HSSB157: Something about this scene isn’t quite right
As they walked, Zhang Yao secretly sent a sound transmission to Xie Youchan, “Right, senior apprentice-sister Xie. Just now, it was clearly something that senior apprentice-brother Ruan did; why did you claim responsibility for it?”
Xie Youchan answered, “Don’t look at how Junior Brother Yan looks like a humorous person before the both of us. Actually, he is a person who doesn’t tolerate dust in his eyes. If junior apprentice-brother Ruan provokes him, he will definitely get back at him.”
“Similarly, while junior apprentice-brother Ruan looks like an easygoing person, he is actually arrogant and victory-prioritising to the extreme. For him to lower his head towards Junior Brother Yan would be impossible; it would only lead to both sides clashing head-on in the end.”
“Our clan does not intend to get involved in the matter between Broad Creed Mountain and the Sacred Sun Clan. Although we fear neither of them, we should not take the initiative to provoke them either. Being able to resolve this small matter is for the best; otherwise, if the matter blew up, who knows how serious it might grow to in the end.”
Zhang Yao nodded, “It is just that senior apprentice-sister Xie has taken the blame for senior apprentice-brother Ruan.”
Xie Youchan smiled, “Junior Brother Yan is an understanding person. Actually, the truth behind the matter cannot elude him; it’s just that he is giving me some face, accepting my stance and letting things blow over, actually aware but acting oblivious and not continuing to pursue the matter.”
“So that’s how it is…” Zhang Yao had a moment of understanding. Slightly hesitating, she then said, “I just hope that senior apprentice-brother Ruan can appreciate your efforts…”
Xie Youchan let out a sigh, “I hope so too.”
As the group approached the small island, Yan Zhaoge was engrossed in observing their surroundings.
Covered in a bamboo forest, this island’s climate was similar to that of Clear Concealed Island, though it was slightly smaller in size. It was rather close to the edge of Clear Concealed Lake.
Regarding the creature known as the Pixiu, Yan Zhaoge had actually never personally seen one before.
Though there were depictions of the Pixiu, Yan Zhaoge had actually never seen one of them either. After all, the world was filled with multitudes of strange and wondrous beasts, and Yan Zhaoge could only claim to be familiar with some of them.
Yan Zhaoge had most definitely heard of the Pixiu’s reputation, though.
“Body enormous like an elephant, likes to stay still, has a gentle temperament, is relatively lazy, but possessing enormous and inexhaustible innate strength. It can swallow metal, and is gifted with the ability to control black water and white fire.”
This time, the reports from Clear Concealed Lake noted that the Pixiu was still an adolescent. Even so, its strength was not something that an ordinary Martial Scholar would be able to contend with.
Despite the Pixiu’s gentle temperament, they had the nasty habit of being gluttonous eaters. Given its enormous size, it could eat a huge amount of food without any semblance of self-control.
If the matter wasn’t tended to, a Pixiu could render an area entirely barren as though a swarm of locusts had passed through.
On Clear Concealed Lake, everything from the spiritual qi flow to every single tree and patch of grass was closely related to the formation there.
Of course, a single Pixiu eating through a small island would not destroy the large formation, but the consequences of leaving it unattended would not be pretty.
As a result, the young disciples who discovered the Pixiu reported it back to those of Turbid Wave Pavilion placed in charge here. Upon receiving the news at Cloud Concealed Island, they contacted Xie Youchan to deal with the issue.
The disciple that delivered the news was momentarily stunned after seeing Xie Youchan with Yan Zhaoge and Ah Hu, but quickly explained the situation.
As a result, Yan Zhaoge, Xie Youchan, and the others were currently deep within the bamboo forest on the island.
Traveling through the forest, Yan Zhaoge found his vision constantly obscured by the dense sea of bamboo. Suddenly, he vaguely sensed a huge lifeform before them.
Yan Zhaoge and the others exchanged a look, “That should be the Pixiu…”
Before he had finished speaking, Yan Zhaoge, Ah Hu, and Xie Youchan all showed a slight change in their expression, “What trick is this big fella trying to pull?”
From deep within the bamboo forest, there suddenly was a huge fluctuation of spiritual qi. It was as if an enormous vortex had appeared which was drawing all of the spiritual qi on the island towards its centre.
Yan Zhaoge lifted his head and looked to see that the permanent cloud cover above them was slightly trembling. This happening on the island was affecting the entire formation at large.
Ah Hu scratched the back of his head, “This feeling-it seems like this Pixiu is about to make an advancement?”
Yan Zhaoge nodded, “There’s a good chance that this is the case.”
Xie Youchan stepped forwards, “Let’s go scout out what is going on. If the circumstances allow it, it would be best to not interrupt its advancement.”
The group cut through the bamboo sea, only to abruptly reach a large clearing. Without needing to ask, it was obvious that this bare piece of land had been created by the Pixiu’s appetite.
Yan Zhaoge strained his eyes to see what looked like a giant clump of light in the middle of the clearing.
That giant clump of light was formed of intermingling black and white. Looking closely, it was possible to see that the black was a jet-black flow of water while the white was a brilliant white flame. Together, the two elements mixed together as they spun around quickly and formed a large sphere around the Pixiu.
The two glows of black and white shone unceasingly. Clashing, the opposing forces of fire and water actually seemed abnormally compliant and harmonized.
As Yan Zhaoge witnessed this scene, he repeatedly nodded his head, “Mmm, not bad, not bad, yin and yang coexisting and mixing within the heavens and the earth, possessing the natural laws of this world. It is indeed extraordinary.”
“Though this world contains innumerable special beasts, this Pixiu can already be counted as a rare one that is hard to come by.”
The undulations of spiritual qi were gradually stabilising, but actually getting stronger and stronger. It seemed that the Pixiu was very close to completing its advancement.
That light ball of rapidly spinning black water and white fire was gradually thinning out, as the true form of the rare beast within was revealed.
However, Yan Zhaoge’s expression gradually became dazed.
“What’s that…Senior Sister Xie?” Yan Zhaoge stretched his somewhat stiff neck as he asked Xie Youchan by his side, “…This is the legendary Pixiu?”
Xie Youchan nodded her head matter-of-factly, “That’s right. This beast is very rare; it is only found in the border area between my Lake Domain and the Fire Domain, with none in your Heaven Domain. If you’ve never seen a picture of one before, it’s fine-there’s a live specimen in front of you right now.”
“Does Junior Brother Yan have the intention of trying to tame and rear this beast?” Xie Youchan asked, “This is also not out of the question…”
Yan Zhaoge was still a little dazed.
Even though its body was much larger than from his impression of those, already the size of a small elephant whilst only in its adolescence, no matter how he looked at it, the animal in front of him was clearly a panda that had been magnified by quite a bit.
Amongst their group of four, the one with the lowest cultivation was Zhang Yao. She carefully examined the gigantic beast in front of them, “Even though this one is still young, it still has such high strength. No wonder some villages in the mountains worship Pixiu as totems.”
“Totems?” Yan Zhaoge opened his mouth, while Ah Hu solemnly responded from beside him, “Young Master, this beast truly is very strong. If it were to use its full strength, it could probably rival an early Xiantian Martial Scholar, or even more.”
Yan Zhaoge looked as though he didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry for quite a while before he finally nodded, “Yes, I can also see that, just that…I’ve never thought that it would be like this.”
Looking at the giant panda in front of him, the Yan Zhaoge who had regained his wits also felt a slight fervor.
Towards giant pandas….er, Pixiu, he quite liked them even though there were some differences between this Pixiu and the giant pandas from his memory.
Raising this kind of big fellow would be rather nice for him. The only question was—how would he use it? This question made Yan Zhaoge scratch his head a little.
Keeping it as a pet would be kind of a waste while controlling it for battle also painted a rather strange picture within his mind…
As for using it as a steed….
The corners of Yan Zhaoge’s mouth twitched as a scene appeared within his mind—
“I made the Internal Crystal Furnace reappear in this world!”
“Your steed is a panda.”
“I brought the Golden Needle Liberating Pill technique back into this world!”
“Your steed is a panda.”
“I restored Infinite Boundless Mountain’s Giant Spirit Magnetite Vein!”
“Your steed is a panda.”
“All martial practitioners at the same cultivation level lower their heads before me in subservience, with none my match!”
“Your steed is a panda.”
“…”