“Where do we play first?” Plinky asked as he swam through the air glowing a golden light.
“Follow me! I know the perfect place for us to have fun.” Li Li took the lead and flew ahead, deep into the Immortal Forest.
Li Li led him into the incredibly dangerous Inner Layer of the Immortal Forest. An area where spirit beasts at the Core Stage and Qi Transformation realm stay. Ever since he’s made it to the 9th stage of the Qi Consolidation realm like his mom, he’s been coming here more often now that he could stand up against Core Stage spirit beasts. Sadly, he couldn’t kill the Qi Transformation stage animals yet. He was still too weak.
Plinky happily followed Li Li into this dangerous area despite being a 1st stage Qi Gatherer. Normally a 1st stage Qi Gatherer wouldn’t be able to handle the amount of qi concentrated this deep in the forest but after ingesting Li Li’s anomalous blood, he has already made his way to breaking the limits of what is considered normal for beings of this plane. Calling him a Super Fish would be an understatement to his true capabilities. But even so, taking on Core Stage and Qi Transformation staged spirit beast is far too much for him at the moment.
Li Li realized this. He wasn’t stupid enough to send his first Demon to something that would get him killed. They were going somewhere else to have their fun. It was a secret that only Spirit Beasts knew as far as Li Li understood. Many cultivators at the higher realms understood that Spirit Beasts could transform into human forms once they reach a high enough cultivation stage. But not many of them knew that some of these unbelievably strong Spirit Beasts have created communities of their own deep inside the Immortal Forest, hidden from view by humans and cultivators alike.
Down below the two, a city could be seen. With their eyes, they could spot several animals of various cultivation stages chatting, doing business, or fighting. Li Li led Plinky down into the city. They landed down in the middle of the road and continued on foot there. Li Li walking on his legs while Plinky swam on the side of him, just barely floating above the ground.
“This is Squirrel City.” Li Li explained.
“Squirrel?” Plinky questioned.
“The leader of this place is King Squirrel. He is the strongest Spirit Beast around for now.”
“Oh. Is it fun time now?”
“In here. You can have your fun in here.” Li Li motioned to the front of them.
Plinky had to turn his head up to take in the giant building built eerily similar in the same way that a human’s coliseum would be. Not that he knew what a human coliseum was in the first place. He was only born a day ago. Li Li did know what a coliseum was and was placing Plinky inside to see what he could do. While he would be chatting with a friend...
“Can I eat them?” Plinky asked before he was sent inside.
“No. They don’t really allow killing inside the city except for killing criminals.” Li Li answered.
“Can I eat after I have fun?”
“Yep! I’ll bring you somewhere that has really delicious food!”
“Yay! Okay! I’ll go have some fun now that I'm really strong!” He swam into the arena.
The metal gate shut behind him with a crash as he made it inside the arena. His eyes saw all the other animals far higher than him in the cultivation stage staring down at him. And waved with his little fin at them. In the middle of the animals standing, flying, or sitting up there, he saw a human and Li Li! Li Li flew to the side of the human sitting in the biggest chair and started talking with him. His thoughts were about to wonder about who that human was but Plinky’s attention was soon grabbed by the big bird staring at him.
“You’re going to play with me?” Plinky asked.
“Is this a joke?” The Ostrich asked, feeling the cultivation realm of his opponent.
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“I don’t think you’re strong enough to play with me...” Plinky frowned.
The ostrich was a 1st stage Qi Consolidator. Hearing this from a strange spirit beast that looks smaller than his big toe was completely insulting! He was planning on holding back on account of their massive stage difference but now? The floating animal could only blame itself for having such a big mouth.
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“Ah, Li Li, my good friend. It is nice to see you again. It's been a while since you last visited. I was afraid something horrible had happened to you.” The handsome human smiled.
“Hey Squirrel King. I’ve been busy spending time with my mom but I might be visiting here more often because now I'm finally doing that thing I said I would last time we talked.” Li Li greeted back.
“The human female?” He asked, his eyes seemingly trying to fish for something inside him.
“Yep.” Li Li didn’t know what he was fishing for but it didn’t matter. He had nothing to hide. He met his deep eyes with pride.
“Well, I may have some recommendations for your Heavenly Demons if you’re taking entries.” King Squirrel took a sip of his spiritually rich wine.
“Oh.” Li Li didn’t expect this. “Who did you have in mind?” He always thought that King Squirrel was apathetic when it came to anything that didn’t directly benefit him.
“It looks like the match is starting. I’ll tell you after I see what your first Demon can do.” He grinned, clearly interesting in seeing the outcome of the fight. “I might have to discard my recommendations if he’s too strong, you know?”
“He’s still very young. Plinky has much time to grow.” Li Li said.
“Pfft! Bwahahaha! And how old are you, Li Li?” King Squirrel jokingly asked.
“I’m different from others around my age because of my mother. Don’t try and compare me other kids.”
“You’re all youths in my eyes, you know?” He smiled.
“You’re an Earthly Immortal but I've doubt you seen anyone like me before, am I right?” Li Li asked.
“You are right about that. You are one of a kind Li Li. I’ve seen thousands of mutants and Spirit Beasts with unnatural strength but none of them came close to the unusualness that is you. And you said your mother is the same for humans?”
“Maybe. Out of the other humans I've seen so far, yes.”
“You still haven’t given up that ridiculous notion that you’re human yet, huh?”
“Just because I look different from other humans doesn’t mean I'm not a human.”
“A child’s ignorance is truly a beautiful thing.”
“No one is being ignorant. It's simply the truth.”
“Well, when you reach my realm, you can fully claim that you are your mother’s child. At that point gaining your human form will be a piece of cake. But let me give you some advice, once you decide on your human form, you can never change it again except with exceptionally rare treasures.”
“I can fully claim it now. And thanks for the advice.”
“I do have a question for you...” King Squirrel stroked his beard. “That is a fish, if I'm not mistaken, correct?”
“Plinky is a fish that can breathe on land.” Li Li explained.
“How?” Fish don’t just breath on land. Even the most powerful of fish can’t just come onto land and breath or swim through the air like it was water.
“His qi element is Yang. I guessed it had something to do with that.” Li Li told him.
“Yang qi!? You must be joking with me.” King Squirrel couldn’t believe it.
“You, out of everyone here, can tell if I'm joking or not.”
Plinky was constantly radiating Yang qi around himself in the form of that golden light.
“Your Heavenly Demons might become a stronger force than I thought... I guess I can throw away the spirit beasts I was planning to send your way. Almost none of them would stand a chance against that fish except those in the Core Preparation stage and above.”
“He is a lot stronger than I thought he would be but he is still too immature. But maybe this bird wasn’t enough to force him to be serious. I’ll have to see in the future.” Li Li spoke.
Over the course of his match, Plinky continued to play around with his opponent till the very end. He toyed with him like an adult would with a child. Plinky was faster than the ostrich and could avoid anything he threw at him. His kicks and slashes couldn’t touch Plinky. While at the same time, Plinky could’ve ended it in a single blow with his deceiving appearance. With a single tackle, Plinky plowed into the ostrich. The 1st stage Qi Consolidator went flying into the wall, completely knocked out with no chance of getting back into the fight.
“He was too weak to have some real fun with. Oh well. Time to eat!” Plinky swam up to Li Li as Li Li collected his winnings for him.
“This is for you.” Li Li handed him his beast cores.
“Waah...” Plinky’s eyes shined at the sight of the delectable cores.
“Let’s go get some food like I said we would. See you around King Squirrel.” Li Li wave goodbye.
“Bye Squirrel King!” Plinky excitement could be seen in the way he swam.
“Farewell Heavenly Demons. I look forward to seeing how you grow in the future.” King Squirrel waved goodbye.