Chapter 86 – Plan

Yun Xiguang knelt on the ground, staring at the Beast Codex placed on his knees, his heart filled with confusion.

He admitted that he had made up his mind to spend the rest of his life with Chi Qiong. But, oh, he never expected it to be this kind of life together?

Yun Xiguang placed his hand on Chi Qiong’s portrait, suddenly feeling the sensation of being pecked at the tip of his finger.

Following that, the blood pattern between Yun Xiguang’s brows glimmered slightly, and a voice transmitted to his mind: “This Exalted One knows you’ve gotten your wish and desperately want to get close to this Exalted One, hoping to caress this Exalted One’s splendid feathers. However, serious matters take precedence now. After this Exalted One has accomplished his task, he will naturally satisfy you.”

Yun Xiguang: “…”

Upon hearing the phrase ‘got your wish,’ he abruptly realized that Chi Qiong wasn’t making a declaration of feelings toward him but rather responding to an assumption.

From Chi Qiong’s words, it was firmly believed that Yun Xiguang had fallen in love first, courting Chi Qiong in every way possible. After much deliberation, Chi Qiong then agreed to Yun Xiguang.

Yun Xiguang couldn’t help but feel a hint of doubt. When did I do anything that gave Chi Qiong such a misconception?

At that moment, Bai Ze had completed its treatment and fixed its gaze on Yun Xiguang, noticing that Yun Xiguang, who had been oblivious all along, was currently experiencing a stirring of the Red Love Star!

Bai Ze felt immensely delighted; it no longer had to worry about the Supreme Deity and Yun Xiguang.

But right then, Bai Ze felt a faint unease. It could clearly see that between the Supreme Deity and Yun Xiguang, it was the Supreme Deity who had feelings, while Yun Xiguang remained unaware. If the Supreme Deity declared his intentions and Yun Xiguang rejected him…

It would be the end of the world.

Bai Ze hurriedly approached Yun Xiguang and said very proactively, “Student Yun, if you have any troubles, you can tell me about them.”

Yun Xiguang looked at Chi Qiong in the Beast Codex and decided to give himself a few minutes to sort out his emotions before handing over the nine phoenix feathers to Chi Qiong.

Indeed, at this moment, serious matters were more important.

But Chi Qiong was going to undertake something extremely dangerous, and once the phoenix feathers were handed over, there was a possibility that their last meeting would be their final goodbye.

To make matters worse, this encounter had left Yun Xiguang with a significant dilemma.

Yun Xiguang didn’t want to reach the end of the world without resolving their issues.

He didn’t want to return to chaos without understanding each other.

Thus, he gave himself five minutes. He said to Bai Ze, “Senior Bai Ze, you’ve always seemed hesitant to speak your mind around me, looking worried. I suppose you knew about Chi Qiong’s feelings long ago?”

Bai Ze hadn’t expected Yun Xiguang to be so direct. It paused before answering, “Yes, the Supreme Deity’s intentions have been quite clear.”

“Where were they clear?” Yun Xiguang was greatly perplexed. “I didn’t sense anything at all!”

The idle Azure Dragon interjected, “Bai Ze only recently found out about this matter; its information isn’t complete. Let me explain. Yun Xiguang, you treat the Supreme Deity as a spirit beast, but to the Supreme Deity, you live together, share the same bed, and you often sneak kisses when he’s asleep, occasionally pinching his beak and stroking his feathers. To birds, their feathers are the most precious thing!”

Yun Xiguang: “…I, I…this is…”

Once he thought of Chi Qiong as a healthy adult man, all of Yun Xiguang’s explanations seemed pale.

He originally thought he was innocent, but after listening to Azure Dragon’s description, he suddenly felt like he was quite scummy, taking advantage of Chi Qiong every day. It was a wonder that Chi Qiong could tolerate it.

Azure Dragon said, “Are you trying to say that since you consider the Supreme Deity a spirit beast and not the same species, your behavior is merely casual?”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it casual,” Yun Xiguang’s defense was weak.

Azure Dragon said, “Bai Ze and I are also spirit beasts. Have you ever seen us act like this with our own Spiritbond Masters?”

“No, no.”

“Golden-Winged Great Peng is also a bird-type spirit beast. If Li Zheng cuddled with it to sleep, kissed it from time to time, and pinched its beak, what do you think would happen?”

Before Yun Xiguang could answer, Golden-Winged Great Peng, who was watching from the side, immediately said, “If Li Zheng dared to do that, I could peck him into a sieve.”

Yun Xiguang: “…”

Azure Dragon posed another soul-searching question: “Your parents are also Spiritbond Masters. Did you ever see Ling Qingkong casually kiss the Crimson Chi when you were young?”

“No, no.”

As Azure Dragon asked these questions, Yun Xiguang’s head drooped lower and lower, his voice growing softer and softer.

Even if Chi Qiong wasn’t the Supreme Deity Zhuzhao, just an ordinary spirit beast, typical spirit beasts wouldn’t interact with their Spiritbond Masters like this.

He had been too bold.

It wasn’t surprising that Chi Qiong had misunderstood his feelings.

At this point, if he were to reject Chi Qiong, Yun Xiguang even felt somewhat guilty, thinking he was only teasing and not taking responsibility, which was a bit scummy. Moreover, recalling their previous interactions, Yun Xiguang discovered that he didn’t object to being with Chi Qiong in human form. On the contrary, due to their familiarity with each other’s aura, he found their mode of interaction comfortable.

So… it wasn’t entirely out of the question to give it a try.

Yun Xiguang rubbed his temples, looking at Chi Qiong in the picture, and said, “Still, serious matters take precedence.”

He initially wanted to clarify his thoughts, but after pondering for five minutes, his thoughts became increasingly muddled. This issue wasn’t something that could be sorted out in a short time.

Fortunately, his perspective on his relationship with Chi Qiong had changed. Even if they were to die together afterward, they wouldn’t die in confusion.

Yun Xiguang shifted his mindset and gazed intently at Chi Qiong in the Beast Codex, softly saying, “I don’t know what dangerous task you’re about to undertake, but please prioritize your own safety. If you feel it might fail, please don’t take risks. Because…”

Yun Xiguang paused, recalling Chi Qiong’s human appearance, his face inexplicably flushing red. He said, “Because I haven’t yet built a house in the contract space, I haven’t given you a home, you can’t leave me like this.”

A faint excited “chirp” echoed from the Beast Codex; it was Chi Qiong responding to Yun Xiguang.

After saying this, Yun Xiguang waved his hand, and nine phoenix feathers shimmered and floated around him.

After countless hardships, these phoenix feathers were finally about to return to their master.

The page of the Beast Codex belonging to Chi Qiong began to distort, gradually forming a three-dimensional vortex. With a flick of Yun Xiguang’s finger, the phoenix feathers entered the Beast Codex one by one.

After the ninth phoenix feather also entered the Beast Codex, the book burst into flames. A brilliant fire enveloped the Beast Codex, and beams of light flew out from within.

As the lights landed, they transformed into one spirit beast after another. Upon touching the ground, they immediately bowed to the fireball in Yun Xiguang’s hand, their expressions reverent and respectful.

The Azure Dragon, Bai Ze, Golden-Winged Great Peng, and the spirit beasts of Ning Shan and others also appeared, bowing to the fireball.

Yun Xiguang couldn’t bear the courtesy of so many spirit beasts. He extended his hand, allowing the flame to hover in mid-air while he stepped aside, focusing intently on the fire.

The Eye of Pangu, the Master of Ten Thousand Spirits, the Sun Zhuzhao had finally returned.

The dense fog inside the Youying Academy dissipated as the fire rose. The sun in the sky shone with unprecedented brilliance, piercing through the clouds and illuminating the earth.

Gradually, two spheres appeared within the fire.

One sphere was surrounded by a layer of white halo, with a black vortex inside. It seemed to devour everything, leaving only half of the body of Zhulong to be swallowed into the black vortex, leaving its bones shattered on the ground.

The other sphere was pure black, but strangely enough, despite its blackness, it emitted a light brighter than the sun.

The black vortex within the white halo was the Moon Youying.

And the black ball radiating light that rivaled the sun and moon was the Sun Zhuzhao.

The transformation of the white halo stopped, but the black sphere continued to change.

Its center suddenly split open, and a wing stretched out from the crack. A firebird spread its wings and flew out of the black sphere, soaring into the sky.

Yun Xiguang felt as if he was witnessing the entire process of the birth of the Sun Zhuzhao and the Moon Youying.

With the appearance of Zhuzhao and Youying, everyone suddenly felt an unprecedented pressure.

This pressure didn’t come from Zhuzhao and Youying but from elsewhere.

It came from the heavens, from the depths of the earth, from every corner of the air, from the hearts of everyone. It was everywhere, present in every place.

This pressure made everyone instinctively fearful, even to the point of suffocation.

It was the way of heaven, it was the law, it was the innate principle of this world.

When Zhuzhao and Youying fully manifested, the law also appeared.

They couldn’t see it, but they could feel its constraints.

It had come to enforce the rules.

It intended to completely merge Zhuzhao and Youying, reshaping this world.

Invisible pressure forced Chi Qiong and Youying closer together, while everyone and every spirit beast suffocated under this pressure, unable to raise their heads or even survive.

Yun Xiguang felt a giant hand tightly gripping his throat. The invisible pressure made him feel as if he was submerged deep in the ocean, squeezed by seawater, about to die soon.

At that moment, a massive wing gently brushed against Yun Xiguang’s head, as if stroking his hair.

Countless fiery feathers fell, the glow enveloping everyone, and they all felt a sense of protection.

While Chi Qiong was resisting the might of the Heavenly Law, he was still able to allocate strength to protect everyone.

Yun Xiguang looked up at the divine bird in the sky, the blood pattern between his brows glowing. He wished with all his heart, asking not to take away Chi Qiong. He was willing to use his soul and life to tether Chi Qiong, preventing him from being exploited by the law.

“Yes, that’s right,” Chi Qiong’s voice echoed in Yun Xiguang’s mind. “Use the contract to hold onto me, to restrain me, so that after merging with Youying, I can maintain my self-awareness, dominate, and control the power of Youying.”

“What do you intend to do?” Yun Xiguang asked anxiously in his heart.

Chi Qiong’s voice was as confident and proud as ever: “The law wants to use the essence of this Exalted One and Youying to destroy this world, but this Exalted One won’t let it succeed. What to do with this Exalted One’s power is this Exalted One’s business.”

At that moment, Yun Xiguang and Chi Qiong’s souls connected. Without words, he sensed everything Chi Qiong had experienced since entering the Beast Codex.

Perhaps because they were in Youying’s domain, this time, as soon as Chi Qiong entered the Beast Codex, he sensed the power of Youying and realized that the Beast Codex and his phoenix feathers were both tools used by the law to exploit Youying’s power.

Naturally, Chi Qiong could imagine that once his power merged with Youying’s, the world would cease to exist.

He wasn’t anxious. There was nothing in this world worth worrying about. He trusted Yun Xiguang, knowing that even against Zhulong, Yun Xiguang could defeat it and save him.

He leisurely stayed in the Beast Codex, waiting for his beloved to rescue him from captivity.

However, thinking that as a Supreme Deity, he had always needed Yun Xiguang’s protection and to be saved by him, Chi Qiong’s inexplicable pride started acting up. He felt it shouldn’t be Yun Xiguang saving him but that he should save the world, with Yun Xiguang assisting him in battling Zhulong and recovering the phoenix feathers.

After realizing this, Chi Qiong began to use his brain, which had been mostly dormant for millions of years, to contemplate how to break the deadlock.

In reality, they faced a hopeless situation.

Even if Yun Xiguang could retrieve the phoenix feathers and Chi Qiong could achieve his complete form, they still couldn’t overcome the law. All they could do was delay the destruction of the world, but as long as the law’s goal remained unchanged, it would quickly adjust its algorithm and employ other methods to destroy the world.

But there was a solution. Chi Qiong thought of two methods. One was to merge with Youying and, as the Eye of Pangu, stand above the law, rewriting it. It was similar to him and Youying becoming a supercomputer, rewriting the program of the law.

The second method was to show the law a different future, which also seemed to require Youying’s power.

Coincidentally, Chi Qiong was inside the Beast Codex, with Youying’s calls echoing in his ears, so he decided to communicate with Youying.

“Zhuzhao, Zhuzhao, you’re annoying. This Exalted One has a name, it’s called Chi Qiong. Youying, do you want to cooperate with this Exalted One?” Chi Qiong asked.

Youying conveyed an affirmative intent. Simultaneously, it sent Chi Qiong a plan.

The plan was simple: destroy civilization, eliminate all scientific creations, and return humanity to the primitive world to restart the development of the race.

Chi Qiong tried to persuade Youying, but Youying lacked consciousness. It merely repeated the plan to Chi Qiong incessantly.

Like a virus-infected webpage, no matter what Chi Qiong did, a pop-up window would continuously appear, asking, “Do you want to destroy the world? Yes / Definitely,” without giving him the option to choose “No.”

Youying had no awareness and couldn’t communicate.

“You’re truly useless,” Chi Qiong shook his head in disdain, his three tufts of hair swaying. “All these years, you haven’t even developed your own consciousness. Since you’re so useless, why not entrust your power to this Exalted One? Allow this Exalted One to control the power of the Two Instruments and oppose the law.”

Youying didn’t respond, and Chi Qiong took it as agreement.

After merging with Youying, to prevent the world from turning into chaos, Chi Qiong had to maintain his self-awareness and simultaneously control the powers of Zhuzhao and Youying with a powerful consciousness.

Despite Chi Qiong’s arrogance, he was well aware that he couldn’t accomplish this alone.

If he could, the law wouldn’t dare to allow him and Youying to meet.

But Chi Qiong had Yun Xiguang.

Yun Xiguang’s desires and obsessions were powerful enough to overcome the law’s force, awakening him from his slumber. As long as Yun Xiguang’s contract held him back, he would surely be able to maintain his self-awareness amidst the immense power.

Chi Qiong had confidence in himself and in Yun Xiguang.

As for how he would specifically use this power to oppose the law, it was simple. He planned to disperse the essence.

He intended to transform the powers of Zhuzhao and Youying into stars, scattering them throughout the world, forcing the law to spend billions of years trying to gather these powers again.

He wanted to integrate these powers into the world, giving all creatures in the world the opportunity to cultivate, the chance to awaken their spiritual nature and intelligence.

He aimed to create a modern cultivation world!

He wanted trees and flowers to have the chance to transform into humans, allowing people to cultivate to the same level as divine beasts.

He wanted science and cultivation to advance hand in hand.

He wanted the transformed human-like spirit beasts to learn mathematics, physics, chemistry, politics, history, geography, enabling them to pilot spaceships to the moon and dive into the depths of the sea in submarines.

He wanted humans to gain the powers of spirit beasts through cultivation, allowing them to fly without airplanes and run at speeds of 300 kilometers per hour without vehicles.

He wanted the law to realize that not only science but the innate essence in the world itself could disrupt the balance.

Only then would the law be forced to acknowledge the fact that science and essence were merely tools. If it didn’t want to spend billions of years slowly recovering essence, it must establish new rules to adapt to this modern cultivation world.

This was something only Chi Qiong could accomplish.

“And what about you?” Yun Xiguang asked in his heart. “If dispersing the essence succeeds and the world is saved, how will you fare, losing all your power?”

He was Zhuzhao! The most powerful divine beast in heaven and earth. How could he really become an ordinary bird? That proud little spirit bird, what would he do without his power?

“This Exalted One is this Exalted One. Even without essence, this Exalted One remains unparalleled in the world.” Chi Qiong said proudly, raising his head. “Isn’t it just starting cultivation anew? These powers originated from this Exalted One. This Exalted One will undoubtedly make rapid progress in cultivation, becoming the fastest cultivator in the world. In less than a month, I’ll return to the peak!”

Hearing his lively voice, Yun Xiguang felt relieved.

Upon careful reflection, after waking up this time, Chi Qiong had basically been in a state without power. Yet, this didn’t diminish his dignity and pride in the slightest.

Chi Qiong’s nobility wasn’t maintained by power but by his noble soul.

“Alright,” Yun Xiguang nodded, agreeing to Chi Qiong’s plan.

Even if it meant his soul would dissipate, he would hold onto Chi Qiong, becoming his anchor and pillar.