Chapter 128: Chapter 128: Training with the Little Ones

Ahem, ahem—

Elder Yami cleared her throat.

Lu You was more sensible than Elder Ximu. As soon as Elder Yami coughed, he immediately stopped his chatter and gave her a sweet, obedient smile.

“Changxia, you—” Elder Yami looked helplessly at Changxia perched on her shoulder. Changxia’s beautiful beast eyes were wide with surprise, making her look utterly adorable!

Changxia felt a little embarrassed and whispered, “Sorry!”

Elder Yami reached out and picked Changxia up in her hands. Soft and silky—what an amazing feeling! No wonder Muqin, Nan Feng, and the others were always talking about wanting to cuddle Changxia in her beast form. Honestly, she felt even better than her own leopard cubs.

Both were fluffy beast cubs, but the black leopard tribe’s fur was short and a bit coarse, nowhere near as soft as Changxia’s chinchilla tribe fur.

In the past, Elder Yami never understood why powerful tribes would accept weaker ones. The Heluo tribe was strong, and their territory was closest to the Wizard Hall on Mount Kana. They had never taken in outsiders, unless it was through marriage and integration.

Changxia was probably the only exception.

As Elder Yami stroked Changxia’s smooth fur, she was completely enchanted by the sensation.

At that moment, Elder Yami understood.

Maybe, if there was a chance, the tribe could lure—no, take in—a few weaker tribes.

Like the cat tribe, or the fox tribe—those would be great.

Of course, if there were more chinchilla tribe members, that would be even better.

“Elder Yami, I want to hold Sister Changxia too!” Shan Que said excitedly, pacing around Elder Yami in circles with her leopard-like steps.

Right now, Shan Que was over the moon.

When she was three, she found a beautiful cat and loved it dearly.

She slept with the cat, played hide-and-seek, and played house together.

But then, she lost her beautiful cat.

Shan Que asked her parents to help her find it. At first, they agreed, but after a while, nothing more was said.

“Shan Que, it’s time to train,” Elder Yami said sternly.

Lu You stepped forward, wagging his tail, and solemnly herded Shan Que back.

Normally, Lu You wouldn’t dare mess with Shan Que. After all, she was stronger and more powerful than the rest of them. When the cubs played rough, it took all of them together to hold her down.

But this time, to protect Sister Changxia, Lu You, Wu Liu, and a few others bravely stepped up.

Still, they all had the same thought as Shan Que. Sister Changxia’s beast form was just too beautiful—they wanted to cuddle her, give her kisses, and play with her fluffy tail.

“Elder Yami, why is Sister Changxia’s beast form different from ours?” Feng Ling, who was always gentle and slow, spoke up, looking up at Elder Yami and staring intently at Changxia in her arms.

The others tensed up as soon as Feng Ling started talking.

There was nothing they could do—Feng Ling did everything slowly, whether it was talking or acting.

It made people anxious just watching her, but she never seemed to notice.

When they played together, Feng Ling was always the rock or the newborn cub. As a rock, she didn’t have to move or talk; as a newborn, she just had to cry a couple of times…

So, hearing Feng Ling slowly string together a long sentence, Shan Que and the others all held their breath, afraid that a loud noise would startle her.

Even Elder Yami was on edge. The cubs in the tribe were either too lively or too quiet, but she had never met anyone with a personality like Feng Ling’s in all her years.

She was enough to drive anyone crazy with impatience!!!

Apparently, Changxia knew Feng Ling too. When Feng Ling finally finished, Changxia let out a tiny sigh of relief, wagged her fluffy tail, and answered gently, “I’m from the chinchilla tribe, Feng Ling is from the black leopard tribe, so of course we’re different.”

“Ah! Sister Changxia is from the cat tribe—that’s why she’s so pretty!”

“No, it’s the chinchilla tribe.”

Cat tribe? What’s that supposed to be?

Seeing Feng Ling about to speak again, Elder Yami panicked.

She quickly said, “Now, let’s start our daily basic training. Run ten laps around the training field, then do five sets of jumps in place.”

Usually, after finishing their daily basic training, the beast cubs would move on to special training, like practicing hunting skills, learning about different plants and animals, or how to gather roots and herbs.

Since Elder Yami had gone to White Lake to pick up Changxia today, they were running a bit behind schedule.

Normally, by this time, the cubs would have finished their basic training for the day.

Changxia looked around the training field. Running ten laps was about ten thousand meters, then five sets of jumps in place. That was no easy workout. She had to admit, the beast tribe really was something else!

The more she learned about them, the more impressed she was.

No wonder the beast tribe could thrive on such a perilous continent.

It wasn’t luck—it was pure strength.

As Elder Yami finished speaking, Shan Que gave Changxia a regretful glance, then obediently started leading the run. The other ten cubs followed behind her.

“Changxia, you try running first and see how many laps you can do,” Elder Yami said cautiously.

Most beast cubs started training at age three, beginning with one or two laps and gradually increasing. Now, Shan Que and the others could easily run ten laps without breaking a sweat.

But Changxia’s body had only just recovered.

Elder Yami wanted her to get used to the field and gradually unlock her physical potential.

Changxia had awakened her bloodline power. Normally, weak tribes rarely had the chance to do that, so there had to be something special about her.

So, Elder Yami didn’t expect Changxia to reach the black leopard tribe’s level of strength.

“Elder Yami, I think I can do ten laps,” Changxia said earnestly.

She understood what Elder Yami meant, but she didn’t think she couldn’t finish ten laps. If the beast cubs could do it, how could an adult like her fall short?

Changxia landed lightly and started running after Shan Que and the others.

But she didn’t dare go too fast.

Very quickly, three laps had passed. Chang Xia felt her breathing start to go out of rhythm. Ten laps? This was only the third. She was frustrated—she’d clearly overestimated her own endurance.

She’d thought she could keep up with Nuanchun, but it turned out her stamina wasn’t even as good as the beast cubs’.

At least she hadn’t bragged too much earlier, or she would have really embarrassed herself.

“Chang Xia, slow down. Match my pace and steady your breathing,” Elder Yami said, leaning on her ironwood cane and following alongside at an unhurried pace. Her steps weren’t big, but somehow she always kept up with Chang Xia.

Chang Xia slowed down and tried to imitate Elder Yami’s breathing.

Soon, she found that running became much easier.

“So smart! You picked it up in one try—you’re much better than Shanjue and the others,” Elder Yami praised.

But Chang Xia didn’t feel proud at all. After all, she couldn’t even outrun the beast cubs—what good was praise like this?

“Chang Xia-jie, you’re amazing!”

“Chang Xia-jie, run with me!”

The beast cubs were all excited, each one trying to squeeze in next to Chang Xia as they ran. They’d never seen a beast form more beautiful than hers.

Just like Shanjue had said—he wanted to hug and cuddle her.

“Uh… let’s run together,” Chang Xia said, on the verge of tears, but still choosing to be strong.