Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The Purifying Colossal Radiance Conch was a rather long name. Perhaps the person who named this divine artifact had thought a longer name would sound more impressive. In Gao Peng’s opinion, it really did. This was the longest divine artifact name since the Endless Reincarnation Labyrinth.
In Gao Peng’s experience, when he thought of a conch, he was reminded of the little conch horn, and how it honked when it was blown. Like a palm-sized conch one found on the beach, it was exquisite, refined. It was a piece of art, worthy of collection. That impression was entirely overthrown when Gao Peng saw this Purifying Colossal Radiance Conch that’s bulkier than Mount Everest.
Gao Peng fell into deep thought. According to the King of Robotics, this Radiance Mountain had existed for god knew how many years, at least tens of thousands. Yet in all this time, there had been no mishaps. If no one knew this mountain was the manifestation of a divine artifact, then that had to mean… everyone who found out was already dead.
“Let’s leave.” Gao Peng turned and headed off.
The King of Robotics raised his head and gazed at the spatial portal well within their reach, then glanced at Gao Peng, who was setting off. He fell silent for a moment, then followed.
Gao Peng walked for another two weeks, from Radiance Mountain all the way to the Valley of the God of Fire, which was many times hotter than average regions. All the plants here were black or gray shriveled things with very thin branches. They lurked on the ground in a distorted manner, forming rings upon rings.
Flamy bent down with its belly out and pecked a couple, gobbling them up in two bites. “Yummy.” Flamy was enjoying itself. “How are they so yummy?” Hopping around on one leg, it wagged its head, looking around every now and then.
Once they approached the valley, Gao Peng heard the chirps of many birds. He’d heard the King of Robotics mention that the Valley of the God of Fire was also guarded by a mythical familiar clan, but he was unsure of which one exactly. Stepping into the valley, some orbs of red light appeared in the depths of the valley, then grew brighter and closer.
Goldie wiped the sweat on its forehead. Desolion was already into the Familiar Space because its Ice attribute was incompatible with the environment.
A red cloud descended, and an enormous bird enshrouded in a red mist landed in front of Gao Peng. The bird was massive in size, with spooky green flames flaring around it.
The bird was awfully large, standing at 30 feet tall. It bent its neck to look down upon Gao Peng. Its most distinct characteristic was the single leg under its body.
It was a mythical familiar—Bi Fang.
“Oh my, it’s Flamy’s relative!” Goldie remarked.
“That’s not my relative,” said Flamy without expression. “You baldy, if you spout any more nonsense, I’m going to marinate you for the grill.”
The Bi Fang, who stood closest to Gao Peng, opened its eyes. It inspected Flamy from head to toe, then nodded and shook its head repeatedly.
“Little blue bird, what species are you? You look a bit like us Bi Fangs,” said the Bi Fang kindly.
Flamy’s expression stiffened. It wanted to ask the Bi Fang if it was blind, but it figured it shouldn’t be so bold, at least for the sake of its master’s reputation, so it replied, “…Take a guess.”
“One-footed Round Blue Bird?” The big Bi Fang asked tentatively. Flamy was still expressionless and gave a cold chuckle.
The two mountainsides on either side of the Valley of the God of Fire were overrun with towering mulberry trees. A Bi Fang stood on each mulberry tree. They all varied in age. The older ones were dozens of yards tall, while the younger ones, were only a couple yards high.
“All right, this beautiful little Bi Fang is a member of our clan, too.” A hoarse voice resounded from the depths of the valley. This silenced the Bi Fangs gossiping about Flamy, who then began to study Flamy incredulously.
“You’re so plump, can you even fly?”
“How can a Bi Fang look like this?”
Some Bi Fangs were astonished.
Flamy’s face fell, and Gao Peng knitted his brows too. Flamy may have been a little chubby, and he and Goldie sometimes poked fun at it, too, but an outside clan shouldn’t have been discussing it in this manner.
The hoarse voice from the depths of the Valley of the God of Fire continued, “All right. They come from afar, so they’re considered guests. Stop commenting.”
“Human, what are you doing in the Valley of the God of Fire?” A Bi Fang hovered in the sky, the same one who had led Gao Peng into the Valley.
“I want to go to the World Vortex Battlefield,” Gao Peng said politely.
“No wonder…” The big Bi Fang nodded. So it had been mistaken. It had assumed this human came here for some other important matter.
“Hm?” A dazzling red light flared in the depths of the Valley of the God of Fire.
The next second, a red glow flushed the sky, and a thick wave of heat hit their faces.
An extremely large blue bird emerged from the depths of the valley. Smoke rose from the ground where the hot wind stirred up by his 100-foot-wide wings had scorched it. Gao Peng bound his Blood Contract Damage Transfer to Flamy; that was how he withstood the sweltering heat there.
“Your flames?” The Bi Fang that flew out of the valley landed in front of Flamy, its eyes glued to the flames peeking out from Flamy’s wings. Taking a deep breath, the flames became sparks that it inhaled into its lungs.
Before this old Bi Fang, Fatty Big Sea and the King of Robotics both stood very still. Gao Peng looked at it and could only see a blurry string of question marks. Only the name Bi Fang shone with brilliance.
“Your flame has dozens of different scents. Your Wooden Heart Flame has engulfed that many different flames?” The old Bi Fang’s tone was filled with confusion and a hint of surprise.
Flamy thought to itself, What a lunatic! It can even tell that my flame has engulfed dozens of different flames. I guess I can’t fool it. “Yeah,” it could only admit honestly.
“Good, good, good.” The old Bi Fang said three goods in a row, growing more delighted the more it looked at Flamy. “From now on, you’re my goddaughter. I’ll guide you in your training.”
“Sir, there are so many Bi Fangs in your Valley of the God of Fire. Why do you insist on Flamy? Flamy is my familiar, but more importantly, my companion.”
The old Bi Fang turned to look at Flamy. “Because it walks the path of usurpation. It’s the sixth Bi Fang I’ve seen taking the path of usurpation in all these years.”
Through his Blood Contract, Gao Peng could sense that Flamy wasn’t really willing to go with the old Bi Fang to train, so he summoned up his courage and said, “What about the other five?”
A moment of silence. “It’s the only one still alive,” the old Bi Fang said softly.
This gave Gao Peng the chills. “Thank you for your kind offer, but we won’t be troubling you.”
“You think this path is child’s play? If you don’t kill them, they’ll kill you first! They’d never give up the chance to eliminate another competitor,” the old Bi Fang said coldly. “Of course, I have selfish motives, too. I want the champion of this generation to be from our Bi Fang clan. If a Phoenix and Three-Legged Crow can do it, then a Bi Fang can too!”
Was that so. Gao Peng secretly communicated Flamy, continuing to ask for its opinion.
Flamy started panicking after hearing about the fierce competition, but Gao Peng’s steady personality forced it to remain calm through their connection. “Then, Gao Peng, you decide for me.”
