From waterfowl, it began to transform into the Great Sun Golden Crow.

Gu Heting had a very deep and profound dream.

In the dream, he was still the same young man he was back then. He maintained the form he had before the time travel. He stood in the center of the illusion as a human.

A giant bird, as large as the Five Sacred Mountains.

It stands in the center of the illusion. At its feet rest the branches of a paulownia tree. Its wings are a mixture of red, blue, yellow, white, and black. As the wings intertwine, shimmering light overflows.

The divine bird's tail resembled a waterfall draped in rosy clouds.

A single screen, a single breath, conveys auspicious meaning.

The king of birds chooses the best place to live.

This is the legendary phoenix.

The divine bird, with its lowered brows, exuded majesty. Its eyes, filled with benevolence, looked down upon Gu Heting.

"I am your final form, and your end."

Gu Heting awoke from the divine bird's words, and he slightly opened his eyes, scanning his surroundings. The huge wave had already washed him to the other side.

Lakeside wetlands. Every now and then, a few crabs scurry around.

"I'm so hungry. Is this all just a dream? System, is it just my imagination?"

Everything seemed too unreal, but the pain in his body didn't lie. Gu Heting looked up, his eyes fixed on the setting sun.

After a long while, Gu Heting called out softly.

"System, system."

The system is running.

The Phoenix Rebirth System is now available.

[Current state: Aquatic animal. Severely injured, with multiple fractures, and its beak is broken.]

[Absorption state.]

[You have absorbed the water essence. Impurities from the grains have been eliminated from your body. Multiple fractures and hidden ailments have been healed.]

[Phoenix Carrying a Letter: Updated for you.]

A phoenix carrying a letter?

what is this?

A special cheat item? After a moment of random thoughts, a book appeared in front of Gu Heting.

Before him, a book embroidered with phoenix wings slowly opened. The book turned to its first page and quickly recorded the world's rarest treasures.

[A precious treasure of the world: Shuiyunzi.]

[Pure white as jade. Its sleeves are a warm, lustrous color, and its body feels cool. It swims along the shore of a clear lake. A single dot on its belly signifies 100 years.]

This Shuiyunzi is a seven-hundred-year-old artifact.

[In a specific watery region, one Water Cloud Seed is generated every three hundred years. The Water Cloud Seed is a unique tribute from this watery land.]

[Note: If a Water Cloud Sprite is still alive in a given area, no second Water Cloud Sprite will spawn.]

[Rarity: Extremely rare.]

[Evaluation: This is a rare item found nowhere else in this watery land. Its owner will possess a blessed opportunity.]

Is this all the simple recording?

"Damn, is this stuff I'm eating really that expensive? Wouldn't it be such a waste to gulp it down in one go?"

Gu Heting stood there dumbfounded for a long time, waiting patiently. He had many questions in his mind. After a while, another string of numbers from the system began to appear.

[Phoenix Carrying a Book]

[Update has begun]

[Shuiyunzi's art album has been updated]

For some reason, ink began to slowly flow across the first page of the book held by the phoenix. Soon, the ink spread out in the center of the paper.

A loach with outlined lines and left blank was depicted on the first page.

[Skills related to Shuiyunzi's health regimen are beginning to awaken.]

[You have acquired the first cultivation technique: the method of cleansing essence and marrow through breathing exercises.]

[Skill Attribute: Water]

"Marrow cleansing? Or is it a breathing technique for cleansing essence and marrow? My god, as long as I devour aquatic creatures, I can renew this Phoenix Book. Not only that, this Phoenix Book can also grant me corresponding skills."

"What an incredible cheat code!"

If simply consuming this Water Cloud Seed grants such an incredible skill, then would consuming small fish and shrimp also grant the corresponding water-attribute skills like "Water Bubble" and "Water Jet"?

Such a golden opportunity came to him.

Given time, it's not impossible for him to dominate the entire Dongting blessed land.

However, the system's next sentence poured a bucket of cold water on him.

[Note: Record of Phoenix Carrying Book]

The phoenix, a divine beast that reigns supreme over the world, would not stoop to dwelling in a mere mortal realm.

As the saying goes: "It will not rest unless it is under the phoenix tree, and it will not eat unless it bears the fruit of the phoenix tree."

Only the most precious things in the world can be included in this register.

"what?"

The system's words left Gu Heting stunned for a long time.

Gu Heting was dumbfounded.

He was a waterbird, and he'd even broken his own beak. That big wave had just hit him, severely damaging his prized water-running skills.

One of his legs was already broken.

Where am I supposed to find those unique treasures in the world for this Phoenix-carried Book? Isn't this a joke? Oh well, at least I'm a demon cultivator now, and I know a few skills.

Thinking of this, Gu Heting stood limping in the wetland.

The severed beak was still dripping blood.

He limped toward the grassy patches of the wetland, his small body disappearing into the undergrowth. He then set up camp in a secluded patch of grass and water.

As the sun gradually sets, the hazy afterglow of the sunset is slowly replaced by the stars.

Gu Heting wasn't idle either. During this time, he opened the system's map and observed the terrain of the area.

According to the system, this was a blessed land in Dongting Lake that a powerful being had built before his fall.

This is a hidden mountain and water paradise built by the sect leader using the terrain and good fortune.

The terrain is a vast lake. The lake is surrounded by islands, with nine islands in total. The central island is the largest, and it is home to many strange and unusual beasts.

There might even be powerful demons that can transform into human form in this place.

"Fortunately, I was born in a blessed land. If I had been born in the desert, a place with little fortune, then my Phoenix-carrying Book would have been wasted."

"Damn it, why am I thinking about all this nonsense?"

These things are still far from being finalized.

Even if I wanted to go to the deepest part of the secluded mountain and water realm now, my water bird body wouldn't allow it.

He first practiced breathing exercises and meditated.

Thinking of this, Gu Heting crossed his legs under his belly, standing in the middle of the water plants in a comical pose.

"How strange, a bird doing human things."

In a few breaths, a warm current flowed from his body to every limb and bone, and he could even feel the slight touch on every feather.

The phoenix carrying the book, half-illusory and half-real, turned to the first page.

"Only when the mind is calmed can the breath sink to the dantian. Breathe as if drawing silk. Stand like a pine tree, sit like a bell, and when the body is upright, the energy channels will flow smoothly."

"The essence of water gathers within him."

"Silence"

"Calm down."

Looking at the detailed explanation of the final technique in the Phoenix-Holding Book, it was noted that a calm mind leads to sincerity.

Gu Heting stopped thinking about those miscellaneous things.

In his mind, the gentle breeze around him ruffled his fur. He could hear the breaths of the aquatic creatures clearly.

The white noise of cicadas brought him extraordinary peace.

In a short while, a sense of relief filled his entire being.

Gu Heting, the water bird, slowly lifted its feet off the ground and floated in mid-air in a meditative posture.

Tiny spiritual energy gathered around him.

The severed beak is slowly growing back. From the red streaks on the beak to the calcified structures.

The fractured body is slowly healing.

"Success comes from a calm mind."

The stars twinkled like white dots in the night sky, and a shooting star streaked across the horizon. All the aquatic creatures stood there, stunned, for a long while. Various fish and birds stared blankly at the waterbird radiating its luminous light.

In the blink of an eye, the sun and moon revolve.

The next morning, just as the sun was beginning to brighten.

[Congratulations, host. The method of cleansing the meridians and marrow, and breathing exercises has been successfully refined.]

[Host: Gu Heting. Birds and waterfowl.]

[The method of cleansing the meridians and marrow through breathing exercises: Cultivation level 25%.]

[Congratulations, host, on obtaining the acquired fortune: Strengthening the Body]

[Comment: In everything, the beginning is crucial. Only by being grounded and practical can one persevere to the end.]

"What's wrong with me? My body seems to have changed."

In just one day and night.

Gu Heting's body, resembling a waterbird, had grown nearly a third larger. His physique was far more robust than usual, and the fractures in his legs had healed completely.

More importantly, the bird's beak has already been restored.

"What is this? It feels like there's some kind of energy flowing within me."

Gu Heting examined his lower body. For some reason, his eyes seemed to see a faint spiritual energy emanating from him.

A vigorous power is accumulating in the dantian.

[Congratulations, host, you have successfully formed your own dantian qi sea.]

You have entered the early stage of Qi Refining.

[Evaluation: You are a transmigrator from beyond this realm. You already possess sentience. Having obtained this opportunity, breaking through to the Qi Refining Realm is only a matter of time.]

"This strong airflow originates from the dantian (lower abdomen) and dantian (lower abdomen)."

Gu Heting tried jumping, his feet stomping through the wetlands with a whooshing sound. In a flash, the waterbird leaped nearly 4 meters high.

So fast!

[Host: Gu Heting.]

[Race: Water Spirit Bird]

[Current Stage: Demon Cultivator]

[Spiritual Root: Water Spiritual Root]

[Realm Level: Initial Stage of Qi Refining]

Gu Heting, who transmigrated into the body of a water bird, began his life in the world of cultivation.