Chapter 76: Extra 2
Ming Jian Su did indeed bring Feng Chiyue out of the Abyss of the Milky Way.
It was purely out of her chivalrous spirit, definitely not because of the beauty or the promised reward.
She fiddled with the crudely drawn map, her frustration mounting.
Finally, Feng Chiyue snatched it from her hands.
“I know where it is,” she declared.
Ming Jian Su looked at her, alarmed. “But you’ve always been in the Abyss of the Milky Way,” she said.
Feng Chiyue rolled her eyes. “I can read a map, you idiot,” she said, making it up as she went along.
That scribbled mess was barely decipherable! Ming Jian Su was incredulous, but what truly shocked her was being called an “idiot”!
Once they were out, Feng Chiyue’s enthusiasm for the world outside the abyss vanished.
They found the cave in the unnamed mountain, but unfortunately, it was already occupied.
“Did they sell the same mountain twice?” Feng Chiyue asked, examining Ming Jian Su’s deed, her voice filled with surprise.
Ming Jian Su frowned and, addressing the Daoist priest who had emerged from the mountain, his demeanor aggressive, asked politely, “Who are you, Fellow Daoist?”
He ignored her, his eyes flashing with anger, his voice booming like thunder. “You’re that new official?” he said, pointing at her. “Pack your things and get out.”
The unnamed mountain’s spiritual energy was already weak, and most of it was concentrated in that cave. The interior was barely habitable, and the exterior… was that even a place for an immortal to live? She hadn’t expected to encounter such blatant bullying upon arriving in the Immortal Realm. “Are you serious, Fellow Daoist?” she asked again, giving him a chance.
He chuckled at her.
But before he could even turn around, a slap sent him flying.
He couldn’t defend himself. His protective aura shattered, his bones breaking. He was barely alive.
Undefeated hummed, snatching his Qiankun bag and delivering it to Ming Jian Su.
She calmly put it away and said coldly, “How rude.”
Feng Chiyue watched with amusement, then, as she walked past the injured Daoist priest, she discreetly flicked a spark towards him.
The cave held a hidden world within.
It wasn’t actually a single, empty cave but a small realm.
Lush green grass covered the ground, and a lone, thatched hut stood in the middle, looking rather pathetic.
The Daoist priest had been living there for a while. Ming Jian Su disliked the smell and lit a few incense sticks.
Feng Chiyue glanced at the hut, her expression filled with disgust. With a flick of her finger, flames erupted, engulfing the roof, quickly reducing the eyesore to ashes.
Ming Jian Su: “…” She also disliked living in someone else’s dwelling, but wasn’t this a bit excessive?
Meeting her gaze, Feng Chiyue smiled sweetly. “You’re welcome,” she said.
Ming Jian Su, who had initially planned to make do, ended up becoming a construction worker, using her magic power to build a wooden hut overnight.
“No jade platform, no spring of ambrosia, no fruit…” Feng Chiyue complained.
“Stop,” Ming Jian Su said, cutting her off. She walked towards her and, taking out a Cinnabar Jade, asked, “Do you know what this is?”
Feng Chiyue, confused, still answered, “Cinnabar Jade.”
“Do you have any?”
Feng Chiyue frowned, thinking.
Ming Jian Su didn’t understand what there was to think about. “If you don’t have any, you don’t have any,” she said. “No need to pretend.” She would add it to her tab and collect it from that “elder sister” who had promised a generous reward.
Feng Chiyue stopped thinking. “Alright, I don’t have any,” she admitted.
Ming Jian Su nodded. “Then stop complaining,” she said sternly.
Feng Chiyue made a noncommittal sound. When it was time to rest, she floated towards Ming Jian Su, who was meditating on a cushion, and invited her to sleep.
“Meditate!” Ming Jian Su said.
The next day, Ming Jian Su registered Feng Chiyue’s name, claiming she was her junior sister, and obtained a Chaos Mirror for her.
The officials at the Heavenly Mechanism Department didn’t care, scribbling a few notes and dismissing them.
Ming Jian Su, having been harassed by Feng Chiyue all night, unable to sleep or meditate, had resorted to fiddling with the Chaos Mirror.
She stumbled upon some familiar scenarios, such as newly ascended immortals having their dwellings seized by wandering immortals. Those with experience offered advice: “Those targeted are usually those without backing. The Heavenly Mechanism Department and the Celestial Pivot Department won’t intervene. It’s best to be polite and try to share the mountain. Don’t fight them. They’ll call their friends, and you won’t stand a chance.”
She had to endure such humiliation even after ascension? She had never experienced such treatment in the lower realm.
She was shocked again. Fighting back was one thing, but sparing their lives was already merciful. How dare that Daoist priest be ungrateful?
After exploring the Immortal Realm for a while, she realized that she was at the bottom of the pecking order. She was supposed to receive a salary, but who knew when it would be paid? And that meager amount wouldn’t even be enough for a decent meal. To survive in the Immortal Realm, one needed either a powerful family or to accept the reality of being a “Candidate Immortal in name, a wandering immortal in practice,” working tirelessly to make ends meet.
This realization frustrated her, and she returned to the unnamed mountain with a dark expression.
Incense smoke curled through the air in the small wooden hut, its reflection on the folding screen, depicting mountains and rivers, resembling a misty landscape.
At first, she didn’t notice anything amiss, but then she realized that she wasn’t in the lower realm anymore. She was now a penniless Candidate Immortal. She hadn’t seen that screen when she left this morning! She quickly noticed other changes: a zither platform, a sword rack, bookshelves, a copper vase filled with flowers, crystal curtains, a coral tree… where had all this come from?
She pursed her lips and, walking past the screen, saw Feng Chiyue sitting on the white jade bed, looking pleased with herself.
She was playing with… Cinnabar Jade?
She had claimed to have none yesterday!
“Where did you get this?” Ming Jian Su asked.
Feng Chiyue lowered her gaze and said lazily, “Someone gave it to me.”
“You went out? But you said you had no friends here.”
Feng Chiyue turned to look at her. “I didn’t go out,” she said. “And I have no friends here.”
Ming Jian Su: “…” Did she look that gullible? How many flaws were there in that statement?
She frowned, her expression as cold as ice. Her gaze swept over Feng Chiyue, and when she saw her extend a hand towards her, she couldn’t resist taking it, helping her up.
Feng Chiyue’s gesture was so natural. If she had withdrawn her hand, wouldn’t it seem petty? And it would reveal how much she cared. Lost in thought, she followed Feng Chiyue out of the hut.
Outside the cave, four Daoist priests lay unconscious in a pit, their auras still, as if they were dead.
“They gave me those things,” Feng Chiyue said slowly.
Ming Jian Su instantly thought of the “retaliation” mentioned on the Chaos Mirror, her expression changing. She turned to Feng Chiyue and asked, “Are you hurt?”
“No,” Feng Chiyue replied, smiling.
“But you said you were weak and helpless,” Ming Jian Su said, recalling their conversation from the previous night. Feng Chiyue had claimed to be afraid, fragile, and incapable of defending herself. Ming Jian Su hadn’t believed her and had asked, “Weren’t you alone in the Abyss of the Milky Way?” And Feng Chiyue had replied, “The barrier was the best protection. I couldn’t get out, and no one could get in.” Ming Jian Su had been speechless, tempted to send her back immediately.
“Yes,” Feng Chiyue said, her expression sincere, betraying no lies.
Ming Jian Su pointed at the unconscious Daoist priests. “The evidence is right there,” she said.
“They fainted on their own. You can search their souls if you don’t believe me.”
Ming Jian Su: “?” Was that something a decent immortal would do?
Feng Chiyue frowned, then, after a moment, she said, “I swear, if I did it, may the Vermilion Bird Elder die a horrible death.”
The Vermilion Bird, one of the Five Phoenixes and Three Feathered Birds, was a pillar of strength for the feathered lineages, currently residing in Danxue Mountain, the most powerful protector of countless tribes, their bloodline strong, their status revered.
At this point, Ming Jian Su was unaware of the deep animosity between the Phoenix and the Vermilion Bird.
Who would swear such a vicious oath using their own elder?
Her suspicions subsided, and after Feng Chiyue gave her all the Cinnabar Jade, they vanished completely.
She didn’t care about the fate of those insignificant immortals. She tossed them out of the unnamed mountain and forgot about them.
In a place hidden from view, flames erupted, consuming the four Daoist priests, their ashes scattering in the wind.
As a Candidate Immortal, waiting was customary.
Ming Jian Su also wanted to find a place to relax and enjoy a carefree life.
But now she had a phoenix to feed, and she had to find work. Fortunately, conflict had erupted on the battlefield between gods and demons, and they were desperate for reinforcements. Only during times like this would they favor human immortals over Heavenly Immortals. She successfully transitioned from a Candidate Immortal to an official and received the Cinnabar Jade that had been withheld by the Heavenly Prosperity Department. However, seeing Feng Chiyue idling around, she felt a surge of displeasure. After much persuasion, she convinced the officials to allow Feng Chiyue to take the Heavenly Immortal assessment. After all, phoenixes were born Heavenly Immortals. And having been exposed to the vast primordial energy in the Abyss of the Milky Way, she should meet the requirements, right?
Feng Chiyue, in her usual lazy manner, didn’t refuse.
But while Ming Jian Su was taking a nap, Feng Chiyue was summoned.
The official, his face red with anger, was ranting about her being worse than a goose, his gaze sharp, as if she had tarnished the name of the phoenix. He even muttered, “Did those officials in the Heavenly Mechanism Department make a mistake? Is she really a phoenix? Shouldn’t she be in the Celestial Feather Ministry? Another mess to clean up.”
Ming Jian Su: “…”
She turned to Feng Chiyue.
Well, she seemed perfectly fine, her expression calm and composed, not a hint of shame.
Ming Jian Su was troubled. What had gone wrong?
Only after they returned did she ask, her eyelids drooping, wanting to know what had happened. The Heavenly Soldier assessment was a piece of cake. If she couldn’t even pass that, would she have to become a servant in someone’s cave, serving tea and water?
Feng Chiyue, after weighing her options, apologized first. “I’m sorry. I was wrong.”
Ming Jian Su didn’t hear any sincerity in her voice. And what was with that “I’ve endured great humiliation” expression?
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