Ling Jian raised his right hand, adorned with a red jade ring, as if to stroke the piglet's head. But before his fingers could even touch the piglet, it plopped down on the ground, lying on its back and pretending to be dead.

Li Mu couldn't help but laugh and said, "Senior brother, even a pig knows you're amazing. This guy isn't afraid of Senior Brother Lü, Senior Brother Wang, or Senior Sister Li at all, but he's terrified of you!"

Ling Jian withdrew his hand and said with a smile, "Spirit beasts are different from humans. Although it is difficult for them to develop intelligence at first, their sense of danger is much more acute than that of humans."

"Senior brother, do you also think this pig can turn into a spirit beast?" Li Mu was overjoyed.

“Hmm.” Ling Jian nodded in agreement, and then said, “Take it to the affairs hall later and have the steward there register it. This will avoid a lot of problems.”

All martial artists of the Longevity Sect who keep spirit beasts must register them in their respective affairs hall to prevent accidents from happening.

Li Mu picked up the piglet and said happily, "Then I won't bother you anymore, senior brother."

After saying that, Li Mu stood up and walked towards the door.

But just as they were about to reach the door, Ling Jian's voice suddenly came: "Junior brother, you can leave now, but don't take my things."

Li Mu looked down and realized that he was still holding the piece of silvery-white metal that Ling Jian had just thrown at him.

The piece of metal was only the size of a fist, almost spherical, and its surface was pitted and uneven.

Li Mu grinned foolishly and quickly returned the piece of metal to Ling Jian.

Inside the Yuyu Peak Affairs Hall, Huang Ling'er sat behind the table, sipping tea with an elegant demeanor, while Zhao Zhiyuan stood beside her like a servant, humbly refilling her teacups and water.

Winter is almost here...

Huang Ling'er held the teacup and exhaled a puff of white breath.

Zhao Zhiyuan said with a fawning smile, "Senior Sister Huang, aren't you planning to go back this year?"

"As a martial artist, how can you always be thinking about your hometown?" Huang Ling'er said calmly.

Zhao Zhiyuan nodded repeatedly, then, as if remembering something happy, said with great enthusiasm, "Senior Sister Huang, have you heard? That fool raised a piglet and even brought it back to the wooden building. It's said that he eats, sleeps, and lives with that piglet. Birds of a feather flock together!"

In the past, Huang Ling'er would have definitely chuckled.

But after hearing Zhao Zhiyuan's words, she couldn't laugh.

After a moment, she slowly said, "Zhao Zhiyuan, do you know that I was the one who saved the piglet that Li Mu was raising?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhiyuan's expression changed drastically.

He quickly stepped back, bowed, and said, "Senior Sister Huang, please don't be offended. I really didn't know. I didn't mean to mock you..."

Before Zhao Zhiyuan could finish speaking, someone ran in from outside.

Zhao Zhiyuan turned his head and looked over, then frowned and said, "Li Mu, today is not the day to assign outer sect tasks, what are you doing here!"

Seeing that Li Mu was holding a chubby little piglet in his arms, he wanted to burst out laughing, but after glancing at Huang Ling'er beside him, he quickly shut his mouth.

“Deacon Huang, I’ll register it.”

Li Mu walked to the table, pointed to the piglet he was holding in his left arm, and said to Huang Ling'er.

Huang Ling'er seemed to have anticipated this situation, so she wasn't surprised at all. After putting down her teacup, she slowly said, "Li Mu, your piglet is indeed very intelligent, but it's not a spirit beast after all. Isn't it too hasty to register it now?"

"Senior Brother Ling Jian sent me," Li Mu said with a simple smile.

Huang Ling'er felt a sharp pain in her chest and was immediately speechless.

She snorted, then pulled one out from a tall stack of booklets beside her.

Zhao Zhiyuan immediately came over to grind ink for Huang Ling'er and moved the inkstone to Huang Ling'er's right side.

"The prototype?" Huang Ling'er asked, holding a wolf-hair brush.

Li Mu knew that Huang Ling'er was asking about the original form of the piglet, because once a spirit beast reaches the fifth rank, it can transform into a human. Therefore, the original form of a spirit beast must be recorded when registering and cataloging spirit beasts.

“A spirit pig!” Li Mu replied with a smile.

"Date of birth?" Huang Ling'er asked again.

“She was born a few days ago. Senior Sister Huang, weren’t you there at the time?” Li Mu asked, scratching his head.

"Stop talking nonsense!"

Huang Ling'er scolded him and then wrote down his birth date.

Then she asked, "Supernatural powers?"

"I don't have any supernatural powers yet." Li Mu immediately shook his head.

The little piglet hasn't even become a spirit beast yet, so where would it get its supernatural powers?

"Place of origin?"

"The Longevity Sect!" The answer was too simple, and Li Mu answered without hesitation.

"title?"

"pig!"

Huang Ling'er stopped writing with her wolf-hair brush, while Zhao Zhiyuan beside her gave Li Mu a look as if he were an idiot.

"I'm asking you, what's the name of this pig?" Huang Ling'er took a deep breath, suppressing her impatience.

Li Mu, however, said, "It's called a pig!"

The little piglet grunted twice in perfect cooperation, and even showed an arrogant expression.

Zhao Zhiyuan covered his mouth, turned around, and chuckled. Huang Ling'er, with a cold face, wrote the word "pig" in the title column of the booklet with trembling pen tip.

"Is it over? If it's over, I have to leave. I still need to hurry up and cultivate!"

After Li Mu finished speaking, he picked up the piglet and prepared to leave, but Huang Ling'er stopped him in a harsh tone and said, "You have serious things to do, but don't I have serious things to do? You stand still!"

Li Mu said "oh" and then turned around and stood obediently.

"There's one last thing. After you finish recording, you can leave... Is your pig male or female?" Huang Ling'er asked.

"Does this also need to be recorded?" Li Mu asked, puzzled.

"Nonsense!" Huang Ling'er finally lost her patience.

Li Mu scratched his head, then lowered his voice and asked the piglet, "Hey, are you male or female?"

The little piglet looked shy and snorted twice before burying its head in Li Mu's arms.

Zhao Zhiyuan stared wide-eyed at Li Mu and the piglet, his face filled with disbelief.

Huang Ling'er was also startled. After a long while, she held her forehead and said helplessly, "Pick it up, and I can tell whether it's male or female at a glance."

Li Mu let out an exaggerated "Oh," as if he had just remembered that there was such a simple method.

So he grabbed the piglet by its two front legs and lifted it up. The piglet immediately protested and squealed loudly, startling several outer disciples passing by.

Huang Ling'er glanced between the piglet's two hind legs, then wrote a large, elegant character: Mother!

"Are you done?" Li Mu picked up the piglet again and held it in his arms.

The piglet looked aggrieved, its two black eyes brimming with tears, as if it had suffered a great humiliation.

"roll!"

Huang Ling'er didn't say anything nice and glared angrily at Li Mu.

The first heavy snow of early winter fell gently from the sky, turning the entire Yuheng Mountain into a silver-clad wonderland.