Chapter Eighteen: The Persistent Little Bai

Seeing that Old Lion was about to ask something, Old Lioness didn’t wait for him to open his mouth before continuing.

“Don’t worry. Don’t forget, we’re different from the other magical beasts. Thanks to eating the blood pearls, the blood in our veins has been developed much further. Did you forget about the innate skill you just awakened? You can use it when the time comes!”

Hearing this, Old Lion finally recalled the innate skill he had just unlocked.

Unlike humans, magical beasts have complicated family ties, partly due to certain behaviors among themselves. This complexity leads to equally convoluted bloodlines—some beasts inherit noble ancestry, while others are left with far less impressive lineage.

Through cultivation, devouring rare treasures, and other such methods, magical beasts may awaken more advanced bloodlines, gaining access to greater inherited memories, and possibly awakening innate skills hidden in their blood. Of course, some beasts may go their whole lives without ever unlocking such abilities.

“You’re always the clever one, dear. How about we head down and get this over with? The sooner we settle things, the sooner we can have peace of mind, eh?” Old Lion, now that a solution was at hand, grew mischievous again. He wrapped an arm around Old Lioness’s slender waist, greedily inhaling her feminine scent as he spoke.

Old Lioness hesitated for a moment, nodded, leapt down from the tree, and shook off Old Lion’s restless paw.

Old Lion took a deep breath of her lingering fragrance in the air and followed her down.

Wang Luo and his companions were once again sent flying by the black panther. At this point, Little White’s once smooth, clean white fur had become a tangled mess, covered in dust.

The little white tiger stood on trembling legs, panting heavily, but its eyes remained locked onto the black panther, gathering strength for the next attack.

Wang Luo, standing nearby, looked much the same as before, though his gaze was a little dimmer. Only he knew his true state.

Because he had eaten several small blood pearls daily in the past, his blood carried a vast reserve of energy, keeping his body in peak condition.

But his spiritual sense and energy had no such reserve to rely on. His spiritual power had long been spent. In the latter stages of the fight, he could only absorb spiritual energy from the surroundings as he battled, but the intake was nowhere near enough to compensate for the loss. It also depleted his already taxed spiritual sense, until eventually he was fighting the black panther with nothing but his body.

Originally, Wang Luo had only intended to familiarize himself with his strength and then withdraw from the fight. But for some reason, the stubborn little white lion insisted on continuing.

He had no choice but to accompany the lion, ready to risk his life for its sake. He was more partial to Little White, after all. He had only met the black panther twice, and the first time he’d nearly lost his life in its jaws. It was clear there could be no affection there.

The black panther wasn’t faring much better. Though it had refrained from attacking and focused on defense, its breathing was faster now, and a wound that had stopped bleeding reopened, trickling again. Wang Luo felt rather embarrassed—after all, he would need the panther’s protection in the future.

With a low growl, the little white lion summoned its strength and charged at the black panther again, but was caught mid-leap.

It glanced at the lioness holding it, grumbled in protest, then snuggled contentedly into her arms to recover its strength.

Wang Luo smiled at Old Lioness and let out a sigh of relief before sitting cross-legged to meditate.

Opposite him, the black panther looked at Old Lion, let out a low growl, then lay down to continue healing, its wounds glowing faintly with black light.

“Remarkable! Who would have thought these three little ones would be so fierce?” Old Lion clicked his tongue in admiration as he watched the trio tend their wounds.

At once, Old Lioness shot him a glare, but Old Lion only looked at her with undisguised affection. Old Lioness truly couldn’t understand how such an incorrigible lion had been fortunate enough to awaken an innate skill, even if it was a rather useless one.

Reflecting on her own gains after advancing, Old Lioness realized that the half-understood things in Wang Luo’s stories suddenly made sense. Her perspective on many matters had deepened, and her thoughts grew more far-reaching, much like the “calculating wisdom” Wang Luo had once described.

Sunlight, scattered and broken by the leaves, fell in shifting patches across the ground. Occasionally, a ray would dance over the dozing forms of one boy and two beasts. Not far from them, a waterfall tumbled into a crystal-clear pool.

The scorching sunlight shone relentlessly on the pool, refracting through the water to the bottom, where two indistinct figures could be seen rolling together.

Oblivious, the two figures continued their activities. Suddenly, they stopped rolling and began to tremble rhythmically...

Beneath the tree, a dark-haired boy’s tightly shut eyes fluttered open as a patch of sunlight touched his face.

A flash of clarity shone in his eyes as Wang Luo stood and surveyed his surroundings. The little white lion and black panther were still recuperating, and Old Lion and Lioness were nowhere to be found.

Stretching lazily, Wang Luo headed for the pool to wash. Though he bore no wounds from fighting the black panther, he was covered in dirt and his animal-hide skirt was in tatters. Fortunately, there were spares in the cave.

When he was still several meters from the pool, he bent his knees, pushed off the ground, and leapt toward the water.

But just as he soared above the pool and before he could descend, a column of water suddenly shot up and knocked him clean out of the air.

With a thud, Wang Luo crashed into a large tree, landing perfectly between two branches. The impact set the whole tree swaying, and, both pained and aggrieved, the tree could only shed its leaves like tears.

Hearing the crash, the little white lion opened its eyes in confusion and stared for a moment at Wang Luo, who was stuck in the branches with his back to it.

The little white tiger, no longer remembering the beating it had just received from the black panther, bounded over, eager to see what game Wang Luo was playing.

The black panther, startled by the noise, leapt to its feet, body tense and eyes alert, ready for danger. But upon seeing Wang Luo caught in the branches, it relaxed and prepared to lie down once more. It glanced toward the pool, sensing something odd, and saw two figures slowly rising from the water.

Old Lion, looking thoroughly displeased, emerged from the water with a flushed Old Lioness clutched to his side. At that moment, he hated Wang Luo so much he could have swallowed him whole.

Azure Dragon of Another World — Chapter 18: The Stubborn Little White — End of update.