Volume 4: Immeasurable
Who is More Arrogant than Whom?
There has always been a saying among the common folk: “Inviting a god is easy, sending one away is difficult!”1
Regardless of whether that ambush back in Moshui City was originally intended for You Yan, the final result was that the Yi Bird had trapped You Yan within the Floating Dream Pearl and brought her back.
You Yan, that bird woman, had never had a good temper. For the Yi Bird to provoke her like this, she would certainly not let the matter rest.2
Since she was already here, how could she make the trip for nothing?
Right now, within this Snake Mountain, be it things or people, as long as it could make that Yi Bird unhappy, she would take it away.
However, although this was very much in line with the persona of a major villain, Yi Qiu just felt it was a bit too risky.
You Yan was very powerful, but no matter how powerful a single person was, their strength was still limited. What’s more, her body was currently covered in old wounds stacked upon new ones, with barely any spiritual power3 left. To still want to play around like this was a bit too reckless.
This was like a pro player confidently carrying a girl in a premade team, only to have the bad luck of being matched with three scrubs, while the “girl” he was carrying was useless aside from shouting “666” and “The pro is OP.”
A pro might be a pro, but even the best pro would have to grit their teeth and carry four people. Wouldn’t they become physically and mentally exhausted after playing for a while?
Most importantly, it was already tiring enough for the pro to carry four people, yet they still wanted to run into the enemy’s territory to stir up trouble while in a losing situation with low health.
Was this really appropriate? Couldn’t she just recover her health before acting so recklessly?
“You Yan, is what we’re doing… a little too risky?”
“Are you scared?”
“A little…” Yi Qiu replied. After a brief moment of thought, she quickly shook her head and spoke the truth, “Actually, it’s not just a little. I’m very worried about you…”
Hearing this, You Yan raised her eyebrows but didn’t say much more. She just gazed quietly at Yi Qiu, as if waiting for her to continue.
Yi Qiu thought for a moment, then continued, “You Yan, your injuries have never healed. If this Thousand-Petal Lotus can really cure you, then you should eat it. Once your injuries are healed, it won’t be too late to deal with that Yi Bird… If we startle the snake by beating the grass4, so be it. The one who was captured is Chao Yun anyway, the Yi Bird wouldn’t…”
At this point in her words, Yi Qiu seemed to realize she was being a bit selfish and stopped speaking, unconsciously biting her lower lip.
Let’s just startle the snake, she thought. The one captured by the Yi Bird is Chao Yun anyway. Even if we completely infuriate the Yi Bird, she wouldn’t go so far as to harm Chao Yun over this, right?
So much had happened along the way, and she increasingly hoped that You Yan could be well and not suffer any more harm because of her.
For this very reason, the moment she learned that this Five-Colored Thousand-Petal Lotus could heal You Yan’s injuries, her mind was filled with the thought of persuading You Yan to eat it.
The male lead, the female lead, the second female lead, the third female lead—all of them were cast beyond the nine layers of heaven’s clouds.5
She didn’t want to care about anything right now; she just wanted You Yan to heal her injuries.
“Speaking of which, I was initially a bit curious. The spirit contained within this lotus is extraordinary. If the Yi Bird were to consume it, she should be able to suppress the fire poison6 in her body quite well. So why did she only plant it here instead of eating it directly?” As You Yan spoke, she brought Yi Qiu’s somewhat cold hands to her, gently blew a breath of warm air on them, and placed them in her palms to rub them tenderly. “Is it because this lotus would cause some harm to her body, or is there another reason?”
At this point, You Yan lowered her gaze to meet Yi Qiu’s somewhat dazed eyes, raised her brows for a moment, and smiled faintly. “It wasn’t until you told me that this was a gift from the Wood God that I understood—it turns out she couldn’t bear to part with it.”
“She couldn’t bear to part with it…” Yi Qiu suddenly understood something.
Why would the Wood God give the Yi Bird an immortal medicine for no reason?
Back then, when the Yi Bird was injured by the Huodou’s7 celestial fire, the Wood God must have gifted her this Five-Colored Thousand-Petal Lotus because it could cure that specific injury.
But the Wood God probably never expected that this Yi Bird was so stubborn that she would rather endure the pain of the fire poison attacking her heart once a month than consume the medicine she had been given.
But so what?
Yi Qiu couldn’t help but tilt her head, curious as to why this fearless bird woman would suddenly care whether that Yi Bird went crazy or not.
“You Yan, this doesn’t seem like you… Since when do you care if someone can bear to part with something before you snatch it?” Yi Qiu pouted and said, “You said it yourself, you’re not afraid of her.”
“If I weren’t injured, I indeed wouldn’t need to care about these things,” You Yan said with a smile. “It’s better to be a little afraid. Don’t want to blow things out of proportion and make it hard to clean up.”
“But if you eat this thing, can’t you recover?” Yi Qiu said. “As long as your body recovers, you won’t have to be afraid of the Yi Bird anymore!”
“The spiritual power contained in this lotus is particularly special. With my current strength alone, I wouldn’t be able to hide its spiritual aura.” You Yan shook her head and smiled. “If it weren’t that important to the Yi Bird, I could carry it and flee a thousand li8, and she probably wouldn’t chase me without letting go. But the problem is, it’s far too important to her. If I were to pluck it, I’m afraid I’d be hunted down for thousands upon thousands of li before I even had time to digest it.”
“This…” Yi Qiu was momentarily speechless. Thinking it over, it did seem to make sense.
Reality wasn’t a game, after all. There were no such things as instant-heal potions.
No matter how good an immortal medicine was, you still needed time to digest it after eating it.
Given how much the Yi Bird valued this thing, she would probably fly into a rage the moment she discovered it was stolen. How could she give anyone time to digest it?
“I was thinking too simply. I thought…” Yi Qiu pouted and said, “I thought that once you ate it, the Yi Bird would be no match for you.”
“Indeed, but I’m not surprised.”
Yi Qiu bit her lower lip, a hint of grievance welling up in her eyes.
Was she making fun of her?
She felt that her concern had made her muddle-headed. You Yan must think she was very foolish right now.
“I didn’t know this lotus was special. It’s a good thing you stopped me, otherwise things would have become troublesome.” As she spoke, You Yan released the small hands she had finally warmed up and raised her own to rub Yi Qiu’s head.
“Huh?” Yi Qiu subconsciously looked up at You Yan, only to see the person before her with curved eyes and brows, her gaze filled with a warm smile.
She was stunned for half a second, then tilted her head and asked, “Are you… acknowledging me?”
You Yan nodded. “Mm.”
Yi Qiu asked, a little uncertainly, “So, this time… I’ve rendered a meritorious service?”
You Yan stared at Yi Qiu for two seconds, the corners of her lips turning up slightly, and replied again, “Mm.”
Yi Qiu couldn’t help but grin. “No need to be so formal! We’re like grasshoppers on the same rope9, so of course I have to help you out more!”
Her tone was like that of a praised puppy, so eager it wanted to wag its tail.
However, in the next second, her little stomach let out two gurgling sounds.
After a brief moment of embarrassment, You Yan couldn’t help but chuckle and led her away from that place.
The Thousand-Petal Lotus in Snake Mountain’s spiritual pond was truly an incredible immortal treasure. You Yan had only needed to regulate her breathing by its side for a few hours to recover a certain degree of mobility.
Among all things in heaven and earth, any being that had gained spiritual consciousness possessed its own unique spiritual aura.10
What race a cultivator11 was, whether their cultivation base12 was strong or weak—all of this could be identified and judged through their spiritual aura.
However, those with a sufficiently profound cultivation base could also expend their own spiritual power to conceal or alter their own and others’ spiritual auras, thereby hiding their identities.
Under this state of concealment, unless the opponent’s cultivation base was far superior to one’s own, one would generally not be easily exposed.
This was precisely the case for You Yan at this moment.
You Yan used a spell to change her and Yi Qiu’s spiritual auras, so the demons of Snake Mountain wouldn’t discover anything special about them. Even if they ran into them, they would subconsciously assume they were just fellow mountain dwellers who looked a bit unfamiliar.
It was for this reason that they could move about freely within Snake Mountain.
The Yi Bird’s Floating Dream Pearl had shattered, yet Snake Mountain remained exceedingly tranquil.
You Yan said that she sensed the Yi Bird had opened the barrier sealing Snake Mountain. She figured this was a concession, and also the Yi Bird’s way of begging for mercy from You Yan.
As long as the Yi Bird wasn’t a fool, she should be able to guess that You Yan’s current injuries were not optimistic. After all, all three realms13 knew that Demon Lord You Yan was not someone to be trifled with. If her injuries were truly fine, she would have definitely charged straight to the one who plotted against her the moment she left the Floating Dream Pearl’s illusion and settled the score.
But even so, the Yi Bird was still extremely wary of You Yan. Unless she was absolutely certain she could take her life, she would never dare to push things to the point of no return.
Everyone knew that over two thousand five hundred years ago, this Qinyuan14 bird, born with a demonic visage, had also escaped from the Soul-Searching Net15 laid by countless immortal gods of the Heavenly Realm while dragging a heavily injured body.
The Heavenly Realm couldn’t kill You Yan, so could she?
If she couldn’t, yet had forged an irreconcilable enmity with her, then in the days to come, Snake Mountain would likely know no peace.
Therefore, she simply threw open the mountain gates. On the surface, it was a hope that each would take a step back; in reality, it was a silent order to see a guest out.
To put it nicely, it was: “None of my previous plans were aimed at you, and the matter of the Floating Dream Pearl was purely an accident. Since you have successfully escaped and also destroyed my magic treasure16, why don’t we each take a step back? I will open the barrier sealing the mountain, and you may leave on your own. From now on, we will not disturb each other.”
To put it bluntly, it was: “I know you are heavily injured, and I have no intention of making things difficult for you. The barrier is open for you, so just leave. I won’t stop you. My target was never you, and I hope you won’t ruin my plans time and time again. We are all intelligent people; there’s no need to tear off all face.”17
After hearing You Yan’s analysis, Yi Qiu couldn’t help but exclaim, “This Yi Bird is really quite arrogant.”
What a pity. This incredibly arrogant Yi Bird had encountered a Qinyuan a hundred times more arrogant than herself.
She definitely couldn’t have imagined that even in such an injured state, You Yan would still dare to remain on the mountain, coveting her “precious lotus” and “beloved person.”
“In your impression, she’s both stupid and evil?” A hint of a smile seemed to be in You Yan’s eyes.
“Umm…” Yi Qiu pouted and said, “The contents of the novel don’t count. I’ve been seriously screwed over by that novel’s plot!”
“It certainly doesn’t count. This Yi Bird does have some brains.” As she spoke, You Yan handed the grilled fish to Yi Qiu. Just as Yi Qiu accepted it with a look of delight, she added faintly, “But she’s only a tiny bit smarter than you, so it’s not of much use—her days ahead will not be easy.”
Yi Qiu blew on the grilled fish in her hands. When she looked up, she wore a helpless expression. “For a moment, I can’t tell if you’re scolding her for being stupid or praising me for being smart…”
You Yan considered for a moment, then said, “The latter, I suppose.”
Yi Qiu’s eyes couldn’t help but light up.
“If, that is, it would make you happy,” You Yan added.
“…Of course I’m happy,” Yi Qiu immediately rolled her eyes. “If, that is, you hadn’t added that last part.”
✨ Unlock Early Access to Chapters! ✨
Choose your perfect membership at bamboopandatl.net:
📚 Full Access ($4.99)
• Advanced chapters of ALL ongoing novels
• Access to complete finished novels
• Ad-free reading experience
📖 Single Novel Access ($1.49)
• Advanced chapters of ONE specific novel
• Ad-free reading for chosen novel
PayPal is the only current payment option!