CHAPTER 169: CHAPTER 169: YELLOW MYSTIC ENERGY

All the rage evaporated from him like steam. His round black eyes widened with shock, and for a moment, he forgot how to breathe.

Lana laughed again, breathless but warm.

"I never knew my contracted beast could get so emotional. Next time, if you get jealous, tell me. I won’t do anything that hurts you."

She pressed another gentle peck to his feathered cheek.

This time, Mr. Crow’s tiny heart squeezed painfully in the sweetest way possible.

He had only ever been met with scorn. People avoided him. People called him ugly.

Some even refused to form contracts with him, acting like he was some cursed creature.

But Lana?

Lana never looked at him with disgust. Never hesitated to touch him. Never treated him as lesser.

Her lips were warm on his feathers, and for the first time, he felt...

Soft. Wanted. Cherished.

He blushed... actual warmth blooming under his feathers and puffed up shyly.

’She really is the best master I could have chosen... I made the right choice. The perfect choice...’

He closed his eyes, savoring every tiny peck.

Until suddenly he was yanked out of Lana’s hands with absolutely no gentleness.

His feathers flew everywhere as he screeched.

The warmth was gone and was replaced by a massive hand gripping the scruff of his neck.

Lucian’s hand. His expression?

Utterly unreadable. But the tension in his jaw and the slight tremor in his fingers said enough.

When Lucian sensed Lana’s gaze on him, he softened his expression and curved his lips into a faint, polite smile.

"It’s improper to kiss him right now," he murmured gently. "Mr. Crow hasn’t bathed for an entire day."

Mr. Crow’s head snapped toward him so fast his feathers rustled like dry leaves. He glared at Lucian with the ferocity of a tiny thunder god.

Lana, however, let out a small laugh, her voice still weak but airy. "I haven’t bathed for a day either."

Lucian paused, then gave her a faint but deliberate smile, the kind meant to soothe an unreasonable child rather than debate a point.

"That’s completely different. You’re... you. Mr. Crow is dirty. You might get infected if you kiss him. Distance is safer."

Without waiting for an argument, he gently placed Mr. Crow on the nearby table, carefully, respectfully, as though aware he was holding something far more dangerous than a bird.

Lucian didn’t dare handle Mr. Crow roughly. He remembered the earlier warning Lucy had given him:

’Her bottom line is the creature perched on her shoulder. Hurt him, and she’ll never look you in the eyes again.’

Even teasing Mr. Crow too harshly had pushed at that boundary.

Sure enough, even that small gesture cracked something in Lana’s warmth.

Her smile dimmed as her gaze dropped. She snapped her fingers sharply.

With a smug flick of his tail, Mr. Crow hopped off the table, shot Lucian a victorious glare, and fluttered straight toward Lana.

She opened her arms and hugged him tightly, pressing her cheek against his feathers.

Then she began peppering his head with soft pecks again, one after the other, while staring directly at Lucian as if making a point.

"Mr. Crow is my contracted beast," she said calmly. "He is never infectious to me. Even if bugs were crawling in his feathers, I would still kiss him."

Mr. Crow stiffened in her arms, then let out an indignant "Caw-caw!"

Lana understood the meaning instantly. "I know you don’t have bugs," she reassured him softly. "I was just proving a point."

Lucian swallowed, his jaw flexing slightly, but he didn’t argue.

He turned away from the jealous bird and looked at Lana with a softened gaze, regret flickering in his eyes.

"I was wrong," he said quietly. "I won’t justify it."

Her expression eased. The frost in her tone melted. She lifted her hand slightly.

"I’m not blaming you. I’m just... protective of him."

Lucian nodded slowly. "I understand. And I will handle things differently."

He cleared his throat, shifting the topic before jealousy carved deeper lines into the room’s atmosphere.

"How are you feeling now?"

Lana inhaled and lifted her hand, expecting to see her old, familiar blue mystic light.

She snapped her fingers...

But instead of soft blue, a brilliant, radiant yellow glow burst forth from her palm, illuminating her pale skin with a warm hue.

She froze like she couldn’t believe the scene in front of her.

"...What?"

Mr. Crow’s eyes widened so far they looked ready to pop out.

Lucian stared at the yellow light, then at Lana, then at Mr. Crow, whose stunned silence spoke louder than any scream.

Lucian forced a calm expression as he looked at the little bird.

"Mr. Crow. You know something. Explain."

Mr. Crow did not respond at first. He simply stared at the shimmering yellow glow as if witnessing a miracle he had never believed possible.

"Impossible," he muttered under his breath. "Impossible... impossible..."

Lana shifted, confusion knitting her brows.

"Mr. Crow?"

Her voice snapped him out of his daze. He turned toward her, his gaze softening with something between awe and disbelief.

"Lana... you’re truly a once-in-a-lifetime genius."

Lana blinked, bewildered. "What happened? Tell me."

Mr. Crow took a deep breath and began pacing on her lap, feathers fluffing nervously.

"Your mystic energy was originally blue," he explained, "and that never changes for most cultivators. But there’s something people don’t know. True blue, utter pure blue, is a state only those at Spirit Monarch Rank and above achieve. Most mystic cultivators have variations, deep navy, sky blue, or murky blue, each shade representing quality."

Lana nodded slowly.

Mr. Crow continued.

"Only a handful in history ever achieved pure blue. But yellow... yellow comes after blue. It’s the next evolution. And usually, mystic energy doesn’t turn yellow until someone reaches the Eternal Ascending stage."

Lucian stiffened, absorbing every word.

Mr. Crow fluffed his feathers nervously.

"But you..." He pointed his wing at her hand. "...you reached yellow at the start of the Yellow Rank. That means your mystic energy is so pure, so refined, so overwhelmingly potent that your overall capability is far beyond normal yellow-rank cultivators."

Lana’s eyes widened.

"So I can defeat stronger ghosts?"