24: Chapter 24 Soaring to Great Heights

A Fan raised his head, looking at the firmament; the boundless sea of clouds represented true freedom.

He tried to flap his wings and soar upward, but just three zhang above the cliff top, he was overturned by the astral winds of the high sky and fell into a pile of rocks, losing several tufts of feathers.

A Luan Bird flew by and saw this, its crisp cry filled with mockery.

Even the passing Sparrows chirped: "A gray lump wanting to climb the clouds and cover the sea? Aren't you afraid of breaking your bones!"

A Fan shook off the stone chips and straightened his bent feather shafts.

He saw that when the Kunpeng spread its wings, it did not simply charge blindly, but instead gathered strength from the cyclones of the Northern Abyss.

When the Luan Bird soared, its wings always trembled slightly in the direction of the cloud currents, hiding a clever knack for borrowing strength.

Seemingly understanding something, he began to learn.

In the mist before dawn, he circled the ancient pines of the Mythical Tree Mountain, practicing the resilience of his wings until the muscles beneath them trembled with soreness.

When the rainstorms came, he charged into the curtain of rain, feeling the collision of raindrops and air currents, learning to go with the flow like the Luan Bird.

He even dared to approach the edge of the waters where the Kunpeng frequented, observing how that giant bird used the thrust of the ocean waves to take flight.

As the days passed, A Fan's feathers grew dirtier, stained with mud and the salt frost of the sea; thick callouses formed on his claws, but the height he flew increased from three zhang to five, then ten, and gradually he could fly freely from the low cliff.

But he could never take that further step to reach the clouds.

It seemed that his efforts had reached their limit.

"Hehe, this Small Bird is truly self-important, thinking the Great Peng's high flight depends on wind and external forces?"

"Does he really think he can soar through the Nine Heavens on his own without external help? How laughable!" The divine birds in the sky noticed A Fan's futile efforts and sneered one after another.

Listening to the cold mockery of the divine birds above, A Fan couldn't help but tense his wings.

Calming down, he looked inward. He discovered that his own perception was flawed.

The Great Peng and Luan Birds' soaring was not entirely dependent on the wind; they were born with wings capable of battling the firmament.

A Fan was momentarily speechless; his perspective was too narrow after all.

One cannot judge others from one's own perspective; subjective assumptions are truly harmful.

He admitted his previous ignorance, but he could not accept being unable to know.

But... why?

Why are you born high above while we common birds must huddle among the Mugwort, living out our lives in this dangerous forest for generations?

Is there really no way out through effort?

Is birth truly predestined?

He began to study how to rid himself of this fragile Small Bird body, so he bid farewell to the old Small Bird, left the Mugwort of the low cliff, and traveled alone through the Wilds of Cangwu.

To live longer, he searched the mountains and wilds, bravely venturing into the peril-filled jungle to seize rare mountain ginseng to extend his life.

As the years passed, those divine birds' plumage became fuller and more beautiful. Yet, his own Small Bird feathers grew sparser; soon he would turn to dust, which filled him with a deep sense of injustice.

Lifespan is fixed; is this the fate of us common birds?

No! He would not accept it!

From then on, he gained another ambition.

Longevity! He wanted longevity!

Through years of life-and-death struggle, he finally broke through the cage of his perception and learned about the matter of Cultivation.

The Mountain and Sea have Qi, divided into nine grades. By gathering and consuming it, collecting the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and condensing the essence of the sun and moon, one can form a Monster Core and achieve immortality.

A Fan was excited, more than ever before. When he learned that those precious breaths of Qi were located in the dangerous regions of the Mountain and Sea, he did not shrink back.

Enduring the scorching sun, he obtained Biyang Essence; descending into the profound abyss, he obtained the Breath of Xuanming; entering the depths of ten thousand forests, he obtained the Breath of a Hundred Herbs... He gathered eighty-one spiritual breaths and concentrated them within his monster body.

A Mythical Bird found his scent and prepared to hunt him as a snack, but could not find him.

He was like a Startled Swan or a fish in the abyss. Unfettered and free, he moved forward alone for his own goals, needing no bird's understanding.

But he overlooked one thing.

Cultivating as a monster requires Undergoing Tribulation. Without a Protector during the tribulation, it is often a narrow escape from death.

The Heavenly Tribulation descended, catching A Fan off guard.

The Monster Core he had condensed over a hundred years shattered. A Fan, with his charred body and hanging onto life by a thread, barely managed to survive.

He survived, but he lost the foundation of a monster's Cultivate, the Monster Core. He reverted to being a common Small Bird once again.

Back to square one overnight. A Fan smiled bitterly; without a Monster Core, what could he do?

But being clever, he soon thought of a solution.

The power of the Heavenly Tribulation had compressed some of the spiritual power in his body, transforming it into a purer form of energy. Perhaps by letting this energy flow through his entire body and using his whole body to carry this great power, he could transcend the mundane without a Monster Core.

In the Wilds of Cangwu, A Fan carefully recalled and visualized the Great Peng's form from before. The Great Peng rises with the wind in a single day, soaring ninety thousand miles upwards.

"Tuan" means to spiral.

A Fan made the remaining spiritual power spiral around his body, forming a constantly compressing vortex.

The entire forest stirred; air currents swirled around him and spiraled upward, like a Dragon drinking water or a divine bird swirling the wind.

He succeeded; through this vortex, he compressed his spiritual power and transformed it into an energy other than Monster Power.

Even with a rough perception, he knew this energy could perform many Spells that only Ying Insect could use; A Fan called it Magic Power.

This act of compressing spiritual power through vortex rotation was called Condensing Dharma Body.

Meanwhile, the Dharma Body grew limbs, and his body gradually approached that of a Naked Insect—a human. Transforming into a human with an Innate Dao Body was a feat only Great Transforming Monsters could achieve.

But just as he succeeded, an anomaly occurred.

When the Magic Power flowed through his whole body within the spiraling tornado, his feathers all fell off.

It was true he had obtained the Dharma Body he dreamed of, but he had also shed all his feathers as a Small Bird.

Above the blue clouds, the divine birds who saw this laughed loudly: "Look at that Small Bird, he's stark naked, showing his bare buttocks!"

Facing the mockery of the birds in the sky, A Fan fell unwillingly from the high altitude.

A Small Bird without feathers has lost its wings.

That meant losing the right to fly... Shen Moyan's Biyang spiritual power surrounded him, whipping up one vortex after another, spiraling upward.

The Spirit Stones on the Concealment Formation were rapidly consumed, shielding Shen Moyan from the anomalies of his Breakthrough.

Three years later, in a dark cave, Shen Moyan opened his eyes.

The old skin on his body had completely shed, scattered by his legs.

The Dharma Body was complete.

[True Name: Shen Moyan]

[Race: Human Race]

[Realm: Mortal Transformation Realm Early Stage (Twisted Immortal Path)]

[Current Remaining Lifespan: 600 Years ↑]

At this moment, the Concealment Formation Shen Moyan had set up collapsed, and various anomalies appeared.

In the majestic forest, the Spiritual Qi within a hundred-mile radius buzzed simultaneously at this moment, surging toward Shen Moyan's location like an overwhelming tide.

Every leaf on the Camphor Trees in the forest trembled; dewdrops condensed on the tips of the leaves rolled down the veins, and upon touching the air, they transformed into slender threads of Spiritual Qi, drifting toward him.

The mountain streams surged as if boiling; after countless bubbles burst, clouds of milky-white Spiritual Qi mist rose. The Mycelium in the decaying leaves woke up along with Shen Moyan's Mortal Transformation, and dense pale green spots of light emerged from the soil.

"It's just a Mortal Transformation; why such a big spectacle?"

Shen Moyan circulated his Magic Power, hurriedly suppressing these anomalies.

In this world, being too flamboyant is not a good thing; there's no telling what kind of Monsters and Ghosts might take notice.