Chapter 22 - Phoenix - 22

It wasn't long before Zhou Fan made it to the foot of the mountain. From the bottom, it seemed that the mountain was a mile tall. The mountain was also quite wide. The entire mountain was sandy and high in temperature. There were few trees and plants on the whole thing.

With the animals in tow, Zhou Fan made his way up the mountain. He was riding on Xiaolong like before. They had no trouble getting up the mountain and arrived at the top in 10 minutes. At the top, there was a single tree. The trees leaves were red and full of vitality.

On top of the tree, a giant red bird lay napping. As if sensing their presence, the bird opened it eyes and stood on the tree. Zhou Fan looked at Bainu, the white tiger, and sent it to battle the bird. Like the last couple of times, the battle was even. Amazingly, the birds regenerative speed was 10 times that of an average living being. Although it wasn't at the level of instant regeneration, it was an incredible power to have.

After a while, the white tiger was on the losing end. Although the bird had sustained heavy injuries, its stamina was much higher than Bailu. However, the bird couldn't severely injure Bailu without paying a price. After a while, Zhou Fan ended the battle and repeated the process of taming the bird. He chose to name the bird 'Zhuque'. He also chose to stop calling it a bird since it was the size of Xiaolong and the rest. Instead, he opted to call it a phoenix.

After that, he walked back to the center of the underground world. He decided to make a residence here. The area was nicer than any other place he had ever seen, and he didn't even have to pay rent!

Instead of forming the wood with Qi, he used the beasts to build a house with real wood. When he created the elements with Qi, they were very temporary and not good to build a house with. Of course, he still manipulated the area with Qi to make it flat. He also used Qi to help carry and build things. Due to all the help, he finished the house in a couple of hours. Sadly, it was far too small for any of the beasts to stay in. Therefore, Zhou Fan went out and helped them each build their own areas. Xiaolong made a big cave to the east to stay in. Xuanwu and Hanglu made a big lake to the north of the house. Bainu made a forest to the west, and Zhuque made a big tree to the south.

Afterward, Zhou Fan and the rest spent the night in their homes. When they woke up, Zhou Fan summoned Xiaolong from his habitat. When he arrived, Xiaolong curled around Zhou Fan and rubbed on him. It seemed that Xiaolong had taken Zhou Fan as his owner.

"Xiaolong, I want to try something on you."

Xialong nodded, and Zhou Fan placed his palm on him. Then, Zhou Fan sent a small amount of Qi directly into Xiaolongs meridians. At first, there was no reaction. However, after 30 seconds, Xiaolong started crumbling. Yes, crumbling! His very existence was starting to fade. Zhou Fan hastily stopped and sent the healing light into Xiaolong. Although he had stopped and started to heal him, Xiaolong was already severely injured. It took 5 hours of nonstop healing to regrow the chunk of Xialongs flesh.

By that time, all the beasts had long looked at Xiaolong with fear. The immense damage done to him was terrifying. He was very lucky to survive.

Afterward, Zhou Fan walked back to his room and started to think. His initial goal was to get Xiaolong to be able to use Qi. However, clearly, something had gone wrong.

"Perhaps he can't absorb the same Qi as me?" Zhou Fan asked to himself. Theoretically, it was possible that only humans could absorb chaos Qi. Or perhaps, even they couldn't. Maybe Zhou Fan was the only one who could.

After pondering for a while, Zhou Fan had an idea. Maybe he could branch off certain parts of his chaos Qi and make it absorbable for Xiaolong. Once again, Zhou Fan summoned Xiaolong to the backyard. This time, he didn't hastily pour Qi into him. Instead, he studied him. After a while, Zhou Fan brought out his chaos Qi. Zhou Fan had realized that it could turn into things besides elements. Perhaps he could make one specialy for dragons. He would call it 'Dragon Qi'. Zhou Fan stood there for an hour, trying to make his Qi imitate Xiaolong. After a while, he had finally done it! In his palm lied a minature version of Xiaolong! The only difference was that it was ethereal, completely blue, and swimming in the air. Every now and then, it would let out a small roar.

Zhou Fan sent the dragon Qi into Xiaolongs body. After a while, Xialongs body started to emit light. Suddenly, impurities poured out of his body. Zhou Fan was estatic. It worked!

RROOOOAAARR!!

Xiaolong let out a roar many times stronger than before. Previously, he had already contained immense strength. Now that he had started on the path of cultivation, his body was much stronger.

The other beasts had gathered around after hearing Xiaolongs roar. They were astonished to see him speedily run to Xuanwu and Hanlus's lake while covered in a disgusting gunk. Xiaolong jumped into the lake and cleaned himself before happily running back to Zhou Fan. While they were celebrating, Xuanwu smacked Xiaolong on the back of the head. Turning around to see who hit him, he noticed the angry galres of Xuanwu and Hanglu. The previously clean lake was filled with impurities. Xiaolong apologized while Zhou Fan grabbed the impurities out with his Qi. They also made a rule to use the river to bathe from now on.

After that was settled, Zhou Fan started to create a Qi for each of the beasts. Surprisingly, Xuanwu and Hanglu consumed the same Qi.