CHAPTER 95: THREE PATH

Then he pointed to his beasts and Yun Qiqi. "Come with me. We are leaving."

Umbu was the quickest.

The dragon seemed to understand Noa’s words.

He leaped from the ground, flipping his wings as if trying to fly towards him.

Either his fat ass was too heavy for his tiny wings to lift, or he just didn’t know how to soar through the sky.

Which was embarrassing in its own way.

A primordial dragon who couldn’t fly?

What a joke!

But Noa didn’t think that. Umbu was like his son—there was no way he would shame him that much.

Yet it didn’t exclude him from scolding the dragon.

Especially when the landing was a spectacular failure, ending with Umbu’s quick fall to the floor.

"You should start working out," he said, his voice serious.

The dragon didn’t seem to like the idea, frowning at him after rubbing his butt.

Seeing this, Noa scowled. "I am putting you on a diet. We need to find more healthy alternatives for your food source."

Now, Umbu couldn’t act cheeky.

His wide, adorable eyes watered, glaring at Noa as if he were about to cry.

"It’s for your own good," Noa explained, lifting the little fellow and putting him on his shoulder. "Don’t you want to learn how to fly?"

Umbu watched him closely.

He was good at reading emotions and knew there was no way for him to change Noa’s mind.

Not even his tears could do the trick.

The next one who spawned beside Noa was Yun Qiqi.

Her smile brought a sense of joy to Noa’s face, and knowing she was about to ask something, he remained silent.

"Big Brother Noa, are we going to Earth? Is it time to see Big Sister Mia?"

Her first question was followed by another.

It was within her character, and Noa wasn’t surprised by it—on the contrary, he expected more inquiries from the girl.

To answer her question, he nodded.

And seeing how Puff neared as well, he smiled under his breath and added,

"We are going to bring her here. She needs to start her practice, and I might send Umbu with her."

The dragon was about to scratch his neck when he caught the little paws. "I told you, you need to start acting like a dragon."

"But..." Qiqi came to his rescue. "But he is just a baby!"

Puff slithered between Noa’s legs, agreeing with her logic and taking the dragon’s side.

Noa didn’t give up.

He shook his head but kept his voice slow and steady.

"Baby? Have you seen a baby this fat before?" he said, barely containing his laughter. "I am not asking him to get stronger and destroy the kingdoms. It’s just that we need to work on his form."

Noa knew that no matter what he said, it wouldn’t convince anyone.

Even he doubted that forcing a little dragon to work on his energy intake was a great idea.

Yet he had no other option.

Letting Umbu grow even heavier didn’t sound like a correct move.

[I might have a solution for you.]

Out of nowhere, the system spoke into his mind, making an offer Noa hadn’t anticipated.

"I don’t like your voice. You sound sus," he answered, narrowing his eyes.

[Just listen.]

The system scolded before going quiet for a moment.

Then, before anything unusual happened, it spoke again, its voice barely above a whisper.

[There is more than one way to harvest energy in this world, one of which is directly devouring qi from the universe. It is the most common and easiest way. But it is the crudest.]

"What do you mean?" Noa questioned, feeling intrigued.

[Every beast born in this world instinctively knows how to use qi. It’s passive, gifted by nature itself. Yet the universe doesn’t hand out the power for free. Everything has a price, and sometimes it costs more than one can ever pay.]

Noa listened carefully.

Everything he had just heard made sense, and it was already within his field of knowledge.

[The second method is even more effective. It has almost no price—as long as you are rich,] the system said, its voice never wavering.

Noa, on the other hand, almost guessed what the system meant.

[Absorbing energy from treasures is easier, faster, and purer. Spirit stones, beast cores, heavenly herbs. Be whatever you want—they have more potent spiritual energy than the little dragon can harvest from the outside world.]

"So I can just let him absorb energy from True Spirit Coins, my products, or other treasures?" Noa asked, but also spoke to himself.

No answer came, but he knew he was right.

There was one more thing Noa wanted to confirm—one that came from the idea he had gotten after listening to the system.

"I think there are more than these two ways."

He guessed.

But he was confident in his assumption.

Only now did the system speak, adding to the foundation it had built up.

[The third way is devouring the energy of others. It’s crude, bloody, and anything but pure, filled with madness and threats. Though it is the rarest path, I doubt you want your beast to take it.]

Noa agreed immediately.

The third method not only went beyond what he wanted for Umbu, but it also might have brought unnecessary trouble.

’Fighting isn’t my forte,’ Noa thought, dismissing the last path.

Yet, now that he knew it existed, it would help him identify other cultivators or spirit animals that walked onto this road.

’Let’s go with the second option,’ he decided.

It was just like the system described, the most expensive route.

But after knowing that it would reap the most benefits and help his dragon as well, Noa didn’t hesitate.

"I bet Big Sister is waiting for us," Yun Qiqi said almost in his ear.

She looked excited.

Even her hair was tied back neatly, as if she had readied herself for the teleportation.

Noa glanced at her for a heartbeat.

Then he flicked his fingers and summoned the rift, hoping to teach this new method to Mia and Umbu.