Hong Region.
Lakes stretched in clusters, their emerald waves spanning ten thousand acres.
This was a vast lake district, where all manner of waterbirds spread their wings.
In one great lake, a rocky mountain stood wreathed in spiritual energy, rising from the center of the waters.
"Is the information reliable?" Xi Yue surveyed the Primordial Wilderness before her, then turned to question an old man.
"Absolutely reliable," the old man said with certainty. "Our people have investigated this place several times. Someone saw the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow appear here with their own eyes."
"Good. You can all leave now," Xi Yue said, dismissing everyone.
After all, the Mountain Treasure involved far too much. The fewer people who knew, the better. These people were not her own, ultimately, and she could not quite trust them.
The old man froze, then hesitated. "Miss, the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow is a Venerable. You..."
He no longer dared underestimate the young woman before him. Some time ago, he had contacted the Upper Realm and learned that she had an astonishing background. Now he behaved like a loyal old servant.
The Old Deity, too, had grown shrewd with age. Realizing that there might be secrets she did not want him to know, he left sheepishly.
Before long, a rank wind rose in the distance, sweeping across ten thousand acres of emerald waves and changing the very color of the lake.
Waterbirds cried out in alarm and scattered in flight. The gale whipped the lake into towering waves dozens of feet high, shattering the spray into mist that swept into the sky.
An enormous savage bird tore through the air, blotting out the sky and sun. Its eerie green eyes were as large as lakes, cold and unfathomably deep.
"Hmm? A human cultivator?" The Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow's divine senses were keen. He looked over, a deep voice rumbling from his beak.
"You came." Xi Yue looked at him calmly.
"I came." The Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow was somewhat bewildered and answered without thinking.
"You shouldn't have come."
"But I came anyway." The Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow abruptly recovered his wits. Why am I saying these things?
He swept across the sky like a black cloud, his eyes radiating monstrous ferocity like blood-red moons.
What had begun as a stern confrontation became too much for Xi Yue to keep a straight face. At the sight of the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow, she burst out laughing.
"You feeble human! You dare mock me like this!" The Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow flew into a rage. Rank winds howled around him, and ten thousand acres of lake water churned.
He was a savage bird of the Venerable Realm who had ruled a region for years. When had a little girl ever toyed with him like this?
In an instant, the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow spread his wings, blotting out the sky and sun. His pitch-black feathers fell like heavenly blades, shrieking sharply enough to tear the void as they crashed down toward Xi Yue.
Yet Xi Yue unhurriedly took out a golden rope. Dark gold throughout, it was made from some unknown material and shimmered with strange colors beneath the daylight.
This was the God-Binding Rope, which could imprison all living beings. It bound not only the flesh, but also magical power and the primordial spirit.
Using it against the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow was somewhat wasteful, but that hardly mattered. The Mountain Treasure was worth far more than this artifact.
"What is that?" The Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow's feathers stood on end. He felt a terrifying presence lock onto him, freezing his movements for an instant.
The golden rope swelled in midair like a Chi Dragon, carrying the majestic might of heaven. Like a golden celestial river, it lashed around the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow!
The Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow beat his wings with all his strength, trying to escape, but an irresistible force struck him, abruptly arresting his body.
"Aah!"
He shrieked miserably, beating his wings in a frenzy as he tried to break the deadly bonds.
Yet the golden rope seemed like a sentient divine relic from antiquity. It tightened relentlessly, every inch of contraction bringing heart-piercing agony.
"Young friend, there is no enmity between us. Why not let me go?" Seeing how badly things were going, the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow immediately begged for mercy.
All his ferocity vanished. His body returned to an ordinary size, and he sprawled on the ground like a dead dog, none of his former arrogance remaining.
"Hand it over." Xi Yue looked down at him, then held out her luminous white palm.
"Hand what over?" the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow asked, unable to understand her meaning.
"The Mountain Treasure." Xi Yue kicked him twice and spoke impatiently.
She had examined him and found no trace of the Mountain Treasure's aura on his body. This old bird really was cautious.
The Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow understood at once. So she had come for the Mountain Treasure. He had been wondering how he had managed to provoke such a little tyrant.
"I hid the Mountain Treasure in a cave. If you want it, young friend, you may take it."
"Lead the way." Xi Yue's eyes lit up.
How could the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow dare resist? Bound so tightly by the God-Binding Rope that he could not move, he could only nod in humiliation. Nothing remained in his fierce eyes but terror.
"Spare my life, young friend. I'll take you there right now, right now..."
Bound by the golden rope, he could only inch laboriously along the ground. All the imposing grandeur of a Venerable who had once dominated a region was gone. He looked as wretched as could be.
Xi Yue followed behind, her gaze slightly cold, constantly guarding against any tricks from the old bird.
They traveled deep into the lake district, passing through layers of watery mist until they reached an exceptionally well-hidden cave.
The entrance was concealed by savage beasts' bones and scattered rocks. Without the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow leading the way, an outsider would have found it almost impossible to discover.
"It's inside?" Xi Yue glanced at him.
"Yes, yes, yes. Right at the back." The Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow nodded repeatedly, not daring to conceal a thing.
Xi Yue kicked him into the cave and stepped in right behind him.
The God-Binding Rope remained taut, firmly imprisoning the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow's primordial spirit and flesh.
The cave was pitch-black, without a glimmer of light. Divine power burned at Xi Yue's fingertips, turning her into a human-shaped torch.
The cave's furnishings were exceptionally crude: nothing but a meditation cushion and a stone table.
On the stone table lay a luminous white piece of bone. It did not feel like bone, possessing instead the gentle warmth of jade. It was sturdy and impervious to damage. She tried squeezing it hard, but the Mountain Treasure did not budge, nor did a single crack appear.
"This thing is rather extraordinary. Over the years, I've only managed to comprehend a little of its surface mysteries," the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow said. All he could do now was offer pleasing words and hope this little tyrant would release him.
Xi Yue ignored him. Instead, she casually formed a hand seal. The rope around the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow abruptly blazed with golden light, crushing his primordial spirit outright.
Who knew how many living beings this old bird had devoured? Now, at least, he had been brought to justice.
"This is a decent place for secluded cultivation." She surveyed her surroundings, then looked at the Mountain Treasure in her hand. Finally, she nodded, deciding to open it here.
She looked at the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow lying on the ground. His body bore not a single wound, yet there was no life left in him.
She had thought this old bird was so well hidden that finding him would take some time. Who could have expected things to go so smoothly, with him jumping out on his own?
"Can't let him go to waste." She casually took out a palm-sized Heaven and Earth Bag and stowed the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow's body inside.
Though
He was only a descendant of an ancient species, he still had some use. He would just about do for the cooking pot.
Then she sat cross-legged and carefully studied the piece of bone in her hand.
She turned the bone over and over, examining it, then employed six Precious Arts in total, including those of Taotie, Bi Fang, Bian, and the Nine-Headed Snake. All were heaven-tier savage beast Precious Arts, and she directed every one of them into the bone.
At once, the bone blazed with dazzling, piercing light, illuminating the cave as a brilliant rain of radiance flowed from it.
The six-sided white bone gave a crisp crack. One of its faces was a lid, which detached on its own to reveal what lay within.
The bone looked small, but its interior was spacious and dotted with rosy light, like a miniature world.
Inside lay several ancient beast hides, marked with patches of dried blood. There was no telling how many years they had endured.