In front of Li Tianming appeared a figure. Alas, it was not the terrifying beast he had dreamed of! It was immediately obvious that what crawled out of the eggshell was nothing more than a tiny chick—yellow and tender.
Li Tianming could think of only one way to describe it: fluffy, the perfect main course for a hearty breakfast. In fact, the only thing stopping him right now was that morning had not yet come...
"How can a little chick like you even release the aura of a terrifying beast..." Li Tianming already felt an approaching headache.
"Huh? Who are you calling a little chick!? Don't look down on me! I'll kick your ass!" The tiny chick glared fiercely at Li Tianming, as if it wanted to kill him with its gaze.
A newborn chick threatening its master? That was certainly new.
Lifebound beasts could communicate telepathically with their master, but few could actually speak—except parrots. Perhaps this chick was similar to a parrot, which was why it could talk. Li Tianming carefully examined the chick's eyes, where a speck of light—a star—could be seen.
"When a lifebound beast is born, the number of stars determines its rank," Li Tianming muttered.
He remembered that Midas had five stars when he first hatched, meaning he was a rare fifth-rank lifebound beast in the Vermilion Bird Kingdom. The rank of a lifebound beast directly determined its potential, as well as the limits of its master's cultivation. A fifth-rank lifebound beast had been enough for Li Tianming to become the greatest genius in the Vermilion Bird Kingdom in the past three hundred years. This chick had only one star, indicating it was merely a pitiful first-rank beast.
"Wait!" When Li Tianming stared at that single star, it seemed to scatter before his eyes.
Li Tianming couldn't tell if it was an illusion or reality. Dozens… Hundreds… Thousands… Tens of thousands. The number of stars kept growing! Finally, Li Tianming saw the lone star expand into a vast starry field.
Within that starry field burned countless stars. Though they appeared infinitely distant from one another, their radiance merged and blinded Li Tianming.
"What was that? Those are billions of stars!" He felt as if his brain had exploded; his vision darkened, and he sensed himself being drawn into that distant starry field.
In the infinite void, there was nothing but an endless number of stars burning like massive fireballs. In the next instant, Li Tianming heard a terrifying bird cry. He looked toward the sound: from the other side of the starry field, a fireball was hurtling toward him.
From the flaming creature extended magnificent wings whose glow outshone all the surrounding stars. As it drew closer, Li Tianming was stunned to see that the creature was as vast as the starry field itself! Every stream of fire flowing across its body consisted of billions of stars.
It was an Eternal Infernal Phoenix!
Wherever it went, countless stars were torn from their orbits and gathered into a blazing stream that was soon devoured by the creature. It was as if the phoenix were simply slurping noodles—except each strand consisted of billions of stars effortlessly sucked into its body.
For Li Tianming, this was an incomprehensible sight. He continued to watch this Eternal Infernal Phoenix devouring everything in its path, heedless of the fact that it had already swallowed more than one life-bearing sun. Until one day, a colossal dark hand appeared—with an eye in the center of its palm.
The Eternal Infernal Phoenix was clearly terrified of that hand. It cried out in panic and tried to flee. What kind of hand could frighten even an Eternal Infernal Phoenix?
In its desperate escape, the phoenix even began to devour its own flames, growing smaller and smaller. Each time the hand drew near, thousands of sparks flew from it, each giving birth to new stars.
"From this moment forth and forevermore, I am the sovereign of all Primordial Chaos and reincarnation." The voice of the hand echoed across the starry field, plunging everything in that space into boundless terror.
Li Tianming felt the Eternal Infernal Phoenix's fear slowly spreading through his body like poison. Finally, the phoenix could no longer sustain its flight. Just as its life was about to end, it suddenly noticed Li Tianming.
"What are you!?" Li Tianming barely noticed how hoarse his own voice was—he was terrified.
Time stopped, and the phoenix calmly looked at him.
"I… am the Eternal Infernal Phoenix!"
Li Tianming felt pain in his face as his vision dissolved into mist, and he finally found himself back in his room. The little chick had made its way onto his shoulder and was now pecking at his face.
"You're the Eternal Infernal Phoenix?" Li Tianming grabbed the chick by its wings and spun it in front of himself, trying to calm down from what he had seen.
The lone star was still in his eyes, but it no longer expanded into a starry field.
"Yeah, pretty cool, huh?" The little chick snapped back, struggling to break free from Li Tianming's grip.
"And what exactly is the Eternal Infernal Phoenix?" Li Tianming asked.
"One of the Primordial Chaos Beasts!"
"And what does that mean?"
"I'd like to know too!"
"Then what do you actually know?"
"Give me a break—I just hatched, and the first thing I see is your stupid face. What do you think I know?"
Being insulted by a tiny chick wasn't exactly pleasant. Of course, Li Tianming knew better than anyone that this chick was no ordinary lifebound beast. Most likely, the same could be said of the other nine eggs as well.
But what he had just witnessed was far too extraordinary. A phoenix devouring suns, a mysterious hand in an infinite field of stars. And this creature was his lifebound beast? Li Tianming already felt his spirit burning with excitement.
"Will you engage in symbiotic cultivation with me?" he asked the little chick.
"Of course. Training a little chick like you is as easy as pie," the little chick replied, not even trying to hide its arrogance.
"Let's get one thing straight—you're the chick here!"
"You're lucky. Symbiotic cultivation with me is free of charge." The little chick snorted vulgarly.
This chick was unlike any other! When it hopped onto Li Tianming's head, he felt thrilled at the prospect of cultivating with a Primordial Chaos Beast.