Transmigrated into a Grandpa, Embracing the Laid-Back Life

After saying all this, Qin Yi grabbed a few pellets of ration from the large pouch, placed them in his palm, and held it out in front of Shadow.

The Shadow, who had still been somewhat wary of Qin Yi just moments ago, instantly abandoned all caution at the sight of food. It darted its head forward with incredible agility, pecking the ration pellets from Qin Yi's hand clean in just two or three swift bites.

After finishing its meal, instead of flying back to Su Ming's shoulder, it hopped directly onto Qin Yi's shoulder. It rubbed its tiny, fluffy head—still lacking hard feathers—against Qin Yi's cheek with extreme affection, even letting out a cooing sound that resembled a spoiled demand.

"Hahaha..."

Qin Yi burst into hearty laughter, utterly charmed by its adorable, comical demeanor. He reached out a finger and gently tapped its head. "You little thing, you really are a sly one who follows whoever feeds you."

Once his laughter subsided, Qin Yi's expression gradually turned more serious. He looked at Shadow, who had hopped back onto Su Ming's shoulder and was preening its feathers, and his tone carried a hint of deeper meaning.

"Little Junior Brother, after I returned from your place last time, I went straight to the Transmission Pavilion. I spent a long time flipping through the ancient tomes in the archives, searching for records about ancient avian species."

Qin Yi paused, his gaze growing profound. "In a damaged copy of the *Ancient Records of Extraordinary Beasts*, I found a few scattered lines about it."

Su Ming's expression grew serious as he listened attentively.

"The text said: 'The Profound Shadow Crow is an ancient variant whose bloodline can be refined and cultivated into a Three-Legged Crow. Pure-blooded specimens are born looking like ordinary fowl, but their intellect awakens early, and they bear a hidden marking between their brows.'"

At the mention of the "hidden marking between the brows," Su Ming's pupils contracted almost imperceptibly. He knew better than anyone that it wasn't some natural mark at all—it was the three Laws that Lin Yu had forcibly branded into its soul!

Qin Yi, unaware of Su Ming's inner turmoil, continued reciting the ancient text: "'As for the Three-Legged Crow: it wields true fire and can match a Spirit Transformation cultivator. If it encounters an opportunity, it can advance further, survive a heavenly tribulation, shed its mortal form, and become a true divine beast.'"

"Divine beast..." Su Ming repeated the two words silently in his mind, feeling their heavy weight.

"This beast is exceptionally talented and truly worth carefully nurturing." Qin Yi's tone suddenly shifted, becoming extremely rational. "But, Little Junior Brother, as your Senior Brother, I must give you one warning—never pour resources meant for your own cultivation into this spirit beast in an unbalanced way."

Su Ming was slightly taken aback.

"One of the cruelest rules of the immortal cultivation world is the contest between lifespan and time," Qin Yi sighed. "Spirit beasts have incredibly long lifespans. A single hibernation, a single molting, could take decades or even centuries. Some spirit beasts with pure bloodlines need an agonizingly long time to accumulate enough to reach a realm equivalent to a human's Nascent Soul."

"This cultivation world is never short of spirit beast cubs with top-tier bloodlines, but have you ever seen a powerful figure who dominated the world relying on their spirit beast?" Qin Yi held up a finger and said with extreme seriousness, "Because the master of the spirit beast might not have enough time to wait!"

"A hundred years is enough for us to risk everything and charge toward a Golden Core, or even a Nascent Soul. But for it, a hundred years might just mean it's barely out of infancy." Qin Yi pointed at Shadow. "If you dump every heavenly treasure you find into it, by the time it finally matures enough to protect your path, you might have long since turned to dust, your lifespan exhausted from lack of resources."

These words struck Su Ming's heart like the tolling of a great bell.

Yes. This was the true face of the immortal cultivation world. There were no easy, instant reversals and counter-kills. There was only the cold, brutal calculation between time and resources.

"Senior Brother's teachings, Su Ming will keep them in my heart." Su Ming bowed deeply.

The core of the Way of Survival was to quantify every risk. Su Ming would naturally cultivate Shadow, but he would never let it hinder the foundation of his own path.

By the time he returned from Beast Peak to his cave dwelling at Gazing Star Cliff, the sky had already gone completely dark.

Along the way, Shadow flitted and danced excitedly through the trees, catching a few careless venomous bees to snack on. Back at the cave dwelling, it was clearly tired. It ate a small handful of ration pellets mixed with Stardust Powder from Su Ming's palm, then wobbled over to the soft nest specially lined with Fire Sun Grass in the corner of the stone bed. It tucked its head under its wing and fell into a deep, sound sleep.

Su Ming stood by the nest, looking down at the black little creature curled up into a ball no bigger than a fist, illuminated by the faint glow of the night pearls embedded in the cave ceiling. With its steady, even breathing, the fine feathers on its body rose and fell slightly, faintly resonating with the stray Star Power floating in the air outside.

But that moment of emotion lasted only an instant before Su Ming forcibly suppressed it. He turned around and strode to the stone table in the center of the cave dwelling, sitting down cross-legged.

With a flick of his wrist, he took out from his storage pouch the tattered *Soul-Nourishing Incense Formula* he had picked up from a street stall at the market, as well as a small, thumb-thick stick of dark gray incense he had painstakingly ground and blended according to the formula.

A wisp of extremely faint flame flickered from Su Ming's fingertip as he lit the tip of the incense stick.

There was no harsh, smoky smell—only an extremely subtle, strange fragrance that seemed to seep directly into the depths of the soul. It rose like a blue ribbon, curling upward within the cave dwelling.

The void in the air rippled like water, and Lin Yu's Soul Body silently drifted out.

Without even glancing at Su Ming, he floated directly above the wisp of blue smoke. Lin Yu tilted his head back slightly, opened his mouth, and inhaled sharply. The smoke, which had been rising straight upward, instantly changed its trajectory, turning into a blue current that was completely drawn into Lin Yu's mouth.

Visibly, a warm, moonlit luster spread across the surface of Lin Yu's already extremely solid Soul Body. The edges of his form, which had been slightly dimmed from the strain of forcibly branding the Laws onto Shadow's soul, became sharp and clear once again after inhaling the soul-nourishing incense.

"Hoo—"

Lin Yu let out a long breath of impure air, lowered his head to look at his own nearly tangible hands, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Not bad. Those three hundred low-grade spirit stones weren't wasted." Lin Yu's voice rang out in the silent cave dwelling, carrying a note of lazy contentment. "The medicinal power of the Silver-Spotted Heart-Clearing Orchid in this formula was activated exceptionally well. Its effect on repairing minor damage to the soul is even stronger than I imagined."

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