. As the Beast Taming Sect's master—and Tian Shen's future father-in-law—Feng Yan couldn't just stand by.
Rummaging through his storage ring, Feng Yan pulled out several spirit stones and a dimly glowing fire elemental fruit.
"Will this Fiery Fruit do? I don't have any Spiritual fruits with blood attributes right now."
Tian Shen accepted the items, inspecting the Fiery Fruit, which was almost the size of the little fox.
...It might be too big, isn't it?
Just as he was about to slice it up, Little Mei's body suddenly lit up with a blood-colored glow. Her size expanded rapidly, now roughly the size of a Shiba.
She stood upright on her hind legs, grabbed the fruit eagerly with her tiny paws, and took a huge bite.
Juice sprayed across her face, but Little Mei didn't care. She was starving.
"What did you do to her?"
Feng Yan snapped, heart aching as if he were scolding a neglectful parent.
"Starving her ? This is why I told you not to rush into a contract!"
He rushed over to Little Mei's side, knelt beside her and took out a few more Fiery Fruits.
"It's okay, eat slowly. I still have more."
His voice was soft now, gentle. Not knowing that the little thing was as strong as him.
Tian Shen felt a bit embarrassed.
He hadn't expected Little Mei to be that hungry.
But it make sense, afterall she was just born and this was her first meal of her life.
Even while starving, she had quietly curled up beside him and didn't disturb his cultivation. Such loyalty— tsk tsk.
Even if she couldn't fight, just having her as a companion was enough.
Little Mei devoured three large Fire Origin Fruits.
Then, with a crunching sound, she munched through two spirit stones like they were nuts.
Finally, she yawned, shrank down, hopped onto Tian Shen's shoulder, and fell asleep.
Tian Shen could feel it—little Mei's strength was surging, the energy of the fruits and stones was rapidly transforming her body as she slept.
"This is the Blood Fox. Right? What grade of she have? She's cute, sure, but is she actually strong?"
Feng Yan asked, suspicious.
Tian Shen answered nonchalantly.
"Oh, 4-star potential, such a pit– Wait! YOU SAID 4-STAR!?!"
Feng Yan already estimated the cute little thing of low potential began sympathizing but realized he was wrong mid-way ss he roared.
"You are not joking, right? You are serious, right? S-she can grow upto Core Formation Realm, right? Right? RIGHT???"
Feng Yan was going insane, why couldn't he? Afterall, we are talking about 4-star Beast equivalent to Core Formation Realm cultivator.