Xiang Su walked at the back, hugging the gourd. It was so heavy! She didn’t know how much farther to the cold pool—she was already starting to pant. The Qingze Manor’s immortal official kept leading them deeper into the valley. Xiang Su looked at the Kunpeng walking ahead of her. Though it was a bird, it walked with even more dignity than a person, head held high, back straight. Xiang Su struggled to walk faster a few steps, moving up beside it, putting on a smiling face as she said: “Kunpeng—”

It had to be said, what kind of person raises what kind of bird. The Kunpeng continued walking with its head held high, completely ignoring her, pretending to be deaf in a manner identical to its master.

Xiang Su held back her frustration and continued smiling: “Help me carry this, won’t you? It’s too heavy, I can’t hold it anymore.”

The Kunpeng’s steps hesitated for a moment. The look it gave Xiang Su from the side showed obvious disdain. Xiang Su didn’t even see clearly how it did it—she only saw it lower its head, its beak moving, and the large gourd in her hands vanished!

“You… don’t eat it!” Xiang Su nearly jumped up, wishing she could pry open the Kunpeng’s beak. She actually reached out her hand. The Kunpeng, unable to bear it any longer, pecked her on the forehead. Since coming out of the Qingze Pool, Xiang Su hadn’t tied up her hair again. With this peck from the Kunpeng, Xiang Su lowered her head in pain, her hair cascading down to cover her face, her whole person becoming like an upside-down mop. The Kunpeng looked on smugly and strode forward with its head held high to follow its master.

The immortal official walking ahead turned back with a deathly pale face. Dong Tianyun, contrary to his usual behavior, didn’t cast a contemptuous glance. His pace didn’t even change. The immortal official could only turn back and continue leading the way.

Xiang Su pushed aside her hair, rubbing the place the Kunpeng had pecked, and ran to the Kunpeng’s side both frightened and unwilling to give up, repeating in a low voice like a chant: “Spit it out, spit it out, spit it out…”

The Kunpeng was defeated by her. Unwillingly, it opened its beak to her, letting her see the miniaturized jade gourd resting safely inside its mouth.

Xiang Su breathed a sigh of relief, somewhat reproachfully tapping her own head. “I forgot—birds all carry things in their beaks.” Still not entirely reassured, she instructed, “You absolutely must not swallow it!”

Having always been accustomed to being respectfully addressed as “Lord Kunpeng,” it was deeply wounded by this word “bird.” The Kunpeng’s wings moved, tempted to fan her into eating dirt. At that moment, Dong Tianyun turned his face slightly to the side. The Kunpeng had followed its master for a long time and could understand the meaning of his every subtle movement. This display of his perfect profile meant it shouldn’t continue making a fool of itself with this dead tree in front of the Water Spirit immortal official. Its wings returned to their original position with restraint. The Kunpeng stared straight ahead, walking with difficult and heavy forbearance.

Xiang Su was completely unaware that the “bird” had gone through such a tortuous internal struggle. Happily touching her newly softened skin, she walked with delight. The joy of becoming prettier suppressed even her hunger.

The surrounding plants underwent obvious changes. Xiang Su was very sensitive to these things, feeling as if they were crossing through the four seasons, walking all the way from spring to winter. Sure enough, by the cold pool in the mountain hollow, there were only cold-resistant plants, even covered with white frost. With her meager magical power, Xiang Su clearly felt cold, her teeth chattering.

The immortal official stood by the water, preparing to invite the Mingyu out. Dong Tianyun spoke first in a cool voice. “Mingyu, do you need someone else to invite you out to see me?”

Before his words had even fallen, the water surface churned up a wall of water several zhang high. A young man in light blue clothing leaped out from the water. Xiang Su quickly retreated several steps, afraid the ice-cold water would splash on her. Strangely, the spray beneath the young man’s feet didn’t fall for a long time, supporting him like clouds. The young man hesitated for a moment, then knelt on one knee on the water, greeting without much warmth: “Shenghuan Dijun, I trust you are well.”

Xiang Su guessed this young man was the Mingyu, so that was why he was so skilled at controlling water. Wasn’t the Mingyu the mount of the Water Dijun? How was he in human form? A very frightening image appeared in her mind—Qingze Dijun, the Water Controller, sitting grandly on the Mingyu’s shoulders, the two of them stacked like an acrobatic tower riding high on clouds. By comparison… Junshang riding a bird was much more pleasing to the eye. She couldn’t help casting an appreciative look at the Kunpeng. The Kunpeng, being looked at by her this way, felt a wave of irritation and unconsciously clawed at the ground.

“Another hundred-some years since we last met, yet your progress seems minimal.”

Xiang Su secretly shook her head. Junshang’s words were never pleasant to hear. Especially when he spoke in that bland, indifferent tone, it made things even more irrefutable yet uncomfortable to the bone. She looked at the Mingyu. Sure enough, he lowered his head, clearly wounded.

“This Jifeng sword overcomes water. I originally wanted to test it against your master, but unfortunately he’s not here. You’ll have to do.” After Dong Tianyun finished speaking, he had already leaped up. What left Xiang Su dumbfounded was that a spray of water also appeared beneath Dong Tianyun’s feet to support him, even larger and more imposing than the Mingyu’s. Wasn’t he the Metal Controller? How could he also control water?

Seeing a formidable enemy approaching, the Mingyu rose to his full height. The spray beneath his feet transformed into a dragon’s spout, rolling up a massive whirlwind. Heaven and earth instantly changed color, as if a violent storm was approaching.

Xiang Su instinctively feared such scenes. She shrank back and hid in the grove at the mountain’s base. The whirlwind swept water vapor into the air, which now transformed into raindrops falling down, soaking her clothes. She only felt cold penetrating to her bones. Faintly in the air came the sound of clashing weapons. A resonant dragon’s roar pierced through the cloud layer. When Xiang Su looked up, she only glimpsed a dragon’s tail flashing through the dark clouds. Because the Dragon God had once come to Lingze Mountain to collect debts, she had seen dragons before. Could it be the Mingyu was actually a dragon?

The rain gradually stopped. The lake surface returned to calm. The dark clouds in the sky also thinned and dispersed.

Xiang Su shook off the rainwater from her body, shivering from cold as she emerged from the grove. She saw that both Dong Tianyun and the Mingyu were standing on the shore. The Mingyu’s complexion looked very bad. As if holding back his anger, he said to Dong Tianyun: “Shenghuan Dijun, please return my scales.”

Dong Tianyun again seemed not to hear what he said, leisurely mounting his bird. Xiang Su, familiar with the routine, could tell at a glance they were about to leave. She quickly ran over and nimbly jumped onto the Kunpeng’s back.

“They’re merely three scales. Why be so petty?” Dong Tianyun said while looking straight ahead. Then he raised his chin, and the Kunpeng beat its wings and took flight. Xiang Su looked back at the pitiful Mingyu. He turned his head away in angry resentment.

Xiang Su stole a glance at Dong Tianyun, who acted as if nothing had happened. Her new Junshang… was truly shameless. Coming to someone’s door to tear off three of their scales, then calling them petty—that disdainful expression, as if the Mingyu had wronged him.

“Gurgle gurgle,” her stomach growled again. Because she had just drunk quite a bit of water from the Qingze Pool, the gurgling sounds were joined by splashing water sounds, becoming even louder. Dong Tianyun narrowed his eyes, looking with disdain from beneath his lashes at his new menial worker. He had just cleaned her up, yet who knew where she had rolled around to get covered in mud again. Seeing him look at her, she got frightened and even sneezed.

Xiang Su apologetically wiped her nose with her sleeve. Like tears, this was a novel thing for her. She even smelled her sleeve—no particular scent.

Dong Tianyun’s brow furrowed. With disgust, he waved his sleeve and used the water-repelling technique to dry her again. Unable to bear it any longer, he demanded: “What did you learn when you were cultivating at Lingze Mountain?” How could she possibly be this ignorant!

Xiang Su gazed at the sky, recalling. Actually, Bai Zhicao had taught them quite a lot. “Absorbing the essence of sun and moon…”

“About all the matters after taking form—didn’t the mountain god explain?” Dong Tianyun frowned. Qingsui was negligent in her duties, as could be seen from the place of her birth!

Xiang Su felt she was being looked down upon by her new Junshang again and secretly blamed Bai Zhicao. Generally, flower spirits and tree monsters who had taken form were rarely content to stay in one place. After being rooted in one spot for hundreds of years, once they could finally move, naturally they wanted to go everywhere to play and see things. Though Bai Zhicao was the mountain god, he ran out quite frequently too. Moreover, he only talked about useless things when he came back, to the point where she didn’t even know that after taking human form she would have so many problems! “We mainly discussed things among ourselves…” she said, trying to save face.

Dong Tianyun raised an eyebrow, indicating she should continue.

“I heard that after taking form, males and females become different!” Xiang Su subtly looked at her own chest, then at Dong Tianyun’s flat chest. Bai Zhicao and the others were right—they were indeed different.

Dong Tianyun silently had his veins bulge. He looked straight ahead, no longer wanting to pay her any attention. Having received confirmation, Xiang Su developed an interest in showing off: “After taking form, we don’t need to rely on flowering and fruiting to produce seeds anymore. One man and one woman can together…” Xiang Su felt a jolt. The Kunpeng had actually lost control of its wings, stumbling even while flying.

“Go to the Ziwei Palace!” Dong Tianyun’s voice rarely held thin anger. Xiang Su was startled and quickly shut her mouth. Indeed, one shouldn’t show off too much as a person!

“Jun… Junshang…” Her stomach kept growling—it was quite noisy. Xiang Su couldn’t really bear it and looked pleadingly at Dong Tianyun, whose face was still cold.

“Endure it.” Dong Tianyun was quite impolite. Xiang Su was nearly in tears. Was this punishment?

The Ziwei Palace was built on an immortal island in the sea. Auspicious clouds wreathed all around, the seawater sparkled with light, and the island had rare flowers and exotic plants that Xiang Su had never seen before.

When the Kunpeng flew to the Ziwei Palace, it didn’t land immediately but slowed down and circled in the sky, letting out a clear cry. Xiang Su clearly saw that the Ziwei Palace, which had few people walking about just moments ago, suddenly had many gaily dressed women pouring out from various halls.

Only then did the Kunpeng land majestically on the white jade steps before the Ziwei Palace gate. The women were led by a purple-robed maiden who quickly came out the gate to greet them. Xiang Su was attracted by their clothing—so exquisite and beautiful that even their appearances were overshadowed by the magnificent garments.

The purple-robed maiden elegantly saluted Dong Tianyun, then said sourly: “Shenghuan Dijun has not visited in so long, you must have long forgotten Ziyin. What important matter brings you personally to this humble place today?” As she spoke, her eyes kept glancing toward Dong Tianyun, brimming with tears, yet not seeming truly angry.

Xiang Su looked at the purple-robed immortal maiden in confusion. Having taken form not long ago, she had never heard anyone speak in such a refined, roundabout manner and couldn’t quite grasp the meaning.

Dong Tianyun smiled—very faintly, yet indescribably alluring. At least that was how Xiang Su felt. The purple-robed immortal maiden and the women behind her were all stunned by this smile. Clearly they shared her opinion.

“Ziyin.” He only lightly called the purple-robed immortal maiden’s name, saying nothing more, yet Ziyin blushed as if she had heard countless sweet words.

“These three scales—weave them into a silk sash for her.” Dong Tianyun’s following words were quite mood-breaking. The tender expression on Ziyin’s face stiffened. She looked rather unwillingly at Xiang Su sitting on the Kunpeng’s back with Dong Tianyun, saying nothing.

Dong Tianyun gracefully descended from the Kunpeng’s back, proactively presenting the three fish scales in his palm before Ziyin’s eyes.

“Mingyu scales?” Ziyin cried out in surprise, then resentfully glared at Xiang Su again, leaving Xiang Su utterly baffled. With all these cutting glares—where exactly had she offended her?

“My attendant naturally cannot appear too shabby. You also know Chilin’s temperament.” Dong Tianyun said with some displeasure, emphasizing the word “attendant.” Xiang Su was even more confused—why bring up that red phoenix again out of nowhere? What surprised her was that at the mention of the red phoenix, the purple-robed immortal maiden immediately dropped her resentful expression and very righteously nodded in agreement.

“Fine! I’ll weave the best fire-repelling silk sash in all Three Realms!” Ziyin readily agreed, then with no transition whatsoever produced a shy, coquettish expression on her face. Xiang Su stared in amazement, watching Ziyin intently, wondering what expression she would produce next. “However… weaving silk from such sacred objects as Mingyu scales will take some time.”

Dong Tianyun smiled faintly again. “No rush, I’ll wait.” This perfectly ordinary statement made Ziyin’s face even redder, the water in her eyes almost spilling out.

Xiang Su felt depressed. How was it that she seemed unable to understand even human speech? Everything the two of them said seemed to hide mysteries. She vaguely sensed something but couldn’t articulate what.

“Kunpeng.” Dong Tianyun gave an offhand instruction. “Take her to the mortal realm. Resolve her trouble thoroughly before returning.”

The Kunpeng nodded. Light burst from its entire body. Xiang Su raised her hand to shield her eyes. When she lowered it again, she discovered the Kunpeng had transformed into a black-robed youth. Xiang Su stared straight at him. Who would have thought that with his true form being so black, he’d turn out quite fair-skinned in human form?

Seeing her stare at him like this, the Kunpeng felt somewhat pleased with itself. The infatuated gazes the Ziwei Palace weaving maidens cast toward him were even more gratifying than usual.

“You… you…” Xiang Su stared wide-eyed, circling around the Kunpeng. She was making too much of a fuss—not only were the weaving maidens watching her and the Kunpeng, even Dong Tianyun cast a cold glance, probably finding her embarrassing.

Xiang Su reined in her expression of amazement. Right, the Kunpeng was also a divine beast. Having followed Dong Tianyun for so many years, there was no reason it couldn’t take human form. Even the Mingyu had human form. She raised her head to stare at the Kunpeng’s face, sincerely saying: “You’re better off like this.”

The Kunpeng snorted to express disdain. What an unsophisticated little spirit—he was also outstanding in appearance among the Metal Spirit realm!

Xiang Su smiled with relief. “This way you can’t peck me with your sharp beak anymore.”

The Kunpeng heard the sound of his own blood vessels bursting.

“Let’s go inside.” Dong Tianyun’s voice sounded extremely pleased. Speaking so softly to Ziyin made her face flush and heart race as she led him through the palace gate.

The Kunpeng arrogantly tilted up his chin, summoned a cloud and left. Xiang Su awkwardly clung to the cloud’s edge, using hands and feet to climb up. This black bird had such a temper—even transformed into human form, he still flew impetuously.

Suddenly she thought of a serious problem and jumped anxiously. “What about the gourd? You didn’t swallow it, did you? Open your mouth, let me see!”

The Kunpeng clenched his fist, forcefully suppressing the urge to push her off the cloud, squeezing words through his teeth: “Don’t worry! I’ve put it away safely.”

Xiang Su took a deep breath to calm herself. The Kunpeng should be fairly reliable—after all, he belonged to Dong Tianyun. “What are we going to the mortal realm for?” She was puzzled again. Dong Tianyun had said to resolve her trouble?

“Eat!” The Kunpeng nearly roared.

“Oh, oh.” Xiang Su was frightened by his sudden outburst, then felt somewhat confused. “Doesn’t the Ziwei Palace have food?” It looked quite luxurious—even if the immortal maidens’ cultivation was high, there couldn’t possibly be no food at all, requiring her to travel all the way to the mortal realm.

The Kunpeng somewhat resented how his master had clearly gloated when Xiang Su had “insulted” him earlier. With ill intent, he said: “Naturally it’s an excuse. When asking Dragon Maiden Ziyin to weave treasures, he must let her gain some advantage.”

Xiang Su was confused. How to gain advantage? She was about to ask when the Kunpeng remembered the humiliation about his “sharp beak” and glared at her viciously. Xiang Su was too frightened to open her mouth.