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035 - Being Exposed by the Light
🕑 Added 2024-07-17 15:00:33 +0000 UTCQin Yun was intrigued by this new revelation. Causality was such an obscure path that he had never encountered it before. Altering causality would allow one to always choose the best path.
Like in this case, Yun Jingfei's opponent could alter her blade's path by choosing a reality where her blade had missed its target. While such an ability could be world-shattering, it also possessed restrictions. After all, the heavens wouldn't allow someone to mess around and rewrite all of existence as they please. There was always a price to pay for such heaven-defying actions.
In that woman's case, she could only do so in the area bathed in that coloured light. After all, she was only at the peak of the Foundation Building Realm; the Qi she could manipulate was limited. Still, that was enough to prevent herself from perishing to Chun Xue's edge. Qin Yun wondered what the extent of her abilities would be if she became immortal. Would she be able to alter her own existence as she wished? This was something to look forward to.
However, her fate would have to be decided now. As expected, both women were exhausted, and the battle was at its end. Yun Jingfei could only stand with difficulty by propping herself up with Chun Xue’s scabbard while her opponent lay on the ground, unable to catch her breath. The multicoloured light she relied on was now dim and unable to fight the incoming darkness. It was on the verge of fading, only resisting through sheer force of will, unwilling to meet its end.
Once again, Qin Yun couldn't help but admire this tenacity. This was something he wished for himself. He couldn't help but remember his first few lives fondly. He was weak at the time, lacking knowledge and the means to survive in these hostile worlds. Still, he struggled as best as he could. Every day was harsh but fulfilling.
But now? Everything came much too easy. He couldn't help but crave a challenge, something that would keep him on his toes. This was something he appreciated about this world of cultivation; there was always the world's might hanging over him as if watching his every movement, considering whether to tolerate his existence. If not for this, Qin Yun might have just gone through the motions and wasted away, awaiting a life that could stimulate him.
Qin Yun eyed Yun Jingfei's opponent. She was quite peculiar. For one, her hair was dark red with strands of orange dispersed throughout. She wore a bright orange dress that exposed her shoulders and long sleeves starting at her elbows that hid her hands. Although Qin Yun wasn't an expert in women's fashion, this style of dress wasn't commonly found, at least not in the Western Region.
As for the woman herself, calling her a girl would be more appropriate as she looked no older than sixteen. Still, looks could be deceiving when it came to cultivators, but Qin Yun was mostly sure of his guess, considering her actions and temper. It reeked of immaturity and recklessness.
According to his wife, this girl was the first to attack once she saw Yun Jingfei. Even though Yun Jingfei tried to reason with her, her words initially fell on deaf ears. She struck with the intent to kill, yet Yun Jingfei could only feel that her blows were an act of desperation. Coupled with the fact that she seemed to have already been injured, Yun Jingfei figured there was a story behind this.
Still, Yun Jingfei wouldn’t let herself be defeated that easily. Even if this fight was caused by some misunderstanding, as long as the threat of death loomed over her, Yun Jingfei would take her opponent seriously and respond in kind.
She struck back with the intent to kill, then the fight intensified. If not for them both being too exhausted to continue, one of the two would have perished on this day.
“What do you want to do with her?” Qin Yun asked his wife, yet she only frowned in response.
"Why ask me? I thought you'd be interested in her and her strange power. Don't you like puzzles like these?"
Of course, Qin Yun did as it could alleviate his boredom. Still, there were rules to follow when battling to the death.
“As the victor, her life is in your hands,” Qin Yun said as he shrugged. “Whether to let her live or take her life is entirely up to you.”
"You'd give away a chance to explore this strange ability only to abide by this strange and outdated principle?" Yun Jingfei scoffed, slightly amused. She would always find new quirks about her husband every day.
“Think of it what you will,” Qin Yun said, smiling slightly. “Her fate is for you to decide; I’ve no say in this.”
As the couple debated the young girl's fate, she stared, eyes wide open, as exhaustion overcame her. She had overused the coloured light, which had taken a toll on her psyche. She could barely retain her consciousness.
Her breathing was ragged, and no matter how much she gasped for air, she couldn't regulate her breathing. Her heart thumped in her chest as it sought to distribute her blood throughout, yet it couldn't alleviate the sense of vertigo that assaulted her mind.
She felt the world spin around her as the images blurred. Even the sound reaching her ears lost its crispness. The world distorted evermore until it finally turned to black. The arms that once supported her torso off the ground collapsed as her muscles failed from the lack of oxygen, and she hit the ground with a thud. Fortunately, the fight had broken the stone tiles beneath her, and her face fell into the soft earth below.
Both Qin Yun and Yun Jingfei turned to face her as they heard the sound. They expected to find the young girl unconscious on the ground, yet all they saw was a multicoloured light resisting the encroaching darkness of night.
The light was brief yet incandescent. Qin Yun had no choice but to close his eyes to bear its scorch. Even then, he still felt the light imprint onto his eyeballs. He turned away and even used his sleeve to block it, and only then was it bearable.
Fortunately, the light receded soon after, uncovering the young girl once more. At least what was supposed to be her. Instead, he saw a bird of approximately half a meter in size lying where the young girl once was. The feathers on its wings were a deep red that transitioned to a bright yellow toward their tips. Its beak was short and pointy, while its small head was a deep green. Unsurprisingly, that scorching light's colours were represented on that bird's plumage.
Yun Jingfei frowned, holding her sword at the ready as this was wholly unexpected. At first glance, the young woman seemed as human as any other, yet now she stood corrected. Only a demonic beast could possibly transform as she did. Still, Yun Jingfei hadn't heard of any demonic beasts that could transform into a human while only possessing strength at the Foundation Building Realm.
It wasn't that demonic beasts didn't possess the means to alter their appearance, but that the heavens would restrict this ability when it came to humans as long as they didn't have the strength to overcome this resistance. Usually, a demonic beast would need to be a Divine Beast or on the threshold of it to even attempt such a thing. For those who wondered, a Divine Beast is akin to an Immortal. Only through this ascension can one slightly disregard the rules enforced by the Heavens.
Qin Yun had some thoughts about why this young demonic beast could do so. The most plausible was that her bloodline wasn't pure. Maybe one of her ancestors had reached the realm of a Divine Beast and had chosen to mate with a human. Now, with this muddled bloodline, the Heavens' restriction would be severely limited.
However, there was another plausible explanation. Maybe her species was one favoured by the Heavens. Qin Yun strongly considered that option as a demonic beast possessing the means to alter causality was ground-breaking. If such a thing came to light, Qin Yun had no doubts they would be hunted to near extinction simply to uncover the secrets of that light.
Maybe the answer was more straightforward than he thought, and it was exactly how it happened for Qin Yun to have no recollection of such a species. While there were simply too many species of demonic beasts for Qin Yun to remember them all, he would have noticed if any could wield such a peculiar power.
Still, the more Qin Yun looked at the unconscious bird laid out in the dirt, the more he felt as if he had missed something. He did remember seeing that dull orange glow its feathers emitted somewhere before, yet he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He stood silent, mulling over it, yet nothing came to mind. While Yun Jingfei felt the same, she had been much more observant.
“Don't you feel this colour resembles that demonic core we saw in the market a few days back?" she said, unsure if they were related.
It wasn't until Yun Jingfei mentioned it that he finally remembered the scene of two women fighting over an orange demonic core. While he had uncovered the origin of that core, it was only due to it not being the first time he had seen one. As for the live bird before him, how could one expect Qin Yun to liken it to that core when he thought their species to be extinct?
This was a Paradise Bird, a live one! Qin Yun had only seen records of it in old and decrepit books that threatened to disintegrate at any moment and the core they had left behind. Even then, those records never mentioned their ability to affect causality, and those cores never exhibited such tendencies. Qin Yun wondered if this was unique to her as an individual or if there was something more hidden underneath.
Anyway, such a discovery was too important to let it go to waste. Judging by the slight trace of blood on one of the young bird's wings, Qin Yun and his wife weren't the first ones to stumble upon this youngling, much less uncovering its identity. Qin Yun had no doubt that the whole Western Region would mobilize if the news spread that a live Paradise Bird existed.
As for the rumours that this bird could lead them to paradise, Qin Yun couldn't care less. He was only interested in the origin and mechanism tied to that multicoloured light. His scientific nature couldn't help but be excited by this newfound research subject.
Still, he reined in his enthusiasm, as it wasn't for him to determine its fate. This was Yun Jingfei's responsibility, as she was the one to apprehend it. She would be the one to decide what to do with it. She was the one to choose whether to kill it or let it go, and Qin Yun would respect her decision. Still, the anticipation was hard for him to bear. It had been a long time since he was this excited.
On the other hand, Yun Jingfei was at an impasse. While she didn't know what type of bird this was, she could see the excitement on her husband's face as he barely tried to mask it. Still, it simply felt wrong to keep this bird caged up. If she were in her situation, she would much rather die than be at someone else's mercy. Yun Jingfei couldn't help but see herself in her defeated opponent.
As if knowing his wife’s turmoil, Qin Yun couldn’t help but offer an alternative.
"This courtyard is large, and there is too much for only the two of us to do. Why don't you have her serve you?" Qin Yun said to Yun Jingfei with a sly smile.
