Chapter Ninety-One: An Unexpected Olive Branch

Feng Jiu was worried that Taiyi might come looking for trouble again, so she set up a protective ward outside the cave, unwilling to leave anything to chance. Afterward, she deliberately bit open her finger and let three drops of blood fall.

In terms of power, this ward would not even count as a mid-tier formation in the Three Realms. Yet once his blood was added, its nature changed entirely. This was a method often used by scions of cultivation families when they traveled abroad, suffered grievous injuries, and needed to retreat to heal. It was both an act of weakness and a declaration of identity. Anyone who still dared to plot against them would be making an enemy of the family standing behind the one who set the formation.

But in more than one hundred thousand years, Feng Jiu had never used it. He had always believed himself strong enough to protect himself and saw no need to use his family’s power to intimidate others. Yet now, aside from this, he found no other way to make Taiyi or any other high-level cultivator retreat in the face of difficulty.

After finishing, he left with a bitter inward sigh, telling himself: once Xiaowa is settled, I will go into seclusion at once. Because in the cultivation world, strength is everything. If my own strength is insufficient, what can I use to protect Xiaowa?

All of this, Feng Keer saw clearly through the mirrored vision within the formation. She did not know what the three drops of blood meant, but she could tell it was a ward meant for protection. To say she was not moved would be a lie.

Still, she waited until the man had gone far away before taking the dragon-eye fossil from her storage pouch and beginning to refine it.

This fossil was the largest of the six, and thus took the longest to refine. It took her more than three full months to completely absorb and refine it.

During that time, Taiyi indeed came again, just as expected.

Feng Keer was frightened out of her wits and had no idea how to respond. Yet when Taiyi reached the cave entrance, the three drops of phoenix blood frozen into the stone before the cave suddenly blazed with brilliant light, forming the image of a fire phoenix spreading its wings and soaring upward.

“This old fellow!” Taiyi paused, touched the bridge of his nose, and gave a sheepish laugh as he stepped back. He opened both hands toward the cave and said loudly, “Little girl, this one bears no ill will. The last time I saw you, I discovered that the five elemental energies within your body were severely imbalanced. This is a great taboo for us cultivators. If you continue like this, you will not be far from going mad from deviation in cultivation. Sigh, cultivation is not easy. On account of you being a member of the Feng clan, I am willing to help you through this hurdle. Why do you not come out at once?”

Ha, as if she were a three-year-old idiot. You think I’ll believe you? Feng Keer stared at that figure in the mirror and snorted softly. She knew full well that the energies of water and fire within her were already clearly stronger than the other three, and that was not a good sign. But she also understood better than anyone that, for now, the Heart-Clearing Mantra was fully able to suppress them. So Taiyi was merely crying wolf.

Besides, with the Lord of Heaven’s Reach backing her, how could she possibly go mad from cultivation deviation? Hmph. It must be that the fellow feared activating the protective ward outside the cave and drawing out the fierce bird again, so he was trying to frighten her with talk of deviation while tempting her with benefits, all in order to lure her out and achieve some hidden, unspeakable purpose.

Thinking of it this way, Feng Keer no longer worried that Taiyi would brazenly barge into the cave. But then another worry arose: what exactly was this fellow after?

One had to know, Taiyi was a mighty immortal from the upper realms! How could a lowly little rogue cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage in the lower realm possibly catch his eye? She did not believe for a second that the olive branch he offered was real.

Twisting her hands together, Feng Keer began to ponder: before, this fellow had repeatedly asked about her sect. Could it be that he already knew of the existence of the treasure scripture?

Outside the cave, Taiyi waited for a moment. Seeing no reaction, he could no longer keep up appearances. He swept his sleeve in anger and said, “You ungrateful little wretch!”

He had originally intended to leave, but after a turn of thought, he ultimately suppressed his anger. Once again he resumed his earlier gentle expression and said, “Little girl, I see that your talent is excellent, and you are a rare cultivation prodigy. I will not bother with you. Cultivate well, and I shall come see you again another day.” With that, he raised his right hand.

Two streaks of blue light flashed by, followed by two sharp cracking sounds. Suddenly, two creatures were thrown down onto the rock before the cave. They were seven parts adult male and three parts fish, broad and brutish in build, almost entirely naked save for a shimmering fish-skin miniskirt tied about their waists.

As far as Feng Keer knew, beastfolk did not undergo complete transformation in a single step. Once they reached the fifth tier, they could only first assume human form. Only as their cultivation continued to rise would their features become increasingly similar to those of humans. As for what level of cultivation was required to become completely indistinguishable from a human, that depended on their bloodline. Divine beasts of noble lineage, like the fierce bird, looked almost no different from humans after transforming, whereas the many unfortunate beasts of the lower realm would still retain one or two beastly traits even after ascending to the Spirit Realm.

And looking at these two monsters, their features were already about seventy percent human. In other words, their cultivation far surpassed the fifth tier!

“Spare us, Immortal, spare us!” The two monsters prostrated themselves on the ground, trembling so hard that they seemed to be rattling apart. They had cultivated here on the shores of the Eastern Sea for thousands of years and had never once seen an immortal from the upper realms, so they had secretly crouched in a crack among the seabed rocks to peek at the immortal’s face. Who would have thought that a moment of curiosity would cost them their lives?

Taiyi did not even spare them a glance. With his hands clasped behind his back, he gave a cold snort and said, “Guard this place well. If anything goes wrong, however slight, you will answer for it!”

Because of the restriction Feng Jiu had set, he could not extend a wisp of divine sense to watch over the place, so he could only use this most primitive and clumsy method.

Hearing this, Feng Keer drew in a sharp breath. Good heavens, was this degree of treatment not a little too high? How long had she even been at Foundation Establishment?

The two monsters blinked, then immediately began bobbing their heads like pounding garlic, answering over and over, “Yes, yes, yes...”

And so Feng Keer gained two bodyguards.

Though these two came with their own provisions and did not draw a penny in wages, they were incomparably conscientious. Together they set up a guarding formation before the cave entrance, then sat there cross-legged with their backs to the cave like two sea rocks, keeping watch at the entrance twenty-four hours a day.

But they truly did “guard.” Feng Keer could swear on her character that the two of them had not even once turned their heads to sneak a glance at the cave entrance.

In truth, the effect of these two door gods was remarkably good. Since they had settled here, within a hundred-mile radius, whether in the sky, on the ground, or in the sea, Feng Keer had not seen a single other living thing through the mirror.

Since she could not escape anyway, she might as well settle down and retreat in peace. Hmph, where else would she find such a tranquil place to cultivate? She certainly could not “waste” the enthusiastic kindness of Immortal Flower Taiyi.

When she had absorbed the last wisp of white mist, she opened her eyes and found herself surrounded by white fog once more—the Lord of Heaven’s Reach was summoning her. It was just that she somehow felt the mist around her had become a little thinner.

Could it be because her cultivation had improved so much? A trace of self-satisfaction could not help but rise in her heart.

“Hmph. Don’t be too pleased too soon. Has your cultivation improved during this time?” The voice of the Lord of Heaven’s Reach came from behind the mist. “It is because the water energy in your body is no longer as chaotic as before, so the mist has become a little thinner.”

Feng Keer was stunned. “Then why did you say before...”

The Lord of Heaven’s Reach interrupted, “At the time, you understood nothing. If I spoke to you of the five elemental energies or body refinement, would you have understood? With your temperament, would you not have simply thrown up your hands and quit? I was teaching according to the student. Do you understand?”

That did sound reasonable. Feng Keer wiped the sweat from her brow and smiled awkwardly. “Then next, are you going to have me purify the metal, wood, fire, and earth energies as well?”

“Smart!” the Lord of Heaven’s Reach praised her.

“Thank you.” Feng Keer pressed a hand to her forehead and simply counted it all to the end. Damn it all, she really was too easy to fool.

The Lord of Heaven’s Reach chuckled softly. “You’re welcome.”

That old geezer was even getting smug about it. Feng Keer snorted. “Your Excellency the Lord, could it be that you have been trapped in this mist by some expert and cannot get out, which is why you are seeking my help?” Her intuition told her that this was the true task the Lord of Heaven’s Reach had given her. But if that was the case, wouldn’t the task become five things instead of the previous three? Thinking of this, she shivered and cried, “You...”

Bad news. The little wench was about to flare up! The Lord of Heaven’s Reach hurried to explain, “Girl, it’s not that troublesome. Two! You have already purified the water and fire energies. You only need to purify two more.”

That was more like it. What she hated most was being deceived. But when had she ever purified fire energy? Could it have been because she had been killing the small and large fire ants?

Rubbing her temples, Feng Keer asked, “Can fighting monsters also purify the five elemental energies?” Could it be that fighting monsters equals purifying the five elemental energies equals cultivation? Ah, ah. Such a different path indeed.

The Lord of Heaven’s Reach countered, “What do you think?”

Rubbish. She was asking you, wasn’t she? What kind of teacher are you? Feng Keer frowned, her worries deepening.

Was cultivation an easy thing? Purifying the fire and water energies—wasn’t every step reliant on luck? And beyond that, how long could her good fortune on the path of cultivation last? Just look at the present: she was already being watched by a high immortal from the upper realms like Taiyi, and she still had no idea how to get away. Come to think of it, why had she brought all this trouble upon herself? It seemed she had merely wanted to return to the modern world.

Speaking of which, she was only a rootless nobody, all alone. Wherever she lived, wouldn’t she be just hunkering down there? Why insist on gambling with her life and making everything so complicated? Hmm, actually, the prehistoric era was not so bad. With her current cultivation, being the heroine of a Mary Sue transmigration story did not seem impossible...

All right, she wanted to back out!

Feng Keer fiddled with her fingers.

That little scheme naturally could not escape the Lord of Heaven’s Reach. Within the white mist, a string of gleaming golden characters was suddenly flung out.

“The third level of the Heart-Clearing Mantra can help you condense a golden core.”

This move was far more effective than a shot of chicken soup.

“Isn’t leveling up supposed to require fighting monsters?” Feng Keer’s eyes sparkled. Could it be that she could also properly cultivate with qi refinement now? From now on, would she, like the fierce bird and the others, occasionally achieve enlightenment and gain an extra breakthrough or level-up now and then? In her mind, a golden cultivation road seemed to unfold before her. She promptly tucked away any thoughts of retreat. With the Lord of Heaven’s Reach continuing to shield her as always, she would be foolish not to cultivate immortality.

The Lord of Heaven’s Reach gave a dark snort and pushed out a palm. “Where do you get so much nonsense? Are your eyes and head just for show?”

Feng Keer only felt a gust of powerful wind rushing toward her from beyond the white mist, forcing her back several steps. With that retreat, she found herself back inside her own cave abode.

“You wretched girl, you sure are quick to dodge.”

Within the white mist, a faint laugh drifted out.

Outside, Feng Keer scratched her head, her eyes darting all around. Huh? Where exactly was he hiding?

Combining all the signs, she even began to suspect that the Lord of Heaven’s Reach might have been staying right beside her all along. Perhaps he was hidden inside some object on her person!

That thought made her feel numb from head to toe, every hair on her body standing on end. In a panic, she searched herself from top to bottom, and in the end her gaze fell on the phoenix jade pendant hanging around her neck.

If there was any suspect, it had to be this thing!

At the sight of it, Feng Keer was petrified. Not only had the sand-and-stone shell on the outside of the pendant become much smoother, its color had also faded considerably, as though it were no longer so heavy and dense as before.

So it really had been this thing causing trouble all along. This cursed object was the source of her miserable life!

Ever since she put it on, she had not enjoyed a single normal day. Thinking that she would still have to wear this tracker in the future, with not even a shred of privacy, Feng Keer was furious. She tore it off at once and hurled it hard to the ground.

A sigh from me after a long absence: hello again.

The Heavenly Scripture of Heaven’s Reach, Chapter Ninety-One: The Sudden Olive Branch, complete.