After I Became A Divine Beast In An Immortal Sect [Transmigration into a Book] - Chapter 18

When Hua Ling woke again, the sky had already brightened.

Seeing that her caretaker still appeared to be cultivating, the bored Hua Ling stretched her wings, shook herself vigorously, and then lowered her head to preen her feathers.

She was currently going through a molting period. The soft down she had been born with was beginning to fall out, and some of it remained stuck to her body, leaving her feeling constantly uncomfortable.

However, what delighted Hua Ling was that her tail feathers were finally growing!

Tail feathers would not only enhance her beauty but also increase her overall length, making her excessively round body appear just a tiny bit more slender…

Hua Ling tried her best to raise her tail and twisted her head around to inspect the new feathers when her caretaker’s voice suddenly sounded above her.

“I heard that male Ice Luans have nine tail feathers, while females have six…”

Hua Ling looked at the single wispy tail feather she had managed to grow so far.

“Chirp!”

I’ll grow more!

Cheng Suxi relaxed against the tree trunk behind her and watched the fluffy white ball hop around on her lap.

Newly born creatures certainly were energetic.

After resting briefly, Cheng Suxi dismantled the formation and continued on her journey with Hua Ling.

At that moment, violent fluctuations caused by a collision between demonic energy and spiritual energy suddenly came from nearby.

Cheng Suxi paused.

They had already entered the Tianling Sect’s territory. Such pure and peaceful demonic energy most likely belonged to one of the sect’s guardian disciples.

Just as she prepared to investigate, a piercing bird cry suddenly rang out from that direction.

All of Hua Ling’s feathers immediately puffed up, and her beady black eyes widened into perfect circles.

It was a resonance shared by avian spiritual beasts.

Hua Ling could sense that the other bird was suffering tremendous pain.

“Chirp, chirp!”

She called pleadingly to her caretaker several times.

Hua Ling did not know whether intervening would cause trouble for Cheng Suxi, but the bird’s cries made her heart ache as though someone were squeezing it tightly.

Cheng Suxi smoothed down the feathers standing upright on Hua Ling’s head.

“Let us go and take a look.”

Even setting aside the good relationship between the Tianling Sect and Xianmiao Peak, Cheng Suxi could hardly stand by and do nothing when her little divine beast looked so pitiful.

She swiftly tucked Hua Ling inside her robes, summoned her flying sword, and rushed toward the source of the sound.

……

“Quickly, Senior Brother! We’re already inside the Tianling Sect’s territory. We must finish this quickly, take its demon core, and leave!”

“All right. Junior Sister, cover me. I’ll kill it now!”

Of the two cultivators—a man and a woman—the male cultivator wielded an enormous golden hammer and swung it forcefully at the bird-type demonic beast, which was already covered in blood.

Bang!

The golden hammer struck the ground with a deafening crash, sending clouds of dust into the air.

The male cultivator frowned.

He could feel that his attack had missed.

“Senior Brother.”

The female cultivator also sensed that something was wrong and quickly moved beside him.

When the dust cleared, a tall and slender figure stood beside the wounded bird demon, with a small white hatchling perched upon her shoulder.

“Who are you? Why did you interfere with us?”

The male cultivator held the golden hammer horizontally before his chest, his face filled with vigilance.

Cheng Suxi raised her eyes and uttered a single word.

“Leave.”

The cold command immediately changed both cultivators’ expressions.

Such spiritual pressure could only come from someone at least in the Nascent Soul realm.

The male cultivator was resentful at seeing his captured prey snatched away. However, he and his junior sister were only Golden Core cultivators. Even if someone stole their “prey,” they did not dare resist.

In the cultivation world, the strong were supreme.

The weak had no right to speak.

“Senior, we will leave immediately.”

The male cultivator tugged at his reluctant junior sister and swiftly departed.

After they left, Hua Ling hopped beside the unconscious bird and began chirping repeatedly, trying to wake it.

Cheng Suxi crouched down.

“Tuanzi, move aside and let me examine it.”

Hua Ling obediently hopped away.

After observing the bird demon’s appearance, Cheng Suxi concluded that it probably belonged to the Bluebird race.

In terms of bloodline, it was even distantly related to her little divine beast.

However, this Bluebird clearly had not yet reached adulthood. Otherwise, it would never have been bullied so badly by two Golden Core cultivators.

One of the Bluebird’s wings was broken, and its entire body was drenched in blood. Fortunately, it had merely lost too much blood.

Cheng Suxi stabilized the wound, applied Hemostatic Powder, and finally fed it some Spirit Jade Marrow.

Only after its breathing gradually steadied did she stand.

“Chirp?”

Hua Ling tilted her head.

Was it all right now?

“Do not worry.”

Cheng Suxi extended an arm for Hua Ling to fly onto, then raised her head and estimated their location.

It would take approximately another hour to reach the Tianling Sect from here.

However, the Bluebird was severely injured and unconscious, so it clearly could not ride a flying sword. They would have to travel by another method.

Thus, Hua Ling watched as her caretaker took out a flying shuttle.

Hua Ling: “…”

Then why had they worked so hard to travel by flying sword before?

As it turned out, although the flying shuttle was comfortable, it was considerably slower than the flying sword.

A journey that should have taken one hour ultimately required three before they finally arrived unsteadily at the Tianling Sect’s gates.

Hua Ling was extremely displeased.

She never became dizzy while riding a flying sword, yet the flying shuttle had made her so disoriented that she could not even stand properly. Her caretaker had to carry her down in both hands.

Hua Ling: Just wait until I learn how to fly properly! I hate this!

The flying shuttle’s arrival attracted the attention of the disciples guarding the gate.

A green-robed demon cultivator with vertical pupils approached them.

Cheng Suxi had already changed back into her usual clothing during the journey. Recognizing the Qianyuan Sect’s robes, the demon cultivator stepped forward and bowed.

“I am Qingzhu, a disciple of the Tianling Sect. May I ask why this senior from the Qianyuan Sect has come to our sect?”

Cheng Suxi replied, “I am looking for Jiang Lingyu.”

The demon cultivator answered, “Senior Sister Jiang has been in seclusion for several months.”

Cheng Suxi frowned.

No wonder Jiang Lingyu had not responded to her voice transmission.

“Is Zhu Zhangfei here?”

“Senior Brother Zhu was sent by the Sect Master to exterminate several demonic beasts causing trouble. He has not yet returned.”

“What about Elder Chongming?”

“Elder Chongming left to search for alchemical ingredients and has not returned either.”

After asking for three people and discovering that none were present, Cheng Suxi was momentarily speechless.

While she was considering what to do, she suddenly remembered the injured bird inside the flying shuttle.

Her heart stirred.

“I rescued an underage Bluebird on the way here. It should be a disciple of your Tianling Sect.”

The vertical-pupiled demon cultivator’s expression immediately changed.

“It must be Qingyi!”

After the demon cultivator went to examine the flying shuttle, Hua Ling, who had been hiding inside her caretaker’s robes, finally poked out her head and released a long chirp.

Although the demon cultivator’s bloodline rank was lower than hers, the sinister aura belonging to a cold-blooded creature still made a hatchling as young as Hua Ling somewhat uncomfortable.

Seeing her behaving so timidly, Cheng Suxi found it amusing but did not expose her.

The vertical-pupiled demon cultivator had already confirmed the Bluebird’s identity. He turned and sincerely thanked Cheng Suxi.

“Thank you, Senior, for saving Qingyi.”

Cheng Suxi replied calmly, “There is no need for thanks.”

“Senior, please enter our Tianling Sect and rest for a while. I will immediately report this to the Sect Master.”

Cheng Suxi considered it briefly and did not refuse.

“Then I will trouble you.”

The vertical-pupiled demon cultivator summoned several disciples to carry the Bluebird inside.

Cheng Suxi put away the flying shuttle and followed one of the disciples into the Tianling Sect.

Along the way, Hua Ling discovered that the Tianling Sect was extremely unusual.

In addition to human cultivators, birds and beasts of every kind could be seen everywhere.

Hua Ling watched several tiny rabbits chase after a fox with an enormous tail. Other disciples walked past them with animal ears and tails, and even a squirrel in a nearby tree had thrown a pinecone at them.

“Senior, please forgive him. Jinli is rather mischievous,” the disciple leading them apologized.

Hua Ling: Oh. So that squirrel was also a demon cultivator.

Author’s Note

Hua Ling: Look! I have six tail feathers now!

Cheng Suxi: Are you displaying your tail at me because you want to court me?