Lin Mu wondered where Lady Kang was as well.
"There is no news from Lady Kang. But she should be on time as she was already in the Dao Wind empire." Crown Prince Feng Shun replied.
"Huh, and she didn't choose to join you?" Lin Mu asked considering it would have been the more efficient option.
"I think she prefers her privacy." Crown Prince Feng Shun responded before standing up and walking to the edge of the observation deck. "Just a couple of days until we see them all."
"Having a flying ship certainly makes it convenient to travel. Perhaps I should get an Immortal vehicle too." Lin Mu said after hearing how fast it was. "For long term travel I usually just fly or use Little Shrubby."
Of course, Little Shrubby's speed was much faster, but the ship was a lot more comfortable.
"Little Shrubby?" The Crown Princess was a bit surprised. "You use him as a mount?"
"I do." Lin Mu nodded.
"That small cat?" Even Daoist Chu didn't expect that.
"Well…" Lin Mu reckoned it was fine to reveal it now since they would probably learn about it later.
The expedition was a dangerous venture and thus it was highly likely that Lin Mu would have to get Little Shrubby to assist them too. With his speed, the liger beast would be an invaluable asset to them all.
Lin Mu's pause kept the group hanging, as they were all curious to understand the meaning behind their words.
"He isn't always 'small'." Lin Mu spoke. "His actual form is quite big."
While the Crown Prince Feng Shun and the Crown Princess Shang had thought that there was more to the beast than they could see, hearing about it from Lin Mu was still surprising.
"How big?" Crown Princess Shang wondered.
She almost couldn't imagine the cute kitten being a big beast.
"Do you just want to see it?" Lin Mu asked, knowing that it was the better option.
"If you wish to." Crown Prince Feng Shun replied, feeling even more interested now.
He too, wondered just how strong Lin Mu's tamed beast would be.
"Come out, Little Shrubby." Lin Mu called the beast.
~shua~
In the next second, they saw the beast appeared on the table.
"Hello there," a smile appeared on the Crown Princess's face right away upon seeing it.
She couldn't resist petting the beast right away, which Little Shrubby let her do.
~purr~ is the owner.
This made the Crown Princess think that even if Little Shrubby was big, it wouldn't be by that much.
"Grow to your full size, Little Shrubby." Lin Mu spoke.
"Here?" Little Shrubby asked, seeing that they weren't exactly on the ground.
"Yeah, it's fine. We have plenty of space." Lin Mu confirmed.
The entire deck was empty, and other than them, there was no one present. All the others that had been invited on the expedition were staying in their rooms, trying to cultivate as much as they could before their arrival.
~shua~
Little Shrubby jumped down from the observation deck, disappearing from the view of the others. But before they could even stand to take a look, they saw a giant red figure appear.
Crown Princess Shang's eyes went wide, while a smile appeared on the Crown Prince's face. Daoist Chu's expression on the other hand, became stiff while Monk Hushu silently gulped.
They all gazed at the full form of Little Shrubby that was now on eye level with them, despite being on the deck below.
Gone was the cute kitten that they had seen earlier. What stood in front of them was a ferocious beast with a fierce aura.
Now that Little Shrubby was in his full form, his cultivation base was no longer suppressed. All of them could now see that he was at the Second Tribulation Stage of the Immortal realm, but the sheer amount of Qi waves coming from him showed that his strength was far above that.
If not for the fact that there were excellent isolating arrays on the ship, it was likely that the people below would have sensed the presence of a new beast there.
But that was not all, as they could also tell the beast held more abilities unseen to the eye.
They were all experienced individuals and knew better than to judge by mere cultivation base.
"My, my… You sure hide one surprise after the other." Crown Prince Feng Shun spoke, seeing the beast.
"I certainly didn't expect this… Way too big." The Crown Princess muttered. "No wonder you said you use him to travel. He's big enough to carry several people." She spoke.
~Growl~
Little Shrubby let out a low growl as a greeting to them.
'What beast is this even…?' Daoist Chu couldn't help but wonder.
He had seen many beasts, but Little Shrubby didn't fit any of them. The mere ability to change sizes was also unique.
After all, it was not something as simple as just shrinking in size. That was actually something several beasts could have, but what Little Shrubby did was a step further than that. His body didn't just shrink, but even reverted in growth.
This allowed him to hide his cultivation base perfectly, and also restrain his aura, making it seem like he was a mere spirit beast.
It was certainly an impressive skill to have.
"WAIT! Wood elemental affinity and a Wood Dao Embryo too!?" Crown Princess Shang sensed something more. "The way he changed forms too… That was Vitality Reversal!" She accurately identified.
The others heard her words too and were more surprised. They weren't able to sense that Little Shrubby had a Wood Dao Embryo too, but since Crown Princess Shang had a great affinity to wood, she had no issues in doing it.
But learning that Little Shrubby had used Vitality Reversal was something else.
"A beast using Vitality Reversal? Is that even possible?" Monk Hushu said in disbelief.
"It sure is… The proof is right in front of our eyes." Crown Prince Feng Shun said, feeling highly impressed.