Chapter 303: Even in Death, I Must be Beautiful
Zhu Yao was a little suspicious. Was being able to see the colours of spiritual energy a specialized skill which Realmspirit had given her? This was why she could raise her cultivation so quickly every single time. However, with something like Realmspirit’s personality, he couldn’t have given her a cheat without informing her. Even something as heaven-defying as the World Favourable Impression was openly hanging above her head, let alone something like this. Not filling up her vision with screens would have already been pretty nice of him, there wasn’t a reason for him not to inform her of such a setting!
Furthermore, the things Realmspirit gave her were always different for each avatar, and they would disappear along with the avatar. This was the same for World Favourable Impression as well. Though it seemed like its effect was still active, the button above her head to toggle it was indeed gone. Yet, this setting where she could see the colours of spiritual energy, had persisted till now since she officially began cultivating.
Then there was only a single possibility…
The colours had always been there, while the difference was being able to see them. Back then, she had after all spent five years before being able to see them. Since she was able to see them, then others should be able to too. This was most likely related to a person’s IQ.
Zhu Yao felt that such an important cultivation method should not be wasted, as she carefully recalled the feeling she had when she first saw spiritual energy. She gave little tyrant a rough explanation, before seeking out a place where the five types of spiritual energy were the most concentrated and letting go into closed-door training.
“Little tyrant, you can try sensing the five types of spiritual energy while taking them into your body. Use your heart to feel them. I can’t guarantee that you will be able to see them like me, but I hope you won’t give up easily.”
“Mn!” He heavily nodded.
Zhu Yao stroked his head satisfyingly. “No matter the outcome, I hope that you can establish your Foundation in five years, can you do it?”
His expression sank, yet his eyes slowly turned determined. “Grandma, I will work hard!”
“Good, grandma shall await the day you’re out of closed-door training!”
Only then did Zhu Yao walk out of his cottage and place down formations in the surroundings. She blankly stared at the cottage that shrouded with spiritual energy.
Suddenly, a slightly chilly hand landed on her head, stroking her hair. “Worried?”
“Mn.” Zhu Yao turned around and closed in, her head buried in his chest. “Master… Tell me. What should I do if he won’t be able to see spiritual energy no matter what?”
Yu Yan was silent for a short while, before he reached for her waist and said in a solemn voice. “If he can’t see it, will you give up on him?”
“Of course not!” Zhu Yao raised her head. “Am I someone that irresponsible? Since I have already decided on little tyrant, naturally, I will take responsibility till the end. If he really can’t do it, then there’s really no way to solve the bug in this world. Of course, even if it’s not for the bug, I will definitely cover for little tyrant.”
“Then what’s there to worry?” He stroked her hair and asked back.
Zhu Yao was startled as she raised her head to look at her own master. The dispiritness in the depths of her heart was swept away in an instant. She tightly hugged him back, and nodded heavily. “Mn, I’m not worried. With master here, I have nothing to worry.”
When he heard this, his face which was as cold as ice, gradually loosened. He lightly raised the corners of his lips, and at that moment, it was as if spring had returned to the lands, revealing beauty that was beyond compare. “Stupid.”
A moment later…
“Master.”
“Mn?”
“When are you going to make me a monkey?”
“…”
“Ah… I really want to get pregnant.”
“Nonsensical!”
Little tyrant was in closed-door training, the frog was chased towards the forest to watch over the place, and her master was pulled into the room. Zhu Yao who felt relaxed all over, believed that she should do some unique exercises in this dark, windy, and lonely night, in order to progress their master and disciple relationship.
“Yu Wang, what are you?” A certain master looked at his stupid disciple’s hand which was grasping onto his waist belt, frowning disapprovingly.
Zhu Yao chuckled. “You’re already calling me ‘Desire’, so I should live up to the name. Otherwise, I would be disgracing the name, you know?” Clothes, strip, strip!
“Your master is now but a strand of divine sense.”
“I don’t mind!”
“…”
“I don’t care. You said that you wanted to make a monkey with me.” Ever since they returned from the modern era, they hadn’t been doing anything embarrassing. This was her fighting for regular welfare.
“Yu… Yao.”
“Shut up!” Zhu Yao pulled apart his outer garments. “Even if you cry your lungs out today… Ah pui, in any case, I won’t let you go! No matter who comes, it won’t happen! So why don’t you obediently obey me…”
“Seventh elder sister! Seventh elder sister! Hurry and open the door!” Suddenly, bangs resounded from the door.
Zhu Yao: “…”
Feng Xiaoba, you’re dead meat!
Zhu Yao’s fury instantly surged, her teeth grinding. Yet that stupid bird outside which could not read the situation was still knocking the door to no end. It felt as if he wouldn’t relent till the door was open. She had to take a few deep breaths before she could stop her thoughts of eating his fat and juicy meat.
She walked over with heavy steps, strongly pulled the door open, and freaked out. “Little! Eighth!”
“Seventh elder sister…” A red fur ball came charging towards her chest like a cannonball. Before Zhu Yao could even react, Little Eighth had already begun crying out loud. “Seventh elder sister… Seventh elder sister, what should I do? Wuuaaahh… I don’t want to live anymore.”
Zhu Yao’s heart sank, her fury instantly dissipated. “What happened?” She had watched him grow for such a long time, yet she had never seen him cry like this. “Don’t cry, don’t cry. Tell your seventh elder sister what’s wrong?”
When she asked, Little Eighth began to cry even sadder than earlier. “I’m going to be as ugly as seventh elder sister now, I might as well die.”
“…” Stinky brat. He was already this saddened, yet he still did not forget to step her in the foot. This thing was definitely not related to her.
“What’s wrong? Did the beasties in the forest bully you?”
“Wuu…” He shook his head.
“You fancied one of the beasties, but was rejected?”
He continued to shake his head. “I wouldn’t court a beast.”
“Your auntie’s husband came?”
He still shook his head?
“Then what’s wrong?”
He nudged a little while, before finally stopping his wails. After a while, under her concerned gaze, he weakly stretched out one of his wings and pitifully said. “Look…”
Zhu Yao curiously closed in, only to see it was entirely covered in red feathers, and nothing else. “Look at what?”
“This… This!” He anxiously used his other wing to point at it.
Zhu Yao carefully looked at it once more. “Nothing’s there at all!”
Little Eighth instantly grew anxious. “Look carefully, at the top! Top!”
“Nothing!”
Left without a choice, he strongly waved his wing and did a throwing action. What she saw next was a fluff, the size of a fingernail, fluttering down from the air. Before it even landed on the ground, Little Eighth immediately grabbed it as if it was treasure, and then carefully held it with his wings. “See that?”
“Feathers?”
“Mn.” He nodded. In an instant, dispiritedness began to surface again. “Feathers. I’m shedding feathers. Seventh elder sister… I’m actually beginning to shed feathers. Wuaah… What should I do? Becoming a ball is already pitiful enough. If I were to shed feathers as well, I will become as ugly as seventh elder sister. I don’t want to become a phoenix with naked buttocks…”
“…” She really wished to cut off ties with him!
Zhu Yao took a deep breath and managed to suppress her fist. She picked up a certain bird which was still crying, flung him out, and then closed the door with a bang.
“Scram!” Go get someone prettier as your elder sister.
In the next moment, the desperate knocking sounds resounded again.
“Seventh elder sister, seventh elder sister! Come out, seventh elder sister!”
“I’m your only little brother, seventh elder sister!”
“You can’t just toss me aside, seventh elder sister!”
“I don’t want to die ugly!”
“I promise that I won’t despise you for being ugly anymore! Please help me think of something!”
“What if people don’t acknowledge me as a Phoenix after all of my feathers are gone?”
“Seventh elder sister… Seventh elder sister…”
“Being ugly is death itself!”
The corner of Zhu Yao’s lips were twitching to the point where it could even break out of a certain net novel author’s computer. Only after a long while did she finally manage to suppress the impulse to kill her biological younger brother. “Scram! You’re just freaking molting, the hell you’re crying for?”
“Molting?” That certain Phoenix who had long forgotten memories of his faraway youth, was startled for a moment. After a short while, even louder knocks resounded from the door.
“Seventh elder sister, what’s molting? Is it really fine for me to shed feathers right now?”
“Will they grow again? Seventh elder sister!”
“When will they grow back? Seventh elder sister!”
“Will the newly grown feathers look even more beautiful than now? Seventh elder sister!”
“Am I still the most beautiful Phoenix? Seventh elder sister!”
“Do all Phoenixes go through the same thing? Seventh elder sister!”
“Will I still be able to return to my past form? Seventh elder sister!”
“Shut up!” Are you treating me as Zhao Zongxiang¹? Someone who’s specialized in explaining the world of animals? And a Xianxia version at that!
Only then did the knocking finally stop. Zhu Yao heaved a sigh of relief. When she thought that this worry-filled little brother had finally walked off, his faint voice sounded once more.
“Seventh elder sister, I can’t sleep. Why don’t you accompany me on a talk about feathers?”
“How do you think my new feathers will look like?”
“Will they look the same as before? But I’m not really satisfied at the sixty-fifth feather at the third row of my left wing.”
“Do you think they will look better after they are regrown?”
“What if I end up growing up to look like some other Phoenixes?”
“Mn. If it happens, I want to become like second elder brother, or third elder brother, or even fourth elder brother…”
“As long as it’s not seventh elder sister.”
The hell, don’t stop me. I’m going to pull out all of his bird feathers!
Ever since he found out that his feathers would regrow, and discovered that new and completely clean feathers would appear on his own wings every few days, Little Eighth had stopped worrying about shedding feathers. However, his feather shedding problem grew even worse, and the process seemed to be pretty long. In order to conceal this uglifying process, he no longer caused problems for the demonic beasts that filled Peaceful Spiritual Forest. Before this, every day, he would snatch away the spiritual herbs that demonic beasts were protecting, or burn away the treasures that belonged to them. Yet, those demonic beasts that were being harrassed all looked as though it was their honour for such acts to have occured on them. She had to be the one feeling embarrassed in her little brother’s stead.
And so, Little Eighth made a nest…
That’s right, he knew how to make a nest. Inside it was filled with various soft spiritual herbs. That’s right, they were all snatched away from those demonic beasts as well. The nest wasn’t huge, and it was placed in the courtyard of her home. He had even added in a lid, shutting himself inside like an egg shell. He had even swore that before his feathers were completely changed, he definitely would not disgrace himself by showing himself to others.
He wouldn’t even budge when Zhu Yao used melon seeds to lure him out, swearing that even if he were to die, he would die beautifully.
1. Zhao Zhongxiang (赵忠祥): He was the host of the show ‘Animal World(动物世界)’, that talks about animal wildlife.