novelraw Chapter 1016 - 556: Arrow
Chapter 1016 - 556: Arrow
What is this?
The once silent Jiu Mo suddenly spoke: "This is the tail feather of a Soul Kite!" Seeing the confusion on everyone’s faces, she explained, "According to the Phoenix Clan’s secrets, Soul Kites lived in ancient times and were a unique breed among Bird Demons, inherently existing in the form of soul bodies. After reaching adulthood, their manifested physical size is only as large as a Jinzhi, yet they are fierce in nature, preferring to hunt the souls of other demon beasts for food."
"The prey slain by them retains their intact bodies but is no more than an empty shell with their souls gone. However, the reproduction of the Soul Kite species is extremely difficult, and they’ve long gone extinct. Moreover, upon their death, Soul Kites dissipate directly into heaven and earth, leaving no corpse behind. This segment of the arrow tail, I wonder who crafted it, was able to separate the tail feather of a Soul Kite from its original body and keep it existent. Just the skill in artifact refining here is quite amazing."
Originally being the leader of the Hidden Stream, her insight is, of course, extraordinary. Given that she remarked on the uniqueness of the item, everyone started viewing this broken arrow with a different eye.
Ahua, however, showed no attachment, pulled off his necklace, raised it above his head with both hands, and respectfully offered it to Ning Xiaoxian.
She received it unceremoniously into her bosom: "How did you get your hands on this?"
Ahua scratched his head, replying: "Picked it up in the Jinghai Prince’s treasure vault in passing."
Just now in the corridor, she actually did not notice Ahua’s presence. Yet as soon as she arrived, she felt a strong call from this broken arrow tail, so longing, so familiar a palpitation, how could she ignore it? Moreover, the Soul Devouring Needle, which she had always been nurturing inside her body, always quiet as if nonexistent, suddenly became restless at that time, almost crying out for her to quickly draw the outside item in.
Under the intense combined vibrations both inside and out, it would be unthinkable for her not to notice someone hiding behind the flower pillar in the corridor.
Thus she was willing to extend a hand to save him from a perilous situation; otherwise, with the guards taking this little Cat Demon away, how could she get the arrow tail? Besides, since she had saved this little cat once before, she didn’t want to watch him meet his end in front of her.
If it were another thief here, she would have ignored their life or death and simply walked away.
With the item at hand, her face relaxed as she slowly said: "Now tell all the details leading up to this."
Ahua responded lightly before beginning to narrate.
It turned out, although Ning Xiaoxian initially didn’t permit him to follow her, she did gift him a Foundation Establishment Pill upon parting. This elixir came from Changtian’s hand and its efficacy far surpassed that of ordinary Foundation Establishment Pills. The Cat Demon’s cultivation was originally low, but after taking it and arduously training for two years, he surprisingly stepped into the Transformation Stage, transformed into human form, and his life changed from then on.
Unfortunately, though his appearance transformed, Ahua’s demeanor did not change. He stayed in the Mortal World for a short time and found it quite uncomfortable, in the end, aimlessly joined a Demon Sect. His power was weak, only able to serve as low-level cannon fodder among the demon crowd. Thankfully, the sect had no warfare recently, so he was at leisure. Yet, not long ago, the sect’s leaders suddenly summoned him, asking him to infiltrate the renowned Zhao’s Troupe to assist.
Though Zhao’s Troupe is famous, it is still looked down upon as one of the Nine Lower Professions, a despicable trade. Having a grand demon serve mortals, singing mortals no less, any demon with even a shred of dignity would absolutely refuse. Sadly, Ahua’s dictionary didn’t naturally have the word "refuse." The sect’s leaders fed him a medicine pill, warning him that if he didn’t return to the sect promptly, he’d die from the toxin. They also promised him one thousand Spirit Stones upon success, which made him enthusiastically comply.
At the time, Zhao’s Troupe was recruiting laborers. After entering the Transformation Stage, not only did Ahua conceal his demon energy completely, but only when he desired, cultivators with Divine Skills could not even use their Divine Thought to sense his existence, hence he smoothly joined Zhao’s Troupe, crossed several Great States with them, and reached the King Jinghai Mansion, where he performed for the Old Grand Dowager’s ninetieth birthday.
He appeared just like a mortal. Even if there were cultivators in the mansion who recognized him as a Cat Demon, with such low-grade cultivation, in their eyes, he seemed almost just like a mortal, who would pay attention to such a dull and humble little monster. With this layer of protection, he sneaked out during the birthday feast when Zhao’s Troupe took the stage, secretly seeking the treasure the sect’s leaders instructed him about. With his Concealing Technique, years ago able to deceive Changtian, naturally dealing with other Cultivators was easy.