CHAPTER 47: CHAPTER 47: A FLAW IN THE STRANGE DISEASE?

WHOOSH—WHOOSH—

Where is this?

Wu Wang struggled to open his eyes, and the sight that greeted him was an azure sky, with a few clouds scattered about, among which he could vaguely see an oddly shaped bird circling at a low altitude.

His body ached, his head felt as if it were about to split open—this was the consequence of excessive Divine Thought consumption. Moreover, due to some unknown reason, the transfer by the senior before him had subjected him to immense tearing forces, as if he had been squeezed through a wall without any gaps.

"Senior..."

Wu Wang endured the headache, trying to get up, but his vision darkened, his six senses plunged into darkness, and a series of images kept surfacing.

...

Traveling with Senior Shen Nong through the Western Wilderness, they idled about for half a day. To Wu Wang’s speechlessness, Senior Shen Nong actually dragged him along to gather herbs and identify medicinal plants.

He was a refiner, and truly had no interest in pill concoction.

So they gathered herbs and chatted along their way until they reached the boundary between the Western Wilderness and Central Mountain, their destination for this trip.

The Kunlun Hills.

But as soon as they arrived at the boundaries of the Kunlun Hills and caught sight of the legendary Kunlun mystic realm, they saw the towering gate of the Nine Heavens and the divine beast Kai Ming guarding the gate.

At the same time, several overwhelming pressures suddenly appeared from the east, west, south, and north.

Wu Wang had felt such a degree of pressure before.

—Back in the Northern Wilderness, during the battle with Grandma Yin and Wang Lin, Wu Wang had felt it when a drop of Qiong Qi’s essence blood had dispersed.

Gods!

And not just any gods, but ones with extraordinary strength!

A figure flew out of the Heaven’s Gate, proudly standing above the clouds—its body like a tiger, its claws sharp, a human face, and a back with nine tails. Its majestic body emitted bursts of light, commanding even the Enlightened Beast to bow and pay respects upon its appearance.

The god, Lu Wu.

At the same time, several other figures appeared from different directions.

One Divine Spirit with a human face and a horse’s body came from the north, his body marked with tiger stripes and two bird wings on his back, with currents of green wind swirling around him, seemingly sealing off the northern sky.

The god, Ying Zhao.

Another Heavenly God had eight legs and two heads, resembling two divine bulls fused together, with fierce evil aura enveloping it and its eight legs transforming into giant hands, each wielding weapons.

Last to appear was a figure that at first glance had a human form but, upon closer inspection, had a face like a leopard, a leopard’s tail, pointed ears, and sharp claws.

The god, Chang Cheng.

The four Strong Gods blocked Shen Nong and Wu Wang’s path, each emitting intense pressure. Wu Wang, being slightly closer to Shen Nong, might have been knocked unconscious if he had stood further away.

Shen Nong laughed, "How about it, are you scared?"

Wu Wang managed a strained smile.

Saying nothing was his final act of defiance.

The moment he opened his mouth, his voice would certainly tremble; it was a natural bodily reaction.

He was just a small cultivator who had stepped into the Condensation Establishment Realm by an infusion of insight. By what virtues and abilities have I attracted the attention of four Strong Gods!

"Do not worry, they are not under the Heavenly Emperor’s command," Shen Nong’s voice transmitted, "but it looks like we can’t avoid a fierce battle after all.

I will send you to an island, where you should wait for me for a while. If soon, it may be a few days; if late, it could be a few years. I will come to find you."

As he spoke, Shen Nong placed a hand on Wu Wang’s shoulder and gave a gentle push. The Heaven and Earth around them collapsed in an instant.

Wu Wang had no time to say anything more. As he was pushed forward, he suddenly turned around, aimed his left hand at Shen Nong, and a Crystal Ball exploded in front of him, his Divine Thought nearly emptied in an instant.

Praying Star Technique, Starlight Blessing.

This Praying Star Technique, quite common in the Northern Wilderness and not considered high-level, was used to boost the target’s physical strength, enhancing power and speed.

The stronger the target’s power, the more Divine Thought the priest would consume.

Wu Wang had given his all, yet he could only add a glimmer of starlight to Shen Nong, but...

I should have helped the senior.

The collapse of Heaven and Earth was rapidly filled in, and Wu Wang faintly felt that he had fallen a long while this time, eventually crashing onto a shallow shoal, where he felt the soft sand and the cool seawater.

With just this fall, he almost vomited blood.

Due to severe, short-term depletion of Divine Thought and having traveled an exceedingly long distance through the shift of Heaven and Earth, Wu Wang now found himself unable to open his eyes.

Faintly, at the moment he was sent here, Wu Wang had also heard a few sentences of conversation.

A sonorous voice asked, "What does this imply, Human Emperor? Since you brought your disciple here, why bother using such great effort to send him away?"

Shen Nong chuckled and replied indifferently, "It was just to let him see the world, to experience the feeling of facing you all early on, and to serve as a motivation for him."

In a daze, Wu Wang couldn’t help but worry about the Human Emperor of the Human Domain.

Could the old senior defeat those gods? After all, he’s of advanced age, his strength is inherited from the old Human Emperor Suiren, and he has also devoted part of his energy to pioneering the medical path, so his strength is probably not as great as that of Suiren and Human Emperor Fu Xi. He had even said things like ’I can surely retreat safely’ and ’I’ll come to find you in a few days at the shortest’ that one could tell were taboo to say. No, I have to do something myself.

Although the old senior liked to trick his juniors, was a bit heartless, struck without holding back, and was somewhat of a charmer, when I think about it carefully, he indeed took great care of me. Not to mention, the Yan Emperor’s command was a pathway to solve my strange illness, at least giving me, who was completely clueless before, a glimmer of hope. As a man, how can I let the senior go alone? I was determined to! There’s no way I can go back, but trying to find some reinforcements in the Human Domain is still possible.

Wu Wang forcibly opened his eyes and saw the pale golden light curtain in the sky; the necklace on his chest was also slightly warm, and threads of a warm aura spread from the Yan Emperor’s command at his spirit platform, causing his body to tremble lightly a few times before he lapsed into unconsciousness, his head lolling to one side.

In a hazy stupor...

"Jin Wei, Jin Wei."

Who? Who’s speaking?

This voice was somewhat sharp yet very pleasant to the ear, like the clear chirp of an oriole, making it quite comfortable to listen to, and Wu Wang found he had unexpectedly regained some vitality.

His lips were pried open by two chilly claws, but there was no sensation of being cut.

Just as Wu Wang thought he was about to be pecked at by a bird as if he were a corpse, a sweet stream flowed over his tongue and down his throat.

The numbness was retreating rapidly, and the splitting headache also gradually calmed down.

"Jin Wei, Jin Wei."

The calls echoed once more by his ear.

Not long after, Wu Wang felt his lips being fiddled with a few more times, and then a bird’s beak pecked in again; a somewhat warm stream of water entered Wu Wang’s mouth and vanished quickly down his throat.

This reminded Wu Wang of his past life, when, exhausted after extreme survival training, a nurse had fed him a nutrient solution...

Shortly after, his whole body felt an indescribable sensation of dry heat, as if dropped into a fire.

His limbs had endless energy, even giving him the illusion that he could crush stones with his bare hands.

Wu Wang’s fingers trembled slightly, his body shook uncontrollably for a moment, a faint purplish crescent mark appeared on his forehead, and his eyes suddenly opened.

FLAP! FLAP!

The black bird he had seen before was flapping its wings hurriedly as it took flight.

Wu Wang subconsciously stared at the bird, noting its jade-like beak and pale golden claws, and sat up straight. Several elixirs flew out from his sleeve into his mouth as he said, "Thank you, fellow daoist."

He barely spread his spiritual sense outside his body and immediately stimulated the elixirs to recover his injuries and Divine Thought.

The bird circled around for half a turn, then landed on a nearby rock, tilting its head curiously at Wu Wang, its crystalline beak making two tentative calls, "Jin Wei, Jin Wei."

Wu Wang opened his eyes and was also drawn to the intelligence in the eyes of the bird in front of him. He felt the bird was quite beautiful, a rare breed not seen in the Northern Wilderness.

He laughed and said, "Did you save me?"

The bird lifted its head slightly, seeming to be quite proud, and positioned its wings on its hips.

Wu Wang almost laughed out loud as he fumbled in his sleeve and took out a well-preserved Spirit Fruit from his Yin and Yang ring, wrapping it in mana and pushing it towards the bird.

Unexpectedly...

The bird didn’t even glance at it, flapped its wings a few times, and with a somewhat graceful posture, flew away.

Looking in the direction of the bird’s flight, there was a cliff by the water, with a tree at its edge emitting a light green radiance, exceptionally eye-catching.

He sat on a slightly elevated part of the beach; behind him was a thicket of bushes, and before him the boundless sea.

At this moment of quiet, Wu Wang also felt a touch of doubt stirring within him...

Why exactly did senior Shen Nong insist on taking me to the Kunlun Hills to broaden my horizons? There seemed to be a deeper meaning here. Uh, the senior couldn’t possibly be using me as a prop to bluff, could he?

Wu Wang suddenly grasped the key point in all of this.

For senior Shen Nong to go to the Kunlun Hills in search of the Immortal Herbs that grant longevity was essentially like going to do business. He himself was reaching the end of his lifespan, and within the Human Domain, there was no successor for the Human Emperor. In such a dual predicament, the Immortal Herbs that prolong life became an urgent necessity. From what senior Shen Nong revealed, that special Immortal Herb had been controlled by the Heavenly Emperor for a long time, and apart from the Heaven Palace, it was only found in the Kunlun Hills. And the actual controller of the Kunlun Hills was none other than the renowned Queen Mother of the West from the Nine Wildernesses. Senior Shen Nong taking me there was actually telling the Queen Mother of the West: ’Look, I actually do have a successor, so you can’t threaten me. How about making the Immortal Herbs a bit cheaper?’

Wu Wang couldn’t help but look up to the sky and let out a long sigh, tears falling silently, and he couldn’t restrain the slight twitch of his lips as he gave the sky the middle finger.

The old man had schemed against me again! I couldn’t believe that right before I was sent away, I had given it my all to bless senior Shen Nong with the Praying Star Technique!

In his heart, he was thinking, ’That should have helped the senior somewhat!’

Indeed, the older the ginger, the spicier it gets, and old socks smell the foulest—the reputation of the veterans of the Great Wilderness was not unfounded; the "Herbal Classic" clearly read ’scam’ between its lines.

HISS—

He took in a sharp breath as a tearing pain once again spread across his forehead, and the lingering pains all over his body resurfaced.

This was still the first time he had overdrawn his Divine Thought, and although he had taken an Elixir, he would need a period of rest to fully recover.

Speaking of which, what exactly did the senior bring me here to do?

"Jin Wei, Jin Wei?"

The call of the bird came once more, its cries seeming to possess some sort of mana, as Wu Wang’s headache rapidly receded.

Wu Wang turned his head to look and saw the graceful bird flapping its wings, flying from a tree that radiated a healthy, vibrant glow, carrying a grape-sized, light-red fruit.

It circled in the air briefly before landing on Wu Wang’s arm, deftly placing the fruit into his palm, and then fluttering back to the rock.

Its pale golden claws were like a work of art, fitting perfectly in size and form.

Wu Wang hesitated slightly; the Spirit Fruit seemed non-toxic, but it was common knowledge in the Northern Wilderness not to recklessly eat things found in the wild.

Thinking back to how he felt when he was unconscious, Wu Wang smiled, placed the thumb-sized fruit to his lips, adjusted his grip, and left neat teeth marks at its apex.

The fruit directly transformed into a warm stream that flowed into Wu Wang’s throat. His body once again felt a burning heat, and he was suddenly filled with strength.

Moreover, there was a fire burning in his lower abdomen.

Wu Wang turned to the side, and the bird seemed somewhat puzzled as it hopped onto his shoulder.

"Thank you."

The bird had faint white lines on its forehead and gestured with its claws for him not to move.

Wu Wang gazed at the bird and tried a hand signal, quietly asking, "Can you understand me?"

The bird blinked its bird eyes, "Jin Wei."

Jin? Wei?

Wu Wang was puzzled and watched the bird for a while before a lightbulb suddenly went off in his head.

Understood. Bird language. This was the same principle as talking to cats and dogs: with a cat, MEOW; with a dog, WOOF. Coming upon a group of ’yeet’ monsters, one would probably have to ’yeet’ to fit in with them. The Northern Wilderness has those adept at bird language. Add my own emotions, express goodwill through my expressions; syllables aren’t important, just imitate the other’s call...

Taking a breath, Wu Wang sat and tried moving his legs, rhythmically attempting a call, "Jin Wei, Jin Wei? Jin Wei, Jin Wei?"

The bird: ...

POOF!

The bird flew to one side, and suddenly a puff of blue smoke exploded around it. Caught off guard, Wu Wang watched as a slender and graceful outline emerged from the smoke. On the beach, in the shade of the trees, the blue smoke swirled around a human figure.

A delicate foot emerged from the blue smoke, untainted by dust and untouched by worldly customs, its tender skin reflecting the setting sun’s light, almost translucent and crystal clear.

Above the jade-like foot was a thin, light green short skirt, which, due to the forward-stepping posture, hadn’t fully fallen, causing Wu Wang’s gaze to drift unintentionally, before he quickly moved it back to the blue mist.

And so, she walked out of the blue mist.

Silky black hair cascaded like a waterfall, the light green short skirt clinging to her exquisite figure.

Her eyes shone with a faint light blue luminescence, her nose delicate and small, her lips thin and slightly parted, eyelashes curving softly, revealing a slim face with a hint of helplessness;

And an undeniable annoyance.

Wu Wang:...

TSK, not almond-shaped eyes. But these eyes are indescribably beautiful, perfect as they are.

She pursed her lips, furrowed her brow, and huffed at Wu Wang.

Then, with a wave of her delicate hand, a few wisps of blue smoke that lingered in the air solidified into three complex ancient characters.

Following that, she took a half step back, her slender figure twirling lightly, her jade pendants tinkling, her long hair flying as she transformed back into that black-feathered bird, flapping its wings and settling back onto the rocks.

Wu Wang frowned slightly, his gaze still clear, his mind turning, as he intentionally showed an expression of shock.

He opened his mouth wide, his eyes full of admiration but only managed to utter a series of ’this, this,’ his hands gesturing the figure of the young girl he had just seen.

Then, as though suddenly coming to his senses, he stared closely at the ghostly shadows of the three large characters, trying to recognize them.

These were ancient glyphs of the Human race, intricate in form with numerous strokes, vaguely resembling simple drawings yet clear in every line, presenting an overall slender quality.

He looked at it from different angles, scrutinizing carefully, restless in his discernment, and quickly understood their combined meaning:

[Speak human words].

Speak!

"Divine Spirit?" Wu Wang ventured to ask.

With a POOF, the bird transformed into human form once again and spoke directly to Wu Wang in a somewhat raspy and peculiarly intoned voice, "Human."

A Human race being that can transform into a bird, and such a beautiful one at that... Hold on! Wait a minute! Was that bird just on my shoulder? I hadn’t passed out?!

"My strange illness? No, miss, could you transform into a bird and land on my shoulder? I... I have something I want to verify."

The bird tilted its head, its small eyes showing a bit more wariness, but upon Wu Wang’s persistent invitation, it still fluttered its wings and landed on Wu Wang’s shoulder.

It was solid! I... had... not... passed... out!

Wu Wang’s voice couldn’t help but tremble slightly; facing those powerful Innate Gods beside Shen Nong, he had never felt such tension, such trembling.

Could it be! Could it be that I’ve found a loophole in the Innate Gods’ curse?!

"Miss, can you, can you please turn back into your human form? This is very important to me!"

"Jin Wei?"

The bird blinked, then gently hopped up, dispersing a waft of blue smoke, her immaculate foot resting on Wu Wang’s shoulder while the other foot hovered just above.

The touch... soft to the touch...

Wu Wang clenched his fists tightly, unable to resist looking up to see the girl’s face clearly, forgetting that, from this angle, the view was somewhat... indecorous.

The girl seemed startled, then quickly realized something as a red flush crept up her pale neck, swiftly spreading to her cheeks.

BANG!

With a dull sound, Wu Wang was hurled high up and towards the sea, his face full of excitement.

Taking advantage of the jumping force to fly away, the girl transformed back into a bird and dashed toward the Divine Tree, incessantly calling out ’Jin Wei, Jin Wei’, before swiftly returning with a glistening short sword clutched in her talons.