Chapter Eleven: Return to the Dark Forest

Li Sibai had been rather absent-minded these past few days. At first, he thought the rainbow-feathered bird would soon awaken, so each day he brought some meat from the kitchen, but for two consecutive days, the bird showed no sign of waking.

A faint worry began to gnaw at him, though when he checked the bird’s pulse, there was nothing amiss.

On the second night, Li Sibai decided that if the bird did not wake by morning, he would take on a few collection tasks. Not only could he test the progress he’d made with his Xuantian Arts over the past days, but he might also find some rare herbs or have the chance to hunt a Xuan-ranked beast. He had a hunch, or perhaps a guess, that such things might be more to the bird’s liking than Chef Cai’s meat dishes.

By the third morning, seeing the rainbow bird still deep in its slumber, Li Sibai thought for a moment, then fetched the ornate brocade box where he had once kept the millennium snow lotus, and gently placed the bird inside. He left the lid slightly ajar to let in air and tucked the box into his travel pack.

“There’s still a lingering trace of snow lotus essence here—hopefully it’ll help her recover quickly,” he thought as he made his way swiftly to the main hall of the sect. There, he accepted a handful of collection missions, as well as a few hunts for Xuan-ranked beasts. In truth, the spoils of his outing might not go toward completing these tasks, but it was better to take the missions first and decide later.

Leaving the sect, he dashed toward the Darkwood Forest. Since the incident there last time, even fewer disciples of the Xuantian Sword Sect came to this place, and the mountain paths were deserted. Li Sibai, now at the fourth level of the Phoenix Initiate Realm, circulated his inner energy with ease under the guidance of Xuantian Arts. The mountain road, though winding and rugged, posed little challenge; he moved swiftly, face unflushed and breath steady, and soon reached the forest’s edge.

Stepping inside, he found the forest as vibrant and lush as ever. There were no signs of the great battle that had raged here days before—everything was serene and comforting.

Li Sibai had resolved, as he traveled, to remain on the outskirts of the Darkwood Forest and not venture into its depths. With his current cultivation, he could easily handle Xuan-ranked beasts alone, and on a lucky day, he might take down three to five such creatures. Still, mindful of the divine Azure Luan that might still lurk within, he was especially cautious.

Perhaps it was the presence of Caiyao in his pack, or perhaps his luck had finally turned—whatever the reason, fortune favored him. He soon encountered and slew a Xuan-ranked beast.

It was a Stinger Wasp; as Li Sibai searched for herbs, a buzzing caught his ear. He looked up and spotted the creature, its foot-long body glowing with a yellow sheen, a stinger at its tail nearly a meter long. Having spent over a decade in the Xuantian Sword Sect atop Mount Yuxu, he recognized this low-level beast at a glance—this specimen had cultivated for only a few decades and posed no real threat.

The wasp’s skills were shallow and its attacks simple; Li Sibai dispatched it in a few moves, hardly expending any energy.

Delight surged through him—luck was with him today. His cultivation had advanced greatly the past few days; before, such a fight would have cost him half his energy, but now, thanks to Caiyao’s help in his recent cultivation, he dispatched the beast with ease and saved much time.

Unfortunately, the Stinger Wasp was rather small and offered little meat—hardly enough to fill the rainbow bird’s beak—and there were no valuable medicinal parts on its body. So Li Sibai stowed it in his pack, thinking he would use it to claim a basic reward upon his return.

He soon found a few more Stinger Wasps nearby. This time, two attacked him at once, but his newfound strength showed: he faced the pair without faltering. Focusing his attacks on the weaker one, he struck swiftly, while the other tried to assist. His short sword flashed, the Xuantian sword arts flowing as he deftly alternated between offense and defense. In short order, the weaker wasp fell. The survivor, shaken by its companion’s death, tried to flee, but in its panic exposed a fatal weakness and was struck down by Li Sibai in a single blow.

His spirits soared—today’s haul was promising. Only the rainbow bird’s food was lacking, his one regret.

Just then, he heard something moving rapidly through the undergrowth—a sound drawing nearer by the second. Li Sibai leapt into a tree, sword in hand, and held his breath. After last time’s ordeal, he was especially cautious in the Darkwood Forest.

A gray rabbit burst from the brush, with a purple blur in hot pursuit. Something was clamped in the rabbit’s mouth, though Li Sibai couldn’t make it out clearly. In a heartbeat, the purple pursuer caught up—the flash resolved into a Violet Lightning Marten, a creature not especially powerful, but its innate lightning attribute made it far more formidable than the Stinger Wasps.

The gray rabbit, seeing its escape blocked, turned despondent for an instant, then its eyes hardened with resolve, as if it had steeled itself for the worst.

Curious, Li Sibai studied the rabbit. His eyes weren’t sharp enough to gauge its cultivation, but he sensed a faint aura of malice about it, marking it as a young beast. For some reason, it had drawn the marten’s attention.

A closer look revealed what the rabbit carried—a stalk of Azure Flower. “No wonder the marten is chasing it; they’re fighting over food,” Li Sibai murmured. “In that case, I’ll sit back and enjoy the show—let’s see who comes out on top, and then I’ll swoop in like the mantis and the oriole.”

With that, Li Sibai relaxed and settled in to watch the unfolding drama between the marten and the rabbit.