Chapter 480: Milk Makes the Mother
Inside the cave dwelling on Gazing Star Cliff, several night pearls embedded in the ceiling emitted a soft, cold light.
Su Ming sat cross-legged on the smooth stone bed, with a large array of supplies spread neatly before him. Entering the Formation Peak Secret Realm for six months of seclusion was no simple matter like a trip down the mountain. In the secret realm, isolated from the outside world, although spiritual energy was abundant, there was no source of supplies whatsoever.
He lined up over a dozen storage pouches in a row, his fingers moving with incredible dexterity as he sorted through various jade bottles and formation plates. He had prepared a full five hundred fasting pills, and had separated detox pills, Reviving Spring Pills, and Clearheart Pills into jade boxes labeled with different colored tags. The formation materials were the most critical—from the most basic blank formation line boards to the extremely rare Void Stone Powder and Boundary Origin Sand, he had marked them in different storage pouches according to frequency of use.
For a follower of the Way of Survival, preparing a retreat that would allow you to survive for an extra three months even if the sky came crashing down was the most basic form of self-cultivation.
After organizing his supplies, Su Ming's gaze fell on the corner of the stone table.
A pitch-black ball of fluff was crouched there, tilting its tiny head, no bigger than a fist, and staring at his busy hands with a pair of pure golden eyes filled with intense curiosity.
"Going into seclusion in the secret realm, your food is also a big problem, you little thing." Su Ming sighed, pulling out the two large bags of specially prepared feed that Second Senior Brother Qin Yi had given him from a storage pouch. He also took out a small jade jar, which contained Star Dust Powder that could refine bloodlines.
He mixed the Star Dust Powder into the feed with extreme precision according to the ratio, then divided it into dozens of small bags. After finishing that, he pulled out a thumb-thick, dark gray incense stick.
This was the Soul-Nourishing Incense, made primarily from the Silver-Spotted Heart-Clearing Orchid.
A faint wisp of flame flickered from Su Ming's fingertip, and the incense stick lit. A thread of deep blue smoke curled upward.
The void rippled slightly, and Lin Yu's solid, jade-like Soul Body eagerly drifted out. He took a deep, deeply satisfying breath as the blue smoke turned into a thin thread that precisely entered his nostrils. Lin Yu closed his eyes, a look of blissful comfort spreading across his face, as if he were soaking in warm water.
Shadow crouched at the edge of the stone table, watching this translucent old man with obvious confusion as to why he could absorb that smoke. She tentatively leaned in, opening her small, short beak to take a sniff as well, but Lin Yu's phantom hand slapped her on the forehead.
"Scram, this is an adult's supplement. Kids get dizzy from it," Lin Yu grumbled irritably, continuing to greedily inhale the Soul-Nourishing Incense.
Shadow shrunk her neck in grievance, watching helplessly with longing eyes.
Just then, a burst of hurried footsteps came from outside the cave dwelling.
"Senior Brother Su! Senior Brother Su, are you in!"
Qingfeng's loud, boisterous voice carried through the heavy stone gate, followed by a series of *bang bang bang* knocks. "What good stuff are you burning in there? The smell is drifting out even through the formation! It smells amazing!"
Su Ming paused his actions, shaking his head with deep resignation.
He pinched his fingers together, quickly snuffing out the incense stick. Lin Yu, hovering in mid-air, shot the cave gate a look of extreme displeasure before his body transformed into a streak of light, instantly disappearing into the Xuantian Ring on Su Ming's finger.
After confirming there were no abnormalities, Su Ming sent out a wave of spiritual energy, and the heavy stone gate slowly rumbled open with a dull roar.
As soon as the gate cracked open, Qingfeng and Mingyue squeezed in with broad grins.
Qingfeng carried an exquisitely crafted red clay wine jug, while Mingyue held a bulging paper package that faintly emitted the fresh fragrance of spiritual fruits.
"Senior Brother Su, we figured you'd be about done with your seclusion, so we brought some good wine and food to welcome you back," Qingfeng said as he walked over to the stone table, slamming the wine jug down heavily. He sniffed the air vigorously. "Strange, why did that weird scent disappear? Senior Brother, are you sneaking some legendary spiritual pill without us?"
Su Ming quickly swept the clutter on the table into a storage pouch, replying with a straight face, "I was trying to melt down a batch of calming incense, but I messed up the heat and ruined it."
"Ah, incense is boring. Let's drink!" Qingfeng sat down carelessly and was about to grab a cup when his gaze was suddenly drawn to the pitch-black lump in the corner of the stone table.
His eyes lit up as if he had discovered a new continent, and he leaned in.
"Senior Brother Su, what is this thing? It looks like a black ball of coal, but... looking closely, it's a really beautiful bird!" Qingfeng exclaimed in surprise.
Shadow, who had been ruffling her feathers at the intrusion of these two strangers, blinked her golden eyes at the word "beautiful." Incredibly human-like, she smoothed down her puffed-up feathers, proudly lifted her tiny chin, and let out a crisp "chirp."
"This is Shadow, my spirit beast," Su Ming introduced smoothly. "A baby Profound Shadow Crow. Just hatched a few days ago."
"A Profound Shadow Crow? That's a rare find!" Mingyue also leaned in, her big eyes filled with adoration.
Girls had a natural weakness for small, fluffy creatures. She cautiously moved closer, and Shadow immediately retreated half a step, her body slightly tensed—a prelude to an attack.
Mingyue stopped, fished a low-grade spiritual fruit exuding a rich, sweet fragrance from the paper package in her arms, and tentatively held it out.
Shadow stared at the fruit, then looked up at Mingyue. A flicker of conflict passed through her golden pupils. In the end, appetite won out over caution. She swiftly darted her head out, pecked the fruit from Mingyue's hand, tilted her head back, and swallowed it down.
After eating that sweet fruit, Shadow's attitude toward Mingyue did a complete one-eighty.
She gave a light hop, landing directly on Mingyue's shoulder, rubbing her fluffy little head affectionately against Mingyue's cheek and even letting out a cooing sound like a spoiled kitten.
"Oh my god, she's so good!" Mingyue giggled as Shadow nuzzled her, then pulled out another spiritual fruit to feed her.
Qingfeng watched enviously and tried to pet her too, copying Mingyue's move. "Come here, you little black coal ball, come to big brother."
Shadow turned her head, her golden eyes coldly glancing at Qingfeng with undisguised disdain. Instead of acknowledging him, she pointed her backside at him and continued to act spoiled on Mingyue's shoulder.
"This bird is way too friendly! But why the discrimination!" Qingfeng pulled his hand back, feeling extremely dejected.
Su Ming sat across from them, silently picking up his wine cup and taking a sip, thinking to himself: *Friendly? Ha. This little thing is just a little schemer—milk makes the mother, and that's all there is to it.*