Chapter 400: Feather Transformation Art and the Longevity Order

By the lake outside the city, willows cast thick shade.

A Daoist sat cross-legged.

A white fox lay curled beside him; a white egret stood still on the tree branch.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves, dappling the ground in flickering patches. A breeze stirred, swaying the willow branches, shifting the light and shadow into a dreamlike rhythm. For a moment, one might believe this was merely a tranquil summer afternoon—quiet because the world had fallen asleep, not because demons ran rampant.

The cicadas' song filled the air but did not disturb the Daoist's mind.

Suddenly—*pēng*—

The white fox snapped its head around; the white egret lowered its beak. The Daoist sitting on the stone was gone—replaced by a white egret, which now tilted its head upward, gazing at the tree.

The two white egrets stared at each other.

One pondered; one was stunned.

"Yīng?"

The fox's eyes sparkled:

"Learned it?"

"Gā…"

"Fly!"

"…"

The egret on the stone fell silent for a moment, then rose, spread its wings, kicked off with its feet, and flapped hard.

And fell to the ground.

It couldn't even control it—*pēng*—it reverted to the Daoist.

"You fell!"

The fox's eyes gleamed.

Lin Jue stood up, shook his head, said nothing about her teaching being poor, nor mentioned how he too had fumbled when first learning to turn into a bird—only walked back to the stone and sat down, looking up.

Just then, the egret on the tree spread its wings, kicked off, flapped hard, and, as the willow branches swayed, lifted from the branch—like a deliberate display for him—gliding low over the lake's lotus-covered surface, a scene of breathtaking beauty.

Lin Jue sat cross-legged, watching intently.

…

Three days later.

Beneath the blue sky, between white clouds, a white egret flapped its wings, flying slowly.

Beside it, a crow circled, unusually lively.

"You don't fly as well as I do!"

The crow's voice was clear, sweet, and melodic.

The egret stared ahead, ignoring it.

"Look!"

The crow beat its wings faster, soared high, then stopped flapping and dropped down:

"I can do this!"

The crow tilted sideways, darted left, then tilted the other way and shot right, spiraling upward and downward, left and right, circling around him:

"I can do this too!"

The egret paid no heed, only flapped forward.

Thin strands of white cloud and the wind brushed past him; the sun warmed his feathers. The vast heavens and earth stretched endlessly before him—the city below, the serpentine official road, the mountain trails—all bathed in bright sunlight, laid bare in his sight.

Not just all around him, but above and below too—no obstacle, no barrier. A single flap of his wings, and he could go anywhere.

For a moment, he felt overwhelming freedom.

Unbound, unimpeded, utterly at ease.

"How wonderful…"

No wonder mortals dream of flying like birds; scholars long to become cranes—this is what it feels like.

The egret thought this, then turned its gaze northward.

There lay a boundless, wave-like expanse of gray-black wasteland. Beneath the clouds, it was nearly ink-black, not a blade of grass or tree in sight. The mist that usually shrouded the entire Mo Du Mountain had shrunk drastically, now clinging only to its center. On the ground, massive deep pits stood out—startling to behold.

But upon closer look, these pits didn't look like they'd been blasted by magic—they looked like the roots of enormous trees had once anchored here, then been ripped out.

Just as the White Daoist had said—

The Eastern Queen Mother was stubborn. The Two True Lords descended repeatedly, achieving results only when harnessing celestial forces; otherwise, they returned empty-handed, unable to even knock on the door. So at this year's Jingzhe, the Two True Lords launched a full-scale assault.

That was the first thunder of spring, carrying the accumulated power of the entire winter season—deep, vast, and rumbling. It began at night, and so did the assault of the Husheng Husheng Zhenjun Who Protects the Sacred.

No one dared approach; they could only watch from afar.

All they knew was that the drums never ceased, the thunder never stopped, and torrents of electric plasma and thunderfire turned Mo Du Mountain white as snow. Each flash of heavenly lightning revealed the figures of the Many Yaoguai King and the True Lords, frozen mid-air in terrifying divine-versus-demon battle scenes.

Countless mortals lay awake in terror, praying all night for safety.

That same night, the counties of Boyu, Letian, and Jiguang suffered fierce attacks from demons pouring out of Mo Du Mountain—likely meant to distract the divine spirits. Lin Jue had rushed to aid them all night. But perhaps due to prior probing, not a single demon appeared in Zi Yun County that night.

After that day, the mist over Mo Du Mountain receded greatly, now only clustered in its central region.

From afar, it looked like a cloud hanging low to the earth.

But the battle was far from over.

And now it was summer.

Time to return.

"Gā!"

The egret turned in a circle and dove downward.

"Ah~"

The crow imitated it, diving down after.

One white egret, one crow, flew into the city.

"Pēng…"

The egret abruptly transformed into a Daoist, landing inside the room.

The crow became a white fox.

The fox landed lightly, turned its head to the Daoist, eyes clear with confusion: "When you turn into a white egret, you can't speak human words?"

"I can."

"Then why do you learn to crow like an egret?"

"…" Lin Jue turned to look at it. "Aren't you learning to caw like a crow?"

"I learned it from you!"

"…"

Lin Jue didn't answer. He turned to the table.

On it stood a statue: a stout, wrathful martial god, his face painted bright red, now reduced to little more than a foot tall.

Thanks to Third Master's help, the god was fully armored in thick, scale-like plating, a sharp axe hanging at his waist, and a golden iron whip in his hand.

The weapons were designed based on the Dragon Lord's habits, after consultation with Third Master.

The Dragon Lord originally came from beyond the seas. Though he possessed human-level intelligence, he belonged to an uncivilized race, his cultural knowledge inferior even to many demons of the Central Lands. Thus, they never wore armor—only after being recruited by the gods or spirits of the Central Lands did they don it. They had no fine weapons either; in battle, they relied on fists, stones, and giant wooden clubs carved from towering local trees.

Given his massive size, sharp weapons were unnecessary—and prone to damage. So Lin Jue forged him a heavy iron whip as a blunt weapon.

Third Master forged him a mountain-splitting axe to complement it.

All were the fruits of their efforts.

Now, only the ritual consecration remained.

The Dragon Lord's doll was far too large; to make it move would demand immense power—power only the consecration ritual could provide.

And this was just to make it move.

The golden whip was also huge and heavy; to wield it freely would require even greater power.

In short, it would take time.

But the most important step was done. Combined with the "Feather Transformation Art" he'd gained from the fox—though still unskilled, it was merely a matter of practice—he felt much lighter.

As he descended the stairs, he met his junior sister.

"Master, where have you been?"

"