Chapter 27: The Three Divine Artifacts and the Little Shen
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Shen Gurong looked back at him with a blank expression.
Wen Liubing hadn’t even considered the idea that his master couldn’t avoid the splattered blood. He returned Shen Gurong’s gaze with confusion.
Shen Gurong gently wiped away a drop of blood from his cheek and said calmly, “Sanshui, where is your second senior brother now?”
Wen Liubing thought for a moment, “Second Senior Brother should still be in Fenglu City. Does Master have important matters for him?”
Shen Gurong said coldly, “The next time you see him, tell him that from now on, he is the senior brother.”
Wen Liubing: “…”
Wen Liubing, being too straightforward, struggled to understand that his master intended to expel him from the sect. Alarmed, he asked in a deep voice, “What has Sanshui done wrong?”
Shen Gurong: “…”
What haven’t you done wrong?!
Shen Gurong’s chest hurt with anger. Seeing Wen Liubing still asking, “Master, please tell me, Master,” he nearly spat blood in his face.
Shen Fengxue hadn’t expelled Wen Liubing from the sect yet—he truly had a good temper.
Shen Gurong took a deep breath, silently reciting the first three lines of the Serenity Sutra—because he only remembered the first three lines—and repeated them many times to calm himself.
Wen Liubing, utterly perplexed, could only whisper, “Master, Second Senior Brother’s cultivation hasn’t reached the Nascent Soul stage. He can’t bear the responsibility of Senior Brother. Please reconsider.”
Shen Gurong glanced at him and didn’t discuss it further. Instead, taking advantage of the water demon barrier still being intact so he could speak in human form, he asked, “What is the hundred-year pact the water demon mentioned?”
Wen Liubing, being straightforward and never questioning his master’s words, was perfect for uncovering information Shen Fengxue didn’t remember.
Wen Liubing looked at him oddly but, predictably, didn’t overthink it and answered truthfully, “Master subdued a demonic cultivator thirty years ago and used Lin Xiachun to seal him in the Burial Mound of Liren Peak…”
That demonic cultivator possessed a divine artifact and had reached the pinnacle of cultivation, having committed many atrocities due to his violent nature.
When Shen Fengxue subdued him, there were celestial phenomena.
In his youth, Shen Fengxue’s spiritual meridians and talent were weak. Lord Nan Yang had to gather countless rare treasures to forcefully enhance him, which led the three realms to mock him as an unworthy, ornamental pillow, with some even maliciously calling him Lord Nan Yang’s pet.
However, when Shen Fengxue used a heaven-shaking sword strike filled with murderous intent to subdue the demonic cultivator in front of everyone, those who had insulted him praised him as a hero.
It was then that the name of Shen Fengxue, half-step to sainthood, spread throughout the nine provinces, and he shed the label of being merely an ornamental pillow under Lord Nan Yang’s wing.
When the demonic cultivator was sealed in the Burial Mound by Shen Fengxue, the three realms discovered that he no longer had the rumored divine artifact.
Lin Xiachun was lodged in the demonic cultivator’s chest. His black robes were soaked with blood, and his limbs were forcibly bound by countless chains, rendering him immobile.
When questioned about the whereabouts of the divine artifact, the demonic cultivator smirked and said softly, “Isn’t the artifact right there?”
His gaze landed on Shen Fengxue, who stood tall and elegant in white.
The three realms were astonished.
Shen Gurong suddenly interrupted Wen Liubing, “What divine artifact did the demonic cultivator refer to?”
In Shen Fengxue’s memory, there were only three divine artifacts in the nine provinces of the three realms: the Demon Pearl of the Yao cultivators, the Nine-layer Jade of Fenglu City, and the Hua Ying Sword held by the mortal royal family. Where did this demonic cultivator get another divine artifact?
Wen Liubing shook his head, “No one knows. It’s only known to be a heaven-defying artifact. He insisted that Master took the artifact from him, and everyone believed him.”
Shen Gurong: “And then?”
“They all claimed to be acting for the sake of the world and pressured Master to hand over the artifact. No one listened to Master’s explanations.” Wen Liubing frowned deeply, clearly harboring great disdain for those who had pressured Shen Fengxue back then. “In the end, it was the Grandmaster who intervened, ensuring that Master hadn’t obtained the artifact and making a hundred-year pact with the Beast King. If you leave the mountain during this period, it’s assumed you have the artifact.”
Shen Gurong: “…”
What kind of bandit logic is this?
The demonic cultivator Wen Liubing mentioned must be the one who later corrupted Yu Xinghe into a demon, as described in the book.
Originally, Shen Gurong thought that in this story, all he needed to do was raise the two kids on Liren Peak properly, prevent Mu Zhe from making mistakes, and stop Yu Xinghe from turning to demonic cultivation. But now, there was a sudden introduction of a divine artifact.
What exactly did Shen Fengxue want him to do by bringing him here?
Shen Gurong felt a bit lost, sensing that leaving this world might not be as simple as he thought.
Wen Liubing finished speaking, then suddenly realized, “Master, why have you……left the mountain now?”
Shen Gurong: “…”
Shen Gurong gently said, “Tell all your junior brothers to return. Anyone who can beat you up can replace you as the senior brother.”
Wen Liubing was horrified: “Master, Master!”
Shen Gurong was jolted out of the water demon barrier by Wen Liubing’s frantic calls.
The first thing Shen Gurong did upon waking was to dive into the inn’s washbasin, splashing around as he bathed.
When Wen Liubing’s Lanting Sword had pierced the water demon’s chest, Shen Gurong had been right beside him, not only meeting the water demon’s death stare but also getting drenched in its blood, which he feared the most.
The sensation of the water demon’s blood on his skin felt like a cold wind passing through his body, sending shivers down his spine and making him wish he could pluck out all his feathers.
Mu Zhe was the first to wake up and went to call Li Suo. When they entered, they saw Shen Gurong splashing in the washbasin, chirping and cursing.
Mu Zhe quickly walked over, seeing his master still had the energy to curse, which meant the water demon had been dealt with. He sighed in relief and asked, “Master, do you need a bath?”
Shen Gurong saw him and suddenly felt a wave of grievance. He thought, [Disciple, I wronged you. You are not the one who troubles me the most. It’s your idiotic senior brother.]
Mu Zhe: “…”
Mu Zhe didn’t know what Shen Gurong had gone through, but seeing him in the water, scrubbing himself frantically as if trying to shed all his feathers, he rolled up his sleeves to help.
At first, Shen Gurong felt a bit awkward, but Mu Zhe’s gentle actions soon made him relax completely. He lay back, belly up, in Mu Zhe’s hands, enjoying the feather wash, occasionally kicking his little claws.
Mu Zhe held back his amusement but couldn’t resist in the end. He gently pinched Shen Gurong’s little claws.
Shen Gurong, who had been feeling comfortable, opened his eyes in confusion when pinched, looking at Mu Zhe with no defense in his eyes: “Chirp?”
Mu Zhe pinched his claws a couple more times, then calmly said, “Master, your claws are dirty.”
Shen Gurong looked down, but being too chubby to see his claws, he believed his disciple and lifted his claws, shaking them slightly for Mu Zhe to clean.
Mu Zhe: “…”
This is… too obedient.
Wen Liubing woke up and gave Li Suo a few instructions before walking over, still asking, “Master, what you said earlier was just a joke, right?”
Hearing this, Shen Gurong’s barely suppressed anger flared up again. Soaking wet, he struggled to peck Wen Liubing, but Mu Zhe hurriedly restrained him.
Shen Gurong: “Chirp chirp chirp!!!”
Mu Zhe translated for him.
Wen Liubing finally realized why his master was covered in blood and looked puzzled. “Master has Grandmaster’s protective barrier. Such attacks should be kept out by the barrier.”
Shen Gurong was startled. The protective barrier that had appeared earlier during the fight with Xue Manzhuang was actually set by Lord Nan Yang on Shen Fengxue.
But this raised another question. Shen Fengxue was the number one in the three realms; logically, no one could easily harm him. Why would a master go to the trouble of placing such a complex barrier on him?
Mu Zhe, listening on the side, roughly understood why Shen Gurong was so eager to bathe. He spoke on behalf of his master, saying blandly, “Was the demon blood really an attack?”
Wen Liubing glanced at him, aware that Shen Gurong doted on this child, and surprisingly did not argue with Mu Zhe in front of his master.
He thought it over and then realized his mistake.
“Disciple acknowledges his fault.” He would not change next time either.
Shen Gurong glared at him.
Mu Zhe gently combed his feathers and petted the down on his chest, helping him calm down.
After a while, Shen Gurong felt refreshed and snuggled into a soft cushion, letting Mu Zhe wipe the water droplets off his body with a cloth.
Outside, dawn had broken.
After drying Shen Gurong, Mu Zhe suddenly remembered something and took out a bamboo slip from the bed.
Shen Gurong lazily glanced at it, “Chirp?”
Mu Zhe explained, “This is the oar master got. For some reason, it turned into a bamboo slip after we came out.”
Shen Gurong glanced at the bamboo slip. It was about the length of a hand and had a thin line of small characters engraved on it, appearing as if they were casually carved and almost illegible.
Wen Liubing took a look and suddenly frowned. “These are the words of the demon cultivator.”
Shen Gurong: [What do they say?]
Wen Liubing replied, “I only learned a little about the demon cultivator’s script from the elders, so I don’t recognize most of it. But I do recognize the last three characters. They appeared at the place where the demon cultivator was sealed on Liren Peak.”
He pointed to the three characters at the bottom of the bamboo slip.
“Burial Ground.”
Shen Gurong was stunned.
Wen Liubing rubbed the three characters on the bamboo slip and pondered for a moment. “Perhaps… the water demon escaped from Dongting not to find Master but was guided by the Burial Ground…”
Shen Gurong frowned. “A ghost cultivator, guided by a demon cultivator?”
Wen Liubing wasn’t too sure either. Holding the bamboo slip, he said, “At dawn, let Li Suo take Master back to Liren Peak. I’ll handle the rest.”
Shen Gurong thought that although his eldest disciple seemed reliable, he always caused problems at critical moments. He looked at Wen Liubing with suspicion, his eyes full of distrust.
Wen Liubing, eager to regain his master’s favor, didn’t want to miss this opportunity.
He quickly set up numerous barriers in the inn room. After considering that Shen Gurong had Lord Nan Yang’s protective barrier and wouldn’t be harmed even if all the people in the three realms came, he finally felt reassured and rushed out with the bamboo slip.
Shen Gurong had no choice but to let him go and continued to lie in the spiritual gathering array to nourish his spiritual veins.
Shen Fengxue’s body seemed like a bottomless pit, never retaining spiritual energy for long. Coupled with this phoenix shell…
Wait, a phoenix?!
Shen Gurong suddenly opened his eyes and said to Mu Zhe, [Bring Xue Manzhuang here.]
Mu Zhe, without asking questions, got up and went next door. He soon brought Xue Manzhuang over, with Yu Xinghe following behind, yawning as he walked in.
Yu Xinghe, in a babyish voice, said, “Mu Zhe, you and Eldest Senior Brother got up so early.”
Mu Zhe thought to himself, “We didn’t sleep at all.”
Xue Manzhuang, initially dragged by Mu Zhe, brightened up upon seeing Shen Gurong. Immediately, he struggled free and flew to Shen Gurong’s side, snuggling up to him on the soft cushion, chirping affectionately.
Shen Gurong had been holding onto a last shred of hope, thinking that the phoenix’s recognition of a master within the water demon’s barrier didn’t count. But as Xue Manzhuang got close to him, he felt an intangible thread in his sea of consciousness linking him to Xue Manzhuang.
It was a bond.
Shen Gurong tried speaking to Xue Manzhuang, [Roll over.]
Mu Zhe: “…”
Xue Manzhuang blinked his innocent, clear eyes and obediently rolled on the cushion, then quickly bounced back, snuggling close to Shen Gurong, looking for praise.
Shen Gurong, amused, asked Mu Zhe to fetch a peanut. He flew up, kicked the peanut away with a claw, and said, [Fetch it back.]
Xue Manzhuang, well-trained, chirped and flew off, catching the peanut in his beak before it hit the ground, and cheerfully returned.
He placed the saliva-covered peanut in front of Shen Gurong and chirped, “You eat, beautiful person eat!”
Beauty Shen didn’t eat it. He patted his wings and said, “Very impressive. By the way, can you break a stone with your chest?”
Xue Manzhuang tilted his head, “Chirp?”
Mu Zhe: “…”
When will my master do something proper?
Shen Fengxue’s body instinctively disliked Xue Manzhuang, but the current young and amnesiac Xue Manzhuang was much better than the previous ghostly personality who neither spoke nor acted like a human. Additionally, over the past few days, Xue Manzhuang had been sweetly calling him “beautiful person,” which made Shen Gurong finally find him somewhat pleasing.
After playing with Xue Manzhuang for a while, Shen Gurong finally felt he had vented his frustration about being turned into a phoenix.
Yu Xinghe, clapping his hands in delight, said, “It seems my spiritual pet is still more clever. It can even catch peanuts. I’ll definitely let it play with Master when we return!”
Mu Zhe was silent, thinking, “Master is already playing.”
Shen Gurong and Xue Manzhuang snuggled together in the spirit-gathering formation for half a day before Shen Gurong finally felt a surge of spiritual energy within him.
He attempted to circulate the spiritual energy through the bond with Xue Manzhuang and found that his spiritual meridians were functioning normally.
Overjoyed, Shen Gurong immediately recited the transformation incantation, intending to take on human form.
Because many people had been brutally killed by the water demon the previous night, the Flower Festival in Fuxian City was forced to stop. There weren’t many people on the streets, and Li Suo was doing something in the next room. Mu Zhe and Yu Xinghe, too young to venture out on their own, could only watch the flowers from the window.
The inn’s location was nice, and the view was decent.
Hearing that Shen Gurong wanted to transform, Mu Zhe immediately got up and grabbed Yu Xinghe, intending to push him out.
Yu Xinghe, confused, said, “Hey? I haven’t had enough of this view yet!”
Mu Zhe said, “Go back to your room to look!”
Yu Xinghe: “But…”
Before Yu Xinghe could finish, Mu Zhe pushed him out and closed the door.
As soon as Yu Xinghe left, Mu Zhe felt a surge of spiritual energy behind him.
His master had transformed into human form.
For some reason, Mu Zhe felt a twinge of loss in his heart.
Phoenix Shen was cute and clumsy, acting uninhibitedly, pecking at anything displeasing and chirping happily. He didn’t know how to hide his emotions. In the water demon’s barrier, although Shen Gurong was still cowardly and lively, his appearance remained that of an unapproachable high mountain flower.
If only…
Mu Zhe’s gaze wavered slightly, and he couldn’t help but think: If his master could always stay in the form of a phoenix… with just a stretch of his hand, he could hold in his palm the Sage revered and feared by all in the three realms…
Realizing his thoughts, Mu Zhe immediately felt that this idea was despicable.
How could he, for his own selfish desires, wish for his master to always remain in the form of a beast, living a life of humiliation?
Mu Zhe took a deep breath, forcing himself to dispel the thought. He turned and bowed respectfully, “Master.”
He was met with an angry, childish shout: “Xue Manzhuang! I’ll kill you!!”
Mu Zhe: “…”
When Mu Zhe looked up, he saw a child about four years old, naked, sitting on the soft cushion in the spirit-gathering formation. Long white hair covered the milk-white body, and the ice gauze over his eyes was so loose that it fell down to his nose.
His light-colored eyes were blank and dazed. He was shaking Xue Manzhuang fiercely, a look of despair on his delicate face, almost in tears.
He had intended to use the phoenix’s spiritual energy to take human form but forgot that Xue Manzhuang had reverted to a juvenile state.
Shen Gurong had successfully turned himself into a human child.
Mu Zhe: “…”
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