Chapter 38: The Nine Hatchlings of a Phoenix  

Pika

Grandgale. Is this the mythical beast from ancient Chinese legend?

As someone whose battlefield was the internet forums, it was imperative for Zu An to be well-versed in the ‘Classic of Mountain and Seas’ and other such mythical legends. This massive and bizarre bird imprint did seem to match the descriptions of the mythical beast, Grandgale, depicted in these books.

According to the legends, the Phoenix had nine hatchlings, similar to how the Dragon had nine sons. The first was Peacock, the second was Garuda, the third was Fire Phoenix, the fourth was Golden Phoenix, the fifth was Blue Luan, the sixth was Ice Phoenix, the seventh was Hundredwarble, the eighth was Blue Mallard, and the ninth was Grandgale!

You’re asking me why I remember all of this clearly? There’s a long and tearful story to it! Back in the modern world, I had applied for a position in the gaming department in NetEase. The written examination had all sorts of bizarre questions. Compared to the nine sons of the Dragon, whose names contain so many convoluted characters, the nine hatchlings of the Phoenix are far easier to remember!

That being said, there existed many different interpretations of the nine hatchlings of the phoenix. He only remembered one of those versions.

It struck Zu An that the cultivation technique he was practicing was none other than the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra. For Grandgale’s imprint to appear after he reached the peak of the second rank was unlikely to be a coincidence.

It was likely that a new phoenix hatchling imprint would emerge every time he reached the peak of a rank. However, what were these phoenix hatchling imprints for? It couldn’t be just for scaring others, could it?

Having done some experimentation, he’d deduced that outsiders couldn’t see the formations on his body. It was unlikely that anyone could see the imprint of the phoenix hatchling either. Scaring others with it seemed out of the question.

An idea seized him, and he began channeling his ki into Grandgale’s imprint. Once it was completely suffused with ki, Grandgale’s ferocious eyes suddenly lit up, and the avatar of Grandgale materialized before his eyes.

Zu An’s heart beat faster. It was working!

But what can this avatar do though? Is it like a pet of some sort?

He thought for a moment, then ordered Grandgale to ram itself into the wall to test out its might. The avatar flapped its massive wings, whipping up a huge gale which blew the tables and chairs aside and threw the room into disarray.

Zu An’s eyes widened in anticipation as he waited for Grandgale to make its move. However, before he knew what was happening, a sudden burst of force pushed his body straight forward, slamming him face-first into the wall in front of him.

*BAM!*

Behold, a human painting!

Zu An slowly slid down the wall, leaving behind a distinctly human silhouette on the snowy-white walls. Two trails of blood dribbled down from near the top of the silhouette—left there by his shattered nose.

Holy shit!

Despite his annoyance, Zu An felt excitement bubbling out of him. It turned out that Grandgale’s ability was instantaneous movement! If he used it well, it would be an invaluable tool for launching assaults against his opponents or fleeing from powerful enemies.

I wonder what the maximum distance I can travel with this skill. Without even wiping away the blood from his nose, Zu An began channeling his ki into Grandgale’s imprint, attempting to summon it once more.

Instantly his head spun, and he lost his concentration. Apparently, his ki had been depleted.

The skill Grandgale granted him consumed a large amount of ki, and at his current level, he could only afford to activate it once a day. Perhaps, when his cultivation level rose and his ki capacity increased, he would be able to use it more often.

With a deep sigh, Zu An slowly climbed back into his bed and lay down. He noticed that his encounter with the wall had granted him a substantial amount of golden specks in the first formation in his muscles.

From what he recalled of Ji Xiaoxi’s explanations, reaching the third rank would allow a cultivator to release their ki externally, to create armor and barriers to fend against attacks. Despite only being at the first step, there was no doubt that he was a full-fledged third rank cultivator now.

Excited to test out his newly-gained ability, he tried his best to squeeze out whatever ki he had left in his body. Straining, he managed to form a barrier in front of him. It was smaller than the size of a palm, and it dissipated immediately as there was no ki left to sustain it.

Nevertheless, Zu An was over the moon. Theoretically, he was as strong as 88 adult men now, which would make him a slightly weaker version of Superman from the comics of his previous life. Even if he couldn’t beat the top tier heroes in the Marvel Universe like Hulk and Ironman, he should at least be able to beat the pushovers, Black Widow and Hawkeye, with ease.

This, together with Poisonous Prick and Grandgale, would be his key to surviving in the Chu Estate. No matter who was after him, at least he now had a fighting chance.

His short burst of happiness was followed by the onset of pain. With nothing else to distract him, the bruises he’d sustained flared up in agony. Zu An hissed through gritted teeth. “Argh, crashing against a wall sure is painful!”

His old wounds had been close to healing, but his experiment with Grandgale had caused several new injuries. Not daring to mess around anymore, he lay quietly in bed and waited patiently for Ji Dengtu’s recovery medicine to work its wonders. Unknowingly, he fell asleep.

The next morning, Zu An woke up feeling frail even after a night’s rest. It felt like he’d only recovered from about half of the wounds he’d sustained from the fight with Pei Mianman. This left him slightly dissatisfied. It looked like he had overestimated Ji Dengtu by equating the effectiveness of his recovery medicine with that of Faith in Brother Spring.

If others were to learn of these thoughts, he would have been chased around town by an angry, cleaver-wielding mob. Innumerable cultivators would have fallen to their knees in the hopes of obtaining this Hundredflower Impermanence Pill. To dismiss it as an inferior medicine was truly unforgivable!

It suddenly hit Zu An that he had forgotten to draw the lottery. Too many things had happened last night, and it had slipped his mind. So, he took out the Keyboard and checked his Rage points. He’d been left with 69 points previously, but after earning a fair bit from the Chu Zhongtian, Qin Wanru, and Pei Mianman, he now had 3,273.

He frowned unhappily. He’d definitely gone easy on Pei Mianman the previous night, since he’d only managed to obtain such a small amount from her. Then again, no man would be able to bring themselves to treat such a top-notch beauty too harshly.

He started to miss Plum Blossom Twelve and the bunch from the Blackwind Stockade. He reminisced about the good memories that he’d created with them.

Heaven, please bestow me with an antagonist whom I can antagonize!

*Whoosh!*

The door flew open, and in barged a suave young man, his perfect hair combed neatly in place. He walked up to the bedside and gazed loftily down upon Zu An. “How much have your injuries recovered? Are you able to go to the academy today?”

You have successfully trolled Hong Xingying for 299 Rage points!

“I’m more or less alright, I guess,” Zu An replied subconsciously. “No, wait a moment. Who are you?”

“That’s good.” The young man turned and walked out without bothering to answer. He froze for a moment as he caught sight of the human-shaped imprint on the wall in his peripheral vision, but quickly regained his composure and left the room with his chest puffed out and his head high.

Zu An was still a little dazed. It was just a moment ago that I made a wish, and I was instantly sent an antagonist to antagonize? Surely my prayers can’t be that effective! Who is that fellow though? And why is he contributing so many Rage points even though it’s the first time we’re meeting one another?

“Young master~” It was then that an accusing voice sounded by the doorway. Cheng Shouping appeared by the doorway wearing two heavy eyebags.

Zu An jolted in shock. “What’s wrong with you? Did a vixen suck out your yang essence?”

Cheng Shouping tottered over weakly. “Young master, how can you say such a thing? I spent the entire night copying the family rules a hundred times, all by myself! I didn’t even sleep a wink!”

Zu An smiled sheepishly as he got up and poured his exhausted study companion a cup of water. “Little Pingping, you should be glad that you were in the Reflection Room copying the family rules last night. If you had been with me, you would be a corpse right now.”

“Thank you, young master.” Cheng Shouping accepted Zu An’s cup of water humbly. It took a while for his mind to process Zu An’s statement. “Wait a moment. What do you mean ‘I would be a corpse right now’?”

Zu An pointed to the human-shaped imprint on the wall and said, “Do you see that? An assassin dropped by last night to kill me. It’s only thanks to the blessings of heaven and my superior skills that I managed to escape the ordeal. If you had been around, you would have been forced to put your life on the line to save me. It’s very likely that the enemy’s dagger would have plunged right into your brittle body and torn it apart.”

Cheng Shouping gulped fearfully as he muttered, “Thank god I was in the Reflection Room.”

“What did you say?” Zu An’s eyebrows shot up.

Cheng Shouping replied immediately with a fawning smile, “I said that it was a pity that I wasn’t around. A person as loyal as me would surely have put my life on the line to protect you. That assassin would have had to step over my dead body before he could lay his hands on you!”

Cheng Shouping was so passionate in this declaration that his spittle flew everywhere. Zu An quickly shoved his face aside. “That’s enough of you. Aren’t you getting too into the script? Let me ask you something instead. Who’s that proud-looking fellow who just walked out earlier?”

“Him? He’s the precious son of Butler Hong, Hong Xingying,” Cheng Shouping replied. “That fellow is a conceited punk, but there’s no denying that he’s a prodigious cultivator. Despite having never gone through any formal education, he managed to reach the third rank by studying on his own. Butler Hong has always been proud of him, and the Master and Madam are full of compliments for him too. They are expecting him to become one of the leaders of the younger generation in the Chu Estate, and they have been grooming him.”

Ah, so he’s the son of Butler Hong. It’s no wonder why his hair is combed so impeccably, just like his father’s.

“Tsk, I doubt he’s that formidable. After cultivating for over a decade, he has only managed to reach the third rank?” Zu An scoffed. Useless trash like me can reach the third rank in just three days, but even I don’t go around boasting about it!

Cheng Shouping shook his head wryly. No wonder they say that the young master has his head in the clouds. Despite being utterly incapable, he still runs his mouth as if he’s a bigshot. If you could reach the third rank in your lifetime, I bet even the Master and Madam would be laughing in their sleep!

“Why are you staring at me like that?” Zu An glared at Cheng Shouping.

action Cheng Shouping plastered a smile back onto his face. “I was thinking that maybe I should tell Madam to let you rest for the day, given how severely injured you are.”

“There’s no need for that. These small injuries won’t hinder me. My father-in-law and mother-in-law are asking me to attend the academy for my own good, so how can I let them down?” Zu An thumped his chest as he spoke resolutely. Needless to say, he wasn’t interested in attending the academy, but remaining in the estate was far more boring.

Due to the assassination attempt the previous night, Chu Zhongtian had stationed two guards at the entrance of his room, which prevented him from sneaking out even if he wanted to. Rather than being confined, he preferred to go to the academy instead. Perhaps he could find an opening to slip away and pursue his own agenda.

Hearing Zu An’s motivated speech, Cheng Shouping’s mouth dropped open, wide enough to fit a whole fist. He rushed forward and placed his hand on Zu An’s forehead. “Young master, what’s wrong with you? Are you having a fever?”

“Scram!” Zu An kicked him aside.

“Hahaha! Zu An, you’re really becoming more and more mature. It looks like the effort I have spent on you isn’t in vain!” A peal of laughter sounded outside, and Chu Zhongtian and Qin Wanru walked in with satisfied smiles on their faces.

“Father-in-law, mother-in-law, what are you doing here?” Zu An pretended to look flattered. Ah, it sure is hard having to put on an act every day. At this rate, I might be eligible for the Oscars if I transmigrate back to my previous world.

“I heard from Xingying that you have recovered from your injuries and are intending to head to the academy. I was a little worried, so I came over to check on you.” Qin Wanru’s usually-stern face held a tinge of gentleness.