Beginning with the Ubume Bird

Chapter 99: Chapter 5: 9 Phoenixes

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You may select any three from the following gifts. Each item will cost you one Yan Fu point.

…

The Wild Gods gathered by Li Yan number in the hundreds, but their strengths vary significantly, as do the values of their gifts, which are wide-ranging and inclusive of all sorts.

For example, the gift from Jin Yanwa is a rare-quality dagger, the Iron-Eating Fox offers a human skin mask, and the Merit Magpie bestows a red fruit that can enhance vision, among others.

Additionally, the gifts of the Wild Gods aren’t strictly accurate since they also include offerings from military officers like Wang Sheng, likely consisting of bows, swords, and the like.

After reviewing the options, Li Yan selected the three he deemed most valuable.

[Gaoliangna’s Lifesaving Hair]

Category: Consumable

Passively triggered, resists one fatal attack, with an overflow limit.

One Yan Fu point.

Gift giver: Gaoliangna

[Nine-Winged Sudu’s Feather Woven Black Scarf]

Category: Curio

Summon a hundred Sudu birds, free to communicate as they accompany you.

[Sudu Bird]

Weight: 3 grams

Characteristics: Midair stillness, backward flight, vertical takeoff and landing, agile dodging.

Speed: 100 km/h

Sudu birds cannot be replenished after death.

[Ji Xiao’s New Book: The Method of Face Reading]

Category: Curio

Usage: 3/3

Designate a Yan Fu traveler as a Comrade, and secure the right to join them in the same Yan Fu event.

“Those who discern warriors, avoid the signs of dire death and value symbols of fortune.”

Gift giver: Diao Xiayan

No need to say much about the lifesaving hair.

The Sudu birds in the Feather Woven Black Scarf are essential for scouting, tracking, and surveillance.

As for [Ji Xiao’s New Book: The Method of Face Reading], Li Yan also noticed upon seeing it that not everyone in Yan Fu was a lone ranger.

Even if the relations aren’t consistently aligned in interest as Comrades, as long as one reaches a common baseline with fellow travelers engaging in Yan Fu events, the execution power is incomparably higher than that of loners.

Having a few reliable fellows to accompany you means you don’t have to worry about being stabbed in the back.

Even dependable fellows like Deng Tianxiong and Diao Xiayan, who are native to the lands of the fruits, aren’t encountered every time.

Of course, there are still many splendid items among the Wild God gifts. However, having made a choice, one needn’t dwell on those not taken.

So, how to spend those points became the question.

Perhaps it’s a matter of personal habit, but compared to external items like Yinpan Gold or flags, Li Yan is more interested in the visualization of certain skills, especially [Demonic Eighty Strikes].

Indeed, this was not the optimal solution. Consumables such as Yinpan Gold do not offer significant long-term benefits to one’s strength; hence, their short-term effect must surpass that of visualization skills,

especially considering how much one should invest in those skills. Li Yan himself was uncertain about this, hence he did not rush to purchase consumables like Yinpan Gold and flags. Instead, he decided to use his Yan Fu points on visualization skills first and see the results before making a decision.

The Ring Dragon Sword let out a piercing whistle as Li Yan, in a stable horse stance, exhaled softly.

He began visualizing [Forty Strikes]…

…

Apart from necessary eating, sleeping, and washing, Li Yan spent the next few days immersed in the courtyard training ground, completely engrossed in the visualization and comprehension of skills.

The Iai Slash was a sword technique, incompatible with the Ring Dragon and Tiger Head Great Spear.

Li Yan’s focus for visualization remained on [Forty Strikes], [Demonic Eighty Strikes], and [Yazi Provoked Killing].

After each visualization costing points, Li Yan would spend several hours or even more to ruminate and practice.

The most progress was with [Yazi Provoked Killing], the skill from Song Yi.

Perhaps it was because both men were proficient spear users from Zhuo Province, Li Yan simply needed to fully assimilate Song Yi’s imprint into his own.

“Bang!”

Wood chips and dust flew as Li Yan launched a thrust with his spear shaft, and the wooden post he was practicing on eventually shattered under the force.

It’s worth mentioning that the spear in Li Yan’s hand wasn’t the Tiger Head Great Spear but his own unsharpened waxwood staff.

Perhaps by coincidence, the method for Li Yan to access the twenty cubic meters of independent space granted by Ten Cities authority was through caressing the Chaos Tattoo on his chest.

Li Yan had stored the Ring Dragon Sword and Tiger Head Spear in there. During the still of night, he would specifically practice drawing the weapon from the mark and instantaneously striking (or thrusting), which in Li Yan’s view, such a surprise attack was in itself as effective as any skill.

“Hey there, big guy from the Third Brigade, Dayan, come pick up your mail. Hurry up, they’re calling you over the loudspeaker…”

“Third Brigade’s big guy, Dayan… they’re calling you over the loudspeaker…”

Li Yan wiped off his sweat, tossed the spear aside, and walked out of the yard.

“Ring ring~”

Li Yan opened his vermilion gate and nodded to the middle-aged woman passing by on her somewhat old Phoenix Brand bicycle.

“Auntie, going out?”

“Ah, Dayan.”

The middle-aged woman with a complexion of black tinged with red stopped pedaling.

“When did you get back?”

“Been back for a while now.”

“Go on, visit your uncle’s house?”

“Maybe later, I will.”

In Li Yan’s hometown, a village was akin to a brigade, and the brigade’s party committee secretary was also the village head. Being told to pick up mail at the brigade meant heading to the township government office.

The mail contained talisman paper and cinnabar Li Yan had purchased online, which was naturally meant for creating the Nine Phoenix Talisman.

Because the post office was far away, Li Yan conveniently put the township government as the mailing address. In the inconvenient years of the past, villagers did the same.

“Knock, knock.”

Li Yan glanced around the interior. It was still the same old place: paintings on the wall, an office desk, potted plants, a water dispenser, only the person in the office chair looked unfamiliar.

“Big guy Dayan?”

The girl playing with her phone by the desk looked up. Upon seeing Li Yan, she blinked and then called out his name.

“Dayu’er?”

Li Yan vaguely recognized her.

“Zhao Jinhu? What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been pulled off, haven’t I? I’m a college student turned village official now. Brother Dayan, have a seat, I’ll pour you a glass of water…”

The girl sprang to her feet with a smack and stood a whopping 1.75 meters tall once on the ground.

“No need, I’ll just grab my stuff and go.”

“Oh, just wait a sec.”

Li Yan had stayed in the town until he was fifteen and had come back a few times after that; he was very attached to the people there. The girl, called Dayu’er in her youth, used to wear two ox horn braids that weren’t pretty—at least, the young Li Yan who watched movies starring Cherie Chung and Carrie Ng didn’t think so.

But as a kid, Li Yan seemed to have stood up for her, fighting with the local thugs. Ah, he was at his wildest back then.

Now, looking at her, the young lady had blossomed into someone much more vibrant—a fair, oval face, a pair of autumn-watery, cold-star eyes, like two black pearls reared in mercury, refreshing when she laughed.

And not a bad figure either…

Li Yan nodded to himself approvingly,

“Bro, here’s your thing,”

Dayu’er reached out for him.

“Okay, thanks a lot.”

Li Yan took it and turned to walk out. Dayu’er opened her mouth, but Li Yan had already pushed the door open and left. She blinked her eyelashes but said nothing.

“Dayan, when did you come back?”

The man in the black leather cap shouted as he leaned his bicycle under the locust tree in the yard, exhaling a cloud of white breath.

The man was in his fifties, burly and resolute-featured, with two thick eyebrows and a slightly villainous air.

“It’s been a while, fourth uncle.”

“What brought you back? Don’t you go around avoiding honest labor.”

Li Yan cheerfully replied, pulling out a pack of Yuxi cigarettes and offering them to the man.

“I missed you, you know.”

The man was Li Yan’s father’s sworn brother, known locally as alliance brothers. Whenever Li Yan got into trouble as a child, he was the one who’d get him out of it. Only a few close to Li Yan knew of his previous illness, and he had no desire to cause them sorrow now, but it spared him a great deal of trouble at this moment.

“Come over to my place this afternoon, you hear? I’ll have your aunt cook up some crabs for us, and we can have a cup or two together.”

“Sure thing.”

Li Yan agreeably concurred.

A fleeting tenderness passed over the man’s face. He had two daughters of his own and had always treated Li Yan like a son. Even though he didn’t say a word about it, he was happy in his heart to have Li Yan back.

“By the way, Dayan.”

“What’s up, fourth uncle?”

“Got yourself a girlfriend yet? Can I set you up with someone?”

“What on earth?”

The man gestured with his mouth towards the house.

…

[Nine Phoenix Divine Talisman]

Function: Brief

A Yan Fu Talisman containing the power of Nine Phoenixes

Use to increase any legacy’s Awakening Degree by 10% and provides special enhancements for certain legacies.

Note: In The Great Wilderness, there is a mountain called Beiji Cabinet. The sea’s waters flow north to it. There dwelleth a god with nine heads, a human face, and the body of a bird, named the Nine Phoenixes.

——Classic of Mountains and Seas: The Northern Wilderness

Your Gu Huo Bird Spirit legacy has absorbed the power of the Nine Phoenixes!

The current Awakening Degree of Gu Huo Bird Spirit is 39%+7%

Attempting to break through the 40% threshold will consume an additional 10% of Awakening Degree, with the current extra 7%. Each additional 5% increases the probability of success by 10%, and spending 35% guarantees a breakthrough.

Alternate breakthrough methods will return the extra Awakening Degree.

To break through the 40% peak, you need twenty units of Dragon Tiger Qi.

Your Blood Dip Skill is dormant for now, but it is certain to awaken and enhance before the next Yan Fu event.

Li Yan’s eyes were tinged with a faint red, and the white tiger cub formed by the Dragon Tiger Qi circled him a few times, yawning with an exhausted look.

Li Yan sat on the sofa, picked up the teacup and drank a few cups of cool water, then suddenly grabbed the red gourd on the table.

It was a parting gift from Yu Shu, who had promised to let him access higher thresholds faster. Li Yan thought it had to do with the breakthrough.

“Pop~”

Li Yan’s eyes went blank as he pried open the gourd’s mouth, and a burst of black light enveloped him.

Then Li Yan felt something white and fluffy slam into him!

A soft, warm body pressed against him, and he instinctively raised his arm. He didn’t know what his fingers touched, only feeling a slick substance.

The rich fragrance jolted Li Yan’s mind, his throat tightened unexpectedly, leaving him breathless.

The woman’s face was so flushed it was almost bleeding, her normally gentle and beautiful eyes now filled with shame and anger as they glared at Li Yan. Her soft, boneless hand gripped his neck.

“I’m going to fight you.”

Li Yan’s forehead throbbed with veins, his face turning red as he tried to speak, but his throat constricted even more, emitting only raspy sounds.

…

“Bang, bang, bang.”

At this moment, outside the gate of Li Yan’s old home, delicate palms energetically pounded on the iron ring.

“Brother Dayan, my mom sent me to bring you two pounds of green fruit, Brother Dayan!”

Dayu’er glanced at the smiling woman standing to the side, dressed in a long trench coat, and put a bit more force into her knocks.

In fact, among girls her age, Dayu’er was quite confident in her own appearance, feeling no less attractive than the woman in the trench coat. Yet, standing next to her, she felt like she was missing something—not in looks, but something else.

“Is he not at home?”

The woman inquired.

“He was home this morning,” Dayu’er replied. “Um, sister, are you looking for Brother Dayan for something?”n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

She asked the woman she had encountered on the road.

“Just visiting a friend,” the woman said.

“Oh.”

Dayu’er acknowledged.

The sound of a grinding metal latch arose as the door slowly opened.