Chapter 176 While waiting for Sang Zhitao to wake up at Sparrow Shadow Cave…
When Sang Zhitao woke up, it was already dark. She looked at Qingyan with sleepy eyes and asked, "Where are we going?"
Qingyan squinted at the starry sky above: "We're not going there."
"Huh?" Sang Zhitao looked bewildered, then carefully looked around and realized that the two of them were still floating in the sky.
"I roam with the clouds at dawn and rest under the stars and moon at dusk." Qingyan held an exquisite wine cup in her hand and carefully took a sip. "Good wine."
"You mean, we're just going to sleep in the clouds like this?" Sang Zhitao's almond-shaped eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at the other person.
Qingyan stared at the bright moon in the distance without even turning her head: "It's fine. If you're still sleepy, you can continue sleeping."
Sang Zhitao felt an indescribable sadness surrounding her, and her heart softened for a moment. Although she didn't remember what she had set in the original book, she was certain that it would never be a perfect ending from beginning to end, since she had written more tragedies during that period.
Just as she was about to say something to comfort Qingyan, she noticed that her skirt was swaying slightly. She tilted her head and saw that Qingyan's free left hand was picking at her toes!
"What are you doing!" Sang Zhitao backed away in disgust, exclaiming involuntarily.
Qingyan was so startled by her shout that she almost dropped her wine glass. She quickly finished the wine in her glass, carefully put the glass away, and then looked at Sang Zhitao: "What's wrong?"
Sang Zhitao crawled back a few steps, using both hands and feet, before looking at her with a resistant expression: "You're eating while picking your toes?!"
Qingyan glanced down at her left hand, then casually wiped it on the hem of her skirt: "I'm an immortal, I'm not dirty!"
As she spoke, she held her left hand up to Sang Zhitao's nose, which startled Sang Zhitao so much that she took a few steps back before reluctantly withdrawing her hand.
“You weren’t like this before…” Sang Zhitao frowned deeply when she saw her like this, and she really couldn’t understand how the Azure Dragon described in the book had become so decadent and unruly.
Qingyan raised an eyebrow and looked her up and down: "I've always been curious, how do you know what I was like in the past? After all... you haven't been hatched for very long, have you?"
Although Qingyan appears to be a friendly but somewhat slovenly person, her eyes are clear and sharp, which proves that she is not someone who can be easily fooled.
Under that gaze, Sang Zhitao opened her mouth, hesitating whether to confess or continue to keep it a secret.
In the previous worlds, she would often reveal her origins to the otherworldly beings who were in charge of the trade only when the trading gate was finally opened. Of course, there were also a few worlds where she didn't need to reveal her origins, as the other party was already waiting for her.
But this world is different. It's a world thousands of years after the story ended. She didn't dare gamble on whether Qingyan was trustworthy, nor did she dare gamble on whether she would be captured and turned into some kind of pill in the cultivation world, which she had always perceived as a place where the strong were respected and people killed and robbed at the drop of a hat.
And what if people from the cultivation world, in their pursuit of power, use her to open a trading portal and invade Earth?
These people can move mountains and seas at the drop of a hat. How delicate are the people on Earth? If such a person were brought to Earth and caused a disaster, even if she died several times over, she would not be able to atone for these sins.
Seeing that she was looking down and avoiding his gaze, Qingyan narrowed his eyes, as if he had thought of something, and suddenly said with a smile, "Never mind, if you don't want to talk about it, then forget it."
Sang Zhitao suddenly looked up at her, somewhat surprised that the other party had put it down so easily. She wanted to open her mouth to explain, but after hesitating for a long time, she finally chose to keep quiet.
"Let's go, I'll take you to Sparrow Shadow Cave." Qingyan didn't care whether Sang Zhitao would reply to her. With a flick of her sleeve, the clouds obediently flew off in one direction.
"What is Sparrow Shadow Cave for?" Sang Zhitao asked curiously as she stepped forward.
Qingyan didn't reply directly, but instead teased, "What? You don't mind my sloppiness anymore?"
Sang Zhitao pouted and didn't reply, but obediently sat back down next to Qingyan.
The girl, who was eleven or twelve years old, was already half an adult in stature. But when she sat next to Qingyan, her large size made her look like a seven or eight-year-old child next to an adult.
The sea of clouds at night is not as calm as during the day. A gust of wind comes from time to time. The cloud that is sitting still is not doing anything, but Sang Zhitao's small figure is already swaying constantly.
She quickly and carefully grabbed Qingyan's clothes.
A smile flashed in Qingyan's eyes. He tapped his finger on a cloud, and a barely perceptible cloud slowly approached Sang Zhitao from behind before gradually dispersing, protecting her in the mist.
Upon realizing she couldn't feel the wind, Sang Zhitao initially thought the wind had stopped, but seeing Qingyan's flowing black hair flying wildly in the air beside her, she immediately dismissed her idea.
It was only then that she noticed the barely perceptible mist surrounding her. She carefully touched it and discovered that it was an isolation array composed of mist.
Looking at this magic circle, she felt it was very similar to the barrier she had created with her jade pendant to protect Anya and her group in the game world.
After her thoughts wandered for a moment, she realized her question. Qingyan hadn't answered her yet: "You still haven't said what we're going to Sparrow Shadow Cave for?"
Qingyan seemed a little surprised that she still remembered the question she had just asked, and raised her eyebrows as she replied, "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't want to go to Sparrow Shadow Cave."
"Me?" Sang Zhitao pointed to herself in surprise. "What does this have to do with me?"
Qingyan sighed softly: "Since you are a phoenix, you should be a divine beast born and raised by nature, and you should have bloodline memories from birth. I see that although you have not been out of the shell for long, you are as weak as a mortal. This is really not right."
"The master of Sparrow Shadow Cave is a sparrow immortal who has cultivated for more than two thousand years. Since you are all birds, you want to have some places to communicate with each other."
"If I'm a phoenix, shouldn't my level be higher than the Sparrow Fairy? Does she have a way to solve this?" Sang Zhitao was even more curious.
Qingyan looked at her in surprise: "Although we are both divine beasts and have our own bloodline talents, we only have this advantage, which makes our cultivation easier than that of ordinary demons. So why talk about the word 'rank'? We are all living beings of heaven and earth, and we are equal. Only demons and monsters would divide people into different ranks based on bloodline and cultivation. You should discard this idea and not ruin your cultivation in the future."
"Ah..." Sang Zhitao was taken aback, then asked curiously, "Since the cultivation world doesn't distinguish between people based on bloodline or cultivation level, then what distinguishes them?"
"The cultivation world? Did you fall into the demon realm before you were hatched? Why are you using their names?" Qingyan's eyes had shifted from surprise to pity.
"Qingyuan Realm is divided into three areas: the cultivation world at the top of the cloud sea, the mortal world in the mountains and seas below the cloud sea, and the demon world in the underworld below the mountains and seas." Qingyan sighed, patted her head, and explained to her.
"Cultivation is about cultivating one's state of mind and virtue, not about cultivation level. What you and I should pursue is not power, but our true selves."
“In the future, do not bring the habits of the demon realm with you. Although people will not dislike you, they will think you are stupid.” Qingyan paused as she spoke, a hint of disdain flashing in her eyes. “There are always some old scoundrels who like to tease you silly kids who have gone down the path of demons.”
"Won't they kill me because I came out of the demon realm?" Sang Zhitao was even more curious. She hadn't expected that the cultivation novel she once wrote would be set up like this.
"Why should we kill you? You are merely in the demon realm, and you do not acknowledge them. Besides, even if you did acknowledge them, it wouldn't matter, as long as you don't get tainted by blood or commit evil deeds. Your existence must be in accordance with the will of Heaven. Since the will of Heaven permits it, why shouldn't we?"
Sang Zhitao nodded thoughtfully. As the starlight grew brighter, she was captivated by the dazzling stars and stopped paying attention to the topic for a moment.
Qingyan's gaze towards Sang Zhitao grew increasingly tender, as if she were looking at her own child.
Sparrow Shadow Cave wasn't actually that far from Mingyuan City; they arrived in no time.
This is a mountain forest that rises straight into the sea of clouds. Each mountain is hundreds of feet high above the sea of clouds. At first glance, it seems to be among the mountains of the human world. In the human world, you can see lush vegetation at the foot of the mountains, but here there is only a white sea of clouds.
Qingyan carried her swiftly through the mountains, until they flew deeper into a mountain that was not very high, but far away from the surrounding mountains.
The mountain has a very peculiar shape, resembling a sharp sword, with cliffs on all sides, but the top is lush and green with houses standing neatly.
As you get closer, you can see that the houses are all simple farmhouses in the mortal world, and there are even various fields crisscrossing around them. In one place, there are many poultry, making it look like a quiet and lively village.
Qingyan picked her up and placed her directly next to a courtyard where poultry were kept.
Sang Zhitao then realized that the animals kept here were not the common poultry, but various strange beasts. The one closest to them was a chicken-like animal with silver feathers, golden claws, and a jade crest, and its long tail feathers trailed on the ground. It resembled the white peacock she had seen before, but it was far more extraordinary than the peacock.
If you look closely, you'll see that these animals are drinking celestial dew and jade, and eating gold, jade, and agate.
With a wave of his hand, Qingyan sent all the hundred or so poultry in the courtyard into his sleeve.
"Lord Qingyan, are you trying to steal my Qiongju Ming again?" Qingyan feigned innocence, pulled back his sleeve, and turned to look at the newcomer.
The newcomer was a woman with a gentle appearance, dressed in a light-colored dress and adorned with various gorgeous accessories. Her hair was elaborate and ornate, decorated with gemstone necklaces, tassels, and sparkling hairpins, making her look like a goddess or fairy.
"Oh dear, we raise them just to eat them, and besides, I saved one for you too." Qingyan pointed to a palm-sized Qiongju Ming in a corner of the courtyard without any embarrassment.
Looking at Qiong Juming, who was clearly a cub, Sang Zhitao couldn't help but feel embarrassed for her.
But the Sparrow Fairy didn't even glance at it, and directly stretched out her hand to Qingyan: "Half."
Qingyan shook his head repeatedly, even tucking his sleeves into his clothes.
"I'll give you 70%!" the Mahjong Fairy said again.
Qingyan continued to shake his head, and Que Xian closed his eyes, looking helpless: "Two males and eight females, otherwise we won't have any to eat next year."
Upon hearing her say this, Qingyan didn't hesitate at all and immediately shook out ten jade pendants from her sleeve.
Upon seeing her precious jade pendant, the Sparrow Fairy abandoned all decorum, tucking her skirt into her belt with a wave of her hand. Then, she summoned two palm-sized sparrows to hold her flowing, ethereal sleeves on her elbows.
He then quickly caught up with Qiong Juming, who was running around in all directions.
After a long while, she walked towards them, her head covered in silver feathers, as she tidied herself up.
"Let's go." With that, she tiptoed and flew straight towards the house in the very center.
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