“Xiao Feng!! Xiao Feng, don’t cry, I’m here! Master Tian Ji Han lives!” Tian Ji Han wanted to scream, but he had not mastered his avian vocal chords yet. Instead, all he could really do was stare rather strangely at his pupil with his now beady but adorable eyes.

“This Spirit Budgie…” Xiao Feng wiped a tear and looked at the Spirit Budgie perched on his shoulder with benevolence. “Have you come to comfort me in my moment of sorrow?”

Xiao Feng’s facial expression of sorrow crushed Tian Ji Han’s heart up close, even though he was now a mere bird!

A flicker went across Xiao Feng’s face, but to Tian Ji Han’s disappointment, it was not of recognition.

“I don’t know why, but I sense that this bird understands my emotions. I also feel that it will become a very important asset in my cultivation!”

The Spirit Budgie at first picked violently at Xiao Feng’s shoulder, digging its sharp feet through his clothing, but soon it settled down, as if exhausted from the exertion of the movements. Tian Ji Han was frustrated that Xiao Feng did not immediately recognize him for who he was, but could barely hold back his own emotions during his reunion with his apprentice.

“Xiao Feng, how can you not recognize me! You’re smart, you should be able to figure out who I really am! Ah, but in all these years I’ve known you I have rarely seen you cry, not even when you were being brutalized as a Inner Disciple in the sect. You were always strong-minded and unbelievably brave for your age.”

Was it really too far-fetched even for cultivators to just infer that a mere Spirit Budgie could be the target of a possession? Perhaps at Xiao Feng’s level. His experience and knowledge of the spells and powers capable under Heaven were still limited by his youth. Compounded by the weighty emotions everyone was experiencing from inferring Tian Ji Han’s demise, it was also hard to think straight or creatively under the sorrow of losing one’s closest friend and master.

“Agh, no matter!” Thought Tian Ji Han. “There are more important matters at hand. I know which direction Yin Na headed, there should still be time for them to catch up, especially since Master Chen Zixi is now here. Even though our interaction was minimal and he was rumored to have a demonic background, I know he’s many times more capable than me!”

As if picking up on its cue, Xiao Feng quickly tried to clear his head.

“There are more important things now,” said Xiao Feng. “We should try to make do with what we have, if Master really is dead, then all we can do now is to avenge him.”

Chen Zixi snorted. “Hmph, did you not hear me earlier, brat? They can be many untold li away, how are we supposed to know they didn’t change direction somewhere along the way?”

Xiao Feng got down to his knees and begged.

“Please, master. This is the last request disciple asks of you.”

“‘Disciple!’” Tian Ji Han couldn’t believe his ears. “Ah, that makes sense now. A cultivator with Chen Zixi’s background and power wouldn’t help unrelated strangers out of the kindness of his heart.”

Tian Ji Han was angered by the way Chen Zixi treated his former disciple, but he could not do anything as a mere Spirit Budgie. Instead, he flapped his wings and began chirping loudly towards the direction where he knew Yin Na had made his exit.

“Even this Spirit Budgie seems to know the urgency of our mission,” said Xiao Feng. “I feel more and more like my destiny is entwined with this bird!”

“If only you knew,” lamented Tian Ji Han as he kept on chirping.

Chen Zixi’s eyebrows furrowed dangerously like the conjoining of swords, as he stared at the Spirit Budgie that was Tian Ji Han.

“Clearly sorrow has filled your heads with water. A novice loses his master, and gains a bird… you see nothing wrong with the way this animal is behaving? It’s acting way too intelligent for its species. It’s as if it’s been possessed…”

Tian Ji Han felt the feathers on the back of his neck rise in fear from Chen Zixi’s words. All of a sudden, he felt that his life was endangered again!

“It is odd indeed,” Xiao Feng said as he paused looking thoughtful. “I can’t explain why but I feel no alarm or caution regarding this bird, I’m convinced that it can bring no harm to me. There are still many things I don’t know about in the world of cultivation, and I know caution is the smart path, but just this once…for the last time, I request that you don’t hurt this bird.”

Chen Zixi looked like he was about to completely ignore Xiao Feng’s words and strike the Spirit Budgie dead of his own volition. Then he looked like he hesitated, as if he was about to rebuke his new disciple when his facial expression softened.

“Very well. Consider it the last request your spirit stones can buy!”

Miraculously, Chen Zixi chose to stay his hand.

“Perhaps a Spirit Budgie’s innocuous reputation is well deserved, after all,” thought Tian Ji Han gratefully. “There is almost no literature or myth regarding the possession of Spirit Budgies since they have almost no attack power…which although is bad for my ability to defend myself, evidently spared me from Chen Zixi’s wrath right now.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Sometimes being useless is the greatest use of all.

Xiao Feng took the charred Golden Dragon Treasure sword that belonged to Tian Ji Han and wrapped it in a bundle of spare cloth.

“Maybe we can take the Spirit Budgie with us,” said Xiao Feng. “It seems to know something we don’t, and yet is urgently trying to convey its knowledge. We’re going to have to go on Master Chen Zixi’s Six World Bead in order for us to travel faster.”

“Have you forgotten that I am going to get weakened by the activation of the soul-transforming formation?” said Chen Zixi.

“No, master,” said Xiao Feng, cupping his hands. “But Disciple believes that if Yin Na really got so far, you’d have plenty of time to regain your energy.”

“Hmph,” Chen Zixi snorted. “The time I regain my energy fully is the time we’ll give up this farce.”

The other cultivators were shocked that Xiao Feng had regained his composure after the devastation of losing his master. He was able to bargain and reason with his new, cruel Golden Core cultivating master, sacrificing his future and doing so in a way to prevent incurring the wrath of Chen Zixi. He was truly talented for his age, his character was truly an asset to any cultivator!

Xiao Ying groaned, but she knew that to catch the speed of a Desolate Spicy Oil Boar would require the usage of Chen Zixi’s spinning top.

“Well, what are you waiting for, brat?” Chen Zixi smirked lecherously as he eyed Xiao Ying. “Start stripping!”

“You!” Xiao Ying had just finished weeping for the perceived loss of Tian Ji Han, now this Golden Core cultivator was cruelly salting her wound with such a crude command. She wanted to cough blood from the shame and fury!

“Oh, and I’m not going to take that bird with me,” said Chen Zixi, abruptly changing the subject. “I can’t modify the formation to include a beast at the last second.”

Xiao Feng was crestfallen, but implicitly knew that he had used up all his requests with Chen Zixi. He looked at the Spirit Budgie flying above them rather intelligently, chirping at them as if urging them to action.

“I’m sorry,” Xiao Feng whispered. “We can’t take you with us. But I’ll never forget how you came and comforted me in my time of sorrow.”

Tian Ji Han understood the situation immediately.

“Okay, so I won’t be able to travel with them,” he thought. “But I can keep flying and pursue Yin Na myself, and maybe meet them half-way or much later! I’ve pretty much exposed myself as an intelligent, unique Spirit Budgie already. If Xiao Feng or (shudder) Chen Zixi notice me again, they’ll know for sure that I’m not just some mere beast that coincidentally flew by here today!”

With a final chirp, he flew towards the direction of Yin Na.

Chen Zixi began the soul transferring ritual. After the undressing and collection of everyone else’s clothing and the long spell activation process, Chen Zixi manifested the spinning top and did a single spin, which began their pursuit in Yin Na’s last-known direction.

Meanwhile, dozens of li away…

Yin Na, disguised as “Li Haotian” and Mao Shiqi nonconsensually taking the name of “Lin Jiao Jiao” were flying at breakneck speed for a mortal. Since Yin Na had lost his cultivation levels as a mere mortal Qi Condensation martial artist, he had to slow down the Spicy Oil Boar’s top speed to a more manageable velocity.

“Don’t think of it as ‘escaping,’” said Yin Na aloud. “We’re simply trying to meet our new adventure as fast as possible!”

Mao Shiqi pouted silently, her crossed arms flanked by the warmth of Yin Na’s as she sat in front of him atop the Spicy Oil Boar. What dog fart adventure? She knew Yin Na was trying his best to hurry to Spring Wind village as fast as possible not only to seize the fortune of his former partner Deng Ping but to also distance himself from the scene of Tian Ji Han’s death as much as they could.

“Very few cultivators become Immortals,” Yin Na said. “And very few martial artists become cultivators. And of course, the most numerous and hopeless of all humans are mortals, who have very little opportunity to learn martial arts.”

Yin Na leaned over Mao Shiqi’s shoulder and grinned at her.

“But of course, let’s not forget Yao Guai, the least numerous and rarest population of them all. But back to the point! We human cultivators take our background and immediate abilities to manipulate qi for granted. Most of us are born to cultivators, raised by Sects, or get fortunate enough to to end up being kidnapped by one and take the shortcut into Qi Condensation. The hardworking mortals who persevere…or get lucky, end up forming their first Qi strands. Although the process is tedious and dreadfully time-consuming, it builds their character. Even more practical is that it provides them a foundation with which they can kick ass.”

“You wish to take your journey as a martial artist seriously?” Mao Shiqi’s eyes widened with understanding.

“Precisely, Lin Jiao Jiao,” Yin Na laughed. “Of course my most cherished student understands how this is an opportunity to mitigate my weaknesses and close the gaps in my aptitude. After all, the skills and talents one possesses as a mortal are carried over and amplified when they become immortal, similarly, the logic applies to the training of a Qi Formulator and its fruits once developed into the Qi Condensation stage.”

A martial artist who did nothing but calisthenics and external martial arts will excel in fist and palm qi arts as a cultivator. A martial artist that subjects himself to bodily abuse and torment training will receive defensive boosts in his spells and attacks as a cultivator. A martial artist who can walk on water and on the edge of baskets without tipping them over would have excellent control of their qi expenditure during combat. A martial artist who spends their time cultivating friendships and their political acumen will no doubt be prepared for rising the ladders of the Sect hierarchy as a cultivator.

A strong base is the foundation of a great fighter. The possibilities were endless.

“But ultimately your improvements will be scant,” argued Mao Shiqi. “At the most, you’ll gain slight knowledge in areas you lacked before instead of practical experience and improvement.”

“Well, I know there’ll be little for you to gain, Lin Jiao Jiao!” Yin Na brushed off Mao Shiqi’s discouragement. “Since as my Qi Condensation companion you’ll mostly end up just being stuck as my protector as you watch me train in mortal kung fu daily, eh?”

Yin Na looked over at his Yao Guai slave, and even against the wind of the travelling Spicy Oil Boar she felt his breath on her cheeks. Mao Shiqi hurriedly looked away and blushed.

“Hmph! I already saw through you. You’ll use my overwhelming might as leverage to dominate the local Jianghu!”

Yin Na was silent, but she knew he was grinning.

Little did Yin Na know, Xiao Feng and his company were rapidly gaining ground behind them bit by bit, fast on their trail.