78: domestication

"Ugh, a whole wild rabbit isn't enough to fill your stomach? Is this why you're called gluttonous creatures? Let's see what you like to eat. Hmm... it says you're carnivorous birds, but not what you prefer. Any kind of meat will do?" he asked.

The bird didn't understand the thought and remained silent. "System, what food do they actually like?" he asked. After spending a few thousand energy, he got an answer.

Snake skin.

"Oh my god... your food is truly flavorful," he said, feeling disgusted. "Damn it, where am I supposed to find snake skin now? Am I wasting my last bit of energy?" he wondered.

"Whatever it is, System. Produce one kilogram of snake skin," he ordered. Thankfully, it didn't cost much. If there was energy in the snake skin, it might have cost more, but just the snake skin itself cost him about 2 million energy.

A long strip of snake skin fell in front of him, disgusting him, but Wu Er's eyes seemed to light up at the sight.

"I hope it doesn't leave," Ning said, slowly letting go of the Telepathy. He needed to focus all his attention on making the Mist Ascending brand.

While Wu Er was eating the snake skin, he shifted his attention to making the brand. As mist gathered in front of him to form the brand, it began to overflow from his hands.

This time, it took him about 9 minutes to make the brand, a minute faster than before. Fortunately, the little bird really liked the snake skin.

Ning couldn't help but caress the eagle, slowly dropping the brand on it, hoping it would accept it. As the brand fell on the eagle, its color changed from blue to a vibrant orange.

A sizzling sound came from where the band struck the bird. "Burning, pain, pain," the bird began to speak. Ning was a little worried it would fly away.

He immediately began to caress the little bird and said, "It's okay, it's okay. I'm here. Bear with it, and I'll give you more snake skin to eat. You'll get more food."

"More to eat?" The little bird stopped struggling, allowing the brand to do its work. Soon, Ning felt a connection establish between himself and the little bird.

"So then. Is that bird tamed and controlled by my body rather than me?" He was surprised to learn. However, it made sense, as the Qi belonged to his body, so the brand also belonged to it.

"What a pity. So, if I change bodies, I won't be able to use this bird, huh?" he thought.

"Eat?" the little bird asked.

"Haha, yes, yes," Ning said, having the System produce another kilogram of snake skin. "Come on, hop on my shoulder, I'll feed you," Ning said.

However, the bird remained motionless. "Come, come," Ning said, patting his shoulder. The bird flew up, one leg landing on his shoulder, and the other leg slowly lowering.

"Huh? What's wrong? Is your leg injured?" Ning asked.

"Leg injured," the bird said. Ning picked him up and began to inspect his claws. This Wu Er was very obedient after being tamed, so he didn't have to worry. Nevertheless, he gave him a piece of snake skin to chew on while he inspected.

He checked the claws and found nothing wrong. He moved up and checked the featherless part of the leg, and found nothing wrong there either.

Then he moved further up and found some crusted blood on the feathers there. He slowly parted the feathers and found that the bird was still injured.

"Was it me?" he initially thought. He suspected the Telepathy had suddenly stopped, but looking at the color of the blood, that was impossible.

"The blood has completely clotted, so it's been at least a few days. What happened?" he asked. "Humanity, harm."

"Ah," Ning realized, "Someone found you and tried to tame you, didn't they?" Ning asked, "Ugh, they must have broken your leg when they tried to bring you down before branding you."

"Then you shouldn't be out during the day. Your children should hunt at Night, what are you doing hunting during the day?" Ning asked.

"Hungry, injured, no food."

Ning understood the jumbled words and felt he shouldn't have asked the question. "I see. So you were injured and couldn't hunt, but you still came out today because you were very hungry, right? I should have thought of that."

"System, can you heal uh... what should I call you?" Ning thought, unable to come up with a name. "Let's just call you Night for now, that should work. System, heal Night's leg," he said.

<This will cost 4.6 million energy. Are you sure?> "Yes, just do it."

White light shot from the bird's leg, and in less than a second, it was healed. It no longer felt pain in its leg, and Night began to twist its head, both confused and happy.

It didn't understand what had just happened, but it didn't care because it was healed and now happy.

"Congratulations! Come, have something to eat," he said, giving Knight another piece of snake skin. Knight ate the meat very happily. Ning saw a smile appear on Knight's face and smiled slightly himself, saying, "Don't worry. From now on, you'll get plenty of this."

Night understood and chirped happily. Ning just shook his head and looked up at the sky. There were many trees in the forest, but even so, they couldn't block out the sky and where the sun was.

It wasn't long before the sun reached its zenith. Although it didn't feel very good, he had already been there for over an hour. So, he turned around and returned to the Mist Origin Sect.