Demon Sword Sect's Undercover-Chapter 529 - 528: The Odd Uncle Niao

The little winged creature remained vigilant. "Who are you? Why do you want to help me?"

The stranger smiled. "You should know that in the outside world, there are bad people, but there are also good people; there are those who covet treasures and wish to claim them as their own, and there are those who are content just to look and then let go. You cannot assume everyone is like you just because you are kind, nor can you stop trusting everyone because of one betrayal. That’s life, unless you plan to stay trapped in the mountains forever."

The little winged creature stared at him wide-eyed. "Are you with those two brother and sister in the sky?"

The stranger shook his head. "No, those are two fools. If it were me, you would have already returned to your tribe by now."

The little winged creature did not agree with his opinion. "They are not fools; they wanted to carry me as well, but they couldn’t manage, and they had to guard against the bad people in the sky."

The stranger crouched down. "Shall I try?"

When the stranger carried the little winged creature, it was as if he had lifted a mountain; he felt as though he was about to be pressed into the ground, let alone climb up the mountain; even taking a single step felt incredibly difficult.

Then, he shut off all of his mana circulation. This wasn’t a complete shutdown; for a cultivator, it was impossible to pretend to have no mana at all. He just kept the mana circulation to the minimum required, close to the state of Fetal Breath.

He managed to take a step; he felt like he could keep going if he was walking on flat ground, but it still wasn’t enough to climb a mountain.

Luo Yewang and his companion had tried this state before, their idea was the same, but they did not possess the stranger’s unique Primordial Magnetic Dao Body and the Primordial Magnetic Body’s fundamental barrier to the Five Elements Power.

The strength of the Five Elements Power contained within the Earth Spirit Pearl was far too overpowering; he felt this was not something a Golden Core Cultivator could resolve. Perhaps only a Nascent Transformation elder could completely neutralize such pressure?

Thinking it over, he realized he was quite adept with the Earth Element within the Five Elements System. What if he used Earth Escape in conjunction with movement?

No sooner thought than done. With the little winged creature sitting on his shoulders, she was astonished to find herself sinking lower and couldn’t help exclaiming,

"Put me down, you are being pressed into the ground!"

Yet the strong arms holding her did not let go, and the stranger’s body was completely out of sight, his head even buried in the earth and stone. In the next moment, she felt herself moving forward, as though she was seated on a boat sailing through the soil.

It was a bit strange, and sitting felt uncomfortable, so she stood up... and realized she was moving faster and faster, able to ascend even sheer rock faces. A force from beneath supported her steadily upward, forward.

She was young, after all, and this was her first encounter with something so bizarre. "Amazing, how do you do this?"

A voice came from beneath the soil. "Me? I made a deal with your Earth Spirit Pearl. It seems to respect me enough, hmm, maybe it thinks I’m a good person. I’ll handle the walking, and you control the direction. To go left, pull my left ear; to go right, pull the right ear; to go up, tug my hair; to go down, stamp your foot..."

And so, the little winged creature walked straight up the cliff, tens of meters high, navigating through the rugged mountain paths. When she stood instead of sitting on the strange person’s shoulders, it almost looked as if she was climbing solo.

This strange person was really impressive, and quite humorous, making one develop a liking for him almost without realizing it.

From below came the strange man’s voice, "You can call me Uncle Niao. What’s your name?"

The little winged person’s wariness relaxed by half, "I, I am called Xing Huan..."

The strange man spoke in a very easy-going manner, completely different from those high and mighty cultivators, "Xing Huan, what a good name. Are you married yet?"

The little winged person became somewhat coy, even in the simple customs of the Winged People, wasn’t this kind of direct questioning uncommon?

"No..."

"How about finding a husband from the outside? Uncle Niao could help you?"

"No need, I am a tribal shaman, I cannot marry. If I do, my prayers would no longer be effective."

"Is that so? But even for a shaman, age must be considered, right? The younger, the more effective, and once you’re old, you’ll become an old witch. There will always be someone to replace you... Don’t worry, when you’re no longer a shaman and wish to marry, you can find me. Uncle Niao knows quite a few handsome gents outside."

"I won’t marry. Uncle Niao, you are not a good person, always talking about these nonsensical things..."

"Hehe, then let’s not talk about that; tell me why you thought of bringing out treasures from the mountains? If there’s something good in the Winged People Clan, shouldn’t you be quietly hiding it? It’s the same in the outside world - there are always those who covet what others have."

"I know, but this Earth Spirit Pearl is a bit different. The tribe urgently needs it to help regulate the land’s fertility... Uncle Niao, you wouldn’t know, our prayers to the heavens this time were because of the continuous famine on our land. The crops aren’t growing, the animals are scarce, the elders are saying that times are changing, that the Great Hundred Mountains are no longer safe and can’t provide protection for our Winged People Clan anymore.

So we prayed to the heavens. In fact, we pray every few years, but most of the time, we don’t get any response. Only this time, a Treasure Bead descended from the sky.

But we don’t quite understand how to use it, and with the poor harvests making us anxious, we were influenced by a merchant to take the bead out and see if we could find someone capable to help. And then, things turned out this way."

Under Uncle Niao’s gentle persuasion, the story of the Earth Spirit Pearl slowly came to the surface. It couldn’t be said that the Winged People Clan was wrong, the key was that they were unlucky, they didn’t find the right person.

Above their heads, chaos reigned, but the two of them — one blissfully unaware and the other nonchalant — just kept engaging in everyday chatter as they continued on their way.

For Uncle Niao, he had a very important matter, which was to utilize the miraculous power of the Earth Spirit Pearl to enhance his understanding of the Earth Element. This wasn’t him deliberately taking advantage, but something that had to be done to increase his speed as soon as possible. Truly, if he delayed for another dozen days or so, even he wouldn’t be able to guarantee absolute safety, especially since the coveters were close, close enough to send reinforcements continuously.

He was fortunate. If he had actually obtained the Earth Spirit Pearl, he might not have had the chance to appreciate its mysteries, as it was a treasure he could not yet touch. But when the little winged person embedded the Earth Spirit Pearl into her forehead, merging it with her life force, it instead gave him an opportunity.

The treasure was miraculous, beyond the capability of these Earth people, and even a Cultivator like him could do nothing about it. It was the choice of the Heavenly Dao. In this sense, what Scholar had done wasn’t bad, just lacking in finesse.

It was a magical scene. In the obscurity of the sky, people faced life and death; nearby, four individuals fought with complete disregard for their own lives. Yet amid the enveloping mists on the steep cliffs, the travelers continued on their journey, without hindering one another.

...Layer upon layer of clouds reveal the mountains, the little market meets with Xing Huan. Scrutinizing, doubting it’s just a few feet lower, one layer of mountain fades into the clouds.