Starting with the titmouse, seventy-two transformations

Chapter 88 Deduction: Birds Grow Hate, Water Flows Eastward (Part 2)

In the seventy-fourth year, you, now a great spirit, seek out the White Eagle, determined to avenge your past humiliation...

...

[In the seventy-sixth year, you searched far and wide for rare and precious materials, stealing a Wind Apricot, and your cultivation made some progress.]

[In the seventy-ninth year, you defeated a fire crow spirit, stole a small peach, and greatly increased your strength.]

...

In the 123rd year, while you were beating up the white eagle, you unexpectedly discovered a cave.

The interior was very simple, with only one magical skill remaining.

A magical technique that is said to prolong life.

But you are a demon, you can't practice.

So they buried it underground.

...

In the 180th year, White Eagle disappeared.

Following the traces at the scene, you found the Luoxia Sect.

The Taoist priest of the Luoxia Sect is incredibly powerful; he can severely injure you with a single sword strike.

He said, "You have the bloodline of an ancient demon, and you can become the guardian beast of the sect."

You lower your head and let them put the beast-taming ring on you; from then on, your life and death are in their hands.

...

[The 210th year, the 30th year since returning to the Xiaxia Sect.]

You have become the 'traitorous demon' in the eyes of the monsters.

Over the past thirty years, you have killed more than thirty monsters and two large monsters for the Luoxia Sect, and obtained more than ten rare and precious treasures.

The Luoxia Sect gradually accepted you, and some of the younger disciples even called you 'Bird' Senior Brother.

...

In the 217th year, Qingweizi wanted to forge a sword and took three of your seven-colored tail feathers.

He was the last disciple of the Taoist Luoxia and was greatly favored.

You are in excruciating pain, yet you are letting out soft cries of joy.

For this, you lost thirty years of spiritual cultivation.

...

In the 219th year, Changqingzi asked you for his essence and blood to refine elixirs.

He was the eldest disciple of Luoxia Daoren and the future head of Luoxia Sect.

You readily agreed, cut open your chest, squeezed out a bowl of your vital essence, and suffered a severe loss of energy.

...

In the 223rd year, a large monster appeared in Mangshan.

This powerful monster commands thousands of birds and beasts and calls itself the 'White Feather King'.

It looks a lot like you, but it's bigger, stronger, and smarter.

It said it would avenge its mother.

...

In the 233rd year, the White Feather King's influence grew stronger and stronger.

The Taoist of Sunset Glow has ordered you to fight and annihilate them.

You are ordered to go and find the White Feather King, and fight him in a great battle.

It has greater talent, stronger bloodline, greater strength, and faster speed.

You lose.

But instead of killing you, it whispered to you...

Father!

It is the child you and White Eagle had back then.

In the blink of an eye, sixty years have passed, and it has grown up.

It urges you to join forces with it to avenge the White Eagle.

You shook your head, telling it how terrifying the Falling Cloud Sect was, and telling it not to provoke them again and to live a good life.

It said you were a coward, that you were unworthy to be its father.

You turned against each other and went your separate ways.

...

In the 237th year, the White Feather King grew increasingly audacious.

Relying on its formidable strength, it frequently led demons to attack the Luoxia Sect.

Finally, they attracted the attention of the Taoist Luoxia.

After emerging from seclusion, the Taoist priest Luoxia already showed signs of aging.

But its strength is still terrifying.

King Baiyu lost, and along with all his gathered subordinates, he was captured by Lord Luoxia and taken back to Luoxia Sect.

The alchemy furnace was opened for ten years, and thousands of birds, beasts, and demons were transformed into elixirs.

But while King Baiyu did not die, he was practically dead.

Its soul was extracted, sealed into a lamp wick, placed in an eagle lamp, and slowly burned.

It was an eagle-shaped lamp, made from the skeleton of a complete eagle.

You recognized it; it was the remains of a white eagle.

Bai Yu screamed and howled in agony inside the eagle lamp, her heart breaking.

The Taoist priest said that it would wail in the lamp wick for a thousand years until its soul was scattered.

He personally used Bai Yu's blood and bones, along with hundreds of rare and precious herbs, to refine a batch of precious pills.

...

In the 240th year, after three years, the precious elixir was produced.

The finished product is of superior quality, with a pleasant fragrance and an excellent appearance.

The Taoist of Sunset Glow handed you a precious pill.

He said, "You have been a member of the sect for sixty years, working diligently and conscientiously, and your contributions are immense. You deserve to be rewarded with a precious pill."

Changqingzi, Qingweizi, and others clapped their hands and laughed, urging you to take the elixir quickly.

This elixir is refined from your son's blood and bones; consuming it is like eating your own child. Even beasts would not do such a thing.

Those Qi cultivators, who sit in a state of oblivion and emptiness, claim to uphold morality, yet they rely on the strong to bully the weak; they are worse than beasts.

Luo Xia Dao Ren took out the Beast Taming Token and asked, "Isn't the precious pill fragrant?"

Your heart bleeds as you swallow the precious elixir, utter joyful and melodious sounds, leap into the air, and dance gracefully to please all the cultivators.

Since kneeling, bowing, yielding, and surrendering only bring endless humiliation, then—

Rebel!
A dormant power awakens deep within your body.

...

In the 360th year, you noticed that Daoist Luoxia had aged considerably.

His lifespan is nearing its end.

It turns out that even those who cultivate Qi are not immortal.

In recent years, he has begun to open his temple gates wider, and his disciples have grown to hundreds, making the temple very prosperous.

Two cycles of sixty years have passed, and the power in your bloodline has mostly recovered, but it lacks a crucial opportunity to be fully activated.

You would linger by his window every day, listening to the mournful cries emanating from the hawk lamp.

Day after day, year after year.

You waited silently, just as you had waited patiently in the mud pit for sixty years.

The commotion at the Sunset Glow Sect is none of your business.

...

In the 370th year, Daoist Luoxia grew old.

He reeked of decay and was very smelly.

But he was unwilling to die and wanted to struggle in his death throes, so he became strange and irritable.

You stand by indifferently, waiting silently.

...

In the 380th year, Daoist Luoxia was about to die.

His vital energy was depleted, his true energy dissipated, and his cultivation level declined, far inferior to what it used to be.

His suspicions grew increasingly severe, and he became unpredictable, frequently beating and scolding his disciples and followers, and even expelling them from the sect.

There is great terror between life and death.

He cultivated Taoism for hundreds of years, but ultimately failed to comprehend the meaning of life and death.

You've finally got this opportunity.

You went out and brought back that demonic skill from back then.

That demonic art that can prolong life.

In the 381st year, the Taoist Luoxia practiced demonic arts.

He struggled, he resisted, but ultimately succumbed.

One, two…

Disciples within the sect began to disappear frequently, neither alive nor dead.

The disciples discussed it amongst themselves, but came to no conclusion.

You observe calmly from the sidelines, waiting for your opportunity.

...

In the 385th year, the Luoxia Sect declined.

Over the years, disciples of the sect have mysteriously disappeared from time to time, but the reason has never been found.

Luoxia Daoist tried to stop cultivating demonic arts, but ultimately could not resist the temptation of 'living'.

He's deeply entrenched in demonic possession; there's no turning back.

The sudden increase in the number of disciples disappearing from the sect finally triggered panic.

You seize the opportunity and secretly inform Changqingzi, Qingweizi, and others.

As a result, the Luoxia Sect fell into chaos.

The master and disciple turned against each other and killed one another.

And you, following the instincts in your blood, took advantage of the chaos to swallow the eagle lamp in one gulp.

The flames of the lamp scorch your spirit and ignite your physical body.

You vomit blood, yet keep your mouth tightly shut, your white feathers bathed in flames.

That is your wife, your son.

After more than two hundred years of separation by life and death, the family is finally reunited!

The Falling Clouds Sect is finished.

Great revenge.

He and his wife and children were reduced to ashes in the fire.

Worth it.

however--

A surge of spiritual energy coursed through your body, and that bloodline power was fully activated.

An ancient, demonic mark has appeared on your sternum.

That was the scent of the wind.

The Beast Taming Ring shattered, your body swelled violently, and your tail feathers faded, turning pure white.

Your chest shines, soaring into the clouds.

The next moment, a blue light descended, like a heavenly blade cleaving through the clouds.

A fierce wind howled, mountains crumbled, lightning flashed and thunder roared, tigers roared and dragons howled.

Luoxia Daoren, Changqingzi, Qingweizi...

They all turned to dust.

You spread your wings and soar into the sky, your fierce cry shaking the heavens; looking down, you see only the mighty river, flowing endlessly.

Two hundred years, wife and children.

Birds grow up with hatred,

The river flows eastward.

(End of this chapter)