On the remote edge of the barren desert lay a small patch of forest. At the intersection of the woods and the wasteland, a tiny ball of white was taking shelter from the heat in the shade, its small, occasionally twitching ears remaining vigilant of the surroundings.
It was a palm-sized kitten. It was hard to imagine how such a little cat managed to survive in such a harsh environment.
The little white cat flicked its tail lazily and comfortably in the shade, purring with cozy contentment.
The little white cat was named Ruan Bai, and he was a small cat demon who had lived during the ancient era. Back then, demons rolled up their sleeves and fought to the death, and millennium-old great demons were a dime a dozen.
In that ancient era where there were more wolves than meat, great demons who could successfully cultivate into immortals were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. Great demons were naturally pugnacious, and Ruan Bai had frequently witnessed duels between them.
Ruan Bai had no particular obsession with cultivating into an immortality, nor did he want to get tangled up in the disputes among demons.
The old tree demon who had raised him had once taught him a slumber array formation that allowed him to sleep for a very long time, far away from all strife.
Being a young and poorly skilled kitten, however, he accidentally drew the fifty-year slumber array into a sealing array instead, sleeping all the way straight into the interstellar era.
He had been awake for several days now, yet he couldn’t sense even a shred of spiritual energy. Moreover, because he had slept for too long, his personal strength had plummeted drastically. Right now, he couldn’t even manage to transform back into his human form. QAQ
Countless years must have passed since the ancient era he used to live in; all the animals and plants he saw now had yet to gain spiritual intelligence.
Understandably, with spiritual energy depleted to this ghostly extent, how could anyone even cultivate?
The scorching sun gradually faded away, and a warm breeze swept across the land.
Boom! A deafening roar thoroughly startled the napping kitten not far away. Raising his head slowly, he shook the fur on his body and walked with elegant steps toward the source of the sound.
A spherical object had smashed a gigantic crater into the ground.
Ruan Bai: “…” What on earth is this?!
He uncurled his paws and sprinted toward the massive object that had fallen into the desert.
As he drew closer, he discovered that this object was emitting an astonishing degree of heat stronger even than the heat generated during battles between great demons.
He circled the enormous, scorched-black object a few times. Could this be a coal ball that had gained sentience? But why couldn’t he sense any spiritual energy fluctuations?
Coal balls gaining sentience wasn’t exactly a rare occurrence back in the era he lived in; after all, he even knew a rock spirit.
Ruan Bai had always considered his own combat strength to be a mere five out of five. While scratching at the giant coal ball with his paws, he pondered the possibility of it being a demon.
Before long, a hole broke open on top of the giant sphere, and a man covered in blood and in a state of utter disarray crawled out.
The fur all over Ruan Bai’s body stood on end. “Meow!” Good grief, a ghost!
Hearing the sound, the blood-soaked man raised his head and glanced at it.
The little beast before him appeared to be a cat? Entirely white without a single speck of other colors, with a black nose resembling a dark energy stone, and a pair of golden-like eyes opened round and wide.
Where is this?
Huo Jiuxiao swept his gaze over the surrounding environment: yellow sand filled the sky, a patch of forest stood not far away, and a river flowed right beside the edge of the woods.
Could this be the Mother Star?
A thousand years ago, Earth’s resources had been depleted, forcing humanity to venture into the interstellar space in search of survival, and Earth gradually faded from the public eye.
Three hundred years ago, Earth was officially incorporated into the empire’s territory. Because it was located far away from the capital star and possessed barren resources, it was classified as a fringe star.
Wasn’t he already dead? Why is he here?
This scene bore an uncanny resemblance to his past life when he was betrayed by a traitor and fell onto the Mother Star, except there was no such cat in his past life.
Now was not the time to dwell on these things. Huo Jiuxiao retrieved a trauma-healing potion from his emergency medical kit and drank it.
He had to survive and return to properly clean up the traitors on the capital star… At this thought, a trace of tyrannical cruelty flashed through his pitch-black eyes.
“Meow~” A delicate cat’s meow interrupted Huo Jiuxiao’s train of thought and dispelled the gloomy tyranny in his eyes.
Ruan Bai curiously sized up the strange human in front of him specifically the glass test tube in his hand. He had just seen this human drink a bottle of blue liquid, and he wondered if it tasted good.
Sensing Ruan Bai’s gaze fixed on the empty potion bottle in his hand, Huo Jiuxiao guessed it might be hungry.
Perhaps due to spending years on the battlefield and carrying a heavy killing aura, he had never been liked by small animals.
Naturally, Huo Jiuxiao didn’t like these delicate and weak little creatures either. Yet for some inexplicable reason, he suddenly felt an urge to tease the cat before him.
Huo Jiuxiao shook the emptied glass test tube: “Want a drink?”
Ruan Bai’s eyes lit up: “Meow-aow~” Want to! o(〃’▽’〃)o
Huo Jiuxiao took a nutrient pack out of his case and fed it to it. Most of the empire’s nutrient packs were colorless, odorless blue liquids, especially those supplied to the military; their flavor was mediocre, but they provided an intense sense of fullness.
Ruan Bai leaned in and sniffed gently with his nose. Catching no particular scent, he extended his delicate pink tongue and gave it a lick.
“Meow! Blech!” Pfft, pfft, pfft. Why is there something so unpalatably bitter in this world? It tasted like nothing at first, but upon closer tasting, it was actually bitter and astringent. Water tasted much better than this!
Ruan Bai stuck out his bright red, delicate tongue, stood up on his hind legs, and waved his two little paws frantically back and forth in the air as if trying to fan away the bitter taste on his tongue.
Watching its human-like reaction, Huo Jiuxiao couldn’t help finding it amusing: “Is it really that bad?” Although the military’s nutrient packs were constantly complained about for tasting awful, surely they weren’t that bad.
The kitten stopped fanning the air. Placing its two small paws on its hips, it began scolding angrily: “Meow! Meow-meow! Meow-meow-meow!” It tastes terrible, super terrible! This is the worst thing I’ve ever tasted, you human have malicious intentions!
This… does it actually understand human speech? Keeping his expression neutral, Huo Jiuxiao probed tentatively: “Stop being angry, how about I go catch some fish for you to eat?”
“Meow!” Eat fish.
Can this tattered human really catch fish, though? Ruan Bai looked at the human before him with an expression of deep concern.
Huo Jiuxiao eerily understood the little cat’s meaning.
“I drank the potion, they’re just superficial injuries and nothing serious.” He unconsciously offered an explanation before realizing what he was doing, and couldn’t help laughing inwardly. How ridiculous, what does a cat understand?
Interstellar-era potions were remarkably potent; as long as the wounds weren’t inflicted by the Zerg and weren’t near death, potions could rapidly repair them. However, up to now, such potions were only open to the military; ordinary civilians still relied on medical pods for greater safety and security.
“Meow-aow~” That’s a relief.
Ruan Bai instinctively turned around and began walking toward the riverbank. Noticing that the human hadn’t kept up, he turned back, tilted his head, and meowed: “Meow-aow?” Are you not coming?
“Coming right now.”
Hearing the man’s response, the kitten turned on its heel and strode away.
Huo Jiuxiao followed unhurriedly behind, his eyes filled with profound intrigue: A cat that can understand human speech?
Ruan Bai was completely oblivious to the fact that he was on the verge of exposing his true identity, nor did he notice the man’s deep, inscrutable gaze.