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Chapter 182: Time Adjustment Device
Shao Bai’s hand, which was currently stroking Zhu Yao’s feathers, paused, the gentleness on his face dampened a little.
“Shao Bai, you should know, Little Sixth, that child…”
“None of my business.” Shao Bai suddenly interrupted her words, and he lightly glanced at Xian Yu. “His return is all based on the Patriarch’s decision.”
“…” Xian Yu was speechless, the expressions on her face changed several times, and only a long while later did she chuckle. “Little Seventh has already returned home for such a long time, but have yet to see her sixth elder brother. Are you really not allowing her to see him?”
Shao Bai frowned, his face was filled with disapproval. Picking up the fruits, he fed them to Zhu Yao one at a time. He did not reply, as though he was giving a silent refusal. It felt as though the word ‘oppressive’ was floating in the air.
Zhu Yao silently swallowed the fruits, her head was filled with cold sweat. Hey, if you two are fighting, there’s no need to pull me into this as well, right? If you feed me anymore, I’m going to explode!
Also, who the hell is that Little Sixth? He actually angered the good-tempered Shao Bai. Such talent!
Even after a long time, Xian Yu did not receive his answer, and was gradually turning a little disappointed. After a while, she sighed. “Forget it, then have Little Seventh have a look at her eighth little brother, he’s already here.”
This time, Shao Bai did not reject it.
A moment later, a tall man, with a muscular build, entered the door. Being carried in his arms was a child of about three to four years old, and as he walked, he heartily smiled and gave his greetings. “Hello, Little Seventh.”
“Hello, Little Third!” Zhu Yao faced the person who was said to be her third elder brother, and once again waved her wings. Unfortunately, she could only voice out: “Chi!”
“Mother, second elder brother.” Little Third nodded to the two people, and placed the little child in his arms next to Zhu Yao. “Hey Little Seventh, this is your eighth little brother.”
Only then did Zhu Yao begin to size this child up. He was also a boy as well, and his round little face looked very cute. Currently, he was looking entirely serious, and even after being placed on the bed, he did not speak a word. He simply sized up Zhu Yao, who was still in her bird form, with a serious look.
The parental relationships within the Phoenix Clan was determined by the first person one saw after reincarnation. Whenever a phoenix was being reborn, the clansmen would all sense it, which caused the relationships within the clan to be extremely complicated, and generally, most of them would have more than a single child. Just by the Patriarch’s family alone, it was made up of nine people.
The child in front of her eyes, should be the youngest phoenix.
After Little Third placed him down, he seemed to have some matters to discuss with Shao Bai and Xian Yu. After leaving behind a few words to the two of them, they went out. In the house, only Zhu Yao and the person who was said to be her eighth little brother, were left looking at each other.
After a while, that child coldly snorted. “Tch.”
“…” She was being scorned, right?
“I don’t like you!” The little wimp rolled his eyes widely at her.
You think knowing how to roll your eyes is incredible? I even know how to do a cross-eye! She gathered her two pupils at the center, and stared back at him.
The little wimp’s little face frowned, as he began to scorn her even more. “You’re ugly!”
“…” A blade stabbed into her chest.
“You don’t even have a tail.”
“…” Uh, she simply had yet to grown one out.
“You actually still dare to run about with those naked buttocks.”
“…” Where did he see her run about? She clearly suppressed herself from doing so already.
“I don’t want to play with you.” He sized her up with a glance, and then added. “You naked buttocks person!”
Zhu Yao simply felt a few blades being penetrated straight into her heart. As expected, she hated little children the most. Every single one of them was the type where they wouldn’t learn without a beating.
“Why aren’t you talking?” Seeing that she wasn’t replying, the little wimp was furious.
“…” She had to be capable of speaking first, little bastard.
“Is it because you know you’re too ugly, that’s why you don’t dare to speak up?”
“…”
“Mn, you’re aware of your ugliness, you can still be saved!”
The hell, you forced me.
Zhu Yao became furious. Her claw stretched towards the pouch at the side, grabbed onto a handful of golden melon seeds, and scattered them below the bed.
The little wimp’s eyes instantly widened, as he let out an excited “Chi!”. In an instant, he turned into a golden phoenix the size of a table, got down from the bed, and began picking up the melon seeds.
Zhu Yao coldly smiled. An idiot that could be settled with just a handful of melon seeds, how could he possibly have the qualifications to scorn her?
Wait a minute!
Why was she having a dispute with a little wimp?
Where did her logic and reason as a matured person go?
Zhu Yao hugged her head with her wings, and sank into a deep self-reprimand state…
Looking at the little phoenix which was about done cleaning up the melon seeds on the ground, she could not help but casually grab another handful of them. Ah, is there anyone here who can stop this evil claw of mine?
Hence, when the three matured old phoenixes returned, what they saw was a scene of a “good elder sister and little brother relationship”. One of them was calmly sitting on the bed spreading melon seeds, while the other was excitedly picking up the melon seeds on the ground.
From that day on, Little Eighth no longer came to see her. An awe-inspiring god-beast phoenix, was fed like a chicken. Zhu Yao wondered, when he regained his senses, would it leave behind some sort of childhood dark history? However, Shao Bai did not blame her, and simply smiled with a face filled with warmth, as he once again prepared another two bags of melon seeds.
Mn, as expected of a good brother, great work.
Her feathered tail had still yet to grow out, and her body did not grow either. She was beginning to feel that she wasn’t a phoenix, but rather, a close relative of a phoenix… a chicken. Every single time she saw that bare and naked back of hers, she would feel deep sadness. In the past, she wasn’t really concerned of it. After being called out in such a manner by Little Eighth, she no longer dared to leave the house with naked buttocks. Otherwise, she would feel that she was really lacking morals.
As time went by, she was beginning to think of her master. Logically speaking, he couldn’t have possibly thrown her aside and not care about her. But after such a long time, not even his shadow could be seen. Actually, ever since she saw that huge tree, she was faintly beginning to guess that this place basically wasn’t Divine Realm. The reason why her master had yet to find her, was most possibly because he couldn’t reach this place. They were simply not in the same realm.
Zhu Yao was a little saddened. This was yet another time, other than the time when her master ascended, where she and he were separated between different realms. And this time, she most probably wouldn’t be able to contact him.
This was the first time Zhu Yao did not even know what the actual bug was, which stirred her desire to go on strike.
Even Realmspirit could have a vacation, why couldn’t she have time to properly make love, bastard!
During the days without her master, time passed very slowly.
‘Ting!’
A conversation window suddenly appeared in front of her.
Dear, are you still frustrated about time moving too slow? Are you still sighing about the pain of cultivation? Have you ever felt hateful because of a painful experience during your past cultivation? Then leave it to the Time Adjustment Device. It allows you to gain the experience of passing ten thousand years in an instant, speedily achieving your target. Finishing one’s cultivation in a single minute is not a dream! Not a dream! Not a dream! An important catchphrase must be repeated thrice! This adjustment device is small and convenient, and can be carried everywhere with you. Once bound, it can be used for eternity, it’s new without any scars, and its design can be catered to all your various perverted requirements! If you use it now, you can even personally choose the amount of time to adjust, without the slightest of flaw. What are you waiting for? Hurry and raise your little claws, and make haste to click on ‘confirm’!
Choose: [One Hundred Years] or [One Thousand Years] or [Ten Thousand Years] or [Random]
Where did this immoral advertisement pop out from? Do you believe I will head over to Consumers Association to launch a complaint on you!? And what’s this Time Adjustment Device? Does it allow me to adjust time? You watched too many sci-fi movies, didn’t you?
‘Ting!’
The ten second countdown for this selection shall begin. If user does not choose an option by the end of the countdown, the [Random] option will be selected.
7, 6, 5, 4…
The hell, this was forced purchase of goods! Recalling the [Bi-Gender] option back then, she hurriedly raised her wing and pressed on the [One Hundred Years] option, but even after pressing on it consecutively, there wasn’t any response. The countdown continued.
Are you kidding me? She basically wasn’t able to choose at all. It was evidently trolling her.
3, 2, 1.
Ting! Time allocated to make a choice is up, we will now proceed with the [Random] option. ps: These buttons make use of the most advanced fingerprint recognition technology, and can be used to recognize any form of fingerprints. pps: A friendly reminder, feathers cannot be recognized.
Zhu Yao lowered her head and looked at her own wings. Flips table! Realmspirit, you best get your ass here right now!
The screen in front of her flashed, and a screen similar to a lottery slot game suddenly appeared, and the five rows began to start spinning.
The first number that appeared was a ‘zero’. Zhu Yao heaved a sigh of relief. Luckily, she wouldn’t instantly skip through more than a ten thousand years.
The second number was similarly a ‘zero’. It seemed like at the very most, only more than hundred years would pass. Good, good.
The third number was a ‘four’. Four hundred odd years. Alright, it was acceptable.
The fourth number was a “three”. Zhu Yao had a bad premonition.
The fifth number spun a few rounds, before stably stopping at the number ‘eight’.1
“…” Zhu Yao instantly felt like exacting revenge on society.
She took a deep breath. She thought for a moment, just what kind of method would allow her to vent off her anger a little bit better?
The hell! Dumb bitch, who the hell are you cussing at!? You’re playing me for a fool, right? If you have the guts, come out right now. I shall give you a free ticket back to your mother’s womb for deep reform.
‘Ting!’
The screen flashed, and the lottery slot disappeared. However, the scenery in her surroundings, began to start changing, as though she was walking through a revolving door. Similar to pressing the ‘fast forward’ button, different human figures passed by. The speed grew even faster, and not long after, she could only see the colours of flowing light.
This was time adjustment?
The flowing lights moved for about half a minute, before beginning to slow down. Gradually, she could see human figures. People she was familiar with, and people whom she was not familiar with, were walking in and out the house, and the person whose figure appeared the most was Shao Bai. It then finally stopped.
Four hundred and thirty-eight years passed by just like that?
Regaining her senses, there were only Shao Bai and her in the room. He still looked the same as before, although there seemed to a hint of maturity added between his brows. Yet, he still carried a warm expression, coaxing her with a gentle voice. “Little sister, this is very simple. As long as you follow my instructions, you can immediately materialize a human form.”
Materialize a human form? Zhu Yao frowned. Suddenly, a large amount of memories flowed into her mind, and they were events that happened in these four hundred odd years. She actually spent four hundred odd years, and she was still a bird! The only difference was that she was now a little bigger than before, and her tail had still not grown out yet either. Although she knew that the lifespan of a god was limitless, it was growing a little too slow, wasn’t it?
“Be obedient. Haven’t you been wanting to change your feathers? After transforming into your human form, you will be able to change them then.” Shao Bai continued to coax her.
The corner of Zhu Yao’s lips twitched. What’s with this tone that sounded similar to coaxing a child? After thinking carefully for a moment, within those additional memories… Alright, during the past four hundred years, she had indeed led a very childish lifestyle.
“Oh, can you repeat the method of materializing a human form again?” After crossing through time, the only thing she was happy about was that she could finally speak.
Seeing her open her mouth, Shao Bai heaved a sigh of relief. He then told her the method again, and he even grabbed onto her claws to demonstrate the method of circulating godly energy as well.
Zhu Yao carefully sensed it, and realized that this method was similar to the way she transformed while she was a dragon back then. Looking at it this way, she was a little experienced with it, it seemed.
Hence, she hustled a few steps forward, arriving at a place that was a little wider. After taking a deep breath, she began circulating the already dense amount of energy within her body. In an instant, her entire bird body emitted out a red light, enveloping her entire being within, and slowly, she gained the look of a human figure.
After about an hour, that red light finally faded, revealing a girl wearing a rainbow-colored feathered dress. Zhu Yao moved her hands and legs, and the clothes followed her movements, as though it was flowing, looking really beautiful.
“How is it?” Zhu Yao wasn’t able to see her own look, so she could only wave her hands at Shao Bai. “Do I look beautiful?”
“Mn, very beautiful.” Shao Bai’s smile looked like the warm sun on a winter day, nodding.
Zhu Yao was satisfied. The phoenix was the most beautiful bird in the world, so she believed her human form wouldn’t be that ugly. These clothes on her especially, should have been formed by her feathers. In the past, when her body was filled with feathers, she didn’t really feel it. But now that they had turned into her clothes, they looked unexpectedly beautiful.
Zhu Yao tugged onto the corner of her dress, and lowered her head and inspected it, looking very satisfied. She then turned her head around to look at her back.
Only to see between the rainbow-colored feathers, were two pieces of snow-white…
“…”
Mn, it’s definitely her seeing things.
Hence, she closed her eyes, and opened them again…
A moment later.
“Ah!!!!!!!!!!!!” She let out a miserable cry that rang throughout the clouds.
Why was her back naked!? And it’s even at the position where her buttocks were. Were the clothes of the Ancient Era this trendy?
She suddenly recalled that she was lacking her feathered tail.
And she was even streaking with her buttocks bare the entire time!!!!
“Little sister!” Shao Bai was shocked from her sudden miserable cry, as he asked. “What’s wrong?” He heart-achingly put her in his embrace, and his line of sight naturally landed on…
“Release me!” Zhu Yao then realized this, and pushed him away, and her two hands were placed behind her back, onto the two naked cheeks, that were starting to feel chilly from the wind.
“Little sister…” In an instant, Shao Bai’s face turned bright red. Approaching her was wrong, and not approaching her was wrong too.
He saw it, right? He definitely saw it, right? Although she no longer had much morals left, streaking was something she really wouldn’t do. Don’t stop me. I want to die now.
“Kuh kuh…” Shao Bai coughed a few times, forcefully calming himself down. Though, his face was still fiery hot, as he stretched out a hand, and chanted out a piece of white long cloth, passing it to her. “First, use this to cover it up! Your feathered tail has yet to grow out, so with your feathers transforming into clothes, it will naturally… ahem, don’t worry. No one else saw it.”
Didn’t you see it?
Zhu Yao pulled the piece of cloth over, and then, circled it around her waist, making a total of three knots. Only after making sure it was deadly tight, did she then release her hands.
Shao Bai sized her up for a moment, and the redness on his face subsided. Recalling the look she had earlier while she was jumping around, and could not help turning around, his shoulders intensely trembled.
“If you want to laugh, then laugh!” Zhu Yao glared at him.
“Hahahahaha…” Shao Bai really began to unceremoniously laugh out loud, his hands pressing on his stomach.
She had simply forgotten that she had yet to grow out her feathered tail, yet he was laughing to that extent. He’s not giving her face at all.
“Is it really that funny?” Zhu Yao suddenly felt her teeth itching, as she coldly snorted. “When your buttocks were naked, I saw them too.”
Shao Bai was startled. He stopped his laughter, and looked over to her.
“Not just your naked buttocks, back then, with just your ragged cloth, I saw them all.” Zhu Yao gleefully said. “Though, you were just a little wimp back then. I guess it’s evened out now.”
“When I was a child?” Shao Bai’s eyes brightened for a moment, and a hint of something seemed to have flashed past his face. Very quickly, it disappeared again, and what replaced it was a hint of sadness. Sighing lightly, he then said. “Little sister, you’re making up nonsense. How could you possibly have seen how I looked when I was younger? You, after all, have spent two thousand years to hatch from your egg.”
“Who’s making up nonsense!” Zhu Yao rolled her eyes at him. In any case, it was something that had already happened before, so she wasn’t afraid of him knowing. “Back then, when you were that young, I was still in my egg. Oh right, I even brought you out of that ghastly place.”
He suddenly widened his eyes, and his face was filled with disbelief. “You remembered!?”
“Mn.” Zhu Yao nodded.
Shao Bai suddenly revealed a gentle smile, it was as though at that moment, a hundred flowers bloomed, and rays of light filled the entire sky.
Zhu Yao was an irregularity in the Phoenix Clan. Phoenixes were able to transform the moment they were born, while she was the only phoenix in history who had to spend more than four hundred years before she could succeed in materializing her human form. Regarding this point, to someone like Zhu Yao who had always been reinforced by cheats, and completely did not have to waste any effort in cultivation, she was very depressed. There was this sour feeling of a school tyrant falling from grace…
And during her first transformation, her morals had already completely fallen off. She really did not hold any expectations on her looks and figure of her own human form. Until the moment she first saw her face in the mirror, she barely held her jaw in place from shock.
She wondered if Realmspirit had gathered all of her points in beauty during her several reincarnations and added into this avatar this time. The reflection in the mirror, was simply too beautiful to the point of being impossible to look straight in the eyes in. Every single piece of her figure seemed to have been carefully crafted, an additional point would be too much, while if there was anything less, it would have been too lacking. It was beyond perfect.
Zhu Yao instantly felt that the morals she dropped in the afternoon earlier, had been picked right back up. She could not help but sigh at how the genes of phoenixes were simply too wonderful.
“Little sister, are you done?” Shao Bai opened the door and entered, his smile was filled with gentleness. “We should get going?”
“Where to?” Zhu Yao glanced at him, before immediately shifting her line of sight back to the mirror. Just why was she this beautiful?
“Naturally, to the Pavilion of Revelations. What? You don’t want to go?” Shao Bai asked.
“I don’t want to!” Zhu Yao raised the mirror in her hands. “Right now, I just want to quietly marvel at my beauty.”
Shao Bai shook his head. Stepping forward, he took away the mirror in her hands, and grabbed onto her hand while he was at it. His smile turned even gentler. “Little sister, be obedient. Once a phoenix attains his or her human form, he or she must definitely visit the Pavilion of Revelations to receive an inheritance. This concerns the matter of your future, you can’t not go. And little sister, even without looking at the mirror, you will still be the world’s most beautiful phoenix.”
With narrowed eyes, Zhu Yao glanced at his face which carried a five-star grade soft light effect, and then turned to look at herself in the mirror. In an instant, she felt she had dropped by a few levels. Haah! As expected, she really wanted to disfigure him!
“Inheritance?” Zhu Yao pondered. “Isn’t inheritance carried within one’s bloodline, and wouldn’t that mean one would have it once he or she is born?”
Shao Bai lightly tapped on her forehead. “Who told you inheritance is carried within the bloodline? No matter if it’s the Dragon Race or Phoenix Race, or even the Qilin Race, if one had to receive the inheritance, he or she must visit the Pavilion of Revelations, and commit to the Heavenly Dao.”
There’s actually a procedure like this. Her teacher did not teach her that.
“Back then, second elder brother did not bring you over because you were still too young, and I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to take in the power of the Heavenly Dao.” Shao Bai continued to explain. “Now that you’re capable of materializing a human form, naturally, this shouldn’t drag on any longer. As long as you receive the inheritance, the latent potential in your body will be ignited. When that time comes, you will know your true attribute.”
“Attribute?” Zhu Yao latched onto this unknown term.
“Little sister, have you not realized that your original form is different from the rest of us?”
“My naked buttocks.”
“Uh…”
A hint of awkwardness flashed past Shao Bai’s face for a moment. “I’m not talking about that. Although phoenixes are able to control fire the moment they are born, there is still another form of inherited attribute. It’s one of the five elements other than fire – metal, wood, water, and earth.”
“Oh…” I still don’t understand! “Then what’s your attribute?”
Shao Bai smiled it off, and did not continue explaining. Pulling Zhu Yao, they left through the door, as though he was saying he would bring her there directly to make clear of it herself.
Zhu Yao did not express any objections, and followed him out of the door. Though, she faintly felt that the word ‘Revelations’ sounded a little familiar, but she couldn’t recall where she had heard of it before.
She had thought that the Pavilion of Revelations would be very far away, but Shao Bai simply brought her up the giant tree. They flew for more than an hour, and they reached the top of the gigantic tree, which was hidden behind layers of clouds. A white lotus, the size of three football fields, was floating above, colourful flowing lights were flashing above the petals, circling around with the lotus as their center.
At the center of the lotus terrace, it was already filled with people, with a rough estimate of more than a hundred people. Zhu Yao was dumbfounded. The entire Phoenix Clan was here. Was this inheritance that important?
Shao Bai brought her along as they descended at the very center. Stepping up front was Xian Yu and three other familiar faces – four men, and three women. She flipped through her fast-forwarded four hundred years of memories, and only then realized they were all her own cheap brothers and sisters. Though, the man beside Little Eighth seemed to look a little foreign. He was about as tall as Shao Bai, but he did not look as white and clean as the rest. His skin was a healthy wheat colour, making him feel a little more masculine than the rest. She suddenly had a feeling that she had seen him before somewhere.
Seeing her appearance, Little Eighth first came over. After four hundred odd years, he had already begun to grow from a little wimp, to a youth. “Naked buttocks, you’re here.”
Zhu Yao almost slipped, as she turned her head to glare at him. As expected, his mouth was as foul as before. Because of his curse, she hadn’t been able to grow her feathered tail. You’re the one with naked buttocks, your entire family have naked buttocks!
Eh? His entire family seemed to include her as well!
“Hurry up, and receive the inheritance!” Little Eighth however did not sense her resentment in the slightest, as he excitedly said. “Hurry and receive it, and let me see what kind of bird are you!”
Why did she feel like he was cussing at her?
“And just what kind of bird are you?”
Little Eighth pridefully raised his head, and patted his chest. “My attribute is ‘wood’, I’m a wood bird.”
“Oh…” Zhu Yao meaningfully swept her eyes at him, and purposefully paused for a second. “So you have a wooden bird down there!”
Little Eighth: “…” Although he couldn’t understand, why did he feel that his seventh elder sister was cussing at him?
“Little Seventh.” Xian Yu walked over as well, and said with patting on Zhu Yao’s head, as she looked at her with a pleased look. “You’re finally able to materialize a human form as well, your mother here can finally heave a sigh of relief. Come, you haven’t met your sixth elder brother before, he’s the one.” She pointed to that man with the wheat-coloured skin at the side. “Your sixth elder brother made a special trip back in order to watch your inheritance.”
Zhu Yao turned to look at the man at the side, his smile was extremely awkward, yet, it carried an expression that she couldn’t understand, as though he was both a little agitated and guilty. The corner of his lips moved, and only a moment later, did he speak up. “Seventh little sister, I…”
“Alright, it’s about time.” Shao Bai suddenly stepped forward and interrupted his words, pulling Zhu Yao along. “Little sister, go on then!” His gaze, either intentionally or unintentionally, glanced at Little Sixth, as though he was giving him a faint warning.
Little Sixth’s bright eyes, instantly dimmed.
Zhu Yao seemed to be being pushed forward, and she was a little curious about Shao Bai’s attitude. She quickly flipped through her fast-forwarded memories, and only then did she recall who this sixth elder brother was. Speaking of which, he was even the first person she met when she reincarnated this time. That’s right, it was that little wimp who directly pushed her onto the ground and caused her to be born prematurely.
It’s no wonder Shao Bai did not like him.
- Four Thirty-Eight (四三八 – Si San Ba) has a similar pronunciation to 死三八, which when translated, means ‘dumb bitch’.