Chapter 189: Does Watching Bird Films Help Enlightenment?
The crow leader suddenly erupted in anger, squawking loudly and vowing to tear those two annoying humans to shreds.
Mu Jixue told Yun Zhonghe, “It seems like it’s angry! It says its body is fine, and it doesn’t have offspring simply because there’s no need. They’ve transcended the rules of heaven and earth, completely unbound by natural laws; they don’t need to reproduce to continue their kind.”
Yun Zhonghe paused for a moment, stunned.
Countless guesses and thoughts surged in his mind…
Suddenly, he had an epiphany!
He understood why these crows could live indefinitely.
No birth means no d*ath. The bl**d-eyed crows can’t d*e because they’ve never truly lived like ordinary beings!
They don’t eat, they don’t reproduce—neither life nor d*ath; they never perish…
They don’t follow the celestial rules at all.
In that instant, Yun Zhonghe’s smile grew clearer.
He had a plan to deal with them!
Outside the barrier, Elder Chen and the others were anxiously watching.
To their astonishment, Yun Zhonghe and Mu Jixue had actually started chatting with the bl**d-eyed crows!
Elder Chen muttered in disbelief, “Could these two be beast tamers? They can actually converse?”
However, the crow leader seemed to be getting more and more agitated, trembling with rage, ready to swoop down and shred the two.
Is this really okay? Should they hurry and make a hole in the barrier to get them out?
At that moment, Yun Zhonghe calmly pulled out a bowl full of spirit rice from his bag.
This spirit rice was leftover from yesterday, which Yun Zhonghe had packed.
Though the Yun family was wealthy, he wasn’t one to waste money; he saved when he could and spent when necessary, embodying the virtues of a frugal young master.
Besides, the spirit rice contained rich spiritual energy, and after cooking, it was easier to absorb. Wasting it would be a shame; if humans didn’t eat it, it could still be fed to pigs, chickens, and ducks, nurturing edible spirit pigs, spirit chickens, and spirit ducks.
After all, the Yun family had always done this—using leftover food to feed livestock, and the quality of spirit pig meat they raised was simply mouthwatering.
So Yun Zhonghe cheerfully said, “This is our humanity’s specialty delicacy. You came all this way; it’d be a shame not to try some!”
Mu Jixue didn’t quite understand why Yun Zhonghe wanted to feed the crows, but she obediently translated, “Caw, caw, caw! (He says he wants to treat you to a feast. Whoever doesn’t eat is a dog!)”
Crow Leader: “…”
Yun Zhonghe threw the spirit rice into the air, and an unusual fragrance immediately spread through the air.
The crow leader was utterly speechless.
It had just said they don’t eat or drink, and this foolish human still thinks… sniff sniff, this scent… it’s really delicious!
What is this good stuff? Why is it making me so restless?
The crow group couldn’t help but get agitated.
Since they became aware, they had only known destruction and killing, and had never eaten anything.
But the spirit rice Yun Zhonghe scattered was just too enticing, it smelled so good…
It felt utterly irresistible!
After hesitating for a moment, the crow leader ultimately agreed to the feast.
After all, if they weren’t going to eat for free, why not go for it?
So the crows charged forward in a frenzy.
Buffet, here we go!
The barrier faltered, and the onlookers gasped in shock.
Yun Zhonghe was actually feeding the bl**d-eyed crows?
“Could this spirit rice be poisoned?” one mercenary speculated, “Is this guy trying to k*ll them?”
“Impossible,” Elder Chen frowned and analyzed, “These crows are immortal; poison won’t affect them.”
Everyone was baffled, including Mu Jixue, who gently patted Yun Zhonghe’s back, asking, “What are you doing? Is there some trick with this spirit rice?”
Yun Zhonghe stayed silent for a moment, hesitating whether to tell Mu Jixue.
“Just added a little something.”
“What something?”
“Something that promotes mating.”
Mu Jixue: “…”
The way Mu Jixue looked at Yun Zhonghe changed, her expression twitching, “You, you pervert! What are you planning?! You actually put drugs in the leftovers; you… you…”
Mu Jixue instinctively pushed against Yun Zhonghe’s chest, and he quickly hugged her tightly, urging, “Don’t be silly, it’s not what you think! Just stay calm, if we get separated, both of us will have trouble.”
Mu Jixue felt she was about to be violated.
Why does Yun Zhonghe carry around aphrodisiacs? He must have ulterior motives—does he plan to take advantage of them when they’re not watching and drug them all for a little fun?
Yun Zhonghe explained, “You’re overthinking it. This aphrodisiac is for livestock. My mother was worried I wouldn’t eat well at Xuantian Sect without any spirit meat. After reaching the sect, I should raise a few pig and chicken breeds to eat—mixing a bit of ** into the leftover spirit rice would increase their reproduction, so that not only could I have tasty spirit meat and eggs, but I can also save on dan pills.”
The recovery effect of spirit food was better than dan pills, and some high-grade spirit food even enhanced one’s roots and spiritual essence far beyond what dan pills could do.
However, spirit food was not easy to carry, prone to spoilage, and required skilled chefs to cook; it wasn’t just a matter of hastily frying something.
In contrast, dan pills were easy to carry and had a long shelf life, so they were more common.
Typically, young masters and ladies from prominent families would eat spirit food daily, using dan pills only when cultivating. Spirit food also lifted their spirits, adding joy to their dull cultivation lives.
Many young masters and ladies would travel with dedicated chefs.
To be honest, Tao Jiu’er’s cooking skills were quite good; she mastered the art of cooking spirit food.
However, facing Yun Zhonghe’s explanation, Mu Jixue remained skeptical.
Yun Zhonghe said, “Trust me, even if I’m a persuasive person, I wouldn’t give you something meant for livestock. What if it doesn’t work? You can take a sample of the spirit rice to check its ingredients.”
Yun Zhonghe’s candid explanation made it hard for Mu Jixue to keep doubting.
Her expression eased a bit as she muttered, “I didn’t expect you to be this frugal.”
She recalled that the Lin family wasn’t this economical; many from esteemed clans would waste spirit food without hesitation if they couldn’t finish it.
Yun Zhonghe chuckled, “The Yun family’s dominance in Cangzhou City isn’t just because of strength; you don’t know the half of it.”
“Then why are you feeding these crows **? Do you think their numbers are too low, wanting to help them grow their population?”
Mu Jixue got back on track.
She couldn’t understand Yun Zhonghe’s intentions.
The celestial rules, the continuation of races…
Inside the barrier, the bl**d-eyed crows were happily gobbling up the spirit rice mixed with **, and their bodies began to change.
The bl**d-red hue in their eyes slowly faded, losing their ability for infinite rebirth!
Life is like an amusement park, and the most important game is eating—d*ath is just the eternal rules of the park.
If you don’t step inside to play, the rules have nothing to do with you and can’t bind you. But once you enter the game, you’re subject to the rules!
Once, the crows didn’t eat or reproduce, as if they had never stepped into the realm of life’s joy.
However, now that Yun Zhonghe had pulled them in, they were crossing into the celestial rules.
Now they had entered, they must abide by the natural laws of life and d*ath.
There can be no life without d*ath, and living inevitably leads to d*ath.
Yet the crows, completely oblivious, were now thrilled; experiencing the flavors of humanity was so wonderful, filled with happiness…
After a hearty meal, they felt powerful, each of the opposite s*x looking appealing like flowers!
Their latent instincts exploded, and the crows began to court one another in every possible way.
In an instant, chaos ensued!
Fortunately, most birds practice monogamy, and soon they paired off, finding their ideal partners.
Of course, that led to the next step—hee hee hee…
“Wakaka! Wakakaka!”
Joyful cries echoed high into the sky.
Outside the barrier, everyone was dumbfounded.
Mu Jixue watched the large-scale crow festivities up close, her mind buzzing, her neck flushing red all the way to the top.
What… what is happening?
How did these crows, who once knew only slaughter, suddenly kick off a group party?
At that moment, Yun Zhonghe calmly gazed at the crow group, exuding an air of someone who expected everything.
“Life and d*ath, a cycle without end…”
Yun Zhonghe sighed nostalgically, suddenly feeling drawn to the grand, romantic, and insane harmony of life surrounding him, and quietly sat down with Mu Jixue.
“Wait, why did you suddenly sit down? I don’t want to—”
Mu Jixue panicked, even revealing her little fangs, instinctively wanting to bite.
But before she knew it, Yun Zhonghe was enveloped in a divine golden glow!
Outside the barrier, everyone was once again dumbstruck, jaws dropping to the ground.
“Has he attained enlightenment?!”
Someone exclaimed enviously.
Enlightenment, for cultivators, is a rare opportunity; it can elevate the soul, leading to significant breakthroughs and improvements in spiritual power.
The spiritual pearls in Yun Zhonghe’s mind began to tremble violently, seemingly merging in rhythm with the crows having their party…
With the burst of spiritual power, new spiritual pearls were born between pairs of existing ones!
Some pairs birthed one, some two, and some even three or four…
Originally, spiritual pearls divided similarly to mitosis, but after witnessing the crow party, Yun Zhonghe’s spiritual pearls could fuse to create new ones.
And this fusion was seemingly faster than simple division, consuming less spiritual power, and the number of spiritual pearls was steadily approaching forty!
When Yun Zhonghe’s pearls broke through to twenty-one, it took the entire reserve spiritual power of a Myriad Path Divine Tower, but now, with this new method, his mind’s sea had enough energy on its own!
What an outrageous number—others might only have one spiritual pearl, and yet Yun Zhonghe had forty!
If others knew about the drastic change in Yun Zhonghe’s mind and the terrifying number of spiritual pearls, they wouldn’t know how to react in shock!
Yet, upon seeing the number of spiritual pearls in his mind, Yun Zhonghe felt both excitement and melancholy.
So many spiritual pearls; how would he ever raise them in the future?
The improvement of spiritual realms is tied to spiritual pearls; the Initial Understanding phase is all about solidifying them, making them sturdier. This requires constant refinement of spiritual power to nurture those pearls.
But while others only have one pearl to care for, making it much simpler, Yun Zhonghe had a whopping forty—equivalent to having forty hungry kids waiting for him to produce spiritual power for feeding.
Yun Zhonghe was genuinely worried about whether he could afford to raise that many pearls in the future; his spiritual realm might remain stuck in the Initial Understanding stage forever.
Simultaneously, Elder Chen, standing atop the peak, seemed to suddenly understand something when he witnessed Yun Zhonghe’s enlightenment. He began muttering fragments of words about life and d*ath and celestial laws.
Then, Elder Chen sat down cross-legged, allowing the barrier to droop, and he too entered into a state of enlightenment.
Golden light radiated from his body!
Everyone was perplexed: ???
How could even Elder Chen…? What exactly did they achieve in their enlightenment?!
Could it be that watching such a scene could lead to enlightenment?
Yet someone murmured, “Not necessarily; I watch light novels every day and never had any enlightenment.”
Another chimed in, “Perhaps the depictions in books aren’t as vivid as seeing it live.”
A lot of people fell into contemplation, considering whether they should watch more animal documentaries in the future.
Meanwhile, Mu Jixue saw Yun Zhonghe suddenly enter enlightenment, feeling a mix of complex emotions wash over her.
How was it that she was once again outpaced by Yun Zhonghe?
No matter how hard she trained, Yun Zhonghe’s cultivation would always be right on her tail, and now his spiritual level was far beyond hers; now he’s had an epiphany…
Mu Jixue felt like she was going to be left behind over and over again; she was quite displeased. If this continued, the gap would only widen.
Feeling dissatisfied, driven by her pride, she forced herself to radiate the golden light of enlightenment.
That’s just Huang Aotian for you; even if she didn’t understand anything, she could still force her way through enlightenment—no logic involved.
Mu Jixue’s spiritual realm began to rapidly advance toward the mid-Initial Understanding phase.
At this point, everyone was thrown off balance, feeling entirely shaken.
Three people achieving enlightenment simultaneously, in any cultivation realm, was unprecedented!
Could it really be beneficial for cultivators to witness such scenes for enlightenment?
After their coupling, the bl**d-eyed crows’ magical essence completely dissipated.
Elder Chen released the barrier, and they flew off like regular birds into the remote mountain valleys, seeking places to nest and reproduce.
In future days, they would be busy laying eggs and raising young, with no time left for meaningless destruction and killing.
Because they wouldn’t have the leisure for it!
The crisis from the crow group had inexplicably resolved itself.
From then on, the world had a new breed of troublesome crows stealing spirit rice everywhere.
…
The trio’s enlightenment lasted a long time, and after the crow group scattered, the remaining mercenaries dared not make any hasty moves, guarding them in silence.
After quite a while, the three finally emerged from their state of enlightenment.
While Yun Zhonghe’s spiritual pearl count was reined in, he still managed to sprout five more—bringing his total to forty-five!
If this continued, he feared he wouldn’t even reach the Nurturing Nature stage.
Because the pearls were suppressed in number, the development of his enlightenment shifted toward elevating Yun Zhonghe’s spiritual realm.
The strength of all the spiritual pearls saw a substantial boost as he felt he was nearing the late Initial Understanding stage; if it weren’t for the sheer number of pearls he needed to strengthen, he definitely could have reached the late stage during this enlightenment.
As for Mu Jixue? She forced herself into enlightenment out of sheer unwillingness; while she didn’t grasp anything, her spiritual level still saw reinforcement, just not as pronounced—she steadily entered the mid-Initial Understanding phase.
Such talents and fortunes were indeed enviable.
As for Elder Chen, after enlightenment ended, he was all smiles, “Haha, fantastic! I’ve attained full Nurturing Nature! Now I can begin my breakthrough to Transformation!”
He had been stuck in the Yuan Ying stage for a long time, eagerly awaiting an improvement in his spiritual realm.
As a spellcaster, his expertise lay in the domain of spells; hence, he needed a heightened spiritual realm. If he merely reached Transformation in terms of cultivation, he’d still be useless.
Because he wouldn’t be able to wield advanced spells.
At best, he would just be a Yuan Ying with greater spiritual power.
Now that his spiritual realm had reached full Nurturing Nature, he could make his breakthrough into Transformation while simultaneously advancing to the Concentrating Spirit phase, meaning he would wield advanced spells at that point—a true transformation!
At this moment, Yun Zhonghe and Mu Jixue mutually loosened their hold on each other.
Even during their enlightenment, they had tightly embraced one another, and others looked at them with some strange expressions.
However, Yun Zhonghe didn’t dwell on that and stepped forward to cordially congratulate Elder Chen before asking him to hastily help control the situation at the station.
What had initially caused Elder Chen so much distress had unexpectedly brought about unforeseen gains; now, he looked at Yun Zhonghe with new eyes, feeling like calling him “worthy nephew.”
“Of course, I will immediately go with you.”
Now that Elder Chen had reached full Nurturing Nature, his barrier was pure, and upon entering the station, a swift hand gesture trapped the entire crow group there effortlessly. Yun Zhonghe then sprinkled a handful of laced spirit rice in there, turning it into yet another merry party scene.
The crisis at the station had finally resolved. Many were utterly exhausted, lying on the ground panting, while some were under the influence of the spirit rice, even as they took turns resisting, their drain was immense.
However, thanks to this tempest, aside from the initial casualties when the crow group stormed into the station, there had been no further deaths among the gathered crowd!
The young cultivators were recuperating while musing how Yun Zhonghe could turn the cursed crows around with just a handful of rice, while the mercenaries were already buzzing with excitement, inching closer to the crows.
This time, those mercenaries weren’t about to miss an opportunity; they all squeezed to the front row to watch, fearing they’d overlook any detail and miss their chance for enlightenment.
As for the young cultivators who had been defending against the crow group, once they recovered, seeing the mercenaries earnestly observing the crow mating scene left them with a series of question marks.
They were worried that the crow group might go wild again and kept their distance, confused about why the mercenaries were so fervently surrounding them.
It felt akin to witnessing a strip show.
Upon inquiry, they learned that just moments ago, Yun Zhonghe, Mu Jixue, and Elder Chen had achieved enlightenment while observing the crow festivities, with their spiritual powers significantly boosted.
“What? Watching this can lead to enlightenment? Is that for real?”
“The three experienced enlightenment together? Are you sure this isn’t a joke?”
“Can such a miracle exist in this world?!”
Many were disbelieving; if it weren’t for the mercenaries witnessing it firsthand, they wouldn’t dare believe it.
“No way, we have to try too! What if we get enlightened as well?”
“Let’s go watch! It doesn’t cost a thing.”
“Let’s go, let’s go!”
Some couldn’t resist their curiosity and temptation, gathering a few friends to join the crowd watching the bird scene.
Soon, more and more people joined in.
Though they didn’t understand why watching birds would lead to enlightenment, what if it worked?
After all, there was no loss in trying.
When Yun Zhonghe and Mu Jixue returned, Lin Zhongyu was the first to rush over. Upon seeing so many people passionately watching the crow **, she felt like the world had gone mad.
Crazy, they’ve all gone crazy!
