The gentle mountain breeze swept over, calming the once chaotic spiritual energy of Qiong Mountain’s forests under the influence of the Snow Qiong of the Myriad Spirits Sword.
High in the snowy woods, Feng Yudie was skillfully riding her sword, drifting towards the blue glow below, with Zhang Yihe following close behind.
Just moments earlier, Hu Tianyue had casually mentioned "bird."
Now, Feng Yudie’s mind was completely occupied with “bird.”
“Hmm... bird...”
Zhang Yihe, flying alongside her, had heard Feng Yudie mumbling "bird" the whole way and, after several hesitant glances, finally couldn't hold back. He asked,
"Brother Feng, what are you doing? You’ve been ‘bird’-ing the entire way…”
“Hmm?” Feng Yudie looked over, paused, and asked, “By the way, what does bird mean?”
?
Zhang Yihe was stunned for a while. In all his years, this was the first time someone had asked him this question. But looking at Feng Yudie’s Western features and accent, he suddenly understood and said,
“Oh! I get it now. Brother Feng, 'bird' is just a local term here.”
“Oh~ So, what do they call it in the West?”
“They call it…” Zhang Yihe paused, then said, “they call it ‘force!’ As in the momentum is gone—‘gone force’! Get it now, Brother Feng?”
“Oh~~” Feng Yudie formed an “o” with her mouth, lifted her head for a moment, but then shook her head:
“Don’t get it.”
Zhang Yihe immediately felt awkward.
Though they were both men, it was odd to explain this kind of thing to another guy—especially with Feng Yudie’s vaguely ambiguous demeanor. So he quickly changed the subject:
“Ah… you could ask Elder Hu about it later. Shall we speed up?”
“Sure~”
Feng Yudie nodded and promptly sped up her sword ride, leaving Zhang Yihe a dozen yards behind with a "whoosh."
“Huh?” Zhang Yihe blinked, marveling at her astonishing speed, then hurried to catch up. “Brother Feng, slow down a bit!”
Feng Yudie ignored him and, as soon as the distance was good enough, finally called out for Xiaotian:
“Xiaotian!”
『What’s up?』
Xiaotian sleepily emerged from her forehead, immediately spotting the seven-star formation covering the entire sky.
Upon seeing the pillar of icy blue light in the center, it raised an eyebrow:
『Oh? Is this…』
It remembered a story told by “Old Jiu” and also recorded in the Heavenly Dao Scriptures—
Old Jiu had five elder brothers and three elder sisters, all dragons of ancient times who had once ruled various lands of the heavens.
But after the revival of the myriad spirits, humankind rose and fought for territory, leading to a thousand-year-long war.
Most of its siblings had been slain by human cultivators, their dragon spines severed.
The Scripture recorded that, after slaying the dragons, human cultivators had refined the dragon essences into a hundred immortal artifacts. The purest dragon spines were forged into spiritual swords.
Eight dragons, eight swords in total.
Six of the swords had broken over time, leaving only two. One was with the Immortal Yun Jian, while the other was hidden on the dark side of the moon.
The latter aside, the Immortal Yun Jian, before his death, had placed his sword in the spirit return ground of the Shadowmoon Sword Sect, waiting for his descendants or a fated one to retrieve it.
『Yudie, someone found one of the Dragon Spine Spirit Sword!』
“Hmm?” Feng Yudie was startled. “What’s a Dragon Spine Spirit Sword?”
『Uh… it’s a sword made from the spine of Old Jiu’s sister, a good match for your Nine Heavens Sword Art!』
Feng Yudie furrowed her brows and asked,
“Wouldn’t Old Jiu be angry if he saw it?”
『Old Jiu doesn’t care. They didn’t have much affection between them anyway, and besides, that was all thousands of years ago.』
Feng Yudie nodded, understanding:
“Oh~~ Maybe I’ll see if I can make a deal for it later.”
Xiaotian perched on her shoulder, glancing back at Zhang Yihe, who was chasing with a red face, and asked:
『By the way, why did you call me out? Who’s that guy behind us?』
“No idea.” Feng Yudie glanced back, then asked, “By the way, Xiaotian, what is ‘bird’?”
?
Xiaotian froze for a moment, blinking:
『Uh… bird?』
“Yes, bird, someone told me I have a small bird earlier, I think it’s an innuendo for something, but I don’t get it”
Xiaotian went silent for a moment, imagining a few things.
This might be the first time its Yudie had ever asked this question.
Usually, when she asked, it would just tell her directly if it knew.
But...
Xiaotian’s cheeks flushed a bit.
Although it had learned quite a lot on this topic through the Heavenly Dao Scriptures—complete with illustrations—real-life experience was another matter entirely…
Xiaotian recalled a certain night, shrouded in black wind and darkness, when it had followed Feng Yudie to the spiritual springs behind the Chi Dragon Mansion for a bath.
It had dived into the water, swum past Xiao Yunluo belly, and caught a glimpse of a fair young man crouched in the pool…
There, it saw a majestic pillar that are at least as tall as it.
Caught up in the memory, Xiaotian quickly covered its burning cheeks, shaking its head furiously:
『Ahhh~~』
?
Seeing Xiaotian like this, Feng Yudie was thoroughly confused. “Hmm? What’s up?”
『Well…』 Xiaotian thought for a moment before a light bulb seemed to appear above its head. 『Yudie, are you curious about what it’s for, or about what it looks like?』
“Just tell me.”
『Go ask that Ye Lad, have him show you, and maybe he would even demonstrate how it’s going to be used~~ heehee~』
“Huh?” Feng Yudie was stunned. “Why can’t you just tell me?”
『Oh no! My room isn’t fully set up yet. Wait till you meet him alone some other time, preferably at night.』
“Huh? Why at night?”
『Because it’s less convenient to talk about it during the day.』
With a mischievous grin, Xiaotian blinked, then retreated back into Feng Yudie’s mind to continue decorating its new home.
Feng Yudie paused, eyebrows furrowing, suspecting that this “bird” might not be a great thing. Still, she resolved to ask others about it later.
Just then, Feng Yudie passed through the woods and arrived at the lake where Pei Lengxue was.
The wave of spiritual cold hit her, making her shiver, but upon seeing Pei Lengxue hovering in mid-air over the lake, her eyes lit up, as if she had discovered treasure.
But, seeing the complex formation pattern in the sky, she quickly realized that Pei Lengxue was fully focused on setting up a formation, so she refrained from interrupting, stepping quietly off her flying sword and standing guard nearby.
“Brother Feng—”
Zhang Yihe finally caught up, about to speak, only to be silenced by a stern look from Feng Yudie.
“Shh—”