CHAPTER 118: CHAPTER 102 HIGH ALTITUDE FLIGHT

In an instant, he had over one hundred and fifty strands of First Realm Evil Qi in his hands. He was incredibly excited. This was because reaching the third layer’s peak for his current transformations—such as the Golden-Eyed White Jade Sculpture Transformation, the Volcanic Crow Transformation, the Ling Transformation, and other First Realm transformations—required at most forty-five strands of Evil Qi of the same realm for each to reach the ’Transformation Level’. Furthermore, for fetus transformation refining shape, a higher transformation level meant a greater chance of successful Shape Shifting; otherwise, there was no guarantee the abilities could be integrated.

One hundred and fifty-eight strands of First Realm Evil Qi! This is enough for me to have three Incarnations at the Transformation Level all at once!

Chen Ku felt like a poor kid who had suddenly become a nouveau riche. After all, the number of Demons he could slay in the Slaughter Court was dwindling. Apart from the Black Feather Pigeon, it had been a long time since he had obtained so much Evil Qi at once.

However, just as Chen Ku was eager to use this Evil Qi to elevate his other transformations, he first had to unravel the questions in his heart.

Fire Beak Mountain... Fire Beak Pot... or a Ninth Realm Spirit Monster... What is the connection between them? Why did the Flower Fox Mink only stay at that volcano for half a day and become imbued with so much Flame Qi that it turned into Evil Qi?

Figuring this out was actually simple. He just had to transform into the Fire Beak Pot, and it would naturally become clear.

[Fire Beak Pot Transformation!]

[The Fire Beak Pot, originally a Fourteen Realms Magical Treasure, was crafted by an ancestor of the Fire Virtue Sect, once a Holy Land of Yuan Country. After a great battle, its Artifact Spirit was shattered. The pot body fell from the sky, took root upon landing, swelled with the wind, and turned into a kilometer-high volcano. Despite losing its spiritual nature and its quality dropping to the Ninth Realm, its material remained of the Fourteen Realms. Though the main body of the pot hasn’t opened, merely a leaking wisp of Fire Essence Qi has created a vast clan, with the hope that one day, among the Volcanic Crow flock, one might emerge that could dive into the magma and fire to become the new Artifact Spirit of the Fire Beak Pot.]

[Fire Mouth Pot Transformation·Easier Shape]

[Transformation Part: Spout (Flame Spitting)]

Chen Ku looked at the Transformation Diagram’s description of the Fire Beak Pot.

What? That Fire Beak Mountain is actually a Fourteen Realms Magical Treasure? His heart thumped wildly with shock.

Fourteen Realms. The last time he had heard of this supreme realm was in the inheritance of the Qilin Blood of the Xu Family; the culmination of the fourteen Mountain-Lifting Palm techniques corresponded to the Fourteen Realms. This was the realm of the heroic man who possessed the strength to lift a kilometer-high peak and draw blood from a Qilin.

Now, just by sending the Flower Fox Mink to catch a Volcanic Crow, such a huge secret had unexpectedly been revealed.

A Fourteen Realms Magical Treasure? A Magical Treasure! What kind of existence is that, to be touched by someone of my current level?

Chen Ku felt that although luck played a part, the fundamental reason lay with the Transformation Diagram. Without it, even if the Flower Fox Mink had hunted and returned with the Volcanic Crow, it would have, at most, brought back a body full of fiery poisonous Qi. This wouldn’t have been identified by the Transformation Diagram as an adverse factor of Evil Qi, and thus the origin of the mountain would not have been uncovered.

An entire mountain is actually a Magical Treasure with a shattered Artifact Spirit? Even with his broad imagination about this Martial Path world, Chen Ku was still stunned. What kind of person was the ancestor of the Fire Virtue Sect? The Fire Beak Pot sounds like a mere vessel, yet it could transform into the size of a mountain... This... this is completely like the Immortals in ’Journey to the West’. So, the people of the Fourteen Realms in this world... are undoubtedly Immortals.

Meanwhile, he was also wondering. The Fire Beak Mountain is in Yuan Country, and the Fire Virtue Sect is also a Great Sect of Yuan Country. Could it be they don’t know their ancestor’s Magical Treasure fell there and became Fire Beak Mountain? Or do they know but no longer value it? Or perhaps the Fire Virtue Sect declined, and even if they knew, they couldn’t reclaim that great mountain? Or maybe... the Fire Virtue Sect is extinct? Does no one know that Fire Beak Mountain is actually a Magical Treasure?

Chen Ku was greatly excited. If I’m the only one who knows this... then that Fire Beak Mountain, a Fourteen Realms Magical Treasure once hailed as the ’King of Ten Thousand Fires’, would be a treasure mountain known only to me! And, moreover, I might even have a chance to claim it!

Fire Beak Mountain, the Fire Beak Pot... Lacking an Artifact Spirit, it instinctively used the escaping Qi from its lid to cultivate the Volcanic Crow clan. It’s hoping that one day, a Volcanic Crow might become a suitable new Artifact Spirit, take command, and perhaps restore it to the Fourteen Realms, allowing it to roam freely between heaven and earth once more. And because the lid hasn’t opened, just the Qi trickling out was enough to turn Volcanic Crows into Demons and infect anyone who steps into that area with fiery poison. But I can use that place to farm Evil Qi! After all, I just need the Flower Fox Mink to make a trip there, bring back a body full of Flame Qi, and then I can refine it...

Chen Ku felt he had discovered an immense treasure mountain, a true Treasure. Compared to the Treasure Vault mentioned in the Xu Family Qilin Blood secrets—which is visible but untouchable, its exact location and contents unknown—Fire Beak Mountain... It’s a real treasure mountain, a Magical Treasure, a place to continuously reap benefits!

His mind raced with endless possibilities.

I’ll first completely refine a Volcanic Crow into an Incarnation.

Without hesitation, Chen Ku poured thirty-six strands of Evil Qi into the Volcanic Crow Transformation. Suddenly, a firebird with smoky wings flew out from between his eyebrows.

Now, let’s bring out the Fire Beak Pot too. Although First Realm Evil Qi can only create a First Realm Magical Treasure, it’s still a Magical Treasure, no doubt. I want to see what abilities this weakened version of the ’Small Fire Beak Pot’ has.

With a single breath, nine strands of Evil Qi pushed it to the Transformation Level.

[Fire Beak Pot! Transform!]

Chen Ku’s body transformed directly into a small red teapot. Layers of clouds and flames emerged from it, and its body was even embellished with auspicious clouds.

[First Realm Fire Beak Pot]

[Abilities: Spout (Flame Spitting), Pot Body (Fire Storage), Pot Channel (Flowing Fire), Pot Handle (Fire Control), Pot Lid (Fire Suppression)...]

[Prohibition: Subdues all First Realm Flames]

Chen Ku felt his transformation along with these many abilities.

Though there was no increase in Power, when it came to fire control, he felt like a master who had cultivated a Divine Flame Technique. Not only could his mouth spit fire, but his stomach could also store it. Most critically, the ’Fire Control’ ability needed for Alchemy was now inherently his, even more concretely than the changes brought by the Volcanic Crow.

At the same time...

Prohibition: Subdues all First Realm Flames.

Chen Ku muttered, Prohibition? Could this be why the Fire Beak Pot is considered a Magical Treasure? A First Realm Prohibition? Only with a Prohibition can it become a Magical Treasure, as if a certain rule had been imprinted within the artifact.

First Realm Flames were much easier to understand. At most, they could injure or kill First Realm Cultivators and Demons—like the flames from a typical Peace Path Talisman Paper explosion. It seemed those flames could no longer harm Chen Ku.

After becoming Immune to All Poisons and my right arm being Impervious to Swords and Spears, I now also have the ’Impervious to Flame’ ability! My sense of security has skyrocketed once again!

Chen Ku felt that transforming the Fire Beak Pot into another Incarnation wouldn’t be very meaningful. After all, it had no legs and couldn’t move freely. At most, he could currently hold it as a Magical Treasure or lend it to others for Fire-Avoiding purposes. Since he already possessed the Shape Shifting ability and couldn’t use the Fire Beak Pot for clone techniques, he temporarily set aside further improving its Transformation Level, as it was sufficient for now.

Instead, Chen Ku first brought the Golden-Eyed White Jade Sculpture to the Transformation Level, then used another thirty-six strands of Evil Qi to raise it further to the Transformation Level.

For the time being, I don’t have any Second Realm Demon Evil Qi to serve as a new ’Embryo Form,’ so I can’t combine them. Although I can’t merge them, it doesn’t mean the Flower Fox Mink and the Golden-Eyed White Jade Sculpture can’t act simultaneously...

However, before that, Chen Ku first wanted to experience something he had longed for in both his past and present lives: Flight!

「 」

Stepping out of his house and reaching a quiet area outside the city, Chen Ku made sure no one was following him. Then, with a shift, he transformed into a human-sized eagle and took off with a flap of his wings, soaring high above Baojiao County.

One thousand meters!

Two thousand meters!

Three thousand meters!

...

To ensure that circling above Baojiao County wouldn’t lead to him being spotted by some skilled archer, who, excited by the hunt, might shoot him down, Chen Ku flapped his wings and soared directly up to ten thousand meters.

During this process, he felt the rush of air currents, the caress of the clouds, and the embrace of the vast, limitless freedom of the blue sky. Ten thousand meters up—this was roughly the altitude at which commercial jets flew in his past life. This was nothing like flying in an airplane in his former life; inside a plane, although one could see the clouds rushing past the window, it couldn’t compare to the freedom of flapping his own wings and roaming through the sea of clouds at will. Chen Ku experienced an unprecedented sense of spiritual exhilaration.

Finally, looking at the topmost layer of clouds, he flapped his wings and surged upward. Instantly, high above the sea of clouds at ten thousand meters, a large, white-feathered eagle burst through the clouds, emerging into the sunlight above.

He beheld the true sea of clouds, stretching for immense distances, covering the sky. It billowed like waves, appearing as another continent formed of clouds in the heavens. Chen Ku soared above the clouds, his wings beating steadily.

Amazing! So amazing! This is what it feels like to fly in the sky! No restrictions—up, down, left, right—I can fly however I wish!

Finally, he dove headfirst from the sea of clouds.

He wanted to see if, from ten thousand meters up, overlooking Baojiao County without visual obstruction, his ’Hundred Li Golden Eyes’ could clearly distinguish every person in every household.

Descending three thousand meters from the sea of clouds, he hovered seven thousand meters above Baojiao County. Chen Ku’s Golden Eyes focused directly on the Baojiao County government office and Shangguan Yun’s residence. He wanted to see whom this top figure of Baojiao County met and what he did on a typical day at home...

As the Golden Eagle’s gaze extended downward, his vision focused, instantly bridging the seven-thousand-meter distance to precisely observe the garden Pavilion of the county’s leading official. Shangguan Yun stood with his hands behind his back beside the fishpond in the Pavilion.

From seven thousand meters high, Chen Ku could clearly see the wrinkles on Shangguan Yun’s face. A sudden thought struck him: If I were at seven thousand meters, transformed the White Jade Eagle into my Incarnation, stood on its back, and then used a Big Bow to shoot an arrow from such a height...