Chapter 9 – Anomalous Phenomenon

When he saw the adorable little spirit bird, Yun Xiguang nearly lost his resolve, even doubting his own lie!

This wouldn’t do. To deceive others, one must first deceive oneself, and Yun Xiguang had lived by this principle for years.

After his parents’ death, though the Yun family was cold and heartlessly abandoned him, there were still some of his parents’ old friends who looked at him with sympathetic eyes, expressing their willingness to care for him for life.

Yun Xiguang didn’t want to appear too pitiful. His heart was filled with sorrow and inferiority, but in front of outsiders, he always put on a facade of strength.

He constantly told himself, “I still have hope. I’m strong enough. I have the ability to overcome any difficulty. I can make it.”

This pretense, repeated time and again, became Yun Xiguang’s solid armor, and also the source of Yun Xinglei’s envy.

Yun Xinglei always wondered, “Why, as an outcast of the Yun family, are you worse off than me, yet you’re still so strong? Why am I the only ugly one?”

It was precisely for this reason that despite having many people worthy of hatred, Yun Xinglei specifically targeted Yun Xiguang, wanting to see Yun Xiguang’s look of despair.

It was as if, as long as Yun Xiguang suffered greatly, Yun Xinglei wouldn’t be the worst off, and he could become noble.

Unfortunately, Yun Xiguang’s armor was always so sturdy, and his noble head would never bow.

Even if, for Yun Xiguang himself, this was merely a lie.

“Lies spoken often enough become truth,” Yun Xiguang thought secretly as he looked at the cute little bird.

And then he made a move that no one could have imagined.

Yun Xiguang beckoned to the snow wolf hiding behind him, which ran over fawningly. Yun Xiguang cradled Chi Qiong in both hands and placed him on the snow wolf’s head.

The snow wolf was instantly stunned!

It felt its limbs go limp and struggled to stand steadily, as if it had never used these four legs before; they felt so stiff.

“Hold steady. You’re now the mount of a noble divine beast,” Yun Xiguang said.

To make the snow wolf obey, Yun Xiguang concealed a thread of Heavenly Fire in his palm and gently stroked the snow wolf’s back, subtly threatening it.

Little did Yun Xiguang know that even without this action, the snow wolf was already scared witless, not even feeling the Heavenly Fire in Yun Xiguang’s palm. All its attention focused on the little bird atop its head.

Hearing Yun Xiguang call it a mount, the snow wolf suddenly felt dignified. It wasn’t representing itself anymore; it was representing the Phoenix Venerable!

A mysterious power rose in its chest, and ice mist appeared under its paws. Countless tiny floating ice crystals lifted the snow wolf up, elevating it above all its enemies present.

Standing on the ice mist, the snow wolf raised its head, placing the little bird on top at the highest position possible.

Yun Xiguang: “…”

He had just been trying to intimidate it, never expecting such a good performance from the snow wolf.

Everything went more smoothly than Yun Xiguang had imagined, further convincing him of his own lie.

So he knelt down on one knee before the snow wolf, his right hand pressed against his forehead, covering the destroyed spirit root, and said to the little bird above, “Noble divine beast, I will forever be your most loyal companion. Please lend me the strength to overcome everything.”

Though Chi Qiong, freshly awoken, didn’t understand what was happening, when he saw how respectfully this spirit servant treated him, he decided to help!

The little bird elegantly flapped its wings, pleased to see a faint aura of fire envelop Yun Xiguang, like a thin layer of crimson gauze that protected his spirit servant.

This faint fire was a spark from the first ray of True Sun Fire that Chi Qiong had drawn from the heavens in the past.

After refining it, it turned into an unremarkable feather that he placed among his wings.

From then on, whenever he flapped his wings, raging flames would ignite behind them as he soared through the skies, eclipsing the sun and moon.

The most wondrous thing was that this fire could change according to his will.

When he didn’t want to harm the earth, even in icy conditions, this fire wouldn’t melt the snow and ice. If he was enraged, this fire could destroy anything on the earth until it was completely reduced to ashes before extinguishing itself.

Ordinary human and spirit beast eyes couldn’t see this fire.

Chi Qiong lent it to Yun Xiguang temporarily, transforming it into a cloak-like form, naming it the Gild Cape.

“Gild” was the orange-golden glow of fire that Chi Qiong saw when humans used fire to gild with gold. He found the color beautiful and thus chose this name.

“I’m truly cultured,” Chi Qiong mused inwardly.

He spoke solemnly, “Chirp chirp chirp.”

Chi Qiong: This item is called the Gild Cape. I’m lending it to you temporarily. Remember to return it.

Unbeknownst to Chi Qiong, Yun Xiguang, seeing the little bird flap its wings and “chirp” repeatedly, worried if the snow wolf was flying too high and scaring the little bird.

Yun Xiguang didn’t want to burden the little bird with his troubles. He wanted to protect the little bird, hoping to let this adorable creature, awakened in an unfamiliar era with nothing to its name, feel the warmth of the world.

He had faced a cold enough world and didn’t want the little bird to have a similar experience.

For a moment, Yun Xiguang was tempted to kick the snow wolf over and take the little bird off its big head. What’s the point of flying so high? Don’t you know it scares our little bird?

But since the act had reached this point, he had to continue.

So Yun Xiguang stood up, turned around proudly, and addressed his enemies, “Come at me together.”

His exaggerated performance almost fooled everyone.

Bai Ze in the air watched the drowsy little bird with suspicion.

Fortunately, this was the Zhuzhao Academy, within the domain of Bai Ze.

Bai Ze closed its eyes, the horn on its head glowing slightly as it searched through the history of the entire school, looking for Yun Xiguang’s and his parents’ past.

Quickly, it noticed that Yun Xiguang had been borrowing books that his parents had read.

With its infinite wisdom, Bai Ze quickly made a judgment, conveying it through the contract to Qin Shu: “Yun Xiguang’s parents were exceptional individuals. They must have left something valuable for Yun Xiguang before their deaths. Yun Xiguang has been searching for clues about what his parents left behind. His current confidence probably stems from finding this treasure.”

“So that’s how it is,” Qin Shu nodded secretly.

Li Zheng, sitting beside him, said hopefully, “Yun Xiguang… Really had such an extraordinary encounter?”

Qin Shu chuckled dryly twice, “Perhaps.”

As Bai Ze’s contractor, Qin Shu knew too many secrets. He understood the principle that the more one knows, the quicker one dies. Regardless of what he knew, he always pretended to be unaware.

Fang Hongshen shook his head, “I still think he’s acting. Last night, the Spiritbond Master Association analyzed those nine auras. They flew across the globe; none remained on Two Principles Mountain. He’s probably bluffing, trying to dampen the enemy’s morale.”

Li Zheng’s hopeful expression dimmed again.

Yun Xinglei shared Fang Hongshen’s thoughts.

In Yun Xinglei’s mind, there was a belief that Yun Xiguang was pretending. He felt Yun Xiguang wasn’t truly strong, that Yun Xiguang wore a thick mask, and once this mask was removed, he would see the weak Yun Xiguang, whom he could trample on at will.

“You won’t fool anyone!” Yun Xinglei said.

He spread his arms, which transformed into wings similar to a man-faced owl.

Yun Xinglei flapped his wings, sending countless invisible ripples from his wings to every spirit beast present.

Under his influence, the spirit beasts manipulated their owners in reverse, a group of students whose bodies were out of control, making fearful attacks toward Yun Xiguang.

On the other side, Wu Ailang bent over, his hands touching the ground, his nails becoming incredibly sharp.

Yun Xiguang’s performance had some half-believing, some completely disbelieving, and some hoping it was true. Only Wu Ailang was deceived by Yun Xiguang, firmly believing he had found a powerful teammate.

He received Yun Xiguang’s signal, bared his sharp teeth, waiting for the instant Yun Xiguang subjugated the spirit beasts, ready to emerge as an excellent assassin capable of killing eighteen opponents in one fell swoop.

“It’s my time to wreak havoc and gain fame in the Spiritbond World!” Wu Ailang thought triumphantly.

At the same time, the snow wolf in the air felt the noble little fat body on its head, its heart filled with happiness, pride, and smugness. It thought that the day it followed the Phoenix Venerable, borrowed the might of the phoenix, and dominated the spirit beast realm, had arrived!

In this instant, the Spiritbond Master and the spirit beast’s intentions were perfectly aligned. They exchanged glances, and Wu Ailang suddenly felt his strength increase.

Wu Ailang crouched on the ground and howled, “Come on!”

This wolf’s howl sounded the battle’s clarion call.

Qi Liu immediately pressed against the ground, extending his forked tongue, “Sssss” several times. Invisible venomous fog blended into the air, slowly spreading to Yun Xiguang.

If Yun Xiguang touched even a speck of it, he would become completely powerless, at the mercy of others.

Yun Xiguang looked at the little bird with great actor spirit, nodded at Chi Qiong, and lightly raised his hand, intending to release Heavenly Fire from his palm to cover the entire arena.

But the moment he lifted his hand, he suddenly felt something thin on his body, slightly warming.

Yun Xiguang felt as if a light veil was flying out from his body, drifting into the air.

He couldn’t see it, but he could sense it.

Yun Xiguang looked up, feeling the veil growing larger, covering the arena, covering the sky, covering the entire Zhuzhao Academy.

It obscured the clouds, Bai Ze’s vision, and the blazing noonday sun.

“Chirp!” The little bird atop the snow wolf’s head looked up at the sky and called out.

The sun hanging in the heavens, sensing the Gild Cape with the same origin as it, responded to Chi Qiong’s call.

“The sky…” Qin Shu looked up, showing a frightened expression.

He didn’t know what was happening. He only felt that his connection to Bai Ze was severed. Bai Ze’s domain within the Zhuzhao Academy was cut off. A force above the rules covered the sky above the Zhuzhao Academy, filling him with a sense of helplessness.

Following Qin Shu’s line of sight, Li Zheng and the others looked up at the sky and said, “The sun… Is it that big?”

No one knew when, but the distant red sun had grown so large it obscured half the sky, like a fiery red plate covering the arena.

Yun Xiguang saw this scene as well. He certainly didn’t think he caused it. This was clearly a heaven-sent anomaly.

How did such an event suddenly occur during the match? How was he supposed to continue the act?

Just as everyone was at a loss, thirty-six rays of fire descended from that overly large round sun, accurately landing on the eighteen students and their eighteen spirit beasts.

The thirty-six rays of fire spread out, devouring all the aura in the entire arena.

The eighteen students and spirit beasts didn’t even know what was happening before their internal energy was burned away, and they fell to the ground weakly, unconscious.

Having accomplished all this, Chi Qiong nodded satisfactorily. Even though his form had shrunk, the True Sun Fire still responded to his call. He was still the supreme Phoenix Venerable.

Exhausted, the little bird felt very tired and unable to stand steadily, and it fell off the snow wolf’s head.

Despite being stunned by this turn of events, Yun Xiguang noticed the little bird’s condition and rushed over in a single stride, catching Chi Qiong with both hands.

As Chi Qiong fell asleep, the Gild Cape transformed back into a feather, returning to Chi Qiong’s wing.

The sun also returned to its original appearance.

Everything was back to normal.

It was as if the disaster-like anomaly just now was merely an illusion of everyone’s.

Holding the little bird, Yun Xiguang forced himself to finish the last scene of the play, “Did you see that? That’s the might of my lord!”

Everyone: “…”

Just keep fabricating!

At this stage, anyone who still believed Yun Xiguang’s words was either foolish or insane.

Li Zheng mused sadly, “I’ve never seen this kid have such a thick skin before?”

The elder of the Yun family’s lips trembled, wanting to scold Yun Xiguang for his shamelessness. But thinking of the anomaly just now, he felt that focusing on such trivial matters now would be beneath the dignity of the Yun family. The priority was to discuss the matter of the anomaly.

At this moment, the panicked voice of Bai Ze, whose barrier had been lifted, sounded in Qin Shu’s mind, “A heaven-sent anomaly, all things return to one. This isn’t a good omen!”

Qin Shu hurriedly relayed Bai Ze’s prophecy to Li Zheng, Fang Hongshen, and representatives of the major families beside him, hoping that the authorities, the Spiritbond Master Association, and the major families would take the anomaly seriously.

The minds of the big shots in the stands were in turmoil. They were eager to leave the Zhuzhao Academy and report this matter to their superiors.

At this moment, the graduation ceremony for a class of high school seniors was insignificant. Who had the time to care about them?

Only Teacher Ji Xuan, whose mind was split into two parts, happily announced loudly, “Yun Xiguang wins. According to the rules, the school will issue a Spiritbond Master certificate to Yun Xiguang. Congratulations, classmate Yun Xiguang. From today onwards, you are a qualified Spiritbond Master!”

After saying this, Ji Xuan’s two heads finally returned to their original state.

Qin Shu also waved his hand, “Issue, issue, issue certificates to everyone.”

After that, a group of important figures left the scene in a flurry.

Only Wu Ailang ran over to Yun Xiguang’s side, looking up at the plump Chi Qiong with admiration, and said, “Turns out your spirit beast really is that powerful! I thought you were boasting! I didn’t expect it to be true! From now on, you’re my boss. I’ll follow you for life!”

Yun Xiguang: “…”

Probably only Wu Ailang, this fool, believed his lies.