CHAPTER 334 – TANTAN

But deep down, Leyvi knew the truth. Spiritual sense in battle was only as useful as the user's ability to react. Without actual combat experience, it meant little. And these seven pandas… not to mention most of the residents in this forest who lived their lives in peace. Leyvi seriously doubted they had any of that.

Still, he humored them for a while longer before returning to his cultivation inside the bamboo formation. He had about a week left before his time here ran out.

Rather than letting the seven pandas sit around watching him meditate, Leyvi gave them something useful to do. He taught them a game—panda tag. One of them would be "It" and had to chase the others using their spiritual sense to track movements. When tagged, the role switched, and the game continued.

It looked silly, but Leyvi had his reasons. He wanted to train their reflexes, agility, and most importantly, their instinctual use of spiritual sense in a dynamic environment. And so, the peaceful bamboo forest became... a bit less peaceful.

Over the next week, chaos reigned.

The seven pandas ran wild, dashing through the forest with laughter and thudding footsteps, chasing each other in wild zigzags. Other demonic beasts, curious or competitive, joined the game too. What started as training ended up becoming the forest's new favorite activity.

Then, one quiet morning a week later, Leyvi finally stepped out of the bamboo formation. His time was up.

During his final days there, Leyvi had managed to enter the Zenith State a few more times. Each time came easier than the last. Of course, he was fully aware that things would be different once he left this formation's supportive environment.

As Leyvi stepped out of the bamboo formation, he immediately noticed the demonic gorilla waiting for him.

The gorilla had changed. It now radiated the dense, powerful aura of a high-level demonic beast. No doubt it had benefited greatly from the Miracle Qi. And yet, its expression was anything but friendly.

The seven pandas were nowhere in sight, likely still running around somewhere in the forest, causing mayhem with their ongoing game of tag.

"Outsider," the gorilla said, its voice deeper and more commanding than before, "your time is up. You may leave now. The bamboo forest is noisy and chaotic thanks to that ridiculous game you taught the pandas."

Leyvi grinned. The gorilla definitely had a new level of confidence in its tone, typical of someone who had just powered up.

"Hahaha! How about another extension? I blessed this whole place with my Qi, didn't I? You all got stronger thanks to me."

"Outsider! Enough with your nonsense!" the gorilla snapped, eyes narrowing. "As if someone like you could cause something so miraculous. That was clearly the sacred ground's own blessing. You were just lucky to be at the center of it."

More demonic beasts appeared nearby, and some of them shouted from the edges of the trees.

"That's right!" "Go away, outsider!" "We've been patient enough!" "Greedy fancy ape!"

"Hahaha! Fine, fine. I'm leaving," Leyvi said with a shrug, turning away.

He had expected this reaction. There was no need to waste time trying to convince them. Whether they believed him or not didn't matter. He'd already gained what he needed and now, more than anything, he wanted to reunite with Anda. Once they were back together, they could regroup with the others and start planning their return home.

As he walked away, the demonic beasts merely watched in silence. Some had expected him to scheme for more time or offer up more of that delicious food he'd somehow conjured before, but he seemed to give up so easily. No argument, no excuses, just laughter and a wave goodbye.

Leyvi spread his spiritual sense and located Crown Prince Dastan near the northern edge of the bamboo forest. He immediately changed course and began moving in that direction.

But it wasn't long before he noticed something troublesome.

His movement was clunky.

Damn. I'm fast now… too fast for my own good.

While he had no trouble blasting forward in a straight line using bursts of Qi, weaving between the scattered bamboo stalks was another story. His body couldn't keep up with the precision his speed now demanded. He found himself constantly slowing down, adjusting his path awkwardly to avoid crashing into trees.

Back in the Foundation Building Realm, this wasn't an issue. His speed was manageable, and even with his crude movement techniques, he could easily dodge and adapt mid-step. But now that he was in the Core Formation Realm, every burst of movement had much more power behind it.

Leyvi clicked his tongue and shook his head.

"I really need a proper movement technique," he muttered. "Ava might know a good one. In a place like this, where flying's restricted, being nimble on foot is essential."

He nodded to himself, making a mental note to ask her about it later, then carefully continued through the forest at a more controlled pace.

Soon, Leyvi arrived. Crown Prince Dastan was meditating.

"Yo, Dastan. I'm done. It's time to move. Also, why do you have a demonic squirrel with you? Don't you dislike demonic beasts?" Leyvi asked, looking at the squirrel on his shoulder.

The crown prince opened his eyes. "Heh, what do you know, country bumpkin. Everything in the world has an exception, including exception."

Leyvi blinked. What the heck? A random philosophy out of nowhere.

"I'm not fond of demonic beasts, but Tantan is an exception. She's my demonic beast now. Daa hahaha! How's that, Leyvi? I'm a beast tamer too!" He said proudly.

Leyvi was dumbfounded. He hadn't expected the crown prince to take in a small, weak demonic beast like the squirrel as his spirit beast. If Dastan were to ever pick one, Leyvi had imagined something large, powerful, and imposing.

"Are you sure you can take care of her? We're going to dangerous places, you know," Leyvi asked, raising a brow.

"Heh, who do you think this prince is? Of course I've learned how to take care of spirit beasts. It's part of the Royal Education," Dastan said proudly, puffing his chest. "Now that Tantan is my spirit beast, she's officially a Royal Spirit Beast. When we return, she'll receive all the proper training befitting her status."

Even Tantan, sitting on his shoulder, struck a prideful pose.

Leyvi was speechless. Did he already teach the squirrel how to act arrogant?

"Ahem… Leyvi, you're a beast tamer. You should have extra spirit beast bags, right?" Dastan asked, clearing his throat and setting aside his pride for a moment.

He didn't have one himself. After all, it had never occurred to him to take in a spirit beast before. And with Tantan being so weak, it was safer to keep her protected inside a bag for now.

"You can have my old one," Leyvi said, tossing a small pouch toward him. "It's the first spirit beast bag I ever used. I swapped it out before coming here."

Dastan caught it and blinked, staring at the worn leather and faded color. He looked up, incredulous.

"Leyvi… this prince keeps calling you a country bumpkin because of our difference in status, but were you really one? This is the cheapest spirit beast bag model, with no extra features! Were you actually that poor?"

"Hahaha! That really brings back memories," Leyvi said, laughing. "Yeah, I was that poor. And my sect only sold that model back then. I already admitted I was a country bumpkin. What's so surprising about it now?"

"Well, not surprising at all," Dastan said smugly. "This only proves that my eyes are incredibly discerning, able to spot a country bumpkin at first glance. A talent truly befitting royalty."

You're extremely generous, he added inwardly. Of course this prince would assume you were never poor. This prince has never seen a generous poor person before… Oh wait, maybe he only became generous after getting rich.

He sent Tantan into the spirit beast bag and tested it. Everything seemed to function as expected. 

"Alright, are you done?" Leyvi asked, a grin on his face. "Then let's go! We're going to reunite with my panda wife."

"Huh? Reunite? Where?" Dastan blinked, caught off guard.

"She's on an island with a few others, probably trapped there. So we're heading over."

"I see… Then let's—wait a second!" Dastan halted mid-step, frowning. "How did you find out about this?"

His brows furrowed. It didn't make any sense at all.

"Hahaha! You won't believe me, but that formation had something happen one night and let my spiritual sense cover the world. And then it led me to my wife's location. I saw her there on an island," Leyvi explained.

"Bullshit! How can a spiritual sense cover the entire world? This prince knows your spiritual sense is abnormal, but is that even possible? This prince has heard a lot of made-up stories, but this one is the most made-up story of all. Come on, Leyvi, this prince won't fall for your trolling again. Tell this prince the real way you found out about your wife's location!"

Dastan didn't believe the story. After all, the scale involved the entire world. How massive was that? Probably only a god could do something like that.