Beginning with the Ubume Bird
Chapter 696 - Chapter 696 Chapter Four Complicated and Intractable Diseases

Chapter 696: Chapter Four: Complicated and Intractable Diseases Chapter 696: Chapter Four: Complicated and Intractable Diseases Dark clouds tumbled, as Esteemed Walker Li Yan and Yun Zhongjun clashed in one place.

Esteemed Walker Li Yan’s eyes had turned red from Yun Zhongjun’s relentless strikes, each move stirring up mighty waves. His Xiongjian Soul flew and danced, twin flames in his pupils flickering like shooting stars. In comparison, Yun Zhongjun, with his towering crown and wide belt, his sleeves fluttering, maintained his immortal grace, expertly dodging the brilliance of Xiongjian Soul’s sword light.

In the midst of their fierce duel, Wu Zhiqi below laughed uproariously, rolling on the ground. With a glance from his phoenix eyes, Yun Zhongjun called down a bolt of gold thunder from the dark clouds, exploding right beside Wu Zhiqi’s feet.

Startled, Wu Zhiqi hopped madly, baring his teeth and grimacing at Yun Zhongjun.

The battle raged within the dark clouds for about twenty minutes. Whenever gold thunder struck Esteemed Walker Li Yan, he used his Xiongjian Soul to shield himself, and though the pain was still excruciating, it was somewhat mitigated. On the other hand, Yun Zhongjun gradually grew sluggish under the assault of the sword light, losing his initially effortless poise.

In the midst of this, Esteemed Walker Li Yan’s retina was spammed with on-and-off text messages ignited by Destiny Yak and even some Yak genes ignited, extinguished, then reignited, cycling several times. Li Yan’s face, nape, and limbs became emaciated, and beads of sweat the size of soybeans covered his cheeks. Some pores even oozed blood.

Finally, unable to withstand the strain, a stream of blood shot from the corner of Li Yan’s eye!

Feeling something amiss, Li Yan forced his eyes open and bellowed in his mind, “Stop!”

The avatar trembled, ceased its sword light, and retreated, but its hand still clung tightly to the Xiongjian Soul, constantly on guard against Yun Zhongjun.

Yun Zhongjun, too, heaved a sigh and with a wave of his hand, dispelled the dark clouds and gracefully descended onto the ice.

Only then did Li Yan’s Niwan Palace settle. Without further ado, he activated the permanent passage to South Seas, immersing himself in the cool seawater, continuously exhaling pale white bubbles from his mouth and nose.

The waters of the South Seas moistened his parched flesh, while the Yaks of summer and autumn operated at full strength, Li Yan feeling the warm currents filling his limbs and bones.

After a while, he resurfaced.

Earth Endurance had already vanished from sight, for it had never witnessed such grandeur before.

Li Yan checked his status and noticed that the entry for Destiny Yak was no longer bright as before, but flickered on and off instead. His genetic map had gained dozens of new Yak genes and many had disappeared as well.

On the contrary, Quanlang Sea Ghost was now doing as it pleased.

When he reopened the effects of the Divine Court and scrolled to the third item, “View of Heaven and Earth,” it simply ended with the words “incomplete.”

“What’s going on here?”

Li Yan questioned his Earth Endurance. The recent battle between his avatar and Yun Zhongjun had been fierce, and if he hadn’t intervened, he would surely have suffered harm himself. After all, everything within the Niwan Palace evolved from Li Yan’s soul; whether Wu Zhiqi or Yun Zhongjun appeared autonomous, both were parts of Li Yan. Like the left and right hands, a conflict between them would be self-destructive.

“I’m sorry, Esteemed Walker, the ‘View of Heaven and Earth’ originally within the Divine Court was intended to refine impurities, integrating the Niwan Palace with the physical body. This is an essential part of the first stage of the Divine Court’s journey. However, the ‘impurities’ in your Niwan Palace are too powerful and domineering, causing self-inflicted damage.”

“Are you referring to Destiny Yak as the impurities?”

“There are also the souls of the two unique-grade magical instruments, which are the most fatal foreign objects in your Niwan Palace and key to the problem.”

“So what should I do?”

“I’m sorry, Esteemed Walker, Destiny Yak was independently developed by Ghost Master Su Ling, and those who have embarked upon the Divine Court Road are too few. The records of Mother Crown do not have enough samples to solve this issue.”

Li Yan sighed, leaving the surface of the sea and reentering the Yan Fu space. He purchased another Yan Fu Story Jar while detailing his predicament in a text message, seeking an explanation from Zhao Jianzhong.

Crack~

Li Yan crushed the jar in his hand, and a dazzling golden light leaked out.

Zhao Jianzhong responded promptly.

“I’ve travelled the Divine Court Road indeed, but I’ve never encountered your situation. Here’s what you could do–you should find some time to visit Ta Kong Temple in Xining. Tell them I sent you.”

Li Yan typed intently, not minding the broken jar, “Once I get to Ta Kong Temple, whom should I say I’m looking for?”

“You’ve met him before, among the gods, Wuwei Sanzang.”

As the two exchanged messages through texts, the Yan Fu Story Jar in Li Yan’s hands suddenly cracked open, and a pristine wing emerged. Flapping clumsily, a little chick with unfolded fleshy wings hatched and stood on Li Yan’s palm, pecking at the fragments of the jar.

Li Yan expressed his thanks to Zhao Jianzhong before he began to examine the white chick in his hand.

It was very plump, so round that it was hard to tell whether it was a chick or an egg. It had a piece of paper on its head and a horn-shaped straw growing from the back of its brain. Its body was adorably chunky, but its eyes were extremely fierce.

[Milkshake Chicken]

Category: Exotic Species

Quality: Rare

It can absorb fluids through the straw on its back, growing in size as it does so. It acquires abilities based on the nature of the fluid. Its strength vacillates uncertainly between that of a rabbit and a gigantic monster.

Remark: The day you return, tell us how vast the universe is.

The chubby chicken, feeling Li Yan’s constant gaze, suddenly became irritable and hopped up to peck at Li Yan’s head.

Li Yan grabbed the chicken with one hand and gave it a couple of squeezes. The Milkshake Chicken’s plump body felt incredibly stress-relieving to the touch.

“I’ll give this to Xiu’er as a gift when I have time to go back to the South Seas.”

Li Yan didn’t pay it much mind, but when the chicken had flung itself at him just now, the inverted sheepskin paper had fallen to the ground.

Li Yan picked it up only to discover that the Yan Fu jar had unexpectedly produced two items this time.

[Yan Fu Story Treasure Map]

Category: Yan Fu Jar Product

Quality: Special

A treasure map that has a small chance of being obtained when opening a story jar, pointing to precious treasures hidden within a fruit that the Esteemed Walker had once experienced.

Li Yan looked at it for a long time, but all he could see on the sheepskin paper was a bowl. He couldn’t make out anything else.

After putting the sheepskin paper away, Li Yan also bought and used up the four Gu Huo Birds and the Yan Fu Heritage sent by Wan’an in one go.

“Your Gu Huo Bird aspect has been enhanced.”

“Your Divine Court power has been further reinforced.”

“…”

“Your Wu Zhiqi aspect has been enhanced.”

“Your Divine Court power has been further reinforced.”

With that, Li Yan had acquired six out of the seven parts of the Gu Huo Bird, and two out of the four Wu Zhiqi parts as well. However, these did not give Li Yan much growth in strength. Most notably, after finding Wu Zhiqi’s Heart – Qinggang, the daily limit of Soul-taking Water Li Yan could transmute had increased. Now, with Soul-forgiving Golden Soup, he could produce half a pound daily by weight.

As for the complete inheritance of the Great Fate Official and the Wuzhuang Temple Ginseng Fruit Essence that could evolve the goddess Qi, Li Yan was not in a rush to purchase them. He didn’t want to complicate things in his Niwan Palace until View of Heaven and Earth was completed.

Besides, Li Yan was still fixated on the Yan Fu Heritage of Nine Phoenixes. However, he harbored no ill will toward Zhang Meng’ao; he simply believed that the future for this newly advanced representative of Nine Phoenixes might not be so bright.

After sorting everything out, Li Yan seemed to remember something and opened the Water Lord Palace.

Under the sea, two big fish – one gold and one purple – nestled close together, with ghastly wounds that astonishingly only showed faint signs of breathing to prove they were still alive.

The Taiyin Taiyang Shuangyu Fugang, grievously injured by Muni’s bite, were at death’s door. They were not creatures of flesh and blood but rather forms crafted from two first-grade talismans from Dragon Tiger Mountain. Even Soul-forgiving Golden Soup was powerless to help them; curing them might require a return to Dragon Tiger Mountain or the help of someone profoundly skilled in the art of talismans.

Back in the present world, Li Yan walked down the stairs. The living room was empty. He opened the refrigerator to grab a beer when suddenly, metallic clanging noises echoed from the basement.