Chapter 939: Haoyang Bird

A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality, Volume 6: Heavenly Spiritual Treasures

On the evening of the third day, Han Li, who had been in meditative trance, finally opened his eyes.

He looked up at the dark sky, then flipped his palm, and a Moonlight Stone appeared in his hand.

He tossed the stone into the air, and a milky white glow spilled down, brightly illuminating the nearby peach grove.

Han Li silently stood up. He then pulled out a piece of red coral, several feet in size, and placed it under a peach tree. Next, he retrieved a jade box, opened its lid, and revealed a spiritual herb about an inch tall, with a single stem and thirteen leaves. This herb was white, emitting a faint glow, and it was precisely the "Nishang Grass" that he had cultivated countless times!

“This is your plan?” Grandmaster Dayan, still bewildered, couldn't help but ask once Han Li had transplanted the Nishang Grass onto the coral.

Although he had seen Han Li feed this spiritual herb to the Gold-Devouring Beetles with astonishing results, its current use left him greatly perplexed.

Hearing the question, Han Li chuckled softly:

“Actually, this herb has another name: 'Demon-Luring Grass.' I don't need to say more; you should understand my intention now, Senior.”

“Demon-Luring Grass! You mean you want to…” Grandmaster Dayan's voice seemed to grasp the implication.

“Exactly. In six days, it will be the time for the smaller Haoyang Bird to be released for a breath of fresh air. At that time, hehe…” Han Li gave a cold laugh.

Fang Chu was a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator of Yueyang Palace. There were at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, cultivators of this rank within the entire Yueyang Palace. Logically, he should have been an insignificant figure within the palace.

However, the reality was quite the opposite. Not to mention other Foundation Establishment cultivators, even some Core Formation stage martial uncles and grand-uncles treated Fang Chu with utmost courtesy, showing no signs of considering him a junior. Whenever benefits were distributed within the palace, he was always the first among the Foundation Establishment disciples to receive them.

All of this allowed Fang Chu to fare exceptionally well within Yueyang Palace. Yet, despite his inner satisfaction, he knew that everything he had was due solely to the position he held. He happened to be the cultivator within the sect specifically responsible for looking after the smaller Haoyang Bird.

He was chosen for this role because he possessed an innate special ability to understand the language of avian spiritual birds, making him irreplaceable. Otherwise, given the rarity of the Haoyang Bird, he would never have been assigned to care for it.

After all, "caring for" it also meant, to some extent, being able to command this spiritual bird. This was naturally no small matter.

The spiritual bird he was responsible for had a relatively shallow cultivation level, yet it could still easily defeat late Core Formation cultivators, even rivaling Nascent Soul stage beings. It was no wonder that other cultivators held Fang Chu in such high regard and trepidation.

Fang Chu had been dedicated to caring for spiritual birds for over thirty years, and he had always found it quite easy.

The only inconvenience was that, whether cultivating or meditating, he had to remain with the spiritual bird all day. Even during the short half-day when the bird was allowed to go out for air and fly freely, he had to interrupt his own cultivation to secretly follow it from a distance, to prevent any accidents.

However, Fang Chu wasn't worried about this at all.

The entire Heavenly Mountain Range, spanning a hundred thousand li, was under the control of Yueyang Palace. What could possibly go wrong?

With such leisurely thoughts in his mind, Fang Chu spent this day following the Haoyang Bird, which had flown out of its aviary early in the morning, trailing it from afar.

This particular Haoyang Bird wasn't large, about a zhang (3.3 meters) in size, but several long tail feathers occupied more than half of its length. From a distance, the bird resembled a fiery red giant peacock. Yet, what peacock in the world possessed such brilliant, fiery red plumage?

The spiritual bird was clearly somewhat excited. As soon as it passed beyond Yueyang Palace's restrictions, it began flapping its fiery red wings, continuously circling and dancing in the air, completely unaware that someone was following it from behind.

If he had used ordinary methods, Fang Chu would naturally not have been able to conceal himself from the Haoyang Bird's spiritual sense. However, before coming out, he had already affixed a Spirit-Concealing Talisman, specially refined for him by the palace, to his body. Thus, even with his shallow cultivation, he could rest assured that the Haoyang Bird would not detect him.

Watching the bird emit joyful chirps, Fang Chu smiled knowingly.

Having spent a long time with this spiritual bird, he naturally understood that the Haoyang Bird was in a state of extreme joy. It seemed that this outing would keep the bird content for the latter half of the month.

Just like that, the Haoyang Bird circled unhurriedly above Yueyang Palace for quite some time before changing direction and beginning to fly towards the outer areas.

Fang Chu paid it no mind. According to the bird's usual habit, it would circle Yueyang Palace within a hundred-li radius before returning to the palace contentedly. Therefore, he calmly followed it slowly.

But this time, after he had followed the bird for only thirty li or so, something unexpected happened.

The originally joyful Haoyang Bird suddenly paused its wings, then its chirping changed, becoming sharp and piercing.

Fang Chu, who was behind, froze upon hearing the bird's cry. Before he could understand what was happening, he saw the Haoyang Bird rapidly spread its wings, several feet of crimson flames suddenly erupting from its body. It changed direction and tore through the air. After a few flashes, it transformed into a huge fireball and shot hundreds of zhang away.

Fang Chu was startled, then instantly terrified out of his wits.

Upon realizing what had happened, he quickly pulled out a jade token from his person, frantically injected spiritual power into it, and simultaneously emitted a strange, bird-like call from his mouth, attempting to summon the Haoyang Bird back.

However, the Haoyang Bird, visible as a ball of fire in the distance, seemed to hear the summons. But after a slight hesitation, it emitted several even more raucous calls and disappeared over the horizon without a backward glance.

Seeing this, Fang Chu's face instantly turned ashen. He floated motionlessly in the air, momentarily at a loss for what to do.

But moments later, something occurred to him. He suddenly pulled out a sound transmission talisman from his storage pouch, frantically yelled something into it, and without hesitation, tossed the talisman into the air. It instantly transformed into a streak of fiery light, shooting directly towards Yueyang Palace.

He, meanwhile, gritted his teeth, clutched the jade token in his hand, and flew off on his artifact in pursuit, heading in the direction the Haoyang Bird had vanished.

Regardless of whether he could truly catch up, he couldn't just stand there and wait. Otherwise, if his martial grand-uncles found out, he would surely face severe punishment.

Just as Fang Chu was furiously giving chase, other areas with spiritual beasts throughout the Heavenly Mountain Range simultaneously erupted into chaos.

In the northern part of the mountain range, several low-level disciples of Yueyang Palace were desperately using silver silk ropes to restrain giant vulture-like monstrous birds beneath them, forcibly trying to control these low-level spiritual birds' sudden and uncontrollable changes in direction. Before long, everyone was drenched in sweat, yet the spiritual birds beneath them were still frantically turning their heads, attempting to rush in a certain direction.

Within a hidden tree hollow at the edge of the mountain range, a masked cultivator dressed in yellowish-green robes, resembling a withered tree, was using a large, green-glowing hand to firmly pin down a pitch-black spider about a foot long. Watching the beast's snarling, enraged expression, the cultivator's eyes flickered with a look of uncertainty and alarm.

On Nantian Peak, in Yueyang Palace, within a secret hall concealed by restrictions, a white-haired old woman in purple robes was stroking another Haoyang Bird that was lying prostrate before her. This bird looked identical to Fang Chu's, only slightly larger in size.

The old woman clearly sensed that the spiritual bird under her care had suddenly become restless and agitated without any prior warning. If she hadn't continuously cast spells to forcibly appease it, the bird would undoubtedly have flown out of the secret hall. A strange expression on her face, she couldn't help but ponder.

Fang Chu, pursuing relentlessly and sparing no spiritual power, had long been left far behind by the Haoyang Bird. However, he had the jade token that could sense the spiritual bird's location, so he wasn't afraid of losing track of the Haoyang Bird within the Heavenly Mountain Range.

But as he sped along, he discovered something utterly shocking: in the mountain ranges below, numerous low-level demonic beasts were rushing out of their deeply hidden lairs, desperately running or leaping in the same direction as the fleeing Haoyang Bird.

In a short period, a considerable beast tide had formed. Among them were not a few rare demonic beasts that one would normally search for in the mountain range but never find. As for the high-level demonic beasts and flying demon birds in the mountain range, they had long been cleared out by Yueyang Palace's high-level cultivators, so there was nothing to fear from them.

Despite this, the sudden loss of control by both the beast horde and the Haoyang Bird still filled Fang Chu's heart with dread and great unease.

Meanwhile, in a hidden valley tens of thousands of li away, Han Li sat cross-legged on the ground. Before him was the Nishang Grass, planted on coral, bathed in a crimson glow. The herb had already unfurled six spiritual leaves, appearing incredibly mysterious under the flowing spiritual light.

Han Li, however, was not staring at the Nishang Grass. Instead, with slightly narrowed eyes, he gazed at the situation outside the peach grove, his face devoid of expression.

Outside the restriction, dozens of low-level spiritual beasts had gathered, having rushed over from nearby. They were frantically assailing the outer layer of the restriction, trying to break into the peach grove to devour the six-leaved Nishang Grass. Han Li was somewhat surprised that there were so many low-level demonic beasts in the Heavenly Mountain Range.

However, despite the large number of low-level demonic beasts, Han Li paid them no mind. Instead, he closed his eyes and meticulously swept his spiritual sense towards Yueyang Palace.

According to his calculations, the Nishang Grass's power was most suitable for luring level seven demonic beasts. Since the Haoyang Bird was a spiritual avian and flew much faster than ordinary magical treasures, it shouldn't be long before it arrived here.

Not long after, an expression on Han Li's cold face changed, and he abruptly opened his eyes.

With a hand seal, Han Li let out a low hum, and several spell incantations immediately shot out, activating the outermost illusion formation.

A layer of white mist emerged from the ground, and in the blink of an eye, it enveloped the entire bamboo grove, partially concealing it.

At this moment, a wild beast's roar and a clear, melodious bird cry simultaneously echoed from both the east and west directions.

A colossal yellow light cluster and a massive crimson fireball simultaneously shot forth from two directions, both seemingly targeting the valley where Han Li was located.

If you enjoy "A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality," please add it to your bookshelf and recommend "City of Illusion" to your friends!