The room was dim and chilly, the sound of a waterfall flowing from deep within the secret chamber echoed silently through the dark space.
Xie Xuan Yu’s gaze before he left was still vivid in her mind. Xi Ling turned her head, her eyes locking onto the vessel filled with elixirs.
This was not a place to linger. Before dawn, she needed to return to human form.
The little Parrot’s keen eyes flashed sharply. Shaking her feathers and gathering strength in her legs, she mustered all her effort to fly toward the shelf.
Thwack!
The Cat Master was quicker, extending a paw to capture the little Parrot.
Xi Ling’s beak collided with the shelf. Twisting her neck, her gaze met a pair of light green eyes.
If birds had any natural predators, cats would certainly be one. Even if a bird from the Spirit Clan cultivated and transformed into human form, they would still be at a disadvantage when facing a Spirit Cultivator whose original form was a cat.
Among the Six Realms, the cycle of mutual restraint was just like this.
But that applied to small birds. Xi Ling was a large bird—her True Form, when fully spread, spanned a thousand zhang in length. Naturally, she had nothing to fear.
However, in her current situation, the roles had suddenly reversed. This Black Cat had transformed into a colossal beast, its shadow cast down almost blotting out the sky.
Reflected in those turquoise-like eyes was her tiny bird face, its breath thick and intense.
“The boss says you’ve gained Spiritual Intelligence?”
The Black Cat brought its head closer, turning its eyes to examine her. “Still looks silly, doesn’t seem like it?”
The little Parrot was uncomfortable from being poked by its long whiskers. Struggling with her wings, she tried to slip through the gaps in the cat’s claws, only to be gripped tighter the next moment.
The Cat Master grew annoyed. “No running around! The boss is very good to you! Stay here quietly and heal. If you fly out recklessly next time, you might not be so lucky to survive!”
Holding Xi Ling with a single paw, it leaped off the shelf in one swift motion and stuffed the little Parrot into an iron cage.
The little Parrot chirped in protest.
The Cat Master said, “Stay put inside. I’m going out to feed the little pup.”
Xi Ling wondered: What kind of little pup needs a cat to feed it?
As if sensing Xi Ling’s thoughts, the Cat Master shot a sharp glance through the bars of the cage. “That little pup is sick and needs a cat to care for it. Not just it—you and me, we were all saved by the boss out of kindness. Don’t be ungrateful.”
After saying this, the Cat Master raised a paw menacingly. “Once your injuries are healed, the boss won’t stop you if you want to leave. But for now, no sneaking out! When the boss isn’t here, I’m in charge! If you run again, I’ll eat you, meow!”
After this threat, the little Parrot indeed dared not chirp anymore.
Yet, as soon as it turned its back, the little Parrot subtly shifted her body, extending a claw through the gaps.
The Cat Master seemed to have anticipated this. It dashed to a nearby cabinet and retrieved a Talisman and Spell.
With a slap, the moment the Talisman and Spell was affixed to the cage, a rich, pale blue light flowed from it, enveloping the cage completely.
The little Parrot tried to headbutt it, but the light transformed into a barrier, instantly bouncing her back into the cage.
Now, there was truly no way to escape.
The Cat Master placed its left paw over its right, admiring the little Parrot’s furious expression with a lazy posture. “This is a spell crafted by the boss. How could a dumb bird like you possibly escape? Rest easy inside. Tomorrow morning, this cat will naturally release you.”
It licked its paw and jumped off the table again.
Xi Ling watched the Cat Master leave, then raised her head to glance at the Talisman and Spell on the cage. A thought stirred within her. She took a step back, lifted a wing, and began to cast a spell.
Several strands of Spiritual Power gathered at the tip of her wing, surging toward the blue barrier.
The barrier rippled, showing wave-like patterns, and just as a crack seemed about to break through, it quickly sealed shut again.
Xi Ling refused to give up, gathering her spiritual power. Yet this time, the spiritual power didn’t even make it past the cage, and the barrier remained completely unmoved.
The talismans and spells pasted on the cage were actually quite simple, but for a tiny parrot with such low spiritual power, breaking them was as difficult as scaling the heavens.
The little parrot gently pressed her cheek against the iron bars, gazing at the shelf. That pill jar was clearly within reach, yet she couldn’t get to it no matter what.
The little parrot shivered, as if wanting to try again, when suddenly a piece of black cloth fell from outside, completely enveloping the cage from all sides. Everything turned pitch black, not a single ray of light able to penetrate.
Cat Master’s voice sounded outside the cage.
“The boss was right—you little birds are endlessly energetic all day long.”
“Go to sleep now. The boss will be back tomorrow morning.”
Xi Ling chirped a few times, calling for him to come back, but Cat Master paid no heed and strode away.
Xi Ling let out a long sigh. In her current situation, any further effort would be futile. Instead, each attempt to break the spell only drained the little bit of strength she had just recovered.
She could only take things one step at a time—first, conserve her energy and rest. Once she was out of the cage tomorrow morning, she would seize the pills while Cat Master was off guard.
Xi Ling looked up toward the top of the birdcage, gave a flutter of her wings, and landed with both feet on the perch.
The energy in this room was incompatible with her own, making it impossible for her to relax. She could only sleep standing up, staying alert.
If anything unexpected happened during the night, she would be able to react immediately.
The little parrot closed her eyes warily. At this moment, the commotion in the birdcage finally settled down.
The lamplight was dim, and in the quiet night, the occasional bark of a dog could be heard. The night was dark, and the darkness grew deeper.
“Wake up, wake up.”
Xi Ling heard a voice calling her and opened her eyes. Just then, a ray of light leaped into her vision, making her squint. When she focused, she saw that daylight had pierced the darkness—outside the window, the sky was bright.
The black cloth covering the birdcage had been removed, and the cage door was already open.
She shook her head, and the drowsiness in her mind instantly vanished.
Cat Master had his back to her, busily tidying something on the table.
Xi Ling tentatively extended a claw outside the cage. Seeing that Cat Master showed no reaction, she quickly pulled her other claw out as well. Just as she was about to sneak out of the cage, the black cat suddenly turned around, his gaze locking onto Xi Ling. The little parrot retracted her foot with lightning speed.
In Cat Master’s two furry paws, he held a small porcelain dish.
“Come and eat.”
Xi Ling was unwilling to go over. She glanced around and only then realized the environment had changed drastically—they were no longer in the secret chamber.
Cat Master grew impatient and tapped the dish. Under his watchful gaze, Xi Ling reluctantly moved forward.
However, there was no trace of that person’s presence in the room. Xi Ling sniffed the air, looked at Cat Master, and cautiously asked, “Where’s the boss?”
“You can call him ‘boss’ now?” Cat Master exclaimed in surprise. “The boss hasn’t returned yet.”
The little parrot chirped once and, following Cat Master’s words, obediently walked over to the bird dish.
Cat Master said, “Eat. I’ll pour you a bowl of water.”
Xi Ling stared at the food dish when a voice suddenly came from above her head: “Hey!”
Xi Ling looked up and only then noticed there was another bird in the room: a petite doudou, small enough to fit in one hand.
Doudou birds have existed since ancient times, but their numbers are now few and far between. The reason for this is that these birds aren’t very clever and struggle to survive in the wild.
This bird has a heavy head and a short tail, making it unstable when drinking water; it inevitably tips over and requires help from its own kind to hold its tail so it can lower its head to drink.
Its level of intelligence is evident from this.
The male bird before them was pure white all over, with rosy cheeks, jade-like and adorable. Its claws gripped the perch as it looked down from above, its feathered crown swaying in the wind, chirping incessantly—clearly possessing Spiritual Consciousness.
The male bird wore an arrogant expression, moving its claws to signal Xi Ling to come closer.
Xi Ling remained where she was, unmoving. The bird called out, “Hey!”
Cat Master, who was preparing bird food, turned around at the sound. “Wolong!”
The bird immediately shuddered.
Xi Ling blinked. How could someone give a little bird such a name? What, then, was the name of her current body?
Cat Master sharpened its claws menacingly. “Stop bullying Fengchu. You always fight with it for food, and that’s how you drove it away before. If you don’t behave today, I’ll tell the boss.”
How wicked.
Xi Ling thought to herself, no wonder the little Parrot had run away before.
But she had no time to deal with the bird now. Instead, she turned her attention to the dish of grains placed before her, lowering her beak to peck at the food.
Since taking human form, Xi Ling hadn’t eaten bird food in a long time, but she had no choice now—she needed to regain her strength to escape from Cat Master. Xi Ling accepted this quickly.
Cat Master raised a paw and gently stroked the little Parrot’s round head. “This was made by the boss himself.”
Xi Ling choked abruptly, coughing uncontrollably.
“What’s wrong?” Cat Master asked, puzzled. Seeing the little Parrot clutching its neck with its wings as if choking, it hurriedly brought over a water bowl.
Xi Ling’s face flushed red, and she hastily drank a few sips of water before recovering.
Wolong said, “The boss cooked for you. Aren’t you touched?”
Xi Ling gasped for breath, staring at the dish of grains.
Wolong asked, “Why aren’t you eating? If you don’t want it, can I have it?”
Xi Ling snapped out of her daze for only a moment before continuing to peck at the food. Now was not the time to dwell on whether to accept food offered condescendingly. She, Xi Ling, still knew what mattered most.
Wolong, watching from the side as Xi Ling devoured the food, also quickened its pecking, determined to compete in this matter.
After they finished eating, Cat Master came forward to clear the dishes for the two birds.
As it turned to wash the dishes by the pond, Wolong silently approached Xi Ling’s side, leaning its head closer. “Did you really cry last time I bullied you?”
Xi Ling was preoccupied, thinking about how to enter yesterday’s Secret Chamber to find the elixir. She had no time for the bird and moved aside to avoid it.
Wolong leaned in again, its tone mocking. “I’m the boss’s favorite little bird. Did you think the boss liked you? Impossible! Otherwise, why would he only look for you after you’d been missing for several days?”
Xi Ling shifted to another angle, turning her back to it.
Wolong chirped incessantly, and among the many bird calls, Xi Ling keenly caught the last sentence.
“Fengchu, you’re just like that Little Azure Luan in the Academy—the boss finds you annoying.”
Xi Ling turned her head. “What?”
Seeing she finally reacted, Wolong ruffled its wings, puffing up all its feathers, ready to strike.
“That’s right. Your original feather color was the same as that Little Azure Luan’s—both pale green. The boss doesn’t like the Little Azure Luan, so he definitely doesn’t like you either, especially now that you’ve turned into this ugly appearance—ah!”
Mid-sentence, its words were viciously cut off by the little Parrot.
Wolong had bullied the little Parrot for so long that he assumed she would just endure it as usual. But this time, the little Parrot suddenly erupted with an inexplicable surge of strength, fiercely grabbing his neck and pummeling him wildly like a mad creature.
Pinned to the ground and having his feathers plucked, Wolong screamed pitifully, clutching his rear as he scrambled to escape. Yet the little Parrot was so vicious, relentlessly beating him all the way into a corner without any intention of stopping.
“It hurts, it hurts… you crazy bird…”
Their kind was already scarce in number, and because of their endearing appearance, they were quite popular among the Winged Clan. But today, he was actually being kicked and punched by a Parrot, flung into the air, and then slammed back to the ground?!
All he did was comment on how ugly its wings were—why such an extreme reaction?!
“Meow!”
Outside the door, Cat Master heard the commotion and came rushing over.
As the door opened, another presence made itself known. Xi Ling immediately reacted, pretending to faint on the table.
Perched on Xie Xuan Yu’s shoulder, Cat Master followed him inside and saw the scene: the table was in disarray, feathers fluttering about, and household dishes lay shattered across the floor.
The little Parrot lay weakly on the table, clutching its chest, twitching and rolling in pain.
“It hurts…”
As for Wolong, he was flapping his wings, gathering strength to pounce on the Parrot.
Cat Master was furious: “Wolong, you’re bullying Fengchu again!”
Hearing this, the little Parrot lifted its head, tears welling in its eyes, and flew toward Xie Xuan Yu, who caught it in his embrace.
Wolong, belatedly realizing what was happening, turned around to see the little Parrot nestled against Xie Xuan Yu’s neck, its claws tightly wrapped around him. “It hurts,” it whimpered, its voice delicate and utterly fragile.
Wolong: …
Xie Xuan Yu gently pried open its small claws, revealing palms red and bleeding. Paired with its tearful, pitiful expression, it looked even more heartrending.
Cat Master exclaimed, “Fengchu’s claws are scratched and bleeding!”
Wolong’s eyes widened: That blood on her claws came from beating me senseless!
Clutching his chest, Wolong trembled as he raised a wing, crying out mournfully, “Boss.”
What met him, however, was his master’s cold, scrutinizing gaze.
“Cat Master, confine him.”
Wolong erupted in rage: “Why won’t you believe me?!”
“With such vigor in your voice, who could possibly bully you?” Cat Master jumped down from Xie Xuan Yu’s shoulder, glancing first at Wolong—with his glossy feathers and sturdy build—and then at Fengchu, who looked as if she had been charred black. He promptly pinned Wolong down firmly.
“Fengchu is so delicate—how could she possibly deceive anyone?”
Buried against Xie Xuan Yu’s neck, the little Parrot gave a slight nod, chirping mournfully. Tears welled up in its grape-like, watery eyes, dripping down its thunder-scorched cheeks, making it appear even more pitiable.
Summoning her strength, she wiped away her tears and stretched her claws out before him.
“Boss, Spiritual Elixir.”
Xie Xuan Yu turned his gaze toward her.
Xi Ling extended her claws further. “It hurts, I need Spiritual Elixir.”
His gaze lingered for a long time, making Xi Ling uneasy. She held her breath, wondering if he had noticed something amiss.
Just then, Cat Master returned after confining Wolong in the Secret Chamber and said, “Boss, why are you bleeding so much? Are you alright?”
Cat Master lifted a paw, wiped some of the blood from Xie Xuan Yu’s body, brought it to his mouth for a tentative lick, then turned pale and collapsed to the ground, retching.
Xie Xuan Yu replied calmly, “That’s not my blood.”
As he spoke, he reached to untie his belt and actually began removing his outer robe. Xi Ling, feeling as if facing a great enemy, quickly covered her eyes with her wings, then peeked through a small gap.
Not only the outer robe, but the inner garments of the person before them were also soaked with fresh blood, dripping and splattering heavily onto the ground.
Cat Master licked another drop of blood and finally realized, “There’s the blood of sixteen or seventeen people? And all of them were powerful cultivators on the verge of stepping into the Transcendent Realm before becoming immortals. How many Spirit Cultivators did you kill last night, boss?”
“Didn’t count.”
Didn’t count. Naturally, it meant killing every one that came.
Xie Xuan Yu took the handkerchief handed to him and leisurely wiped his fingers. When he looked up and saw a speck of bloodstain on his Adam’s apple in the mirror, he frowned and clicked his tongue softly.
Xi Ling stood nearby, quietly watching him converse with Cat Master.
She had lowered her posture and pretended to be a Spirit Pet in order to obtain the Spiritual Elixir, but Xie Xuan Yu hadn’t even glanced at her properly. Just as Xi Ling was about to flap her wings and leave his shoulder, a slender hand pressed her down the next moment.
The warm pad of his finger pried open her beak, and a vermilion-red pill was pushed inside.
Xi Ling: “Mmm…”
“Since you’ve gained Spiritual Consciousness, learn to be smarter. Don’t let other birds bully you anymore, understand?” Xie Xuan Yu said lazily.
Cat Master: “Boss, you still have to attend classes at the Academy Halls later. Hurry and change into clean clothes.”
Xie Xuan Yu strode toward the inner chamber, leaving Xi Ling hovering in mid-air, wide-eyed.
After swallowing the pill, a rich surge of Spiritual Power immediately gathered in her abdomen and flowed into her Dantian. The little parrot chirped softly, her voice light and crisp.
Xi Ling held her breath and waited patiently. Only after Xie Xuan Yu changed his clothes and left, and Cat Master also exited the room, did she quietly slip into the inner chamber, preparing to transform into human form.
The little parrot formed hand seals with her wings, and a layer of clear light condensed around her, glowing with a warm hue.
In the nearby Water Mirror Stone, the petite figure of the parrot was reflected.
A gentle summer breeze blew in, rustling the flowering trees outside. Amidst the swaying light and shadows in the room, the little parrot dissolved into a wisp of black smoke.
The black smoke swayed with the wind, gradually turning cyan. A slender, graceful female figure materialized from within—her dark hair cascading down her back, her skin glowing like snow under the light. As the cyan smoke grew thinner, barely enough to cover her body, the last wisp transformed into a cyan silk dress that clung to her form.
Xi Ling’s feet touched the ground. She raised her hand to examine her palm, a faint smile curling her lips.
That Tri-Element Taiyi Pill truly was a top-grade elixir. After taking it, her cultivation had greatly advanced, finally allowing her to regain human form. Though temporary, it could at least be maintained for a while.
She needed to hurry back to the dormitory to send a message to Father King and Mother Queen.
But just then, Cat Master’s voice sounded from the outer room.
“Boss, you forgot your sword.”
“Where did you leave it?”
“In the inner chamber.”
Xi Ling turned her head, her expression changing abruptly.
In the blink of an eye, the shadows of a man and a cat had already reached close by, falling upon the curtain separating the inner and outer chambers.
A breeze swept in, gently parting the curtain.
The hem of Xie Xuan Yu’s garment sleeves drifted into Xi Ling’s line of sight.