When Bai Sulan sped off, Yuan and Feng Yuxiang imdiately chased after her.
"Hey, how old are you?" Yuan asked her as they traveled the misty mountain valley.
"I’m almost eight hundred this year," she calmly responded.
Yuan was caught off guard by her answer and said, "Eight hundred years? You’re even older than ."
"Really?" Bai Sulan looked at him with intrigue, almost as if she was seeing soone younger than her for the first ti.
He nodded.
"But why do you have the appearance of a little kid?" Feng Yuxiang asked.
"Because I am still a child. In our clan, we don’t beco adults until we reach 2,000 years old," Bai Sulan explained.
"Two thousand years, huh? That’s quite low compared to so of the other bloodlines out there," Feng Yuxiang remarked.
So bloodlines required tens of thousands—if not hundreds of thousands—of years of experience before one could even be considered an adult.
"Can you tell more about this trial of yours?" Yuan then asked.
Bai Sulan nodded and explained, "In the Heavenly White Tiger Clan, we’re all required to go out and hunt specific magical beasts as part of our trials. We have to complete one trial every hundred years until we reach adulthood."
"Each trial increases in difficulty, and I am currently on my eighth trial," she added.
"What happens if you fail a trial?" Feng Yuxiang asked.
"Then we’re deed defects and executed for staining the bloodline," Bai Sulan replied calmly, as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world.
"Executed for failing a trial...? That’s not right," Yuan said while shaking his head.
Yet, Feng Yuxiang didn’t seem surprised in the slightest.
"The Heavenly White Tiger Clan has no use for the weak," said Bai Sulan. "If we don’t want to be disposed of, we’ll need to succeed."
Due to how fast the Heavenly White Tiger Clan increases its population, they believed it would be for the best to cull those unworthy of carrying their prestigious bloodline. In fact, many were disposed of even before their first trial for having an insufficient bloodline.
However, this harsh reality wasn’t unique to the Heavenly White Tiger Clan, and similar ruthless practices existed among many other powerful bloodlines as well. After all, this would save them a lot of ti and resources, allowing them to invest in those truly worthy.
"Young Master, you grew up among humans, so you wouldn’t know, but this kind of practice is very common in the world of beasts," Feng Yuxiang explained. "Especially among the stronger clans, as this is how they preserve resources and ensure they produce only the best of the best."
"To many, our bloodline is everything, and having an inferior bloodline is akin to having no talents for humans."
"I understand the reasoning behind it, but I don’t have to accept it or like it."
Feng Yuxiang sighed, "Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do about it... Unless you repeat what the Immortal Monarch did during his era."
"You an bringing most of the beast clans under my control?" Yuan raised an eyebrow.
She silently nodded.
"I’ll think about it," he said, seriously contemplating it.
Feng Yuxiang smiled, but she didn’t say anything else.
A few days later, Bai Sulan ca to a halt as they finally arrived at the Phantasm Serpent’s Nest—a large cave hidden beneath one of the countless mountains scattered throughout the Heavenly White Valley.
Bai Sulan returned to her human form and retrieved her tal rod.
"I’ll be right back. You can wait here for . It shouldn’t take too long," she said to them.
"Are you sure you want to go inside alone?" Yuan asked.
"Yes. Don’t worry about ."
Bai Sulan calmly strolled into the cave a mont later, her small figure soon vanishing into the thick mist that drifted out from within.
"I have a bad feeling about this..." Yuan muttered.
"I’m sure she’ll be fine." Feng Yuxiang said.
However, Yuan wanted to be certain, so he swept the entire cave with his divine sense. He imdiately detected several large snakes with pearlescent scales scattered throughout the cavern, most of them between the seventh and ninth levels of Immortal Ascension.
’Since she could toy with a beast at the peak of Immortal Ascension, she should be fine...’ Yuan thought to himself and stopped thinking about it.
He sat down and closed his eyes, waiting patiently for Bai Sulan’s return.
Two days later, his eyes snapped open as the ground began to shake beneath him. Turning around, he saw the entire mountain quivering, and a mont later, a powerful pressure filled the air.
"This pressure belongs to a being at the True Immortal realm!" Feng Yuxiang exclaid.
BOOM!
Before they could even react, the entire mountain suddenly erupted, shattering outward as if a massive bomb had detonated within it.
Then, a massive serpent figure erged within the swirling mist, its size nearly rivaling that of the mountain itself.
"Where the hell did that thing co from?" Yuan muttered in surprise. He had already scanned the entire mountain with his divine sense, and there was simply no way he could have overlooked such a massive and powerful entity.
However, he didn’t have ti to dwell on it, as there was sothing far more important demanding his attention.
"Bai Sulan! Are you okay?!" He shouted, his voice echoing in every direction.
"..."
Silence. There was no response.
"Young Master! Over there!" Feng Yuxiang suddenly shouted, pointing toward the serpent’s head. The mist had parted just enough for them to see a bloodied white tiger trapped between its massive jaws.
Yuan clicked his tongue in annoyance, then imdiately summoned Number One Under Heaven. Without a mont’s hesitation, he launched an attack on the serpent.
With his Silver Immortal cultivation, a re True Immortal was no match for him. It took only a few seconds for Yuan to completely defeat the serpent.
After slicing the serpent’s body into countless pieces, Yuan retrieved Bai Sulan, who was unconscious but still alive.
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