Who let him join the Sword Sect?!

Just then, Li also felt more clearly the rhythmic mystical aura within Spirit Deer Valley.

This Spirit Deer Valley and these ancient-looking little creatures seemed like they could help the village awaken faster.

This discovery made Spirit Deer Valley increasingly important to the Beast Taming Sect. Li Wenzhou no longer delayed; after arranging the elders' shifts at the security post, he once again took the initiative and went to Thousand Mechanism Pavilion, planning to invite Tang over by tomorrow at the latest.

Not long after the old Sect Leader Li left, Zhang Ze saw Lily strolling past him with a stalk of foxtail grass in her mouth, looking quite pleased. She probably scored many benefits while helping the Beast Taming Sect elders construct the security post.

Zhang Ze stared at Lily for a while, then suddenly grabbed her, "You're here? Then who's watching those little Qilins?"

Lily paused, "My Maomao?"

Zhang Ze, "Maomao? Isn't Maomao a dog?"

"Yeah, so what? If Li's Li can herd cattle and raise elephants, why can't my Maomao watch the little Qilins?"

Lily said this with confidence. She always had a strange sense of competitiveness in unexpected situations.

But, according to the first rule of Lily deduced by those at Thousand Mechanism Pavilion, whenever she acts overly confident, things tend to go wrong.

Zhang Ze lifted Lily the same way the Sect Leader lifted him, ascending directly through the air to return to the Flying Ship.

Following Lily's directions to a certain house, Zhang Ze listened to the chorus of barks coming from inside, closed his eyes, and sighed.

"How are we going to explain this?"

"Just... just say Qilins bark like this. Put me down first; it's embarrassing." Lily started to squirm.

Dropping Lily, Zhang Ze opened the door and saw the little Qilins lined up in three rows under Maomao's command, lifting their front paws, spinning, rolling, playing dead...

The bad news: these little Qilins now all behave like dogs.

The good news: under Maomao's training, they've all learned to walk.

"Good dog." Lily praised sincerely.

In response, came another wave of barking.

Elder Han, watching curiously, also began to bark.

Li patted Zhang Ze's leg comfortingly and said, "It's alright really; these Qilins are still young, but their intellect will soon surpass Maomao's, become as sound as mine, and everything will return to normal."

Hearing Li's words, it seemed quite reasonable.

Yet, thinking of these Spirit Beasts Qilins, destined to be majestic and graceful, being raised by a big golden retriever...

Zhang Ze's thoughts began to wander.

[In an austere ancient chamber, a golden-haired old aunt sits on a couch, holding a teacup. Around her sit or stand thirty-seven stylish men and women in black suits, each adorned with Qilin patterns...]

Imagining that scene, Zhang Ze thought he could probably write a book out of it.

"As a kindergarten aunt, where did these thirty-seven domineering presidents and empresses come from?"

"What's on your mind?" Seeing Zhang Ze daydreaming again, Li patted his leg.

"Nothing, ignore me." Zhang Ze shook off his chaotic thoughts and said to Lily, "First, take these little Qilins downstairs, Maomao can manage them now, anyway."

"Back to the pond?"

"Yeah, we'll open a Qilin kindergarten there, invite Li Jue and the rest, including those from the Demon Race. Especially them; we can't let those Demon folks idle around, earlier I saw someone trading snacks with Spirit Beasts."

"Oh."

...

As the sun was about to set, the Little Qilin Kindergarten was officially established with the help of Medicine King Valley disciples. They cleared a large area, and Lily renovated the pond and built a courtyard wall with some simple small huts.

However, the cold hard style of the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion didn't quite match the Spirit Deer Valley's scenery, looking not so pleasant.

After a brief discussion, Xia Yan planted some seeds around the fence, pond, and houses, and used secret techniques to catalyze them. Green vines covered the silvery metal, restoring the Little Qilin Kindergarten's charm.

Li served as principal, Maomao as the lead instructor, Lily as the teacher of the sunflower class, while Li Jue, who had recently caused trouble and been exiled by Xia Yan, served as both cook and kindergarten security.

In short, everything was on a somewhat quirky yet proper track.

As Zhang Ze pondered whether to add a few slides to the kindergarten, someone tapped his shoulder.

"Kid, come, let Taoist talk to you about something."

It was Tang.

Truth be told, Zhang Ze was a bit surprised, since although it was important, it wasn't urgent. Given Tang's nature, even if the old Sect Leader Li invited him, he would typically take a day or two to arrive, in line with his character.

Unexpectedly, he's already here this soon.

However, seeing Tang alone, it seemed he had sent the old Sect Leader Li somewhere else.

"What is it, Taoist?" Zhang Ze asked.

"Come this way, we'll talk as we walk." Tang indicated for Zhang Ze to follow him.

The moon cast shadows westward, as an old man and a young one stepped onto the breeze, climbing the mountain cliffs beside Spirit Deer Valley. On the summit, Tang held a compass in both hands, chanting a Taoist technique. Without spiritual Qi swelling, the compass levitated without wind, floating up and becoming transparent.

As the compass gradually vanished, illusions of rivers, mountains, stars, and the cosmos appeared faintly, interweaving mountains and stars at one moment, until the illusion stabilized, then separated again, returning sky to sky, earth to earth.

Having finished everything, Tang found a large green stone, dusted it off, and sat down.