The group traveled in three carriages.

Ziqing, Jun Beiyue, and Xiong Bao — the family of three — rode in front; Madam Jinjiao and Meng Duo’er rode in the middle; Baili Weisheng, Baili Xiaosheng, and Jue Mingzi brought up the rear.

Once they’d boarded, Baili Weisheng had wanted to pawn Meng Duo’er off on Madam Jinjiao, but Madam Jinjiao, knowing her limits, made no further demands.

Now within Da Zhou’s own territory, traveling by land along the official roads, the journey went smoothly.

Everyone stayed quiet, hurrying steadily toward the Da Zhou capital, barely stopping along the way.

After all, no one was out here for a leisurely trip — they were all eager to reach the Flame Valley in West Liang as quickly as possible.

Throughout the journey, Xiong Xiaobao was by far the most restless, bouncing back and forth between the front and rear carriages.

At this moment, he’d wandered back over to Baili Weisheng’s side again.

Ever since coming down the mountain, Baili Weisheng’s mood hadn’t been particularly good — the whole way, he’d stayed cooped up in the carriage, doing nothing but sleep.

But Xiong Xiaobao hadn’t come looking for him to play, anyway.

Xiong Xiaobao had come for Baili Xiaosheng. He’d brought a whole armful of dried provisions and snacks of every kind — treats the Gu family patriarch had secretly given him before leaving the Isolated Isle, all his personal favorites.

“Here, this one’s for you, and this too — this one’s the tastiest, only two bags left, not even Mommy has any! Hide it well.”

“Oh, and this little yellow fish, so fragrant — it’s a specialty of the Isle of Lingering Immortals.”

…

Xiong Xiaobao rattled off the list like a treasure inventory, pulling items out one after another from the Cosmic Poison Pouch as he spoke.

Baili Xiaosheng watched, alarmed. “Kid, are you trying to poison me to death?”

Xiong Xiaobao grinned, all mysterious, pulling Baili Xiaosheng close and whispering, “I’ll tell you a secret — I recently opened up a little space inside the Cosmic Poison Pouch where I can store all sorts of stuff, guaranteed poison-free!”

Baili Xiaosheng was skeptical, whispering back, “Are you sure? Won’t the beasts inside eat all this stuff?”

“Don’t worry, this little space is separate — only I can get to it!” Xiong Xiaobao said proudly, pulling her in even closer to share all the Cosmic Poison Pouch’s secrets.

The Cosmic Poison Pouch seemed to have fully merged with his very soul — he could control it entirely with his mind now. Whenever he wanted to open up a small space, he’d simply concentrate and imagine it, and as long as his spiritual power was strong enough, it would work.

Of course, these little pockets of space were all quite tiny, only good for storing a few things.

The main body of the Cosmic Poison Pouch was still the poison-beast world. Now, whenever Xiong Xiaobao closed his eyes and focused, he could already glimpse the rough outline of that world taking shape!

The space now held not only the original four sea serpents, but also the four poisonous beasts, the sea beasts captured in the Innocent Abyss, and, most recently, the giant python captured on the Isle of Lingering Immortals!

The four poisonous beasts, who hadn’t shown themselves in quite a while, had been busy inside the Cosmic Poison Pouch this whole time, training all the beasts Xiong Bao had taken in.

Baili Xiaosheng listened, utterly absorbed, while Xiong Bao grew more and more pleased with himself as he talked.

Finally, he came out with something. “Big Brother Sheng, I’m amazing, right? From now on, I’ll follow you everywhere, and protect you!”

At this, Baili Xiaosheng’s head shot up, shuddering all over in alarm, repeating urgently, “Little Prince, you really do like your jokes!”

This kid’s temperament didn’t take after his father, nor his mother — he was surprisingly approachable, easy to get along with, never putting on airs.

But none of that changed the fact that he was Jun Beiyue and Han Ziqing’s treasured son.

Did he even realize that across the entire Longyuan continent, he could command the winds and rains with a single word, whenever he pleased?

And now he’d completely reversed his earlier attitude, wanting to become her little sidekick?

What was happening to this world?

Baili Xiaosheng’s mouth twitched slightly. She gave a few forced laughs, too tired to keep entertaining the joke, and simply curled up beside Baili Weisheng, closing her eyes, ready to sleep.

“Big Brother Sheng, I’m serious!” Xiong Xiaobao insisted, blinking his clear, bright eyes, staring earnestly at Baili Xiaosheng.

Baili Xiaosheng cracked one eye open, raised an eyebrow at him, then closed it again. “Little Prince, we’re from different worlds. You’re going to grow up to be emperor someday — since when does an emperor have a sidekick?”

“I’m not going to be emperor. I’m going to be your sidekick, and roam the martial world with you and Uncle Scholar!” Xiong Xiaobao said earnestly.

Baili Xiaosheng was practically speechless. Everyone said this kid was clever — where exactly was the cleverness in this?

Too tired to bother, she closed her eyes to sleep.

But Xiong Xiaobao remained just as insistent. “Big Brother Sheng, you got scarred saving my mother — I have to repay you.”

This phrase, Xiong Xiaobao had picked up from Madam Jinjiao. In truth, ever since that incident, he’d genuinely come to admire Baili Xiaosheng from the bottom of his heart, and had grown fond of this person.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have started calling her “Big Brother Sheng” — he simply liked hanging around with such a brave older brother!

Deep down, he still nursed a rather grand ambition — some might even call it outright ambition — to one day become the undisputed ruler of the martial world, unbeatable across all the land!

At the moment, the one and only candidate he’d set his sights on to help him get there was Baili Xiaosheng!

Hearing the words “repay a debt,” Baili Xiaosheng immediately grew irritated — her master was constantly tormented by that exact phrase too.

She still said nothing, just waved a hand, meaning Xiong Xiaobao should back off now.

Xiong Xiaobao was about to say more, but seeing Baili Xiaosheng’s brow furrow, he finally, reluctantly shut his mouth, though not before carefully pulling out a good number of treats from the Cosmic Poison Pouch and setting them aside before leaving.

Once he’d gone, Baili Weisheng, who’d been leaning nearby pretending to nap, finally spoke up. “Disciple, your nerve’s gotten smaller, hasn’t it?”

“What do you mean?” Baili Xiaosheng shot back — she knew perfectly well her master hadn’t actually been asleep.

“It’s just Jun Beiyue’s kid. Take him on as a sidekick — what’s there to be scared of?” Baili Weisheng asked lazily.

Baili Xiaosheng immediately rolled her eyes. “Master, I’ve just gotten used to calling him Xiong Xiaobao. I haven’t forgotten his real name is Jun Buli.”

That was true. For now, that child was still called Xiong Xiaobao, and everyone addressed him as such. But one day, he would grow up.

By the time he did, how many people in this world would still be allowed to call him Xiong Xiaobao, or even dare to?

And how many people, in turn, would he ever permit to use his childhood name?

He was, after all, the most exalted second-generation prince of the entire Longyuan continent!

Once Jun Beiyue found the Isolated Isle, he was bound to set his sights on the whole realm — that man didn’t want the empty title of overlord, he wanted to swallow the entirety of Longyuan whole, South Zhao included!

And in the future, wouldn’t all of that belong to Jun Buli?

Some people were born already shouldering the weight of everything. Some people were born already possessing everything.

Shouldering a burden and possessing something outright — worlds apart.

Baili Xiaosheng thought to herself: she had nothing at all, only a master to her name. She had no intention of running with someone like Jun Buli.

Baili Weisheng, of course, understood exactly what his disciple meant by her words, but he said nothing, only smiling faintly and continuing to rest with his eyes closed.

Baili Xiaosheng turned sideways, leaning back against her master, quietly making up her mind — from today onward, she would keep her distance from Xiong Xiaobao.

The journey continued smoothly, and after roughly ten days, Jun Beiyue’s group finally reached the Da Zhou capital!

Once Ziqing and Jun Beiyue had settled everyone in, they hurried off to attend to their own affairs.

Xiong Xiaobao, however, clung stubbornly to Baili Xiaosheng’s hand, insisting she come with him to find Daddy Bear, while Baili Weisheng vanished before Meng Duo’er and Madam Jinjiao had even climbed out of the carriage…