Spirit Cultivation

"H-hey! Don't look at me like this…" Drakos muttered as be backed to the wall, all of the gazes directed at him. "I might have said some stuff but that is not the issue for now! We need to quickly save her!"

He tried to run away but Xuefeng blocked his way. Drakos finally crossed the line. 

"How many times do you have to make the same mistake?! Until one of us dies?! When will you learn to shut up?! You are no longer as strong as you used to!" Xuefeng shouted angrily, his fingers tightened around the hilt of his sword. "What's more, you didn't even tell us about it!"

This was the first time Xuefeng was this mad, wanting to cut Drakos into hundreds of pieces. 

"I didn't think he would—" Drakos tried to explain but Nuwa didn't let him, suddenly appearing in front of him and gripping him by the neck. 

"That's the case! You never think! Because of you my daughter is in danger!" Nuwa shouted, her hair flying in all direction. "If anything happens to her, I will kill you!" 

Thud. 

She threw Drakos to the ground without care, just as angry as Xuefeng.

"And this idiot!" Nuwa continued, not done venting. "She was petting a forty meters tall beast as if it was her pet! We are in a dangerous realm where everything can kill you! How careless can she be?!" 

"It's our fault too. We all know how she is yet we didn't protect her," Tianshi pointed out. "We can't blame everything on them. We are a team." 

"No, it's all my fault. I promised I will take care of her yet I didn't," Xuefeng took the blame and walked towards the exit, not wasting time anymore. "Let's go. We are going to save her." 

Everyone else followed him without hesitation aside from Drakos who called out confused, "Are you all going to just leave and walk into that bird's trap? What about a plan? Even if we reach the mountain, we are not going to win."

"We will win. There is no other option. I will not leave Yiren," Xuefeng said without turning around, spreading his wings as he left the groove. 

"She cannot die." 

———

Hmm…

Yiren woke up with a heavy headache, welcomed by a loud sound of wind. She tried to open her eyes and saw clouds, looking extra soft and fluffy. 

'Am I in the sky?' she wondered and then recalled what just happened. 

She fell from the groove and something hit her, knocking her out. 

'Ah, I'm such a dummy… I should have stayed with the rest…' 

Checking out her surroundings, Yiren realized she couldn't move, her body pinned to the scaled like skin underneath her. 

"Bobby…?" She questioned confused when a sudden bird head popped out in front of her. 

Two sharp eyes gazed at her, observing her movements before the red beak opened and she heard the beast talk to her in a squeaky voice.

"It seems like you woke up already. Don't move or you will get hurt. We will land soon."

"Okay!" Yiren replied with a nod, not really scared which made the beast freeze and hover in the sky. 

"You are not scared of me?"

"Why would I be? You don't plan to hurt me, right? I can sense you have a good heart," Yiren replied softly, feeling the beasts' intentions. "Do you know where are my friends? They will be worried if I don't return fast."

She already expected the scolding coming for Xuefeng and her mom for being a dummy but she couldn't avoid it.

The beast stared at her for a moment but it didn't reply, diving down instead. 

Thud!

Bobby got thrown down to the side while she got grabbed firmly in the claws and lifted up in front of the beast's face. She finally got a better look at the bird and she couldn't help but find it beautiful, having a set colorful feathers, making it look like one big flame.

"Whoa… Your feathers are so shiny… I wish I could pet you…" Yiren muttered with her eyes brightened. "I wonder how soft you are…"

Only afterward did she realize what she was saying. "Ehem, I guess I shouldn't be petting anyone." 

"You are weird," the bird commented. "Anyone sane would be screaming right now." 

"There is no reason to. I know I'm safe, hehe," Yiren said with a giggle. 

"How come?"

"Even now you are holding me gently. If not, I would be in real pain now," Yiren explained as she looked around and suddenly gasped at the view. "Ah! Look at all those trees! So pretty…" 

"Can you put me down? I want to see from the edge," Yiren added excitedly and surprisingly, the bird placed her down. She immediately ran towards the edge of the nest and leaned over to see. 

The whole Hidden Realm painted itself in front of her, jungle spanning in all directions. Yiren realized the realm wasn't as big as she thought as she could see the horizon but it was definitely much bigger than her home. 

"Where are we?" she asked curiously. "It so high in the sky." 

The clouds were just a few tens of meters above them, flying closely. 

"We are in my nest at the peak of the mountain," the bird replied and ignored her, pinning the bleeding Bobby to the ground. 

With one move of its massive beak, the beast ripped Bobby's neck which caused Yiren to scream. 

"Ah!!! What are you doing to Bobby! Don't kill him!" 

The beast shuddered at her voice, dropping Bobby's head to the ground. 

Thud!

The ground shook under the weight of the long neck, almost knocking her down but she supported herself this time, not making the same mistake twice. Unfortunately, she was too late. 

"Don't scream. You made me drop my prey," the beast warned but Yiren was far from happy. 

"You killed Bobby!" 

"Of course I did. I need to eat something after all," the beast replied as if it was obvious and took a bite, cutting a big chunk of meat from Bobby's neck. 

Yiren turned around, unable to handle the sight. "I can't watch it!" 

"Have you never eaten meat before? It's good. You should try it," the beast proposed taking another bite, munching happily. 

"I will only eat plants, thank you!" Yiren yelled unhappily. 

No one would ever force her to eat anything else other than plants. The only meat she ate was that of a fish as they had an abundance of it.

Yiren was forced to cover her ears as well to mute the munching sounds. Now that she took a closer look, she realized the whole place was filled with bones of different sizes, making her disgusted. 

A strong will to leave this place filled her mind. She wanted to go back to Xuefeng, her mom, and her sisters. Uncontrollably, she turned around and ordered determined, "Bring me back!" 

The bird stopped eating, clearly displeased with Yiren's act.

"I will have to decline. I need you to get my revenge on—" 

Before he even finished, Yiren's eyes shone and she repeated, this time louder, "I said bring me back!"

The red bird shivered, taking a step back. There was a vivid moment of fear in the bird's eyes. 

"You took me here against my will! You even killed Bobby! You are a bad birdy!" Yiren scolded. 

"I am not—" The bird tried to defend but it ended up getting cut off again. "You are a bad birdy!"

This time it admitted to Yiren's words, looking down with guilt, "I am a bad birdy…" 

"You will take me back to my friends," Yiren commanded. 

"Y-yes…" 

Just as the bird was ready to take her back, a mature voice came from the distance, wondering out loud. 

"To think that a little girl is able to control an adult Phoenix… Interesting."