Chapter 317: I am an Ancient Celestial Bird!
You could say that without this treasure, Meng Hao would not have the Cultivation base he did. Nor would he have been able to travel to the Southern Domain, or join the Violet Fate Sect. He would still be in the State of Zhao, floating with that old turtle Patriarch Reliance, off in some unknown location.
Memories flitted through Meng Hao’s eyes. So many things had happened since he had acquired this copper mirror that so loved to emit an aura that browbeat creatures of fur and feather. Furthermore, it had a Heaven defying ability of duplication.
Then there was the painful abhorrence the meat jelly showed toward it. The meat jelly had gone so far as to take the form of a parrot, in which it constantly chattered and gnashed its teeth.
Meng Hao thought back to the time he had left the Blood Immortal Legacy tournament, and had touched the blood-colored mask. Thanks to the Li Clan Patriarch, he had almost lost control of his mind; it was only the bird call from within the copper mirror that had enabled him to avoid calamity. 1
Then there was the time in the ancient Blessed Land, when the power of the copper mirror had enabled him to step foot into the square cauldron, despite the fact that he did not possess an ancient bloodline. 2
The instant Meng Hao had reached Core Formation, he had felt an aura awakening within the copper mirror.
“Parrot….” he said, his eyes glittering. His Violet Core began to rotate as he drew on the power of his Cultivation base. Guiding it with his will, he sent it through his right hand and into the mirror.
The mirror gradually began to emit a mysterious glow. The light grew more intense, and then suddenly the meat jelly flew out from the blood-colored mask in his bag of holding. It emerged in a beam of light, and the face of the old man appeared on its surface.
Its eyes glistened with stubbornness, determination and sincerity, as if it were about to face its greatest enemy. Its expression also contained a bit of holiness, as if it were its mission to participate in a great battle that would decide the fate of all the stars in existence.
“Evil archenemy, you finally appear,” it said, its face filled with a sacred air. “I’ve been waiting for you for a very, very long time. This time, the first thing you’ll see when you awaken is me. I will definitely convert you. I will bring you back from the path of wickedness.” The meat jelly actually seemed a bit less long-winded than before. A pedantic air slowly began to grow thicker and thicker around it.
Ignoring the meat jelly, Meng Hao concentrated, focusing on his Cultivation base and sending a continuous flow of power into the copper mirror, which seemed like a bottomless pit. Time slowly passed by, and soon Meng Hao was using nearly sixty percent of his Cultivation base.
It was then that the glow in the mirror exploded out. A phantom image began to appear above the surface of the mirror.
It was still very blurry.
“Come out, my archenemy!” said the meat jelly solemnly. “Come out! We are destined to fight this battle. Come out! Uh… hey, Meng Hao, push a littler harder. He’s almost out!”
Hearing the meat jelly’s voice caused Meng Hao to remember something, and he cleared his throat. Actually, one of the main goals in causing the spirit to emerge from the mirror was because he wanted it to deal with the meat jelly. Perhaps it would be able to suppress the thing’s chattering.
He took a deep breath, and then sent out more power from his Cultivation base. Seventy percent, eighty percent, ninety percent….
The image above the mirror began to grow clearer. It was now obviously the shape of a bird. It was covered with colourful feathers, gaudy even. Its eyes were closed, and it had a curved beak and sharp claws. Actually, it’s appearance wasn’t perverted in the way the meat jelly’s had been when it assumed the parrot form. Instead, it exuded an air of extreme, wild arrogance. Even asleep, the arrogant aura seemed to buffet against Meng Hao’s face.
“What an evil aura,” said the meat jelly, trembling. “That’s it! That’s its aura. The appearance is dead on! This is my archenemy. This is my mission in life. I will convert it!” The air of holiness swirled around the meat jelly even more thickly.
Meng Hao suddenly felt weak inside. It caused him a bit of alarm; perhaps it hadn’t been the best decision to call to the spirit after having just recovered from his injuries. If he sustained any injuries now, then he wouldn’t be able to provide the power the copper mirror needed. That would result in further nasty injuries to himself.
Time passed. Just as Meng Hao’s Cultivation base was almost completely pouring into the copper mirror, suddenly, a shrill cry echoed out from within. It contained vast arrogance and immense bossiness.
The sound of it echoed about, in such a way that would cause any living creature that heard it to bow in veneration.
As the cry echoed out, the parrot above the mirror suddenly opened its eyes. A bright light shone out, along with a blast of aura that felt like Immortal Qi; it emanated out, filling the entire Immortal’s cave.
It had a blank look in its eyes, as well as an archaic air. It only took a moment for haughtiness to appear; clearly, its body was that of a small bird, but anyone who looked at it would get the feeling it could split the Heavens and rend the Earth in two.
Even the very air in the area seemed to grow thicker.
The meat jelly emitted a howl that made it difficult to determine whether it was excited or furious. It immediately appeared directly in front of the parrot and looked it dead in the eye. “Look at me, my archenemy. Do you see who I am?”
The parrot looked back at the meat jelly, and a cool look of contempt appeared. Its expression was arrogant to the extreme as it tilted its head back to look at Meng Hao.
Meng Hao didn’t move or say anything. He took a few steps back, looking at the parrot and meat jelly, and also working on recovering his Cultivation base. Based on his experience with the meat jelly, he figured that his best course of action was to first observe what was going to happen.
The meat jelly gave an angry howl, then it flickered, moving to block the parrot’s line of sight.
The meat jelly stared at the parrot, and as it did, it seemed all enmity bubbled up.“Archenemy of my life, the Heavens have opened their eyes, and seen fit to allow us to meet again. You are evil! Immoral! So tell me, do you remember me?” The color of the meat jelly’s body changed into a turbulent blur as it shouted, “Speak! Why don’t you speak!? You wicked, perverted bird! Why don’t you speak!” It had waited many years; now the parrot was here in front of it, but wasn’t responding.
Then.
“Are you crazy? Screw your sister, b*tch!” squawked the parrot, its face filled with impatience.
Immediately, the meat jelly’s eyes began to gleam; this reaction on the part of the parrot seemed to be in line with the wickedness it remembered.
“Cursing at people is wrong,” said the meat jelly solemnly. “You’ve sinned yet again!”
“Screw your granny! Screw your aunt! Screw your other granny! Screw your uncle! Screw your grandkids! Screw your sister, b*tch!” The parrot slowly said one sentence after another, ignoring the suddenly trembling meat jelly. It flapped its wings a few times, and then flew up into the air, making a few circles around the Immortal’s cave. Eventually, it landed on Meng Hao’s shoulder and looked over at him arrogantly.
“So, you’re my master in this world? Remember my name, Lord Fifth. I’m an ancient Celestial bird. After being born, I was revered and respected. Even the Heavens bowed their head to me. Before I was born, no living creature wore clothes. After I was born, who dared not to? Before me, no spirit creatures had fur or feathers. After my birth, great aspirations burned, and furred and feathered beasts were required in Heaven and Earth. After that, which creatures in the world dared NOT grow furs or feathers!
“On the outside, I permit you to call upon my name,” it said arrogantly. “When the name of Lord Fifth is spoken, all living creatures become terror-stricken. No one will dare to offend you. That is because within the entire world, in and out of the Heavens, if anyone offends me, I screw them to death!” Its domineering air leaked out, filling the area. However… Meng Hao had a strange look on his face. From his perspective, he was looking at nothing but a colorful, boasting bird.
Off to the side, the meat jelly solemnly said, “Boasting is immoral! You’ve sinned yet again! I will convert you!” An air of righteousness shot out from it toward the parrot. However, as it neared, a look of disdain filled the parrot’s face, and its arrogance grew even thicker, as if it were the boss, and the Heavens were its assistant.
Looking at the meat jelly, it said, “Years ago, countless almighty beings refined the Milky Way into a statue for me in the Flaming Mountains. Do you want to know why? Long ago, deep within the Star Sea, I forced thirty-thousand Great Peace virgin Daoist nuns to bathe in front of me. Do you want to know why they agreed?
“Countless years ago, who was the greatest bully in all the stars? Furthermore, do you remember the fatso who ambushed you that one time, and then kowtowed to me for a hundred thousand years? Do you want to know where he is now? Do you want to learn how to count past one, two, three?” The parrot’s words came out slowly, and as they did, the meat jelly slowly began to stop moving. By the time the parrot finished, it was staring mutely, its faced filled with conflict. However, it still seemed able to suppress its curiosity.
The parrot eyed the meat jelly with a look of utmost haughtiness. “If you want to know, then you need to behave a bit better in front of Lord Fifth. Bitch, I haven’t seen you for years, and yet you’re still completely retarded!”
Witnessing all this, Meng Hao suddenly realized how the parrot was able to deal with the meat jelly. The meat jelly was incredibly curious, and this was actually its greatest weakness.
That having been said, Meng Hao had the feeling that the personality of this parrot was a bit different than that portrayed earlier by the meat jelly. He wasn’t able to sense any perverted air on it, only wild arrogance.
It was at this moment that the parrot’s beak suddenly clicked, and a suspicious expression appeared on its face. It looked around for a moment, then flew into the air, circling a few more times around the Immortal’s cave.
“Eee?” it said suspiciously as it flew around. “This isn’t right. What smell is that?”
This immediately aroused the curiosity of the meat jelly, and it also began to look around dubiously. When it saw the parrot seemingly sniffing for something, a popping sound suddenly rang out as it transformed into a big white dog. It pushed its nose into the ground and began nosing about, wagging its tail.
“What the heck is it?” the meat jelly asked after sniffing around for a while. “I don’t smell anything! What are you smelling?” It looked up curiously at the parrot.
“You don’t understand crap! It doesn’t matter if you turn into a dog, you wouldn’t be able to smell anything. I’m an ancient Celestial bird, esteemed in all the Heavens! These black colored lands have a very curious aura. I’ve already determined what it is. Amazing! Incredible! Ahh, now I understand what’s going on.” The arrogant look on its face made it seem as if it understood everything within Heaven and Earth.
The meat jelly’s face twisted with unbearable curiosity. It seemed to itch with anxiety. Apparently it didn’t matter which form it took, it wouldn’t be able to detect this supposed aura.
Off to the side, Meng Hao watched the commotion. Hearing the dialogue between the two, he suddenly thought back to the words spoken by the Demon Sealing Jade when he entered the Black Lands, and felt a twinge of excitement.
“So what’s so special about this place?” he asked.
The parrot glanced back at him; the look said that it was an ancient Celestial parrot, and that it didn’t need to explain anything to him. It continued flying around, a look of arrogance on its face, as if it were matchlessly unique in all Heaven and Earth.
Meng Hao frowned and then coolly said, “Well, anybody can brag. If you don’t know the answer, there’s no need to go about pretending like you do.” He was of the Core Formation stage. On his path to becoming a powerful expert, and having experienced what he did at the Rebirth Cave, he was able to speak his words in a completely dull tone, as if he weren’t the least bit upset, and also completely confident in himself.
His words caused the parrot to immediately stop in mid-flight. All of the colorful feathers on its body stood on end, and it glared at Meng Hao, looking as if it had been woefully dishonored.
“I don’t know? I’m an ancient Celestial bird! I know about the Immortals above and the mortals below! You think there’s something Lord Fifth doesn’t know? I know everything!”
“You really don’t need to boast,” replied Meng Hao quickly. His heart trembled, and his eyes shone with a strange light.
—–
This chapter was sponsored by Jean Augusto Soutes, Lim Derek, Dante Madut, and Hendra Susanto
1. The event with the blood-colored mask happened in chapter 137
2. The event regarding the cauldron was in chapter 158