Taming the Crane King

Early in the morning,

Water vapor hung over the lake beneath a thick blanket of mist.

Gao Yunyi had kept watch on this rock for three grueling days, yet there was still no sign of the Crane King.

But in Meditative Samadhi, time passed like a white steed flashing past a crack, and he scarcely noticed it. Though he hadn't managed to wait for the Crane King, his experience bar had risen by dozens of points.

The boatman and his daughter hadn't come as promised the previous evening.

Gao Yunyi had planned to leave on their boat if he failed to catch the Crane King, or if the Crane King proved unable to carry him in flight after being caught.

That was why he had given them ten taels of silver and told them to come once each morning and evening.

But last night, they had failed to show.

Had something held them up, or had they broken their word?

Of course, Gao Yunyi didn't care which it was. To him, it was merely an idle move made just in case.

Suddenly,

A clear, ringing crane cry resounded through the clouds.

Gao Yunyi's eyes snapped open, and the white light surrounding him dispersed. He looked up in the direction of the cry.

A white crane swept over his head, its wings spanning a full four meters and casting a huge dark shadow on the water.

It was the largest white crane Gao Yunyi had seen in the past three days, and the most beautiful.

With snowy feathers and a crimson crown, elegant bones and a clear spirit, it was handsome and otherworldly, its whole body radiating the commanding bearing of a king.

Gao Yunyi's eyes lit up.

He knew this was the Crane King he had waited three days for.

The white crane folded its wings and landed on the mudflat, its head high and chest out, its posture proud and gaze disdainful, like the king of this flock.

Beside it, every other white crane on the mudflat looked as ordinary as a wild pheasant.

When the Crane King arrived, the flock lowered their heads like court officials before an emperor, bowing in homage.

The sight made Gao Yunyi's eyes shine with an unusual light.

He was going to catch this Crane King. Not even Jesus could stop him, he said.

But Gao Yunyi's gaze soon went blank.

The Crane King had suddenly jumped onto another white crane's back, pressing her to the ground before giving a series of thrusts atop the female beneath it.

As it thrust wildly, it let out one piercing cry after another.

"Holy shit."

Watching the passionate action scene live, Gao Yunyi couldn't help blurting out a comment.

It was a fine crane, but its fucking lifestyle was a little too promiscuous.

Gao Yunyi even considered whether he should cut its balls off after taming it.

Otherwise, halfway through carrying him on a flight, it might suddenly spot a pretty female crane below, dump him and swoop down for a round of action.

He could hardly imagine the scene.

Perhaps it sensed Gao Yunyi's ill intent, or perhaps its round of action only lasted a dozen seconds. In any case, the Crane King suddenly stopped, turned its crimson-crowned head and locked eyes with Gao Yunyi.

It had finally noticed that Gao Yunyi, an outsider, had trespassed on its territory and was even sitting on its throne.

Seeing that he had been discovered, Gao Yunyi rose from the rock and met the Crane King's gaze without fear.

Well, well. Not only did he take my throne, he even dared to look at me so provocatively.

If this can be tolerated, what cannot?

Under the female crane's resentful gaze, still unsatisfied, the Crane King hopped off her back, spread its white wings and cried out across the marsh.

It was a warning, a furious rebuke, a sign that it was about to attack.

And the more humanlike the Crane King's behavior, the more Gao Yunyi liked it.

He immediately used his taming skill, unable to wait any longer.

Blue light shone in his palm, then wound toward the Crane King like several ropes.

The Crane King was startled by the sudden phenomenon, curiosity and puzzlement showing in its eyes. Only when the blue light enveloped its entire body did its gaze gradually turn blank.

A voice suddenly seemed to speak inside its head, telling it to submit to the human before it, obey him, acknowledge him as its master and do his bidding.

But the pride in the Crane King's heart fiercely resisted this mysterious power.

I am the king of the white cranes in this territory.

I long to be free and unrestrained.

Why should I submit to this human? Why should I acknowledge him as my master and do his bidding?

Just like that, the blue ropes wrapped around the Crane King snapped apart.

"Taming failed?"

Gao Yunyi glanced at the notification in the lower left corner, and the corner of his mouth twitched violently.

"Heh... I don't believe it. I'm a dignified Qi Refining Realm cultivator, and I can't handle one bird?"

Blue light appeared out of thin air once more, and several ropes of light again bound the Crane King tightly.

Yet the taming failure notification appeared again.

Gao Yunyi was dumbfounded.

For a moment, he couldn't tell whether his own luck was too poor or this Crane King was the kind of wild monster that couldn't be tamed.

The Crane King was furious.

Being bound by those blue things and bewitched by that strange voice time and again made it feel that its dignity as Crane King had been trampled upon.

It decided to teach the outrageously bold human before it a harsh lesson.

The Crane King spread its wings high and wide, every feather standing on end as a fierce, cold light flashed in its eyes.

Its sharp claws gouged long, deep furrows in the mudflat.

Gao Yunyi, meanwhile, was deep in thought. He had suddenly recalled a way to tame spirit pets: beat the wild monster he wanted to tame until it had only a sliver of health left, greatly increasing the chance of success.

But no matter how special this Crane King was, it was still just a mortal bird. Could it withstand a single strike of his Sword Qi?

He might end up killing it with one strike and losing both the chicken and the eggs.

Looks like I'll have to watch how hard I hit. I can't kill it; beating it half to death will do.

I've been fucking sick of the way this stinking bird looks down on people for a while now.

Gao Yunyi rolled his neck, loosened up his body and cracked his knuckles.

Since I can't use skills, I'll teach this arrogant stinking bird a proper lesson with ordinary fists and kicks.

He was now level 11, and his attributes had long since surpassed those of ordinary people in this world.

One was poised to strike, the other was itching for a fight, and it seemed a fierce battle between bird and man was about to begin.

But the arrival of a small boat shattered the tense, solemn atmosphere before the battle.

Through the mist, which had begun to thin, a small boat slowly cut through the vapor and approached the mudflat.

Gao Yunyi recognized it as the liveaboard boat belonging to the father and daughter.

But the middle-aged man was nowhere aboard, poling the boat. Only his daughter lay weakly over the bow, raising her head to call to him in a feeble voice.

"Young master... run... run..."

The girl's voice was faint and hoarse, yet she seemed to be using all the strength in her body.

Her tone carried grief, urgency, anxiety and worry.